• Very good.
• Alright. Welcome to our Wednesday, March 18 work session. I'm mayor Brian Pugh. The first item of business is an update or a discussion with the village prosecutor on updating penalties for code violations and default just
• Without further
• ado,
• prosecutor Raskob.
• My name is Casey Rascob. I'm the village prosecutor.
• I'm here to discuss with the board an issue which occurs occasionally and believe ranges just from an oversight in our village code.
• Under chapter four of our village code, a public servant, peace officer, or anyone charged with enforcing the village code can issue an appearance ticket.
• So park rangers do it for dog park violations, fire marshals for building violations, and the village office for dog licenses, alarm permits, and other things.
• An appearance ticket is filed. That's the document that gets you into court.
• Now consider this. Court is the only business that people don't want to patronize.
• There's a reason you get a summons on the side of the road from a trooper, and there's a reason that we send you an appearance ticket which commands you to appear.
• Most people do finally appear willingly if reluctantly.
• On that note, I've noticed most of the traffic tickets I've seen have been balled up and thrown in the back seat.
• Next, every area of our village ordinance sets out a penalty. Most just refer back to section one dash 12, which is our catchall penalty.
• $2.50 per day, I believe it still is. $2.50. Yep. Yep. $2.50 per day. We're up to fifteen days in jail, although I know have no idea where that comes from. I've never seen anyone going to jail for an ordinance under any circumstances. It's in there. I don't know why.
• The fire laws tag the executive laws for some penalties.
• Graffiti writers can be ordered to clean up their artwork,
• which I thought was interesting.
• Recreation violations are $2.50 per. Most of these ordinances are civil and violate in nature.
• We want you to clean your yard. We've had hoarders in the past causing problems with other village residents.
• We want you to fix your roof. We've had people have a tree fall on their roof, and they just leave it for two or three years. We've had to chase those people down.
• You haven't filed your dog or your alarm permit. Individually,
• this is a very minor violation, but system wide, it's problematic. We have to have it happen.
• Your dog is on the playground or soccer field where children play.
• Bad idea.
• You have a commercial sign that is oversized,
• cheap, temporary, or flashing. That has to be regulated.
• These are small but important violations. They're essentially quality of life, but quality of life is what we appreciate here in the village of Croton. I take that very seriously. Sounds silly quality of life, but it isn't.
• We aren't a homeowners association, and we would never attempt to regulate people down to that level.
• But there are basic things that you need to be done to keep things orderly.
• In the past, our building department through,
• Peter Antifiatro,
• who was retired,
• did a good job getting compliance, mostly through persistence. He would basically come every day and talk to you every day until you did it. And, usually, that worked.
• It was only when that it didn't work or you told him something obscene
• that he filed the complaint because at that point, persuasion no longer worked.
• Usually, when we got that violator into the courtroom, at that point, they took it a little more seriously.
• We would tell them what we needed.
• We would adjourn the case to give them a chance to comply. At that point, the majority do comply, the majority.
• Sometimes having some neighbors who show up of their own volition to inform the court of the situation also helps motivate them a little bit. Like, your neighbors are here. They're kinda angry at you about this. You think you could clean it up. Usually, that works.
• You know, unlike many towns and cities, we don't want your money. We want your compliance.
• You know, we keep it civilized. I've always thought that the Croton way is to appeal to reason, not write big tickets, not hit people with huge fines. That's not not the way it works. We don't run around with a hammer. We try to ask, hey. We all live together here. Let's make this nice.
• Now this usually works, but as I said, not always. Now in college, I took a great course called deviance. The gist of that course was that there's a certain percentage of people who will not comply with whatever the social norm is, however it is fashioned, for a variety of reasons.
• And it's no different here.
• What do we do with people who don't respond?
• How do we handle no contact? We all hate being ghosted.
• No different in court.
• Well, in the criminal world, you don't show up to criminal court, you get a warning letter. You don't show up the second time we use your warrant for your arrest. You can be arrested. That is a consequence.
• Then you're hold before the judge to discuss why you didn't go to court, not the crime that you allegedly may have done, but because just because you didn't come to court.
• And then they talk about bail.
• In a landlord tenant situation,
• noncontact means you can be evicted.
• In the civil world, action for credit card debt, business debt. You don't show up, at some point, you can ask for a default. Then the plaintiff can go before the court
• and do what's called an inquest where, basically, they put under oath what the lawsuit is for, and most of the time, the judge will then grant a default judgment
• as a consequence.
• Motor vehicles, your license got suspended.
• Parking tickets, we can process you for penalties. You don't show up, you lose by default.
• Now
• these are all definite consequences with controlling law in each case exactly how the procedure goes in the situation where the defendant does not answer or reply. There's a system for all of these things. This is what is missing from our code.
• Here, our duly authorized village employee serves an appearance ticket.
• The appearance ticket goes to the defendant. We put it on our court calendar.
• Comes up on the court calendar. At the end of the court calendar, I'm standing before the judge going, we didn't see that person, judge.
• Okay. Well, what do we do?
• The only thing I can do is ask for a warrant for arrest.
• Now practically speaking,
• I feel really stupid asking for a warrant for arrest for a dog ticket.
• And the judge, even if even if I didn't feel that that was ridiculous, the judge is not gonna grant it because no one's gonna say, get the Croton PD to drive down there, put the guy in cuffs, drag him in here, put him before the judge, and say, why didn't you license your dog? That I do not believe is the Croton way. Yeah.
• So now that's the first okay.
• We so we have a dead letter file with some cases
• that we can't do anything with, that they just fall into this hole. And that that is there's no way to run a railroad, as they say.
• Now
• the other problem is that doesn't work on a corporation. If we serve
• fire violations
• on a company, a corporate defendant, we can't arrest them. We can't put them in jail.
• We essentially have no recourse.
• We can't do anything with the case. So in the same way
• that we needed the booting and towing law to address a constant low level problem, that of certain people who just did not pay their parking at all and didn't care.
• We need something here
• changing the village code.
• I propose that we permit be permitted to find a defendant in default after a nonappearance.
• And upon good cause shown, either by testimony or a sworn document, a default judgment entered for money only
• be levied upon the violator, individual, or corporation.
• We can't just do it. We need enabling legislation to spell it out.
• At that point, if the default judgment for fines is unpaid, we now need a mechanism to somehow put it on either the property tax bill or a lien.
• Because this way, there would be an internal mechanism to make sure that there's compliance since the village does eventually get paid.
• I am not personally aware of the ideal method to do this. I know that I've been in other courts where I've heard default
• and the judge saying default granted,
• but I, you know, haven't. I I don't know precisely how they do it. That would be a question more so for our village attorney with the statutory construction and what other,
• courts have done with this.
• And to that end, chapter one seventy nine permits the village to clean up rubbish or weeds. The board of trustees may cause the costs thereof to be assessed against the property. How they're gonna be assessed, we don't know. It doesn't spell it out. It just states that they may be assessed.
• The only other spot I could see some kind of a situation like that was in chapter one ninety six covering stormward and drainage,
• which allows the village to summarily abate or restore at the violator's expense and or and or a civil action to abate, enjoin, or otherwise compel the cessation of such nuisance.
• But, again, it's fairly
• open as to how that might actually happen.
• You know, it says the board of trustees may do a thing or the village may do a thing, but it's not a system.
• What I would ideally propose is some kind of system whereby
• if someone is accused of a village ordinance and chooses to default,
• you know, after they've been served, chooses to default, that we would be able to essentially default them, say, for
• you know, if it was a one time violation, the max would be the two fifty. If was an ongoing violation, then you could do two fifty per day
• as such things are. But that would be, of course, very fact driven, and and it would be different for someone who walked their dog in the playground
• vis a vis a corporate landlord who decided they just weren't gonna fix the fire violations.
• Frequently, we'll get a violate we've had situations where,
• a corporate defendant, usually a commercial real estate corporate defendant, will just sort of ignore our stuff. Maybe eventually they'll get around to fixing it, but we can't really get a hook on them, and and that's really where where I'm going with this more. So I'm not worried about the guy who doesn't call us back because of his dog license.
• Casey was saying about
• the lean process. Right? So we have in addition to the items that weren't mentioned, we also can lean for the alarm permit renewals for water and sewer charges,
• for snow removal,
• property cleanups. Mhmm. All those things can be leaned if they're left unpaid.
• And our process is that when the board adopts the budget,
• there's a resolution that's on the agenda that, you know, you approve that says all of these charges and they're spelled out. Right? All of these charges are,
• hereby ordered to be added to the upcoming tax bills.
• So
• so that that's how the process works for the items that are in the code Okay. As such. Understood.
• in in that case,
• do you have to go to court
• to pay it? No. Or it where It's on it's on your tax bill.
• Comes out of your Well, not not automatically.
Right? It gets add it gets added to your tax bill, and then the property owner pays the tax bill. Right? So
It's a relevy. It's a relevy. That's what it's called. But but you you can only do that if there's statutory authority, New York State statutory authority that permits you to collect it in the nature of a tax.
• So,
• apparently,
• those provisions in your code were researched at one point, and they found the ability to do that. But it isn't just a general ability to do it. Usually, it has to do with the property maintenance and
• health and safety violations,
those kinds of things. Yeah. Yeah. I don't I don't Sorry. Your process that,
first the first the resident gets a bill and an invoice. Right? Absolutely. So they're invoiced, and then after certain
Yeah. We get I mean, the bill the bill slash invoice goes out and then they get monthly statements. Right? You know? So if the bill occurred in September
• Yeah. Right, they'll get statements until April Mhmm. When it's when it then gets relevied. Relovied. Yeah. After their tax bill. Correct. I just wanna clarify that. Yeah.
• And just to what, the attorney was saying, like, I don't think we could necessarily do that for a dog license. Right?
• You know, because,
• one, we don't know if the person even still has the dog. Right? They could just be they could just be ignoring their mail and and maybe their dog passed away or they moved or whatever it might be. But, obviously, we know that if, like, the water meter is red and the
• and there's usage, We know somebody at that property used it. Right? And so that that can get relevied on the tax bill. That's correct. Yeah. Yeah.
• a criminal court. It's, the lowest criminal court in the state. So the it also has the ability for special proceedings like landlord tenant matters.
• So,
• you're discussing
• the fact that it says and imprisonment of not less than x y z. That's the hook that allows you to take it to your local justice court because there's the possibility
• of imprisonment,
• then your justice court would have jurisdiction
• to hear that case.
• But I've, actually never
• heard of a dead letter,
• Bin, so that's an interesting
that's an interesting That's well, that that's the problem with our with the ordinances.
