Town Board - Regular Meeting

TOWN OF CLARKSTOWN TOWN BOARD REGULAR MEETING Town Hall Auditorium March 11, 2025 at 7:00 PM MINUTES

PRESENT: Supervisor George Hoehmann Councilman Mark Licker Councilman Michael Graziano Councilman Donald Franchino Councilman Robert Axelrod Town Clerk Lauren Wohl

ABSENT: The Supervisor George Hoehmann declared the Town Board meeting opened. Assemblage saluted the flag. The Town Clerk read the roll call.

PUBLIC HEARING

PUBLIC HEARING #1: PH-1.

RESOLUTION No (129-2025) - Authorizing the Continuation of a Public Hearing on a Proposed Local Law Entitled, “A Local Law Amending Chapter 290-21 (Bulk Regulation Exceptions) of the Town Code of the Town of Clarkstown – Amendment to Wetland Regulations”Tabled

PUBLIC HEARING #2: PH-2.

RESOLUTION No (130-2025) - Requesting the Rockland County Consortium to Consider Several Projects for Community Development Block Grant Funding — Adopted

PUBLIC COMMENTS REGARDING AGENDA ITEMS AND GENERAL

PUBLIC COMMENTS Emily King, New City Ms. King asked the Board to elaborate on item #10 - Granting Certificates of Registration to perform Sewer related work. The Supervisor responded that the company is Innovative Excavating. They are located in Stony Point, NY. They are not applying to perform work on Town property. This is just part of their registration process.

They are registered as a business within Rockland County and now the Town will allow them do work on Sewers. They are simply qualified to perform by Rockland County standards. Jackie Dreschler, Valley Cottage Ms. Dreschler has been in conversations with the DEC. Specifically, clean up matter for Radio Active Matter at Indian Point. The DEC was thinking that they had to meet the NRC Standards.

She stated that "no, they do not have to meet the NRC Standards." With regards to Wetlands - knowing that there is a possibility for strengthening qualifications - the Town of Clarkstown should have a very higher standard. Al Osterlitz, New City He is happy to see that the Chapter of 139 Massachusetts Ave has come to an end. It has been almost 15 years. It is now being sold to another individual(s).

He has a comment about the Rental Registry. His neighbor put their house up for rent. He has noticed many "For Rent" signs around the town. Do these private dwellings meeting our recent code change? Are they being registered appropriately as rental properties? Steve Levine, Congers Regarding the sale of 139 Massachusetts Avenue - He was Mr. Goldberg's neighbor for years.

He was subject to vandalism with his property, threats, lawsuits, economic harm, and having to demand action from the Town. This did not happen overnight. There was toxic material that was dumped onto the property. He and Mr. Rocco demanded the Town take action. He would like to know the names for the new owners. He wants to make sure it is not a corporation.

He asked about asbestos abatement plans, disclosures of toxic landfill, and if there have been any additional soil testing? If so, has any contamination been found? Will the buyer be required to remediate the site and then present the findings to the Town? Once they demolish the foundation, there will be toxic materials throughout the neighborhood. He realized Mr. Kevin Conway called him to discuss. Mr.

Levine has been advised by his attorney not to have any conversations without his attorney present. Mr. Levine presented a letter to the Town Board. This is on file in the office of the Town Clerk (attached to the agenda of the meeting). Patrick Rocco, Congers He has been a homeowner at 147 Massachusetts Ave for almost 30 years. He was there when this first happened, 26 years ago. Mr.

Goldberg wanted to fill the lower part of the property with fill. He wanted to flatten it out and sell it for a higher price. Under normal conditions, this would be fine. The fill that was used was commercial grade landfill - among other illegal, contaminated fill. Examples are Mercury, Lead, and Benzyne. The Town's recommendation was to remove the fill completely.

The Town Engineers stated that it is highly likely that the water in the area is contaminated. They also suggested that Well Users not use their Wells. There were many lawsuits with the owner, and it took many years for the Town to remediate the property. Not all of the property was remedied. 20-25 percent of the property is still not remedied.

The seller (TOC) must disclose any environmental hazards that existed in the past or what is still existing now. There was nothing mentioned about this in the listing. We all love where we live. Mr. Rocco is concerned about the chemicals. These are the same type of chemicals that were involved in 911. We do not want this to occur again. Mammen, Nanuet He has been driving in Clarkstown for 40 years.

