VILLAGE OF BLOOMINGBURG, INC. Regular Monthly Village Board Meeting Location: Village Hall 13 North Road, Bloomingburg, New York 12790

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1 VILLAGE OF BLOOMINGBURG, INC. Regular Monthly Village Board Meeting Location: Village Hall 13 North Road, Bloomingburg, New York September 10, 2015 beginning 7:00 P.M. Present: Village Mayor Frank Gerardi Village Trustee James Johnson Village Trustee Aaron T. Rabiner Attorney for the Village: Steven Mogel Village Mayor F. Gerardi called to order the Village of Bloomingburg Regular Monthly Meeting of Thursday, September 10, 2015, at 7:00 PM in the Village Hall, Bloomingburg, New York. The meeting was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance. Roll Call: Three of three Village Board members present, a quorum. REGULAR MEETING 1) Approval for August, 2015 Abstract of Payments F. Gerardi asked the Trustees if they had an opportunity to review the August Abstracts and if they had any questions about the abstracts. Both Trustees responded they had reviewed the abstracts and had no questions regarding the vouchers or payments. F. Gerardi directed the clerk to file and retain this abstract in accordance with statue and as is customary. 2) Approval of minutes of the Village Board meeting held August 13, F. Gerardi asked the Trustees if they had an opportunity to review the minutes of the August 13th meeting and if they had any questions about the minutes. Both Trustees stated they had reviewed the minutes and had no questions regarding the minutes. F. Gerardi asked for a motion to approve the minutes of the August 13th meeting as written. A motion was made by J. Johnson and seconded by F. Gerardi in favor of approving the minutes. Motion carried. 3) F. Gerardi read the July Building Department Report for the month of August, Copy attached. 4) Mayor s report: Page 1 a) The Village Hall alteration for re-locating the Village Justice Court to a separate area on the first floor (next to the Village Offices) has been completed and is the Court Room is now in use. The work was completed with funds from a court grant. b) The Village offices and first floor meeting room have been re-carpeted. The old carpet had been gotten wet from a leak in the Judge s office a floor above and had become moldy. The leak in the Judge s office was repaired and the office was recarpeted with court grant funds. The Village was able to obtain the carpeting in the Village office and meeting room at a low cost bulk rate by having the carpeting replacement done at the same time as the court and Judge s office carpeting was being installed. The carpeting work was done by a local merchant (Bruce s Carpeting).

2 c) The article 78 law suit by the Town of Mamakating against the Village of Bloomingburg regarding issuance of certificates of occupancy at Chestnut Ridge is in court once again. 5) A RESOLUTION APPROVING AN INTER-MUNICIPAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE VILLAGE OF BLOOMINGBURG AND THE COUNTY OF SULLIVAN TO PERMIT THE COUNTY TO ACT AS AN AGENT FOR THE VILLAGE TO ENFORCE FORECLOSURE PROCEEDINGS AGAINST REAL PROPERTY IN THE VILLAGE THAT IS DELINQUENT IN REAL PROPERTY TAXES. F. Gerardi explained this resolution is to renew the intermunicipal agreement between the Village and the County to permit the County to act as an agent for the Village to enforce foreclosure proceedings against real property in the Village that is delinquent in real property taxes. S. Mogel explained this same agreement was in effect previously but requires annual review and renewal to remain in effect. This resolution is to authorize the Mayor to enter into the intermunicipal agreement with the County of Sullivan. F. Gerardi asked the Trustees if they had an opportunity to review the proposed resolution and if they had any questions about the resolution. Both Trustees responded they had reviewed the resolution and had no questions. F. Gerardi asked if any member of the public wishes to speak regarding this resolution and opened the floor for public comment. A member of the audience question the 2013 date that was indicated in the document. S. Mogel responded that was the last time the intermunicipal agreement had been renewed. The County only recently contacted the Village and asked that the agreement be renewed as required. F. Gerardi asked for a motion to approve this resolution. A motion to approve the resolution was made by J. Johnson and seconded by A. Rabiner. Motion carried. With the majority of the Village Board of Trustees voting to approve the resolution, the resolution was declared by the Mayor to have been adopted and goes into effect immediately. The Mayor then signed the intermunicipal document and it was given to S. Mogel for filing with the County. PUBLIC COMMENT F. Gerardi opened the floor for all public comments. 1) A member of the audience inquired about the status of Market Street which is not open to public as this time. She recalled that at initial meetings regarding the planning for the Market Street roadway the road was planned to help relieve traffic jams at the traffic light due to traffic coming and going to Chestnut Ridge. Additionally, she commented it was her understanding that the road was supposed to be completed and open to traffic before certificates of occupancy were given for Chestnut Ridge. F. Gerardi responded that although the Developer s agreement with the Village states the water and road improvements for Sullivan Farms III Market Street project were required to be completed within 60 days of the final site plan approval of the Chestnut Ridge project, the Page 2