Yeah. They don't you know, we don't have a lot, but we have a few where, like, they just haven't answered. Great. And so and a lot of those That's why I'm here Yeah. Asking this question. Right? We I know that a a bunch of those are probably related to dog licenses, right, where, you know, we've they haven't responded to our renewal notices. Right. We usually wait, like, a three three month period of no and then if there's no response, we have a summons issued for failure to license the dog. Right. And then usually, the person will respond after they receive the summons to say, oh, I moved or the dog died, whatever it might be. And then if that's the case, then the summons just get canceled. But there are still those few people who even after getting the summons just don't show up to court Right. Or and just still completely ignore it. And as Casey was saying, the judge is not gonna issue an arrest warrant Right. For There's really for that. So there's really that's the end. If they don't show up, then we don't really have any further
• recourse.
But it's an interesting question whether a criminal court can issue a default judgment. In fact, I had a case,
• prosecute
• local violations in another community down the River Ways, and the judge actually said that,
• he wanted to look into that to see if because repeatedly,
• people who hadn't shoveled their sidewalks
• weren't coming to court. So
• after the third no show, he said, it's an interesting question. I'm gonna look into it. So I'm gonna ask him if that's Okay. That'll be it. Yeah. I like The only
you can't default people in the criminal world Mhmm. For sure. Correct. And since you're using criminal procedure law in most of these violations
Right. It's it's an interesting question. The only place I've ever seen the fault taken is in the New York City Traffic Violations Bureau Correct. Which is administrative in nature in the very limited
• Mhmm. Thing of traffic tickets. They can and they can't put you in jail. They do not have that right in that court. Right. But the only place I've ever seen default really used
other than parking tickets. Right. Because in many cases, there's, there's teeth in the New York State B and T law that allows your license to be suspended or Right. There's a consequence for all of these things. Yeah. Right. Wherever it comes from. Prosecutor, thank you, so much for being here. Very, very interesting. Yeah. And so clarification
• is,
• I I think I heard you say this, but at at how many times,
• or is it just once
• that
• someone
• with a
• with a
• a ticket to appear doesn't show up before the default judgment would be exercised?
Good question. That's something could be worked out if it's possible. Okay. Normally, the procedure that we do is if someone doesn't show up either for traffic or for criminal,
• we give them a second shot. Second shot. You know, you know, they get either a warrant letter if it's criminal Yep. Or they get a letter saying that they've been, quote, set for trial, unquote, for traffic even though in reality, we still usually negotiate something. Right. Right. I think second shot, definitely reasonable. And then the manager provided us with examples of Ardsley, Scarsdale, and Sleepy Hollow
Okay. Which have raised their penalties Sure. As an incentive to get people to do the right thing and and show up. Is it your view that perhaps the default judgment,
• would be a more effective way to go based on on the experience of those communities or what? I well,
to answer your question, I think that the default judgment and the, amount are different. Yep. I would like to see actually a much higher amount because we had a situation a few years ago where,
• on Piney Point, the contractor there was permitted to cut down quite a few trees. He went a little beyond his mandate.
• The
• residents came quite incensed because the entire swale of trees had been removed even though he had permission to remove the vast majority of them. Yep. And for the
• four to six trees maybe that remained,
• I couldn't really charge that much money. Right. So at the end of the day, after a few cordial negotiations
• with the attorney
• for the builder, they paid the full fine and walked away, but I think it was maybe $1,200.
• Right. So it wasn't really that much of a penalty and for given the amount of money that was at play on that piece of property, we'll just take those trees out Right. Cost of doing business, which is not what we want, which I I would like to see a higher number possible.
• That doesn't mean we're gonna charge it, And the judge still has to agree to it. It's not a fine schedule. If you could make it a thousand dollars a day or $2,000
• a day, that'd be wonderful. It's not
• gonna charge the dog guy at $2,000.
It's not gonna happen. Yeah. And it's usually a not more than number. Right. Exactly. Yeah. Maximum. And keep in mind that,
• the zoning laws your zoning laws,
• specific in your zoning chapter
• are
• traditionally
• and,
• required
• to be in the nature of criminal,
• offenses. So
• those
• you couldn't get a default on because they have to follow criminal procedure law, but there may be other areas.
• In fact, I know you did some,
• a tree code update, so you might be able to include evaluation
• in in what We have we have much higher we have much higher penalties with the tree code. Right. A tree removal now is covered upon Yeah. What the value of that tree was. Yes. And, you know, DBH,
• and we we did
• a pretty significant
• tree preservation law in Dobbs Ferry recently. So I know that that's possible. But, again, if it's in your zoning code,
• that criminal procedure law New York State criminal procedure law governs. So you couldn't do a default judgment.
• There has to be another hook. And usually, the hook is handcuffs,
• but they don't make them small to fit on the dogs.
• architect of the concept of the default judgment, I give you all the all the credit in the world for original
• thinking. Hardly. But but are there others that are using that and and and using it effectively?
• I
• I And are that comparable to us? Outside
• I I do other cases in other courts, but outs I I have not done any building or zoning in other courts, so I I don't have that level of experience, unfortunately.
• It's
• just
• it's like the only hole in the system. You know? They if the the best move is not to move at all, then you win. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Exactly. Yeah. And the Thank you. New York State
• that's what you're enforcing here. So there there could be, sections in there that discuss
• the ability to collect fines of this nature, but,
• I I don't know them end to end. And new set was just
• adopted in January. So I have to say I'm a little rusty, but we can take a look at that too because you're charged with enforcing the New York's that's what you adopt here, New York State, building and fire codes. So so
I think I think we should maybe try to break this down just a little bit. So let's if we can start with the penalties themselves,
• right, the the existing penalties that are in our code.
• In my in my research,
• it seemed like pretty much all the municipalities in Westchester County and, I mean, I didn't look at all 45
• of them, but a decent number of them that I looked at all have
• their maximum penalty set at $2.50.
• So I don't know if that's established somewhere in state law. No. It isn't. Okay. So maybe It's when two fifty was I guess it's just a it's just a coincidence then that everybody has that. Yeah. We're And that's for the first
• That yeah. So that's that's the That's the default
penalty in your if if the provision in your code doesn't state a penalty,
• then you have to refer back to your default,
penalty. Correct. Right. But most of the sense for that to be $2.50. Yeah. So, like, for example, as we were just saying, the tree code has its own set of penalties. Right. So it wouldn't refer to the two fifty. But, like,
• you know, other parts of the code, like, I the alarm permit code. Right? That would refer to the 250. Mhmm. So,
• you know,
• what I pull pull together here, is on the screen now, this is the example from Scarsdale,
• and this is I thought it was actually a really good one. This law was adopted in 2024,
• and this is specific to their zoning code. These are the penalties that are in their zoning code. Right? And so,
• you know, they have separate penalties for first offense, second offense, and third offense.
• And then what I also kind of liked, and I think the prosecutor will like as well, is that it has separate levels of penalties for corporate offenders versus That's great. I knew you could do that. Yeah. I know. Right? I I like that. I'm not sure they can, but
Well, they did. We ceased being the village attorney in Scarsdale about three years before this.
• pretty interesting way to do it. And then, something that we've talked about in the past that they also have in here is that they have civil penalties.
• Right? So they in addition to
• going after them criminally Mhmm. You can also,
• seek a civil penalty.
• Right? And so to go to supreme court. It has to be full blown civil penalty. Have the but we we at least have the option Yeah. And we can threaten that. Absolutely. Right? And so
• so I I liked I liked this this code. If if we find that it is possible to do that, I thought something like this would be
• helpful to have
• as our as our zoning
• penalties.
Yeah. They also have that as well is that if if you don't if you don't abate the violations,
• the building inspector can revoke a building permit or the CEO Wow. Until
• Yeah. But yeah. He's saying it's unsafe. Right. If if you don't have your smokes and carbons in and you have residents in there, then it's you placard the building. It's uninhabitable.
• Yeah. So, yeah, that's always
• a good way when you come home and see a placard on your
• house. You kind of move quickly.
So, I mean, I think I think if if we were to go this route, that would definitely give you some additional It'd be very I'm I'm asking if like, I go to my toolbox and the tool I need is missing. That's really why I'm here. Okay. It's like I need a wrench of a certain size and I can't find it. So
so that's the first thing. So, I mean, do we want people feel comfortable with that that we should look in to see if that's feasible for for here? Sure. Sure. Yeah. Okay. I get I I just wanna make sure we're not being too excessive
in the penalty dollar amount. Yeah. I was gonna say Yeah. It's a max month. Think the latter approach is a is is is a is a good approach, and and the numbers, I think, are Yeah. You can subject to discussion. You can adjust the numbers. I mean, I think, you know, first offenses,
• I don't think for for a building or a zoning violation, I don't think that's unreasonable.
dog license? No. This is just for Sony. Sony. Okay. Sony. Yeah. No. I'm not I'm not proposing that we change the $2.50. I mean, you guys you guys can,
• but just based like I said, just based on what I've seen, l everybody seems to have the gen their general penalty at $2.50. So I don't really think Yep. They're all looking to make changes.
• What was that? They're all looking to make changes. Well, nobody's made the first move yet. So Okay. Trying to think of way There's an introductory law I've drafted myself, actually. Oh, okay. Can we just do a quick real world example? Because I'm I'm thinking, like, fire code violations.
This this would be and not those are actually governed under the Uniform code. Yeah. But this this would be this would be somebody,
• you know, violating
• their site plan, for example. Like, if somebody,
• know, that had an approved site plan and they didn't follow it or
• they have an expired
• temporary CO and they haven't gotten,
• you know, they haven't
• they're still occupying the building with without a valid certificate of occupancy. Something like that. That was a violation against the zoning code.
• like so I've got a temporary CO.
• I've got people living in my building.
Right. So a temporary a temporary CO is issued by the building department. With conditions. With conditions. Right? And you have to you have to finalize
• those within a certain period of time before the temporary CO expires. You can always come in and get an extension if if needed. But if you don't do that and your temporary CO expires
• and you
• are in violation, right, then you could be issued a appearance ticket as a violation of the zoning code. Right. You Yeah. You'd be issued a a notice of violation
Mhmm. Which usually gives you a certain amount of time, and that's in the code as well, usually, to cure. Mhmm. If you fail to do that, then here's an appearance ticket. Okay. And then then we go to court.
• and then they go back to whichever relevant board they need to to work things out. That's use that's the best Because yeah. So because, like, I've seen compliance. That's what you're looking for. Correct. Like, come on my desk. Got it. Read it over. Attorney comes, says we're going back to the board on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.
• We adjourn the case pending that. Right. And every time since I've been here, at least, it has gone away. Mhmm. So Okay.
• I haven't had the recalcitrant person Yeah. You know, or the bad landlord or or or Yeah. Yet.
