New Trustee, Stricter Water Testing, Boards Combined and Meeting Streaming Coming to Greenwood Lake
Chad Sellier was re-elected Village of Greenwood Lake trustee in the March 19 election with 305 votes. John Trazino was newly elected with 288 votes.
By Vera Miller
A change in the Village of Greenwood Lake Board of Trustees resulted from the March 19 election. John Trazino was newly elected, garnering 288 votes. Chad Sellier was re-elected with 305 votes. Nancy Clifford lost her seat with 228 votes. And Kevin McEntyre lost his bid with 262 votes.
Meanwhile, at the Board’s Feb. 21 public hearing, negligible resistance emerged to combining of the Village of Greenwood Lake Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals. Logistics became the discussion focus—how to make the transition and how the process would appear to applicants.
The combined board will have a total of five positions, with two alternates. Five-year appointments will be staggered, so experienced board members will be serving when new members are transitioned onto the board.
Motivation for the change stemmed from the need to first pay professionals to appear at the Planning Board, then pay them again to appear at the Zoning Board of Appeals, and then sometimes for further appearances.
“The new board can continue to function with the existing procedures,” said Brian Nugent, Village of Greenwood Lake attorney. “Resolutions combining the boards only apply to that one issue. The new board can make changes in procedures if and when they are needed. Nothing is permanent. If combining the boards does not work, the combining of the boards can be rescinded and the boards separated again.”
The board appointed in March will have enough time for all required notifications. The combined board will be functioning in April in compliance with the effective date of the resolution, Nugent said.
The items that are still open and that will carry through to the combined board are:
Benjamin Steak House, for which two studies are being done
Traffic Study
Storm Water Plan
Meeting Streaming and Court Peace Officers
Nugent also said that, to be in compliance with state requirements going forward, both public hearings and regular meetings of the trustees should be streamed. Streaming workshops is not required. The order of meetings will be changed to accommodate this. Workshops will come first, followed by public hearings and then the regular meeting.
Also forthcoming is the introduction of “peace officers.” The insurance company that provides the Village’s insurance policy has requested that the Village get permission from the state legislature to have “court officers,” who currently provide security for sessions of the Village Court, be reclassified as “peace officers” under NY State Criminal Procedures Law, Mayor Matt Buckley said. This is a term that carries specific obligations, privileges, and responsibilities as defined by law, including the carrying of firearms, and involves additional training. A public hearing and some time to get authorization for the upgraded classification will be needed. Options were discussed for providing coverage until the reclassification can be approved, including having part time Greenwood Lake police officers provide security for court sessions in the interim.
New Planner and Budgets
The Village Board authorized hiring of a new planner to assist in creating the revamped Comprehensive Plan for the Village, since the person originally authorized was not able to assume the role. An additional $25,000 will be required to cover additional cost for the new planner. Line items for the cost of the planner will appear in the next two budgets.
Buckley also said that May 1 is the deadline for adopting the new budget. Taxes may have to be increased because costs this year, such as fuel and electricity, were higher than budgeted for. The previous budget is normally increased by a set percentage to account for annual inflation. The costs for the past year exceeded the amount allotted for inflation. Two budget workshops were held in March, and another will be held in April.
One public Budget Workshop was held in March, and one or more will be held in April. April 22nd is the last day to close public budget hearings.
Centennial, Water Testing and Water Chestnuts
At the regular Board of Trustees meeting on Feb. 21, in his Water Department report, Water Operator Phil Landru said that new testing criteria for PFAs have become much stricter, and the first test sample under the new guidelines came in slightly above the allowable level. The department was advised that the sample can be easily contaminated if the tester is unfamiliar with the process. Even a tester washing their hands with a particular kind of soap could contaminate the sample.
In a retest to account for potential contamination of the initial sample, the result was in the acceptable range, Landru said. However the Department of Health had to issue a violation on the failure of the initial sample. The matter has been referred to the engineers for follow-up. This is a new procedure for a new contaminant, so the Water Department is learning how this test should be approached. Landru said there is no cause for concern about the safety of the water supply.
Howley also reported on the Lake Commission meeting on Feb. 28. He noted the need for volunteers to harvest water chestnuts and that dredging will be mostly at the south end of the lake.
Citizen of the Year Award went to Colleen and Vincent Hallinan, who were recognized for their years of volunteering for many Village causes and activities, especially activities for youth.
Trustee Tom Howley announced that the cost of beach passes will go up, but old prices are in effect until June 1.
Resolutions approved on Feb. 21 and March 20:
Resolutions 54,55,56 were adopted Feb. 21, authorizing the hiring and rate of pay for three new Village employees.
Resolution 57, on Feb. 21, authorized the mayor to contact a state representative to pursue introduction of a bill to authorize the “court officers” in the Village to be defined as “peace officers” under NY State Criminal Procedure Law.
Resolution 58- A public hearing on March 20 approved adoption of a local law and procedures to authorize videoconferencing at Village meetings.
Resolution 59- At the public meeting on March 20, a local law amending Chapter 23 of the Village Code to improve records access and appeals procedures was adopted.
Resolution 60-At a public hearing on March 20, a law to establish requirements and procedures for the payment of professional fees by land use applicants in the Village was adopted.
Resolution 61 was adopted on Feb. 21, authorizing the mayor to execute an agreement for obtaining planning services for the village in a form to be approved by legal counsel.
Resolution 62 was adopted on Feb. 21, authorizing bid documents for public works services.
Resolution 63 was adopted on Feb. 21, authorizing sealed bids for furnishing refuse removal to Greenwood Lake for one year.
Resolution 64 was adopted on Feb. 21, implementing combination of the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals effective immediately.
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