[0:00] All right, welcome Woodbury to your
village board meeting of September 10,
[0:03] 2026.
I would ask everyone to please rise for
[0:07] the pledge of allegiance and a moment of
silence from Michael Hansen and all
[0:11] those lives lost and all those lives we
continue to lose
[0:15] based on that faithful day 25 years ago.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
[0:21] United States of America and to the
republic for which it stands, one nation
[0:27] under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all.
[0:39] All right. Thank you, ladies and
gentlemen.
[0:45] All right. As I always do, I will start
with introductions of your village
[0:49] board. Starting at the far end with
deputy mayor Christopher Graciano.
[0:54] Next to him is an empty seat. Next to
the empty seat is trustee Kathleen
[0:59] Matah. Next to her is trustee Stephanie
Pal. Next to her is village clerk
[1:06] Jessica Mcclennon.
And I am your mayor Andrew Jackamaza.
[1:10] Tara Bureick is away on a special
assignment so she will not be here this
[1:14] evening. Uh we will start with
introductory local law 8 of 2026 extend
[1:19] the building moratorum. A public hearing
is being held to entertain public
[1:23] comments on introductory local law 8 of
2026
[1:29] extend building moratorum. The purpose
of this local law is to continue the
[1:33] moratorium on certain permits
certificate of o o o o o o o o o o o o o
[1:36] o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
o o o o o o o occ occupancy and
[1:37] approvals. Public notice was printed in
times held record on September 3rd,
[1:42] 2026.
So, for the board and the public's
[1:48] clarity, we will not be able to conclude
tonight since the GML 239 is still not
[1:53] back from the county. In the meantime,
we will go out to the public for
[1:58] comment. Anyone in the public wishing to
speak on introductory local law 8 of
[2:03] 2026,
[2:08] go to them. You go right up there.
[2:21] forget if you don't check your email,
[2:32] Mineral Springs. Um
[2:37] there is this new seeker law that
exempts
[2:41] um
multif family developments greater than
[2:45] one and less than 100 that becomes
active January 1 of this next year.
[2:51] Um the moratorum
um has to do with water and how this
[2:57] relates to the new law is that um hook a
connection to water and sewer is not
[3:05] required until occupancy habitation. So
the plan can go forward without water
[3:11] and sewer hookup. Um, it exempts
basically home rule law
[3:17] and leaves the planning board in a man
uh what's the right word?
[3:24] Old brain again, can't remember, but
ministerial role. Um, much of what we're
[3:29] used to being able to use to review
projects do not does not apply. As I
[3:34] have reviewed this law, uh, exemption
number 14 specifically identifies a
[3:41] single family dwelling. I think you will
find that if your council reviews this
[3:46] that that is an impertinence because
it's a local law and the state law has
[3:51] superiority
um uh sovereignty over over local home
[3:55] rule as the governor has written the
law. And the second one is that number
[4:00] 15 is basically
um a welcome map
[4:07] because again they don't have a
development that would be qualify as an
[4:11] exempt uh development on disturbed land
doesn't have to have water and sewer
[4:18] until habitation.
This means the the capital investment in
[4:23] the property can go forward and
therefore any they have rights and then
[4:28] that they would have to have additional
value that would have to be bought out
[4:31] in any future thing. So be aware of that
going into this maybe review it again.
[4:37] Um I don't know if 15 was in the last
one but it it is to my perception
[4:44] basically I welcome that to these what
the seeker exempts. Thank you. Thank
[4:49] you. Anyone else wishing to speak on
introductory local law 8 of 2026
[5:03] Jimmy Highland Mills?
So this is just a rant.
[5:09] In four years I've seen you guys
between water moratoriums, sewer
[5:15] moratoriums, these building moratoriums
trying to
[5:19] do what's right for this area.