• right, is that somebody in a residential area is operating a day care. Right? And so a day care in a in a residential area requires a special permit, but they didn't they didn't get a special permit. Right? They're just operating a day care out of their house. Mhmm. So they would be issued a violation for for that under the zoning code.
K. So And provide an opportunity to cure. And nine times out of 10, they'll either close it down because Right. They don't have the appropriate facility,
• or they'll
• come in and and speak to the prosecutor and say,
• we we've issued this application.
• Here's a copy of it. And then you step up to the judge, and you say, we'd like, thirty days.
• Let's put this on for recall in thirty days. Come back. Make sure they've done what they need to do. And if they haven't,
then that's when you Right. That's when these That's when increased penalties would come into effect. Right? Like, it's Yeah. It's it's not The penalties the penalties are only levied if the if the judge finds them guilty. Right? Because right now, the judge's discretion is only up to $250,
and you're suggesting maybe higher. Correct. Correct. Right. Yeah. I mean, most For for specific for things specific to the zoning zoning code. Zoning code. Correct. Got it. Okay. Yeah.
I mean, I wanna emphasize that there is a definite intent in most cases to fix the problem. Mhmm. You know, we're not so much,
• like I said, throwing hammers at people or using the sword part of the sword of justice.
• We're we try to get it fixed. Mhmm. You know? And
• that's really has always been our goal. The court also feels that way that, you know,
• most people are decent actors even if slightly misguided sometimes. Mhmm. Or they need to be made to pay attention to a situation. We had somebody with a dog recently not relevant to this conversation who just really need to be
• emphasized that their dog was causing problems. You know?
• So like I said, we try to
• guide more than punish.
• a couple of years back to sit in on your sessions there. And Thank you. I I would regard it as compassionate justice. You you you got you got to you got to justice, but you showed, a little bit of compassion for individual situations that people were in. People don't wanna be there. They're stressed out. You get to see people at their worst a lot of times.
• and open minded about what you're seeing because a lot of times, you're only seeing one facet of the crystal. Mhmm.
So then from your perspective, if we went kind of to this more increase in fines and a tiered fine model,
• that would give you additional tools Yes. To use? Okay.
Yeah. And just, as an example, right, the the penalties that we adopted with the tree code Mhmm. Right, those actually
• those it for the lowest level, it's up to $500,
• and the highest fine under the under the tree code is $7,500.
• So
Much more reasonable. Yeah. Yeah. If you cut down a majestic oak, it's very Yeah. Right. Yeah. Very different than a, you know, a swamp maple or you know what I mean? Like, you have to be able to balance
• Yeah. The value.
K. So that's penalties. Yes. So that's penalties. So that's the first thing.
Alright. And then So we can look into that? Yeah. Let's look into that. Yep. See if I'd hate to copy it if there's a question. Of course. Yeah. Yeah. So let's look into that and see if that's something that's feasible. Because one of my clients always says, well, Irvington did it. How come? And I always say, I don't represent Irvington.
• But we can work. Well, we can work on just making sure that you've got a basis here.
• for the default judgments for criminal
• items Well, it's well, you can't have a default. I'm sorry. For whatever whatever we're saying, for village code ordinances. For
yeah. Criminal is handled by the district attorney's office, and I don't have any input into that. Yep. I only prosecute the traffic and the village ordinances,
• which I always tell people it's not a criminal offense for a village ordinance. Except, you Except the zoning code, which Right. No. I'm not talking to those people on a on a Yeah. Weekly basis.
• So, no, it's it's more civil in nature. Can we default them on a village ordinance only? Got it. That's the question. So we're gonna we're gonna investigate that, see what Doves Ferry maybe learned.
And then That works. We also with regards to default judgments
• for
• parking tickets,
• right, there was a memo that was put in the backup that came from
• Josh Subin, our our village attorney,
• and
• explained how
• that process
• works under state law.
• Right? And that
• The scofflaw provisions?
• Yes. Scofflaw is one of the things that's mentioned. Mhmm. But
• the tickets basically, the village has a two year window
• where they can seek default judgment against
• Parking.
• Park for parking tickets.
• Any tickets that have not been defaulted within you know, in more than two years, you can't do. Right. Okay. So,
• you know, if we wanted if we wanted to start doing this,
• basically, the the judge would find them in default. Right? You know, based on based on their lack of response. And
• then,
• the judgment would get filed with the county.
• And
• the the one thing I'm not exactly clear on is
how we would collect on that. Right? I mean Collection's always a different issue. What we do what we do normally is when you don't answer a ticket, if you don't answer four tickets,
• then we send something to DMV to suspend your registration. That's the Scott Law. Yeah. You have the ability to do that. So so while we haven't, like That gets their attention. Oh,
• amazingly, they they show up. It's it's not saying.
• The the only other thing with that is that when someone has answered,
• not defaulted, and they ask for a trial and then they don't show up, then we process them for penalties. But at that point, they've answered.
• They have chosen for whatever reason not to show up on their trial date. Yeah.
• So
• because initially, the first appearance is generally
• to work it out or to schedule. If you can't work it out, then it'll be held over for hearing and then they schedule a hearing or a trial or yeah.
• And then Casey has to get his witnesses and get the officers. I enjoy trials. Yeah. We do.
You know, I I I I think it's something that we need to double check and make sure that we're actually
• Can't do it. People because there are
• thousands of unpaid Unpaid parking. Right. I mean Yeah. The the information that we've received from
• our parking ticket vendor
• and, I mean, we we have very good
• compliance.
• Right? There were almost 7,500
• tickets issued
• in 2025,
• and 93%
• of them were adjudicated.
• Right? Either paid,
• want to, you know,
• plead
• or dismissed.
• Yeah. Right? So 93% is very good. Right. But,
• you know,
• between
• I I have the number here, but I don't know where it went. I think that I think that 93
• the 7% that weren't is, like, 600 tickets.
• Yeah. Right? So
• so there are over 3,600
• tickets outstanding from 01/01/2018
• to the present. Mhmm.
• And
• that's over $400,000
• owed in fines and penalties.
• Right. So
• But we can only go back two years. Correct. But what but the scofflaw the scofflaw, you might be able to do Yeah. Be for longer than that. Right? The default judgment is separate than the scoff law. Yes. The the scoffs are yeah. Scoffs are different. Under
a program where you notify these individuals that you're gonna waive penalties and just go for the original fine,
• nine times out of 10, they go, oh, that's a good deal, and they send you the fine. Yeah. Because And who does that work? That would be through our parking ticket vendor.
They'd send out the notices. They charge they would charge us extra to No. They they get they get a commission off every ticket. So if they're they're thrilled to try to get
• tickets that are very outstanding.
• the board would pass a resolution
• authorizing this amnesty and provide the criteria
• and
• and put a valid basis, public policy,
• you know, in the interest of,
• equal protection because people who are paying are being affected by the people who aren't paying. It's like the same people who don't show up Right. To court,
and they're in the dead letter bin. Is that what you called it? Yeah. Well, as a practical matter, when someone comes with older tickets, I generally do hold them to whatever the base of it was when they because they're coming to make good.
• A lot of times, it's a blood from a stone situation. Mhmm. And I care more about getting a guilty plea frequently because if I get a guilty plea, I protected the village. Yeah. If I get a guilty plea, even to a lesser amount of money,
• the village is safe and we close the case. And they just go to the window and
• make Go to Room 11. So,
• I think we need to ensure that the scaffold is being applied by the court.
• And then,
• you know, maybe we try that first before we start
• looking at default judgment because I think, yeah, especially for
• if it's just one or two tickets, it seems like it might be a lot of work Right. To do the default judgments. I I just know that the state comptroller's office
• visited a a municipality in Westchester that we won't name Mhmm. And said that they
• were not doing what they were supposed to be doing because they weren't sending these tickets
in terms of Well, they just said you have millions of dollars that you haven't collected
and what do well, you know, what are you doing about that? And they were just, like Basically, unclaimed assets. Yeah. Yeah. It's it's it's in dereliction of the fiduciary duty of the corporation to collect the money that's too annoying. Yes. So
yeah. Now we're not in as bad a shape as that because we're not owed millions. Right? Ours is only but it's still you know, even if we got half of that, that's an extra $200,000
• that would be very helpful. You know? It's a point. Yeah.
Okay. So let's so we'll I'll talk to the court and make sure that we have the scaffold procedure in place. Mhmm. And
• we'll have the attorneys look at the penalties.
• Yeah. And
• our associate and our and our contract
• partners help us with doing this research. You want them to specifically look at the legitimacy of the provisions from the Scarsdale. Correct. Got it. Yeah. Yep.
No. Alright. Thank you. Yeah. Well, thank you. Thank you, Casey. Thank you. Thank you. If anyone has any questions, my cell phone number is in the system. Ring me during business hours anytime. I'd be happy to talk to anyone. Thank you very much. I hope I'd never meet you in court.
We're actually kinda nice. Come anyway. Okay. But if you show if you showed up, you've done something right. I've done something wrong. That's fine. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
And our next item of business is an update on project mover and potential expansion.
• Just some very brief comments on project mover.
• We'll start with a recap if we can. Project mover launched in Croton on July 9
• and went into winter hibernation
• on December 19.
• So it was up and running a little more than five months and, did very well. Thanks to great support from the Croton community,
• from the manager,
• from, our whole whole village team, particularly
• DPW
• and and from, you know, colleagues here on the board.
• Among the six communities that made up the project, there were a total of 45 hubs.
• All of our hubs performed nicely.
• Just looking at trip starts, it was 505
• trip starts for Metro North,
• 213
• for the Upper Village, a 167
• for the Croton Free Library,
• 218
• for South Riverside,
• a 151
• for Maple Commons, and 86
• for Dobbs Park.
• About
• 30%
• of well,
• I'll get to that in a second. Croton's
• Metro North Hub
• was number five
• overall among those 45 hubs with 505
• trips, as I as I mentioned,
• beginning there and 455
• trips ending there.
• Every trip has a beginning and an end. Our Upper Village hub was number 15 among the 45
• with 213
• rides and beginning in 245
• ending.
• Our South Riverside hub was number 17 with 218
• rides beginning and 213
• rides ending.
• Proton was number two overall
• in the number of intermunicipal
• trips, a big part of project action project mover. It's that's another project I used to work on. Project mover
• is
• is travel from one of one of the six to another one of the six. And
• Croton had 85
• intermunicipal
• trips just between Croton and Austin,
• and the system also recorded trips from to and from Croton with regard to Tarrytown
• and the town of Ostning as well. Croton represented about 14%
• of the total number of bike trips or 1,374
• rides
• as a share of the the total number of 9,419
• rides, about 14.5%.
• About 30%
• of our riders took monthly memberships.
