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VILLAGE OF TIVOLI BOARD OF TRUSTEES
REGULAR BOARD MEETING MINUTES
September 16, 2020
A meeting of the Village Board of Trustees was held on September 16, 2020 at the Historic Watts DePeyster Hall, Tivoli, NY. Mayor Griffith opened the regular meeting at 7:09 PM.
Present: Mayor Griffith, Deputy Mayor Majer, Trustee Ezrati, Trustee Cole, Trustee Schneider
Media: PANDA TV
The Mayor asked all present at the meeting to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.
The Clerk’s report included:
- Sale of 488 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
- Tuesday, September 15, 2020 Village Elections took place, Congratulations to Judge Clark, Deputy Mayor Majer and Trustee Schneider on their re-election; Deputy Mayor Majer received 70 votes, Trustee Schneider received 69 votes, and Judge Clark received 67 votes.
- The Village Clerk’s Office will be closed, Monday, October 12, 2020 in observance of Columbus Day
On a motion by Deputy Mayor Majer, seconded by Trustee Schneider, the August 19 regular meeting minutes were approved, all in favor.
On a motion by Trustee Ezrati, and seconded by Deputy Mayor Majer, the Treasurer’s Report for Abstract #4 totaling $1,268,979.38 was approved. Trustee Cole moved that the bills be paid for the abstract as presented and Trustee Schneider seconded the motion, all in favor.
Zoning Report
A Zoning Report was provided by John Fenton, and read by Trustee Ezrati.
Mayor Griffith summarized the agenda and opened the meeting for public comments on agenda items only; there was no comment.
An amendment was made to the AUD, $16,473.30 which was placed in Fund Balance will be moved to Fire Capital account. On a motion made by Trustee Schneider, seconded by Trustee Ezrati, the AUD was Acceptd with the amendment; all in favor.
On a motion made by Trustee Cole, seconded by Deputy Mayor Majer, the 2020 Justice Court Audit was accepted; all in favor.
RESOLUTION #28; Authorizing the Village of Tivoli to send a letter to the Secretary of State Requesting that the New York State Department of State Assist Tivoli and Other interested communities in creating a regional Hudson River access plan, motion made by Trustee Ezrati, seconded by Deputy Mayor Majer; all in favor. A Thank you was provided to Scenic Hudson.
RESOLUTION #29; Authorizing Adoption of New Records Retention Schedule; motion made by Deputy Mayor Majer, seconded by Trustee Schneider; all in favor.
On a motion made by Deputy Mayor Majer, seconded by Trustee Ezrati, the CDBG Park Improvements Project was awarded to Maeda Construction, Inc.
Trustee Reports:
Trustee Ezrati
Trustee Ezrati spoke about the difficult decision which was made of cancelling Street Painting this year. Drawing people into the Village is not a good idea; many plans had been investigated, for example, virtual to have minimal contact, however, it has been deemed best to cancel the event.
Trustee Ezrati along with John Corcoran, Phyllis Palmer and Peter Walsh have formed the Tivoli Solid Trash Committee. They are exploring issues related to solid waste pickup by the Department of Public Works compared to that of a private hauler; and some good digging has been accomplished as to how residents handle their trash. The Committee will be in contact with businesses to find out how they dispose of trash.. They are not near a resolution, however, once they complete their comparison, they will develop a recommendation for the Village Board.
Trustee Schneider
Court Report: Trustee Schneider read the contents of the report which was provided by Court Clerk McGarry; $00.00 was remitted to the Office of the State Comptroller.
Trustee Cole
Trustee Cole spoke of the Zoom dialogue last Thursday. Residents gave opinions and many ideas come up for discussion. Saturday, September 26 from 3:00-5:00 there will be another discussion. You can go to the Dutchess County website to register to be a part of it. Developing a Police Incident Encounter Form was talked about. The option of forming the Tivoli Community Coalition with new and old residents alike was brought up, with the possibility of these members being appointed by the Mayor. Trustee Cole thanked all of those who have participated with these sessions.
Thanks was put out to the Dutchess County Human Rights Commission, and to the Center for Civic Engagement; and another thank you to all participants.
The General Election is coming up, 5 sites will be open in Dutchess County for early voting. The Dutchess County website can be checked for locations and times. Mayor Griffith chimed in regarding the Village Board registering for the dialogue session.
Trustee Cole mentioned that the 2 hour forum is posted and can be viewed on PANDA.
Trustee Ezrati thanked Mayor Griffith and Trustee Cole for their statement. There was much good discussion along with high diversity of views, and the session did go for a full 2 hours. It was an excellent discussion.
Deputy Mayor Majer
Deputy Mayor Majer spoke about the Tivoli Free Library; definitely check the website for open times and upcoming activities.
Deputy Mayor Majer mentioned the local historic sites, and spoke of the Empire State Trail which is in Tivoli Bays; it is lovely, has some fresh pavement, but be careful of ticks. The canoe launch will be ready in tie for the spring.
Mayor Griffith
Mayor Griffith advised that the Tree Committee will reconvene soon and will be planting 3 trees along Pine Street. The bio-swale grasses have come in well.
The siren on village hall which worked from 1940-2010 has been out of service for 10 years. It is a charming and nostalgic aspect of the village, it is good for public safety as it will go off for structure fires or weather events, as well as go off each and every day at 12:00 Noon.
At the McKnight Well Field, they are x-raying the wells; they will paint the tank on the ground, and in October it will be placed on the legs by a crane. There will be 5,600 feet of water mains replaced between September 28, 2020 and July of 2021 from Woods Road by Elizabeth Drive to Broadway then east on Broadway through the bridge and up to the water tower site. This could be seen as inconvenient for 10 months, however it can provide 50 years of water service. There will be no parking on Broadway on particular days, and residents will be alerted a day before as to when their water service will be disrupted. Mayor Griffith will do his best to answer all questions and get the word out to residents.
Trustee Cole mentioned it is a good time to get on the Village email list in order to receive all alerts and information.
Again, Saturday, September 26, 2020 from 3:00 – 5:00 will be the county conversation regarding police reform.
Public Comment
There was no public comment.
On a motion by Trustee Cole and seconded by Deputy Mayor Majer, the meeting was adjourned at 7:47 PM, all in favor.
Respectfully submitted,
Robin L. Bruno
Village Clerk