3 developer was waiting for water lines from the well houses and along Winterton and down Market Street which are to be installed in the next few weeks. Waiting for the pipe installation to be completed will prevent the road from needing to be torn up for the pipe installation after the road is completed. It is anticipated the road will be completed by the end of November. A member of the audience inquired if the developers were in default with other stipulations in the Developer s Agreement. S. Mogul replied that the items of default from the stipulations of the Developer s Agreement, including Market Street, are now in legal arbitration. 2) A member of the audience inquired how many dwelling units in Chestnut Ridge have been sold. S. Mogel responded it is his understanding that as of 2-3 weeks ago there were 20 units under contract for sale. To the best of his knowledge there have been no closings. The Building Inspector has reported no-one appears to be living at the development. 3) A member of the audience pointed out that she sees a lot of vehicles speeding through the Village and hopes that since there is a bad turn onto Market Street combined with anticipation that there will be many delivery trucks using Market Street, that there will be restrictions for safety perhaps a weight limit? F. Gerardi responded that could be too restrictive, but he will consider a lower speed limit or perhaps restricting the street to local delivery only. 4) A member of the audience inquired about the status of the garbage regulations that the Board discussed at prior meetings. F. Gerardi responded that the Village Attorney has been busy with litigation on behalf of the Village which has briefly held up the progress of passing the law regulating trash cans. It will be ready for the next meeting. F. Gerardi further reported that to improve the Village s appearance he has been picking up trash down by the bridge that someone threw out by the road and has put a pile of recycling schedule magnets in the Bloomingburg Bakery for pick-up by Village residents. 5) A member of the public complained about the riding toys and bikes that are left strewn about the sidewalk in front of the stores by the traffic light all day and night being a safety hazard. F. Gerardi responded that he will speak to the store owners about this matter. 6) A resident of the Town of Mamakating who resides at 68 Winterton Rd inquired how and when the waterline from Chestnut Ridge will run since it is noted in the Developer s Agreement that his residence will have the ability to hook into the water line. However, the resident reported that the developer has not contacted or discussed with him what his options are if the water usage at the Chestnut Ridge projects cause a problem for his well. The resident requested a copy of the latest well testing reports for the project. S. Mogel responded that he will look into this for the resident. 7) A member of the audience commented that the American Flags are displayed properly on many houses in the Village. S. Mogel replied the Village does not have authority over how private homes display the American flag. S. Mogel additionally commented that he will research if there is any authority for a Village to enforce flag etiquette. 8) A member of the audience questioned if the Village or anyone at the meeting knew why there was surveying being done at the Citizen s Bank. The surveyors entered onto her property, cut branches and cut/pulled weeds and brush on her property without first obtaining her permission. She did encounter the surveyors when they returned the next day but they only told her that they were hired to conduct the survey but they had no knowledge what the purpose of the survey was. F. Gerardi responded that he saw the surveying being done and went into the bank to inquire the reason for the survey, but no information was given to him. Page 3

