1 1 2 MEETING HELD VIA ZOOM 3 4 TOWN BOARD MEETING 5 of the Town Board of the Town of Newburgh held at 1496 Route 300 in said township 6 at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, the 14th of September 2020 7 8 9 PRESENT Gilbert J. Piaquadio, Supervisor 10 Scott M. Manley, Deputy Supervisor (remote) Elizabeth J. Greene, Councilwoman 11 Paul R. Ruggerio, Councilman (remote) Anthony LoBiondo, Councilman (remote) 12 13 ALSO PRESENT Joseph P. Pedi, Town Clerk 14 Mark C. Taylor, Attorney for the Town (remote) Patrick Hines, McGoey, Hauser & 15 Edsall (remote) 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 REPORTED BY: Michelle L. Conero 23 Court Reporter 3 Francis Street 24 Newburgh, New York 12550 (845)541-4163 25 TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 2 2 MR. PEDI: It is 7 p.m. on Monday, 3 September 14, 2020, and this is a regularly 4 scheduled Town Board meeting of the Town of 5 Newburgh. 6 The first order of business is roll 7 call. Mrs. Greene. 8 MS. GREENE: I'm here. 9 MR. PEDI: Mr. Ruggiero. 10 MR. RUGGIERO: Present. 11 MR. PEDI: Mr. Manley. Mr. Manley. 12 MR. MANLEY: I just got unmuted. Here. 13 MR. PEDI: Okay. Mr. LoBiondo. 14 MR. LOBIONDO: Here. 15 MR. PEDI: And Mr. Piaquadio. 16 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Here. 17 MR. PEDI: If everybody would please 18 stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and a Moment 19 of Silence. 20 (Pledge of Allegiance and Moment of 21 Silence.) 22 MR. PEDI: Thank you. 23 Mr. Supervisor, any changes to the 24 agenda? Mr. Supervisor, any changes to the 25 agenda? TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 3 2 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: I have no 3 changes. 4 MR. PEDI: Next we will go to the 5 approval of the audit, item 5. 6 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: I'm looking for 7 a motion to approve this audit in the amount of 8 $1,949,231.50. 9 MR. MANLEY: I'll make that motion. 10 MR. RUGGIERO: I'll second it. 11 MR. PEDI: Motion made and seconded. 12 Any discussion, please? 13 (No response.) 14 MR. PEDI: Mrs. Greene? 15 MS. GREENE: Abstain. 16 MR. PEDI: Mr. Ruggiero? 17 MR. RUGGIERO: Yes. 18 MR. PEDI: Mr. Manley? 19 MR. MANLEY: Yes. 20 MR. PEDI: Mr. LoBiondo? 21 MR. LOBIONDO: Yes. 22 MR. PEDI: And Mr. Piaquadio? 23 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Yes. 24 MR. PEDI: Next we go on to item 6. 25 It's a public hearing for introductory Local Law TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 4 2 4 of 2020, rezone property located at Fifth 3 Avenue and Route 52 for Gas Land. 4 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Mr. Pedi, has 5 this public hearing been properly advertised? 6 MR. PEDI: Mr. Supervisor, notice of 7 this meeting had been posted on the Town website 8 since August 26, 2020 and in Town Hall also on 9 August 26, 2020. It was advertised in The Mid- 10 Hudson Times on September 2, 2020 and in The 11 Orange County Post on September 4, 2020. In 12 addition, copies of the notice of public hearing 13 and the introductory local law were mailed to the 14 clerks of the municipalities bordering the Town 15 in Orange, Dutchess and Ulster Counties and the 16 county clerks of those counties. This complies 17 with all the requirements for a public hearing 18 under New York State Law. 19 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: All right. So we 20 met all the requirements. Does someone want to 21 make a motion to open this public hearing? 22 MS. GREENE: So moved. 23 MR. MANLEY: I'll second. 24 MR. PEDI: Motion made and seconded to 25 open this public hearing at 7:01 p.m. Mrs. TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 5 2 Greene? 3 MS. GREENE: Yes. 4 MR. PEDI: Mr. Ruggiero? 5 MR. RUGGIERO: Yes. 6 MR. PEDI: Mr. Manley? 7 MR. MANLEY: Yes. 8 MR. PEDI: Mr. LoBiondo? 9 MR. LOBIONDO: Yes. 10 MR. PEDI: And Mr. Piaquadio? 11 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Yes. 12 So with that, I'd like to turn it over. 13 I think Nick with Gas Land will give a small 14 presentation for purposes of this public hearing. 15 Could we unmute Nick? 16 Nick, are you out there? 17 MR. WARD-WILLIS: Yes. Thank you. I was 18 just waiting to be unmuted. I am unmuted. 19 Good evening, Mr. Supervisor, Members 20 of the Board and Public. 21 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Good evening to 22 you. 23 MR. WARD-WILLIS: Good evening. I'm 24 Nicholas Ward-Willis with the firm Keane & Beane 25 on behalf of Gas Land Petroleum. I appear before TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 6 2 you tonight in support of the petition that Gas 3 Land filed requesting rezoning of its gas station 4 property that it owns at the intersection of 5 Fifth Avenue and South Plank Road. We've 6 requested that the property be rezoned from its 7 current R-3 residential district to the adjacent 8 B zoning district. 9 In support of our petition we submitted 10 an environmental assessment form as well as a 11 narrative describing the rationale why we're 12 making this request. The genesis of this request 13 came because my client wanted to make changes to 14 the gas station. We wish to do certain upgrades 15 that I'll describe in a moment. We submitted an 16 application to the Planning Board, and when we 17 got to the Planning Board we were told because we 18 are a nonconforming use, that we would not be 19 permitted to proceed unless we got a use 20 variance, which is a difficult criteria to meet. 21 The improvements we wanted to make were 22 to internalize the restrooms. Right now, as you 23 may know, the restrooms are accessed from outside 24 and not inside the building. That's difficult for 25 us to enforce and police. It encourages loitering TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 7 2 and other activities that we wish to discourage. 3 We also saw an opportunity to freshen 4 up this station and improve the building facade. 5 My client went to the expense of retaining an 6 engineer, an architect to prepare plans and 7 submit that to the Planning Board. 8 We see this as an opportunity. We 9 recognize there are some quality of life issues 10 in the neighborhood that we can improve upon, but 11 we need the Town's help in doing that. We thought 12 the best way to proceed, rather than applying for 13 a use variance, which, quite frankly, as a 14 municipal attorney I wouldn't recommend it. We 15 don't meet the criteria. We thought the best 16 thing to do was to recognize that the existing 17 zoning of residential doesn't work on this 18 property, that this property is not going to be 19 turned into a residential use. It will be a 20 commercial use. It being restricted to 21 residential use has some difficulties with 22 improving and investing in the property. 23 So we've made this application and the 24 Town prepared a local law. That's the subject of 25 tonight's hearing. So we recognize that the TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 8 2 property right now is a nonconforming use as is 3 set forth in our supporting materials. There are 4 a number of commercial uses and commercial 5 districts adjoining our property, so it's a 6 logical extension. 7 My client today also met, as you know 8 Mr. Supervisor, with some of the residents today 9 to listen to their concerns. We heard the same 10 concerns from them that we've expressed, that 11 there are quality of life uses. Increase of 12 landscaping, increase -- bring the policing of 13 the property better. We think the changes that we 14 had proposed to the Planning Board, which if this 15 law is enacted and the property is rezoned, we 16 would then be committed to act upon those 17 improvements, and we are prepared to do so 18 because we were before the Board and went through 19 the expense of preparing these plans. 20 When my client who spoke with Bob, who 21 lives behind it, who I understand is not able to 22 join the meeting but expressed some concerns 23 about the fencing and landscaping, and again the 24 main issue being the bathrooms not being located 25 inside, that we would be able to address those TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 9 2 concerns. 