Good evening, and welcome to the March 11 regular meeting of the curtain on Hudson Board of Trustees. I'm mayor Brian Pugh. Please join me in the pledge of allegiance.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of The United States Of America and to the republic for which it stands,
• one nation under god, indivisible,
• with liberty and justice for all.
• The first item of business, the approval of vouchers. Treasurer?
• For the water fund, we have ten thousand three hundred one dollars and seven cents.
• The sewer fund is $5,437.69,
• and the capital fund is $33,712.27.
• Do I have a second? Second. Motion by trustee Simon, second by trustee Nicholson. All in favor? Aye. Aye.
• towards the audience isn't on. Oh. It's usually my job, trustee Nicholson.
• would the members of the board, join me in the vicinity of that, shrouded
• rectangle
• as well as the members of, Croton one hundred who have joined us here today?
• I think it's better if you stand in front rather than concealed behind the board behind
• this.
• So
• in shrouded behind me is the good good evening, everyone. Shrouded behind me is a quilt prepared by the members of Croton one hundred. It is a beautiful
• artistic demonstration
• of
• grassroots climate action.
• It represents,
• I believe, 30 house
• actions taken by 30 households in our village to create a greener planet.
• And as
• I think most people are well aware, our village has a very strong record on the environment with the number one clean energy community in New York State,
• and a lot of that has to do with our very hard work
• thank thank you, Sherry. And
• a lot of that has to do with our incredibly hardworking
• sustainability
• committee,
• which is on rolled out
• initiative after initiative, whether it's our CarPort Solar Array, our award winning CarPort Solar Array,
• or our new renewable diesel pilot that has now become
• gone from pilots to a a policy where we are using
• renewable diesel and having a significant reduction in our greenhouse gas emissions that way.
• We owe a lot to our sustainability
• committee, but it's not just initiatives at the government level.
• It is
• there's something very special about this community. I think we all know that, and our residents have a huge passion for our environment.
• We are the number one in per capita terms for participation
• in the ebike share program, for instance.
• And I think in both Solarize campaigns,
• which is the campaign through Sustainable Westchester to get people to play solar on their homes. We I think we're number one in both. That's not in per capita. That's in absolute terms, which is really remarkable,
• because there are communities many times larger than ours, in Westchester County, but
• Croton is a very special place, and, people in this village act on the basis of their values. And, I'm so glad that Croton one hundred is highlighting
• some of the ways our residents are doing that. And without further ado, would you care to unveil it? Yes. So we'll unveil this quote, this quilt.
• And would would you like to go over some of the squares?
Thank you, Patty. It's absolutely beautiful. And congratulations to Croton one hundred
• for this extraordinary achievement.
• A special thanks to the artists and dedicated volunteers
• who made this third Croton one hundred quilt possible.
• I happen to know in a very personal way how much hard work and incredibly detailed effort went into this quilt.
• I was talking to, one of my kids on the phone not too long ago,
• and they wanted to talk to their mother. And I said, sorry. Mom can't come to the phone. She's helping to sew a quilt.
• And they said, gee, dad. I didn't know things were that rough.
• But Croton is deservedly known, for its commitment to the arts.
• But Croton's also earned the praise,
• as among the best places ever when it comes to sustainability.
• These beautiful quilts, this one and the two that preceded it, these works of art,
• by focusing on what's happening in sustainability
• in the village and its businesses by its people, really brings together a great fusion
• of our environmental efforts in the arts. And and, of course, your forthcoming film,
• The Little Village That Could, will do the same. So thanks for letting us hold on to the quilt for a while
• so that every visitor to the municipal building can enjoy it while they're here. And thanks to everyone on Croton one hundred's team for making this evening possible. Patty?
• yeah, I'm Patty Buchanan from Croton one hundred. I want to introduce,
• the team that created this quilt. First, Audrey Supple,
• who was really the lead crafter,
• this
• fabric artist that has done tremendous work on this quilt, and you'll see it in just a few minutes in more detail. When I finish my comments, we're gonna lower this quilt and take it out into the hall so you'll be able to see in more detail the things that I'm gonna just point out to you. I also want to introduce the other folks. Chris Sellen,
• who is also
• key in bringing together the quilt.
• Debbie Cronin,
• who owns a business at the north end of town that's noted up here on the quilt, Leatherwood Design Studios.
• And thank you so much, Debbie, for your helping hands, your in kind donations,
• and so many things you did to help make this quilt possible.
• Also, Linda Simon,
• who did a lot of the
• embroidery accents that I'll tell you about in just a moment. And let's see. Chandu, my husband, Chandu Visveswaraya,
• who has been supportive in many, ways and
• did a very special donation of the fabrics that I'm gonna tell you about in just a minute.
• And
• I think
• that's everybody we have right now. So let me just very quickly explain.
• As our speaker said just a moment ago, all of our quilts,
• profile
• specific
• illustrations
• of decarbonizing
• actions or clean energy solutions
• taking hold right here in Croton in the four pillars of our community.
• The four pillars are our municipal government,
• our businesses,
• public facilities,
• and households.
• And this quilt is profiling,
• the amazing decarbonizing
• work that our school district is doing. And, specifically,
• you're gonna see, these four corners of the quilt are extraordinary
• fabric applique
• creations,
• that illustrate
• our school buildings
• with solar
• on the roofs with a very accurate representation
• of the solar on our three buildings. The elementary school is here. The middle school is here. The high school is up here. The fourth corner has the catchall for our school district that includes heat pumps, which is our representation on the quilt that are dispersed throughout some of the school buildings.
• Also on the quilt, we have two electric school buses,
• and these are really special. First of all, we have the Croton 100 decarbonizer
• bunny escorting
• one of the electric school buses in recognition of the
• education and advocacy that we have done around the benefits of electric school buses.
• Beautifully, in each of the windows of the school buses is some really charming,
• artistic renditions of children and riders on the bus that were done by Chris's daughters,
• Astor, eight years old, and Lyra, who's 10 years old. So definitely take in those details.
• So,
• the highlight, of course, is our school district as a public facility. But we also have another public facility,
• over in this
• which is the Unitarian
• Universalists of the Hudson Valley. And they created their own square and contributed it to the quilt, which captures
• the clean electricity
• that they use at their parish hall.
• And they're also a green sanctuary
• congregation,
• which means they do a lot of education and outreach and programming around climate work and environmental education.
• So that's the representation
• of the public facilities on this quilt. The next thing is,
• we have
• four ten by 10 squares that represent
• the partnerships our municipal government has with local businesses
• to de that have decarbonizing
• or zero emissions that's core to their business model.
• Spoken a little bit earlier is the project mover
• business that's new to Croton with one of the highest riderships.
• We also have the Croton Sailing School. Woo hoo. Let's give it up for wind and zero emission recreation.
• And
• we also are profiling the 18
• charge ports that are about to be
• installed at the Croatan Train Station parking lot. And thanks again to the sustainability
• committee
• and Lindsay Auden who's here today.
• And and then, of course, we have the trophy that represents
• the municipal government's
• leadership in achieving the number one clean energy community
• in all of New York State. So a tremendous privilege to include a trophy for the village government.
• Then, the
• fourth pillar of our community is the households.
• And so these white squares that you see,
• on the quilt and then coming around here represent
• 12 household actions
• that, we identified by 30 households who are listed here on the quilt, and I think several of them are here in the audience tonight.
• So let's give it up.
• We have a legend that explains what these 12 household,
• items are.
• Very briefly, the small the larger squares, which are four inch by four inch, represent the higher impact decarbonizing
• actions, things like electric vehicles, heat pumps, clean electricity,
• and leading the green economy.
• Then these lower impact
• items, but nonetheless important,
• are in the two inch squares, and these are things like
• composting, edible gardens, plant based diets,
• electric hot water heaters, electric cooking, and so on. So these are described in more detail in this patch here. As I said, the 30 households are listed here.
• And
• so that's sort of the the main four pillars that are represented on the quilt.
• All of our quilts have a special story about the fabrics
• that provide the base and the trim and the framing.
• This one is really special.
• All of this fabric that you see providing the framing
• around these squares, this burgundy base in the border,
• come from silk saris
• that were brought to Croton from India.
• And they come from my husband, Chandu.
• These were saris that were worn by his mother for many years, really a lifetime.
• When she passed away last year,
• we decided because they were worn, the best we could do is repurpose them. And so all of the fabrics that you see joining and framing
• are silk saris from Chengdu's mom.
• And
• so it it is a very special way to recognize
• the
• symbolism
• of the global
• and intergenerational
• connections we have with our climate systems.
• And so our climate systems, of course, are driven by our atmosphere.
• Our atmosphere is being clogged with greenhouse gases.
• And so the challenge is to reduce our greenhouse gases
• with urgency,
• with necessity,
• and with the inevitability
• that stands before us. And with this challenge,
• threading together
• all of these pieces of the quilt,
• we are able to demonstrate
• that we are a little town that could.
• And
• so I wanna, you know, thank thank everyone
• and just introduce you to the film company that's here today, Archipelago
• Films,
• Andy
• Young, Susan Todd,
• and we have Brandon Sargent. Please keep a lookout for the short documentary film that is gonna tell the story
• of Croton's clean energy leadership
• as well as the quilts and the making of this quilt. This is a short documentary coming out in Earth Month, which is April in just a few weeks.
• And we hope that we'll have opportunities to screen the film and show the quilts here in Croatan and throughout the Hudson Valley and the country. So we hope to see you at some further events. Thanks very much.
• Members of the board, say thank you. And since I didn't know it, we are actually joined by Lindsey Auden. Can everyone cheer for Lindsey and the sustainability committee in person?
• Thank you all very much. Do members of the board and Curtin one one hundred wanna join for oh,
• and I also wanna introduce Anamika representing the school board of trustees. And, obviously, the Curtin Harmon Schools are a major part of this
• this edition of the quilt. So thank you for all you are doing.
• So would members of the board Oh, yeah.
• Yeah. Come on up, and then I'm okay. Yep.
• Yeah. In front of the in front of the quilt. Anyone that wants to join the ad after closing? Yep.
• on. See Brad Kennedy exiting the room? Yeah. How could I miss Brad? Brad. Brad, come back. Can we have a round of applause for Brad?
• Yes.
• Yeah.
• I know.
• We'll give it a few more seconds as people clear out, especially those with
• equipment.
• Right?
Alright. And before we proceed for with the rest of the agenda, a a quick quick update for everyone. I
• know that a lot of people may be here for
• resolution d
• or item d on proposed resolutions.
• And we've kept this item on the agenda because it was discussed at the last work session with the intent to bring it back for this meeting. This is, of course, for the proposal for a study by
• CGR Center for for governmental relations
• in relation to the justice court.