• Standard
• monthly membership
• was $20
• a month is $20 a month. This membership includes
• thirty minutes of free ride time per day and no unlocking fees with a with a 20¢ per minute charge after
• the initial thirty minutes.
• Just renting a bike on a day by day basis is a dollar to unlock the bike in 20¢ per minute. Project also offered an income qualified
• membership for lower income residents featuring
• significantly reduced rates.
• While standard, as I mentioned, on demand pay as you go would cost a dollar to unlock the bike and 20¢ per minute, the discounted
• equity rate is typically was typically $4
• per month.
• This membership includes thirty minutes of free ride time per day with additional time charged at a lower rate.
• The vouchers
• are
• are also, I think, worthy of mention. Project Mover
• has a voucher program that provides $1,000
• to those income challenged
• to purchase an ebike.
• So far, a 123
• of these vouchers have been distributed,
• including 19
• in Croton, one 18 of those to Croton residents and one to someone who works in Croton.
• And the vouchers
• have been redeemed
• at Croton
• Ebikes on Riverside,
• so it's it's been good for Croton business as well. And, of course, the voucher program
• will continue. Roughly speaking, there are about 300 more vouchers
• to to be given out over the next year.
• Let's move on to relaunch and expansion.
• Relaunch
• of
• project mover is scheduled for April 6, so a little less than three weeks from tonight.
• The project team is targeting strategic expansions to further trips within participating
• communities.
• For example, Tarrytown
• will likely expand to include
• the area south of the Mario Cuomo Bridge.
• Dobbs Ferry is looking to to incorporate
• Mercy University
• as part of of their their hub system as well as some other residential zones.
• And there's been interest here in since the very start in having a hub at Senasco Park. As a matter of fact, last year,
• when we did our our big survey on bike share, Sanasco came up very high in in people's recommendations
• on future expansion.
• The feeling is that Sanasco would give us that pure
• recreational
• element
• that
• that the system doesn't currently have. So I I think
• I think that's a that's a very good possibility for expansion. There's also interest in our business community
• to have a hub in North the North Riverside Business District somewhere near
• the overpass.
• The Upper Village
• is is represented
• by both Dobbs Park and and the one that we call the Upper Village near Holy Name. And South Riverside Districts, of course, have a presence there as well. So this would be sort of our third business district having
• having a
• a presence in terms of project mover.
• We're waiting on confirmation
• on when the project team can come to Croton,
• to look at both of these sites, for the purposes of expansion.
• When we know the date, the manager, any of us here in the board,
• along with our bicycle and pedestrian committee, chairman,
• Matt Arnold, will meet with them to assess those sites and also pinpoint the location, which is very much how we got to the to the six hubs that we currently have. And location
• is always a question in terms of situating the hubs, both in terms of safety and, you know, how effective is it for for use by patrons. And we'll we'll keep you up to date on that aspect, but I suspect it'll be within the next next couple of weeks.
• Last but not least,
• bike boulevards.
• There have always been funds set aside
• within the Project Mover budget to assist us with infrastructure. For example,
• the share the road signage that we have, is being reimbursed
• by by Project Mover.
• And there's now an additional opportunity
• for us to fund
• infrastructure
• items that can assist with with bicycle
• safety here in Croton.
• We should be looking at some of our priorities to determine which ones could potentially be fundable
• by the project,
• as long as those funds remain available.
• Last month, we asked the bicycle and pedestrian committee to give us some ideas
• based on their master plan.
• Chairman Arnold's
• memorandum is a response to that and is in our backup materials.
• Those are those are just some ideas. I I know that there are others that that we can consider.
• And as an example, I took a look earlier
• today
• at our New York Forward application,
• which unfortunately was not funded,
• but contains numerous
• initiatives for pedestrian
• and bicycle safety in in almost all of the projects that we were proposing
• that we can certainly try to fund for some of those as well. So that's kind of a kind of a summary of where we are with project action looking forward to April 6, and, of course, looking forward to everybody's ideas on on how to proceed in the future.
• Does anyone on the board have any
comments, questions? I just have a question about the money that, is associated with the
• the grant.
• How much money is there? Do we need to apply by project?
How does how does that work? If you're you're talking about the infrastructure money? Yeah. Yeah. And it's,
• you know, without
• without, you know, thinking that we can just,
• you know, get get it instantaneously,
• it's enticing.
• There's about $600,000
• left set aside
• for infrastructure funding. Now you could you could say you can make a quick calculation and say, wow. That's a $100,000
• per municipality
• because there are six that are in the program.
• But I think, really, the burden is on us to come up with x amount of good projects. And and my feeling right now is that if we have good projects, we have a decent chance of them getting funded. So And what is the grant process? Like, what is the grant process?
• Manager or board, we we would submit
• a letter request
• to to Project Mover. There is you know, as as a standard, this is
• this is, of course
• the money begins with NYSERDA then goes down to the Project Mover
• management team.
• There there would be
• a 30%
• match on this. But 30%
• match on 70 on 70% is a pretty decent pretty decent deal. But I think the,
• you know, the as I say, you know, the the the the burden is on us, and it's a good burden to have, you know, to kinda comb through our various project ideas and policies, whether it's and priorities, whether it's the bicycle and pedestrian committee or things that have come up in in in other other settings and say, well, that would be that would that would fit
• that that category.
• And they they
• they draw it very broadly. Anything that helps bicycling, it could be it could be what you need to do in terms of striping for for bike lanes. It could be more signage.
• You know, it could be it could be things like
• equipment, like bike additional bike racks because I think we are a little short of of bike racks within the village. So you know? And then, you know, my my recommendation
• would be to
• apply for everything that we think we can use and can need, but not apply for anything just because the money's there.
• Mhmm. So Oh, sorry.
• process will be when would the letter of
inquiry be Well, you know, we're we're the the the team's gonna start getting busy, you know, with with the new season starting on on April 6. And so I I I think it'd be to our benefit to to try to get
• a letter into
the the project mover team sometime in the next couple of weeks. Okay. Yeah. It's my understanding that the original NYSERDA grant has a a finite like, there's an end date, and it's in sight. So that means Project Mover will be stepping away. And in other words, they came together to create
• this program,
• but Project
• Mover isn't really an
• an entity per se. They they're like the Right. Facilitators.
Yeah. Yeah. We've got the So it would be, yeah, it would be important to to tap that money before this changes in the next year. And then, you know, in the in the calendar year or or the the sea let's call it the season, the the 2720
• the '27 season, say, that starts in in April '27 and, you know, through December
• '27.
• You know, there'll be a different scenario Yeah. About how the project is the the and and probably a new entity.
Yes. And more okay. Well, just in terms of, you know, when we're looking at our budget, we'll be looking at our budget in a couple weeks. There are a couple of
• projects that, you know, we haven't seen the capital
Pressure. Forty eight hour forty eight hours. You know, in our conversations, you know, the last big project that we talked about funding because we funded the study
• was the
• Old Post Road,
• right, and try get trying to get that particular area
have have some safety. Right? We're kind of ready to go on that one. Do they does does it have to be do the projects have to be specifically connected to cycling,
• or could it just be general improvements
in safety, which would include cyclists? Well, you know, I I'd be I'd be willing to make the point that anything that helps pedestrians
• and safety
• Because we also we could potentially look to see if the money could be used for the municipal place South Riverside
• project as well. This we've,
you know Yeah. Hoping to hoping to do. And as the bike you know, I I know, you know, some part of the bicycle committee,
• stuff has gotten all all attention, but they also have in there the the,
• and we've we've talked about this with DPW,
• the possibility
• of a bike lane from the Croton Colonial Diner Correct. Up to Grand, which would Which which would be when we do the sidewalks,
• that would be part of the Yeah. That would be part that. And I should say, again again, without, you know, without counting our money, you know,
• until we get it,
• unlike
• applying to a federal agency or a state agency where you're not gonna hear from them, you know, for for months. End. Yeah. You know, when we get our letter, I think we're gonna get almost an instantaneous
• response, and they'll say, great. Great. Not so good. This one's terrific. You know, give us give us some more. So that's why that's why I wanna kick off the process with them as soon as as soon as we can. Okay.
• Municipal Place as a joint project, which in many ways it is Yes. I think that is a strong candidate, especially because it's probably one of the furthest along. Yep. Mhmm.
• I think
• enhancing
• bike culture and and safety is a great thing. And and, Len, and you and the the bike ped committee have done a lot of great work, so I just wanna thank you. Well, it's been a a real team effort with everyone
• around here. And I do wanna clarify something for the public because I I keep getting these questions, and they were answered in your documents. So I thought Yeah. For anybody listening,
• my understanding is the program project mover
• includes the bikes, signage, racks, and maintenance,
• and that is all funded by New York's New York CIRDA. By CIRDA. Exactly. And Y CIRDA. Yep. So I just want to to to state that.
• Now
• and I think you guys mentioned this, but
• I did read recently that Hochul mentioned some cuts to NY
• I I'm I'm sure you lobbied her hard
• in the February
that's when I think that's when they said, well, this reception's over. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
• No. But, fortunately, you know you know, this
• is,
• you know, what you would call obligated
• funds. In other words, this these are these are actually,
• believe it or not, you know, this is the the first meeting I went to on project mover at the at the manager's request is a Mhmm. You wanna go to this meeting
• in Osling on bike share? Said, sure.
Was Little did trustee Simon know. Was in was in '20 A year later. Was in early twenty twenty one
Oh, man. Or or possibly late twenty, but it was, you know, almost almost very soon after I joined the board. Mhmm. And at that point, Ostling was applying for the funds. They then got the funds, which was
• a multiyear $7,000,000
• grant. So it's all been
• it's it's all been
• essentially
• in in
• allocated
• obligated for this purpose. And so So how many years do Future cuts. Yeah. The 2027.
• Yeah. Yeah. Well, actually, you know, in our in our last meeting, you know, they told us that there's actually still some funding.
• Believe it or not, there's been a little bit of
• underspending.
• You know? So there there's some leftover funds that'll be allocated
• to our twenty our twenty twenty seven
Yeah. There the communities are in discussion with shared mobility. Need to know what that is. The shared mobility entity,
• in partnership with a couple of other entities, will take the project over and also apply for additional NYSERDA
• funds. Yeah. Hopefully,
• participating
• today would continue
• without
• NY CERTA money. That's important. But you don't know what
• the future brings. True. You know? And so it it would be helpful at some point.
• Doesn't have to be the next ninety days, but just
• whatever this board feels is the right time to just start maybe running some numbers just to understand.
• project mover is coming to visit us on at our work session
• on manager. I believe it's May 27. It's the one in May. Yes. Okay. Yeah. To talk about the future the future scenario. Yeah. Right. Which which would be essentially
• 2028.
• And if you can ask if they can give us some understanding of the operating cost.