3 There's also another gentleman, Danny, 4 who had some concerns about the traffic 5 circulation, which again we would be able to 6 address. 7 Unfortunately there were some less and 8 kind comments made from another resident, which 9 were unfortunate but I don't think have any 10 bearing on the application, that I'm going to 11 ignore. 12 Generally we think that the building's 13 rezone of this property would be an improvement 14 to the area and allow this property to be 15 freshened up, if you will. 16 We're open to answering any questions 17 of the Board. 18 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Very good, Nick. 19 What I want to do; Bobby, can you put 20 up that PDF map so we can see where the property 21 is? 22 It's surrounded by businesses. There's 23 a circle and an X. That is actually the property 24 right there. 25 MR. WARD-WILLIS: That is correct. TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 10 2 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Correct, Nick? 3 MR. WARD-WILLIS: That is correct, Mr. 4 Supervisor. The red and the pink are the other 5 industrial districts. We're a couple of hundred 6 feet off of Interstate 84 and the exchange. 7 People are familiar with the property. There are 8 commercial uses adjacent to our property as well 9 as immediately within the vicinity. The property 10 is currently zoned R-3 but it borders the B 11 Zoning District as well as the IB District across 12 the way. 13 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Okay. If that's 14 it with your presentation, I guess we'll go to 15 questions. 16 MR. WARD-WILLIS: It is, Mr. 17 Supervisor. Thank you. 18 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: I'm going to ask 19 first that Town Clerk Pedi, I think you had a 20 couple of written comments come in. 21 MR. PEDI: Correct. I had two comments, 22 one from Robert and Mildred Soukup of Fifth 23 Avenue who shared their concerns, including 24 access to the back of the property, barbecue 25 tanks visible, litter that blows from the TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 11 2 dumpster that is never closed, and drainage 3 issues at the property line they would share with 4 Gas Land. 5 My next issue -- my next comment came 6 from Mr. Dane Clark of Fifth Avenue who does not 7 want any construction at this site because he 8 feels, based on observation, that the gas station 9 and 24-hour market is a constant source of 10 disruption in the neighborhood. 11 Those were the two comments I received 12 via e-mail. 13 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Very good. Thank 14 you, Joseph. 15 So with that, we'll open that to the 16 public. Whoever wants to speak on this topic is 17 welcome at this time. 18 Can you see who is out there, Bob, that 19 might want to speak? 20 MR. MANLEY: Gil, a quick question. 21 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Yes. 22 MR. MANLEY: I see the client is also 23 on here. Do we ask him if he wants to say 24 something first or -- 25 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Okay. TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 12 2 MR. MANLEY: Zeidan from Gas Land. 3 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Can you unmute 4 him, Bob? 5 So if the applicant himself wants to 6 say something, now is the time. 7 MR. ZEIDAN NESHEIWAT: Mr. Supervisor 8 and the Board, thank you for listening to our 9 concerns. We're here to work with the residents 10 and to get the property cleaned and at least 11 family friendly. We have no problem working with 12 the reasonable residents and with the Town. 13 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: All right. Very 14 good. Thank you. 15 So with that, we will open it to the 16 public. Who do you have, Bob, that might want 17 to -- 18 MR. ROBERT PIAQUADIO: We have someone 19 6M1KO1. 20 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: It starts with 21 6M1. Can you unmute them and see if they want to 22 comment on this? 23 All right. 6M1, wherever you are, do 24 you want to comment on this public hearing or are 25 you just listening? TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 13 2 MR. ROBERT PIAQUADIO: They're muted. 3 Bill Fetter. 4 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Bill Fetter is 5 there. Bill, do you have a comment? 6 (No response.) 7 MR. ROBERT PIAQUADIO: Karen LoBrutto. 8 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Karen LoBrutto 9 is one. 10 MR. FETTER: No comment. Thank you. I 11 appreciate it. 12 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Okay. There's 13 Karen also. Does Karen have a comment? 14 MS. LOBRUTTO: I'm here also 15 representing the applicant. Thank you. 16 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Thank you, 17 Karen. 18 What about Charles Ford? Does he have 19 anything to say? He's muted. Charles, you're 20 muted. You're there now. 21 MR. FORD: I have no comment. 22 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: All right. Thank 23 you. 24 Who else do we have, Bobby? Anyone? 25 MR. ROBERT PIAQUADIO: Carl. TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 14 2 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Carl Kaola. If 3 you're there, if you'd unmute yourself, we'll 4 hear you. 5 (No response.) 6 MR. ROBERT PIAQUADIO: Dane Clark. 7 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Clark. 8 DR. CLARK: Hi. Hello. 9 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Hello. Is this 10 Clark? 11 DR. CLARK: Hi, Supervisor. How are 12 you? 13 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Very good, thank 14 you. Did you have something to say on this public 15 hearing? 16 DR. CLARK: My name is Dr. Clark. I 17 approached -- I saw the applicant today and the 18 conversation degenerated rather quickly into a 19 back and forth, a belligerent type thing, on both 20 our parts. 21 My major concern is, as I've stated 22 before, there is constant turmoil over at this 23 place. I've witnessed -- while I'm here doing 24 paperwork at night I've witnessed assaults. The 25 actual -- the worker within the store has been TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 15 2 beaten a number of times. There's been robberies 3 here. There's been all those type of things, and 4 it all goes on after 10 p.m. I'm not opposed to 5 having a store operate here, a family-friendly 6 one. 7 As the owner has indicated, or as his 8 attorney has indicated, there is a definite 9 problem with being able to police the exterior 10 access bathrooms, which are not actually up and 11 running half the time. I've had a number of times 12 where people have been urinating on my property, 13 on the neighbor's property. This goes on all 14 hours of the night. On weekends when we have 15 travelers through here, as you know we're close 16 to the interstate and we'll have travelers from 17 out of state, because you get to see their 18 license plates, and they've actually come over to 19 ask to use my bathroom. So the fact that they're 20 willing to have interior bathrooms is a plus. 21 Unfortunately when I've had to call 22 on the Town Police for the various disturbances 23 there, you know, in the wee hours of the morning 24 let's say, they never are able to show up on 25 time. TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 16 2 So one of the other neighbors here 3 today brought up a thing where that store was 4 originally supposed to only operate until 10 5 p.m., and that was an agreement with the Town. I 6 don't know. I would need some time to go back 7 through the archives and see when that was done. 8 There was a previous resident on my street that 9 has since passed away who led that fight a number 10 of years ago before I was even a landowner here. 11 So like I said, my primary concern is 12 -- I did get a chance to glimpse at the plans of 13 the building, the facade. I must admit it's very 14 attractive. But I'm concerned with the after-hour 15 activity. That's it. 16 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Are you still 17 there, Doctor? 