The argument started over a single word: residency. At its February 11 work session, the Board of Trustees sat down to finalize a long-overdue governance document for Croton-on-Hudson's advisory committees — the volunteer bodies that advise on everything from sustainability and recreation to arts and the waterfront. What began as a straightforward policy review turned into the most sustained exchange of the evening: a disagreement between Mayor Brian Pugh and several trustees over whether the village's committee seats should be reserved for village residents. Village Manager Bryan Healy offered the institutional context: "In terms of your advisory committees, there's really no legislated residency requirement." Read 102:46▶ The village had never formally required committee members to be residents. Healy noted that "at one point in the recent past, we did have a number of nonresident members on our committees, and I think we have trimmed that back." Read 108:33▶ *The residency debate* Pugh's argument was built around expertise. "An unqualified resident should take the place of a like, on the sustainability committee. You have, you know, doctor Oppenheimer," Read 105:07▶ he said, reaching for an analogy. "And I don't know why you'd want the inventor of the atom bomb on it, but I think you get what I'm saying." Read 105:07▶ Pugh, who serves as the board's liaison to the sustainability committee, personally vouched for its non-resident members. "But there are very qualified people on the sustainability committee that do a lot of work for our village who are not residents," Read 106:42▶ he said. "And I'm not gonna say they have to leave because, hypothetically, you know, some person with no real or vastly, you know," Read 106:42▶ he continued, trailing off as another trustee interjected. "There's a lot of weight that goes into being a resident, but I'm not gonna make it an absolute rule," Read 107:23▶ Pugh said. That trustee pushed back. "You're the mayor, so it is up to your discretion. But I think that it is the village committees are for village residents." Read 107:05▶ she said, adding that she felt "kinda strongly about that." Read 107:05▶ Another board member pointed to a real-world example: a subcommittee currently run by a non-resident. The board member warned that one particular committee's outreach "is becoming less local and more has a larger geo geography." Read 112:14▶ *One committee per person* Trustee Nora Nicholson pressed for a one-committee-per-person rule, noting that some residents serve on multiple bodies while first-time applicants are turned away. "And why should we let somebody I mean, you can attend any meetings you want as a resident," Read 115:25▶ she said, adding: "We had to turn people away in this last call for on on a lot of committees because there were people interested in joining and there wasn't a space for them." Read 115:25▶ Another trustee agreed that duplication should be avoided, saying they had thought the board had already more or less reached that conclusion. Village Manager Healy suggested the board set a concrete implementation date. The board settled on June 1 — the end of the fiscal year — giving current multi-committee members time to choose. *Student members* The board also grappled with how to handle student participation. Nicholson reported that someone from Croton-Harmon High School had reached out to her last August about getting students involved on the Arts and Humanities Advisory Council. The committee had not followed up because no formal student-member guidelines existed. "I don't wanna keep beating the dead horse, but some committees have just, without thinking about the fact that maybe there were rules around it, have a student member. And some committees are concerned about not following the rules, so they don't have a student member," Read 129:56▶ Nicholson said. The interim fix: classify students as "interns" with village manager notification, pending the development of formal student-member guidelines. *The compromise* After extended discussion, the board converged on several principles Healy will write into the governance document: committee chairs must be village residents, a majority of committee members must be residents, the one-committee-per-person rule takes effect June 1, and student participants will be classified as interns in the meantime. The board also renamed the "Compliance and Enforcement" section to "Compliance and Oversight" at Pugh's suggestion. *Court operational study* Earlier in the session, Healy presented a proposal from CGR — a public-policy research firm — to study the operations of the village justice court, including the possibility of consolidating court services with the Town of Cortlandt. State law only allows the abolition of an elected justice position to be considered at the end of a justice's term, Healy explained, making the timeline tight if the board wants a referendum on the November ballot. Nicholson pressed for assurances that the study would be genuinely open-ended. "We're just going on a fact finding mission. We don't know where it's gonna take us," Read 18:17▶ she said. The board directed Healy to revise the scope to include police input, public participation, and examples of other communities' consolidation experiences. No vote was taken; the proposal will return at a future meeting. *America 250 and Police Week* The board also discussed plans for America's semiquincentennial celebration, including planting a "liberty tree," displaying a new historic marker coordinated with the American Legion, and incorporating a 250th theme into Summerfest. Trustee Stacey Nachtaler asked about involving the American Legion, given the celebration's roots in the Revolutionary War. For National Police Week in May, the board reviewed proposals including a flag-raising ceremony, blue flower plantings at the municipal building, and commemorative pins at $400 for 40 pins. Nachtaler suggested stickers as a more cost-effective alternative. The board referred design questions to the Visual Environment Board and directed Healy to proceed with a proclamation. Five new state-authorized property tax exemptions — covering disabled veterans, fallen first responders, and other categories — were introduced and will come to a vote at a regular meeting. The board also discussed a potential half-day training retreat facilitated by a NYCOM-recommended trainer, covering open meetings law, council-manager government, and board communication. Nicholson questioned whether all topics warranted the expense, but the board agreed to submit topic suggestions to Healy.