• And
• I wanna express my thanks to the manager for working very hard on trying to collaborate
• with CGR to develop a proposal
• that would meet with the ascent of the majority of the board,
• including the scope and expense that
• the board would be comfortable with. But despite
• his best efforts, we don't have a proposal that
• appears to have a consensus support. And so when this item comes up,
• barring a
• change in opinion or news from my colleagues, I will be tabling it.
• And
• with that, we proceed with the remainder of the agenda. Responses
• to questions submitted via email manager. No questions, mayor. Okay.
• And, to be clear, this remains an agenda item, and people are welcome to comment on it during
• comment on proposed agenda items.
• Alright.
• Which we're at now. So anyone wishing to comment on any agenda item, this is your opportunity. Please state your name and address. Everyone has five minutes.
• I am running for,
• village justice, and I want to be very clear.
• I vehemently opposing,
• vehemently oppose closing the court and
• subsuming it into Cortland.
• I am running
to modernize the court. Mister mister Jaffrey, I'm sorry. You need to address the board. To improve access
for working families and ensure this vital stays right here in our community. Thank you.
• Mhmm. We have to give our address and name. Yep. Mhmm. And, I think the microphone's gotten turned around. Yep.
• I'll put it this way. How's that? Thank you. Would you please? Thank
• you.
Okay. I am Debbie Braddock, and I live on Young Avenue. And I've been a resident of Croton for fifty three years.
• And I'm letting you know,
• to the proposal to move the village court to the town of Cortland.
• While this move is intended to save cost, projected savings,
• minimal,
• compared to the significant inconvenience
• this would cause for both our residents and nonresidents,
• This matter has been studied previously,
• and prevailing
• public opinion supported maintaining the court
• within this location.
• Reopening issues this issue after it has already been settled is disappointing to the community.
• Furthermore,
• the expenditure
• of doing this this study is an additional,
• unnecessary
• fund that could be better utilized for our local infrastructure
• such in as improving
• our roads, our sidewalk, our parks, moving the court does not align with the goal of enhancing our village services.
• I hope the board will reconsider this decision and recognize that moving the court is not in the best interest of Croton.
• I trust the public will continue to voice their concerns and utilize the opportunity to make this position clear
• for a final
• time.
• Thank you very much.
• If there's anyone from Croton one hundred still here,
• I'd like to just let you know I have a whole bunch of quilting fabric.
• I'd be happy to donate if you folks could use it.
• I'm Joel Gingold. I live at 55 Nordica Drive.
• Let me begin by saying I'm unutterly
• opposed
• to the closure of the village court and moving it to court. I
• am equally opposed to wasting 30 or $40,000
• of my money
• for a study of the court,
• which is designed to tell the board exactly what it wants to hear. And, yes, it is my money and that of all these other people in this room.
• It is not your money,
• and you really need to understand that.
• I have previously forwarded
• more detailed comments to the board,
• assuming the end of you actually read them.
• In fact, I'm not really sure why I'm here
• because I was under the impression that this issue was put to bed four years ago when an overwhelming
• proportion of Croton citizens
• opposed the closing and the movement of the court,
• but apparently not.
• Since that outcome is not what this board wants,
• and we know that you will bring up an issue over and over and over again
• until you get your way
• regardless of what your constituents
• think.
• At last fall's election, the Democratic machine actually lost the seat.
• And, mister mayor, you were barely reelected by only 20 plus votes out of thousands cast.
• That's hardly a mandate.
• And one major issue from that campaign
• was a failure of this board to even listen to any opinions
• that opposed its own.
• And the appointment of like minded people to all boards and committees.
• Have we learned nothing from that?
• The obvious problem with the proposed study
• is that while it can address costs incurred and avoided by the village,
• it cannot effectively
• recognize
• the additional costs incurred by those who appear before the court.
• Externalities,
• the economists would call it.
• If I must appear before the court as a principal or a witness,
• how will the consultant assign a value to my time
• expended in travel to and from the Courtland Town Hall and waiting
• and waiting
• and waiting for my case to be called.
• You may consider my time and that of others appearing for the court to have no value,
• but it sure as hell valuable to me.
• You already have my extended comments,
• so let me close with a prediction and a suggestion.
• I predict that this board will ultimately approve the proposed study,
• if not tonight, at a future meeting,
• that the study will show that the village can save some money if the court is closed,
• and this board will terminate the village court
• basing its action
• on the consultant's report.
• Now a suggestion.
• We have already kicked out our assessor.
• We will next kick out our court
• despite the thousands spent renovating the court facilities not so long ago.
• And you plan to kick out the recreation department and move them up to Govea.
• What do you plan to do with all this extra space?
• So let's accelerate
• your obvious plans and perform a study to completely dismantle our village and just become part of the town of Cortland.
• I think it will show we'll save a lot of money.
• So, therefore, it's a good idea.
• Perhaps we can sell this municipal building to a developer
• to build affordable housing.
• That
• will certainly enhance your reputations.
• Ladies and gentlemen, get off your high purchase and listen.
• Listen to your constituents.
• Do not approve this disastrous initiative.
• Do not spend a nickel of our money on a steady a study just to confirm your preconceived desires.
• Thank you for your attention.
• Old Post Road North.
• I've lived in Croatan for forty nine years.
• I served on the planning board in the early nineteen nineties.
• I served on the comprehensive planning committee,
• which produced a 2003 comprehensive plan,
• as well as the comprehensive planning committee, which put produced a 2017
• comprehensive plan update.
• In 2019,
• I chaired the Gateway
• Working Group. I'd like to try to put this issue into context.
• During the nineteen eighties and early nineteen nineties, a group of us led by Ian Gollelli
• fought to effectuate the vision of the 1977
• master plan.
• That master plan was drafted when two thirds of the village was undeveloped.
• It is a remarkable document.
• The plan envisioned a relatively small self contained
• village of largely single family homes
• with a center.
• It envisioned a village which was largely self governing
• with its own institutions.
• The idea was to create and sustain a village with a unique identity and an and and and
• and a unique sense of place.
• The plan was a strong and very deliberate attempt to avoid the suburban commercial sprawl,
• which has characterized much of Long Island and was beginning to characterize much of Westchester.
• Since I had grown up on Long Island,
• where one sprawling commercial commercial village
• merges into the other, I thought the plan was an excellent village for Croton.
• Surprisingly,
• the the master plan's vision largely came to pass.
• We we were we were
• aided by geography. We have rivers to the East, west, south, and hills to the North, which has helped give the village a distinct geographical character.
• Far more important than geography,
• however,
• is the fact that we've always had our own institutions.
• We have our own places of worship, our own schools, our own library, our own parks, our own police department, our own fire department, our own village manager, our own village board,
• our own village court and justice, our own village hall, our own planning and zoning boards, our own recreation department, our own numerous committees,
• our own historical society, and our own newspapers.
• We've had a massive number of local volunteers.
• There is a real sense of place in Croton, and it stems directly from our many institutions.
• We did a survey in connection with the 2003 comprehensive plan. It had a very high response rate, and the bottom line was that 95 of the respondents were pleased with their Croton neighborhood.
• Seven years ago, USA Today rated Croton as the best place to live in New York State.
• Some people may say that we don't need a local court and justice as a village institution.
• I respectfully disagree.
• My late wife and I raised two daughters in Croton, and they are both professionals in their forties now. However, in the nineteen nineties, Croton was often a very perilous place to raise teenagers.
• The presence of a village police department and village court that had a clear understanding
• of their own local community was critically important to many parents in those days. I expect it still is.
• It also seems to me that the village has a moral obligation to Sam Watkins, Stacy Rathcauth, and the employees of our local court,
• and that obligation should include acting very deliberately before doing away with a village institution,
• which may be a century or more old.
• If you're not inclined to reject the proposal, it seems to me that the best thing the the what's in the interest of everyone involved would be to make the proposal subject to a per permissive referendum.
• That way, the pros and cons of this proposal can be debated at length and then voted on by the entire village. As a village, we owe that to Sam Casey and the employees of the court as well as to the residents of the village. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
• Didn't expect that part.
• Good evening. My name is Casey Rascob. I'm your village prosecutor,
• and I've been a village resident since 1994.
• A study can't change anything, and here is why.
• One of the great privileges of my life was to be a village trustee,
• having been elected twice to the board. I learned a lot about how things work, how things don't work,
• and
• how people view government. And the first thing everyone here has heard is run government like a business. Why can't you run government like a business?
• Well, ten years ago, learned under Abe Zobrano, Meir Lier Wigman, and the great Anghalele that you cannot run government like a business. There are unions, legal requirements.
• Some make sense and some don't. You don't turn a profit, you provide a service. Often one no other organization could or would provide.
• I learned Albany is our adversary, not our friend, and what the words unfunded mandate mean. So
• I uniquely understand the pressure you're under even though the court is 2% or less of our budget and uniquely returns money back to the village. I've sat in the room across the hall trying to make the budget work.
• Two essential points about court.
• First, we can put you in jail.
• We can issue an order of protection. We can evict you. We can even commit you to a mental health facility.
• Even a traffic ticket has a potential fourteen day sentence.
• Everything we do works backwards from that extraordinary power.
• This is why courts run the way they do.
• Again, the requirements dictate the system. These books, these are the criminal procedure law of the state of New York.
• These books dictate everything
• that we do. We didn't design our justice court. No one else can either. You can't run it like a business, and court is not neither a gov is not either a government or a business. It's like trying to make a dolphin fly.
• No consultant is gonna be able to do something about this and fashion a different result.
• There are almost 1,200 justice courts in the state of New York. And by my last count, I've appeared in 328
• of them.
• From Long Island to the Hudson Valley to the Catskills and beyond,
• I spent years of my professional career standing as a user with a real case in a justice court. So if you want a justice court effort, I humbly submit myself.
• Here's a nutshell.
• All courts are exactly the same. The village of Southampton runs the same as the town of Kingston or East Fishkill or Harrison or Yonkers.
• There's a reason for everything we do in court. We have clerks to keep the history. We aren't overstaffed,
• and an understaffed court is a nightmare.
• Records are kept according to state regulations.
• We cannot change anything. We cannot use a different service.
• The office of court administration tells us how to do it.
• A certified and sworn translator is needed when you explain someone giving up legal rights.
• A live reporter is needed to keep that record.
• Artificial intelligence is not replacing our reporter or translator anytime soon, and you can't swear them in.
• We deal with the general public with a wide variety of intelligence and understanding and motivation.
• You'd be amazed how folks can't figure things out when they don't want to. You can't Zoom court. There's no provision for it.
• But believe me, when we tried even with attorneys during COVID, it was a nightmare. It didn't work.
• The way we do things is strictly outlined by the penal law, the criminal procedure law, and administrative law.
• You can't change it. I can't change it. A consultant can't change it.
• This isn't the company we can reorganize.
• The location of the court won't change things.
• And now on that note, other things. Each and every person who comes in the door is entitled to their due process.
• Each person takes some time. A parking ticket takes time. Everyone wants to tell their story. I heard over 60 stories from people walking in last last week about snow.
