[0:01] To the flag to the United States of
America to the stands one nation
[0:08] indivisible with liberty and justice for
all.
[0:18] » Good evening everyone.
Would you take a role please?
[0:22] » Trusty Pel
>> here.
[0:24] » Trusty Bernard
>> here.
[0:26] » Trusty South
>> present.
[0:27] » Trusty Arnold
>> present. Mayor Leounty
[0:30] » here.
[0:34] Before uh I turn uh over to the public
for their comments,
[0:41] I have a couple things I'd like to say.
Um
[0:47] there has been some
mis misinformation or communication or
[0:53] misunderstanding
what the word study means. Nothing has
[0:58] been finalized. We have a rate study
going on in this village. There hasn't
[1:04] been a rate increase since 1982.
Uh the auditor has recommended we do
[1:11] this rate study.
This the auditor has recommended this
[1:16] rate study to be done since 2016.
And so there's been several boards and
[1:23] several mayors that have been uh given
this information.
[1:29] There's nothing being finalized. There's
continuous amount of information still
[1:34] being asked
uh from the two people in our village
[1:38] that have been supplying this
information to the New York State Public
[1:42] Service Commission. Those two
individuals are Christopher Latchmore,
[1:46] the administrator, and our senator
general, the treasurer.
[1:52] It's been an ongoing uh information
gathering for uh everyone,
[1:59] and
what has uh been apparently
[2:05] sad
is that we're delaying this to the
[2:08] election.
I have three letters in my possession in
[2:13] front of me and anybody has a right to
come and see them. That the uh
[2:19] postponements were asked for not by this
village board or by myself or the
[2:25] administrator, Mr. Lerno. They're signed
by people from the New York State Public
[2:30] Service Commission. They're still
gathering information and Mr. Limmore
[2:35] and Mr. attorney are still providing
them with this additional information.
[2:40] There has been no final rate uh figure
been given. That could change any time.
[2:46] And when I get done speaking before we
take public comment, I'm going to have
[2:51] Mr. Lernel if he would briefly explain
explain the rate that we're using 1
[2:58] point something on the uh regular hydro
power and what a possible increase would
[3:04] be. so we could all have the concept of
what we're talking about here. Nobody is
[3:11] trying to mislead anyone, especially
myself. I've lived in this village with
[3:17] my family and friends for all my life,
and I would not do something to hurt
[3:21] this village. That's absolutely untrue.
Anybody who knows me, I've dedicated my
[3:28] life to public service. I have almost 37
years of public service. And what we're
[3:34] doing now is something that is needed to
be done and hasn't even been voted on
[3:40] yet. So at the end of the day, there's
no uh there's no rate increase scheduled
[3:46] for any time until the vote is taken.
And that vote may not take take place
[3:53] for a while. If the public uh New York
State public service authority keeps
[3:57] asking us for additional information, it
could be delayed to April, May, June. I
[4:03] don't know and I can't answer that
question. But I have letters here
[4:07] proving what I'm saying that I I'm not
telling anybody anything that's not true
[4:12] and you're welcome to come to my office
at any time to see these letters and see
[4:18] the information that I will provide you
whatever you want to see. This is
[4:23] something that either has to be done at
some point now or in the future or we
[4:30] have to get uh sell more power and
there's been rumors that I want to clear
[4:36] up about selling power. One, a
who's now in Champlain never approached
[4:44] me or this board or anyone about
locating in Roses Point, New York. and
[4:51] and and we did not deter them from
coming to Ross Point, New York. That can
[4:56] can be confirmed by several people. One
is the code officer. Two, you can ask
[5:02] anybody on the ZBA board. Three, call
Mayor uh Mc Frederick's in Champlain.
[5:10] They have exclusively been dealing with
the mayor in Champlain
[5:15] for a year or more. They've
[clears throat] never contacted Russ
[5:19] Point at all. I don't know why they
didn't say. The only thing that was
[5:25] explained to me is they want a better
clear cut to the interstate the Northway
[5:31] for their transportation of their goods
and that makes sense to a certain point.
[5:36] Connect to Route 11 where they're going
to connect in Champlain and it's it's a
[5:41] quicker thing. I don't know if that's
100% accurate, but that's what was
[5:45] relate to me.
The other thing is I heard that we got
[5:50] involved in in uh some type of textile
operation and we tried to prevent it.
[5:56] That is not true. Uh I see Mr. Barry's
here. Boris
[6:02] uh
where is here? Excuse me. Mr. Buer, he
[6:07] attended the ZBA meeting. for my
information. I do not attend them
[6:11] because I do not want to have anybody
say that I'm influencing any boards in
[6:16] this village at all. That's independent
of this board. And as far as I know,
[6:23] that textile uh factory was approved by
that board. So once again, we are not
[6:30] anti- business. We're not trying to stop
anybody. And I I guess if if Mr. where
[6:36] wants to talk to anybody after this
meeting, he can confirm what I'm saying.
[6:41] I would welcome business coming into
this village. It would be outstanding if
[6:46] we could get a bunch of employees hired
in this village. I That's all I can tell
[6:53] you. There's nothing more that I can
explain to you other than if you ever
[6:58] want information, my door is always
open.
[7:05] That being said, I'm going to open it up
to the public. Before I do, I'm going to
[7:10] uh read a few guidelines for the public
comment.
[7:16] Individuals wishing to speak must have
signed in.
[7:21] Speakers must be recognized by myself as
the mayor.
[7:25] If the speakers would so would they
please stand up and if they would
[7:31] approach the front of the room so
everyone could hear.
[7:35] The speaker should give their name and
address and if they represent any
[7:40] organization.
Speakers must limit their remarks to
[7:44] three minutes.
Speakers may not yield any remaining
[7:48] time to another speaker. Three minutes
belongs to the the speaker and every
[7:54] speaker will be given that opportunity.
Board members may with the permission of
[7:59] myself the mayor interrupt the speaker
join their remarks but only for the
[8:04] purpose of clarification of any
information.
[8:08] All remarks must be addressed to the
board as a body not as an individual
[8:12] board. And please
must observe com common comment accepted
[8:18] courtesy in decorum good taste and
dignity. Interested parties or
[8:23] represented may also address the board
by written communication.
[8:27] Everybody's going to have an opportunity
that signed to speak and I'll begin with
[8:34] the first person that signed. It looks
like it's Mr. Mark Haynes.
[8:44] Hey, mayor board
Mark Haynes 114 Academy
[8:52] points investors for five. Right. So,
I got a lot of notes. Three minutes.
[9:00] I'll do my best. So, let's just start
with a quick background. All right. Of
[9:04] where we are with the electrical rates,
right? So board obviously voted approved
[9:10] a rate study. Okay, no secret. All
right. Uh June 10th by what was filed
[9:16] the board actually received the rate
study. Rate study wasn't still pending
[9:20] but it was received and it is available
on the uh public um website with the New
[9:26] York State Public Service Commission
June 17th. Um, from what the posting
[9:33] says on the website, one page of that
study, which is the proposed rates,
[9:37] that's it. One page was posted on the
website. Okay. Uh, under uh public
[9:42] notices.
Um, June 23rd, best I can tell, rate
[9:47] request was published in the register
one time with where you could find the
[9:53] information.
Um, July 23rd.
[9:59] So, this information has already been
filed as of June 10th. Okay. With
[10:05] proposed rates and in the filing says
December 1st being an effective date.
[10:12] Right. So, unsure a little bit of of
your mayor the mayor's comments about
[10:16] nothing's been decided, but it was been
proposed as this is what we we would
[10:22] like to see happen.
November 17th board meeting, trustee
[10:26] Arno asked,
it's in the public record on video in
[10:31] the comments. Where do we stand with the
rate study?
