MINUTES
Tuesday May 20, 2025
Meeting
opened at 6:30 PM by Mayor Stiles with the Pledge to the Flag. In attendance
were Mayor Jeffrey S. Stiles, Trustees Ian M. Feulner and K. Don Brigham, DPW
Superintendent Wayne B. Valentine, and Clerk-Treasurer Melissa F. Gregory. Also
in attendance were Noelle Adamoscheck (Historic Cherry Valley Businesses and 25
Main Collective), Ellen LaSalle and Margaret Lettis (residents).
Approval
of the April 21, 2025 minutes as members received in final written form. It was
upon motion of Trustee Brigham, seconded by Trustee Feulner, unanimously
carried, to accept the minutes as written.
TREASURER’S
REPORT
|
Checking Account |
|
4/30/25 Balance |
|
General |
|
$ 136,115.76 |
|
Water |
|
$ 19,243.27 |
|
Total
Fund |
|
$ 155,359.03 |
|
Trust
& Agency |
|
$ 8.46 |
|
Village
of Cherry Valley Baseball League |
|
$ 1,472.94 |
|
Savings Accounts |
|
4/30/25 Balance |
|
Water
System Repair Reserve |
|
$ 2,989.50 |
|
Cemetery
Capital Reserve |
|
$ 11,160.02 |
|
Unemployment
Insurance Reserve |
|
$ 2,705.71 |
|
Water
Debt Service Reserve |
|
$ 21,572.65 |
|
Parks
& Recreation Reserve |
|
$ 3,670.61 |
|
General
Fund Savings |
|
$ 25,849.52 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Water |
Taxes |
|
Taxes
and Water Unpaid 4/1/2025 |
$ 15,856.61 |
$0.00
(sent
to the county on 11/14/24) |
|
Paid
in April |
$ 1,230.78 |
$0.00
(sent
to the county on 11/14/24) |
|
Adjusted
in April |
$ 0.00 |
$0.00
(sent
to the county on 11/14/24) |
|
Billed
in April |
$ 0.00 |
$0.00
(sent
to the county on 11/14/24) |
|
Unpaid
5/1/2025 *and
sent to the county to be added to taxes |
$ 14,451.83 |
$0.00
(sent
to the county on 11/14/24) |
It
was upon motion of Trustee Feulner, seconded by Trustee Brigham, unanimously
carried, to accept the report as given.
GUESTS
Noelle
Adamoscheck, representing the Historic Cherry Valley Businesses, came to
confirm final details of the upcoming weekend’s events for the “Spring into
Summer Festival”. She also discussed with the board about the sidewalk in front
of her business, as well as a ramp being built for her new business opening
this summer, “Coffee and Crumb Café”. A collaboration of websites was discussed
as well, with a plan to meet at a later date to look at details for this.
Local
residents, Ellen LaSalle and Margaret Lettis, came to bring the boards’
attention to their increased concerns about the stream. They reported concerns
of its smell, increased risk of property damage (for them and others), and a
potential for health hazards. They inquired about having the stream dredged
however, the board noted that this would be entering on private property to do
so and legally that is not something the Village can do. It was discussed to
have the women contact DEC again about getting permits to work in the stream
(as they already had multiple times) to follow up and see what they could do to
help. Mayor Stiles stated we could also contact DEC and have our Village
Attorney look into laws regarding this issue and having the stream dredged.
OLD BUSINESS:
“10,000
Trees…And Growing!”:
Trustee
Feulner lead another discussion and update on the “10,000 Trees…And Growing!”
program via National Grid. He met with Ricky DeAngelo and noted that they are
still in the planning phase of determining tree type, quantity, and potential
locations throughout the Village. It was mentioned about the trees that were
planted in boxes, years ago, around the Village, and how this may be another
option to pursue (outside of the program). It was determined that this will be
a long-term project to be potentially completed in the coming year.
