A meeting of the Village Board of Trustees was held on July 15, 2015 at the Historic Watts DePeyster Hall, Tivoli, NY. Mayor Griffith called the meeting to order at 7:03 pm.
Present: Mayor Griffith, Deputy Mayor Bruno, Trustee Majer, Trustee Ezrati and Trustee Schneider
Public: Glenn Baker, Leslie Baker, Michelle Grieg, Julio Olivencia, Thomas Crisci, Sr, Jeanette Canaday, Matthew Kobalkin, Melinda Lowe, Jesse Lowe, Alexander Zane, Michael Piastro, Martin Clarke and Susan Huyser.
The Mayor asked all present at the meeting to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.
The Clerk’s report included:
- Sale of 735 trash tags
- Two payrolls
- Attended one Planning Board meeting and one workshop and a Regular Board public hearing
- Water/sewer bills collection
- Property tax bills collection
- Preparing for the AUD filing and close out of the fiscal year
Mayor Griffith:
- Tivoli Yard Sale Day is Saturday, July 25. It’s $10.00 to be on the map, $20.00 to rent space near Village Hall.
- The Tivoli Fire Department has a chicken barbeque on August 1 –call Ralph -845-249-8003 for tickets
- Tivoli Community Day – August 8, 2:00 pm at Memorial Park, Rain date is August 15
- Street Painting is October 3
On a motion by Trustee Schneider, seconded by Trustee Majer, the minutes for June 17, 2015 Regular Board Meeting, July 8, 2015 Regular Workshop and July 8, 2015 Public Hearing Minutes were approved, all in favor.
On a motion by Deputy Mayor Bruno, seconded by Trustee Majer, the Treasurer’s Report for Abstract 2, dated July, 2015, in the amount of $92,580.55 was approved, all in favor. Trustee Schneider moved that the bills be paid for the abstract as presented and Deputy Mayor Bruno seconded the motion, all in favor.
Zoning Report – Trustee Ezrati
- Four incidents reports one permit
- Closed two building permits – opened three more
- Route 9G – complaint about someone driving across the lawn
- 45 Broadway -complaint that sidewalk located in front of the owner’s property is obstructed by the hedge/shrubs
- 101 Montgomery – complaint of loud music and socializing on the street after 10:00 pm. The situation persists
- 80 Montgomery – complaint of a rodent infestation
Correspondence was received regarding the proposed local laws by the Village. The Village Board reviewed the written comments which were received after the public hearing was closed.
Mayor Griffith summarized the agenda and opened the meeting for public comments on agenda items only.
CFA Grant:
- Consolidated Funding Grant application resolution
- Village will apply for a grant for $50,000
- 50% match – not necessarily a cash match, may be “in-kind” services such as volunteer hours including some of the RPI student study
- The grant is for the waterfront
- The deadline for grant applications is July 31
- Crawford and Associates, who is familiar with the waterfront will work on this project
- They are just preparing this application
- Grant will cover:
- Revise the master plan for the project originally prepared in 2008 to include the RPI student design for the overpass
- Develop a project for phase, design and construction
- Prepare SEQR, including LEAF (Long Environmental Assessment Form) and EAF ( Environmental Assessment Form) with renderings for the overpass and archeological areas of soil disturbance
- Prepare permits for site development including a joint application
- Prepare engineering estimate and construction documents
- A substantial amount of erosion has occurred on the western parcel of the waterfront
- Shoreline stabilization is the first step
There were comments regarding the support of the proposed local laws.
On a motion by Trustee Ezrati, seconded by Deputy Mayor Bruno, RESOLUTION 21-2015, DATED JULY 15, 2015, BUDGET MODIFICATIONS, was approved, all in favor.
On a motion by Trustee Majer, seconded by Trustee Schneider, RESOLUTION 22-2015, DATED JULY 15, 2015, BUDGET MODIFICATIONS FOR THE 2014/2015 FISCAL YEAR END, was approved, all in favor.
Mayor Griffith:
- Office of NYS Comptroller – Report of Examination
- Complete report is on the Office of the State Comptroller’s website or may be viewed in the Village’s Clerk’s Office
- Exit interview was conducted by the state examiners with the Mayor and Clerk/Treasurer
- Positive experience – they are here to help us to do a good job with your tax dollars
- They emphasized transparency and competitive bidding for procurement
- A response letter was written to acknowledge receipt of the report and is now part of the report
- All in all, in the history of the Village, it’s a pretty good report card
- Thanked former Mayor Cranna and Clerk Treasurer Gonnella for getting Tivoli this good report
- The auditors were in the Village for seven months
On a motion by Trustee Ezrati, seconded by Deputy Mayor Bruno, RESOLUTION 23-2015, DATED JULY 15, 2015, RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING CONSOLISTATED FUNDING APPLICATION FOR WATERFRONT PARK PLANNING AND DESIGN,
was approved, all in favor.