• Yeah. Because maybe divided by six or seven or more municipalities,
it's not much money. It's beginning to be sketched out. And I think, you know, one one of the things, you know, in like like any entity, you know, you wanna look at, you know, leftover funds,
• possible role by
• possible roles of other governments, for example. There's there I I don't wanna, you know, I I don't wanna just,
• you know, make the announcement
• for them. You know? But there's there's at least one other river town that's contiguous
• that's considering,
• municipalities,
• more intramenicipal
• trips
• Yeah. And that that will help Yeah. To reduce the cost. There's actually been a couple of
• ones that have said, gosh. If we could only, you know, get in, we said we'll move over a little bit and we'll And then then my other question is
so it's great there's a master plan with a vision of where to go next and developing priorities.
• In the example
• for
• the upper Village,
• it looked like in the in the plan,
• we might lose a parking spot in order to
• create,
• you know A hub.
• A hub. And so my question is,
• I just wanted to understand the process for engaging
• the businesses,
• you know, right around there, making sure that we get their feedback input and
• share the plan with them so there are no surprises,
• you know,
• Yep. You know, after if Is that was that the DPW
shows up and starts doing work. No. And was that for the was that the dummy light Yes. Upgrade? Okay. Yeah. That was that's not related to project mover. That's just No. And I and I think and I credit the It was in the memo. The bike. Bike path. No. No. I know. But that was It's in their master plan. Right. Yeah.
• if
• when we get to that, I think that's a much bigger much bigger effort on our part. You know? I I don't see it necessarily.
• There there could be some aspects of it that that this
• this round of funding could help out on, but that's a big project. Right. I mean, and Right. The background of it is that that the the board for my time, but not not that much before, the board put a lot of effort into it
• in 2019.
• Correct me if I'm wrong. Correct. Yeah. And then was about to implement something like that in 2020, and then COVID in intervened, and and it all had to be put on put on the on the No. It looks like it would make the environment
• safer.
• It right now, crossing the street,
crosswalk. Yes. Not not to go take a walk down memory lane. But we had I mean and this I can send you the link. The study is available on our website. Professionally.
• But it was done by professional
• traffic engineers that reviewed and made the recommendation that this would be
• the preferred option for
• safety and and movability
• and, you know
• Okay. It was it it but it's just a very
So if this sensitive topic forward, how do we Yeah. How does it move forward? Does it have to go in front of the board of trustees again? Or yeah. Okay. If you Thank you. Yeah. If you I mean, if I was to just, you know, con just conjecture on it is, you know, we would go back to where we were, you know, in 2019
• Mhmm. And and put it back on the table here, figuratively speaking, and and start saying, how do we wanna proceed? Yeah. We sort of began that process probably in '22 or '23.
• And, you know, a lot of it has to do with,
• you know, different different folks have, different views of the efficacy of stop signs.
• I happen to like them. You know, big font.
feel that they're less effective. Yeah. You know? But we would really need to get some expert judgment in here. And that's why I think Yep. You know,
• it's I think
• I think we should get as much money as we can Yep. From this
• opportunity.
• It's just aligning what our priorities are and, you know, where we're furthest along.
• And if something can be replaced in our capital plan
• with money from this source, then we can put something else back into our capital plan. So That would be that would be great. Yep. Yeah. Mhmm.
• riders there are in Croton? Because I I saw that
• the system has 2,395
• unique riders, but
• I I would say
• it would be you'd be close if you took 15%
• Okay. Of the unique riders.
• Yeah. And,
• again, you know you know, I I I threw a lot of numbers out here, but it is
• it is Trips are high. Yeah. But it's it's remarkable
• to see
• you know? And I think, you know, we have a lot of different types trips here, but it is remarkable to see
• the the magnetic draw of our Metro North transportation
• Yeah. Thank you. It's a big draw.
• Thank you.
• Alright. More to come on that. Okay. To be continued.
• On to review of local law number seven of 2026 to update the village signage law.
• Manager or attorney, would you like to introduce him? Sure. So,
• Right?
• The
• village board last year directed the the staff to,
• review the existing,
• local law regarding signs in the village.
• And so
• I've been working with our law firm to
• rework the law so that it would there would,
• yeah, hopefully be no further issues in ensuring that we are,
• legally and constitutionally
• compliant
• with our,
• code provisions.
• So,
• you know, after a few month process, this is the draft law that we've come up with.
• You know, and I I think the best thing to do is just kind of walk through it section by section and please, you know Sounds good. Yeah. If you have if you have questions on a specific section,
• feel free to stop us.
• So
• one of the the first section here, section two, actually, is amending
• the property maintenance code,
• and the change that it is removing
• is,
• the existing code allows for a four lease sign,
• in the in the window of a vacant building, but that's regulating on content.
• Right? And so that's something that's not allowed.
• So that's being removed from the from the code.
• Okay. And then the next section here,
• all the definitions.
• Right? So the zoning the the rest of these changes are in the zoning chapter.
• And,
• in the beginning of the zoning chapter, there are a very long list of definitions.
• And so what's being done here is that the definitions are,
• being taken out of this of the big definition section, and there's just there's a reference that's gonna be listed to having the definitions in the sign chapter so that they're more easily located by people,
• who might be looking for them.
• So
• and then,
• section four,
• is just saying that
• in
• resident in this residential district,
• there shall be no other signs other than those permitted in the science section, which we'll get to shortly.
• the section for the professions
• were
• selected.
That was that was done a very long time ago when the when the zoning code was Didn't make the change. Was a baby. Yeah. Right. Because yeah. No. I mean, it's
• yeah. It's a good it you know, I mean, so you right. I mean, you can you know, I don't know how many how many osteopaths
• we still have.
Or are we not the same things? You know, I just Well, this ladies ladies hairdressers. I know. Men's Not no. No. Barbers are not allowed.
• yeah. No. This the professional,
• the home occupations,
• right, we've actually that's on the list of It is. Items that we've asked our attorneys to look at. Yeah. Because we it is We're working on that. Okay. So
• it there could be potential changes here in the future. Okay. Yeah.
• this one is specifically signs. Yes. And then we have others on the priority list that we're looking at and bring we'll bring them forward. So there thank you. Okay.
• Right? So we're defining
• balloon, banner,
• beacon,
• billboard flags, freestanding signs,
• monument signs, pennants, poll signs, portable signs,
• sign, period Mhmm. Sign area,
• Where would a yard sign
which sign is a yard sign? So it could depend. Right? If it was a if it's
• right now we're not regulating on content. Right? So but if it was a sign that
• would only be up for a short duration. Right? It's a temporary sign. It's a temporary sign. Right? If it's a if it's a sign that
• has more permanence,
• right, then it would fall under a regular,
• noncommercial
• sign, assuming it's at a residence. Right? It would fall under a noncommercial sign, which as long as it,
• meets the,
• I forget what we said they were now, the, the attachment and the placement and the Size. Size. Yeah. Then as long as it meets those three criteria,
• then it's not regulated. Okay. Yep. Yep.
• Okay.
• So,
• the application process, which is section c here in the law,
• says that with the exception of exempt signs, and we're gonna get to that later as to what exactly an exempt sign is,
• signs have people have to seek a sign permit from either the village engineer or the planning port board depending on
• the particular circumstances.
• Right? And so if it if it's determined that the village engineer is the approving authority for the signed permit,
• the,
• application would be forwarded to the Visual Environment Board.
• They would review
• and advise
• the the village engineer on their recommendation,
• and then the village engineer would issue the permit with whatever those conditions may be. And these are for commercial?
• Yes. Or the
• nonexempt signs. Right? Because there there's very limited circumstances where a
• noncommercial sign might right? If it was larger than
• what our size regulations are, right, then that might need a permit. Got it. Yeah. So
• if it's determined that it's a planning board has the authority to issue the permit,
• the signs will not be going to the VEB.
• The signs will only will be staying with the planning board
• to have them handle the whole review.
• And so, you know, we're the the purpose for that is just to streamline
• the the process. Yeah. And, you know, this is something
• that we have in in other sections of the code. You know, an example, I think I put in my memo is that if there's a wetlands permit that's needed,
• the planning board issues the wetlands permit. The plant you know, the applicant doesn't have to go to the water control commission for wetlands and then go back to the planning board for a site plan. The planning board just handles both of them together.
• So,
• so that was the that was the intention there.
• K. And then moving on into,
• section e for illumination.
• You know, there was an exception here for time and temperature signs, but, again, that's content based, so that was removed. That I don't think we you know, that's those are like those old time bank signs that used to used to say what the time and temperature were. Mhmm.
• We don't really have those anymore.
• Yeah.
• I
• like those. I know. They they were they were they were cool. We have we barely have banks anymore. That's true. I know. 22
Alright. So the next section is section f, and so this is what I was referring to earlier.
• So section f, which is the placement size and attachment,
• this applies to all signs,
• commercial or noncommercial.
• Right? So all signs in the village would have to
• be located so that they're not obstructing the right of way. They don't obstruct vehicular site distance.
• They don't interfere with pedestrian or vehicular traffic flow. You know, don't interfere with any sort of ventilation system, door, window, fire escape, emergency exit, that sort of thing. Right? So that applies to all signs.
• The size
• right? So unless otherwise permitted,
• and, really, the only
• otherwise permitted here would be the billboards that historic Hudson Valley has. Right? Because that's the only thing that would be bigger than this.
• But
• signs shall be no larger than 48 square feet.
• And then if a freestanding sign, like, think of
• the the sign the sign directory going into ShopRite, right, that's a freestanding sign,
• It shall not extend
• more than 10 feet from the ground except if it's associated with a shopping center or a motor vehicle service station. Those could be 20 feet from the ground.
And that's new. Yes? The yeah. This is all underlined, so this is all new. Yes. Yes. Before
• they were either content based or, you know, did maybe district based, like, you know Oh. In The RA. Correct. Right. Okay. So we We're trying to neutralize
• more,
coherent to the public what's Okay. Correct. And just the question I had on the size was
• if it's a residence, if it's someone's like, a single family home Yep.
• Based on this, somebody could put a six by eight sign
• on their lawn. Yes. Right.
• And are they
• I forgot where it was. Are they limited to the number of
• residential
No. I don't believe there I don't believe for for commercial signs, there's no limit. I don't believe. Yeah. Six by eight seems really big.
• Yeah. This this was this this was an opening bid, I'll say. Right. Right? Yeah. Yeah. A two way year higher.
Object to you. To get to, like we're trying to sort of look at properties neutrally.
• Right? Correct. So, like, a commercial and residential sort of the same. So were were you going big be in the thought that maybe commercial
Yeah. I I was basically when I was trying to avoid I mean, I was looking at what
• what would be, like, the most reasonable
• the largest reasonable
• sign.
• Right? That's what I was trying to imagine.