Social
Media Usage:
Trustee
Feulner has been heading the work on getting the Village of Cherry Valley
Facebook page switched over to current member(s). At this time he is able to
access and post on the page, but the full switch-over is still being looked
into.
Safety/Building
Inspector:
Mayor
Stiles reported that he spoke with Ricky DeAngelo regarding the potential of
being our Safety/Building Inspector for the 2025-2026 Village year, in which he
agreed to.
Miscellaneous:
Clerk-Treasurer
Gregory reported that a local resident stopped in to discuss some concerns they
had regarding their water lines. The board discussed the matter and agreed to
contact Steve Gridley for further help in this matter.
Items
typically covered at the organizational meeting, but were not this year, are
noted below:
(A) The fee for bounced checks will remain at
$20.00. Upon notice of a bounced check, the owner of the check will be issued a
new bill that will contain their original charge, the bounced check fee, and
any penalties/late fees that are applicable at the time.
(B) The fee for non-Village-related
copies will remain at $0.25 per page.
Official
TV/Radio Station(s):
Clerk-Treasurer
Gregory noted that she and Deputy Clerk-Treasurer Bouboulis had done research
(per the prior board’s request) into which TV/radio station(s) would be
available for us to utilize in case of large notices needing to be put out.
Channels 2 & 10 were both found to have easy access to getting information
to the stations and then to the people. It was upon motion of Trustee Brigham,
seconded by Trustee Feulner, unanimously carried,
RESOLVED:
That
Channel 2 and Channel 10 TV/Radio stations will be the official TV/Radio
stations for the Village of Cherry Valley.
Health
Savings Account & Direct Deposit:
At
the April 21, 2025 Board Meeting, the topics of looking into a Health Savings
Account and direct deposit for employees was discussed. At this time, Mayor
Stiles has decided to table the discussion of the HSA until further notice. In
regards to utilizing direct deposit for employees, it was mutually agreed on
that we should wait to pursue this option until a new software program has been
potentially purchased.
NYCLASS
Equipment Repair Reserve Fund:
Clerk-Treasurer
Gregory noted that this subaccount has not yet been created in NYCLASS for the
Village. She requested confirmation of how much to move from the NBT and/or
current NYCLASS accounts into that fund. It was confirmed that we will move
$25,000.00 into the NYCLASS subaccount “Equipment Repair Reserve”. This account
will then serve to help pay for new vehicles for the DPW as needed.
Donation:
Clerk-Treasurer
Gregory noted that in March, Mr. and Mrs. Stuart & Lois Collier donated
$50.00 to our Village cemetery in memory of Mrs. Collier’s great grandparents
(John and Regina Wick). They thanked the Village too, “for the beautiful care
that is given to the cemetery.”
NEW BUSINESS:
DPW
Report:
DPW
Superintendent Valentine reported the cemetery entrance repairs project has
been completed. It was noted that an additional sign should be placed at the
main cemetery entrance (where the repairs were done) noting a maximum height
limit.
A
homeowner whose property borders that of the cemetery has asked if they can
remove the chain-link fence on that border, as it makes working on their house
quite difficult. The board discussed this and noted an agreement could be made
that if the homeowner pays for a new fence (split-rail was their request), then
we (the Village) will take down the chain-link fence. Further details to be
determined.
Hydrant
flushing commenced on May 15th by the DPW and it’s reported that
there is no major change at this time. Well pump #1 for the Well House is
showing signs of slowing down and further assessment will need to be done before
next steps are determined.
Upgrades
to the Park and Ride (next to Red Point Builders) were discussed. Such upgrades
discussed were solar pole light, free parking signs (at the edges of town),
including another bus stop for the Gus the Bus route, and painting lines to more
clearly delineate that it is indeed a parking lot. Further research into the costs
and feasibility will continue.
DPW
Valentine also reported that the Village Dump Truck will be in the Memorial Day
Parade and has invited the board and office members to ride in the back on the parade
route.