[10:35] Mr. Latchmore responded, it's still in
progress. There's a lot of hoops to jump
[10:39] through. There's a lot of things to go
through.
[10:43] Why? I'm not sure. That was November
17th when two weeks later your electoral
[10:47] rates would have gone up.
So it wasn't until December 18th when we
[10:52] actually f stumbled upon this
information [clears throat] and looked
[10:55] into it. All right. As commercial
property owner, as a largest property
[11:00] owner in relation
[11:07] with us in any fashion or any respect of
the imagination. I'm sure with most
[11:12] residents, there wasn't conversations
about this either.
[11:16] But December 16th,
>> 30 seconds,
[11:18] » New York State Department of Public
Office and Terrace actually published a
[11:23] letter in their documents about
postponement asked upon for February 1st
[11:28] and then additional postponement asked
for March 1st.
[11:34] Further further off, the office of
tariffs actually said that they
[11:39] recommend that the rate increase for
residents, right? Sub uh the subp part
[11:45] number one supplement number one go into
effect January 1st.
[11:49] » They are three minutes.
>> So
[11:51] that's the timeline.
>> You're done. Mr. Haynes,
[11:54] » can I have one more? Can I have one more
minute, please?
[11:56] » No, you have three minutes. Everybody
gets three minutes.
[11:58] » No one wants to hear anything else I
have.
[12:00] » Yeah, I'd like to hear more. Absolutely.
>> Keep going. Keep going.
[12:03] » Keep going.
>> No.
[12:05] » I said minutes. I'm in a meeting. If you
don't like it, then you know what to do.
[12:10] » No. You know, you know, you know what
you could do, too. It's not.
[12:13] » It's done. And I'm going to ask Mr. I
think you'd like questions. If you don't
[12:18] follow the rules,
>> then I'm going to ask you to leave.
[12:22] Please follow the rules.
>> This is open speaking, right? This is
[12:27] important information for everyone
watching, everyone going to see the
[12:30] minutes on this, everyone who's going to
see this information when I distribute
[12:33] it.
>> Then you can you can post it.
[12:36] » And so I think it's adequate for me to
speak further about this issue because
[12:39] it affects everybody. I know what you're
saying.
[12:42] » Every landlord, every
>> I'll give you I'll give you I'll I'll
[12:44] bend the rules. I'll give you one more
minute. What? That's it. One minute.
[12:48] » So ERS obviously we purchase property in
2018. All right. We've had our
[12:52] struggles, but 2013 or I'm sorry 2023 24
we had a lot of communication 23 mostly
[13:00] with the board with the mayor and
talking about our plans. All right. And
[13:05] how we wanted to bring more industry in.
All right. and we presented options
[13:10] because we knew in 23 when we reviewed
the budget that there was a major issue
[13:16] then and that would even just get worse
understanding that electrical
[13:20] consumption and selling power was a big
big issue that had to be addressed. So
[13:25] we presented high density users, right?
Because the capacity was already there
[13:30] to be used with very little help, with
very little response, with no working
[13:35] relationship. All right? The mayor says,
"I will open my doors. I'll respond to
[13:40] anyone. You can come in and see me. I
can show you email after email after
[13:44] email with no response, with no way to
reach out to say, "Yes, we have a real
[13:50] issue. Can we get to the table? Can we
can we talk about this?" Okay, Mr. H.
[13:55] Mr. Haynes, that's it.
>> Mr. Haynes, you've got an extra minute.
[13:59] That's it. Thank you very much. I
appreciate your comments.
[14:03] » So, can I ask a question? Can I ask him
a question? A quick question. Of course.
[14:08] What other than a data center have you
uh recommended to the village that go to
[14:14] that property? Because you guys have
been pushing for a data center very
[14:17] first day. Nothing else. Nothing else.
What what are you actively trying to get
[14:23] onto that property besides data set?
Anything?
[14:26] » Textiles, additional warehousing.
>> Can you prove that?
[14:30] » Oh, of course.
>> Have you, Mr. Haynes? Have you Have you
[14:35] made any applications to the zoning
board?
[14:37] » The bill. This board hasn't done
anything.
[14:39] » The zoning board. Yes.
>> This this this board has nothing to do
[14:43] with any of those applications or
anything. So you would think that
[14:46] there'd be someone reaching out right
from the administration saying how can
[14:50] we help how can we meet with someone to
right last year yes there was a data
[14:55] center was extremely okay you answer
thank you very much have a good
[15:00] » so if you like proof yes I can show you
sometimes you can talk with our real
[15:04] estate broker and they can tell you all
the interest that we have in our
[15:06] property not just date side
>> that's good to know
[15:09] » all right thank you for your
[15:14] The next speaker that signed up would be
Mr.
[15:16] » Ba.
[15:20] I wait till more discussion's gone
through.
[15:24] » Excuse me.
>> Could I wait till more discussion's gone
[15:26] through and then address the board?
>> Well, there's only two other people.
[15:31] There's only one other person, Mr.
besides you. You can either do it now or
[15:36] after Mr.
Mr.
[15:39] » Okay, Mr.
[15:42] I I thought there'd be more comment. Uh
Matt Wear, 17 Mountain View Drive, also
[15:47] CDC real estate. Um we are uh Alex Barry
and I at CDC are official brokers for
[15:54] the former Fizer uh ERS site. Um, I'm
not on uh uh the Facebook page and and
[16:02] and not up to snuff on on all that's
been discussed, but I can confirm
[16:07] um you know, much of what Mark Haynes
has said. U you know, I'm a village
[16:12] resident. I love it. I I I respect uh
all of you up there for what you do. Um,
[16:18] you know, I think I'll I'll make it
short and sweet and just think that
[16:21] we've got to make some inroads uh which
I've asked for um a while back that um
[16:27] that some of you sit down with the
owners of BRS. I know there's been uh
[16:32] plenty of uh hurdles. Um maybe there's
some personality uh differences. Uh but
[16:39] I think um I do [clears throat] believe
that uh increased power usage done the
[16:44] right way um could probably help. Um
probably we wouldn't be talking rate
[16:50] hikes. Um and uh you know there there's
there's definitely some discussions we
[16:56] could have. I don't need to air them all
here but um you know definitely zoning.
[17:01] We worked through the zoning board to
try and get some zoning changes. U you
[17:05] know to be very honest that was not done
easily. Um you would think in a small
[17:10] village with that many acreage um where
we all want more jobs back there that
[17:16] there would have been a bit smoother
process. Um but it was anything but
[17:20] that. So again I respect you. I love
where I live. You have a lot of
[17:24] difficult things to do but I do believe
from an economic development perspective
[17:28] [clears throat]
and now this this power question um you
[17:33] know that that we need to all try and
sit down and try and work towards the
[17:36] common goal. Mr. Blair, before you sit
down, you've met in my office a couple
[17:41] different times, haven't you?
>> Uh, at least once. Yes, maybe twice.
[17:45] » Uh, and I've talked to you on the phone
a couple different times.
[17:48] » Yes.
>> I don't mean to put you on the spot, but
[17:52] in in your meeting with me, your
discussions, would you paint me as an
[17:56] anti- business person?
>> I would not say anti- business at all.
[18:01] And you have you did help with uh one of
the tenants that is in that in the ERS
[18:06] facility. And you did you made a trip up
to Montreal. You had meetings with them.