The volume on the roads has substantially increased. Some of our "lesser" roads have stop signs. He is asking for more four way Stop Signs. It is difficult to predict traffic. People do not want to wait in line for turns. He would like the Town to revisit this - look at the lesser roadways. Install all way stops. An example of this is Germonds Road and Strawthown Road.

Everyone who approaches the intersection knows they have a turn to proceed through the intersection. No guessing, no bullying, and no abuse. Gregory Sheehan, Valley Cottage Regarding # 6 on the agenda. Tax refund. This is an established Supermarket and has been around a long time. Why are these taxes being adjusted to such a large degree?

Susan Bloome, Nanuet Regarding the Town Board Meeting Minutes on January 21, 2025. When the Town Board went into an Executive Session, she is questioning why those minutes are not FOILable under FOIL Law. She stated the three items on the agenda - they are all properties in Nanuet. As a taxpayer, she would like to know why they are not FOILable. She would like more transparency.

The Supervisor stated that Litigations also means Negotiations. Properties with possible acquisitions - and negotiations going back and forth - it is not to be put out to the Public until you are ready to make a final offer. He asked the Town Attorney if this is common. The Town Attorney stated, Yes. This is common, and one of the properties dealt with litigation.

The Supervisor let the Town Attorney explain: The Grace Baptist Church falls under a litigation item. The Supervisor stated that until the Town is prepared to have a final offer and a final decision, it will be disclosed. We are still in negotiations on various properties in Clarkstown. The Supervisor responded: John Noto, Town Assessor spoke regarding Mr. Sheehan comment on

agenda item #6. In regards to Stop and Shop - This was a Tax Certiorari that has been going on for eight years. Clarkstown properties are equalized over time while the Assessment always stays the same. The Equalization Rate falls. Properties appreciate, and this is a type of property that did not follow the trend of the overall commercial base. This causes an inequity.

We thought we had good value in earlier years, and when the supermarket became Fairway, this went lower per square foot and this caused the value to decline. We had an outside appraiser look at this and report back to us. This is the appraisal we use in court if we need to. The Supervisor asked the Highway Supervisor to reach out to Mr. Mammen regarding Stop Signs.

From the Chief of Police perspective - under Highway law, Stop signs cannot be used for Traffic Calming. There needs to be sight distance issues, safety issues, for installation of a traffic sign. We will bring this to the Traffic Advisory Board and the Supervisor will have the Highway Superintendent follow up with Mr. Mammen directly. To Mr. Rocco and Mr.

Levine - the Supervisor asked the Town Attorney to speak regarding this: Yes, there is a long history with this property. This dates back two administrations. The filling took place in the late 1990s. It went on for many years. There was lots of legal action that took place. Former Supervisor Gromack had a very expensive cleanup of the property.

As our current Supervisor was assuming office, he and the Town Board were told that the fill removal was no charge to the Town. It ended up costing the Town $1.5 million dollars. This blew through the Town's budget. The remediation was over a million dollars. There is a subdivision of the property. The sale here is the Town owned portion, and there is a County owned portion, that is not for sale.

The County has no intention of selling their portion of this property. The Town Attorney confirmed that all the Engineering Reports have been supplied to the Realtor. The Realtor will comply with all disclosures as required under the law. All disclosures were provided to the Broker. The buyer will not have any issues with disclosure. They will know all history that took place on this property site.

It will continue to be disclosed. They will have every opportunity to do any additional testing before the closing takes place. The two individuals purchasing the property live on Norge Avenue In Nanuet. They have an offer for $333,000.00. If it proceeds, the closing will include any and all disclosures.

RESOLUTIONS

AGENDA ITEM #1: RESOLUTION No (131-2025) - Amending the Budget — Adopted

AGENDA ITEM #2: RESOLUTION No (132-2025) - Accepting the Town Board Meeting Minutes of February 25, 2025 — Adopted

AGENDA ITEM #3: RESOLUTION No (133-2025) - Authorizing Retaining Debt Book to Assist in the Reporting of Governmental Accounting Standards Board (“GASB”) Statement No. 87 (Accounting and Financial Reporting for Leases) and Statement No. 96 (Accounting and Financial Reporting for Subscription-Based Information Technology Arrangements (SBITA’s) — Adopted