• A criminal case takes more time.
• People can't be rushed. When it's your turn, you get all the time you need. That's That's the way we all want to be treated even for our $25
• parking ticket.
• The actors on this stage are a formula. There isn't anything to study here. The machine is the same statewide. We didn't design it. It's not a Croton thing. You can't change the players on the stage.
• At the end, while as a taxpayer, I want my board to find savings.
• As an attorney with a thirty six year professional lifetime of experience in this area, I can tell you there isn't much, if any, to be found. And that from a professional aspect, our court runs quite well as an excellent reputation in the legal community.
• We are less than 2% of the village budget and uniquely usually return money to the village above our budget. Does any agency do that?
• I asked the board respectively
• to vote against the study. The residents have repeatedly expressed their desire to keep our justice local.
• We would be foolish to give up local control.
• Please do not waste my tax money on a study to tell us all of this. You can't rewrite these books.
• Thank you.
• It's a whole class of muscle. How your shoulder feel? Much better. Thank you. Thank
• I have been the elected Croton justice for almost twenty years now.
• In the court, when we try to decide guilt or innocence of a defendant,
• we tend to look at facts.
• So let's look at a few of the facts in the issue before the board.
• First of all, mister mayor, I would like to know what tabling
• that motion means.
• That mean it can come back?
• You can do it again?
• I think you should try to finish this matter,
• not expand it.
• Should the court be disbanded and moved to Cortland,
• And should a study be done costing 20 to $30,000?
• I will assume that you can bring that study back to the board since it's just been tabled,
• but I would like to address the determination of that study.
• Let's look at the fact.
• This issue took place four years ago.
• Mister Pugh was
• the mayor at that time. Mister Simon,
• you were on the board.
• One supporter
• at that
• time
• had letters to the
• village manager.
• One letter was in favor of the move.
• 52
• were against.
• 74 people spoke at that meeting.
• One supporter
• approved
• the move,
• and 73
• were opposed to it. Mister Pugh and mister Simon, do you remember that? That was the that was the speech.
• That was the residence
• of the village residents,
• and they're here tonight as well, many of them. Not as many as that time because
• the move was not on the agenda.
• Fact. If the court is moved to Cortland,
• every
• arrest
• by a Croton police officer
• must be taken
• by that officer
• to the town of Cortland.
• How much time and expense will that be to the village?
• I submit a lot.
• The reason for the move is cost saving.
• Let's talk about cost saving. The budget of the court is $275,000.
• The court issues fines
• in the amount of $520,000
• in 1925.
• Of that,
• Cortland would keep
• everything with the exception
• of the train station parking fees.
• The net cost of the court
• in Croton
• is a whopping $12,000.
• The proposed move was generated to save money. Is money the only reason we have a court? I don't think so.
• I think mister Doyle spoke eloquently about reasons to have a court,
• need for a court in village.
• Would the justices of Croton of Cortland
• have as much empathy
• for the people
• appearing
• in the court here?
• What happens at Radnor? What happens at Half Moon Bay?
• What happens to the kids in our high school?
• I don't think they would.
• We have, in the past,
• dealt with all of those issues.
• Doesn't the board have better use
• of the money for a study?
• What about the Govea property?
• What about the police? Don't they want new officers?
• If you're gonna do a study, and I welcome a study, by the way, you can do a study anytime you want starting tomorrow morning.
• But let's do it with a judicial overtone
• because not everything that is suggested
• is appropriate
• for a study. For example, there has been
• a suggestion
• that our arraignments
• be virtual.
• Well, that doesn't work.
• Why?
• Because if a defendant is in front of me and I do an arraignment
• and I need to issue an order of protection,
• I can do it because the defendant has to sign
• the order of protection.
• If he is not in front of me,
• I can't do it.
• So that is something
• that
• we need to think about. Mister Pugh and mister Simon. Your honor, the time's expired. Okay. I thank you very much for your time.
• Mister mayor, your willingness to chip chip away at the fabric of village life astounds so many of us here.
• The walkability,
• the sense of community,
• and the ignoring of broad based support
• that goes against the echo chamber you seem to operate in
• really astounds,
• so please do not move our village court.
• On a separate note,
• I didn't see mister Jeffrey's candidacy on the agenda for tonight's meeting, and I'm surprised that you
• would permit that.
• Thank you.
Good evening. My name is Jay Sherman. I live at 94 Grand Street. I'm also one of the local attorneys
• that come to your court every week.
• So far, you've mentioned or the others have mentioned that you did as well. Study costs,
• statistics,
• but I think you're missing
• I think it's obvious, but maybe you're not seeing it. The reason you moved here, the same reason I moved here,
• it's small. It's a village. It feels nice. I actually get the feeling like I don't know. I gotta step back in time
• to a less
• rushed place. Everything's nice. People know you. You see the police go by?
• I know some of them. I know them from court. I know them because they were helping with my kids.
• The judges know everyone. The court clerks should do a very good job, very efficient. They know people. So when you come to the window and you have a problem, you net us another number
• in a very crowded court.
• There were fewer people here on the court dates, and they have more time to talk and they know the people. That's very important.
• Other aspects we missed is that
• Cortland,
• depending on the day, could be fifteen to twenty minutes away from here.
• If you move your court there and your police,
• one, they're not as familiar with the locals as we are now. But secondly, you have to go back and forth and commute.
• So anytime your police are not here, they're or if they're in the court there for traffic matters or as a witness, they're not on the street. If you call 911 here and quote them with the problem,
• the quick response is evident.
• If your police is,
• well, I guess, shuffled off to the county police, they could be anywhere in Westchester County. And if then that, on a case already, they're down at the end of the Saw Mill Parkway,
• which here they're
• twenty twenty feet away, 20 yards away. They're right here.
• Also,
• court and law is efficient,
• has two court dates for criminal and civil.
• Two court dates
• for traffic alone.
• It's always crowded.
• So you wanna add
• what cases we have
• to that court.
• And you make your citizens drive fifteen to twenty minutes to that court so they could be heard.
• Resilient, you wanna add more people to an already busy calendar,
• which means more likely than that,
• they're just a number
• only because in that part of that community.
• They reside here in Croatan, and everyone knows them here. So it doesn't make sense to move it on a personal note. And it's nice when you call the police that they come and you know who they are. You see them every day.
• I know many county cops.
• And if I don't see them at court
• I'm in Westchester all the time. I may see them once or twice on the street, whereas I see our boys
• on a daily a weekly basis all the time, and they say hello. It's a big difference. I think that's more important than
• whatever pennies you might save by moving the court. And I was also very proud to hear
• of the town or the villages' commitment to the environment and to emissions.
• But aren't you gonna be adding emissions and order emissions while you're driving back and forth to Cortland as opposed to just
• walking or bicycling to a local court? Thank you.
• Four years ago, I came before you and opposed
• the, proposal to
• shift the judicial duties to the town of Cortland.
• I come here tonight to restate that.
• I come here also to oppose the pro proposed
• expenditure
• of 36
• some odd thousand dollars, whatever it is,
• for this study.
• I used to appear more frequently in the justice court here.
• Now my son and law partner does frequently. He was here this morning.
• We are
• coming up let me just shift gears maybe.
• We're coming up to Saint Patrick's Day here.
• And if some of you may remember, there was a radio personality named Don Imus, and he had, like, an executive producer,
• Bernard McGurk. They're both dead now.
• But they used to have a skit
• on their program,
• and it was
• which doesn't belong in them and why.
• And if you don't mind playing along with me for a moment, I'd like to reincarnate
• that.
• And I'll try in my best
• Irish imitation,
• which I'm not good because I'm of Italian descent.
• Which doesn't belong and why? Which doesn't belong and why? A,
• the town of Cortland,
• b,
• the town of Yorktown,
• c,
• the village of Croton.
• Which doesn't belong in y?
• It's not a.
• A has a court.
• A has
• a DPW that takes away their garbage,
• but a, the town of Cortland doesn't have a police department.
• It's not b,
• the town of Yorktown.
• They have a court.
• They have a police department,
• but they don't have a DPW that takes away residential
• refuse.
• The answer is c,
• the village of Croton on Hudson. And why is that? They have a court.
• They have a DPW
• that takes away the garbage,
• and they have a very fine police department.
• Now
• that's one of the things
• that distinguishes
• Croton,
• and it makes it special.
• I submit to you
• that this whole proposal is a slippery slope.
• If you were to,
• in a sense, abolish the village court by transferring the duties to Cortland,
• what's next?
• Trying to save money? Can you not foresee somebody coming up and say is these
• more distinguished and better dressed attorneys have already said here,
• the,
• back and forth that it takes or would take police to escort and ferry defendants back and forth all the time.
• Somebody coming up with the idea saying, what do we need that expense for?
• Let's get rid of the police department.
• In the town of Cortland, they don't have a town of Cortland police department.
• They use some mixture of the county and the state troopers.
• Or
• let's disband the DPW
• like they do in Yorktown
• and just have everybody pay for their own refuse refusal
• removal.
• I submit
• that it makes no sense.
• If I understood that,
• proposal for the survey,
• that group that would be studying would not be even interviewing
• our police chief.
• Now does that if that's true,
• does that make any sense to anybody that they would do a study of our justice system here
• and not interview or speak to our chief of police? Doesn't make sense to me.
• So
• I think
• that this whole proposal
• should be quickly disposed of
• both on the transfer of the duties to the town
• and the survey
• cost.
Thank you for your attention. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
• Good
• I've been a resident
• of Croton for thirty years.
• I'm rarely in this space, but I was here four years ago. Got a call from
• Sam last night saying that this issue was back on the agenda, which really surprised me a great deal because I thought it was resolved.
• I apologize if missed any
• preliminary
• remarks about the rationale for doing this, for studying this issue again, and for considering
• abolishing our local court here. I do remember four years ago, though, that there was a
• dire
• presentation
• about village funds that it was so bad that it couldn't sustain
• this court anymore, and so it was gonna be a cheaper alternative for the village to farm it out. And we can then go
• get our local
• justice services up in Cortland.
• And one of the reasons I remember then was it had to do with that
• the
• parking revenue was plummeting. We were in the middle of COVID or close to it.
• But
• the parking, it might not have come all the way back, but it certainly has come a lot of the way back. I commute,
• and the train has gotten crowded,
• and you can see it in the parking. I don't know that we're a 100% of where we were. I don't know whether it's 50% or 70%, but I'm sure some revenues have come in. Somehow or another in the last four years, though, the village did manage to fund our local court. You found the money somewhere else. And it's always when you're looking at the budget and you think, I have to have,
• some savings here. I don't know where else to get it. Where else do you want me to get it? And that, of course, is the hard job you have to find where to get it. And, as a 30 year resident, I am saying, don't try to get it out of our local village court. Now four years ago, I relayed my one experience before,
• judge Watkins.