[18:11] Uh there were some subsequent
disagreements between you and the
[18:14] ownership and and you know uh Alex
Barry, sorry I bring you up. Myself and
[18:20] Molly who is with our county, Molly Ryan
who works for the county u economic
[18:26] development organization. And you know,
the three of us did go to your office to
[18:29] try and plead that we could get the
parties of ERS and you to sit at a
[18:34] table. Let's let some of our bygones be
bygones and and work towards uh you know
[18:39] again towards some common good. Um but
that you know was not successful. I
[18:44] think you would agree with that that at
that meeting you did not want to have
[18:48] further discussions with them. And so
that's I'm still hoping for that today.
[18:52] I realize, you know, I've done been
doing this for almost 34 years at but
[18:58] development's not always easy. Um, and
there are different personalities and
[19:02] there's there's a lot of uh bumps in the
road, but if we all work towards that
[19:07] future goal of more jobs and more tax
dollars and more power usage, I think we
[19:12] would be better off. So, I'm just hoping
we can get to that point.
[19:16] » Absolutely. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[19:20] » Now, Mr. BA address board
from Point. Uh, I would just like to
[19:27] request the mayor and the board continue
robust defense of our electric system
[19:33] against
what I would consider electrical leeches
[19:37] that wish to come in and exploit our
electric program for personal
[19:44] uh use, for personal
profit. Now, I realize I think the
[19:51] policy of this board has always been
that we want to encourage businesses,
[19:57] manufacturing,
um, anything that would bring jobs in to
[20:02] come in. And one of the reasons, one of
the ways that we get them in is by
[20:06] attracting them with our uh, attractive
electric rates. Now, what we don't want
[20:12] obviously is somebody to come in and put
a server farm in or data center or
[20:18] something that employs three people and
uses up all of our electric allocation.
[20:24] And we made this clear for years to ERS
and some of the other people that came
[20:31] in here. We passed legislation
to hopefully prevent this from
[20:35] happening, exploiting our system.
Um, [clears throat] I think that if
[20:40] somebody's going to put factory in up at
the Fiser plant, I think the board would
[20:44] welcome it with open arms, jobs,
increased uh tax assessments,
[20:51] uh, what we're looking for. But if we
give it all to one one person that's got
[20:55] three people in there and then it's
gone, what did we get for? Nothing.
[21:01] So, I would urge you to continue what
you've been doing as best you can,
[21:06] hopefully as smooth as you can. And uh
but don't give up because once this is
[21:13] gone in this village, we're done.
If we don't have attractive electric
[21:19] rates, we won't attract anybody in this
village.
[21:24] » Thank you.
[21:35] Mr. Aterno, I I don't want to put you on
the spot, but uh you were going over
[21:41] some figures this afternoon about the
what our present rate is and what
[21:47] right now what we're working on, what
they proposed. Do you feel comfortable
[21:51] on talking about that right now?
>> I can try to. you
[21:56] » you know it's a difficult subject but I
I can
[22:00] back in June on June 10 25
[clears throat]
[22:05] the village filed a rate request for the
public service commission.
[22:11] Now
there's two components to your utility
[22:15] bill. You have the base revenues and you
have the PPAC charges on there. What
[22:20] we're talking about here is what they're
talking about is the base revenue
[22:24] charge. So when someone says the
proposed rates are 153%
[22:29] increase, it's not 153% increase on the
total utility bill. It's only on the
[22:34] base revenue part. So for instance on
all the service classifications
[22:41] currently your c one of the components
of that base charge is your customer
[22:45] charge. a customer charge
on your excuse me [clears throat]
[22:51] utility bill.
[22:55] Sometimes they call it a basic service
charge also
[22:59] is a flat monthly fee that covers
administrative costs such as meter
[23:03] reading, billing, record maintenance,
general customer services. This charge
[23:09] is levied regardless of the amount of
electricity consumed. So to put in
[23:12] perspective um this rate has not changed
since 1982. So like if you take a look
[23:18] 1982 it would cost a village 20 cents to
mail a utility bill. Today it costs cost
[23:24] them 78 cents. That comes out of that
charge.
[23:30] [clears throat]
Also too, it includes delivery
[23:34] distribution charges is a portion of
these charges are often calculated on a
[23:38] per kilowatt basis is intended to
recover the costs associated with the
[23:42] physical infrastructure, poles, wires,
transformers that transmit electricity
[23:48] to customers, homes, and businesses.
These costs are part of the utility
[23:51] revenue requirement, the total amount of
revenue that Hilly is authorized to
[23:55] collect.
Now, just like everything else since co
[24:01] everything has gone exponentially
higher. What used to cost $500 $600
[24:07] sometimes cost $45,000. Now it's it's I
don't understand it why the price hasn't
[24:11] gone down but that's today's day and
age. Also included that are other fixed
[24:16] costs. base revenues generally exclude
volatile pass through costs like the
[24:21] fluctuating price of actual energy
supply which is based on the wholesale
[24:24] market conditions and often a separate
fuel cut adjustment and certain state
[24:29] mandated taxes and search charges.
So ser service classification number one
[24:35] the energy charge per kilowatt right now
is a current 1.345 cents per kilowatt
[24:41] hour the proposed rate is going to be
3.46 406 cents which is an increase of
[24:49] 2.061
cent per kilowatt hour for a residential
[24:52] customer.
SC2 is a general large service customer
[24:58] with no demand meter. That rate right
now the present rate per kilowatt hour
[25:04] is 044 cents per kilowatt. The proposed
rate is 5.175.
[25:12] The increase is 3.13 cents per kilowatt
hour. SC3 is a general service customer
[25:19] with a demand meter which is the same as
above except they pay a demand charge.
[25:25] That demand currently right now is $1.50
per kW. That will go to $3.80 per kW
[25:32] which is an increase of $2.30.
[25:38] addressing the
I don't normally do this, but I have
[25:43] been I'm not on Facebook, but I've been
told that uh
[25:47] the village was trying to hide different
different stuff on October Monday,
[25:52] October 6. The
New York State Department of Public
[25:57] Service sent us a email.
Staff requires further information time
[26:02] to complete its review. Due to our
internal schedule and timeline, we'll
[26:06] meet we'll need an additional month to
continue our review and that that's
[26:11] proposing the tariff leaves that from
December 1st 25 to January 1st 26. Then
[26:17] once again on Wednesday, November 5th,
we get the same email basically the same
[26:24] request.
the effective date of the proposed
[26:27] tariff leaves from December 1st 25 to
February 1st of 26 and then once again
[26:32] in November 26 we get the same thing and
right now it's it's effective date is
[26:37] March 1st of 26 these numbers are being
reviewed by the public service [snorts]
[26:43] commission
they haven't been approved by them and
[26:48] even if they approve those rates this
village board does have a right to
[26:55] uh reject those if they don't believe
they're the right numbers.
[26:59] So I basically what I'm trying to tell
you is is that nothing is being hidden
[27:03] here.
I'm a lifelong resident of Ross' Point.
[27:07] I've been in a position for 40 years and
I'm probably the number one person in
[27:11] this room that is totally against
increases in utility rates, water,
[27:16] sewer, and electric plus property taxes.
So, this has been an ongoing problem
[27:25] since 2016. I got all the audit reports
right here since 2016.
[27:30] Um, the uh our auditors have recommend
that the village do a cost of service
[27:36] study and they finally decided to do
one. One of the reasons is because it
[27:40] cost them about $22,000 to do this
study. However, we are going to be re
[27:45] reimbured $10,000.
So, I don't know if anybody has any
[27:50] questions, but um that's pretty much
what's going on here.
[27:56] This that the uh
[28:01] » question.
[28:05] I have a question.
>> Sorry. Can I ask a question?
[28:11] I'm just curious about um in reading
some of the documents, it says that this
[28:16] is going to be a $1 million increase.
So, is that $1 million a year
[28:25] » in the tariff request?