[5:23] You know because of your efforts there
was no drought. Um
[5:29] but at this point
at this juncture what is the point of
[5:35] this? Because when you have a governor
who wants basically she would eliminate
[5:42] secret she could the mandate is let them
bills um
[5:48] on and on the DC has not stepped in
otherwise certain things in South
[5:54] Blooming Grove would not have occurred
and you know I know you can't speak
[6:00] about it but we all know what this
annexation is about. They they're not
[6:04] asking for the annexation because you're
a dictator or whatever else. It's
[6:10] because of all these
moratoriums that's slowing down the
[6:14] overdevelopment. So at this point, what
is the point of this?
[6:19] It's it's oh, I'm still going to fight.
I'm still going to speak up. I'm still
[6:23] be opinionated. But it is frustrating
that you're here trying to do the right
[6:28] thing
and the the mayors, the supervisors,
[6:33] whoever's in charge of all these other
municipalities around us can do whatever
[6:37] they please
and nobody is stepping in. I don't want
[6:42] to hear about home rule and this and
that because if it was home rule, local
[6:49] mandates don't apply to us.
So,
[6:56] what are you going to do? You're going
to be the LA Are we going to be the last
[7:00] municipality standing fighting for
what's good for this area?
[7:07] You know, I know where you stand and I
know what you're going to do. what's
[7:10] right. But for me, I had to I'm just
frustrated because I of what I see
[7:15] because if it wasn't for you, what two
years ago, we would had the water trucks
[7:20] possibly, we would be backed up on sewer
most likely
[7:26] between the flooding that occurs on
every any rain because they pave every
[7:31] last inch. They not they cut down every
tree.
[7:36] And this is going to lead in this
November. I hope everyone's paying
[7:40] attention.
They have to vote. Even though there's
[7:44] no one running for TR, you know, there's
no opponents on trustee and supervisor.
[7:50] Our local elections are what they are,
but our state elections, we need help
[7:57] because you are fighting
the leaders in Albany. And how much
[8:03] longer can you guys do this?
You know, we do 500 500 acres. What do
[8:09] you do? Another five because
you won't allow them to overdevelop.
[8:15] Thank you. Thank you, Jimmy. Anyone else
wishing to speak on introductory local
[8:22] law 8?
[8:29] Maria Hunter,
I thank the board for doing this law
[8:36] again and I'm full in support of this.
So, I appreciate it. I know you're still
[8:41] actively looking for more water that we
never ever have to have a drought season
[8:47] affect us. So, I appreciate that what
the water department is doing, building
[8:51] department and this board. So, thank you
for putting this forward again. I'm in
[8:54] support of this. Thank you.
>> Thank you, Maria.
[8:58] Anyone else in the public?
[9:02] » Can I say something?
>> Yeah, go right ahead.
[9:04] » All right. I just want to make sure Let
me make sure everybody hears me. Um, I
[9:10] want to make sure that everybody
understands what this moratorium is
[9:12] about and not making it into something
it's not. Um, when I first got on the
[9:18] board over 6 years ago, the first thing
that I did was sit down with the folks
[9:23] in the water department, look at their
budget, look at their water supply
[9:28] situation, and look at what we already
had approved. This has nothing to do
[9:33] with development. Never did. This 100%
only has to do with the fact that we are
[9:38] not in code for state law for water
supply. So until we get there, we had to
[9:45] pause new hookups to the system because
all it would do is push us further
[9:49] backwards instead of getting forward. So
this was never being never ever was
[9:55] intended to be anti-development. None of
us are anti-development.
[9:59] It only had to do with we didn't have
enough water supply to to serve our co
[10:05] our constituents as is if the biggest
supply went out of service. That's the
[10:09] rule is if you lose your biggest supply,
you still have to have enough water to
[10:12] feed your average day. We didn't have
that and we're working diligently
[10:17] towards that. It's not a fast process.
We've gotten the well on. We're looking
[10:22] at another one. We're getting close.
They've done a lot of work, a lot of
[10:26] rehab work, a lot of fixing of the
system, and we've haven't had a summer
[10:31] restriction in a couple years now
because of all that investment and work.