• I don't get a lot of tickets, but I did get one once.
• And there was a sting operation
• that the police had set up to try to catch people speeding through the town.
• And there I got caught. I was going pretty fast by the Cronin Colonial Diner, and there the lights were on. And then
• when I showed up
• for my court proceeding,
• it was jammed. There was a lot of people. Well, you know, I was part of the sting, so there must have been 20 or 30 of us there. And I observed our court in action,
• and I observed judge Watkins
• administering
• local justice
• to
• the people that had gotten caught up in that sting operation. And, of course, the village was fairly easy on the fines. It was a warning and and and and some kind of payment, but, you know, I was I was going pretty fast.
• But after each proceeding,
• when it was over,
• judge Watkins
• issued this remark.
• He said to everybody,
• please don't speed through our village again.
• And the our village really struck me,
• and it stuck with me that that is what a local court is. That's what a village court is. It's a court that is by in its intent and purpose to be very close to the people that it serves.
• You're gonna lose that if you send it out to Cortland.
• That is,
• to me, was providing a great service to the people, not just the people that were
• caught in the sting operation,
• but for the rest of the citizenry to know that,
• you had a judge that was
• very devoted to his little community here,
• and we will lose that.
• The local court that we have, this village court is a service
• to the people in this village.
• So I urge you not only to not eliminate it, but don't even consider and waste money on a proposal to to to
• give
• you a a a recommendation as to whether,
• to abolish it. Keep this court. Thank you.
• And I was very struck
• at the beginning of this meeting with the quilt
• and how everybody on this board and the mayor in here
• love Croton
• and the sense of community.
• And part of that sense of community is that the government of Croton knows us.
• I haven't had much action with the court, but the police my wife died on May 7.
• And if I lived outside of the
• Croton, you know, I had to wait for the state police.
• Croton police came.
• He gave me his card.
• He said if you ever have a problem,
• call me. That card is still on the refrigerator.
• And the rec department here,
• I've had enjoyed senior programs.
• They're wonderful.
• There are programs up in Cortland, but who wouldn't you wanna drive up to Route 6 to do that?
• So if you're
• saying that there's
• money to be saved
• by having a bigger unit,
• that's true.
• In that case, I mean, all the services we reply
• to each other
• won't exist,
• and we could be like in the unincorporated
• part of Croton and have private garbage and private police in
• a private court.
• But I think it's important if if we don't shovel a sidewalk,
• It should be taken care of in town. If we don't park in the right place because the regulations keep changing,
• we should be in the right place. And
• to spend money to move one service, once you do one to save money,
• what's to stop you from doing the rest? Why have a mayor? Why have this board?
• So I just wanted to say that. Thank you. Thank you.
• I live at 5 Ackerman Court.
• I wasn't planning to say anything tonight, but when I heard mister Lipson
• speak about the day that he was in front of
• mister Watkins,
• judge Watkins,
• regarding a speeding ticket that someone had gotten.
• I don't think it was the same event that I was at, but I will never forget
• the words
• that I heard, which were very similar.
• When the person finished appearing,
• judge Watkins said, please don't speed in my village.
• Please don't do that. And I never forget. Well, I did forget it until tonight.
• And
• it was so moving to me. And I thought, this is why I live in Croton.
• This and other reasons
• because
• we have a feeling here, and it's a reason why many people are trying to find a home here. It's kind of like that painting,
• behind mayor Pugh. It's small town.
• It's your
• chance to speak up, and you're going to be heard.
• And this is the kind of town
• that that happens in. It's not everywhere
• that you can say hello to the policeman and you know them by their first name.
• So I would urge you to think twice about moving something so vitally important
• as a village court
• where things will change rapidly.
• And as my husband mentioned, what's next? We don't even wanna think about that.
• So I urge you to think about the statement,
• please don't speed in my village.
• That says it all to me. Thank you. Hello.
• I've been a resident of the village for eight and a half years,
• and I've been a practicing attorney in front of the village court
• for
• nearly six years at this point. So I'm both a resident,
• and I experience in front of the court.
• And I'll be brief because
• my understanding of tabling means that
• this is not going forward at this time. Hopefully, there will be another opportunity in the future to give our perspective if it's needed again.
• But in court, you're told to sit down when you've won or you think you have, so I'll be brief. I just wanted to echo what people have said that I think and in talking to
• my contemporaries in the community, my husband, my neighbors,
• everyone is afraid it's a slippery slope that I grew up in Mount Kisco. There was a Mount Kisco police department when I grew up. It's county police now. I practice in the Mount Kisco court too. It's a very different experience having police officers
• who are not local
• to the town.
• I think that's a realistic
• possibility of what could happen here if the court is dissolved, maybe not immediately,
• but in years to come, the police department's next. The police are vital. They're vital to our community. They're vital to our schools. My daughter knows officer Ward well. It's I don't want that to go away.
• And
• just the
• thing that's missed by just a financial analysis that people have mentioned is the substantive
• aspect of a local court and local justice.
• Just having even a physically smaller space
• where the litigants are next to each other, the judge is not far away, forces people
• to interact and resolve issues in a way that doesn't happen in bigger courts.
• There's something in
• county and city courts called standards and goals. And sometimes you can hear judges say,
• standards and goals, we have to move it along. And that does not happen in the Croton Court because the litigants are seen as people, not as statistics.
• And if the court is dissolved, it's gonna put more pressure on the Cortland Court and move them towards that massive people
• that'll be further away from being seen as individuals. So I strongly oppose it. Thank you for listening to all of us today. Thank you.
• I live at 119 Maple Street,
• for
• a very long time.
• And
• yes.
• And I sat on the board
• for six years,
• and it was great.
• I just wanna say that,
• we in Croton
• like having our amenities
• conveniently
• located close by,
• and we like seeing the folks who work there on the street
• sharing a wave.
• This is the beauty of living in a small village,
• and it's the reason so many of us settled here and have stayed here.
• We love the intimacy
• of living in a small village
• with all the benefits of a larger municipality.
• We know how lucky we are to have that combination,
• and we don't want to lose it. Thank you.
Good evening, everybody. My name is Darren Blom, a twenty year resident at Croton and Hudson.
• I'm I'm gonna be brief about this. You guys have been very patient with all of us speaking today.
• I think
• one of the issue that's going on is
• the speed, the confusion, and the fear.
• So
• I heard of CGR, which mister Healy recommended, and they're highly reputable. I read them five zero one c three,
• and I know how they adhere into the federal laws and everything else. And,
• it's it's a great pick.
• But what's the rush?
• We have one consulting company that we are considering,
• which is I mean, they're highly favorable, but we didn't really do any type of competitive search on it unless there's something I don't know about.
• So we have $40,000.
• I don't know if that's annually, yearly, or just a one time payment,
• and people are fearing that because 40,000 is a lot of money.
• So
• if there's other companies maybe that could compete with CGR,
• competitive bidding.
• I'm just throwing other options out there. Mister Healy is I'm sure, like everybody else here, is overworked and underpaid.
• Maybe volunteers can help him.
• He has a lot of work to do as well as mister Pugh and everybody else.
• Maybe find different alternatives before we actually speed the process
• because speed with confusion, with fear
• creates panic.
• Then panic creates anger, and then there's disagreements. And disagreements are great.
• That's what's great about We disagree to agree.
• We're all fantastic people here. We all want what's best for Croton,
• including myself.
• And I think it's great to disagree
• so we could come to an agreement. We don't want a fifty one forty nine where
• 50 one's happy, 49% is miserable.
• We want the numbers much higher. We want, like, at least how about a 100%?
• So
• that's it. A twenty year resident. I love Cohen. I love all the work you guys do. You guys are fantastic.
• I love all the residents. You guys are fantastic. Paul is my neighbor. He's one of the best neighbors I ever had.
• And I wish you guys a great night.
Trustees, mister mayor, mister Healy, my name is Shem Gebouri. I live at 45 Brook Street.
• I'm the baby here. We moved here. We purchased the house three years ago.
• I'm kind of dismayed to hear the notion of moving yet another village service house. You've heard all of this, and I gather you heard it in spades four years ago. What I am a little confused by is that I heard judge Watkins say the cost of the court is $275,000.
• Last year, 2025
• took in over, like, something like, if I heard right, 520,000.
• That's a net of roughly $2.22
• 25.
• Then there must be other expenses because judge Watkins said the net cost of the court is $12,000.
• There was a proposal to spend 40,000
• to study what I'm not clear about because forgive me,
• sir, you and your colleague. I don't remember your name. I'm sorry. Yep. Thank you. That the court is
• the courts run the same throughout the state of New York. You're bound by law,
• practice code, etcetera. You've heard all this stuff. So, like, what is
• the motivation
• to take mister Healy's time, who is clearly overworked and underpaid? Thank you.
• What's the motivation?
• I haven't I I I must have missed something because I'm not sorry. I'm not I'm not I'm I'm, like, serious. Like, what's behind it? I don't get it. But I'm new, so maybe you can edify me. I I see the clock is still running. I'm happy to offer you my time to hear the responses to those questions
• because
• it's you know, there's a lot going on. And you got a lot of people here, the people watching.
• So I'm at 03:20. So thank you. I would love to hear your responses as to why you feel it necessary to study something that might not be broken.
• I would make national analogies
• about election fraud, how terrible it is. We should study it. I'm not gonna go there. We all know that territory very well too well.
• So sorry. I left you two minutes. Thank you.
• live on Old Post Road South,
• and
• I guess we're here for thirty years.
• Going on thirty one, I I don't know.
• Number of years. Anyway, I
• got confused when I walked into the building,
• not tonight, but the other time because,
• we I used to be the chair of the visual environment board, VEB,
• and we met
• in the courtroom right down below.
• And you walked in and you took a right. There was a vending machine here. There was a door to the police department there,
• and it
• was there.
• And the only thing that was really cool about it is the back bench
• had these, like,
• rings or something because that was where the handcuffs had to be attached.
• Since then, things have changed.
• And I believe that change was happening just before I left
• that job,
• or that volunteer
• thing. And
• I think it was because of state regulations,
• I think.
• In any event, there's a nice door there. I think there's a lot of new things
• that were required,
• and we paid for them.
• I think we paid for them. I don't think the state did.
• So,
• yeah, I just wanted to bring
• a little history to this that we've already spent a lot of money to make this court
• compliant.
• Okay. That's it. Thank you. And But I really like judge Watkins.
• K. Seeing no one else wishing a comment, we proceed on to,
• the consent agenda.
• Manager?
• I'm gonna skip my report. Oh, sorry. Yes. I forgot our new feature. Yes.
• Okay. So I just had a few items that I wanted to, report on this evening.
• One, I'm very happy to share that the renovation at Dobbs Park has begun officially as of Monday.