>> Um
[28:30] the overall revenue is a million dollar
increase to the balance budget for 4%
[28:37] net profit. [snorts]
[28:40] I know at our next meeting the auditor
is going to be here. The auditors are
[28:44] going to be at the meeting. They
probably could address it like that.
[28:49] » Yes. I I I've arranged for the auditor
to be at the next meeting. So you don't
[28:55] have to take my word for it. Anybody he
can explain to you what he's recommended
[29:00] for almost the last 10 years and what's
going on.
[29:04] » Where did you get this $1 million
figure?
[29:07] » It's right here. here. It's in number.
>> I got it right here. Increase in base
[29:10] revenues as a result of the 153%
increase in base rates effective October
[29:14] 1st. It's not October 1st. Requested
here in supports operations, capital
[29:19] improvements, establish adequate cash
balances, and provide a reasonable rate
[29:23] of return on the rate base is expected
to total $997,947.
[29:32] base revenues in the rate year are
expected to be 1,600.
[29:38] That's that's a typo. They don't have
the right number in there.
[29:42] » So, the reason I'm asking that is
because a million dollars is a lot of
[29:45] money and that has to come from
everybody that lives in the village. So,
[29:51] I know we're talking about how we have
to increase and it's not that much, but
[29:56] it seems to me that all of us trying to
come up with a million dollars
[30:01] isn't going to be cheap. Um, and then my
other question would be why why are we
[30:08] doing this all at once? 50 like maybe
some of the pain could have been
[30:13] mitigated if we had you know addressed
this
[30:17] when you know back when we saw that we
were reaching into the funds to pay for
[30:22] operations.
My personal opinion
[30:27] is the fact that it is not a very
um
[30:32] popular subject
and
[30:36] you know has been put off.
[30:40] » Nobody wants nobody wants to be the bad
guy.
[30:44] » Raise taxes, raise water rates, raise
election rates. But you name me one
[30:51] thing that has stayed the same for 42
years. I don't care if you're a business
[30:56] owner, your menu has gone up every year
because of your additional cost. I don't
[31:01] care if you're a renter or you're a
homeowner that rents. All these things
[31:06] have increased and your expensive has
has increased. I don't I lived here all
[31:11] my life. Like I said, I don't want to
see things go up. I don't want to see
[31:14] anybody get hurt. Sometimes it's not
what you want to do, it's what you got
[31:18] to do. And this thing has been brought
to several boards attention for the last
[31:23] 10 years. So I can ignore it just like
everyone else or address it. And that's
[31:29] what we're trying to do now. And like I
told you before, there's no finalization
[31:34] until we get a final recommendation and
this board votes on it. That's where
[31:39] we're at. There's nothing final at all.
I do have I do have a rate comparison
[31:46] here. Um I'm just giving you these
numbers. By the way, I I I provide all
[31:51] the numbers and that's it's be after
that. No, I'm not supporting or or uh
[31:58] going against a a rate increase, but our
proposed rate for residential for the
[32:04] village of Ros's Point is $253 53 for
the customer charge. The village of Lake
[32:11] Placid, their customer charge is $8. The
city of Plaxburg is $2.75
[32:17] and the village of Tupper Lake is $8.
Those are all municipal electric
[32:22] utilities.
>> Um they have an economy to support all
[32:27] them.
>> We don't.
[32:29] » Is that
>> we don't have an economy to support
[32:31] these rates?
>> Um
[32:33] » they do. vanity charge 0346
the proposed rate um lake placid has a
[32:42] variable one their first
well they actually have it goes
[32:47] according to the months May to October
November to April is 03656 cents of
[32:54] kilowatt hour
the city of Plaxburg there's going to be
[32:59] there's they have first to 500 and then
over 500 and they also have uh winter
[33:05] and summer rates and the village at
Suffer Lake has winter and summer rates
[33:08] also.
Their rates range from 5 cents a
[33:14] kilowatt hour to 13 cents a kilowatt
hour.
[33:18] » I can I ask a question? I don't
understand the comment they have the
[33:21] economy to support it because then their
rate should be lower. That these are
[33:25] rates per the customer or residential
people. So they they have the economy to
[33:32] support it. You know, I know people
paying twice what we pay and I lived in
[33:35] Tupper Lake for quite a while and um I I
wonder what that kind of means.
[33:40] » Well, let me tell you, we we pay
property taxes coming out of Virginia.
[33:44] We pay town taxes. We pay village taxes.
I pay $20,000 in property taxes between
[33:53] my house on Treyan and my restaurant.
Now, you're going to increase my
[33:58] electrical rates. Tell me something.
What do I get in return for this? What
[34:02] services? I can't even call an Uber cab
around here. What do I get in return for
[34:06] this? $20,000 in property taxes. You
seem to be gung-ho about this. You seem
[34:12] okay. You seem really pro pro village
doing this.
[34:15] » Now I want
>> So tell me something. What do I get? No,
[34:19] but what do I what do I get in return
for this?
[34:21] » I I You're going to pay extra taxes just
like everybody else. I don't
[34:26] » But what do I get service-wise for
everything that I pay around here? What
[34:30] do I get?
>> I I can't I
[34:33] » I can't even go grocery shopping here. I
got to go all the way to Champlne.
[34:37] » I can't Can I
make this real quick because I'm not
[34:41] going to let this turn into a debate.
>> Okay. Um Ashine, 136 Lake, Carol Ashine,
[34:46] real name. You know, when this first
came out with this 153% big bold
[34:51] letters, look what the village is doing
to us, right? My worst fears came true
[34:55] because electricity around the country
is exploding. I figured it out for my
[35:00] own personal place. It would be going
from $1,100 to $2,600. I went across the
[35:05] street. I got an explanation from Ren. I
realized it was only for onethird of
[35:10] that amount. So, it was a $500 increase.
I tried to come back and explain to
[35:15] people what 153% is using my own house
as an example to make it simpler for
[35:21] people to understand. I had people thank
me. I understand it now. But to say that
[35:25] I am happy about a tax increase and what
this is for this village is idiotic.
[35:30] It's I understand it though if you talk
to the people and you see where we are
[35:34] financially and you look at the numbers
it's very understandable why they're
[35:37] doing what they're doing if if it comes
true. That's what I'm saying. If you're
[35:42] going to just go 153 you're gaslighting
people and you got you got to simplify
[35:46] it and say no it's 2% or two cents. It's
two cents on this and this is what
[35:51] approximately will be.
>> Your only hope for bringing business
[35:55] into this village is your electrical
rates. I'm just telling you. Look, I'm
[35:59] as honest as I'm going to be here and I
don't want to I I don't want to go
[36:04] everywhere. We're
>> Let's be honest here.
[36:08] » Let's be honest. You're not in You're
not in Platsburgh. You're not in Lake
[36:12] Placid, okay? You're in the village of
Rouse's Point. There is absolutely zero
[36:17] economy here. All the kids around here
want to leave. They graduate. You want
[36:22] to know where they want to go? Not the
village of Roses Point.
[36:25] » That's been going on my life.
>> Well, I'm just I'm just saying. I'm I'm
[36:28] just telling you. I pay $20,000 in
taxes. Look, I'm still paying it. I have
[36:34] a beautiful restaurant in the village of
Rous's Point if I would not have spent
[36:38] this kind of money in the village if I
did not love the village of Rous's
[36:42] Point. But there comes a point of no
return.
[36:45] » Was my clock held. I don't like that.
Oh, I'm just look [laughter] I you've
[36:50] given me enough time. I look I've
answered. I just you know I'm a
[36:53] frustrated individual. I'm a
businessman. That's all I'm saying.
[36:56] » But what I said what I I got out of the
Rouses Point groups a year ago because I
[36:59] had an unfortunate incident with
somebody no longer lives here. I was
[37:02] embarrassed by that and I decided to I'm
not getting into it anymore. When I saw
[37:06] this come out, I maybe I can help here.
