##VIDEO ID:x2aPdqfvluQ## this government meeting is brought to you by eastw works and our local cable subscribers all right good evening welcome to the East Hampton City council meeting for Wednesday September 18th the meeting tonight is being recorded and broadcast by edia on Charter channel 193 and live streaming on their web page eastampton media.org counselors and participants in this meeting are gathering hybrid on the order extended until March 2025 allowing us to do so I remind both the members of the city council and the public participating remotely to remain muted until recognized by the city council president also for the members of the public please remove your camera for the duration of the meeting unless you are participating in public speak time or the public hearing thank you the meeting is now called to order barar Connie danham here Salem Derby present Omar Gomez JP kazinski here Tom Peak here Brad Riley here Tam Smith here JT Terell here Owen Zar here uh thank you pledge [Music] allegiance the flag of the United States of America and to the repblic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all okay we have some oh moment of silence okay uh let's have a moment of silence tonight for the people who Liberty and uh justice haven't served okay um so we have uh minutes from the September 4th uh 2024 meeting to approve anybody that wants to move those okay we have a motion do I have a second second all right we have a motion in the second any further discussion on the minutes from September 4th okay Barbara County Denham hi Sal Derby hi JP kazinski hi Tom Peak hi Brad Riley hi Tamara Smith hi JT Terell abstain and Zer all okay public speak time this is opportunity to address the council um we don't have any public hearings tonight so um for really anything you'd like to address the council just um step to the podium make sure that you uh say your name and address uh for uh the record and uh tonight we're going to do 3 minutes you got it hi I'm Marvin Ward I live across the street in the cottage Square Apartments um and I'm the person who's as suggesting that the city have a St a Citywide uh list speed limit speed I know they have a living uh that makes it easier to understand how fast you can go on the streets it's in other words a limit a lowlevel speed limit for the whole city and the signs are they're from state they're made from the D do and you have a white sign with this Citywide State uh Street list and unless otherwise notified noticed and there are lots we have to get people to drive slower than on internet interstates they're driving very fast in this city lots of people have complained about it I hear it all the time because I hear it right and see it right from my building my my windows and it's it's really important and I have also been I I sent an email to somebody I don't know who uh because I got one from him and they will do this but you have to do other things to to slow down the pace too and I don't know how many of you are have ridden or driven on um uh Glen glenward Court there's a thing called a table a St right and we need one right out here in the middle of this because I see the cars zooming right through because I live right in the middle of the place it's just terrible so uh that's another thing you can do the I I spent 14 years on the um commit the transportation committee so that means I did everything you know not just driving but bicycling and pedestrians and public transit and so on with the for the pvpc and I learned a lot about things about how to make people do things slower you you have to narrow the roads the lanes when you're doing redoing a a machine a street obviously the this is an old city it was founded in 1875 I mean sorry 1785 and it's its growth was really beginning from the middle of the before the middle it was before 1850 it was 1840s and everything is close together in the center of the city you can't drive fast that way without getting into trouble or without risking harming other people who have the right to read when these factories were built in in the 1840s there were no cars they didn't exist there was to get all the people who worked in the factories and there were a lot of them walked to work and they they've entered on the ground below the level of the dam in other words the first floor as opposed to now the second floor so I don't know what you want to do but you have to do something about in the law to get it going so I think time the time is up um and you'll definitely have an opportunity to discuss this L we'll talk about this and then there'll be moment of committees okay I I have lots of other pie of information I wrote a book about this uh some of you have seen it some of you haven't so anyway anyone else from public that would like to address the council you can just yes good evening my name's Joseph baric Senor I live on 5 L Street in East Hampton my reasoning for be being here tonight is to speak to this Committee in respect to ye stamp and athletic association primarily football now my wife and I um bear with me because I have a slight anxiety disorder are one of many grandparents raising grandchildren now we have a 15-year-old that eats us out of house and home now uh that plays um football a freshman there's a few things that I don't know but I find um I spoke to the athletic director um non-satisfactory