• The playground
• equipment and
• basketball court equipment have been removed,
• and the contractor is going to work as expeditiously as possible to try to meet the opening day deadline. But if they're not able to for weather or whatever other reasons,
• there will still be a path that is made a safe path through the park so that the teams can get to the field.
• I let's give folks a minute to exit if people are leaving.
Even though we put it towards the front of the meeting, they still hear it because you're I think it was overpaid and underworked.
Okay. The next item is that the annual tax lien sale is scheduled to take place on March 17 at 11AM.
• That'll take place in this room.
• And so,
• you know, we have been in regular contact with those, property owners that have not
• paid their taxes yet for this year. And so we're hoping that as many of them as possible will have that,
• resolved before the seventeenth.
• Just an update on the negotiations
• with Verizon Fios for the TV service.
• We have,
• worked to finalize the franchise
• agreement language,
• and I hope have that available on the next agenda to schedule the public hearing,
• which is the last step before the,
• franchise agreement can be signed. So that's exciting.
• Regarding our water bills, the water bills will be going out,
• in the next couple of days, March 15.
• And,
• there's two updates with regards to the water bills. First is that,
• our credit card processor online can now accept Visa and mass Visa and American Express
• for utility bill payments.
• So we encourage people to make use of that,
• instead of sending checks through the mail.
• And, also, we're going to be sending out an email
• with a new, feature called Resident Connect
• through our financial software,
• and that will allow people to view their bills online.
• When you get this, most recent bill in the mail, hopefully,
• week,
• just make note of your customer number and your account number. Mhmm. And because you'll need those two numbers to create your account on on the Resident Connect portal.
• And you'll be able to look at your past bills, your consumption history,
• what, you know, what date you last paid your bill. All that information will be available
• in your account. So we'll be sending out an email with all this information,
• you know, as well.
• But this has been something that's been worked on for a little while now in the finance department, so we're very happy,
• to roll it out. And, you know, hopefully, it will cut down on a lot of the phone calls that the finance department receives during the billing periods.
• DPW
• is out fixing potholes as the weather has warmed up, you know, and we take the good with the bad. When the weather warms up, the potholes appear. But,
• you know, we do have a form on our website,
• under the DPW page, request for nonemergency
• services.
• And if there is a pothole on your street or, you know, if you see one elsewhere in the village, feel free to submit the request,
• and it will be addressed as soon as feasible.
• And let's see what else. The village met with Khan Edison last Friday.
• They will once again be back to do some gas main work this year, unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you look at that.
• Their focus area for this year is
• Brook Street and Olpost Road North.
• They're going to be working
• on Brook Street between Terrace and Olpost North, and then on Olpost North between Van Wyck and Mount Green.
• So,
• you know, this was just the beginning of the conversation with them. We'll be working with them over the next couple weeks to finalize the schedule.
• And, obviously, we will send out, information to the community as
• it is available.
• And,
• lastly, the Quaker Bridge, the county let us know last week that,
• they have encountered continuing issues with obtaining their
• I shouldn't say issues. Continuing delays with obtaining their army corps of engineers permit,
• and so,
• they do not expect the bridge work to be completed by the previously announced deadline of June 30. So,
• they do still plan to do some tree removal work before,
• March 31.
• And when we know that information, we'll put it on our website on the project page,
• but,
• they don't have a new,
• anticipated completion date. They plan to,
• redo the schedule once they have their permit from the army corps of engineers.
• So
• that whether it's the small part that we had in the project or Cortland itself or Westchester County,
• all three of our local entities have done everything they they need to do to get this project underway. Yes. It's sadly the federal side that's, that's lagging at this point. Yeah. The the permit request was submitted in July
I believe. So it's it's been with them for a significant amount of time. And I'm I would just suggest, you know, this is disappointing news, and I'm sure very disappointing news for the people that,
• you know, are users of that bridge.
• Are we gonna be communicating that out, or is the county plan to communicate out that? Both both the town the town and I have been encouraging
• increase their communication because it's really their project. They need to you know, if they can provide us with the materials, we'll be happy to share them, but it's not really our news to
• to to put out there. They're you know, because they're the ones that need to
• publicize you know, give us the information to share.
• So we have been encouraging them to to do that, but up until now, we haven't,
• we haven't received anything
• that we can share publicly. Okay. Yeah.
• at the federal level since that's where the holdup is that we could be
• participating
• in?
• you you probably potentially could,
• but I I don't know exactly. I'm not very familiar with the regulations of the army corps. I I was told
• that,
• each phase has, like, a mandatory thirty day
• review period.
• So
• I don't know exactly how many phases there are or even in what phase it is. You know, again, if we were able to get some additional information from the county that might explain
some of the delays, but we have it. I guess I would just like to be doing what if there's some advocacy we can be doing even if it is just a letter from the board. An excellent suggestion, trustee Slippin, and I think that it's
• For the underpay. Deputy mayor, Len Simon, our intergovernmental liaison to dig into that issue more. And if there's something that this board can do to help, I'm sure he'll report it back. Thank you. Yep.
• That's it. Okay. Thank you, manager. Yep.
• Alright.
• And from there, we proceed to the consent agenda.
• Do I have a motion on the consent agenda? So moved. Second. Motion by trustee Simon, second by trustee Nicholson. Discussion?
• a one, I just wanted to congratulate our former,
• chairman of the of the zoning board,
• Christine Wagner, who has won the prestigious
• David
• Alley Award from the New York Planning Federation
• for her total of fourteen years
• of service,
• on on the zoning board. Previously,
• she'd gotten a similar award from the Westchester
• Planning Federation.
• Now now she's gone, statewide.
• So, we're very, very, very glad. And, of course, you know, Christine
• was with us about
• a month and a half or so ago when we awarded her the key to the village. So this this award is very well deserved. I
• had the pleasure of informing
• Christine of the of the award
• as she was heading to the airport to
• actually leave the country, which is, as I understand, is unrelated to her service on the zoning board. But
• we'll just
• hope to be able to honor her further when when the awards are granted. And then just congratulations
• to Christine.
• Capriccios
• for donating a bench to Black Rock Park, which is, will be a wonderful addition to the dog park,
• and also to holy name of Mary, Knights of Columbus for donating,
• bleachers, new bleachers at Dobbs Park, which will be also just a wonderful enhancement to that park,
• once once they're in and the field is complete.
• So thank you.
• Yeah. Thank you.
• All in favor? Aye. Excellent.
• Thank you.
• Alright. Proposed resolutions.
• So we're gonna do this is
• I put this in the wrong section of the agenda because we actually have to go through we have to do the LWRP review
• first for this. Okay. So I apologize. We'll just pull that up first, and then I'll read the resolution after we go through that.
• So, Jeanette, if you could scroll down, please.
• Sorry. Keep going.
• Yep.
• So if you could click the, one the second one from the bottom there, the LWRP.
• Nope.
• Keep going up.
• That one. Yep.
• So the Waterfront Advisory Committee met to review the,
• LWRP
• for the Half Moon Bay rehabilitation project.
• And so they've come up with a number of policies that are applicable and consistent
• with the,
• rehabilitation
• of the bridge.
• And,
• you know, they
• sorry.
• They picked policy one, policy one a, policy one b,
• policy two, policy two a,
• policy four,
• policy five,
• policy seven e,
• policy seven f,
• policy seven g,
• policy 18, policy 19,
• policy 19 a, policy 19 b, policy 19 c,
• policy 20, policy 21,
• policy 21 a, policy 22,
• policy 25,
• policy 25 a,
• as well as three relevant projects,
• policy seven, policy eight, and policy nine.
• So,
• all of these were found to be applicable and consistent,
• so, there was no no issues that the WAC reported.
• Did members of the board have any additional policies that they wanted to review?
I I don't oh, sorry. I was at the meeting, so I I was just gonna say, manager, that, I think the memo is
• excellent
• from from the WAC. I was not able to be there, but trustee Nacht Baylor was there and report on the the diligence and hard work of the committee at the time.
• thank you, deputy
• Simon, for
• giving me some of the context for how the WAC operates because it is a unique
• type of committee that we have.
• One of the questions I had, manager, was
• do you share any of this information? So I know that the Half Moon Bay rehabilitation
• project is moving along nicely.
• I think it's gonna be heading into the design phase. Yes.
• And, you know, with the plan of starting construction by September 30.
• And in your report, you have an upcoming meeting.
• So I didn't know if any of this ever gets reviewed with Tectonic
• or,
• you know, how any of this information gets applied.
• I mean, the the WACC is an advisory group, and,
• the information that it's doing is the the review that it's doing is going to the state because
• New York state secretary of state requested this review.
• Tectonic
• is working on the federal coastal
• assessment,
• which is somewhat similar.
• So they're you know, we were taking parallel tracks because I see. We had to do the state one, and then they're working on the federal one. Okay. So but it it's a good suggestion to share this with them in case they might find any of it useful. Yeah. Thank you. Yep.
• in terms of the memo dated February
• 25
• from
• the deputy mayor who's the chair of that committee.
• Even though the deputy mayor was absent from the meeting, he's still the one that submits the
• or maybe I'm just misunderstanding. I don't attend the meeting. I don't Yeah. Know what the date is. I got to I just don't I guess I just it was more of a,
• like, a process question, I guess. I I don't I don't have no problem with the memo coming from,
• chairman Simon by any stretch of the imagination, but I just was surprised to be looking at the memo and then hear that information. So
• is that is that typical? I just don't I just don't know the answer to question. That that's a good question. I I I don't
I didn't put the memo together. It came from the engineering department. So I you know, did trustee Simon, did you review the memo? It might just be typical process.
I think what what the engineering department was doing was submitting it on my behalf based on who was in attendance, and and and that's noted in in the minutes. Okay. Okay. Yep.
Okay. So if there are no other policies that people would like to review, I will proceed with the resolution.
• Whereas the village of Colonel Hudson has adopted a local waterfront revitalization program to guide the use of waterfront in adjacent areas in a manner consistent with sound waterfront planning and environmental protection principles.
• Whereas the village of Cordonan Hudson has received a referral for review of the reconstruction of the Half Moon Bay Bridge, whereas on 02/25/2026,
• the village's waterfront advisory committee reviewed the proposed project for consistency
• with the policies of the LWRP,
• and whereas the WAC has evaluated the coastal assessment form and the policies of the LWRP
• and determined that the following policies are relevant to the proposed project.
• Policy one, policy one a, policy one b, policy two, policy two a,
• policy four, policy five, policy seven e, policy seven f, policy seven g, policy 18, policy 19, policy 19 a, policy 19 b, policy 19 c, policy 20,
• policy 21, policy 21 a, policy 22,
• policy 25, policy 25 a.
• Under LWRP section four, proposed land use and projects, the following policies are relevant. Policy seven,
• policy eight, policy nine,
• and whereas the WAC has found that the specifications to the proposed work are protective of the environment, that the project will extend the life of the infrastructure in a manner consistent with the LWRP,
• and whereas the WAC has issued its recommendation of consistency with the LWRP,
• now therefore be it resolved. The village board of trustees hereby declares the proposed rehabilitation of the Half Moon Bay Bridge to be consistent with the village's local waterfront revitalization
• program.