[10:36] It takes a few years to catch up for 10
years of neglect of the water system
[10:41] that happened before that. So, please
don't take this as anything having to do
[10:45] with whatever the governor passed or not
passed because this was 6 years ago. Had
[10:49] nothing to do with any of that. That's
what the true nature of this moratorium
[10:54] is. All about water and how much supply
we have. Once we get above that hump,
[11:01] then I will be the first person to want
to rem to get this moratorum and remove
[11:05] it finally because it was my idea in the
first place when we first did this six
[11:10] years ago. It didn't it wasn't put in
six years ago when I first got here. It
[11:14] took a while, but it was all my idea
because of the situation we were in, but
[11:19] I want to make sure everybody
understands that it was not because we
[11:22] were trying to prevent any development.
We were trying to prevent us from having
[11:26] no water. which is a bigger item. So
just please remember that. Thank you.
[11:33] » Yeah, I think it's important to stress
that we are making progress. We just
[11:38] completed our third summer without water
restrictions and I can tell you that the
[11:43] previous nine 10 years. We had water
restrictions in place for the summer. So
[11:50] it has helped. CJ explain what the the
um basis of this building moratorum was
[11:58] which was about just giving us a pause
so that we can sort of get our the
[12:04] system that was neglected up to snuff
and we are making very good progress. I
[12:08] think we're turning a corner. So, um, I
think CJ cuz really CJ working with
[12:14] Jason and Mickey Phillips when he first
got on the board is why we're at this
[12:20] juncture now. So, um, any other comments
from the board? Anybody else? No. Okay.
[12:27] Any other comments from the public?
Okay. Can I have a motion and a second
[12:31] to adjourn the public hearing to our
September 24th, 2026 meeting?
[12:36] » Motion. Second.
>> All in favor? I. Okay. Introductory
[12:42] local law 9 of 2026 entitled field
changes. Public hearing is being held to
[12:48] entertain public comments on
introductory local law 9 of 2026
[12:53] entitled field changes. Purpose of this
local law is amending chapter 310 zoning
[12:58] article 8 site plan and special permit
review and approval of the code of the
[13:03] village of Woodbury to provide for
administrative approval of minor field
[13:07] changes to approve site plans. Public
notice was printed in the times held
[13:12] record on September 3rd, 2026.
So once again, we're not going to
[13:17] complete this local law tonight um
because the planning board has yet to
[13:24] opine on it. They will next week at
their meeting. So I will ask if there's
[13:30] anyone in the public wishing to speak on
this.
[13:34] Okay. Anyone on the board have any
questions for council? No.
[13:40] » Have any anything? I supply my comments.
You want to go through them or
[13:44] » No, we could wait till the public
hearing if you want to do that. That's
[13:47] fine. Okay. Okay. Hearing no further
com. Well, can I have a motion in a
[13:52] second now to adjourn this public
hearing for our September 24th,
[13:57] 2026 meeting?
>> Second.
[14:00] » All in favor?
>> I.
[14:02] » All right. So, just fair warning, the
September
[14:06] 24th meeting, please bring snacks for
the mayor, okay? Because I think it's
[14:12] going to be a long one. I think I have
like five or six public something. I got
[14:16] something crazy on that night. So,
anyway, public comment on agenda items
[14:21] only. This is a very light agenda for
this evening. We will make up for it on
[14:25] the 24th. So, is there anyone in the
public wishing to speak on anything
[14:30] that's on the agenda for this evening?
Going once, going twice.
[14:36] Okay. Administrative business, can I
have a motion and a second to accept
[14:40] seat of the minutes of the meeting held
on August 27, 2026?
[14:45] » Motion.
>> Second.
[14:47] » All in favor?
>> I.
[14:49] » Okay. Village clerk mlennon, will you
please read abstract 7? Abstract 7
[14:54] contains vouchers 26270578
through 26270725
[15:00] and totals 1,232,6058.
