Town of North Salem Town Board Regular Meeting/Worksession - April 22, 2025

The Town Board of North Salem met in person and via Zoom on April 22, 2025. The meeting opened with a 6 p.m. executive session for planning board interviews and personnel matters; the regular meeting resumed at approximately 7:14 p.m. The board approved minutes, set Croton Falls parking rates, extended two Application Processing Restrictive Law (APRL) waivers, authorized water-district repairs, approved tax refunds and a cemetery plot buyback, amended a vehicle purchase resolution, and discussed Delancey Hall renovation assessments.

Executive Session

• The board unanimously approved entering executive session for board interviews and personnel matters before reconvening the regular meeting.

Approval of Minutes

• Minutes from the March 11, 2025 regular meeting/worksession, the March 25, 2025 public hearing, and the March 25, 2025 regular meeting/worksession were approved unanimously.

Discussion Items

• Croton Falls Parking Rates: The board reviewed the proposed 2025 rate schedule, noting that the $800 commuter rate has not been raised in 20 years and that the town pays New York City one-third of gross parking fees. The $100 business-owner rate and $350 town-resident rate were considered reasonable. They also discussed adding time-limited signage (for example, 3-hour parking) near the green space, and a new parking meter/app was reported working after an initial issue. The board revised the schedule header to 2025 Croton Falls Parking Rates effective July 1, 2025; the agenda had listed 2024 Croton Falls Parking Rates.
• Candlewood Park Water District Equipment: The board discussed two needed repairs: $3,960 for radio controls for two wells (after a storm fried the original controls; reservoir capacity is 70,000 gallons and the district had roughly $45,000 fund balance), and $17,380 for two 4-inch insertion valves because existing gate valves no longer work and a leak could drain the reservoir before shutdown. The vendor is the only maker of these valves; residents had not yet been notified, but the superintendent planned to inform them.
• Delancey Hall Renovations: The board discussed an upcoming visual assessment and probe work by Bob Gabowski and engineers, including pulling siding at identified problem areas: between two second-story windows, below a window outside Andrea's office, and along the west side sill. The assessment will inform the level of intervention needed (for example, quick fix, 20-, 50-, or 100-year fix), maintenance advice, water-barrier/drip-plane details, and window options. The timing is tied to the 250th anniversary deadline.

Key Outcomes

• Approved the 2025 Croton Falls parking rate schedule effective July 1, 2025, including $100 business-owner, $350 town-resident, and $800 commuter rates (unanimous).
• Approved a three-month extension of the APRL waiver for Martin Monaghan and Catherine McGinn, 113 Mills Road, originally granted July 26, 2022, until July 24, 2025 (unanimous).
• Approved a three-month extension of the APRL waiver for Dawn Bossey, 2 Brookside Lane, originally granted October 24, 2023, until July 24, 2025 (unanimous).
• Authorized release of planning board escrow to Susan Morth for 324 Hardscrabble Road in the amount of $861.30, as approved by the Planning Board on April 9, 2025 (unanimous).
• Authorized $17,380 to Jack Farrelly Company for two 4-inch insertion valves for the Candlewood Park Water District, per quote dated February 10, 2025 (unanimous).
• Authorized $3,960 to Water Services Inc to supply and install radio controls for two wells in the Candlewood Park Water District, per quote dated March 19, 2025 (unanimous).
• Authorized tax refunds totaling $6,618.25 to Mocray Acquisition One LLC, payable to Herman Katz LLP, for Section 10 Block 1735 Lot 180 ($3,251.72) and Lot 181 ($3,366.53) for the 2021-2022 tax years (unanimous).
• Authorized buyback of Peach Pond Cemetery plot 5, section 3 from Arthur Wilkes for $350 (unanimous).
• Amended Resolution #335-24 to authorize purchase of a Freightliner cab and chassis for $164,534, charged to budget 020.535130.205, per quote dated April 3, 2025 (unanimous). Note: the agenda listed the vendor as Tracey Road Equipment, Inc., while the transcript identifies the vendor as Deal Truck World New York Freightliner.
• Approved the March 11, 2025 regular meeting/worksession minutes, the March 25, 2025 public hearing minutes, and the March 25, 2025 regular meeting/worksession minutes (unanimous).