• by,
• trustee Simon, second by trustee Nacht Taylor. All
• including engine
• I don't know why.
• You have more than three apparatus. I don't know why I said that. Okay. Including engine one nineteen, a 2,006 Seagrave pumper. And whereas the National Fire Protection Association recommends that first line apparatus be replaced every twenty years. Whereas the members of Washington Engine Company number one have researched the various options to replace engine one nineteen
• and determined that the Seagreve Marauder pumper is the best option to replace the existing engine one nineteen,
• and whereas Seagrave Fire Apparatus LLC of Clintonville, Wisconsin has presented a proposal and purchase contract in the amount of $1,789,929,
• and whereas the proposal is in compliance with Houston Galveston area council contract f s 12Dash23D01
• of which the village is a member organization.
• Whereas payment for the new engine one nineteen will be due upon delivery of the apparatus to the village of Cortlandt Hudson. Now therefore be it resolved, the village board of trustees hereby authorizes the village manager to accept the proposal from Seagrave Fire Apparatus LLC
• of Clintonville, Wisconsin in the amount of $1,789,929
• and execute the purchase contract.
Discussion? Oh, mayor, I would just say that at our work session last two weeks ago now, we had an excellent dialogue with chief Strini and chief Colombo on how how we get here and what's the nature of the existing
• equipment and
• what we can expect from from this new engine. So I just appreciated
• their time in coming here and educating us a bit on on all that. And
• we we, of course, look forward, you know, to adding this this new new piece of equipment
• to our fire
• department.
• But as we as we learned
• at at our meeting with them two weeks ago, it does take about four years, you know, from the the time we put in the order until
• until the time it's delivered. But
• in in
• manager,
• correct me if I'm wrong. We don't pay for it until we We do not pay. We do not we hand over the check when it's delivered. There you go. Okay. Thank you.
K. I I will take notice that both of those chiefs are here with us this evening. If they have anything that they wanna contribute, I'd like to invite you down to speak into the microphone.
• Okay.
You're welcome. Alright. Thank you. And I I I will relay, and I appreciate the chiefs being here tonight. And, you know, something that was eye opening to me during the work session was just, you know, the cost is staggering.
• You know, 1,800,000,000.0
• million almost,
• you know, 1.9.
• And they, you know, they they made
• the point that the cost has doubled in the past five years.
• And that is just a tremendous
• tremendous
• pain to all the municipalities across the country that that depend on fire services.
• So,
• you know, in terms of advocacy and in terms of people looking out for, expenses,
• this is something that they're working out at the federal government, but it's something that we should all be aware of because it's not sustainable.
• And these are vehicles that we desperately need to,
• to protect our community. So,
• I am grateful that in Croton, we are able to finance
• a vehicle like this and, able to support Mhmm. Our volunteers with vehicle and update,
• after twenty years of use Mhmm. Of, the vehicle that we will be retiring in four years, but, it it really is
• it's really an issue that, you know,
• needs to be addressed.
Mhmm. That's all. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, when we bought, engine one eighteen, which was not that many years ago, probably,
• like, five years ago, that was 830,000
• approximately.
• Yeah. So
Whereas the village website was last completely redesigned in 2018 and whereas the website hosting company Civic Plus is requiring the village to upgrade to a new platform. Whereas the new platform will have added capabilities such as the addition of a citizen request tracker. Now therefore, be it resolved that the village board of trustees, who are authorizes the village manager to accept the proposal from Civic Plus of Manhattan, Kansas to upgrade the village website at a one time cost of $8,000.
• And be it further resolved, the village treasurer is authorized to transfer 8,000 from contingency account a 1990Dot4000
• to the following account, a 6410Dot4000,
• publicity contractual.
Do I have a motion? So moved. Second. Motion by trustee Simon, second by trustee Nicholson.
• Discussion?
• integral part of our overall communication strategy,
• and so I'm glad that we're taking the necessary steps to keep it
• up to date so that because
• there's a it it the house has a lot of information and residents
• rely on it for information.
• So I'm, you know, grateful for the allocation of the funds, but also for the
• work that's gonna go into it because it is gonna be,
• you know, it's
• there is there is work to be done to get it
• transferred
• over to the new site. Can you just remind us when what the timeline is?
I don't I should've I should look that I should've before. I apologize for not having it off the top of my head. But I do believe it is gonna be, pretty quickly.
• So because we are it's it needs to be upgraded. Yeah. So I think that they're they're pretty much ready to go.
• You know, there will be a little bit of time as we work on design details and, you know, figuring out where we want things to go, what pictures we wanna put up, you know. But it should it shouldn't take too too long, I don't think. And there'll be no disruption of services for
No. Yeah. The web the old website will be active until the new one's ready. Yep. Great. Thank you. Yep. And I would just, you know, speaking on on behalf of the idea committee,
• you know, just making sure that we're, you know, using best practices to make sure that the website
• continues to be accessible.
• Yep. Really to that sort of, you know, making sure that the website is accessible to as many people in the community as possible
• from a language perspective, but also from a usability perspective. It's really exciting
• that,
• we had the opportunity to
• to re redo the website.
• It's been kind of the same for a long time. So it it'll be nice to have a refresh.
• for the past two or three years now, we've had a program called AudioEye,
• which is, if you look at the website and you see that it's like a little
• bull's eye that's at the bottom right corner of the website. Mhmm. And
• that is what that program does is make sure that every page on the website is ADA compliant.
• Mhmm. So,
• you know, that was that was an extra an add on to the website that we added a couple years ago. Mhmm. But, you know, in we it was important to make sure that we were, you know, adhering to the ADA. Mhmm. Great. I don't wanna put you on the spot with this question, but I do know that school districts
there's a deadline in I think in a this April for school districts of a certain size to make sure that there are not any PDFs that aren't readable. There's, like, that extra level of ADA compliance about some of the things that are and I wondered if municipalities
• are,
• I don't I think Croton school district is smaller, and so it's another year until that happens for Croton.
• It's smaller than the cutoff, but I wonder if municipalities
• are being affected by that same
• law. Have not heard that. I've I'll ask the attorney if he's heard that at all. Can you repeat? Because I was just looking down. It was Oh, school districts. There's a new law that school districts have to have a have to have a certain level of compliance on their website. If there are certain above a certain size,
• has to be you know, larger districts have to be done by this April. Smaller districts have to be done by next April. I realized we are not a school district, but it's more you know, it's sort of a I was wondering if municipalities
• are under the same
• if if the same law applies. It's mostly about not having
• JPEGs that are not readable by a reader or PDFs that are not readable by a reader. So anything that we would upload
• such as a PDF that maybe in the past would be a scanned document
• Mhmm. Now has to be readable. I I don't expect an answer now. Yeah. I just am wondering if, you into it. I mean, it could be problematic from a building
department standpoint of certain types of files, but So there might be some differences, but I'll definitely take a look. Thank you.
• All in favor? Aye. Or aye?
• Did we have a motion?
• We do. No. We did. Because Okay. We did. Okay. Yeah. Alright. Very good. We couldn't open it. Yeah. Alright.
• K.
Whereas the village justice court is led by the village justice, an elected official whose term of office ends on 12/07/2026.
• Whereas the village board of trustees would like to review the efficiency of operations within the village justice court. And whereas following board discussion at two work sessions in February, CGR of Rochester, New York has provided a revised proposal to conduct this review for the amount of $19,750.
• And whereas the review has been spinning split into two phases to allow the village board of trustees to receive quantitative
• and fiscal data on the village justice court before considering the second phase of the review.
• Now, therefore, be it resolved that the village board of trustees hereby authorizes the village manager to accept the proposal from CGR of Rochester, New York to review the efficiency of operations within the village justice court at a cost of $19,750.
• Before the result, the village treasurer is authorized to make the following budget amendment in the twenty twenty five twenty twenty six general fund budget. General expenses increased a $11.10 dot 4,000. Justice court contractual,
• $19,750.
• General revenues increased a $11.10 dot $26.10.
• Justice court fines and forfeited bail $19,750.
• that
• a motion? I get Not not really. Okay.
Yes. If you wanna have any discussion on it, you need a motion and a second to open discussion. Okay. Happy to make the motion. Motion. Motion
• You know, mayor,
• the
• the word table, I think, is you know, some folks
• interpret it different ways, but I think it's our intent to to put this aside
• for for a period.
• And
• how and under what circumstances
• we return to it, I think, is at this point is is very much unknown. I think it's clear, though, that there there is no
• there is no proposal
• for a court consolidation,
• and there is no proposal for
• studying the operations
• of the court
• around which
• all
• five members of the board feel comfortable with at at the at the current time. I appreciate it. I don't know if his
• honor is still here. I appreciated the judge
• mentioning
• that that he would support
• a certain type of study, and, you know, I'd be interested in learning learning more about that.
• I think the questions
• that that we that we ask are almost as important as the answers that we get.
• I happen to feel, with with all due respect to
• to our our previous
• engineer,
• the engineering department that we have now is a better engineering department because of the work that we did in reviewing the operations. I know, of course, an engineering department is not the same as a court, but, I think that, all organizations,
• you know, should be subject, you know, to to periodic review. And and I think that we should not be
• afraid of the
• of of some of the recommendations
• that that that could be made, that could be very internal, and and some some otherwise.
• But we we may as I as I mentioned, we may return to this at some point. But as
• far as I'm concerned, you know, we're we're putting this aside now for a while.
• And and I think that's to everyone's benefit. And by the way, I I appreciate
• everyone that came out tonight.
• I personally feel, and I've mentioned this before in with respect to other other items that we've, that we've worked on, we do our best work when we take our time. And, you know, to the extent that we feel we can, improve court operations with some analysis,
• I think, it's worth taking our time to figure out, how to do that, in in the proper way. There's a wide range of viewpoints
• on this board, and I respect all of them. There there's not quite the consensus now on on how to proceed, and I think that that
• is just a a guidepost that we need to do
• some more thinking about what it is we're actually we're actually looking for in this in this effort. So I I look forward to talking to folks, including including his honor about,
• you know, about some of the directions we might go in.
• And and and, also, I think it's helpful that we are putting this aside
• for now. Again, you know, it is the word in in in the language that I'm most comfortable with, you know, from years of working in legislative bodies is table, but I think the important thing is that, we're not going forward, with this. And and,
• I think that's the that's the message I hope everyone hears. Thank you.
• I was gonna save mine for my comments at the end, but I very much appreciate everyone coming out tonight.
• Really good to hear from you all. I know that a lot of comments were made that we talked about this four years ago.
• I wasn't here four years ago, so I appreciate that we're
• re re relooking at an issue. Right? I mean, I I think that as we evolve as a community, we always need to be cognizant
• of
• where we're at.