as far as I'm concerned the it take it costs approximately a $170 for parents for their uniforms to play then they're asked to sell 15 $10 cash cards to help raise money now whether from the concession stand and they derive at after the cost of food and stuff any income I don't know when they go to a away games and have to have a bus and a driver I don't know if that they have to pay for that I don't know if they pay for the umpires but I do my main problem is and I'm and it's a matter of principle along with the money but primarily PR principle they want to charge $5 for each person that comes to the games and that includes people coming from outside of other things and I'm not going to listen to any rhetoric well other schools charge this and that I'm not concern con ered about other schools I'm concerned about our school and the uh aspect of having insult to injury as far as I'm concerned of having to pay to see our children or grandchildren play and and often as not at times so I would just say finish up your thought and no no don't rush me oh y your three don't rush me okay I already explained to you I have an anxiety disorder I don't care if you like me or not but you will give me the respect I've earned fair enough as a disabled veteran so just I would say say finish your thought okay yep thank you so that in consideration of what I'm uh saying I think there should be a a lower aspect for uh the cost of people who have their children grandchildren playing not to have to pay that full $5 I know if you're students they get a break if there's something else they don't have to pay but it's also not as far as I'm concerned good business to charge these other people when they come to our game to our home games thank you okay and I'd like to hear from this committee after not tonight necessarily what uh what if any resolution can be possible apply to this it's unfair it's as simple as that thank you thank you okay anybody else from the public okay seeing none um commun Communications from elected boards officials I don't see any uh Madame mayor uh good evening I just wanted to um uh one explain I put a request forward to the city council to look at a Citywide speed limit um and councilor Zar and I went back and for forth about some additional information as Mr Ward and I've been talking over several several months that uh Citywide speed limit is actually identified in our complete Street program and a lot of the traffic cing uh techniques interventions we're employing right now uh we will see more of them um as we're finishing up Union Street but also on Main Street and U the multi-use park uh paths we will put on uh Park Street and then redo the the bike path so there is um uh mgl to adopt into um and to look at how that can happen it's very specific procedure with mass doot Dan Murphy our former city engineer looked at this and I think came forward to changing some speed limits um but we did not uh request out of my office or the engineers a Citywide um uh speed limit so I just wanted to give a little context about what Mr Ward and I have been working on for the last several months and how it fits into the larger City plan um that said uh the the other is I'd like to uh read a proclamation for Hispanic Heritage Month which is September 15th 201 24 through October 15 2024 whereas Hispanic Heritage Month is a time to celebrate the rich histories and diverse cultures of American citizens whose ancestors came from Central and South America Mexico Spain and the Caribbean and whereas Hispanic Heritage Month originally began in 1968 as Hispanic heritage week under the leadership of President Lynden B Johnson and was later expanded by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 to cover a full 30-day period with the informal enactment of the observance into law on August 17th 1988 and whereas in 1976 Congress passed legislation mandating the collection and Analysis of data on America Americans of Spanish and origin or descent defining this group as those who identify as being of Spanish-speaking background and Trace their Heritage to Mexico Puerto Rico Cuba Central and South America and other Spanish-speaking countries and whereas the presence of Hispanic Americans in at least 13 states with populations exceeding 1 million reflects their integral role in the social cultural and economic fabric of our country whereas as of 2021 about 81% of us Hispanics are US citizens reflecting a significant increase from 74% in 2010 demonstrating the growing integration and contribution of Hispanic Americans to our nation and whereas prominent hispan Hispanic figures have significantly contributed to American society in diverse Fields including exploration Arts activism military service and Entrepreneurship whereas Puerto Rican veterans specifically have demonstrated exceptional service to our nation with more than 1,225 having lost their lives in service and a notable 116 and 29 Puerto Rican veterans were recorded as of 2010 whereas notable Hispanic individuals include Pioneers such as leis Alvarez Sonia sotoor Rita Moreno Celia Cruz Lynn Manuel Miranda activists including uh Cesar Chavez Sylvia Rivera and Emma Gonzalez military veterans such as o Olga e custodio and marceno Garcia entrepreneur and healthc Care Advocate C David Molina alongside basketball and baseball Legend Carlos beltron and of course East