4 The same member of the audience inquired if Black s Law was an authority for researching legal terminology. S. Mogel responded that it was a general authoritative source for legal research. 9) A member of the audience inquired what was going on with the Hickory Court use violation. S. Mogel responded that the property owners have appealed to the Zoning Board of Appeals for an interpretation of the Village Code Enforcement Officer s decision regarding this matter. 10) A member of the audience inquired why the Building Inspector was not attending this meeting as the Mayor had promised. F. Gerardi replied that he, in his authority as the Mayor, would also be able to respond to any questions that may be presented to the Building Inspector. 11) A member of the audience commented that if the developer had defaulted on Market St with no repercussions, is the developer taking advantage of the Village in this and other matters they have defaulted on? S. Mogel responded the Village of Bloomingburg has taken extraordinary effort to control this situation. It was the Village s choice to enter into arbitration regarding Market St. The same member of the audience inquired what if arbitration is awarded and there are still defaults? S. Mogel responded if it is not settled in arbitration it would go to court. 12) A member of the audience inquired if there were flow tests done on the hydrants in Chestnut Ridge and if the test reports had been sent to the Fire Commissioners. F. Gerardi responded that the testing has been done and copies of the report have been sent to the Fire Chief as well as the Fire Commissioners. Since the member of the audience presenting the comments is a Fire Commissioner, F. Gerardi offered him a copy of the report. Additionally, F. Gerardi said since Market St. is privately owned the Village notified the developer that it is the developer s responsibility to cover the hydrants along Market St. since they are not currently charged. Since this still has not been done, F. Gerardi will again remind the developer of their obligation to take care of this matter. 13) A member of the audience questioned Trustee A. Rabiner if he participated in the March 2013 Village elections. A. Rabiner responded he did not. The next question the member of the audience presented to A. Rabiner was whether the Trustee was a Village resident in The person making the inquiry then inquired if A. Rabiner resided in the Village in 2014 and whether A. Rabiner had voted in the 2014 Village election. The person who was making these inquiries additionally commented that this was a question of legality regarding the Trustee s residency since he is now an official in the local government. A. Rabiner responded that he had participated in the 2014 Village elections. The same person additionally asked A. Rabiner to respond to the question of whether A. Rabiner lived at Main Street in Bloomingburg during 2014 and if he now lives on Winterton Rd in the Village. A. Rabiner stated that was corrected. The same person additionally asked A. Rabiner why he did not defend his right to vote in 2014 and why he did not show up in court to defend his voting right. A. Rabiner stated he did go to the Sullivan County Board of Elections and conferred with Commissioner Rodney Gabaebel regarding this matter. Page 4

5 14) A member of the audience inquired about the status of the sidewalks to be constructed along Winterton Rd. S. Mogel responded that he had requested the Village Engineer to review the plans as discussed at the last Board meeting and the engineer had found there was no crossing over to the other side of road. As far as the easements were concerned there were no response to the letters sent asking for consideration of the easements. 15) A member of the audience questioned where the New Twin Lakes Village was located. F. Gerardi responded that mobile home park is located within the Town of Mamakating. 16) A member of the audience questioned if the Village had been further contacted by the FBI. Both F. Gerardi and S. Mogel responded they had no comments. With no further questions or comments being presented F. Gerardi asked for a motion to close the public comment session. A motion was made by J. Johnson and seconded by A. Rabiner. All in favor. Motion carried and the public comment session was closed. EXECUTIVE SESSION F. Gerardi asked for a motion to go into executive session which include the Mayor, the Trustee and the Attorney for the Village for the purpose of discussing ongoing, pending, and threatened litigation. A motion to go into executive session was made by J. Johnson and seconded by A. Rabiner. Executive session was opened 7:35 p.m. F. Gerardi asked for a motion to close the executive session. A motion was made by J. Johnson and seconded by A. Rabiner. All in favor. Motion carried and executive session was closed at 7:50 p.m. MOTION TO ADJOURN F. Gerardi called for a motion to adjourn the meeting. A motion was made by J. Johnson and seconded by A. Rabiner. All in favor. Motion carried. Meeting was adjourned at 7:52 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Eileen Rogers Village Clerk Page 5

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