18 DR. CLARK: I think so. 19 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: All right. 20 DR. CLARK: I would like to know how I 21 would go about finding that ordinance, or 22 whatever it was, with the curfew of when the 23 store could operate there. 24 As I'm sure you know, the Meadow Hill 25 Road store does close, I believe it's either 10 TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 17 2 p.m. or midnight. The other gas station with the 3 convenience store. 4 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: You would put in 5 a FOIL request, Freedom of Information, to the 6 Town Clerk. Tell them what you're looking for. If 7 there is such a document, he will attempt to find 8 it. If he can't find it, he'll tell you no 9 document exists. That would be it probably, to 10 place a FOIL document with the Town. 11 DR. CLARK: I understand. 12 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Thank you. Do 13 you have anything else, Doctor? Should we go to 14 someone else? 15 DR. CLARK: I had a bunch of 16 documentation written down. I can't find it. 17 Will there be any subsequent meetings? 18 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Here's what you 19 get. Because this is a Zoom meeting, when we 20 close the public hearing tonight you will still 21 have ten days -- after the transcript is posted 22 at Town Hall, you'll still have another ten days 23 after that. So you have time to find it and send 24 it in. 25 DR. CLARK: Thank you. That's more than TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 18 2 enough time. Thank you very much. 3 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: All right. Thank 4 you. 5 So with that, who else do we have? We 6 have Donette. I don't know if she wants to talk 7 on this subject. Could we unmute her? 8 Nothing on this? 9 MS. SMITH: Nothing on this. Thank you. 10 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Thank you. 11 Then we've got Joyce Crossley. Nothing 12 on this, Joyce? 13 (No response.) 14 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Okay. 15 MR. MANLEY: Scott Manley here. You 16 have a landowner right behind there trying to get 17 in. Eric Indzonka. 18 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Do you find him 19 up there, Bobby? 20 Eric, if you're there, we'll listen to 21 you. If you'd unmute yourself. 22 Is he muted, Bob? 23 MR. MANLEY: He's unmuted now. 24 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Now he's 25 unmuted. Okay. Go ahead. TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 19 2 MR. INDZONKA: My family has owned the 3 property next door to this gas station for fifty 4 years. Despite the sugarcoating that the attorney 5 put on to this by calling it a family-friendly 6 place, I think that once they get what they want, 7 then the behavior that has been -- that I've 8 experienced personally from the owner of this 9 establishment will revert just to that. I have 10 contacted him through numerous sources. I've left 11 my number with his employees. He has never 12 contacted me about any of the complaints I have 13 about the property. 14 I don't know Mr. Clark at all. He lives 15 across the street. But I have to say that I am 16 sympathetic to his situation because I have a 17 professional office building with an apartment 18 upstairs. Any time of the day I see people 19 urinating, defecating behind this building. I 20 asked the person inside why it is that you do not 21 open the bathrooms, and he told me because bad 22 people go in there we don't do that. 23 Historically, and this is going back 24 twenty, thirty years, this has been a hotspot for 25 drug activity. I used to live in the apartment TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 20 2 and the pay phone was used, at that time when pay 3 phones were around, for drug purchases. 4 I've seen people passed out in their 5 vehicles in the parking lot. There's been fights. 6 Like he said, there's been numerous situations. 7 For him to say he's going to make this 8 family friendly by making interior bathrooms and 9 improving the exterior is a fraud. 10 Garbage blows onto my lawn. There's a 11 tree growing in the garbage bin. The doors swing 12 open. I've seen it striking cars. 13 He's a negligent property owner. The 14 whole rear of the building is decaying. It's an 15 eyesore to the community. And now he wants to say 16 we're going to make it family friendly. What he 17 really wants is this commercial thing so he can 18 do what he wants instead of making it fit into 19 the region that he is. 20 To say that it is adjacent or 21 contiguous to the commercial zone, it's not. 22 There are actually residential properties between 23 him and the commercial zone. So it is a -- he 24 will then be -- he's now a nonconforming use. He 25 will also then, as a commercial property in a TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 21 2 residential area, be a nonconforming use, which 3 the property owners, we all have to pay the price 4 of that one way or the other. 5 There's no septic that I know of. I'm 6 not sure. There's no gas. 7 I'm not sure how the trucks access 8 that, other than through my property, because he 9 is putting a fence up along the other road. His 10 people that drive through there -- I've had to 11 put tree stumps between the property to prevent 12 people from driving across his lawn onto mine to 13 gain exit from there because of the traffic that 14 goes through there. It's a high traffic area, 15 especially now at rush hour and certain times. 16 People can not exit or entrance there. Yet he 17 wants to build a larger business than already 18 exists. 19 Why would the Town consider, on a 20 little island in a residential area, allowing him 21 to build a larger business which will cause more 22 congestion and traffic? I don't understand that 23 at all, especially when neighbors have concerns. 24 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: All right. 25 Again, this is a public hearing where we gather TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 22 2 information. 3 I think the attorney wants to speak. Is 4 that right, Bobby? Go ahead. 5 MR. WARD-WILLIS: Thank you, Mr. 6 Supervisor. I just want to respond to the 7 comments. Look, I can't speak for the past. 8 There is a difference between the property owner 9 and the operator. This presents us with an 10 opportunity. We see an opportunity. We're 11 willingly and voluntarily coming to the Town, 12 investing the time and the plans and the money. 13 Some of the comments we're hearing from 14 the adjacent property owners, which I'm not 15 minimizing, they are valid and we actually want 16 to address them and respond to them. 17 We think the granting of this rezoning 18 actually allows us to address some of those and 19 correct these issues. To internalize it we need 20 to increase the store size. The expansion we 21 proposed before the Planning Board was modest, 22 and the conditions the gentlemen have spoken 23 about would all be addressed during the site plan 24 review process to ensure that there is adequate 25 screening, traffic flow and traffic circulation TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 23 2 concerns are addressed. 3 So I don't think the rezoning is going 4 to be a problem. I think the rezoning is going to 5 help fix the problems and then we can address and 6 dive into the details when we're before the 7 Planning Board. We are mindful of the comments. 8 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Very good. 9 Thank you. 10 Does anyone else want to comment on 11 this topic, on this public hearing? 12 (No response.) 13 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Hearing none, 14 how about the Board Members. Betty, do you have 15 any comment? 16 MS. GREENE: I'd like to know how long 17 the current owner has been in possession of the 18 property? 