Documents

minutes 14 pages

A Meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Village of Croton-on-Hudson, NY was held on Monday, February 6, 2012 at the Municipal Building, Van Wyck Street, Croton-on-Hudson, NY 10520. Mayor Wiegman Trustee Gallelli Village Manager Zambrano Trustee Schmidt Village Attorney Staudt Trustee Murtaugh Treasurer Bullock Trustee Raskob 1. CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Wiegman called the meeting to order at 8:00 p.m. Everyone joined in the Pledge of Allegiance. 2. APPROVAL OF VOUCHERS: Trustee Gallelli made a motion to approve the vouchers as follows, subject to review by the Audit Committee. The motion was seconded by Trustee Murtaugh and approved with a vote of 5-0. $53,070.57 Water Fund 585.88 Sewer Fund 1,954.49 Capital Account 66,782.82 Trust & Agency 8,689.27 Total 131,083.03 3. PRESENTATIONS: none 4. PUBLIC HEARING: To consider a special permit to hold a temporary indoor Farmers Market located at 44 Maple. Village Manager Zambrano gave a synopsis of the application. Trustee Murtaugh made a motion to open the public hearing, second by Trustee Raskob, approved with a vote of 5-0. Miriam Haas, Director of Community Markets and applicant was present and stated that the Saturday Farmers Market was previously being held in Briarcliff and due to zoning issues they were no longer able to hold the market at that location. For the past three weeks they had been at the Croton Train Station and although the weather was favorable this location was not ideal during the winter. She stated that they had looked at many vacant properties in the Village and the only favorable one was the former Block Buster site. She has spoken to the majority of the store owners in the shopping center and most were happy to work with the them. She gave a quick overview of the parking situation but noted her husband would give more details. She believed that the Market would also bring in more business to the surrounds stores. John Haas stated that on two different day’s counts of vacant spaces in the shopping center have been prepared and analyzed indicating that early in the morning when the Market is busiest there Village Trustees Board Meeting January 3, 2012 is more parking available while the last three hours of the market the parking is tighter, yet you can still find a space. He suggested that perhaps business owners could park on Riverside Ave. freeing up 18 more spaces in the lot and that additional parking spaces are available in Croton Commons parking lot. Susan Welch, concerned citizen thinks the Farmers Market is wonderful but the parking is a mess at Van Wyck shopping center and perhaps the upper Village would be a better location. Ginny Calcutti of Hunter Place, questioned if it was possible to have the Farmers Market on another day, was concerned that the market would hurt the other merchants in the area, parking was an issue and that the unloading and loading of vendor trucks would also create a problem and were any other sites considered such as Holy Name of Mary. Don Daubney of Bungalow Road was in full support of Farmers Market but at another location or different day. He was also concerned with the parking issue and the discharging and loading of vendor trucks. Beverley Aisenbrey of Old Post Road North a Trustee of the Briarcliff Congressional Church were the Farmers Market was held. She stated the Market is busiest between 9:00am and 10:30am there were traffic issues but nothing that bad. She also feels that the Market is drawing people from other communities which are good for the other merchants in the area. John O’Connel of Old Post Road north stated Holy Name of Mary not an option to hold a Farmers Market due to events that are regularly scheduled there but perhaps the Post office employees could park on the street freeing up spaces in the lot. Michael Goetz of Irving Avenue stated that having been in the Van Wyck parking lot at 6:00 am he can certainly state that the lot is empty and there should be no problem with unloading of trucks. He also stated that market is busiest between 9:30am and 10:00am when the lot is still very empty. He asked the Board if perhaps they could extend parking on Riverside Ave. to include the bike lane from the hours of 8:30am to 12:30pm on Saturdays. Frankie Rollin, Marketing Director for Community Markets reiterated that they had exhausted the search for another location to hold the Farmers Market and that the Market must be held on Saturday due to the fact the vendors had signed up for Saturdays. This is a seasonal market that will end in May. The parking analysis was thorough and there will be personnel to assist with parking issues and load in and out of the vendors. Village Manager Zambrano stated that the Village had received a letter from Cynthia McNeal Plater objecting to the location of the Farmers Marketing and