Hampton's city council uh president Omar Gomez and therefore let us acknowledge honor and celebrate the invaluable contributions of Hispanic Americans to our nation's language progress and Heritage we are reminded of the enduring Legacy of their cultural richness enduring spirit and commitment to the values that unite us all thank you thank you madam mayor um so I don't have any correspondence or announcements uh so we'll move to reports of standing committees Finance Council Peak thank you Mr Vice President um uh Finance met last week uh we uh received a presentation uh from the mayor's office uh and her Finance team uh regarding uh a recent audit uh and a finding that we received uh on that audit and the things that are being done to uh make sure that uh that finding is addressed and and removed uh it was a long detailed meetings so I'm I'm not going to attempt to recap it other than to say that we were satisfied with how the uh thing was being handled and I'd encourage anyone to watch the meeting if you want more information on that uh other than that we discussed uh the uh required review of salaries for elected officials and appointed committees uh and we're going to be discussing that further at our next meeting which will be uh a week from today at at 5:30 I think that that's when I'd like to uh take a vote on this we've discussed it a couple times I think that what we probably suggesting right now is um adjusting some of the stiens that haven't been adjusted since the 80s for various appointed uh committees such as the Board of Public Works just to adjust them appropriately for inflation and round to the nearest 100 or something like that uh and then we had talked about building in uh for the next to uh or for the yeah for the uh for the coming term building in a couple small annual cost of living adjustments for the various elected officials uh so as to to just not have us fall too far behind uh like we have in the past where suddenly it's 15 years later and we need to make a big adjustment and it's a big shock to the budget so that's sort of what we're proposing or what I'm proposing uh and uh we'll be discussing that in a week and if you have any other thoughts on that matter uh please get them to me uh before that because you know we um that's just easier uh that way if I have those recommendations to to already in writing to consider and present uh let concludes thank you councelor question counc Kinski uh councelor Peak since it's unusual to have a uh finding in an audit I know we've had them before but it's been I can't remember how long it's been a long long time since we've had a finding and since those are areas that ire adjustment from the for this from the city obviously they're important I know we didn't bring it up tonight do you intend to discuss any is any resolutions at at finance committee level or will you be asking the auditor perhaps to come in here and explain the resolution when that time comes I've been I have asked uh our auditor to keep me apprised of what of developments on there that it sounds like what the finding was involved sort of just a internal management thing that really occurred two years ago at this point and they believe that it has mostly been addressed but have brought brought put in as a response to this some additional uh safeguards to make sure it doesn't happen again so we have Auditors uh coming in in the next few months uh and to begin that process it may be a little while till we get another round another report but at that point uh we will certainly hear back from them and what I hope to hear is that uh the changes that they have made um are satisfactory and uh that we're we've moved on so if if it continues to be an issue we will obviously have to continue to discuss it but the the feeling of the finance team seems to be that they've got a plan in place to make sure that certain things are uh better kept track of then it should be fine moving forward is what they're saying I have no reason to not believe them thank you um okay uh Public Safety Council uh thank you Mr President um we met last week last Tuesday um the majority of our meeting focused around uh the a group of approximately 20 residents from West Street uh who are there uh under the roadway infrastructure and pedestrian safety items uh to discuss speeding and safety on that street uh that probably took up an hour of conversation there was a lot of good input and thoughts uh as well as suggestions the committee discussed it uh and um we will be inviting uh the DPW director and the um acting chief of police to our next meeting for a more in-depth review uh I explained at the meeting that well resident input is welcome and valuable we need to consult the uh stakeholders uh that address these issues especially when it comes to redesigning roads um uh at our next meeting um so um we also briefly discussed the beginning of our review of the language of the traffic rules in order uh came up with a kind of a general plan uh the uh members of the committee will come forward with some priorities that they have within that as well as we will all undertake a general review of the language as it stands now to uh flag any language that is either obsolete gendered or otherwise inappropriate for our current practices uh because these rule these uh rules I don't know if anyone's read them