Maybe I can explain. It got interpreted
[37:11] right away by the ERS people that I was
cheering for my $500 increase where in
[37:16] fact the word is probably grateful. It's
probably grateful for what is happening
[37:20] around the country. Okay. It it forced
me to dig into a situation that Chris
[37:24] knows about that I was wrong on my own.
So maybe I didn't present it right or
[37:28] something and everybody's saying happy
about this which is not true. It's not
[37:33] true. Now, last night I jumped back into
the group to get into a a discussion
[37:37] with somebody that was talking about his
niper rates or his his night rates,
[37:41] which are accurate. I verified those
numbers. Another ERS guy jumped in and
[37:46] said I was I didn't know my information.
I challenged that number. I got thrown
[37:50] out of the group. So, you for you guys
that like to make fun of Happy for
[37:54] running away already or something like
that. I got thrown out of the group. No
[37:57] explanation. No explanation for and
that's my fear for the village. The
[38:01] internet is a very powerful thing and
you're going to get hammered. You're
[38:04] going to get hammered. You're going to
get hammered. And you know, I don't I
[38:09] don't know what advice to give you. I
mean, you got to do what you think is
[38:12] right, but
>> but I just want to verify that.
[38:15] » Okay. Okay. Okay. Thank you very much,
Mr. Ashline. We can go on all night.
[38:20] Everybody has their own opinion. Anybody
who's been uh signed up was allowed to
[38:26] speak. And we're going to move on with
the regular meeting now.
[38:29] And like I said, I'm going to get the
auditor to come to [clears throat] a
[38:32] meeting. He'll be given more explanation
and everybody can ask questions to the
[38:38] auditor when he shows up at one of our
meetings. I I don't know exactly when
[38:43] that's going to be, but if it is, I will
try to get it out on our website. So,
[38:48] anybody who wants to attend the meeting
will can attend it and ask the auditor
[38:54] uh any question they want and go from
there. The auditor will be appearing via
[38:58] teams January 20th between 7:30 and
8:30. That's the only time that he's
[39:04] available.
>> Okay. Perfect.
[39:06] » Perfect.
>> Thank you. So anyway, right now we're
[39:10] going to move on to the regular meeting.
And right now, uh, we're going to
[39:14] address the minutes of the December 15,
2025 regular meeting. All the, uh,
[39:21] trustees should have a copy of those
minutes in their meeting in their
[39:24] packet. There's no uh changes,
deletions, or questions, then I need a
[39:28] motion to accept those minutes as
printed.
[39:31] » I make a motion we accept them as
printed.
[39:33] » Second.
>> All those accepting the minutes as
[39:36] December 15, 2025 of regular meeting as
printed, say I.
[39:40] » I. I.
>> All those opposed say no. The eyes have
[39:44] it. Bills, Mr. Lernal, we have one
addition this evening. It's the Menard
[39:50] Mechanical in amount of $26,750.
It's for the installation of two Nexus
[39:57] HU150 heaters, one in each bay, and all
the work involved in it.
[40:04] Thank you. Anybody have any questions on
the bills? If not, then I need a motion
[40:09] to pay the bills as printed.
>> I make a motion we pay the bills as as
[40:14] modified.
>> Second.
[40:17] » All those in favor of paying the bills
as modified by the treasur say I. I all
[40:24] those opposed say no. The eyes have it.
Uh correspondence, Mr. Latchimar.
[40:30] » Thank you, Mayor Labounti. Uh for
correspondence, I have two uh
[40:35] representatives from the Champlain Moors
EMS
[40:38] um service that we have with the village
of Ros's Point. I have Corey and Morgan.
[40:45] And I'd like to turn the floor over to
those two individuals to address any
[40:50] issues or concerns regarding the EMS
contract that we have.
[40:55] » Uh for anyone that doesn't know me, my
name is Corey Thompson. I'm the EMS
[40:58] captain for Champlain Moors EMS. This is
Morgan Aruda. She's the operations
[41:03] supervisor. So, every so often we come
to these meetings to see if there's any
[41:07] questions about the contract. We are
entering our 11th year uh as a
[41:11] contracted uh emergency services entity
with the village of Rous's Point. I know
[41:16] that the contract was approved at I
believe the end of November meeting or
[41:21] maybe it was the first one in December.
Um so [clears throat] I I had talked to
[41:26] uh Chris on the phone. I talked to Mayor
Leoni today. Um on Friday we were uh you
[41:31] know given some information that maybe
there were some questions regarding our
[41:35] contract either from the public or from
the board. So, we felt, you know, this
[41:40] was probably a good time to come and um,
you know, show our face and and see if
[41:44] there was any any questions. Uh just to
kind of put it into perspective numbers
[41:49] wise, uh we operate approximately $1.5
million budget of which uh the village
[41:56] of Rouse's Point uh pays approximately
180,000 uh in taxes and then we get
[42:04] billing revenue from the calls that we
do uh in in all of our contracted areas.
[42:09] In the village of Rouse's Point last
year uh our billing revenue was
[42:13] approximately 158,000. So combined uh
between tax rates and uh billing um it
[42:21] makes up about 20% of our our budget
which is right on point to how we figure
[42:26] our budget because about 20% of our
calls um come from the village of Rous's
[42:32] point. So uh last year's numbers we
answered 600 uh excuse me 1632
[42:38] ambulance calls uh as an agency and 296
of them occurred here in the village. uh
[42:45] your tax dollars um allow us to provide
round-the-clock EMS coverage. Um and in
[42:51] particular, we staff two ambulances. So,
we're such a large area and we're so far
[42:56] away from Platsburg that if we get an
ambulance call and that first crew is
[43:00] out and now somebody calls an ambulance
in this village or in Champlain or
[43:05] Moors, um we don't want those people,
you know, waiting any longer than they
[43:08] have to. Um [clears throat] and and
we've been very fortunate to get uh a
[43:13] third and sometimes even a fourth
ambulance on the road when it gets
[43:17] really really busy. And you are very
fortunate to have an ambulance, a fire
[43:21] department based ambulance in this
village that can respond to calls as
[43:25] well. So uh just a little bit of
background about us. Um but I I'd like
[43:29] to answer any questions that anyone
might have about our service.
[43:35] The only thing I would like to verify,
uh, Cy is, uh, when I first got elected,
[43:43] I'm not a I'm not a member of the fire
department or or, uh, I'm not familiar
[43:47] with it. So, I asked uh, Trusty Faly,
myself,
[43:54] Administrator Latchimmore, and Fire
Chief Leblanc to attend a meeting at
[43:59] your at your place of business. Do you
recall that?
[44:01] » I do.
and we went through the discussions of
[44:05] how this all started. How uh Russ's
Point was basically not one of the first
[44:10] members started with Champlain and Moors
and then somewhere along the line Russ's
[44:16] Point joined this uh uh this your your
business here. So, uh before I before I
[44:24] left that meeting with Chief Leblanc, I
asked him point blank, is there any
[44:30] questions that you have for Mr. Johnson,
is there any concerns about this
[44:34] contract, Chief LeBlanc? He said,
"Absolutely not." And we left that
[44:39] meeting. Is that not correct?
>> That's correct.
