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VILLAGE OF TIVOLI BOARD OF TRUSTEES
REGULAR BOARD MEETING MINUTES
July 15, 2020
A meeting of the Village Board of Trustees was held on July 15, 2020 at the Historic Watts DePeyster Hall, Tivoli, NY. Mayor Griffith opened the regular meeting at 7:10 PM.
Present: Mayor Griffith, Deputy Mayor Majer, Trustee Ezrati, Trustee Cole, Trustee Schneider
Media: PANDA TV
Public: None
The Mayor asked all present at the meeting to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.
The Clerk’s report included:
- Sale of 529 trash tags
- Two payrolls were processed
- Deputy Clerk has begun holding Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeal meetings, however does continue to work remotely for the most part
- Village Hall is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 10: AM – 4:00 PM
- Yard Sale Day has been cancelled, along with the Village sponsored Summer Recreation Program
- The temporary firehouse/structure has been taken down and removed; this frees up parking, but most importantly it means our fire department is back “home.” The firehouse looks great, and the new doors are outstanding.
- July has arrived; we wish everyone a safe and happy summer
- Upcoming Elections – Village Elections will take place Tuesday, September 15, 2020; Resolutions this evening reflect the date change, the change in location, along with a change of one of our inspectors.
On a motion by Trustee Ezrati, seconded by Trustee Cole, the May 13 transcription, May 20 transcription, June 17 regular meeting minutes, and the June 24 special meeting minutes were approved, all in favor.
On a motion by Deputy Mayor Majer, and seconded by Trustee Schneider, the Treasurer’s Report for Abstract #2 totaling $69,114.60 was approved. Trustee Schneider moved that the bills be paid for the abstract as presented and Trustee Cole seconded the motion, all in favor.
Zoning Report
A Zoning Report was not provided. Trustee Ezrati added that John Fenton has been very busy.
Mayor Griffith summarized the agenda and opened the meeting for public comments on agenda items only; there was no comment.
RESOLUTION #25; Authorizing Election Inspectors for September 15, 2020 Village Elections; motion made by Trustee Ezrati, seconded by Deputy Mayor Majer; all in favor.
RESOLUTION #26; Authorizing the Tivoli Fire House as the Location for the September 15, 2020 Village Elections, along with the Poll Hours being Open 12:00 PM – 9:00 PM; motion made by Trustee Schneider, seconded by Trustee Cole; all in favor.
Trustee Reports:
Trustee Ezrati
Trustee Ezrati mentioned that in August a Resolution will be up for approval regarding the LOSAP point program. The governor has sent a memo in June regarding the award service and the given points per training, calls made, emergency calls and board meetings. With Covid it may be difficult to reach the 50 points required, so a new statute will be put in place which awards 5 points per month where firefighters could not attain the points due to Covid-19.
Volunteers are together and forming a committee in order to formulate a plan as an alternative to how the village disposes of solid waste. John Corcoran, Phyllis Palmer, Erin Cannan, and Trustee Ezrati make up the committee.
In regards to the listening panel, 70 people were on the call; 1/3 participated. The board is working hard in recognizing the issues. Facebook is not an accurate area to find out what the board is doing. This is a deliberately slow process so they can hear all comments, rumors do go around, no changes are being made in laws/police coverage.
Trustee Schneider
Court Report: Trustee Schneider read the contents of the report which was provided by Court Clerk McGarry; $684.00 was remitted to the Office of the State Comptroller.
Mayor Griffith commented on the amount of speeding tickets.
Trustee Cole
Spoke about the ZRC, and they are on hold due to Covid-19. She is out walking a lot, and sees others out walking, as well. Please if you are out walking, be considerate, and pick up your pets refuse.
She said thank you to all participants in the listening session; they are working through it all, it is an ongoing process; the process has started and she appreciates everyone’s participation.
Deputy Mayor Majer
The Tivoli Free Library is now open. Please support your local library.
The Empire State Trail goes through Tivoli Bays; the beavers have been very industrious; the roads have improved.
The poison ivy is luxuriant, be careful of ticks, and listen for owls, they have been very vocal.
Trustee Ezrati mentioned the chipmunk explosion as of late, and Deputy Mayor Majer agreed, and added again that there have been many owls.
Mayor Griffith
Mayor Griffith confirmed that yard sale day has been cancelled, along with the summer rec camp, as well as Tivoli Community Day. Cancelling these events is sad, but necessary. The August clean-up day is postponed, however, if at all possible, the committee would like to reschedule it.
In regards to the June 27 listening session, he wanted to thank the Duchess County Human Rights Commission. He added that government is not an agile institution. It is set up to be deliberate, and when given time, things can be caught. Also, the social media platform is not the arena to gain your information. The local laws can be viewed in the village code which is on the village website. All contacts for the village board are there, and they will make themselves available. No changes are being made in the code or to the laws, and if you are unaware what is going on, do not seek your information from social media. If you are in need of help, do call the Duchess County Sheriff’s Office at
(845) 486-3800. If you encounter a negative or unpleasant experience, please do advise the board. They can look into it; do not hesitate to reach out.
Trustee Cole added that for the upcoming elections, you are able to obtain an absentee ballot from the Village Clerk.
Mayor Griffith wanted to add before adjourning that with all of these remote meetings, a big thank you should be extended to Danielle Maloney of PANDA for all of her help, Thank You Danielle!
Public Comment
No public comment.
On a motion by Deputy Mayor Majer and seconded by Trustee Schneider, the meeting was adjourned at 7:32 PM, all in favor.
Respectfully submitted,
Robin L. Bruno; Village Clerk