On a motion by Trustee Ezrati, seconded by Trustee Majer, RESOLUTION 24-2015, DATED JULY 15, 2015, AUTHORIZING ADOPTION BY THE VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE VILLAGE OF TIVOLI OF LOCAL LAW NO. A (PROPOSED) OF
2015 TO ENACT A NEW CHAPTER 173 OF THE VILLAGE CODE ENTITLED ‘PUBLIC URINATIOIN OR DEFECATION’ was approved. Roll call: Bruno: aye, Ezrati: aye, Schneider: aye, Majer: aye, Griffith: aye.
On a motion by Trustee Schneider, seconded by Trustee Majer, RESOLUTION 25-2015, DATED JULY 15, 2015, AUTHORIZING ADOPTION BY THE VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE VILLAGE OF TIVOLI OF LOCAL LAW NO. B (PROPOSED) OF 2015 ENTITLED ‘A LOCAL LAW TO ENACT A NEW CHAPTER 153 OF THE VILLAGE CODE ENTITLED ‘NUISANCES’ was approved. Roll call: Bruno: aye, Ezrati: aye, Schneider: aye, Majer: aye, Griffith: aye.
Mayor Griffith:
The Village of Tivoli is wonderful place. It is also a very small place. In the Village of Tivoli houses are side by side. Some of these houses are owner-occupied, and some of them are rentals, but all these houses are homes– to those who live there.
In these homes is a diverse population of 1100 residents. These residents are mothers and fathers, married couples, and single parents, children, grandparents, little babies, young singles, young couples, students and seniors. There are families who have lived in Tivoli for generations– next door to families who just moved in this year. There are people who enjoy this Village for two or three years, before their lives take them onward and elsewhere, and there are people who walk the same streets, and enjoy the same Village they loved 30,40,50,60 and 70 years ago.
1,100 diverse people all dwelling in a little Village side by side. All of these people, like people everywhere, deserve civility and respect. Each of them deserves a desirable quality of life. And what could be more fundamental to one’s quality of life– than peace, tranquility and repose in one’s own home? Everyone in this Village is entitled, by common sense, common decency, and the laws of Tivoli, to the conditions for a quiet night’s sleep in their own home.
Peace and repose in one’s own home, whether you own or rent, is a right. It is an incontrovertible right. It is sacrosanct– and it is protected by law. The Code of the Village of Tivoli says quiet time is between 10pm and 7am.
Now, it is in this context, and with this understanding of Tivoli, that the Board of trustees has brought forth this legislation. We need stronger laws to address a culture of late-night noise and partying that has settled in Tivoli. Depending on which street you live on, this may go back 5 years, or ten years, or 15 years. Large numbers of people, some who reside in Tivoli and many more who come into town and leave again, choose our Village as the place where they party. They do this late at night, well after our ten PM noise ordinance is in effect, and along with the noise there is rowdy drinking, litter, and sometimes vandalism and worse. Too many of us, for
too many years, have been awakened in our homes in the middle of the night, and gone to the window to see bands of roaming partiers screaming and hollering in the street, or worse in our yards. Too many of us, for too long, have been awakened late at night because the thumping music or even just the raucous conversation –from the house next door, or down the street– kept going past 10pm, past midnight, and past 2am.
Why should self-respecting Tivoli tolerate this? We have seen in our beloved Village, a phenomenon which would not be tolerated in the Village of Red Hook, a phenomenon which would not be tolerated in the Village of Rhinebeck, and frankly, a phenomenon which isn’t tolerated on the campus of Bard College. Why does Tivoli have to be different? We don’t and won’t.
In the Village’s 220 year history, this late-night bacchanal culture is a relatively new thing, and is by no means inherent or intrinsic to the character or identity of this Village.
So we have two things: people trying to sleep in their own homes so they can wake up and go to school or go to work, and a late-night party phenomenon which is by its very nature, loud. These two things are in conflict. They are by their nature in conflict: quiet and noise, peace and disruption. How do we resolve this conflict? By making a change, by making a break with the recent past. We alter the status quo and redefine ourselves as a community.
So in this conflict what would a rational person change? Well there are only two choices. Change the setting or change the phenomenon. Change the Village, or change the partying.
Do we tell people, no sleep? No peace? Deal with it? Move out of the Village? Clearly that is absurd. Or does this community say, look, this noisy late-night partying is inappropriate in Tivoli? Clearly, it is the party-culture that must change. A residential village, for manifold common sensical reasons, is not a suitable or appropriate setting for nuisance gatherings and the late-night party culture they encourage. Nuisance gatherings will have to cease, or move out of this Village.
Those are the goals of these laws. Their purposes are deeply reasonable. Their requirements are deeply reasonable. They have been implemented in communities across this country. They will be a deterrent against the phenomena they proscribe. If you don’t want to pay the fines, don’t violate these laws. It is entirely in one’s own control. As a resident and as Mayor, I believe these are the tools we need, to create the change that must happen in Tivoli. Let’s make this change, let’s move this Village forward.