asking the Board to find a more suitable spot. Nina Leone, Part-time Manager with Community Markets asked patrons of the Market to plan ahead to car pool or walk to the market. She also stated that Community Markets is local business and that if there is give and take on both ends this situation would work out. Village Trustees Board Meeting January 3, 2012 Trustee Gallelli made a motion to close the Public Hearing; second by Trustee Schmidt, approved with a vote of5-0. Mayor Wiegman closed the Public Hearing. Trustee Raskob had inquired about the structure of Community Markets and the process a vendor must go through to sell at their market. Trustee Schmidt stated that he was a strong advocate of the Farmers Markets but was concerned with the impact the market was going to have on the surrounding businesses and the parking. He did not believe that January 7th and 14th were good days for the parking analysis due to the fact that people were still coming off of the Holiday season on the 7th and the 14th was part of a three day weekend. He believes that the Board should be concerned with the merchants that are here for the long haul and they should be protecting their issues. Trustee Murtaugh stated that he spoke to the Police Chief and the Police Chief felt that if Vendors and shop keepers would park on Riverside Avenue there should not be a problem with parking. He also stated that the impact of the Farmers Market is only be 1 day a week for 4 hours and they should not have to be going through this strong of a process, if someone was to open a permanent Gourmet Shop in this location they would not have to go through such a rigorous process. He believes the Board should give this a try. Trustee Gallelli stated she believes that business want other business that will invite patrons to visit their stores. There will be some trials and tribulations over the next several weeks, but all shop owners will benefit from the Farmers Market. On motion of TRUSTEE MURTAUGH, seconded by TRUSTEE GALLELLI, the following resolution was adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Croton-on-Hudson, New York: with a vote of 3-2 with Trustees Schmidt and Raskob nay. WHEREAS, the Village Board of Trustees has received a request for a special permit from Miriam Hass, Director of Community Markets to hold a temporary indoor Farmers Market located at 44 Maple Street; and WHEREAS, the property is located in a C-2/Municipal Place Gateway Zoning District and is designated on the Tax Maps of the Village as Section 79.09 Block 1 Lot 77, and WHEREAS, this application was referred to the Planning Board in accordance with Village Law; and WHEREAS, the Planning Board has issued a memo to the Village Board in favor of the idea; however, noting concerns about availability of adequate parking and impacts to adjacent property owners and their tenants; WHEREAS, a Public Hearing was held and closed on February 6, 2012, NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: that the Village Board of Trustees does hereby issue a Special Permit to Miriam Hass, Director of Community Markets to hold a temporary indoor Farmers Market located at 44 Maple Street with the following conditions: Village Trustees Board Meeting January 3, 2012 A) The Special Permit is valid from February 11, 2012 to May 26. 2012. B) Employees of Community Market and Vendors must park on South Riverside Avenue or the Village’s Parking Lot located on Municipal Place. Mayor Wiegman stated that parking is an issue, but the upper Village location is not a viable option as parking is even more constrictive in that area. We should keep in mind that this is a short and temporary period of time that the market will be there and we should view this as an experiment and evaluate the situation in the next few months. 5. CORRESPONDENCE: Village Manager Zambrano read the following correspondence (full text available at the Village Office): a) A letter from a resident, Hanna Malinka Drabek, writes to the Village about the possibility of being able to hold a fundraiser to benefit the SPCA or ASPCA and help save an animal’s life. The fundraiser would be a Croton version of a “dog show” that could be held at a park in Village. Trustee Gallelli stated that it was a lovely well thought out letter and should be referred to the Recreation Advisory Committee to look into how or if it could fit into the recreational program and report back to the board. b) Steve Grossman, writes to thank the Village Board for having Genette Toone (deputy treasurer) as an employee in the Village. Ms Toone has been a great representative of the Village helping him and his parents resolve property tax related issues. c) Robert Hoch, Director of Government Affairs, Cablevision advises effective March 13, 2012 programming for Jewelry TRV, HSN, QVC and shop NBC will be repositioned as part of the Broadcast basic package. There will be no rate or channel change involved. Customer will be notified. d) Robert Hoch, Director of Government Affairs, Cablevision advises unreturned/Replacement equipment fee decrease will become effective Feb 15th instead of June 1 as originally reported. 6. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION (agenda items): a) Ginny Calcutti of Hunter Place asked for clarification of resolution “b” and resolution “d” and the EMS volunteer campaign. b) Bob Armanini of South Riverside stated he is opposed to the Harmon rezoning. He feels this project is not about commercial redevelopment, but rezoning to expand the range of available housing options in the Village. Village Trustees Board Meeting January 3, 2012 c) Phyllis Morrow of Nordica Drive supports Mr. Armanini’s statement opposing the Harmon zoning proposal. She questions the data that has been given and believes there are tremendous weakness as far as the research, consultants and display of this data. Attorney Staudt explained to the Board that they are now at the review process of Local Law Introductory Number 3 of 2010 (October 2011 version) where a Determination of Significance under SEQRA must be considered. He further explained the procedural process that must be followed and that after the Board of Trustees have each reviewed the criteria for making a Determination of Significance they will instruct VHB Engineering Surveying and Landscape Architecture, P.C. to draft for the Board’s decision either a Positive Declaration determining that the proposed Local Law may have a significant adverse impact on the environment and that an Environmental Impact Statement will be required or a Negative Declaration determining that the proposed Local Law will not result in any significant adverse environmental impact. Mayor Wiegman recapped the changes between the original Local Law Introductory Number 3 of 2010 and the October 2011 version as follows: As a result of the further consideration of input for the public and village boards and committees, the proposed Local Law includes the following changes: 1. The requirement for a Special Permit for Mixed Use was reinstated. In the original version it had been removed. The Special Permit already exists in the Code for mixed uses; so this requirement is not a change from current practice or code in the Village. 2. The Village Board, as part of their Special Permit review, will be able to modify side yard setbacks based on specific criteria. The Planning Board previously exercised this power as part of site plan review. Setbacks might come into play to providing access to driveways and parking areas, particularly for parking or driveways shared between adjoining parcel owner. Placing this power in the VB’s special permit review allows the Village more control. 3. The new version of the law provides that the stated parking requirements are the minimum parking requirement and allows the VB to increase the parking requirements based upon factors in a specific application or use that might require more parking. 4. There are now provisions in the law regarding shared access and access between parking lots on adjacent properties to give the PB more lee way to require and/or urge applicants to provide such if possible. 5. Non-residential use on the third floor is now allowed in the law, as recommended by the Planning Board. 6. Residential units are limited to studio, one bedroom, and two bedroom units. The total number of two bedroom units may not exceed 50% of the total units. 7. The prohibition of fast food restaurants has been eliminated. “Fast food” was too difficult to define and the real issue is already addressed with the prohibition of drive through lanes. 8. Also included is a grandfather clause for any application that is already under consideration at the time the law is passed. Village Trustees Board Meeting January 3, 2012 Mayor Wiegman then read through the following list of criteria for making a Determination of Significance as set forth in section 617.79(c) of the SEQRA regulations to in order to direct the Planning Consultants as to how to draft the Determination of significance. 