19 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Can somebody 20 answer that? The attorney, Nick, or someone? 21 MR. ZEIDAN NESHEIWAT: Eighteen years. 22 MS. GREENE: Eighteen years. And I 23 don't mean to be rude, but during these last say 24 five years, he has not noticed any of these items 25 that his neighbors have brought to the attention TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 24 2 tonight? 3 MR. ZEIDAN NESHEIWAT: The only time we 4 spoke with Eric is when he was trying to force us 5 to buy his property. We've never spoken about the 6 conditions. And he's actually encroaching onto 7 our property. 8 But we do know that the place needs 9 work. We have a lousy operator who he's on his 10 way out. Since he's on his way out, we want to 11 take it over, operate it the correct way, and 12 turn it into a state-of-the-art location. 13 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Betty, do you 14 have anything further? 15 MS. GREENE: No. That's it. 16 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Okay. With 17 that; Paul, anything? 18 MR. RUGGIERO: Yeah. I've got a few 19 things. 20 First, is there a dumpster enclosure 21 incorporated in this when they do remodel it? 22 MR. MANLEY: Yes. 23 MR. RUGGIERO: There is a dumpster 24 enclosure? 25 MR. MANLEY: There's one now and it's TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 25 2 not very nice. The new plan definitely shows a 3 much nicer one. 4 MR. RUGGIERO: Okay. Secondly, would 5 the applicant be interested in closing at 10:00 6 instead of being a 24-hour? 7 MR. ZEIDAN NESHEIWAT: No. 8 MR. WARD-WILLIS: This is the attorney 9 responding. I would think that we would want to 10 be treated as other gas station applicants and be 11 entitled to take the benefits of the law as it 12 allows us. I think the answer to that would be 13 no. 14 MS. GREENE: I think a lot of gas 15 stations, you have some that close at midnight, 16 some at 10:00. I think somewhat you can't say 17 carte blanche across the board that everyone has 18 the right to be open for 24 hours. You have to 19 see what works for them. 20 MR. MITCH NESHEIWAT: Hello. My name 21 is Mitch Nesheiwat. I'm the president of Gas 22 Land. 23 The gas stations -- the Shell gas 24 station is open 24 hours up the road and the 25 Valero is open 24 hours. I'm half a mile away TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 26 2 from the State -- 84, and there's a sign on 84. 3 By law -- the State, they want us to open 24 4 hours. We're open 24 hours. For the past 5 thirty-five years I've owned the property we've 6 been open 24 hours. There's never one time we 7 closed at 10:00. I bought that location from 8 Northville. It used to be Northville gas 9 station. Once Citgo. Once Shell. All those 10 years. 11 The person that suggested the property 12 to me, trying to sell the property to me, and 13 he's encroaching on this driveway, the blacktop 14 on my property. His tenant, the dentist, wants 15 to move. 16 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: I think we have 17 to keep this -- we have to keep this on the topic 18 of the zoning change, not neighbor disputes. 19 Let's keep it to the topic. 20 So with that, who do we have out there? 21 MR. RUGGIERO: I just have one more 22 thing, Gil. 23 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Okay, Paul. 24 MR. RUGGIERO: Are they going to have a 25 Dunkin Donuts, a Subway incorporated in this TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 27 2 store at all or no? 3 MR. MITCH NESHEIWAT: Absolutely not. 4 The whole purpose of the rezoning, I'm trying to 5 bring it -- to build a very modern and very 6 conformance, decent convenience store with two 7 bathrooms inside, because we get a lot of traffic 8 off the highway, so we can know who is in there 9 so nobody can hangout around the building. 10 MR. RUGGIERO: Do you have cameras at 11 the building now? 12 MR. MITCH NESHEIWAT: What it is? 13 MR. RUGGIERO: Do you have cameras 14 around the building now? If not, are you going 15 to invest in cameras around the building? 16 MR. MITCH NESHEIWAT: We will invest in 17 cameras around the building. I was talking to the 18 adjacent property, the person directly behind us, 19 Bob. We're willing to put lights that flash on 20 if somebody is walking. Sensor lights so the 21 lights will go on. We do have cameras. We will 22 barricade all the backyard. 23 This property is on Town water and Town 24 sewer. It's not a septic. Just for the record. 25 MR. RUGGIERO: That's all I have, Gil. TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 28 2 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Thank you. 3 So with that; Scott, do you have 4 anything? Scott Manley? 5 MR. MANLEY: No. I hear different 6 things from residents. I definitely understand 7 the concerns. If we don't do anything, the place 8 stays the same from the sounds of it. 9 As far as the zoning change -- let me 10 step back. Everybody is talking about these 11 people operating, who owns it. I don't know if 12 the representative is still on there. Just to 13 get it straight, the people that are in there now 14 running it are not the actual owners. They're 15 basically tenants. 16 MR. MITCH NESHEIWAT: They're our 17 tenants. There's nothing in my hand. I can not 18 evict them. The tenant, he has a lease. 19 Especially right now, I can't even go to court. 20 MR. MANLEY: Right. 21 MR. MITCH NESHEIWAT: And he's still in 22 violation. The dumpster is there, it's not good 23 enough, but I brought that on my own expense. I 24 wasn't responsible. Just to please the dentist. 25 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: With that; Eric, TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 29 2 I know you want to speak a second time. Just hold 3 on. I want to finish the Council first. 4 I'm going to ask Councilman LoBiondo if 5 he has anything to add to this? I think you're 6 muted, though, Anthony. 7 MR. LOBIONDO: Yes. I'm not muted now. 8 Sir, I'm just asking -- I have a 9 question regarding the length of the lease. Do 10 you know when the lease expires with your tenant? 11 MR. MITCH NESHEIWAT: The end of `23. 12 He has like two years and a couple months. 13 MR. LOBIONDO: Have you sent him any 14 notices of violation regarding some of the issues 15 that have been raised tonight? 16 MR. MITCH NESHEIWAT: We sent him a 17 violation, yes. We speak to him, yes. 18 MR. ZEIDAN NESHEIWAT: There's so much 19 we can do. 20 MR. MITCH NESHEIWAT: There's so much 21 we can do. In this industry, you know, there's 22 only so much you can do. We have the location 23 and -- 24 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Anything else, 25 Anthony? TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 30 2 MR. LOBIONDO: No. Nothing further. 3 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: All right. 4 Thank you. 5 We have Mr. Indzonka. Indzonka has a 6 question I think. And then we'll get to you, 7 Betty. 8 MS. GREENE: Okay. 9 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Indzonka, can 10 you unmute? 11 MR. ROBERT PIAQUADIO: He's unmuted. 12 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: He's unmuted. 13 MR. INDZONKA: I'm unmuted? 14 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Yes. 15 MR. INDZONKA: Well I think what I've 16 just discovered is Mr. Nesheiwat and his attorney 17 are willing to say anything to get this passed. 18 For them to represent that I tried to force them 19 to buy my property is a complete fraud. 20 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: We're going to 21 strike that from the record. Like I said, that's 22 a neighbor thing. That's not the purpose of this 23 hearing. 24 MR. INDZONKA: He said that on the 25 record, Gil. He said it on the record. TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 31 2 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: So you can say 3 it on the record what your side is. We can't go 4 on all night over neighbor disputes. 