• IAG remains strongly committed to good governance
• and to the village continually
• examining ways to improve the services we provide to residents.
• Improve
• the services.
• So that does not mean that we are going to there was a proposal on the floor to move the court. And I think one of the spoke speakers earlier
• said it correctly when the confusion,
• the speed,
• that's what gets us tripped up because we went from saying, gosh. We'd like to take a look at the court
• and make sure it's functioning and running properly,
• which I think is fair. We did the same with the engineering department.
• We're going to do the same with the police department. That that is coming.
• And it's not that we're going to eliminate the police department.
• We are going to take a look at it. We are gonna try to understand how in our budget of $20,000,000
• we can afford
• to have the number of officers
• that will keep us all safe.
• And it is the exact same situation for the court.
• We were going to take some time to really look at the court and understand how can we improve services.
• So I appreciate everyone coming out. I appreciate the conversation,
• and I appreciate that we're tabling this because this this definitely
• the timing of this issue certainly
• kind of went haywire,
• for lack of a better word.
• It it got a little bit mixed in politics.
• It got a little bit mixed in polarization of the community,
• and that's the furthest thing we want.
• The
• court should be above politics.
• It should be above partners partisanship,
• and it should be about
• functioning
• well for our residents.
• So I support the table.
• Just to be even more clear than my colleagues to my right, this will not be coming up again in 2026.
• This, I do think, should come up again
• prior to 2030,
• because we do only have every four years we can look at consolidation,
• and our reality
• may change in two years.
• We don't know where our finances are. You know, I think to the credit of this board and to the village manager, our finances are an incredible and and, of course, the COVID pandemic
• not existing anymore. But our our our finances are in much better shape than when we considered this four years ago. Four years ago, we were in a situation where we thought
• we really need to think about cutting some serious things in order to operate.
• We're not there. We're not there today. We're gonna have a tough conversation
• around the budget,
• but we don't need to make drastic cuts today.
• Two years ago,
• it could be an entirely different world. So I do want people to be open minded,
• and I also want people to and this is kind of the onus is on me as a board member to understand how we're functioning as the court, to understand what best practices are out there, to a lot a lot to your point,
• you know, is driven by law, is driven by the processes. So there's not much we you know, there's a lot that we can't change.
• But the things that we can change, again, the focus should be providing the best services we can as
• to our residents. So I I appreciate this being tabled for this evening. Thank you.
• Number one,
• you know, I was completely moved by this whole evening.
• I we need some tissues here for future meetings because starting with a quilt
• that was just
• I was blown away,
• art with purpose, but the
• intentionality and the and all the thoughtfulness
• that went into it, and they kicked it off with starting how,
• you know, the the quilt represented
• pillars of our community,
• and an important pillar of our community
• includes the court. You know? And I personally was never in favor of
• court consolidation,
• but I
• as a trustee,
• I have, an important duty to
• make sure that all the departments are,
• you know, operating as efficiently as possible. We have a lot of headwinds,
• you know, economic
• headwinds.
• Right? We read about gas prices going up and down right now. And, you know, as a board, we just have to make sure that every department that we operate in
• is running as efficiently and effectively as it could. And what I was,
• you know, interested in learning is just, is there anything,
• you know, in the court where we could save
• anything? But
• I wasn't,
• in favor with looking at consolidation,
• and I just wanna say that
• I'm proud of this board because I feel that
• this board
• listened to all the folks that wrote in,
• listened to each other,
• you know, and each of our perspectives on this.
• You know? And and I just appreciate that.
• You know? Thank you. And, of course, I'm beyond moved with everyone who spoke this evening because I learned a lot,
• and I'm I'm grateful for living in this community. It it just never ceases to amaze me,
• the people who live here.
• So
okay. So, I mean, how I felt about this was really no joke no secret to anyone from the beginning. I I do just wanna kinda take a step back and say,
• and, you know, agree with my colleagues. It's I think it's super important to look at our departments and
• see how they can be working more efficiently or effectively and what are some some different new ways. You know, how are some other municipalities doing things?
• So the idea of
• evaluating
• how any of our departments is working
• is,
• I mean, it's our job. Right?
• But right out of the gate, the way the initial proposal was written,
• it so it to to my read, seemed like a foregone conclusion where we were going, and so that caused me a lot of concern.
• So
• knowing that
• you know? And we had lots of deliberations. We had lots of discussions. We have lots of versions of this. There and even with all the versions that the manager,
• worked on, we still couldn't get to one that made sense.
• So I appreciate the process,
• and I do know as, you know, as trustee
• Nicholson said, we know we wanna look at the police department going forward.
• We know that there are probably some other ways
• in the manager's office that things can be done differently
• so that you are not overworked.
• You know? So
• I really would like to take some
• I wanna learn from this process because there was I was frustrated.
• But I think that the next department we go to look at,
• there's a there's a way we can approach it so that we can all get on the same page about what the what the what what our goal really is so that we can come into it,
• and then build out what we want that study to look like. Of course, there are experts in this area who can tell us how to do it, but
• this is our village. And I think that we really we can
• design studies
• that
• will answer our questions, but also make sure that our
• residents and constituents are being served,
• in a way that is most appropriate. I am pleased with the outcome of this being tabled.
• You know, the other thing is
• the timing was not ideal. If we if this
• almost the same exact proposal had been brought a year ago,
• I think there probably would have been fewer questions,
• just because this, with the court, is only something we can do every four years. So I feel like I learned a lot. I wanna ask a lot of better questions,
• at the outset.
• You know, maybe a discussion discussing it at a work session before we or I don't remember exactly what I think it was on a an agenda, and then it was on a work session. I don't remember, and we don't have to rehash it. I but I just think that,
• you know, we've
• learned some things through this process, and I'm pleased with where we are
• where, you know, where we've landed.
• There were two things I just wanted to clarify.
• The I know that it's easy to equate
• the analysis that was done of the engineering department, although I wasn't on the board when it happened,
• and the decision to move the assessor's office
• to Cortland with
• moving the court. I think it's a false equivalency.
• The assessor is
• number one, we could not hire an assessor, so we were struggling to provide that service to residents.
• I was pretty much against moving that also because if
• how communicating that to residents is gonna be. We still don't know if it's gonna be better for residents or worse. But what was really bad for residents was not having an assessor in that role. So
• they do have to drive to Cortland, but we now do have an assessor. It's a completely different situation.
• I can only speak for me. I have no desire to dissolve this village that I chose to move to because of the
• types of amenities.
• And,
• you know, as some of the speakers said, it's my village. It's our village. I don't wanna change that. I moving the assessor's office
• was a necessity,
• and village residents are now going to be better served.
• It's it's not the same thing with the court.
• I don't wanna go too far down this road with the recreation offices, but we are running out of space in this building. We have the opportunity to increase space. Every committee meeting I go to,
• there's discussion about where are we gonna run programming, how are we gonna run programming.
• We are so far away from being able to move the recreation offices, but when we do,
• there will be an incredible opportunity for residents to enjoy a different part of our village and and space in this building in a different way. So I just wanna be thoughtful about
• I can be very emotional about
• talking about the these things that make the village unique, but the assessor and the rec office is moving
• are are not the same thing. So I just wanna
• make sure that that is clear. So, and also thank you, manager. I know that I was a
• very annoying through this process,
• so I can but
• we gotta ask the questions.
Thank you. Manager or attorney Mike, correct that the the effect that we were seeking of tabling is achieved by just voting the resolution down or failing to pass it. I mean, I I don't know if the mayor has comments that he wants to make.
Yeah. I have some quick comments. First, I wanna thank my colleagues for their very thoughtful statements, and I wanna thank everyone that came out here tonight to speak their minds.
• You know? And I appreciate that some people were here,
• four years ago, some folks weren't. And I think it's important to remember that, four years ago, we, looked at court consolidation in the context
• of the tremendous, fiscal challenges of the COVID nineteen pandemic.
• Believe it or not, those aren't really all gone.
• The village parking lots revenues are still $750,000
• less today than they were in 2019.
• So the fact that we've been able to stay under the tax cap and still provide residents with the services that they expect is not a happy accident. It is not a miracle. It is the result of the hard work of our village manager and this board in working, proactively and employing due diligence,
• either through the cultivation of new revenue sources like our Carport solar array or finding savings
• challenging
• as challenging
• as it can be when possible, such as in the case of the assessor.
• It isn't was in that same spirit, that we brought up the the conversation around consolidation.
• And, one of the lessons
• that I took away from our experience four years ago was that there were a lot of very fine grained questions that were raised
• that I thought
• a study brought in with
• credentialed professionals with experience in this area would be able to answer. But I think we've heard tonight overwhelmingly that the preference of the community is not for consolidation
• and,
• you know, to avoid any kind of ambiguity,
• I will not be placing any kind of study or anything like that with consolidation as the end on the agenda.
• Now we're in the future.
• So
• with that said, you know, I also wanna address some of the remarks that were made out there, these
• concerns expressed over a slippery slope.
• And
• we may have some steep slopes in the village, but we're not a village of slippery slope slopes. We're a village of steady steps. Right? And our real record here, if you look at it, is one of both fiscal responsibility and strategic investment.
• Now we've talked about the areas where we've,
• trimmed headcount modestly,
• found savings when possible,
• but it you will also find that our police department is at its strongest force strength in fifteen years. That's just one example. And on the civilian side and also at Key Public Safety Area, we now have a full time fire inspector. Those are both important improvements that are making the lives of our residents better and safer.
• And, there are a whole lot of other accomplishments we could list, but I won't get into it. But that's our record. That's our approach, and that's what we're gonna continue with.
• And, manager and or attorney, any advice on how to dispose of this?
Just to hold on. Yeah. Yeah. And that way, can be recorded. Okay. Yeah. I think that's All all nays
• on the proposal?
• Nay. Nay. Alright. Thank you.
• Okay.
Whereas the Westchester Municipal Consortium, including the village of Hudson, hired Joel r Dichter of Dichter Law LLC to represent participating Westchester County municipalities
• in Con Edison's electric and gas rate case before the New York Public Service Commission. Whereas the New York State Public Service Commission recently approved a three year rate settlement with Con Edison starting 01/01/2026.
• Whereas, it is in the best interest of the village of Courtland Hudson and the WMC, the settlement be monitored for compliance with the terms agreed upon with the New York State Public Service Commission.
• And whereas Joel R. Dichter of Dichter Law LLC has the necessary experience and expertise represent the interest of the participating municipalities
• in this matter and has submitted a three year monitoring proposal dated 02/11/2026.