[44:41] » Okay. So, anybody that has any concerns
about the board misleading anybody,
[44:48] you're wrong. I took the the most expert
person I could think along with this
[44:54] meeting and and the board members would
be the fire chief Leblah, who's been the
[44:58] fire chief for a long time. and and he
did not see any problems and you don't
[45:04] have to take my word for it. You can ask
Chief LeBlanc and I asked him point
[45:09] blank like and I'll repeat myself in
front of everybody who was at meeting
[45:13] and there was probably at least 15 to 18
people at that meeting and he did not
[45:18] have any questions for Corey and he did
not have any concerns and that's where
[45:22] we are today. My concern was
the cost just like everybody else. Uh it
[45:29] it's it's sometimes it's hard to believe
what it costs today for certain
[45:35] services, but we became proactive. We
were never billing our services for
[45:41] ambulance pickup on the weekend
and we had a meeting and with uh myself,
[45:48] the administrator, the uh treasurer, I
think trustee Valkyrie was involved and
[45:53] we start to become proactive and I think
we use the same service that you people
[45:58] use.
So, we decided to start billing for the
[46:01] weekend services and it was only for
what the insurance pays. Nothing out
[46:08] going to put anybody on the street out
of their pocket with no threatening
[46:11] letters. And it's been a success so far.
And I believe since we started this in
[46:18] May of 2025,
we've taken in over $50,000, which has
[46:23] offset the current increase plus some of
the other costs that we've been paying
[46:28] in the past. And I expect that revenue
to just increase as we start the bill
[46:34] for the full year. So, we're not just
sitting around waiting for everybody to
[46:39] pay money in taxes or services. We're
trying to think of every situation that
[46:45] we can offset the the hit on your wallet
and we've come up with this and it's
[46:50] been a success so far and I believe it's
going to be successful going forward. Uh
[46:56] other than that I have nothing any other
board member have any questions for Mr.
[47:00] adoption.
>> Cory, I I think one question that
[47:05] the residents of the village Ross Point
may have is we have a volunteer
[47:10] department. We have volunteer uh EMTs
and one of the questions that they have
[47:17] is if we didn't enter into this contract
with Champlain Moors EMS,
[47:23] Champlne Moors EMS would have to be on
mutual aid. So, Ross's Point couldn't
[47:28] make the call. So, what's the advantage
of having the contract
[47:33] versus not having it?
>> That's a great question. Uh, so every
[47:37] tax dollar that we collect from all of
our contracted areas goes straight to
[47:42] staffing. So, if you look at our
staffing line item, um, we staff 14
[47:46] full-time employees uh, across the 247
period in a week. Uh, and the, uh, total
[47:53] tax dollars cover all of the, uh,
employee wages. So there isn't a single
[47:59] tax dollar that goes toward anything
else. All of our billing revenue covers
[48:02] every other cost that goes into an EMS
service, including new ambulances. So we
[48:08] are uh a rare entity in that we don't uh
ask any of our contracted areas to buy
[48:14] new equipment or new ambulances. So we
do all of that on our on our billing
[48:19] revenue. [clears throat] Uh one question
I get asked a lot is is why do I get
[48:22] taxed and I get an EMS bill? Um the
taxes are to supply uh personnel that
[48:29] are on call ready to respond to an
ambulance call. The the bill isn't is an
[48:34] individualized person's bill for that
particular call. So we all share the
[48:38] wealth in making sure people are ready
to go and available on on staff and then
[48:44] if you actually use the ambulance
service then you would your insurance
[48:47] company would pay your specific bill. Um
it's a it's been a very um uh good
[48:52] relationship with Rous's Point over the
last 10 years. If if we didn't have the
[48:57] service, uh number one, the volunteers
would be stressed with handling over 400
[49:01] ambulance calls a year. We did 296 and
the weekend is right around 100
[49:07] according to Chief Leblanc last year. So
you're asking uh uh volunteers to to
[49:12] answer over 400 ambulance calls, which
is a big stressor. Uh number two, it
[49:17] could delay um uh responses considering
that you have one ambulance. Uh if that
[49:22] ambulance is out, then and we you'd have
to wait for another ambulance to to
[49:26] arrive. So, we are out the door uh to
1632 calls. Our average response time
[49:32] was 2.2 minutes. And I actually looked
it up knowing I was coming to the
[49:36] meeting tonight. Our average response
time to the scene of every ambulance
[49:41] call in in Rous's point averaged out to
just under 10 minutes from dispatch to
[49:46] on scene. It was like 9.6 minutes. So
say 10 minutes from phone call to being
[49:51] on scene. Now there's always those cases
where the Champlain ambulance might be
[49:56] out so another ambulance might have to
come from the moors area. Um I will say
[50:01] that the the first responders in Rous's
point do a great job of responding to
[50:05] calls. I believe Trusty Pelky actually
went on an ambulance call today and
[50:09] assisted our crews. So, we do have a a
very robust fire department that does
[50:13] respond and assist on these calls. Uh
so, care is getting there immediately
[50:17] and then we come along and and take the
patient to the hospital. So, I
[50:22] appreciate that question.
>> Yes, sir.
[50:25] » Now, I just want to clarify. So, yes, we
do the weekend calls, but our staff is
[50:33] limited because of the training.
Correct.
[50:36] » Uh [clears throat]
>> training. I mean, I don't I don't know
[50:39] why. Uh I don't know the number of EMTs
and and paramedics that are staffed on
[50:44] the Rousles Point Fire Department
roster. I couldn't speak to that. Um you
[50:49] know, those numbers are diminishing
across the entire state. Our volunteer
[50:53] numbers have have ebed and flowed, but I
would say ever since the co days, uh
[50:59] volunteerism has decreased significantly
across the board. We faced the same
[51:03] thing. When we entered into contract
with Brussels Point in 2015, we had five
[51:08] full-time employees. Uh 10 years later,
11 years later, we had 14. Um and that's
[51:14] because call volumes go up, volunteerism
is going down, and people still need
[51:19] care to their to their homes when when
there's an emergency. So, uh a lot of
[51:23] that drives it. The training is more
substantial. It used to be a four-month
[51:27] class. Now, it's closer to a six-month
class, maybe an eight-month class. plus
[51:32] all the other stuff to it. So, um yeah,
paramedic is two years for some. So,
[51:40] » so in your estimation for if Ross's
Point were to have its own EMS service,
[51:47] how many individuals would need to be
hired in order to to fill um the service
[51:54] providing?
>> A lot of towns do it this way. Um it
[51:57] would take eight, four basics and four
paramedics. um the average cost of of
[52:02] one ambulance service 247 in a town. I
I'll speak to the town of Altona, the
[52:07] town of Ellenburgg are two of the
primary ones that hire uh a service to
[52:11] provide 24/7 coverage. The going cost is
around $600,000
[52:16] in taxes. Um the call revenue of 400
would would not cover $600,000. It would
[52:23] cover
at best maybe $200,000 of that. So,
[52:28] you'd be looking at a $400,000 taxable
rate where we're charging um well, I
[52:34] want to be clear, we're charging 180 for
the shared service and then your weekend
[52:37] paramedic this year 2026 is 70,000. So,
that combined, but that gives you
[52:43] dedicated paramedic service for 48 hours
on the weekend to the village.
[52:48] » So, approximately what we're paying is
$254,000. you're paying 250
[52:53] uh,000
uh total for all of your EMS service um
[52:57] that you're where most towns are paying
upwards of north of $600,000.
[53:03] » If we were to do 24/7,
what's the cost of a new?
[53:09] » Um our last new one we bought two years
ago was was close to 400,000.
[53:15] um the the very next one and and and to
save cost to all of our taxpayers, we
[53:20] are at a point where our four ambulances
are in pretty good shape. So, our oldest
[53:25] one is a 2019. Um so, rather than buying
a brand new ambulance this coming year,
[53:31] we're going to take the box off of that
one. It's called a rechassie and we're
[53:34] going to put it on a new chassis so we
have a fresh, you know, truck, but the
[53:39] box is still very good. So instead of
spending 400,000, the numbers we're
[53:43] seeing are about 225,000.