• So, you know, I mean, we've had
• billboard is not the right word because that's a that's an actual definition. But we've had large
• signs that various people have put up in their yards and and places of business, right, whether they're temporary or otherwise. And so I was trying to think of, like,
• what would the
• average, you know, the average size of that be. Yeah. So right. Because it's also it it it's
• not it's not necessarily
• just a physical,
• physical is not the right word.
• It could be a banner. It could be a flag. It could be right? I mean, we're it's there's other Yeah. Yeah. Right. So it doesn't have to be a sign that's
• affixed to a pylon or a stick or a yeah. Thank you for saying that much more eloquently. Yeah. Yeah.
So there's you know? So that, of course, it can be subject to further consideration and adjustment.
• It was just in
in the case of of Yeah. Looking at what an average size would be, then that that was put in there. And just okay. So that seems big to me. I'll say that. And then does the the 20 feet from the ground
• for
• Yeah. And that language, that was in our code already. That was in our code already. Was just in a different section, so we moved it here. Got it. I'm yeah. Like, how tall are those signs on Riverside?
• So the so, I mean, this would
• it it really applies for what? Right? I mean, it applies to the ShopRite sign Yeah. Because that's a shopping center. Yeah. Gas station sign. It applies to the the gas station signs that have the, you know, the prices for the gas. Right.
• I I honestly don't know if those are 20 feet off the ground or not. I would I would assume that they're probably slightly less, maybe, like, 18 or 19 feet, right, just based off of,
what the law is. Yeah. It's not the intent to make things nonconforming.
• It's really
• this is the first pass at this draft.
Yeah. No. I just don't wanna put something in that all of a sudden you're allowed to have a 20 foot sign when all of our signs are actually 10. Mhmm. And all of a sudden a new gas station comes in and they're like, we can do a 20 foot sign.
Like, those I mean, we ones on the throughway that you can see up through the exactly what I'm imagining.
• some of these are you've seen in in comparable jurisdictions elsewhere. I think we we did a a pretty
• certainly took advice from NICOMS
• restrict restrictive and
• cautionary tales and guidance. Yes. So but, again,
• it's not meant to
• to increase. It's not meant to create nonconformities.
• It's, you know, it's just really a
• a reasonable effort to get to get started. I think for noncommercial
• this
• giving somebody the freedom to put an eight by six sign in front of their house and potentially multiples,
• I could see that becoming a problem. And there there might be an occasional person that would do it. You know, I don't I don't know. Yeah. I mean, I think
I think the multiples like, I don't think you can tell based on what we've read because we we did many. Yeah. We did have that in in the previous version of the code. Right? We said in our old code, we limited it to be three.
• It's residential properties were limited to three yard signs. Mhmm. Right? And that's that has been
• through our based on our research, that's been not allowed. Okay. So I don't really think we can limit how many signs people are allowed to put up, but I think you can. If, you know, within reason, you could limit the the size. Yeah.
• So I mean, so you don't we don't have to limited What about this total square footage of the signs? Well, that right. That's that's what it's listed here as. It's listed as 48 square feet. Right? Because you could multiple signs that equal that.
No. That's for that's Perfect. Signs that in general. A sign one sign. Yeah. So that's what I'm saying, though. You can't have a regulation that cap caps it at.
• No. I don't think can't have more than a 100 square feet of signs on your property. Oh, no. And
• it says they can't they have to be maintained in a clean and safe condition. They can't be in the right of way. They can't obscure sight lines. So there are further conditions.
• They have to meet the size and placement requirements.
• If they don't, then they have to go to the planning board.
• Yeah. And, again, not to regulate the content, but to re to be sure that they are safe and maintained
• and don't obscure or provide safety issues.
• and the
• beauty of our village, it would be great if you can we can maybe explore
• other options.
• You know? Options for The 48 square feet in a noncommercial
• residential.
• look at having
• different sizes for commercial versus noncommercial and see if that's something we can legally do or not. Yeah. I was gonna say just
• we what we were looking to do here was to try to streamline things because No. I know. It it's just you know, I mean, it it just then adds to the work of trying to determine,
you know, is this because it's not it's not based off of the zoning of the property. Right? It's based off of the use of the sign. Mhmm. Yes. So right. I mean It's placement. You can't have it near a door, a window, or a fire escape. So that applies to the residences as well. Yeah. You know, we should obscure window. It's just not safe. You know, we we should explore our flexibility
in areas where we're not bound by court rulings. Let's say let's say you can't. You never wanna be the first one Right. In court. You wanna you wanna base it on the other one's follower.
• I
• mean, you know, again, given the the the kind of
• I know that we we haven't settled on a specific size necessarily, but I I also have concerns about, you at a certain point, when does the sign become a safety issue?
• as you know, manager, recently on on on Route 9 I did hear about this.
• Just
• north of the Senasqua Exit on Senasqua
• Exit on the southbound side, the the sign has blown over. Now that
• is a metal sign that was, you know, installed to
• whatever highway grade. Now I assume also it's probably old, and that was a factor as well as That's Yeah. High winds. That's where the maintenance comes in and all of the if it's not maintained in a safe and convenient
• yeah. No. But is there do we, like, provide specific standards, or is this
I mean, it just section h here says all signs and components thereof
• shall be constructed in a manner and with such materials as shall not to cause the sign or components to constitute a hazard to pedestrians or vehicles.
• And then it says all all signs shall be kept in good repair and in safe, neat, and clean condition,
• and all signs shall be of a professional quality with respect to such matters as design, painting, lettering, materials, and construction. All illumination shall be of professional
• quality.
• So
• can't just put up a
• hand painted sign.
• on your property
• because that's an exempt sign.
• Yes. Correct. Right. Yeah. But, yes, you can. For, like, a store. Yeah. Yeah. You can't.
• You're limited
• in maintaining
• professional
• appearance.
• for signs of a specific size because they present the potential at least to blow around. Oh, I think that would be part of the planning board review. Right? Or that Well, depending on and if it yeah. I think what the mayor is referring to are the signs that wouldn't necessarily go to the planning board. Ah. Yeah. Okay. And we so No. The ones that are going to the planning board, I don't think that they're gonna intention their plan is to put it before
• the like, they're gonna come up with a sign that's an obvious danger. Like, the the those two things are intention. Right? The person that would go through the effort of applying is also, like, a careful individual presumably
• who wouldn't want their sign to cause an accident. What we're concerned about is someone not engaging in that task force. So And no no signs are permitted in the right of way at all. Yeah. So yeah. So further on in this chapter, and I know you keep saying that, but there are there are district based,
• know, for the residential districts,
• there's a setback of, I don't know, six feet from the
• Right of from the right of way.
• So
• uniform
• again, I think size bay you know,
• a a regular little
• on sign is probably not terribly dangerous. Oh, you're was Yeah. Four times the size and still of the same construction.
• And I'm not a physicist. What do I know? I'd we haven't tested in the wind tunnel.
• But I I think the chances of it becoming caught by the wind increase the Yeah. Yeah. It's true. Sure. And in that scenario, it's better to be put back. I mean, rather in that again, the reason why I'm thinking specifically about a setback is
• because that's probably easier
• to manage both for a homeowner
• property owner,
• you know, in this again, a home presumably a homeowner, not a professional builder, whatever,
• for them to manage in it as well as for code enforcement. Right? It's like,
you know You can measure They're not gonna I was just gonna say the property line is a set Exactly. Yeah. You know where you you can look to see is. They know how big the sign versus,
• having an like, a fine grained argument about how robust your sign structure is. It's just
• you know?
Okay. Well, let's keep that when we get to that Yeah. Sorry. Next area.
If if we're skipping all that corner. I would I would touch on the trees because Yeah. That's not real. That's a question that Yeah. Just to finish. Yeah. The last thing here under placement, size, and attachment is that signs shall not be rigged or attached to trees or utility poles.
• And and the reason for the trees so
• it's for the benefit of the tree. So you could put a caveat there that says attached
• in a to a tree in such a way as to provide
• a danger to the
• don't know. But it won't harm the tree. Yeah.
• And that's for private trees Mhmm. Public utility poles.
I mean, it take it takes there are some private utility poles too, it could be. Uh-huh. Like, some people have them on their property for whatever reason. So
And even though I was indirectly advocating for more of a bright line rule on
• the size the sizes of the assignments and setbacks,
• I think a more flexible standard on the trees
• is appropriate,
• especially because
• I mean, anything's possible, but hopefully, like, it wouldn't cause immediate and irreparable harm to the tree. I mean, you
• would have to attach it in a very aggressive way That's for that to happen. But yeah. Exactly. I mean, again, anything can happen. But, also, hopefully, people would
• don't have, a vendetta against their own trees, wanna be at least somewhat careful and
• whatever. Mhmm.
As as a local law, when we get to of course, we're we're in the very early drafting stage, but when we get to it being an actual proposed local law, we'll refer it to the committees that have Yeah. You can. I mean, it it has to go to the planning board, and it will have to go to the WAC. Yep. But you can if you wanna send it to I mean, my my suggestion would be to send it to the VEB, of course, because, know, they Exactly. That's what was thinking of those those Right. Those three. Yeah.
• So
• okay. Next,
• g,
• we just we just took out the language
• here that was content based
• on
• the removable letters. Mhmm. And then
And it snuck in later, but in a way that was neutral. Yes. It is it is we have a like, allowed for the kinds of signs that you would see
• at a church or, you know, a community center, but it's a little bit later in the law and in a a neutral way. Yeah. And we took out,
• on
• light strips and strings of lights that was based on the board's
• request.
• Mhmm.
• So
• to pedestrians,
• bicyclists, and vehicles?
Sure. Yeah. I don't see why not. Okay. Pedestrians, cyclists, or vehicles.
Oh, speaking of that, I've I neglected to add that we are in the process of trying to schedule two more bike safety classes
• in the community room,
• one in the
• spring and one in the summer.
• And then
• on Jay didn't change. That's for
• theaters, which we don't have at the moment. So that
Right. There are those new sign like, what a projecting sign like, we don't have a definition for a projecting sign, but I'm thinking about
• the,
• that we are like, the beacon, I would say, is, like, the, you know, the Christmas decorations that are now being cast on people's houses.
• have anything about those kind types of
No. Because those aren't real those aren't really signs. Those are Displays?
• so section k is now temporary commercial signage.
• Mhmm. Right? So
• temporary temporary commercial signs
• that
• follow these regulations don't require a signed permit.
• So they're allowed for forty five days,
• have to be attached, rigged, or fixed in a safe manner,
• can't be placed in the public right public right of way,
• can obscure sign sight lines, pedestrian, vehicular traffic, cannot be illuminated.
• You know, you're allowed to have one
• temporary commercial sign at a time.