5 MR. INDZONKA: Okay. Well I'm not 6 saying -- just these petty differences that 7 they're saying now would indicate to me that 8 they're not being honest about their intent. 9 Eighteen years this man has owned this property. 10 He doesn't tell you when the lease of the current 11 owner or lessee is extended or when it started. 12 So he's the guardian of this property and he's 13 been neglecting it for eighteen years. So I think 14 the Council should consider the fact that he just 15 wants to change it at this point in time. He 16 wants to defame his neighbors or represent things 17 and then he'll do what he wants to do and he'll 18 have the zoning. So I think the Council really 19 has to consider the taxpayers of that community 20 and the effect this is having. I can tell you 21 from personal experience that you just heard two 22 misrepresentations from two individuals that are 23 asking for something from this community and are 24 coming from outside this community, not people 25 who have been here for decades. TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 32 2 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Anyone else on 3 this topic? 4 (No response.) 5 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Anyone else out 6 there, Bobby? Hands up. You don't see anything. 7 (No response.) 8 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Okay. My last 9 comment is this, because I get one too. I think 10 without the zoning change, what you see is what 11 you get. I don't think there's any chance of 12 improving what's there. That's what's in my mind. 13 MS. GREENE: Don't forget me. 14 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Betty, you had 15 something. Go ahead. 16 MS. GREENE: Yes. You said that the 17 person who is leasing it, the lease is not up 18 until 2023. Now if you make these changes, what 19 guarantee do you have that the person who is 20 still going to be leasing it is going to live up 21 to the changes and make the changes that you're 22 indicating here? How frequently are you going to 23 inspect it? What's the criteria that is going to 24 make this person clean up their act? 25 MR. MITCH NESHEIWAT: I got to put TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 33 2 $1,000,000 into the building and keep the same 3 guy who is hostile to me as much as he's hostile 4 to the neighbor. He's bad for my business as much 5 as he's bad to the neighbors. It doesn't benefit 6 Gas Land. Okay. 7 I built other locations in the Town and 8 I got block on Homewood Avenue. The Town give me 9 a block on Homewood. We run good operations. I 10 inherited and I got bad tenants. Nothing I can 11 do, okay. I went in front of the Planning Board 12 more than once to renovate this building just to 13 tell the neighbors I'm not going to succeed. One 14 time it was when I turned it into Dunkin Donuts. 15 I did renovate it ten years ago with the stucco, 16 put the dumpster, we put the fence. I'm trying. 17 The zoning -- I have my hands tied because of the 18 zoning. Nothing I can do. 19 MS. GREENE: Okay. But you really have 20 not answered my question. What steps are you 21 going to take to have your person who is leasing 22 the property work with you to make it a better 23 place? 24 MR. MITCH NESHEIWAT: By the time I get 25 the zoning from the Planning Board it will be a TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 34 2 year or a little more than a year will be gone. 3 So if I knock that building down, I'm redoing the 4 building. The tenants will not be there any 5 more. I'm not going to invest the money and keep 6 the same tenants and keep the same headache to me 7 and to the neighbors. 8 MS. GREENE: Thank you. 9 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: All right. With 10 that, is there anyone else before we close this 11 hearing? 12 (No response.) 13 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Does someone 14 want to make a motion to close this hearing? 15 MS. GREENE: So moved. 16 MR. MANLEY: I'll second it. 17 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Knowing that we 18 have ten days following the posting at Town Hall 19 of this transcript to still accept comments. 20 I guess we're ready for the vote, Joe. 21 MR. PEDI: Right. Motion made and 22 seconded to close the public hearing at 7:31 p.m. 23 Mrs. Greene? 24 MS. GREENE: Yes. 25 MR. PEDI: Mr. Ruggiero? TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 35 2 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Paul is muted. 3 He's still muted. 4 MR. RUGGIERO: Yes. 5 MR. PEDI: Thank you. 6 Mr. Manley? 7 MR. MANLEY: Yes. 8 MR. PEDI: Mr. LoBiondo? 9 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: He's muted. 10 MR. LOBIONDO: Yes. 11 MR. PEDI: Thank you. 12 And Mr. Piaquadio? 13 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Yes. 14 MR. PEDI: Next we go on to item 7 for 15 the Justice Court, approval of court clerk 16 appointment. 17 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: So Justice 18 Clarino is looking to hire a court clerk. Again, 19 this is a tested a position off the County list. 20 Brittany Meeker for an hourly rate of $19.49, 21 it's in the fund appropriation 1110.0100, with a 22 start date of September 15th based on the 23 background check and everything. 24 Does someone want to make that motion? 25 MR. RUGGIERO: I'll make the motion. TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 36 2 MS. GREENE: I'll second your motion. 3 MR. PEDI: Any discussion, please? 4 (No response.) 5 MR. PEDI: Mrs. Greene? 6 MS. GREENE: Yes. 7 MR. PEDI: Mr. Ruggiero? 8 MR. RUGGIERO: Yes. 9 MR. PEDI: Mr. Manley? 10 MR. MANLEY: Yes. 11 MR. PEDI: Mr. LoBiondo? 12 MR. LOBIONDO: Yes. 13 MR. PEDI: And Mr. Piaquadio? 14 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Yes. 15 MR. PEDI: Next we go on to item 8 for 16 the Recreation Department, approval to start 17 process to hire a part-time laborer. 18 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Jim Presutti, 19 our Parks Commissioner, is requesting the process 20 to start to hire a part-time laborer in 21 Recreation. That's to fill a position of Fred 22 Zuniga who has left. 23 Does someone want to make that motion? 24 MS. GREENE: So moved. 25 MR. LOBIONDO: I'll second it. TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 37 2 MR. PEDI: Any discussion? 3 (No response.) 4 MR. PEDI: Mrs. Greene? 5 MS. GREENE: Yes. 6 MR. PEDI: Mr. Ruggiero? 7 MR. RUGGIERO: Yes. 8 MR. PEDI: Mr. Manley? 9 MR. MANLEY: Yes. 10 MR. PEDI: Mr. LoBiondo? 11 MR. LOBIONDO: Yes. 12 MR. PEDI: And Mr. Piaquadio? 13 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Yes. 14 MR. PEDI: Next we go on to item 9 for 15 the Filter Plant for a budget transfer. 16 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: This is my Water 17 Superintendent, Jeff Guido, who is requesting a 18 budget transfer as presented. Basically he's 19 moving money from the New York City Water Board 20 to sludge hauling and chemicals because we've 21 used Chadwick more than the New York City water 22 for the last few months. 23 Does someone want to make a motion for 24 the transfers as presented? 25 MR. RUGGIERO: I'll make the motion as TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 38 2 presented. 3 MR. MANLEY: I'll second as presented. 4 MR. PEDI: Any discussion? 5 (No response.) 6 MR. PEDI: Mrs. Greene? 7 MS. GREENE: Yes. 8 MR. PEDI: Mr. Ruggiero? 9 MR. RUGGIERO: Yes. 10 MR. PEDI: Mr. Manley? 11 MR. MANLEY: Yes. 12 MR. PEDI: Mr. LoBiondo? 13 MR. LOBIONDO: Yes. 14 MR. PEDI: Mr. Piaquadio? 15 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Yes. 16 MR. PEDI: Next we go on to item 10 for 17 Data Processing, surplus computers. 18 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: These computers, 19 there's twenty-four that we're going to declare 20 surplus here. They have the very old processors 21 and are just about useless to the Town. 22 I'm looking for a motion to declare 23 these twenty-four Dell computers surplus. 24 MS. GREENE: So moved. 25 MR. LOBIONDO: I'll second it. TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 39 2 MR. PEDI: Any further discussion? 