1) To determine whether a proposed Type I or Unlisted action may have a significant adverse impact on the environment, the impacts that may be reasonably expected to result from the proposed action must be compared against the criteria in this subdivision. The following list is illustrative, not exhaustive. These criteria are considered indicators of significant adverse impacts on the environment: (i) a substantial adverse change in existing air quality, ground or surface water quality or quantity, traffic or noise levels; a substantial increase in solid waste production; a substantial increase in potential for erosion, flooding, leaching or drainage problems; The consensus of the Board is that there would be no impact. (ii) the removal or destruction of large quantities of vegetation or fauna; substantial interference with the movement of any resident or migratory fish or wildlife species; impacts on a significant habitat area; substantial adverse impacts on a threatened or endangered species of animal or plant, or the habitat of such a species; or other significant adverse impacts to natural resources; The consensus of the Board is that there would be no impact. (iii) the impairment of the environmental characteristics of a Critical Environmental Area as designated pursuant to subdivision 617.14(g) of this Part; The consensus of the Board is that there would be no impact. (iv) the creation of a material conflict with a community's current plans or goals as officially approved or adopted; Trustee Gallelli stated that this zoning amendment would be in conformity with the goals of the Comprehensive Plan. Trustee Schmidt disagreed, saying that one of the goals of the comprehensive plan was to maintain the existing mass and scale with any new development or redevelopment and by increasing the FAR from .5 to .8 any new development would be out of context with that. He further stated that the additional goal of the comprehensive plan was to unify the visual look of a neighborhood, and he believes that this new law would make the Harmon area less unified than it is now. (v) the impairment of the character or quality of important historical, archeological, architectural, or aesthetic resources or of existing community or neighborhood character; The consensus of the Board is that there would be no impact. Village Trustees Board Meeting January 3, 2012 (vi) a major change in the use of either the quantity or type of energy; The consensus of the Board is that there would be no impact. (vii) the creation of a hazard to human health; The consensus of the Board is that there would be no impact. (viii) a substantial change in the use, or intensity of use, of land including agricultural, open space or recreational resources, or in its capacity to support existing uses; The consensus of the Board is that there would be no impact. (ix) the encouraging or attracting of a large number of people to a place or places for more than a few days, compared to the number of people who would come to such place absent the action; The consensus of the Board is that there would be no impact. (x) the creation of a material demand for other actions that would result in one of the above consequences; The consensus of the Board is that there would be no impact. (xi) changes in two or more elements of the environment, no one of which has a significant impact on the environment, but when considered together result in a substantial adverse impact on the environment; or The consensus of the Board is that there would be no impact. (xii) two or more related actions undertaken, funded or approved by an agency, none of which has or would have a significant impact on the environment, but when considered cumulatively would meet one or more of the criteria in this subdivision. The consensus of the Board is that there would be no impact. (2) For the purpose of determining whether an action may cause one of the consequences listed in paragraph (1) of this subdivision, the lead agency must consider reasonably related long-term, short-term, direct, indirect and cumulative impacts, including other simultaneous or subsequent actions which are: (i) included in any long-range plan of which the action under consideration is a part; (ii) likely to be undertaken as a result thereof; or (iii) dependent thereon. (3) The significance of a likely consequence (i.e., whether it is material, substantial, large or Village Trustees Board Meeting January 3, 2012 important) should be assessed in connection with: (i) its setting (e.g., urban or rural); (ii) its probability of occurrence; (iii) its duration; (iv) its irreversibility; (v) its geographic scope; (vi) its magnitude; and (vii) the number of people affected. After discussion the following resolution was adopted. a) On motion of TRUSTEE Gallelli, seconded by TRUSTEE Raskob, the following resolution was adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Croton-on-Hudson, New York with a vote of 4-1: Trustees Raskob, Murtuagh, Gallelli and Mayor Wiegman: aye; Trustee Schmidt: nay. RESOLUTION DIRECTING DRAFTING OF DETERMINATION OF SIGNIFICANCE REGARDING LOCAL LAW INTRODUCTORY NO. 3 OF THE YEAR 2010 (October 2011 Version) WHEREAS, the Mayor and members of the Board of Trustees have reviewed Local Law Introductory Number 3 (October 2011 version), the Environmental Assessment Form and Addendum to the Environmental Assessment Form in connection with this proposed law, and input from other involved/interested agencies and interested parties in connection with this proposed law; and WHEREAS, the Mayor and members of the Board of Trustees have each reviewed the criteria for making a Determination of Significance set forth in Section 617.7(c) of the SEQRA regulations. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE VILLAGE OF CROTON-ON-HUDSON, NEW YORK, as follows: That VHB Engineering Surveying and Landscape Architecture, P.C. is hereby directed to draft for the Board’s consideration: A Negative Declaration (i.e. a determination that the proposed Local Law will not result in any significant adverse environmental impact) regarding Local Law Introductory No. 3 of the year 2010 (October 2011 version). Village Trustees Board Meeting January 3, 2012 b) On motion of TRUSTEE RASKOB, seconded by TRUSTEE MURTAUGH, the following resolution was adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Croton-on- Hudson, New York with a vote of 5-0: WHEREAS, the Selective Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP) is a component of the Comprehensive Traffic Law Enforcement Program, targeting speeding and aggressive driving violations; and WHEREAS, the STEP grant provides municipalities with the opportunity to prioritize local objectives by examining problem areas, numbers of injuries/fatalities and resources; and WHEREAS, the overall goal of the program continues to be preventing unnecessary deaths, reduce crashes and injuries by enforcing the speed limit and other safe driving practices, increasing public awareness/education of car safety seat issues, increasing safe bicycling practices and helmet usage, and monitoring of school bus operations; and WHEREAS, participation with this grant program authorizes the Village of Croton to spend $1,060 on overtime enforcement activity focusing on the following areas of traffic safety: speeding, seat belts and child car seat violations, bicycle safety/helmet use and violations involving motorists passing stopped school buses loading or unloading students, NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: that the Village Manager is hereby authorized to sign the Inter-Municipal Agreement with the County of Westchester for participation in the 2012 STEP Grant for the period between October 1, 2011 and September 30, 2016. c) On motion of TRUSTEE, GALLELLI seconded by TRUSTEE SCHMIDT, the following resolution was adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Croton-on- Hudson, New York with a vote of 5-0: Project Name: Design and Construction of a Retention and Urban Runoff/Sediment Erosion Control System in the High Street Watershed/Drainage Area to the Hudson River WHEREAS, the village applied to the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation for a water quality improvement grant in the High street Watershed/drainage area to improve the quality of storm water draining into the Hudson River ; and WHEREAS, the grant application was approved by the NYS DEC and entered into contract with the Village of Croton on Hudson on May 9, 2005; and WHEREAS, on May 4, 2009, the Village Board authorized the Manager to sign an amendment to the original contract end date to August 31, 2011; and WHEREAS, circumstances necessitate a further extension of the original contract and the parties desire to amend the contract end date from August 31, 2011 to December 31, 2013; Village Trustees Board Meeting January 3, 2012 NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: that the Village Manager is hereby authorized to sign the amended contract from the NYS DEC for High Street Watershed/Drainage Area Water Quality Improvement Project to amend the contract end date to December 31, 2013. d) On motion of TRUSTEE SCHMIDT, seconded by TRUSTEE MURTAUGH, the following resolution was adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Croton-on- Hudson, New York with a vote of 5-0: WHEREAS; the Village is in the third year of a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) under the Drug Free Community Support Program; and WHEREAS, this year’s budget includes $6,000 for a public relations consultant; and WHEREAS, a Request for Proposals for a public relations consultant was prepared and issued on December 22, 2011 and two responses were received by the submission deadline; and WHEREAS, the proposals were reviewed by the Coalition’s administrative team consisting of Judy Mezey of Student Assistance Services, Wayne Francis, Coalition Coordinator, Laurie Dean, Coalition Chairperson, and Janine King, Project Director; and WHEREAS, the team recommends that the Village enter into a contract with Powers Public Relations to provide public relations services to the Coalition, NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: that the Village Manager is authorized to execute the contract with Powers Public Relations to provide public relations services to the Coalition at a cost of $6,000 AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: that the entire cost of this contract