On a motion by Deputy Mayor Bruno, seconded by Trustee Schneider, RESOLUTION 26-2015, DATED JULY 15, 2015, AUTHORIZING ADOPTION BY THE VILLAGE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE VILLAGE OF TIVOLI OF LOCAL LAW NO. C
(PROPOSED) OF 2015 TO AMEND CHAPTER 151 OF THE VILLAGE CODE ENTITLED ‘NOISE’ was approved. Roll call: Bruno: aye, Ezrati: aye, Schneider: aye, Majer: aye, Griffith: aye.
On a motion by Trustee Ezrati, seconded by Deputy Mayor Bruno, the Annual Financial Report for 2014 was approved to file with the New York State Comptroller’s Office and a legal notice to be published, all in favor. The Village’s fund balances were all increased. The Village is in a strong, unstressed financial position.
On a motion by Trustee Majer, seconded by Trustee Schneider, RESOLUTION 27-2015, JULY 15, 2015, RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTION OF AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE VILLAGE OF TIVOLI AND MONUMENTAL LODGE #374 F&AM FOR THE LEASE OF CERTAIN REAL PROPERTY FOR A PARKING AREA was approved, all in favor.
The next regular meeting will take place on August 19, 2015 at 7:00pm at the Historic Watts dePeyster Hall. The workshop will be held at 6:00pm before the meeting. There will be a workshop on August 12, 2015 at the Historic Watts DePeyster Hall at 7:00pm.
Trustee Reports:
Deputy Mayor Bruno
- Summer Rec Program
- Program runs June 29 to July 24 – 9:15 am to 12:15 pm
- Arts and crafts, board games
- 11:00 am to 12:00 pm – library program on Fridays
- Potential theatre class for two weeks for three hours per day
- Contact Deputy Mayor Bruno to register for the program
- Skate Ramp Grand Opening is July 11.
- Youth Caucus – Central Hudson
- Repairing roof and shingles and painting the ball field shed
- Cash donations for supplies
Trustee Ezrati
- Planning/Zoning Boards
- ZBA – There are some applications for area variances – most applicants are
- Planning – a subdivision on North Road
- Fire Department
- There are ample resources for what is needed
- Water/Sewer
- Well Report
- Two water samples taken each month
- No violations
- Testing every month
- Two different locations are tested monthly
- Ecoli and coli form
- Water Main Breaks
- June 10 – Broadway and Woods Road
- June 19 – Woods Road
- Well Report
Trustee Schneider
- Justice Report
- $280 remitted to the State Comptroller’s Office
- Read Justice Court list of charges deposed for the month
- Greenway Grant
- Public meeting was held in February
- Morris Associates, (engineer) has prepared preliminary plans and a draft of the Environmental Assessment Form
- Deputy Mayor and Trustee Schneider will meet with them on Friday
Trustee Majer
- Tivoli Library
- Many ongoing programs
- July 10 – 6:00 pm Talons : Birds of Prey – had 150 attendees
- Summer Reading Program is in full swing
- Tivoli Youth Theater Lab begins on Monday
- Family movie Fridays -4:30 pm for “G”, 6:30 pm for “PG”
- NYS DEC Canoe Trips on July 16 and September 3, August 19 is adult only
- NYS DEC educational canoe trips (free) gear with be provided on July 30 and August 10 – cal 845-889-4745 extension 106
- Many ongoing programs
- Clermont
- Junior history summer camp – August 3-7. Call 518-537-4240
- Wednesday mornings 9:30am to 11:00 am – Toddler time in the garden
Mayor Griffith announced that the Dutchess County DPW is planning to pave Broadway from the Madalin Bridge to the four corners.
Mayor Griffith spoke about the Dutchess County Water/Wastewater Authority (DCWWA) grant
- Evaluate to consider transfer to the DCWWA
- RFP on BidNet
- Twelve firms came for a mandatory site visit
- Nine bids were received
- Review committee of Mayor Griffith, Trustee Ezrati, Superintendent Simmons and Peter Fadden of the DCWWA formed to review the bids
- Will set up call back interviews
- Review committee will make a recommendation to the Board of Trustees by August 19
- Study will provide an outline of what needs to be done
- The existing system is 77 years old – the study will determine what is actually wrong with the system and the cost to repair it
- DCWWA is a public benefit corporation created by the Dutchess County Legislature in the 1990’s to help water systems that are in trouble. They are a not for profit organization.
Mayor Griffith:
- Tivoli Community Day – August 8, 2:00 pm at Memorial Park
Public comments centered on speeding on Broadway, use of speed wagons in the village, the proposed subdivision on North Road, the road cut on Greentree Rd from last year’s water main break, flooding in Tivoli Acres, soil erosion near the Lothrop Lane bridge, painting the outside of the firehouse, security cameras on the firehouse, boat coverage by the TFD on the Hudson River, one way sign missing on Feroe Avenue, abandoned cars removed from public parking lots, skate ramp in the park, crosswalk in front of Village Hall, and the passing of Local Laws 1,2, and 3-2015.
On a motion by Trustee Schneider and seconded by Trustee Majer, the meeting was adjourned at 8:21 pm, all in favor.
Respectfully submitted,
Linda Gonnella
Village Clerk/Treasurer