closely but they were written in the 1950s so there's a lot that needs to change um our next meeting um I have one item to extend but our next meeting uh will stick with our typical uh second Tuesday at 6 p.m. um and so that falls on October 8th uh in room one I'm assuming yeah um and I anticipate that the West Street item will take up a majority of our time again uh we have one item to extend and probably try to figure out what to to do with this uh at our next meeting but uh the ordinance review committee's final report I'm going to ask for a 30day extension uh because I believe most of the items on there um need some longer discussion we might be able to discuss uh dismissing it without prejudice while we work on those and bring them back uh so at this time in the form of motion I'd like to request a 30-day extension sure okay we have a motion in a second uh any discussion okay Barbara Salem Derby hi JP kazinski hi Tom Peak hi Brad Riley hi Tamara Smith hi JT Terell hi Owen Zer hi Connie Den hi and again our next meeting is October 8th 6 p.m. Room 1 and I again I anticipate the majority of that will be spent uh in discussion about the items uh regarding West Street speeding Public Safety and thus concludes thank you councelor appointments councel Riley uh thank you Mr President uh if I could actually um defer to councelor Smith um who was acting chair of appointments for one of the meetings and present at the other uh to give the report thank you uh yes I'm happy to report so the the appointment subcommittee met a few times between the last meeting and now and the first one that I'll talk about is our meeting from September 9th and during that meeting we had three appointees that came and we spoke with them at length to talk about their um interest in serving on boards so at that meeting um we had Patricia who is um hoping to be elected to the main well appointed to the Main Street Cemetery with a term expiration of 12 3126 and Emilia enrite also to the Main Street Cemetery also with term expiration of 12312 um before I move in move on to talk about the next candidate I just wanted to uh explain a little bit about these two women um both of them have an interest in Main Street Cemetery both of them have family plots including their own in the cemetery and they take walks in the cemetery on a daily basis so they were actually able to tell us quite a bit about what types of repairs the cemetery may need What's um you know what they consider a nuisance at the cemetery so I am very confident in their ability to represent the needs of the Main Street Cemetery they were both very invested and so also please note that Omar Gomez and I who were both present for the appointments committee voted 2 to Z to accept their nominations and the third candidate that sh that was at that meeting was Peter fallet who was applying to be appointed to the East Hampton City city arts committee with a term expiration of 12 3125 he also um was presentent at this meeting and spoke a lot to his desire to want to do more with the Arts in East Hampton a lot of times when we think about East Hampton City Arts we think more about um the visual arts and actually Peter flet is very active in the theater Arts within East Hampton he's very familiar with the blue room and has volunteered there and has also volunteered with our High School drama club Club so we we voted 2 to Z to appoint Peter fallet uh accept and move his nomination to the full city council for consideration um before I move on to um request in the form of a motion that the full city council discussed this I just needed to ask clarification from councelor Riley really quickly sure um councelor Riley I know that you had had a phone conversation in an interview with the the other appointees but we didn't I wasn't sure if it was all both of the appointees from the from that uh last meeting yes uh the conversations to clarify that I had were with the appointee um Yoshi bird and then um oh give me just a moment here while I look um I apologize um and then Timothy Garo the zoning board of appeals are both uh people that I've had conversations with that uh did not attend our meeting okay um after discussing this as a committee um councelor Riley had talked to us about their qualifications and their conversations and we also agreed 3 to0 to um move those names forward and then the other name that I have to move forward and I just don't have the paperwork in front of me so I'm hoping you can help me with the date but the the last one is Charles Cambria who is um to the V uh he was a nominated to the veterans Council thank you uh with a term expiration of 12 3126 and we had a good conversation with Mr CRA as well he is relatively new as a resident to East Hampton as we see with many um many families he and his wife moved to East Hampton to being closer to their children and grandchildren and he's retired and has a lot of time and is a veteran and of from the Navy and wanted to um make a difference on the veterans Council so we voted 3 to Z to move his name forward to the full committee as well and so would you like me to do one motion with all of the names and the term expiration be Mr Vice President yeah uh I would like to ask a question if I may before councelor Kinski has a question uh councelor Smith thank you very much for the uh report and filling in I uh just had some