Um, granted, all that money comes from
[53:47] building revenue, but we can take that
excess cost and put it elsewhere in the
[53:51] budget uh to help with with needs. We we
just literally today got an email. We're
[53:56] very excited about this. Um, the heart
monitors that we use on all of our
[53:59] ambulances, we just upgraded to the
brand new state-of-the-art Lifepack 35s.
[54:04] Um, they are the uh the newest uh
product on the market. We are one of the
[54:08] first agencies to be receiving them and
they will be on our trucks on January
[54:14] 20th. Uh because our training is that
night and we're going to put them on our
[54:18] trucks after the training. So, we're
very excited about that. Um I can speak
[54:21] to our EMS board believes in the in the
best ambulances with the best equipment
[54:26] with the best people showing up in your
time of need and we're very committed to
[54:30] that.
just to, you know, reiterate what Cory
[54:35] is saying and everything. You know, we
pay $180,000 for the service and so it
[54:42] comes around 254 or whatever. But you
just got done saying it would be
[54:47] $400,000 to staff it. And then if we buy
a new ambulance, there's another
[54:51] 400,000. So, you're looking at $800,000
money that we have to have up front just
[54:57] to get started this if if we need if we
wanted to do that.
[55:01] » Yes. Um, you know, it's great to
investigate it. I always encourage
[55:05] public entities to get bids from other
agencies because that is due diligence.
[55:09] I
>> think we did that from CBPH and Morrison
[55:12] Bill. Correct. And Mr. Law, could you
refresh me on those numbers? I don't
[55:16] recall exactly.
>> 500,000.
[55:18] » That's what I thought somewhere. I
didn't want to say something that wasn't
[55:21] true. But I remember when he told me the
figure, I was just stunned.
[55:27] » Anything else?
>> Mr. Thompson, I appreciate your time
[55:32] information.
>> Thank you.
[55:33] » Also,
[55:37] [clears throat]
>> Mr. Lmore, you have anything else?
[55:40] » I think you have a question.
>> Not a question. Martin, 28 Rose Avenue.
[55:45] Oh.
>> Um, I did get a chance because I did
[55:47] have questions about some of the
contract. I met with Morgan and Corey
[55:51] also went over with some concerns with
Mr. Latimore and I must say after the
[55:55] meeting I was quite satisfied quite
happy their service is quite well and I
[56:00] think I mentioned that and I think I
publicly mentioned that also thank you
[56:03] very much
>> thank you for your comment
[56:08] Mr. Lemore,
>> that's all I have, mayor.
[56:11] » Okay. Under myself, I have a resolution
for the election 2026,
[56:18] resolution 2026-1.
And I'll read it into the record.
[56:26] Whereas the next village election for
the offices of the village of Russ
[56:30] Point, New York, will be held Wednesday,
March 18, 2026.
[56:34] Whereas the board of trustees of said
village must designate the by resolution
[56:39] the polling place in the hours which the
poll shall be open for section 15-104-3B
[56:46] of the New York State election law.
Therefore, be it resolved that the board
[56:50] of elect trustees of the village of
Ross's Point has determined the polling
[56:54] place shall be Halstead Hall located at
39 Lake Street, Russ, New York, with the
[57:00] polling being open from 12:00 noon to
900 p.m. and be further resolved that it
[57:07] as required by section 15 104-3B
of the New York election law notice that
[57:14] said village village polling place and
time the polls will be open be given at
[57:19] least 60 days prior to set election
uh this resolution shall take effect
[57:26] immediately
and I'm going to need a u motion to
[57:33] designate Hstead call as the polling uh
the voting uh place and have 12:00 noon
[57:40] to 9:00 p.m. as the hours of voting.
>> So move second.
[57:46] » Mr. Latchmore call vote, please.
>> Trusty Pel.
[57:50] » Trusty Bernard.
>> Hi.
[57:51] » Trusty Southwick.
>> Hi.
[57:53] » Trusty Arnold.
>> Hi.
[57:54] » Mayor Bounty. [clears throat]
>> I The eyes have it. The uh designation
[57:59] has been set by the board. The next
resolution is uh 2026-2
[58:06] voter registration day 2026.
Uh notice is hereby given that the board
[58:14] of trustees of the village of Ross Point
Clinton County, New York has the fifth
[58:18] day of January passed a resolution to
not hold a voter registration day for
[58:24] 2026 election. A copy of complete
resolution. resolution is stated.
[58:29] Whereas the next village election for
officers will be held on the 18th of
[58:33] March, 2026. And whereas due to the lack
of activity at past resation days, the
[58:40] village officials have decided not to
order registration day for the general
[58:45] election 2026. This resolution take
immediately effect today's date. Do I
[58:51] have a motion uh to forego the
registration date by this board?
[58:55] » Like make one comment, Mr. Mayor. Sure.
>> I've said this before when we pass this
[58:59] resolution, you can register online, you
know, and make any changes you need to
[59:03] online. I've done it myself. Works
great.
[59:07] [clears throat]
>> Anything else? Trust yourself.
[59:09] » Nope. Just wanted to make that comment.
Uh, so I need a a motion to forgo the u
[59:15] the uh
resolution for the uh voting for uh
[59:21] signing up to vote registration. I'll
make a motion to put resolution 2026-2.
[59:29] » Second.
>> Uh, roll call vote. Mr. Lim,
[59:33] » trustee Pelky.
>> Hi.
[59:35] » Trusty Bernard.
>> Hi.
[59:36] » Trusty Southwick.
>> Hi.
[59:37] » Trusty Arno.
>> Hi.
[59:39] » Mayor Lounty.
>> I. The board has passed it. There will
[59:42] be no registration as day in the
village, but as Trusty Celtic pointed
[59:48] out, you can go online and do it very
easily.
[59:51] Um, the next thing I have on my agenda
would be resolution
[59:57] uh uh let me see resolution 2026-3
inspectors of election Russ's point of
[1:00:05] New York. Whereas, pursuant to article
15, section 116 of the 1979
[1:00:12] state of New York election law, the
board of trustees of the village Ros is
[1:00:17] charged with adopting a resolution
appointing inspectors of election
[1:00:22] appointing a chairperson thereof and
affixing their compensation. Therefore,
[1:00:27] the board of trustees of Gold Ros does
serve by resolve that the inspectors of
[1:00:31] the election shall be one, Mary Rascal
will be the chief inspector. Two,
[1:00:37] Margaret Triot will be an inspector.
Three, will be an inspector. And four,
[1:00:43] Mariel Lefay will be inspector. The
chairperson shall be Mary Rascal. The
[1:00:49] compensation will be be fixed at $16.50
50 cents an hour for the election
[1:00:54] chairperson and $16 per hour for the
inspectors. This resolution will take
[1:01:00] effect immediately after the vote. Do I
have a motion to appoint Mary Rasco as
[1:01:06] the chief inspector and the other
inspectors along with the wage
[1:01:10] compensation for four individuals? I
need a motion from this board. Make a
[1:01:15] resol motion to pass the resolution
2026-3
[1:01:19] of the inspectors of the election of
Brussels Point. Second
[1:01:25] roll call vote Mr. Latimore.
>> Trusty Pel.
[1:01:28] » Trusty Manard.
>> I trusty Southwick.
[1:01:31] » I trusty Arno.
>> I mayor Bounty.
[1:01:34] » I The eyes have it. The inspectors are
set with their wages. [clears throat]
[1:01:38] The next thing I have is resolution
2026-4
[1:01:43] shared service agreement with the code
officer.
[1:01:46] And uh I'm going to read not all of it.