[15:05] » All righty. Thank you, village clerk
mcclennon. Got a motion and second to
[15:09] approve track seven as read.
>> Second.
[15:14] » All in favor?
>> I.
[15:17] » We have no old business to discuss. I'm
going to have to start creating old
[15:20] business, I think, just to have it on
there.
[15:22] » We are old business.
>> Yep, that's true. I am 57. Okay. Badge
[15:27] meter smart cover renewals. Can I have a
motion in a second to authorize me, the
[15:33] mayor, to sign a contract with badge
meter incorporated for $6,732.95
[15:40] for smart covers for the water
wastewater department?
[15:45] » Motion.
>> All in favor? I
[15:49] » there you go. All right. Village clerk
mlennon, will you actually let me just
[15:54] say this first? Electric lockin renewal
and the board doesn't know this is
[16:00] coming. So, village treasurer Desire Pin
and I met with M&R Energy Resources
[16:06] Corp. That's the villages energy
consultant. At the current rate
[16:10] proposed, the village would see an
increase of roughly $66,000 a year.
[16:16] Normally, we would agree to this and
move forward because the rates change
[16:19] daily.
Our consultant is suggesting holding off
[16:23] and having the board authorize me, the
mayor, to sign an agreement if and when
[16:29] the rates slightly reduce. So, I will
ask Jessica Mlennon, the village clerk,
[16:35] to shorten the abridge version of the
resolution.
[16:43] Now therefore, be it resolved that the
village board of the village of Woodbury
[16:47] hereby authorizes acceptance of the bid
submitted by the lowest responsible
[16:50] bidder, provided the pricing remains
valid and within the perimeters outlined
[16:55] herein in the time of execution, and be
of further resolve that the mayor is
[16:58] hereby authorized to execute an
agreement with the lowest responsible
[17:02] bidder in a form approved by the village
attorney and to take any action
[17:06] necessarily necessary to secure the
pricing in a timely manner consistent
[17:10] with prevailing market conditions.
Thank you, village clerk mcclennon.
[17:16] » Okay, I have a motion and a second to
approve the resolution as read.
[17:20] » Motion.
[17:23] » All in favor?
>> I already.
[17:27] » And last but not least, can I have a
motion and a second to authorize
[17:31] engineer Sean Hoffman of Lanken Tully to
coordinate publication and a bid opening
[17:36] date for the Hazard Lane Culvert Repair
Project.
[17:41] Motion second.
>> All in favor?
[17:45] » I.
>> Ladies and gentlemen,
[17:49] in new record time.
>> I told you it was a short agenda. Okay.
[17:56] Public comment on every anything and
everything. Doesn't matter to me. Tell
[18:01] us about You just You don't even have to
raise your hand. You just go to the
[18:04] podium. Is that what they do in
Cornwall? They make you raise your hand.
[18:07] » Should be respected. Uh, pusha pusha. I
put my pants on one leg at a time.
[18:15] » I
>> and I wear boxer briefs.
[18:18] » Greg Roby, Mineral Springs. I have to
say I have very much enjoyed uh my time
[18:23] here in Woodbury uh municipal
enterprises. The spirit and the ease and
[18:30] the comfort is is refreshing uh given
that my experience is in Cornwall.
[18:40] I was aware of the uh water crisis that
Woodbury is under and
[18:49] I see things through my Cornwall
glasses. Uh so my apologies for any
[18:54] inference otherwise. Um it is well
considered. It is cool that you're
[19:00] getting it together. Um, and that
I have the hazard of living as much in
[19:07] the future as the present. My wife does
the present very well. I do the past and
[19:12] the future exceptionally well. And with
the change in the seeker, nothing that
[19:18] we've been planning, including the skill
sets our lawyers have, are are
[19:23] particularly relevant. Um the the the
section 8 hyphen 1 0 I mean yeah 8 011
[19:35] is truly
a a word salad masterpiece.