3 (No response.) 4 MR. PEDI: Mrs. Greene? 5 MS. GREENE: Yes. 6 MR. PEDI: Mr. Ruggiero? 7 MR. RUGGIERO: Yes. 8 MR. PEDI: Mr. Manley? 9 MR. MANLEY: Yes. 10 MR. PEDI: Mr. LoBiondo? 11 MR. LOBIONDO: Yes. 12 MR. PEDI: Mr. Piaquadio? 13 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Yes. 14 MR. PEDI: Next we go on to item 11 for 15 the assessor. The first item B is tax settlement 16 for the DiBrizzi Exemption Trust. 17 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: All right. I 18 don't know if you've had a chance to look this 19 over. Hopefully you have. We're going to approve 20 this settlement tonight. 21 Betty, have you looked at it? 22 MS. GREENE: Yes, I have. 23 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: You're okay with 24 it? 25 MS. GREENE: Yes. TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 40 2 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Does someone 3 want to make a motion to approve this settlement 4 as presented here? 5 How much money really is it for the 6 Town, Betty, on the refund? 7 Is Mark Taylor out there? 8 Can we unmute Mark? 9 MR. MANLEY: It's like 7,170 for Town, 10 4,117 for Highway. 11 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Okay. Mark, are 12 you out there? 13 Is he muted? 14 MR. TAYLOR: Can you hear me now? 15 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: We can hear you 16 well, Mark. 17 MR. TAYLOR: Good. The refund liability 18 for the Town and Highway will be approximately 19 $6,000. A little under $6,000. 20 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Okay. And this 21 settlement, Kathy Drobne, our certiorari 22 attorney, is recommending it at this point. 23 Does someone want to make a motion to 24 approve this settlement? 25 MS. GREENE: So moved. TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 41 2 MR. MANLEY: I'll second it. 3 MR. PEDI: Motion made and seconded. 4 Any discussion? 5 (No response.) 6 MR. PEDI: Mrs. Greene? 7 MS. GREENE: Yes. 8 MR. PEDI: Mr. Ruggiero? 9 MR. RUGGIERO: Yes. 10 MR. PEDI: Mr. Manley? 11 MR. MANLEY: Yes. 12 MR. PEDI: Mr. LoBiondo? 13 MR. LOBIONDO: Yes. 14 MR. PEDI: And Mr. Piaquadio? 15 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Yes. 16 The next one is Upstate Electronics, 17 which is 11-B. This is another settlement. 18 I always ask Betty because she's really 19 into this receiver assessment thing. Are you okay 20 there, Betty? 21 MS. GREENE: I'm not thrilled but I'll 22 go along with it because it is four to five years 23 old. They've aggrieved every single year and 24 we're finally getting close to settling this. 25 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Mark, this is TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 42 2 how much for the Town on this one, the return? 3 MR. TAYLOR: Given the number of years 4 involved, it's approximately $30,500 versus the 5 claimed liability over $100,000. 6 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Very good. Okay. 7 So knowing that, does someone want to 8 make a motion for the certiorari settlement? 9 MR. MANLEY: I'll make that motion. 10 MR. PEDI: I need a second, please. 11 MR. RUGGIERO: I'll second it. 12 MR. PEDI: Any further discussion? 13 (No response.) 14 MR. PEDI: Mrs. Greene? 15 MS. GREENE: Yes. 16 MR. PEDI: Mr. Ruggiero? 17 MR. RUGGIERO: No. 18 MR. PEDI: Mr. Manley? 19 MR. MANLEY: Yes. 20 MR. PEDI: Mr. LoBiondo? 21 MR. LOBIONDO: Yes. 22 MR. PEDI: And Mr. Piaquadio? 23 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Yes. 24 MR. PEDI: Okay. Next we go on to item 25 12 for the Highway Department for Tarben Way. TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 43 2 Item 8 is Tarben Way road dedication. 3 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Hopefully Mark 4 Taylor is going to help me if I need help here. 5 The first one will be, we're looking 6 for a consent motion to accept Tarben Way. If 7 someone can make that motion. 8 MR. MANLEY: I'll make the motion. 9 MS. GREENE: I'll second your motion. 10 MR. PEDI: Any discussion? 11 (No response.) 12 MR. PEDI: Mrs. Greene? 13 MS. GREENE: Yes. 14 MR. PEDI: Mr. Ruggiero? 15 MR. RUGGIERO: Yes. 16 MR. PEDI: Mr. Manley? 17 MR. MANLEY: Yes. 18 MR. PEDI: Mr. LoBiondo? 19 MR. LOBIONDO: Yes. 20 MR. PEDI: And Mr. Piaquadio? 21 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Yes. 22 MR. PEDI: Next we go on to item B, 23 Tarben drainage district dedication. 24 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: This will be a 25 motion accepting of the drainage facilities for TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 44 2 the Tarben subdivision which was recently 3 created. 4 Does someone want to make that motion? 5 MR. MANLEY: I'll make the motion. 6 MR. PEDI: May I have a second, please? 7 MR. LOBIONDO: I'll second it. 8 MR. PEDI: I'll give it to Mr. 9 LoBiondo. 10 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: It was a tie. 11 MR. PEDI: Any further discussion? 12 (No response.) 13 MR. PEDI: Mrs. Greene? 14 MS. GREENE: Yes. 15 MR. PEDI: Mr. Ruggiero? 16 MR. RUGGIERO: Yes. 17 MR. PEDI: Mr. Manley? 18 MR. MANLEY: Yes. 19 MR. PEDI: Mr. LoBiondo? 20 MR. LOBIONDO: Yes. 21 MR. PEDI: And Mr. Piaquadio? 22 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Yes. 23 MR. PEDI: Next we go on to item C, 24 authorization of the reduction in the cash 25 security for the public improvements to a TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 45 2 maintenance security amount. 3 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: So here we're 4 looking for a motion to reduce the cash security 5 for Tarben Way down to $79,053. It will be 6 reduced down to that amount. 7 Does someone want to make that motion? 8 MS. GREENE: So moved. 9 MR. RUGGIERO: I'll second it. 10 MR. PEDI: It goes to Mr. Ruggiero. 11 Any further discussion? 12 MS. GREENE: What is it now before it's 13 been reduced? 14 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Mark had that 15 number. What is it now, Mark? 16 MR. TAYLOR: The performance security 17 the Town holds right now is approximately 18 $150,000. A little above $150,000. Now that the 19 improvements are being taken over to the Town, 20 the Town specifies that the amount to be posted 21 as a maintenance security is 10 percent of the 22 original performance security amount. The 23 original performance security amount before any 24 improvements were constructed was $750,000 plus 25 change. TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 46 2 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Very good, Mark. 3 MR. TAYLOR: Excuse me. 700 plus 4 change. The $79,000 maintenance security amount 5 is 10 percent. 6 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Are you okay 7 with that, Betty? We're holding a lot of money 8 there. 9 MS. GREENE: I realize that. I'm not 10 saying I'm happy with it but I'll go along with 11 it. 12 MR. PEDI: The motion was made and 13 seconded. 14 Mrs. Greene? 15 MS. GREENE: Yes. 16 MR. PEDI: Mr. Ruggiero? 17 MR. RUGGIERO: Yes. 18 MR. PEDI: Mr. Manley? 19 MR. MANLEY: Yes. 20 MR. PEDI: Mr. LoBiondo? 21 MR. LOBIONDO: Yes. 22 MR. PEDI: And Mr. Piaquadio? 23 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Yes. 24 MR. PEDI: Okay. Next we go on to item 25 13 for the Sewer Department, community TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 47 2 development block grant agreement for Roseton 3 Hills sewer district. 4 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: All right. This 5 is a grant we're going to receive to make 6 improvements on the Roseton sewer district. So 7 this gives us the ability to move forward on it 8 if we get a Board vote. 9 Does someone want to make that motion? 10 MR. RUGGIERO: I'll make the motion. 11 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Who was it, Joe? 12 MR. PEDI: I think it was Mr. Ruggiero. 13 MR. RUGGIERO: I got you twice, Scott. 14 MR. PEDI: A second, please? 15 MR. MANLEY: I'll second it. 16 MR. PEDI: Thank you, Councilman 17 Manley. 18 Any further discussion? 19 (No response.) 