Clerk-Treasurer
Report:
Donations for Village flowers have
been made by Mr. and Mrs. Edward Harvey (hanging baskets) and Mr. and Mrs.
Louis Guido (potted flowers).
The cremation burial of AliceMae
& George Alverson was brought up, as their daughter called regarding
questions of container type and price. The board agreed that cardboard is a suitable
“rigid” container for burial. For pricing, it was agreed that the price will
reflect that of an “out of town resident” per the pricing and information
sheet.
American Power and Gas contacted
Clerk-Treasurer Gregory and inquired about our switching to them for our supplier,
rather than National Grid. The board agreed to keep and/or switch all our
suppliers to be National Grid.
We received approval to split the
monies from the sale of 8 Genesee Street between Village General and Village
Water accounts. It was upon motion of Trustee Brigham, seconded by Trustee
Feulner, unanimously carried,
RESOLVED:
That
the monies received from the sale of 8 Genesee Street will be split evenly in
half between the general and water accounts.
It was noted that the office had to
move monies ($10,000.00) from our NYCLASS Village General Checking Account into
that of our equal NBT account. The reason for the transfer need is that CHIPS
funding has not yet been received for the purchase of the new compact excavator
back in November of 2024. Those funds are reported by NYSDOT Regional CHIPS
Representative, Kahna Beers, to be sent for the next installment in June.
There is an IIMC (International
Institute of Municipal Clerks) Educational Training program in July that
Clerk-Treasurer Gregory feels she would benefit from. The board discussed and
agreed to pay for her to attend. There is a potential to receive scholarship funds
to help offset the cost of attending which will be looked into.
Another software demo will take
place with Edmunds GovTech this Friday 5/23/25. Clerk-Treasurer Gregory and
Trustee Brigham will be taking part in this virtual demo and reporting back to the
board.
Adam Critti from Casella Waste
Management in Oneonta will be coming tomorrow morning (Wednesday 5/22/25) to
discuss next steps in implementing the upcoming two-year contract.
Weekend burials were discussed and
it was clarified that the $400 charge is for the day of the burial. If one
worker is there they will receive the full payment, whereas if they are both in
attendance and needed then the payout will be split in half equally.
Finances:
Approval
of the 2025-2026 Budget:
It
was upon motion of Trustee Feulner, seconded by Trustee Brigham, unanimously
carried, to approve the budget in its final presented form.
Audit
of Claims:
After
review by the board, it was upon motion of Trustee Brigham, seconded by Trustee
Feulner, unanimously carried, to make payment on paid bills and budget
amendments and modifications as follows:
|
General
Fund |
Ch.
#s 16525-16564 |
$ 20,211.41 |
|
Water
Fund |
Ch.
#s 16525-16564 |
$ 4,384.24 |
|
Total
Fund |
Ch.
#s 16525-16564 |
$ 24,595.65 |
|
Trust
and Agency |
Ch.
#s 2065-2066 &
Auto Deductions |
$ 3,675.67 |
|
Agency
Fund (Youth Baseball) |
|
$ 419.98 |
|
Budget
Modifications 2024-2025 |
|||
|
To |
Amount |
From |
Amount |
|
A1410.1 |
$ 2,416.00 |
A1990 |
$ 2,416.00 |
|
A1490.1 |
$ 332.00 |
A1990 |
$ 332.00 |
|
A4020.1 |
$ 50.00 |
A1990 |
$ 50.00 |
|
A5110.1 |
$ 1,520.00 |
A1990 |
$ 1,520.00 |
|
A5132.4 |
$ 1,349.00 |
A1990 |
$ 1,349.00 |
|
FX8340.1 |
$ 36.51 |
FX1990 |
$ 36.51 |
Adjournment:
The
meeting adjourned at 9:05 p.m. upon motion of Trustee Brigham, seconded by
Trustee Feulner, unanimously carried.
Respectfully
Submitted,
Melissa
Gregory, Clerk-Treasurer
May 29,
2025