[19:41] When I spoke a couple weeks ago I was
getting my feet wet. I have done several
[19:47] more recursive
rewritings of that manually and with
[19:51] large language models. It is truly
genius how well it is written to deceive
[19:59] and snooker. And this is why the other
part of what I submitted to you, which
[20:05] is a generic complaint.
Municipalities need to go for a
[20:12] permanent injunction of this law,
a stay of the January 1 thing pending
[20:20] emergency legislation.
Every single municipality
[20:26] in in New York has an interest in this.
Um, and I somebody's got to take the
[20:34] lead.
Um, it won't be Cornwall.
[20:38] our our planning consultant is in so
deep with the stuff that we have done to
[20:44] prevent development without talking
about it being development prevention
[20:48] that um his law firm would be subject to
losing its contract and probably suits.
[20:55] Um,
and
[20:58] I think it's okay for us to be in that
place because the other part of the
[21:01] strategy that I'm moving forward with is
that our New York State election law,
[21:07] the way it allows parties to be
intermediaries between the political
[21:12] conscience, the conscience of the people
and their liberty is the same as what
[21:17] municipal charter law is being abused by
communities that claim religious
[21:23] exemption, but in are doing political
action. They are repressing the
[21:28] conscience of their dissident
and and and the result is at the gut
[21:34] level of our our community, we
understand that there's a war going on
[21:38] and it's not fair. And that's true.
Since 250 years ago, 1977,
[21:44] this kind of monarchal practice is
repugnant under article 1, section 14
[21:51] and abregated.
it is not a thing to be discussed. So
[21:56] that's yet another approach. But in the
mean in the short term, the complaint
[22:02] that draft of it, some iteration of it
would be extremely helpful to get the
[22:06] ball started and then we can go all the
way to the Supreme Court and overturn
[22:11] its unwillingness to recognize that
conscience is primary.
[22:17] And they they washed their hands of
things that were quote religious and
[22:21] they should not have because under
Seager versus the United States 1965 a
[22:27] secular conscientious objector got his
right to a CO because he acted and felt
[22:36] as though it was the same as a religious
theology. So whether it's political or
[22:42] religious, if it stands in the way of
the conscience of the people, it is
[22:46] unconstitutional. And in New York, we're
gifted with the word repugnant and
[22:52] abregated.
So take heart. There is hope, but it
[22:58] ain't going to be simple. Thank you.
>> Thank you, Greg.
[23:03] » Anyone else in the public wishing to
speak?
[23:13] You missed the mayor visiting us today.
>> I know she'd have been there
[23:18] » a little bit.
>> I didn't want to spread any germs.
[23:22] » It was
>> Don't worry about that. It was We were
[23:26] out there.
>> Don't worry. Forget Don't worry about
[23:28] the seniors. A little germs between
friends. Nothing. Nothing. Go ahead.
[23:34] » I've been with the seniors for last
week, today. this week. It's just been
[23:39] insane. They are some group of people
and I mean it in a nice way. Um the just
[23:47] the Woodbury Chamber of Commerce,
Woodbury Day, um O Saturday, October
[23:51] 3rd, St. Patrick's parking lot between
10 and 3 p.m. We're getting a a good
[23:57] list together. As soon as I have time
tomorrow, I'm going to sit down and list
[24:01] everyone that's going to be there. We
have the Tumble Bus. We're working on a
[24:06] gaming be game a mobile gaming van. Say
that three times fast. Um Joe uh
[24:12] Gianzaro who's the president was going
to get some kind of bouncy houses. We
[24:16] have the Central Valley Fire Company. We
have the Lions Club. We have the police
[24:19] department. I have the sheriff's
department. Um they're doing our police
[24:24] are doing the K-9. The sheriff's
department is going to do the the
[24:28] children's ID program which we haven't
had in a long time. So I think it's very
[24:32] important that we bring that back. And
there's a bunch of other organizations
[24:36] and groups that are coming in for that.