20 MR. PEDI: Mrs. Greene? 21 MS. GREENE: Yes. 22 MR. PEDI: Mr. Ruggiero? 23 MR. RUGGIERO: Yes. 24 MR. PEDI: Mr. Manley? 25 MR. MANLEY: Yes. TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 48 2 MR. PEDI: Mr. LoBiondo? 3 MR. LOBIONDO: Yes. 4 MR. PEDI: And Mr. Piaquadio? 5 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Yes. 6 MR. PEDI: Next we go on to item 14 for 7 the Engineering Department, water main 8 improvements at North Fletcher Drive. 9 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Al right. So 10 what this is, and I see Patrick Hines, Engineer 11 for the Town, is suggesting that we go with Maser 12 Construction. He would prepare the bid documents 13 for this project on North Fletcher Drive. So it's 14 $6,750, a lump sum. 15 Does someone want to make that motion? 16 MS. GREENE: So moved. 17 MR. MANLEY: I'll second it. 18 MR. PEDI: Any further discussion? 19 (No response.) 20 MR. PEDI: Mrs. Greene? 21 MS. GREENE: Yes. 22 MR. PEDI: Mr. Ruggiero? 23 MR. RUGGIERO: Yes. 24 MR. PEDI: Mr. Manley? 25 MR. MANLEY: Yes. TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 49 2 MR. PEDI: Mr. LoBiondo? 3 MR. LOBIONDO: Yes. 4 MR. PEDI: And Mr. Piaquadio? 5 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Yes. 6 MR. PEDI: Next we go on to item 15 for 7 Animal Control, a T-94 withdrawal. 8 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: So here Cheryl 9 Cunningham, Animal Control Officer, is asking we 10 expend $302 from the T-94 account, which is a 11 donation account, to TARA, Incorporated for K-9 12 and feline medical services. 13 Does someone want to make that motion? 14 MR. LOBIONDO: I'll make the motion. 15 MR. MANLEY: I'll second it. 16 MR. PEDI: Any further discussion? 17 (No response.) 18 MR. PEDI: Mrs. Greene? 19 MS. GREENE: Yes. 20 MR. PEDI: Mr. Ruggiero? 21 MR. RUGGIERO: Yes. 22 MR. PEDI: Mr. Manley? 23 MR. MANLEY: Yes. 24 MR. PEDI: Mr. LoBiondo? 25 MR. LOBIONDO: Yes. TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 50 2 MR. PEDI: And Mr. Piaquadio? 3 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Yes. 4 MR. PEDI: Next we go on to item 16 for 5 the Police Department. Item A, approval to hire 6 full-time police officer. 7 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: So Chief 8 Campbell is suggesting that we hire Michael 9 Carfora who has been a part-time officer yet was 10 on the list. We're able to hire him full time. He 11 suggests we hire him full time at the PBA 12 contract rate, which I believe is $62,712 per 13 year, from appropriation 001-3120-0100, with a 14 proposed hire date of September 21, 2020. 15 Does someone want to make that motion? 16 MR. MANLEY: I'll make that motion. 17 MR. LOBIONDO: I'll second it. 18 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: I just want to 19 say that Carfora has been an outstanding officer 20 with the Town. This is great that he's full time. 21 MR. PEDI: Any further discussion? 22 (No response.) 23 MR. PEDI: Mrs. Greene? 24 MS. GREENE: Yes. 25 MR. PEDI: Mr. Ruggiero? TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 51 2 MR. RUGGIERO: Yes. 3 MR. PEDI: Mr. Manley? 4 MR. MANLEY: Yes. 5 MR. PEDI: Mr. LoBiondo? 6 MR. LOBIONDO: Yes. 7 MR. PEDI: And Mr. Piaquadio? 8 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Yes. 9 MR. PEDI: Item B for the Police 10 Department, approval to begin process to fill two 11 vacant sergeant positions. 12 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Again here, 13 Chief Campbell is asking that we obtain the list 14 from the County to fill two sergeant positions 15 due to two retirements. 16 Does someone want to make that motion? 17 MS. GREENE: So moved. 18 MR. MANLEY: Second. 19 MR. PEDI: Councilman Manley got in. 20 Any further discussion? 21 (No response.) 22 MR. PEDI: Mrs. Greene? 23 MS. GREENE: Yes. 24 MR. PEDI: Mr. Ruggiero? 25 MR. RUGGIERO: Yes. TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 52 2 MR. PEDI: Mr. Manley? 3 MR. MANLEY: Yes. 4 MR. PEDI: Mr. LoBiondo? 5 MR. LOBIONDO: Yes. 6 MR. PEDI: And Mr. Piaquadio? 7 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Yes. 8 MR. PEDI: Next we go on to item 17, 9 the Kaplan Foundation, approval to apply for 10 grant for purchase of Desmond Estate. 11 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Usually we 12 discuss things after a motion and a second. I 13 just want to give you a little background here 14 because my Board Members are aware. The Desmond 15 Estate, having been closed in March of this year 16 due to the virus and what not, it seems that it's 17 up for sale. Mr. Kaplan said that he will buy it 18 -- he'll give us a grant to buy it with. It's his 19 wish, and mine also, that we'll continue to run 20 it the exact same way that it's been run with the 21 programs in place plus some of our programs. 22 There's bus trips we can add to our bus trips. It 23 seems like a perfect fit. What we're really doing 24 tonight, this motion is just saying -- this 25 motion is that we can apply for the Kaplan grant. TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 53 2 So here's what the motion is going to 3 be. I'm looking for a motion to apply to the 4 Kaplan Foundation for a $1,000,000 grant for the 5 purchase of the Desmond Estate and the operation 6 of the programs. 7 If someone would make that motion. 8 MR. LOBIONDO: I'll make the motion. 9 MR. RUGGIERO: I'll second it. 10 MR. PEDI: Any further discussion? 11 (No response.) 12 MR. PEDI: Mrs. Greene? 13 MS. GREENE: Yes. 14 MR. PEDI: Mr. Ruggiero? 15 MR. RUGGIERO: Yes. 16 MR. PEDI: Mr. Manley? 17 MR. MANLEY: Yes. 18 MR. PEDI: Mr. LoBiondo? 19 MR. LOBIONDO: Yes. 20 MR. PEDI: Mr. Piaquadio? 21 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Yes. 22 MR. PEDI: Next we go on to item 18 for 23 announcements. 24 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: I have an 25 announcement that I have to read, so I'm going to TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 54 2 do mine first instead of last. 3 This was written by an engineer in the 4 Water Department. It's only half a page. If the 5 attorney did it it would be three pages. 6 Don't take that negative, Mark. 7 Let me read it off real quick. This is 8 water interconnect test number 2. The Town of 9 Newburgh has scheduled a test of its water supply 10 interconnection with the Town of New Windsor for 11 the week of September 21, 2020 for approximately 12 three days. New Windsor will supply up to 13 1,000,000 gallons of water through the 14 interconnection on Route 300 near Walmart into 15 the Newburgh water system. Customers along and 16 adjacent to the Route 300 corridor will be 17 supplied from the interconnection. The water 18 supply from the interconnection will be vital in 19 meeting the Town of Newburgh's water supply needs 20 during the anticipated shutdown of the Delaware 21 Aqueduct in 2020 by New York City. The use of 22 this interconnection will cause the flow of water 23 to be from the opposite direction as is typical. 24 When this happens some sediment in the water 25 mains may be distributed, resulting in temporary TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 55 2 discolored water. If this happens, please run 3 your faucets until the water becomes clear. If 4 the problem persists, call the Water Department 5 at 845-564-7813. If you have any questions 6 concerning this test, please contact Patrick 7 Hines, Engineer for the Town, at 845-564-4552, or 8 Jeff Guido, Water Management Supervisor, at 9 845-564-7813. This will be a press release 10 tomorrow. It's a water test that's going to take 11 place in 2020 when we might need it. We want to 12 make sure we have a back-up supply through New 13 Windsor. We're also their back-up supply. That's 14 really my announcement. 15 Betty, do you have anything? 16 MS. GREENE: I have nothing. 17 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Paul? 18 MR. RUGGIERO: Nothing, Gil. 19 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Scott? 20 MR. MANLEY: A couple quick things. 21 First of all, I'm very excited about the Desmond. 