will be paid through the funds received from the SAMHSA grant. e) On motion of TRUSTEE SCHMIDT, seconded by TRUSTEE MURTAUGH, the following resolution was adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Croton-on- Hudson, New York with a vote of 5-0: WHEREAS, the Village Treasurer wishes to open both sides of the General Fund budget to record the receipt and subsequent disbursement associated with insurance recoveries; amending the 2011-2012 General Fund budget as follows: GENERAL REVENUE Increase A1000.2680 $3,967 GENERAL EXPENSES Increase A4540.4710 $3,967 Village Trustees Board Meeting January 3, 2012 NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Village Treasurer is authorized to amend the 2011-2012 General Fund budget to reflect these changes. f) On motion of TRUSTEE MURTAUGH, seconded by TRUSTEE GALLELLI, the following resolution was adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Croton-on- Hudson, New York with a vote of 5-0: WHEREAS, the Village Treasurer wishes to open both sides of the General Fund and Capital budget to record the receipt and subsequent disbursement associated with insurance recoveries; amending the 2011-2012 General Fund and Capital budget as follows: GENERAL REVENUE Increase A1000.2680 $10,000 GENERAL EXPENSES Increase A3410.4700 $5,000 CAPITAL EXPENSES Increase H3410.2000.12236 $5,000 NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Village Treasurer is authorized to amend the 2011-2012 General Fund and Capital budget to reflect these changes. g) On motion of TRUSTEE RASKOB, seconded by TRUSTEE GALLELLI, the following resolution was adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Croton-on-Hudson, New York with a vote of 5-0: Whereas, the inclusion of public transportation has been a central feature of the Tappan Zee Bridge Replacement Project (the "TZB Replacement") since the launch of formal environmental review in 2002 and before. After receiving detailed public input in 280 meetings and data generated over 10 years, all five alternatives–and all but the "No Build" alternative–for the TZB Replacement included transit; and Whereas, New York State and the federal government, after years of public input and broad consensus on the inclusion of public transportation in the TZB Replacement, have abruptly decided to pursue a replacement without transit and have re-started the environmental review process based on an alternative lacking public transportation; and Whereas, approximately 138,000 vehicles travel across the Tappan Zee Bridge every day, far more than the bridge was designed to handle when built in 1955, with this volume is expected to increase significantly in the coming years, and, that without public transportation, the TZB Replacement would not result in increases in peak-direction capacity or long term operational changes to traffic patterns, and that without improvements, travel times across the Tappan Zee Bridge/l-287 corridor (the "Corridor") are expected to grow by as much as 70 percent; and Village Trustees Board Meeting January 3, 2012 Whereas, the development of public transportation as part of the TZB Replacement is central to relieving congestion in the Corridor and local arterials, improving air quality, achieving sustainability goals, reducing dependence on fossil fuels, improving pedestrian safety, and improving motorist travel time, in Westchester and New York State; and Whereas, residents of communities in the TZB service area would be burdened by many years of unnecessarily increasing traffic, if transit infrastructure is not included in the TZB Replacement; and Whereas, Westchester County is planning its own Bus Rapid Transit ("BRT") routes, which would benefit from and become more effective by eventually interconnecting to BRT or other public transportation on the TZB; and Whereas, New York State and the Federal Highway Administration should not repeat the mistakes of the past by locking in automobile- and truck-only infrastructure in this important Corridor 'for decades to come; and Whereas, if not built as part of the current plans for the TZB Replacement, public transportation is very unlikely to be added in the future and the State, Federal government and local communities, as a practical matter, face a "now or never" decision for incorporating public transit at a lower cost than if postponed; and Whereas, including public transportation in the TZB Replacement is consistent with and advances the purposes of numerous state, county and federal government policies aimed at reducing dependence on foreign oil, air pollution and the emission of greenhouse gases, including the New York State Climate Action Plan, the Westchester Action Plan for Climate Change, and federal goals enshrined in the Clean Air Act, the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act, Executive Order 13514; 3ow therefore be it resolved, that the Village of Croton-on-Hudson, acting through its Board of Trustees hereby 1) calls upon Governor Cuomo, the New York State Department of Transportation, the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Authority to restore dedicated public transportation infrastructure to its long-held place in any and all plans for the replacement of the Tappan Zee Bridge. 