I do have some applications. They're
[24:40] online for the vendors and the library
is going to be there. Don't want to
[24:43] forget to mention them. And um it's it's
working. And I have Ria, raise your
[24:49] hand. Ria is our VP of events and she's
been doing a tremendous job getting
[24:54] businesses to join up and to she's out
there. She's a a force to be reckoned
[24:59] with. She's doing a great job. Thank
you,
[25:03] Anna.
more somber note. Just want to remind
[25:07] everyone tomorrow night 7 p.m. right out
front here. Um
[25:16] we remember, we honor, we never forget,
and this is from the ladies auxiliary.
[25:24] 25 years have passed, but we remember.
We honor the lives lost, the heroes who
[25:30] rose to the moment, and the spirit of
unity that carried us through. And they
[25:35] ask that we all join us at the Woodbury
Fire Department as we gather to
[25:39] commemorate the 25th anniversary of
September 11th. This means so much to
[25:44] our community as we did lose one of our
members of the Central Valley Fire
[25:49] Company who unfortunately was within one
of the towers doing his job. And this
[25:55] monument that's out front,
it means a lot to all of us.
[26:02] When we put this monument out, we had it
put in 15 years ago. And um on one side
[26:08] you'll see Mike Matess's name on the one
side and you'll have all
[26:14] everyone that was any building that was
affected or hit with all the four
[26:18] planes. So um I do get emotional with
this so I apologize. So, I ask everyone,
[26:24] please show up. I know Jimmy, you're
going to be there. We're going to
[26:28] broadcast it live, and I I appreciate
it. And I know the men are downstairs
[26:33] cleaning up everything. So, I thank
everyone.
[26:36] » Thank you, Maria. If you drive by
anybody on Smith Clove Road, you go by
[26:41] the Central Valley Firehouse. It's a
firehouse that the Central Valley
[26:44] Firemen own. They are actually doing a
dedication on the the bays for Mike
[26:51] Montessie. So Ed Hoff and I passed on
the way down here and he was out there
[26:56] working on it, stenciling and everything
else like that. It looks fantastic. So
[27:01] it's a nice tribute to one of our
firemen who was lost on 911 on that
[27:06] faithful day 25 years ago. Anyone else
in the public wishing to speak?
[27:15] Going once.
Going twice.
[27:19] Department comments. John Hand.
Nothing. Huh? Okay. No.
[27:26] » Nothing.
>> Okay. Jessica.
[27:29] » Okay. Starting at the far end with uh
Deputy Mayor Christopher Gratziano.
[27:36] Thank you everybody. Um I'm thinking
about something that Maria just said and
[27:41] tomorrow
is the 25th anniversary of one of the
[27:44] most terrible events that have happened
to this country in its history. And the
[27:50] thing that triggered me to kind of speak
about this this evening was the words
[27:54] that Maria just said and we never
forget. Well,
[27:59] unfortunately, we're starting to forget.
If everybody really thinks back to the
[28:04] days and weeks and months after that
horrendous event, how it put neighbors
[28:10] together, blocks together, communities
together, a whole country came together,
[28:16] and it was such a wonderful feeling. And
I just look at what's going on today out
[28:22] there, and it it seems like we have
forgotten. And maybe we should start to
[28:28] remember what that felt like and what it
feels like to shake your neighbor's hand
[28:32] and what it feels like to work side by
side with people in in concert for the
[28:38] goodness of all. It's getting to the
point where the vitriol is getting
[28:43] completely ridiculous. It's getting out
of hand and the political
[28:48] infighting and outfighting is just
horrendous. So,
[28:54] I challenge everybody to take this upon
yourself to remember and to remember the
[29:01] good feelings, to remember what it's
like to stand up together as one
[29:04] country, as one group of people, as one
group of citizens and work together and
[29:10] be together and hold hands together and
kind of think of that and how we can get
[29:16] back to that feeling going forward
because God knows this country needs it.