• And then if you wanna have more than one, you'd have to get a permit.
• And then these ones are,
• not allowed to exceed six square feet in area. Right? So that's
• two by three. That's basically like a
• a yard salon
• sign.
• So that's temporary commercial signs.
• And then so these are the exempt signs. Right? This is what we were referring to earlier.
• So, obviously, anything that has to any sign that's posted pursuant to law,
• noncommercial signs. So right so these are anything that's not related to a commercial use.
• They have to be maintained in the clean and safe condition, not be in the right of way, not obscure sight lines, pedestrian, vehicular traffic,
• not be illuminated,
• as well as meet the size and placement requirements set forth in subject subsection f.
• Right? So if there were signs that exceed those size and or placement requirements,
• then they'd have to go to the planning board.
• So,
• temporary signs, as we just discussed, are exempt
• and then directional
• in my discussion today with my fellow counsel, we thought,
• they're gonna comply with that subsection,
• their directional signs. So it's exit, entrance, you know, those kinds of signs.
• They probably you don't probably want them to be 48 square feet, so you might wanna
• add a little subsection
• back in f
• and and talk about
• talk about a size requirement for a directional sign. It's probably not necessary for them to be Are those regulated by New York State? Or Not not in, like, private parking lots. Oh. Yeah.
Right. So this this would be Yeah. You know, if you were coming in and out of ShopRite, I I keep using them as an example. But yeah. Yeah. Like, exit here. You know? I see. Something like that. Yeah.
So it's just something to consider if you wanna add an an another provision in f on placement and size having to do with those directional signs. You have the opportunity to Mhmm. Put another subsection.
• the district regulations
• that for
• directional signs that are for parking spaces adjacent
• to residential
• districts,
• They're not allowed to exceed an area of three square feet each.
• So you could just apply that same number to Yeah. All directional signs. Yeah. Yeah. You could put it in there. Sure.
And we did also suggest that on the exempt signs that you provide yourselves
• an opportunity to require a sign. So,
• say you you
• determine that it's important to post a sign that this property is a subject for zoning board application
• to be heard. I
• you probably don't have that yet, but We don't do that yet. So you might wanna just say pursuant to,
• you know, the local pursuant to local
• Mhmm. Westchester County, New York State, or federal law. So you just wanna ex make sure if
• if you need to require a sign to be placed somewhere, you wanna make sure that you put that under exempt. So Mhmm. Right now, it just has Westchester County, New York State, or federal law, and that's really kind you're deferring. But give yourselves the opportunity to put up a sign. Yeah. You know, you can come up with any number of potential hypotheticals.
• Right? So this is,
• we're just putting a date in for when the original
• billboard
• exemption was enacted. Right? So that's the first change there.
• It just makes it clear. Yeah. Because People don't know the effective date of It was not believe me, it was not that clear. I I had to dig
• to find the date. Oh my god. Right.
• So
• Mhmm. Alright. And then signs that are not maintained in clean and safe order,
• signs that exceed the size and place limits set forth elsewhere in the article,
• signs that exceed the limits set forth in previously issued approvals of the planning board or village engineer,
• signs in the right of way, signs that obscure vehicular traffic sight lines, or signs that impede pedestrian or vehicular traffic. So put bicycle there too. Yes. Yep. These are all these are all prohibitions that are stated elsewhere that are just restated Yeah. Here for emphasis.
• So
• but then in that's section and didn't change section o.
• So for commercial window signage, right, and this is something that we've
• had limited success with, right, is that,
• you know, storefronts are only allowed to have up to 25%
• of their
• windows covered with signs. Mhmm. So,
• you know, this is not changing. It's just reiterating
• that. Mhmm. So
• okay. And then next,
• subject section p is district standards.
• Mhmm. Right. So these are this is where I was suggesting, for example, you could add in in,
• under number one here, which deals with the residential districts.
• If you wanted to, you could have a setback
• provision.
• And that way, it would apply just to the residential
• residentially zoned properties.
• What do people think about that?
• It's a little bit
• less in In front. Something in front. You know? And Yeah.
• And and to mayor's point, it it might be safer if if it is a big sign, and it we get a lot of wind
• here. So if it blows, you know,
• it's not gonna hit a pedestrian or bicyclist.
• Or
• there was something I was trying to remember. I can't I can't to see it now. I thought there was something like the bed and breakfast signs had a setback or something?
The bed and it doesn't say that here. No. I know. But I thought
• It's sub d, sub one, the area.
That's the area, right, for the bed and breakfast. Said that. Yeah. Maybe
• that was just a question that I was being asked.
• K.
• Excellent. And
• then,
• under section or subsection
• e here, right, so p one e,
• these are the areas that our attorney was referring to earlier where, like, the
• externally
• illuminated bulletin board or other announcement sign for uses
• Mhmm. Allowed under a special permit,
• right, which would be Yeah.
• Your educational institutions,
• your houses of worship,
• that that sort of stuff.
• Yeah. So
• pointing it all out and
• maybe forgetting somebody. So we just
• tried to make it less vague.
• And, you know, if you're if you have a use
• subject to a special permit, you, you know, you know who you are. So yeah. Yep.
• Okay. And then, you know, the regulations for the office districts didn't change.
We just tried to make sure we used commercial Yeah. Signs just to clarify. That's what we're talking about, so it's no longer confusing.
Yeah. We did change in scrolling down to subsection eight here, which is the Waterfront Development District.
• A lot of this language came out because it was, outdated.
• It was it really had to do with
• when Half Moon Bay was in its initial
• development phase.
• So it talked about, you know, like, if there was a professional office down there, if there were project signs for, like, you know, where whatever the project signs were.
• So we took all that out, and we just put in the similar language that's in the
• in the other districts. Mhmm. So
• and then you'll see here, subsection nine is what I was referring to earlier,
• about the identification
• and directional signs shall not exceed an area of three square feet each and shall be limited to such as are essential for the particular use.
• So we can apply that to all directional signs.
• And then set subsection
• q,
• which is not changing, but is probably worth reiterating. Right? Is that Discretion.
• Yeah. Right? Is that anyone who has an issue with any of this Mhmm. Always has the ability to go to the planning board. Unusual hardship. Yeah. Yeah. Mhmm. So, you know, if they if they feel like, you know
• if if they're a bed and breakfast and they feel very strongly that their sign should be four square feet and not two square feet. Right? You know? Right. Or they're on a corner lot.
You know what I mean? Like, yeah. There there might be any number of Of course. Special
conditions. So everybody always has the ability to go. Mhmm. You know, there was there was one business who went who made use of this and went to the planning board for they felt very strong that they should be allowed to have one of those dancing
• men outside their store, you know, one of those blow up you know, one of those blow up things. Yeah. They had a name. I forget what they're called.
• But the the planning board said no.
• But
• they did they felt like, you know, they they they thought it was worth it to go to the go to the planning board for that. K. Funny. So
• Do we need to add battery storage signage? I don't know. Do does do battery storage?
Well, that would be in its that's a separate section of the code.
• I can look we can look right now and see if that's because this says
• name, equipment,
• spec info, safety info
displayed on the solar energy system. Yes. Because this is So I was wondering, do you need something similar for battery storage? We could we could have it in here already. That's why I'm I'm gonna look right now and see if it's if it's in the chapter if it's in the chapter on battery energy. Okay. Yep. Thank you.
Yeah. No. I I mean Thank you. Yeah. This I'm glad I'm glad this thank you. Yep. Thank you. That takes most of the credit here. Thank you. You worked very hard on this.
I mean, it's not 50 paragraph 50 sections and 28 pages like mine was, but
• but that's
• I'm always bragging on that at the office. I'm like, yeah. But is it 28 pages? 50
• signage
• says the signage shall be in compliance with ANSI
• z five thirty five, what whatever that means,
• and shall include the type of technology associated with the battery energy storage systems, any special hazards associated,
• the type of suppression
• system installed in the area of battery energy storage system, and twenty four hour emergency contact information including reach back phone number.
• So that's it. That's in the battery energy
• applies to solar. So you you're specifically saying
• there are requirements by federal law that need to be in place, plus we want you to show this, this, this, and this.
• there,
• right, with that with that specific language
• was that was saying
• the way that it was previously written was limiting,
• right, based on content. That's correct. Yeah. Because it was saying the only thing you can display
• is this. Right. Now the way it's written is saying, you have to display this. Plus
• But you if you wanna do something else, you could do something But you have to do this stuff. Right. Okay. Plus anything required by the NEC
• hazards or stay back 50 feet or whatever it is they say. Yeah.
• alright. So we'll, we'll work on some of those other changes.
• And,
• you know, ideally, I I don't know how people feel about this, but what my thoughts were was
• to
• have this on the agenda for next week
• so that you could refer it refer it out. Yes. Yeah. Because cleaned up. Yeah. Because you'll then
• let let the other boards
• look at it and talk about it while you guys were working on the budget. Yeah. Right? And then that gives them six weeks to look at their stuff, and then you guys are working on the budget. And then, hopefully, by the May,
• those boards will be ready with their recommendations back to you. Yeah. Sounds good. That's great. And I did send the revision today to you just to you to,
that Jeanette and I went through to make sure that the cross Great. The cross So I'll I'll use that first. Yeah. That's what I sent over to you. And, also, we included the provision in,
• section p that had to do with the the comma and
• The other change. Separate sentences.
• Yeah. That's in there now too. So Okay. You're good to go. Thank you. Great.
• a review of our 2026
• draft legislative package.
• A little legislative history, you know, we receive,
• entreaties to,
• you know, write letters of support or opposition,
• different pieces of legislation through the New York Conference of Mayors,
• and, other entities, And I think our approach has been to try to consolidate all of that in a consistent
• in a single document and kind of try to get this all
• done in one one
• bite.
• Sometimes we're able to even do that. And
• trustee Simon, the deputy mayor and the liaison for intergovernmental affairs
has taken the first bite at the single bite. Yes. Yeah. Thank you, mayor. And I I should I should say both the mayor and the manager have been, you know, very helpful in terms of insights and a few edits and and and and thoughts. So I really appreciate that.
• This does, you know, represent
• some
• in in some ways continuity
• in in the ways that we've done this in the past, but as always, every year is different.
• This year,
• we have, you know, very, very different approaches from previous years from our sister
• organizations,
• NICOM,
• which has a legislative package that if you looked at '26 versus '25, it's lots lots of different things, but also
• Westchester County, which did a wonderful job in putting together
• their legislative package and, of course, our own organization, Westchester
• Municipal Officials Association. So those are
• those are all represented
• if you just go to the table of contents on after after the cover and the forwarding letter. Those are in there. We we have the the items with which
• we we take a strong
• adherence to from from their priorities.
• We have some of our own.