2) calls upon other affected communities and municipalities to let their opinion be known to Governor Cuomo and the relevant agencies and representatives of New York State and the federal government on this critical decision that will impact quality of life for decades to come. 3) pledges to join with other affected municipalities to participate fully in the TZB Replacement planning process to ensure that the TZB Replacement when built will be fully consistent with the important concerns and objectives clearly expressed by the citizenry over the many years of the TZB Replacement planning process. 8. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION (non-agenda items): a) John Perillo of Croton Point Avenue was concerned with the effects that the proposed pedestrian, bike and traffic improvements on Croton Point Ave. and South Riverside Village Trustees Board Meeting January 3, 2012 Avenue would have on the merchants in the area. He asked the Board to proceed with caution when considering this project and to always maintain the quality of life and character Croton has always upheld. b) Gary Shaw of Van Cortlandt Place asked the Board to prepare a Proclamation for the 1st Annual Peace Walk against Nuclear Energy that is to take place from Shoprite in Croton to Indian Point and then up to Vermont. c) Ginny Calcutti of Hunter Place had questions about the demolition of a building on South Riverside Avenue. d) Phyllis Morrow of Nordica Drive believes the Village spends too much money on consultant studies and the qualifications of the consultants we hire. 9. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Trustee Murtaugh made a motion to approve the minutes of the Regular Board Meeting held on January 17, 2012 as corrected. Trustee Raskob seconded the motion. The Board approved with a vote of 5-0. 10. REPORTS: Village Manager Zambrano had no information to report. Trustee Schmidt advised that the Croton Conservation Advisory Council is hosting their Green Living Series from February to May at the Croton Free Library, check Village website for further information. The VEB met the other night, they had no applications before them; however, they did discuss their continuation of revitalizing of signage at Village Parks with attention given to Silver Lake. He advised that he is participating in the Winning Winter Whiskers Challenge a fundraiser being hosted by Hudson Valley Hospital Center for Cheryl R Lynnbaum Cancer Center. He also reported that he was very proud that the Hudson Valley Gateway Chamber of Commerce awarded “Summerfest” with a Quality of Life Award and thanked them for this prestigious award. Trustee Raskob had no information to report. Trustee Gallelli reported that she attended EagleFest this past weekend and that it was well attended. She also reported that this past Monday the Board of Boards meeting was held. This is when all the Boards and Committees meet to discuss what they workedon last year and what they plan to work on in the coming year. She also stated that on February 10, 2012, the Request for Proposals are due for the water infrastructure improvement projects (to resolve Brown Water issues in two areas) and Tuesday, February 21, 2012 is Grievance Day and the Board will meet from 4:00pm till 8:00pm to hear requests to have property assessments reduced. Trustee Murtaugh reported that the building that previously housed Wondrous Things will be broken down into 5 smaller units. Two units have already been rented, another unit is scheduled Village Trustees Board Meeting January 3, 2012 to be rented in the Summer. This news is definitely a plus for the Upper Village. Trustee Murtaugh asked the Village Manager to respond to an earlier comment from a resident who implied that the extent of the village’s borrowing was irresponsible. Manager Zambrano stated that that was absolutely not true. Trustee Murtaugh finished by stating that the public should realize that the Village’s finances are in good order. . Mayor Wiegman gave an overview of the water infrastructure project. He appointed Niall Kelleher as Chair of the Sustainability Committee and Carl Grimm as Vice-Chair. He also stated that the Croton Harmon Education Foundation had very successful dine around fundraiser and EagleFest had its best year ever having over 4,000 people attending. Trustee Gallelli made a motion to adjourn. Trustee Schmidt seconded the motion; approved with a vote of 5-0. The meeting was adjourned at 11:45 pm. Pauline DiSanto, Village Clerk