• And whereas proposal includes monitoring submissions response
• there to when necessary,
• participate
• in the WMC specific meetings and provide periodic updates to the WMC
• at a cost of $1,250
• per participating municipality per year. Now therefore be it resolved that the board of trustees of the village of Courtland And Hudson hereby authorizes the hiring of Joel r Dichter of Dichter Law LLC,
• a special counsel to represent participating Westchester municipalities of the Westchester Municipal Consortium
• to monitor the approved New York State Public Service Commission settlement in accordance with the three year proposal from Joel r Dichter of Dichter Law LLC dated 02/11/2026,
• And be further resolved that the participating municipalities shall share the cost of legal and related fees incurred
• by Joel r Dichter of Dichter Law LLC.
• The total annual amount of such representation not to exceed $1,250
• per participating municipality
• and be it further resolved that the village managers hereby authorize to take all necessary actions to execute agreements and related documents and make payments in furtherance of this resolution.
Do I have a motion? So moved. Second. Motion by trustee Simon, second by trustee Nicholson. Discussion.
• to help us be a a participating
• party,
• all of the
• Westchester municipalities,
• to in effect, be an intervener in the in the case. We had 41
• out of 45
• municipalities
• participating
• in that effort, and we're closing in on that number for the the monitoring effort.
• So I I I expect within a week or two, we'll have the same number of municipalities
• that
• aren't are going to be asking him to help us monitor as as we did helping him
• helping us be an intervener.
• All in favor? Aye. Aye.
• Alright. Public comment on non agenda items. Anyone wishing to comment on anything? This is your opportunity. Please state your name and address. Everyone has five minutes.
• Alright.
• Seeing no one else wishing to comment, we proceed to,
• reports from members of the board. Trustee Slipin.
• will be brief.
• I really
• would just wanna applaud, Croton one hundred and the amazing
• quilts.
• It's it's always great to come to this room and see a gym filled with people,
• whether they are coming to voice their concerns or they're coming to celebrate something. So, I'm just grateful to how many people took the time to come out tonight
• to be part of, you know, both of the activities, both the celebration of the quilt and
• all the work that went into that and to speak
• about the court situation.
• Over the weekend and still hung in the Ottinger Room at the library is I think it's called Croton's Creative Women. It's a
• March is women's history, women's celebration month something.
• And so it's basically celebrating
• many, many of the,
• some of the many, many female,
• or women artists in Croton. So I encourage everybody to go and take a look when you are at the library.
• Also,
• the
• there was discussion of the VEB earlier today. The VEB is taking on a a really,
• a very intro you know, great project, I think,
• which is to help design,
• help give some advice to the police department on the design of a flag that is going to be used to celebrate
• police appreciation
• week week? National Police Week. National Police Week.
• So this is really some great work happening. The recommendation just to acknowledge the week this way was made by the police advisory committee,
• and it was a flag was designed that it was then gone moved to the VEB. It's just great committees working together. So not only am I looking forward to seeing the revised designs of that flag, but I'm also looking forward to seeing it flown,
• here and celebrating the police department during,
• National Police Week.
• And then I just wanna close by saying,
• the
• the snow is mostly gone. There might be more. Right? We're in faint spring, I think. But Mhmm. Mhmm. Wow. The DPW.
• Yeah.
• Wow. You know? And I know people are there's a little bit of chatter about potholes, and I know they're getting to all those. But that was a lot of snow, and now it's
• looking a little green out there. So, thank you to all of them. Thank you. Thank you.
• week
• as well. We can make a fly. So I don't if we can make a we're on the v v together, so we'll add that to the agenda. But,
• yes, I don't wanna repeat everything I said earlier, but I just I'm grateful to
• the one hundred quilt,
• to the Croton one hundred quilt group,
• and all the amazing work they did,
• all the speakers who came out this evening.
• I'm so grateful
• for everything they said. I learned a lot and met some new people
• along the way.
• And I want to also thank Capriccio for their donation of the Black Rock
• Park Bench,
• Holy Name and Mary for their donation of the bleachers
• at Dobbs Park.
• That's incredibly generous of both organizations.
• Regarding the budget survey, I just wanted to remind folks there were we had about 305
• residents
• who,
• participated
• in the survey. We have the verbatims, and I just wanted,
• residents to know that I'm
• personally reading
• every single verbatim in there.
• So, you know, when we come up with all our budget planning, which kicks off in couple weeks
• Next Less than two weeks. Less than two weeks Yeah. Into
• April.
• That's just it's very valuable context,
• to have an input from taxpayers,
• so I appreciate that.
• That's my update.
• catalog for
• recreation programming has come out.
• Camp sign ups will start next week.
• It is fantastic to think that summer is almost here.
• I'd like to thank the con conservation advisory council for holding their repair cafe, which was on February 26.
• Many thanks to that committee, especially Sherry Horowitz
• and Haley Clark for leading that effort. Really fantastic. Again, another another opportunity
• to really show off the dedication to sustainability in the village.
• Really amazing,
• to see people bring in
• items from
• fifty years ago,
• and have them repaired in front of their eyes and just the genuine happiness that, people experienced. It was really wonderful wonderful to be there, and I volunteered.
• The next big event for the CAC is Earth Day, which is May 9.
• And I also just wanna note that on March 2, we held the Guevea Park information session. So many thanks to the village manager
• for
• hosting that and bringing us through,
• that PowerPoint presentation.
• Many thanks to trustee Nachtaller for helping with that. I thought it was very informative. We had a great attendance.
• You know, we are it's a long it's a long road to Goebea,
• but slow and steady.
• But I I thought it was very good, and I think it's something that, you know, we need to do more
• of in terms of just
• really having open conversations with the public about these projects that,
• you know, we kind of they're on the website. They sit there, and then it just doesn't seem like there's any movement. But, you know, being able to sort of have public input and bring people up to speed about what we're doing, I think, is very important. And I think the Zoom,
• really allows people to come come come to those meetings. So thank you for that.
• this afternoon. I was over at the County Building,
• for a meeting, which I'll talk about, at some future session, but, with our, wonderful county legislator,
• Emiliana Ulaei. And at the end of the meeting, she she pointed out to me and handed this to me. This is the Westchester County 2026
• calendar,
• and Maybe. We've made the cover. Oh, no. And, also,
• we are April.
• Same picture. So yeah. So I'm gonna try to get some more copies of this, but I'll just hand this I'll put that down for hand it around for my colleagues so everyone can get a look at it. I'll keep it up here. Do we know who took the picture?
• A picture by Ferg, f e r g, must be a, you know, a a Like Cher. A local photographer.
• So
• two weeks ago on February 20, we
• we
• had the heart committee ceremony in the community room. We hung the plaque
• with with our seniors club in attendance
• for the honorees
• from the heart committee. The ones that are up there so far are, and you'll see their their names on the plaque in the, very similar to, the ones we have for former trustees.
• But, on the plaque in the community room, Pete Sagarakis
• from the Croton Colonial Diner, Cornelia Cotton, Ed Ron Thaler, and then our doctors who we've
• we we honor doctor Brooke, doctor Hill, doctor Siesma, doctor Vogel, and, of course, our veterinarians. And as the heart committee in the future honors additional
• Crotonites,
• their names will go up on that plaque. And so the heart committee had a wonderful cake for the seniors, and it was it was a great great early afternoon.
• On that same day, the mayor and I met with
• Historic Hudson
• on a variety of matters, including an update on their renovation project and
• working with our business community to take some initiatives in that direction, which I I know our business folks will appreciate,
• as well as their plans for what they're gonna be doing in connection
• with the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary.
• So we'll we'll be following up with them.
• On February 22, our sustainability
• committee met and
• dealt with high cost of energy. And, you know, Lindsay
• gave us chair chairman Lindsay Oden gave us a little bit of a tutorial on what's driving that. We got an update on our various solar projects, including
• train station solar array and, the hope for soon expansion
• of our food scrap recycling program.
• On the twenty sixth, our bike, ped committee, bicycle pedestrian committee
• met. We, we talked about updates on project mover,
• including,
• some funding out there that,
• that will help us improve some of our the physical aspects of, of biking, additional signage,
• possibly some some road improvements. So there's,
• there's funding,
• from project mover that is set aside
• for what they call bike boulevards,
• and we were able to or I should say the bike committee was able to find a couple of projects,
• that could potentially,
• meet what they're looking for from the bicycle pedestrian master plan. So there's a memo that I think the
• the manager has already received. So we'll be we'll be looking at some of the things that, that they're proposing,
• and, hopefully, we can convert that into funding.
• The committee is also talking about, expansion
• of, slowdown Croton with some some additional media that we could be that we we could distribute
• throughout the, community and coordination
• with our schools on some projects, including bike
• bus and,
• a bike rodeo.
• On the twenty seventh,
• last Friday, we had, a week ago Friday, we had,
• a grand ribbon cutting of the grand.
• Thank you to,
• to owner Sean Fuller and his team for bringing this great addition to the Croton community.
• As as you know, the grand opened up in October, kind of their soft opening, and Sean
• wanted to have a few months of operation under under his belt before we
• before we did the ribbon cutting. So the mayor and I were there, and and the ribbon cutting was very well attended and just
• just a very nice event. And so thanks to thanks to Sean for that and also to Lori Weiss, our business and community liaison,
• who are doing such a great job in
• in organizing the event.
• I should manager, do do you wanna talk about the rotary DBW, or do want me to mention it? Okay. I'll just go ahead. The we we are looking we were looking for
• a an organization
• to sponsor
• an event and and undertake,
• you know, whatever fundraising was necessary
• to honor our DPW.
• And very quickly,
• our rotary organization
• stepped up to the plate, and we'll be working out the details with them. But they'll be reaching out to to members of of the community, both organizations and individuals
• so that sometime, not too distant future,
• you know, when it's a little warmer, we can we can figure out a good way to to honor our DPW with a with a first class event for all of their incredible work this winter and, of course, their their work every day. And then last but not least,
• as part of women's history month, the Black Cow last Thursday had a wonderful
• event
• with song
• and arts and crafts
• focusing
• on on
• high school students. And then back to the grand,
• the grand had an event, sort of a one woman show
• called Colette with one
• wonderful presenter, you know, there. So we're just no. I think a lot a lot more things happening this month as part of National Women's History Month and look forward to that. And sadly,
• speaking of the rotary,
• I I should mention, and
• we we learned very tragically that Seaver Wang's
• president of the rotary, Seaver Wang, dad passed away yesterday very, very suddenly, and we'll be getting more information. I'll be passing along our our condolences on behalf of the village
• to Seaver. That's it.
• Thank you for the very comprehensive report. I think, almost everything has been covered. It's worth saying I do want to, note because I don't think we've met since this, happened, but, unfortunately,
• Mark Goldfarb, who was a longtime,
• public servant in our community
• on the water control commission,
• recently stepped away from that, has passed away. So I'd like to close the meeting with a brief moment of silence.
• water background, so he'll be missed. Okay.
• covered everything. Thank you. Thank you. Do I have a motion to close? So moved. Second. Motion by trustee Simon, second by trustee Nicholson. All in favor? Aye. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.