[29:20] Thank you and good night.
Thank you, Trustee Gratiana.
[29:25] Trustee Matilda.
[29:37] I'm joking. Um, thank you for coming
tonight, everybody here. I have some
[29:43] upcoming local events. Um, Woodbury
Community Cleanup is Saturday, September
[29:48] 19th, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. The
location is the Woodbury Highway
[29:52] Department. Come and
to the highway department to pick up
[29:57] your bags and receive your cleanup
assignment.
[30:03] This next one is the appliance recycling
drive. The coolest recycling drive at
[30:07] 2026. Get it? Um, that's there are three
dates. Saturday, September 19th from 10
[30:14] to 2:00 p.m. Monday, September 21st from
4 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Saturday,
[30:21] September 26, 2:00 p.m. to 400 p.m.
Um, it's free drop off for appliances,
[30:28] container, refrigerants.
The next one is green drinks for a
[30:33] greener tomorrow. The location will be
it's Wednesday, Sep September 23rd, 6:30
[30:39] to 8:30 p.m. Sweet Clover Farm. And come
connect with neighbors to learn simple,
[30:45] actionable ways to make a positive
environmental impact together with your
[30:50] community.
Two more. Um, Bioblitz is Saturday,
[30:55] September 26th from 10:00 a.m. to 1 pm
and the location is the Smith Clove
[31:01] Passive Recreation Area on 271 Smith
Clove Road. And um, this will be an
[31:09] event to help catalog local plant and
animal species at this familyfriendly
[31:13] event. Free food will be provided.
You always get people with food. Um,
[31:20] Saturday, October 17th is the Woodbury
Repair Cafe, the next one coming up. So,
[31:26] there are several um, vendors coming.
I'll say vendors. Um, it's 10:00 a.m. to
[31:32] 2:00 p.m.
and that is also posted online. So, I
[31:38] also have um, and I think it's already
been said, so I'm sorry if it's
[31:45] repetitive. Tomorrow marks the 25th
anniversary of September 11th. We hold
[31:50] in our hearts the nearly 3,000
individuals, passengers, workers, and
[31:55] first responders who lost their lives,
as well as the countless families and
[32:00] communities, including our own, that
have been forever altered by that day.
[32:04] Let's remember the profound bravery of
the firefighters, police officers, and
[32:09] medical personnel, who ran toward danger
without hesitation, placing others
[32:13] before themselves.
September 11th was a tragic day in our
[32:18] nation's history, but it also revealed
our deepest strength, courage, and
[32:23] unity.
Tomorrow, we honor the lives lost, pay
[32:27] tribute to the heroes who served, and
reaffirm our commitment to standing
[32:30] stronger together.
And we are better standing stronger
[32:35] together.
Have a good evening.
[32:39] » Thank you, Trusty Matah. Well said,
>> Trusty Pal. Okay, good evening
[32:46] everybody. Um, Kathleen said a lot of
what I also wanted to echo about 911 and
[32:51] the 25th anniversary um, being tomorrow.
Something I keep thinking a lot about is
[32:56] how 25 years can simultaneously feel
like yesterday and a lifetime ago. And I
[33:03] think a lot about September 10th, 25
years ago and the before and the after.