• We very
• this week, we got some terrific
• items from our Croton fire department. And with the board's
• agreement. I'd like to just add those in in in the fire section along with the
• the the information
• we'd previously gotten from the New York State Firefighters Association.
• So I think this supports us well for
• in in terms of the key issues
• for
• the
• for the for the remainder of the legislative cycle. It's gonna be interesting.
• The the the budget in Albany is
• is due April 1, and we'll we'll know about
• the
• the outlook or the outcome on a lot of these priorities
• at at that point, but it it could take longer. So did the best we could in in in sewing sewing this altogether.
• I'm I'll remind you that just a week ago, we we celebrated
• a quilt.
• And this is this is sort of a legislative quilt, you know, in that it it brings together a lot a lot of different things. But, also, you know, as as we talk a lot about it, it it shows you the breadth of what a full purpose local government
• deals with in terms of
• legislative
• matters. But we've got we've got good partners in
• in in the county and elsewhere,
• and and I I think, hopefully, this guides us, you know, reasonably well
• for for the rest of the legislative session.
• And and, of course, it goes all the way up because not only does this deal with some of the things that we wanna get done in the county,
• both legislation
• and particular projects,
• but also,
• you know, it
• we'll be engaged with the the
• community project funding process
• with both
• congressman Lawler and with senator Gillibrand. So it it takes us into the into the federal realm as well. So happy to entertain any questions or additions if if when when we get
• next step is literally just to to make sure that,
• you know, we've we've dealt with all of the
• editing and typos and
• and consistencies and things like that. And then we'll the manager, because this is under his signature, will will then get it up to
• Albany and Washington and else elsewhere.
• And,
• you know, you you do a great job at the intergovernmental
• affairs and connecting all the dots and making
• sure that we're tapping into
• all potential
• funding sources
• and,
• you know, relationships.
• Yeah. I know I've been to Wamoa meetings with you, and everybody knows you. Oh my goodness.
• All over the county. Norm.
• You know what? You know? So Showing up. You know what? That's right. Yeah. I have a question. I appreciated
• re reading the fire leadership
• Yep. Suggestions.
• And
• I wanted to understand because I'm I'm new here on the board.
• Since they are volunteer
• group,
• how does that work with our budget process?
• And and the reason I'm asking is
• I think
• we do need to do to dial up our volunteerism.
• Right? And
• that's a whole other, I'm sure, agenda item, you know, and how can we assist them in doing that and tap into a lot of resources to do it.
• But some of the recommendations
• that have that they're making,
• I think,
• are local,
• Croton budget
• sources,
• you know, like local funded LOSAP
• or
• I think I think some of them are local funding as you know? So my question is
I don't I I mean, the the four that we got Yeah. From the chiefs
• yesterday.
• Right? And I'm sorry. We didn't have it as part of the backup. Otherwise, I'd have it on the screen. But,
• just quickly going through them. Right? The first is the volunteer fireman's benefit law. Right? The VFBL.
• That's the state law that this they would need to,
• amend to include a higher weekly rate.
• That's something that,
• you know, it hasn't changed in thirty years and and probably
• should be updated.
• And then who would pay the higher rate? It's the state it's basically the funding source for the state. It's basically workers compensation but for volunteer firefighters. Okay. Yeah. Run program. So it's a state run program. Right? So then And then the tax credit? Correct. That's that's your state income tax.
• So we already provide a tax exemption for their property tax. Right? We provide
• the the maximum.
• Okay. That's that we're allowed to. But this is so the way that the law is written right now is that
• volunteers can either receive a $200
• credit on their state income tax or receive the 10% property,
• exemption.
• Right? From from most people, if not all, that own property, it's more beneficial to take the 10% exemption.
• But if you take that, you can't take the income tax credit as well. So what they're
• advocating
• for is two prong, right, to increase the actual credit from $200 to, I think, $800,
• and then also allow people to do both, to get the 10% exemption plus the $800
• credit.
• But we already we already offer the maximum
• tax exemption. That's So so we've done everything that we can on our end for that. Okay. And not all communities
authorize that tax exemption. Yeah. It's an opt in. Yeah. It's an opt in program. So you if you don't have the opportunity to take and then you're just relegated to 200.
• so we need to give as many incentives as we possibly
can. We the big one for us, of course, on a on the local level is the low SAP. Mhmm. We increased that,
• but we we did it in in a great way, which was also the the the only way you could do it. But we we brought that to the voters Mhmm. In the I think was it '23 when when we did it or '24? I believe so. Yeah. No. Maybe it was yeah. It was '23. Yeah. It was, you know, almost unanimous. Yeah. It has to be by referendum.
• So the next the next item,
• is
• for retirement service credit. So under the New York State,
• retirement system,
• you can
• if you have military service,
• for example, you can
• buy back
• that credit
• to add it to your pension so that, for example, under the old tiers, right, like tier four, for example, if you had thirty years of service,
• you could retire at age 55. Mhmm. So if you were 55 and you only had twenty six years of service but you were in the navy for four years, you could buy back that navy time and then you could retire at 55.
• So that's what they're what they're requesting is that if if somebody was a volunteer for fifteen years,
• they would be able to buy an additional three years of credit in the pension system to increase their,
• know, their pension payment. Need to add any funding to our budget. No. This is all this is all related to the state pension. That's
• you know, this one depending on what it act actually happens, but I think it's a little premature to do anything right now. We we could potentially. Right? Because this would allow the authority having jurisdiction,
• which is us, but that's that's
• the village board,
• or the individual fire companies to provide reimbursement
• for reasonable expenses incurred,
• whether through gift cards, gas cards, or in an in an amount not to exceed the federal
• IRS ten ninety nine threshold,
• which I think is $600,
• but I I'm not sure. But something like that. Yeah. And just just a clarification,
So so the state legislature would need to pass a law. The governor would need to sign it. And then once that happened,
• then the village
• could allocate funds
• In the budget. In the budget to
• provide reimbursement for these reasonable
• expenses.
• You we would obviously if yeah. We're we're going way far down the line here now. But if this was to happen, we would need to define what
• that would be. Right. What what is reasonable. Yeah. You know?
• So
• because, I mean, like, you know, if the fire chiefs
• I don't know. If they if they go to a conference in Long Island I mean, they have the they have village vehicles anyway, but, I mean,
• you know, if they go out there and let's say they bring two guys and they decide that they're gonna have lunch out at the conference. Right? You know? I mean, the village will usually cover the cost of that because it's for training purposes. Right. Right? So, I mean, we we generally do things like that Mhmm. Anyway.
• So
• under the
• oh, the home rule legislation,
• I think, you know, I spoke to the mayor. I think
• we said we were gonna take out the
• Brook Street residential
• Our plan for Brook Street, and this is going to be in the capital,
• budget that's coming out on Friday, is that we're going to,
• attempt to move forward with developing
• our the parcel that we own there into public
• parking for the Brook Street area.
• So,
• hopefully, that will that will reduce the number of people that are on
• that street. And,
• you know, it it depending on what the exact design looks like,
• it it will probably triple the number of spaces that are available
• off street there. So I think the idea is that we'll we'll try that first and see how that works. And then if we still have a parking issue, then we can always go back to the state, and that would probably bolster our case.
• Yeah. If,
Into our house. Yeah. Yeah. Good look at that and see. And then the consideration for the speed cameras,
• didn't we get
• We got red light cameras. So oh, we got red light cameras. This is our speeding cameras. Yeah. Yep.
• And we still haven't really
We haven't moved forward with that at that point. Yeah. I mean, we did we we spoke myself and and members of the police department spoke with a a vendor just to get some information. Mhmm. But we haven't done anything further than that at this point. Yeah.
• And then the other other the only other comment I had was for under the
• sorry. Under the local projects requiring state support Yep.
• For
• letter e, which is the Harman firehouse new roof. So we've applied for that already through the v fire program, is referenced above already. Yep. So I don't know if we need to list it twice or I I I'm I'm fine if you want to, but I just don't know if it's necessary. I think until it's funded. Yeah.
• It should be it should be listed twice. Yeah.
• Okay. No. That that's I I'm I'm fine with that. I just wanted to make sure everybody understood that. And your and your previous note that we hadn't gotten
• is is just ironic that's one of the areas where we've gotten federal money, but not state money. Yes. Yeah. We did. We we got a FEMA,
assistance to firefighters grant. Yes. But we haven't gotten anything from from this well, we did get just recently, we got the $3,500
• grant for the that partially funds the trailer for the ATV. Right. But that was that was from a different program. That was from that was actually from the DEC for
• wildland
• firefighting.
• So who knew we had wildland? Recently add g collaboration
I believe, justice Simon always that was always in there. You know? And actually Is it the things we need from them Well, and actually, you know, this year, we're actually making progress. Right. We were you know, we've we've made contact. You know? We've
• we've
• we've had it's like, know, it's a Star Trek generation, you know, first contact. It's like MTA,
• DOT. They're, like, impossible. So Well, that was you know, you
• know, it took a while to kinda get that done. Mhmm. But but plenty more to, you know, plenty more to go on.
with just these minor changes and, like, the the spelling and grammar stuff we talked about, we'll just have this we'll make those, and we'll have it on the agenda for next week. Is that about That'd be fine. Yeah. And I'll I'll have that
by Friday Perfect. On this. And then the community project funding for the federal level. So we had
• made a request. I'm just reading this paragraph. But we made
• the request to representative Waller for
• money to upgrade our radios.
• money that we got from
• for the Half Moon Bay Bridge project,
• but the new request is for
Well, it says it says funding for priority projects most in the infrastructure and public safety realms. Yeah. That was that's just the the Jilla brand is infrastructure. It's a Well, it's a water main. In keeping with the, same model, let's say, as the, Harman Firehouse, maybe we can just specify
projects were without going into detail. Yeah. Just so we can we can name them. Yeah. Yeah. That's fine. So it's, the Gill brand was Is is water Harrison. Not not Harrison. Yeah. I mean, it's specifically, if you wanna say it, it's Harrison Street and Sunset Trail. Right.
• Water water main
• reconstruction improvements. Is that what it was? Water main improvements. Thank you. Mhmm.
• representative Lawler, it was Radio.
• The police
• radio communication
• system. Replacements of replacement. Replacement
• of Yeah.
• where with the
• the noise and the
• pollution,
• you know,
• those concerns
• That's not explicit.
• We could
• add an
• environmental concern in the village.
That's a good catch all for it. Yeah. Environ yeah. Quality of life. Yeah. Right. Quality of life. Right. Environmental concerns.
• Peekskill
• for
• bike storage down at the station.
• Yeah.
• Interesting.
• trains. Let him just let him pay taxes. Let's Onto it. Let's see. How much would a two wheeler be than
• a tricycle?