Some of it this agreement will be dated
[1:01:52] the first day of January 2026
by and between the town of Champlain and
[1:01:58] a municipal corporation with an office
located at 10729
[1:02:03] Route 9 PO Box 3144 Champlain, New York
12919
[1:02:10] known as a town the village of Ros's
Point
[1:02:15] is an office located at 139 Lake Street.
Yeah,
[1:02:19] » you have a resolution. That's the
contract
[1:02:22] » that was given to the trustees, but this
is
[1:02:24] » I apologize everybody. I I put my
glasses on.
[1:02:33] » This is a shared services agreement with
the code officer. It'll be as follows.
[1:02:37] This agreement should be dated.
>> You have resolution 2026 report.
[1:02:46] » Thank you. authoriz
authorizing the execution of a shared
[1:02:52] service agreement with the town of
Champlain for the provision of code
[1:02:55] enforcement officer. Whereas the uniform
shared services and considation act
[1:03:01] authorizes two or more local units to
enter into an agreement for interlocal
[1:03:06] services and known as services agreement
for the provision of municipal services.
[1:03:11] a in agreement. Whereas the governing
body of the village of Ros's point
[1:03:15] recognizes that shared services may
result in property tax relief and
[1:03:19] enhanced services for its resident
whereas the village of Ross Point is in
[1:03:24] need of a code officer for its
residents. Whereas the town of Champlain
[1:03:28] is able to provide code officer
enforcement. Whereas the village of Ross
[1:03:33] Point wishes to begin receiving code
enforcement officer uh due from the town
[1:03:39] of Champlain. Whereas the governing body
of the village of Ross Point has
[1:03:43] reviewed the proposed agreement a copy
which is attached to. Now therefore be
[1:03:48] resolved that the governing body of the
village Ross Point would hereby endorse
[1:03:52] endorsed by both to enter into this
agreement. We further resolve that the
[1:03:58] mayor is hereby authorized to take all
legal and necessary actions to
[1:04:02] facilitate the village of Ross Point
participation in in this agreement. Be
[1:04:07] it further resolved that a copy of this
agreement shall be maintained in the
[1:04:11] town of Champlain office and will be
available for public
[1:04:15] inspection. This resolution shall be
take effect immediately. And I need a
[1:04:21] motion to from one of the board members
and a second to enter into the shared
[1:04:26] service agreement with the town of
Champlain [snorts]
[1:04:29] for their code officer.
>> I just have a quick question.
[1:04:31] » Sure.
>> This is just a re this is renewing what
[1:04:34] we've already been doing, correct?
I believe so. I just wanted to ask it
[1:04:37] out loud.
[1:04:41] » I make a motion that we pass resolution
2026-4
[1:04:46] with the provision of shared code
enforcement officer with the town of
[1:04:50] Champlain.
>> Second roll call vote. Mr. Limmore.
[1:04:55] » Trusty Palkey.
>> Hi.
[1:04:56] » Trusty Bernard.
>> Hi.
[1:04:57] » Trusty Southwick.
>> Hi.
[1:04:59] » Trusty Arno.
>> Hi.
[1:05:00] » Mayor Lealdi.
>> I. The eyes have it. the agreement will
[1:05:04] be uh entered into. And lastly, under my
name, I have a letter from McGomery
[1:05:10] Hoe's book and ladder company number
one. Um, dear mayor and trustees, we
[1:05:16] wish to inform you that a new junior
member who has been approved to our
[1:05:20] company for probationary period for six
months with restrictions.
[1:05:25] And uh the new member was Trisha M.
tonight and uh she was uh approved and
[1:05:34] her probation career has been uh
completed. Is that correct, Mr. Limar?
[1:05:39] » That's correct.
>> Okay. So, we I this board would like to
[1:05:43] welcome the board Trisha M. Snide and we
appreciate her volunteerism.
[1:05:50] That's all I have.
>> No, you have one more. Oh, I'm sorry.
[1:05:53] » One more.
>> No, no, Dale has it. Oh.
[1:05:57] » Uh, Trustee uh Arnold, do you have
something?
[1:06:00] » Uh, nothing at this point, Mr. Mayor.
>> Okay. Uh, Trusty [clears throat]
[1:06:04] Bernard, do you have something?
>> Just one thing. Yes. Uh, this is from
[1:06:07] the Dodge Memorial Library. Dear Mayor
Leavi and village board, the Russell's
[1:06:12] Point Dodge Memorial Library Board of
Trustees at a special meeting held on
[1:06:16] December 30th voted to approve
um Matthew Bernell's request to hire
[1:06:23] Nicole Molinsky as a library feature.
This is more of a just aformational
[1:06:30] thing. They run their own board. They
point who they want to point. So, it's
[1:06:35] just an information for us.
>> Now, you guys have to approve that. We
[1:06:38] have to approve it. Okay.
>> Yeah.
[1:06:40] » So I make a motion that we approve
Nicole Minsky as a library page.
[1:06:44] » I second that. We'll call vote. Mr. Lor.
>> Trusty Paly.
[1:06:49] » Hi.
>> Trusty Bernard.
[1:06:50] » Hi.
>> Trusty Southwick.
[1:06:52] » Hi.
>> Trusty Arno.
[1:06:53] » Hi.
>> Mayor Lounti.
[1:06:55] » Hi.
>> That's all I have.
[1:06:57] » Okay. Thank you. Um, Trusty Pel.
>> Um, I had a meeting with our rec center
[1:07:04] facility manager, Keith Bardan.
Everything is going good down here at
[1:07:07] the rec center. A lot of people using
the range and u some budget numbers
[1:07:14] because our budget is we're working on
our uh our new budget that starts in
[1:07:19] June. So we're figuring out what needs
to be done
[1:07:25] we're waiting for the future. So
>> I I spoke to the manager and it seems
[1:07:30] like our uh rental numbers are up this
year.
[1:07:33] » Yes, numbers are up and Seems like every
weekend this facility is full. I mean,
[1:07:38] people buy the parking lot. It's just
chuck full and it's really good. It's
[1:07:42] good for our restaurants. It's good for
our businesses. Um, it's good all
[1:07:45] around.
>> Anything else?
[1:07:48] » That's all I have.
>> Thank you. Uh, Mr. Trusty South, do you
[1:07:52] have something?
>> Uh, just that if we haven't received an
[1:07:56] update from Barton Ludas regarding the
comprehensive plan by this point, I feel
[1:08:01] like we should reach out and get an
update. It's been a little bit since
[1:08:04] we've had their last community meeting
and we're wrote a progress report from
[1:08:07] them.
>> So, I just received an email from Bob
[1:08:11] Murphy today.
>> Okay.
[1:08:13] » Where he sent some documents to the
state for review. Um, so that's all that
[1:08:19] I have as far as that. But they told us
it was supposed to be done. Matt, you
[1:08:24] you've been right. It was supposed to be
completed by December, right?
[1:08:28] » Yeah.
>> Yeah.
[1:08:30] So, I
I'll I'll reach out to them, but I know
[1:08:33] they just sent documents to the state
today because I was CCed in the email
[1:08:37] and I had very limited use to my uh to
the office today.
[1:08:42] » The state's involvement would explain a
bit of a delay getting a revised
[1:08:46] timeline would be good.
>> I would be happy to provide that in the
[1:08:49] next meeting.
>> Perfect.
[1:08:51] » Anything else? Trusty S?
>> Nothing. Okay. Thank you. Uh, nobody's
[1:08:56] requested executive session and I need a
motion for adjournment. Gentlemen,
[1:09:01] » I make a motion we adjourn.
>> All those in
[1:09:04] » All those in favor of adjourning say I.
>> All those opposed say no.
[1:09:09] » Thank you gentlemen. Thank you everybody
from the public.