thoughts about the Cemetery appointments and wondered if any of the discussions that happen to include the thoughts of the individuals who have applied for the position regarding the condition of the cemetery in in particular and this I will confess is a pet peeve of mine every time I walk through Main Street Cemetery if there was any discussion about the grave stones of the Revolutionary War veterans who served this country and the stones headstones are on the ground and there's a marker that says there was a revolutionary war veteran here but it seems to me appalling that that would be the condition and I don't know if there was any discussion I know generally most cemeteries say well it's it's the family's responsibility to up the the headstones at their expense if it's a problem but this is a public Cemetery a city owned cemetery and I wondered if there had been any discussion because there might be a role for us to intervene in the proc you know interestingly both both of the candidates spoke about wanting to start to write grants and look for grants that may cover the cost of renovating those particularly the Graves gravestones that have been knocked over so they're definitely aware of them and they're definitely upset by the condition of them and are primed to be in a position to actually uh advocate for having that change Bravo yeah thank you Council SM M okay ready for a motion okay so I'd like to make a motion to uh have the full city council approve the following mayl appointment app ments the first one is for Bonnie McLoud with the commission on disability with a term expiration of 1231 2025 the second is for Peter fallet for the East Hampton City Arts committee with a term expiration of 12312 Patricia for the Main Street Cemetery with a term expiration of 12 3126 Amelia Enright for the Main Street Cemetery with a term expiration of 12 3126 James Johnson for the veterans council with a term expiration of 123 12312 Yoshi bird for the affordable and fair housing committee for a term expiration of 12 3124 Charles Cambra for the veterans C council with a term expiration of 12 3126 and finally Tim Timothy Garo for the zba zoning board of appeals with a term expert ation of 12312 second okay we have a motion in this second any further discussion okay Barbara JP kazinski hi Tom Peak hi Brad Riley hi Tamara Smith hi JT Terell hi Owen Zer hi Connie Denham hi sain Derby hi okay and this concludes thank thank you councilor SM okay ordinance councilor Denham uh thank you Mr Vice President um so the um zoning ordinance Amendment proposals to amend section 10.96 um election signage and Amendment uh to add to the definition of surveyor um those have been passed along to the planning board so that's just an update there we haven't met since our last meeting um but we're waiting to to hear back regarding those um additionally regarding the request for temporary moratorium on the use of sewage sludge fertilizer in East Hampton um the the committee has been very respectful of the Agricultural um commission to have their discussion on their thoughts regarding this particular matter um I think that they're having spoken to one of the uh um Commissioners this past weekend uh they have a really diverse kind of perspective on this matter and so we want to give a lot of leeway um for those folks to be able to have that conversation and then they will um speak with us I I will be setting up a meeting um with one of their members just to get a a full update on kind of where they are in that particular process and um I will share that with our committee once that that conversation happens um other than that that's everything that the committee has to offer Council this evening thank you councelor denim uh property Council z uh no report and no meeting scheduled at this time that's concludes okay we have ru RS and government relations Council Kinski thank you uh we uh for we're going to meet on Wednesday this past week we had a scheduling conflict and we are going to meet I hope this week but we need to establish the date councelor Gomez isn't here I wondered if uh councelor Derby might be available to fill in if he can't if Council Gomez can't on Wednesday at 6:30 if that makes sense downstairs uh wherever we might find the space uh I would be available yeah downstairs in in is conference room a conf conference room one I apologize so 25th 25th 6 did you say 6 6 630 6 6:30 Finance 5:30 yeah we should be out by 6:30 yeah so I'm thinking 6:30 after the finance committee meeting uh this concludes okay uh we don't have any old business or pending business we do have some new business um so we'll start with the assistant request referred to the mayor to consider a Citywide speed limit I'm going pass that on to councelor Zar uh thank you Mr Vice President um this is a I can't comment on the um the content of the Merit of the item um the manner in which this was referred to the council is not typical for our usual policies and procedures and I had a few conversations with uh City stakeholders including the city council president vice president um citizen requests typically require a petition um or the item to be discussed with a counselor who would consider it and then the counselor Andor counselors co-sponsors would prefer it um there was also an issue with the submission in terms of City C of rule 5c um and so in order