[33:08] I personally had just moved into college
two weeks before and the world
[33:14] completely changed and um yeah so I
think tomorrow my whole thing is to
[33:21] encourage everybody to take some time to
remember and reflect
[33:25] um think about what we can do one small
gesture to make somebody else's day a
[33:32] little bit better and I think that is a
big message um to just think about going
[33:38] forward tomorrow because it will be a
solemn day but I think if even just a
[33:42] smile at a stranger um and remember
where we were 25 years ago
[33:49] and then I also just wanted to say um
this weekend is also Russashana so for
[33:53] all those who celebrate I hope you have
a happy new year that's it
[33:58] » thank you trusty pal
so
[34:02] for my parents who were basically
hippies um for M time is marked. The
[34:09] thing they ask yourself is what where
were you when JFK was shot? Okay. For
[34:15] me, I thought it would be the Challenger
explosion when I came home from school
[34:20] for a half day and turned the TV on and
then we had that tragedy. Turns out that
[34:28] my for my generation and for many other
probably the generation after mine, what
[34:34] will be remembered is that day 25 years
ago. Now I was down there that day. I
[34:39] was supposed to be heading to a workers
comp hearing in Brooklyn when the train
[34:43] stopped on Park Row and I basically
walked to the nearest building that the
[34:50] company I worked for, Vernon Realy, had
owned down there which was attached to
[34:54] the New York Stock Exchange.
So, um, it was a bit scary because I
[35:00] walked past the towers or at least the
one tower that was the plane had hit and
[35:05] to watch people who really had no other
alternative but to jump out of a window
[35:11] instead of
the alternative.
[35:17] Um, that day for me, you know, just
brings back I didn't have to live down
[35:22] there like so many of our first
responders did. And I want to talk a
[35:26] minute about that. Michael Hansen, who I
run a blood drive for every year here
[35:32] since I got on this board. Michael
Hansen,
[35:36] um, and his benefits have been denied 13
times, and you may have seen that on the
[35:42] news because the mayor of New York City
decided to quote him. And while at the
[35:47] same time they're denying his benefits,
he was down there for nine months on
[35:53] recovery efforts. Now, that wasn't his
first foray into
[35:58] being a hero because he was also sent to
Oklahoma after the bombings there and
[36:04] also the first uh World Trade Center
bombing. He was also part of that as
[36:09] well. He is one of many who have kind of
been forgotten. We think about the
[36:16] people that were lost that day, but
Hector Calarbalo or Steven Lopez or
[36:22] Pedro Ferrari, these are first
responders. Some of them Hector was a
[36:28] Verizon worker who was part of the
recovery efforts.
[36:33] To this day, we are still losing people
based on
[36:38] the poison, the airborne toxins in the
air that affected their lives. Michael
[36:44] Hansen, for those that didn't know him,
it's a shame because he really was just
[36:50] a gentleman. Uh I first met Mike through
the Knights of Columbus and I would see
[36:55] him every week at church and he always
had a smile, always would shake your
[37:00] hand. He was a big burly guy, one of the
sweetest men you would know. And he did
[37:05] so much for this community. He spent 30
years downstairs. Did he also train you?
[37:10] Yep. He was our he ba education. What
did you call it exactly?
[37:16] Safety director, whatnot.
He literally trained a generation of
[37:22] firefighters downstairs. Okay. All the
young guys that you see, Michael Hansen
[37:27] in some kind of way touched their lives
by making sure that they were working
[37:32] safely whenever they went to a fire. So
tomorrow, I want you to remember all
[37:38] those lives lost that day. But I also
want people to remember the lives that
[37:42] we continue to lose, okay, based on
those cancers. And just pray that like
[37:48] Michael Hansen's widow, Kathy Hansen,
will get what she's due, which is his
[37:53] benefits because the only way he
contracted ALS was because of his
[37:57] efforts down
at the World Trade Center for nine
[38:02] months. So, please come out tomorrow. It
really is. The the the men and women
[38:08] downstairs do a wonderful job honoring
the lives of so many. So,
[38:14] it's a wonderful event. It's very
solemn. They do a great job. So, anyway,
[38:18] with no further business to discuss or
comments received, can I have a motion
[38:21] in a second to adjourn this meeting?
>> Motion.
[38:24] » Second.
>> All in favor?
[38:26] » All right. I have nothing witty for you
tonight. I'm sorry. All right. I usually
[38:31] do a Chuck Norris thing. Not gonna
happen tonight. Sorry. I know Steve, you
[38:36] came here just for that. I apologize.
Go home, you two.
[38:42] You go home, too.
Yep.