22 Jim Presutti, the Parks Commissioner, 23 he's been doing a wonderful job with all the 24 Recreation people up there. He's very lucky as a 25 liaison to have such a great crew up there. TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 56 2 I love my live music, and this Thursday 3 is the last show of the year. Hurley Mountain 4 Highway is playing at 6 p.m. on Thursday. 5 I see today they just put out the Moon 6 Walk is October 1st, which will be before our 7 next regular Town Board meeting. 8 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Thank you, 9 Scott. 10 Anthony, do you have anything? 11 MR. LOBIONDO: I do not. Thank you. 12 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Okay. Very good. 13 Joseph, that being said, we'll go to 14 public comments. 15 MR. PEDI: Item 19. I have one public 16 comment from Mr. Charles Ford on Bridle Path. Mr. 17 Ford taught courses for twenty years at the 18 Desmond campus. He's very much in support of 19 reopening the Desmond campus. He feels that these 20 programs have influenced many people to join as 21 students and teachers. 22 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Thank you. 23 I can tell you I've had numerous 24 e-mails today, you know, thank you for doing it. 25 It's really -- I guess it was quite the TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 57 2 operation. We have to try to get it back and 3 running. 4 Joyce, do you want to say something? I 5 don't want to put you on the spot. 6 Can we unmute Joyce? 7 You can unmute yourself, Joyce. 8 MS. CROSSLEY: I'm so new to the Zoom. 9 I'm sorry. 10 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: You're live. 11 MS. CROSSLEY: My heart is singing that 12 we're going forward with this. You have the 13 support of all of us a hundred percent. 14 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: All right, 15 Joyce. Thank you. Thank you so much. 16 Anyone else with any public comment? 17 MR. MANLEY: It looks like Bill Fetter 18 is there waving. 19 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: I can't see him 20 on my screen but you can. 21 Okay, Bill. 22 MR. FETTER: Thank you. Regarding the 23 cross connection with New Windsor, the source 24 water there will be either -- it could be the 25 reservoir water or it could be Browns Pond water, TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 58 2 or whatever is online for them at the time? 3 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: You know, for 4 that we have Pat Hines. 5 Pat, can you unmute and answer that 6 question? 7 MR. HINES: I can. The interconnect is 8 most likely going to receive water during this 9 shutdown from the Catskill Aqueduct based on the 10 pressures in the Town of New Windsor system. So 11 the feed lines from the Riley Road filter plant 12 will feed the Town of Newburgh during this 13 shutdown. Obviously the water is mixed in the 14 system. Based on the system dynamics, the water 15 will more likely be the flow from the Catskill 16 Aqueduct/Riley Road filter plant. 17 MR. FETTER: And then the Town of 18 Newburgh's supply could be whatever is -- 19 theoretically in the future could be the Chadwick 20 Lake or the reservoir I guess? More likely 21 Chadwick Lake I suppose? 22 MR. HINES: The Town is currently 23 running Chadwick Lake at the highest capacity it 24 can as part of this resiliency testing. We're 25 going to shut the Delaware Aqueduct down during TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 59 2 this testing, assuming the occurrence is when the 3 Delaware Aqueduct is actually shutdown. We put a 4 lot of effort into these interconnects. The Town 5 of Newburgh to New Windsor side has been tested 6 but we've never tested it the other way. We have 7 the opportunity now to do that and we felt it was 8 a good idea to do this resiliency testing. 9 MR. FETTER: Thank you. 10 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Thank you, Pat. 11 Thank you, Bill. 12 Anyone else? 13 MR. MANLEY: I know Iris Stewart is 14 waiting. 15 MS. GALLINA: Actually, I'm Lisa 16 Gallina using my daughter's computer, Iris. Sorry 17 about that identity theft. 18 I am the former director of the adult 19 and graduate programs at Mount St. Mary's College 20 from 2007 to 2017. I supervised the staff and the 21 programming at Desmond. It was one of the 22 greatest joys of my professional career. I was 23 downsized from the college in 2018. 24 I just want to say I think this is an 25 amazing opportunity. The curriculum programming TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 60 2 that we worked to develop over the years is so 3 inclusive to the community. I can see that the 4 County was able to take up this opportunity. 5 There are so many amazing curricular activities, 6 especially in light of COVID, on that property. 7 We had so many amazing ideas over the years. 8 Due to lack of funding from the main 9 campus, we were able to only run the amazing 10 programs we did. There's opportunity for 11 intergenerational programs, cultural programs, 12 environmental, outdoor gardening. I mean it is 13 one of the greatest parts of my pride of my 14 professional career. When it was no longer under 15 my purview it was really heart breaking. 16 I just want to say that I truly hope 17 that this goes through, and I could be available 18 with you to speak about the ways that we had 19 talked about leveraging it each year in my annual 20 report. I'm just very excited that you're all 21 excited because it is an amazing place. 22 The bequest from Mrs. Alice Curtis 23 Desmond, this is what she would want. I'm very 24 happy that you are all so interested and excited 25 about it. I hope that this is something that TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 61 2 goes through. Thank you very much. 3 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Thank you. I can 4 tell you that they say I don't show my emotions 5 much. I'm really excited about this, even though 6 it doesn't show. This is going to be great for 7 the Town and the whole area. Really. 8 Anyone else? 9 MR. PEDI: Mr. Supervisor, who was that 10 lady that just spoke? It wasn't Iris Stewart. 11 MS. GALLINA: Lisa Gallina, 12 G-A-L-L-I-N-A. I live across the river in Beacon. 13 I worked at the Mount for thirteen years and I 14 also was an adjunct there. 15 MR. PEDI: Thank you. 16 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Anyone else? If 17 they put their hand up we can let them speak. If 18 anyone has anything on any topic. 19 Do you see any hands, Bobby? 20 MR. ROBERT PIAQUADIO: No. 21 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: All right. With 22 that, I think we can make a motion to adjourn 23 this meeting then. Does someone want to make that 24 motion? 25 MS. GREENE: So moved. TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 62 2 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: That was 3 definitely Betty. 4 MS. GREENE: Right. 5 MR. MANLEY: I'll second it if Paul 6 doesn't jump in there. 7 MR. PEDI: Do I have a second, please? 8 Councilman Manley? 9 MR. MANLEY: Yes. 10 MR. PEDI: Motion made and seconded to 11 adjourn at 7:57. 12 Mrs. Greene? 13 MS. GREENE: Yes. 14 MR. PEDI: Mr. Ruggiero? 15 MR. RUGGIERO: Yes. 16 MR. PEDI: Mr. Manley? 17 MR. MANLEY: Yes. 18 MR. PEDI: Mr. LoBiondo? 19 MR. LOBIONDO: Yes. 20 MR. PEDI: And Mr. Piaquadio? 21 SUPERVISOR PIAQUADIO: Yes. 22 Thank you everyone, too. Good night. 23 24 (Time noted: 7:57 p.m.) 25 TOWN BOARD MEETING - 9/14/20 1 63 2 3 4 C E R T I F I C A T I O N 5 6 7 I, MICHELLE CONERO, a Notary Public 8 for and within the State of New York, do hereby 9 certify: 10 That hereinbefore set forth is a 11 true record of the proceedings. 12 I further certify that I am not 13 related to any of the parties to this proceeding by 14 blood or by marriage and that I am in no way 15 interested in the outcome of this matter. 16 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto 17 set my hand this 21st day of September 2020. 18 19 20 _________________________ MICHELLE CONERO 21 22 23 24 25