AGENDA ITEM #4: RESOLUTION No (134-2025) - Accepting Offer for Surplus Municipal Property (139 Massachusetts Avenue, Congers Tax Map No. 52.8-3-53.1) — Adopted

AGENDA ITEM #5: RESOLUTION No (135-2025) - Authorizing the Supervisor to Enter into an Agreement with the County of Rockland for Partial Reimbursement of Police Overtime Costs for Counter Terrorism Training — Adopted

AGENDA ITEM #6: RESOLUTION No (136-2025) - Authorizing Settlement of Tax Certiorari Regarding The Stop & Shop Companies, Inc. Tax Map No. 64.5-1-27 (Total refunded amount: $216,111.84)

AGENDA ITEM #7: RESOLUTION No (137-2025) - Authorizing Settlement of Tax Certiorari Regarding Highview Investments Co. Tax Map No. 43.19-1-5 (Total refunded amount: $22,087.72)

AGENDA ITEM #8: RESOLUTION No (138-2025) - Authorizing Expenses for Conference (Basic Narcotics Investigations) (Total Shall Not Exceed: $2,900.00)

AGENDA ITEM #9: RESOLUTION No (139-2025) - Authorizing Expenses for Conference (Tyler Connect 2025) (Total Shall Not Exceed: $7,800.00)

AGENDA ITEM #10: RESOLUTION No (140-2025) - Granting Certificates of Registration to Perform Sewer Related Work — Adopted

AGENDA ITEM #11: RESOLUTION No (141-2025) - Awarding Bid #1-2025 -- Athletic and Recreation Supplies (Gross total: $28,693.06)

AGENDA ITEM #12: RESOLUTION No (142-2025) - Appointing Matthew Dowen to the Position of (Permanent) Police Sergeant - Clarkstown Police Department, Effective March 12, 2025 ($188,778/annual)

AGENDA ITEM #13: 13. ~ Withdrawn

AGENDA ITEM #14: RESOLUTION No (143-2025) - Appointing Victoria McDermott (Permanent) to the Position of Account-Keeping Supervisor, Effective March 12, 2025 ($111,115/annual)

AGENDA ITEM #15: RESOLUTION No (144-2025) - Appointing Alvin Bansil to the Position of Custodial Worker - Department of Engineering and Facilities Management, Effective and Retroactive to February 26, 2025 ($42,704/annual)

AGENDA ITEM #16: RESOLUTION No (145-2025) - Appointing Steven Sassano to the Position of Custodial Worker - Department of Engineering and Facilities Management, Effective and Retroactive to February 26, 2025 ($42,704/annual)

AGENDA ITEM #17: RESOLUTION No (146-2025) - Accepting the Resignation (by Retirement) of Christopher L. Maloney - Police Officer - Police Department, Effective and Retroactive to February 28, 2025 — Adopted

AGENDA ITEM #18: RESOLUTION No (147-2025) - Accepting the Resignation (by Retirement) of Scott Rios - Police Officer - Police Department, Accepted, Effective and Retroactive to February 27, 2025 — Adopted

AGENDA ITEM #19: RESOLUTION No (148-2025) - Accepting the Resignation (by Retirement) of Richard Cummings - Coordinator Dispatch Related Services - Police Records, Accepted, Effective and Retroactive to February 27, ,2025 — Adopted

AGENDA ITEM #20: RESOLUTION No (149-2025) - Appointing Jason DiSalvo Provisionally to the Position of Coordinator, Dispatch-Related Services - Police Department, Effective March 12, 2025 ($129,565/annual)

EXECUTIVE SESSION At 8:19 PM, the Supervisor made a motion to enter into an Executive Session. This was offered by Co. Franchino, seconded by Co. Graziano. All were in favor. All Town Board Members including the Supervisor were present for the Executive Session. Personnel, Negotiations and Litigation were discussed. At 8:47 PM, the Supervisor made a motion to exit the Executive Session. This was offered by Co. Mark Licker, seconded by Co. Michael Graziano. All were in favor. The Board may move into Executive Session to discuss personnel and/or litigation matters.

ADJOURNMENT At 8:48 PM, there was a motion by the Supervisor to exit the Town Board Meeting. This was offered by Co. Graziano, seconded by Co. Franchino. All were in favor. Respectfully Submitted, Lauren Marie Wohl - Town Clerk UPCOMING MEETING Next Town Board Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 25, 2025 at 7:00 p.m.