to kind of package this up in a way that I think would be more amendable with our our normal procedures uh and consistent with the charter and city council rules what I'd like to do is offer to sponsor this but reintroduce it in a way that's commensurate with uh our normal um introduction of council business including um a full uh outlay of um supporting documents and such for the the next um agenda if that's acceptable okay um so I'd like to make I I I'd like to recommend making no recommendation on this at this time with the understanding that um that I will follow up at the for the next agenda with uh a more traditional uh form of submission okay um and so we we do have a couple options here I mean we can just leave it and have the new one come in and remove this one um we could remove it without prejudice and I don't think this would slow this down any I think that if this if this is the way that we decide to go like the timing will be fine I think everything um would go pretty similarly if we had adopted it tonight um and and I'm okay to do either I guess I'll just I'll let you make that decision and you can make a motion to uh to uh remove it or St fresh yeah yeah um so what I'd like here's what I'll recommend then I'll make a motion then to move this to uh old business um and with the intention that we'll reconcile it at the next meeting pending a new submission okay anybody want to second that so is that a a recommendation to send the committee nope it moves it to Old business and then it will be introduced as the same thing but through a counselor which is the correct correct procedure procedure second okay we have a motion in second any further discussion Barbara Tom Peak hi Brad Riley hi Tamar Smith hi JT Terell hi Owen Zer hi Connie denim hi Salem Derby hi J pinski hi okay and we have um the the tax classification public hearing request on councilor Peak uh thank you Mr President uh I move uh that we uh send uh the item of the tax uh assessor fy2 tax classification public hearing request to uh finance committee for review second okay we have motion to the second any further discussion okay barara rad Riley hi Tamar Smith hi JT Terell hi Zer hi Connie denam hi Salem Derby hi JP Kinski hi Tom Peak hi okay next is the city council rules Amendment request I'll pass that over to councelor Kinski um we had a a request for immediate consideration of some items I believe no that was that's that's that's the nature of the item actually may I I'm sorry Council you want to offer some clarification not for immediate consideration it's how it's it's a proposal how the the council can handle that consideration I it's written immediate consideration I thank you very much for the clarification I'd like to move the matter of Rule 15a and Rule 55 e to committee second okay we have a motion to Second any further discussion okay Barbara Tamara Smith hi JT Terell hi Owen Zar hi Connie denam hi Salem der hi JP kazinski hi Tom Peak hi Brad Riley hi okay next is Public Safety um traffic and pedestrian sa safety on West Street councelor SAR uh thank you Mr Vice President as as noted in our in our report this is just creating a formal line item it was the committee felt it was best to introduce this as a distinct item on the agenda so at this time I'd like to request that the um agenda item traffic and pedestrian safety on West Street be moved moved uh to the Public Safety Committee for further discussion second okay we have a motion of the second any further discussion see none bar JT Terell hi Owen zeret hi Cony denim hi Salem Derby hi JP gazinski Tom Peak hi Brad Riley hi Tamar Smith hi and we have an interde departmental transfer and a supplemental appropriation councelor Peak okay uh I'll make a the uh the following thing in the form of a motion uh I move to send the following two items uh to finance for review and do my first reading um request is hereby made for approval of the following appropriation amount requested $ 48,6 6642 to be transferred from Peg access account to be transferred to Peg access account uh the amount requested will be used uh for the following purpose uh to give approval approval to uh spend from the peg access receipts reserved account for cable related purposes consistent with the franchise agreement and the second one uh request is hereby made uh for approval of the following appropriation amount requested uh $100,000 to be transferred from Capital stabilization to be transferred to mass Trails grant program Revenue the amount requested will be used for the following purpose uh this funding will serve as match funding for the mass Trails Grant manhan rail trail pavement restoration and repair project okay and do you want to set public hearings for those as well yes uh while I'm at it I will uh set sorry uh a public hearing for our next meeting is October 9th uh at 6:15 in these Chambers okay so we have a motion second okay we have a motion in a second any further discussion okay see none Barbara Owen Z hi Connie denim hi Salem Derby hi JP kazinski Tom Peak hi Brad Riley hi Tamar Smith hi JT TR hi and that concludes our new business uh so I would entertain a motion to adjourn so mve second yeah we have a motion in a second for the discussion on this one con Adam hi Sal Derby hi gazinski Tom Brad Riley hi Tam Smith hi JG TR hi hi thank you thank you Tam I appreciate it problem e