10/23/23 Bspa Trustee Meeting Summary
👉 ICYMI here’s a summary of the 3 hour Village of Ballston Spa Board of Trustees 10/23 meeting in 24 emojis: 📣📖🇺🇸🗳️✅🪧
News to know:
Someone is breaking into Angelica site from Tedisco trail; DPW working to get fence fixed ASAP
Library raised $200K+, moving forward with construction drawings and expected to get bids for construction in May
ADA Committee reviewing sidewalk priorities on 11/6 at 6:30PM in Library; meeting open to the public
BSBPA looking for Xmas tree donation for Wiswall Park; contact Dana@ballston.org
Leaf vac truck pick up starting now; make sure to get leaves out curbside ASAP
DPW will be patching various roads and filling in gaps between new ADA sidewalks/roads in the coming weeks
Park & Tree board seeking feedback from Colonial Hills residents on new benches; contact CaitlinParwana@gmail.com
🚸 Sidewalk law
🚦Speed registers may be placed at Malta Ave, Milton Ave, Church Ave, Rowland and Fairground also being considered to curb speeding
Motions passed (we agree on):
☮️ Passed Village Resolution statement from all trustees on Israeli and Palestinian innocent lives
🚚 Mayor to commit to Mangino Chevrolet dealership the intent to buy one-ton dump truck on behalf of DPW; discussion still needed on whether will be financed at 8% interest rate or will be purchased outright from village fund balance.
⚙️ Approved LaBella Associates to create proposal for immediate fix for Pulp Street Mill drainage structure
Motions tabled (needs more discussion):
📑 Village lawyer recommends not turning the committee policy into a village law since the policy has been updated twice since June when it went into effect. It would be very difficult to make any updates if was a law and we should make sure the policy version that stands today does not need updates before making into a law. Mayor Rossi (R), Trustee VanDeinse-Perez (R), Trustee Raymond (I) voted to table; Trustee Kormos (D) and Trustee Baskin (D) voted not to table.
Call to action:
📣1️⃣ Tuesday’s 3 hour Village Board meeting brought positive progress on a revised ethics code for village officials and employees with a unanimously approved motion to move forward with public comment on 10/23. If you care about the erosion of norms regarding conflicts of interest that we see on a national stage with Supreme Court justices and congresspeople, this revised ethics code seeks to ensure the same does not happen locally. Add your voice of support for a strong, enforceable ethics law during the public hearing at 7:01 in the next village meeting on 10/23.
Relatedly, our Democratic Trustees made the case to codify the revised committee policy, which helps ensure any citizens interested in serving on committees or boards in the village receive fair consideration. Long-time village democrats may recall years in which committees and boards were dominated by the same insiders, mostly local republicans. No one should be denied opportunities to serve their community based on their political party affiliation and our democratic trustees are continuing to fight to ensure that no longer happens. Find the committee policy on the village website and voice your support in public comment or via email to any trustee.
Call to action pt. 2:
📣 2️⃣ Mayor Rossi (R) and Trustee VanDeinse-Perez (R) again this week failed to address a question raised in public comment at the meeting about the deletion of comments on official Facebook pages. This question has been raised before and, if the allegations are accurate, raises concerns about the misuse of social media and potential infringement on first amendment rights. Democratic Trustees have followed the village lawyer’s suggestion to turn off comments in order to avoid situations just like this. In a village of friends, no one’s voice should be removed from the public square because of their political stance or their opinion on government.
We thank Trustee Kormos for fighting to ensure that water & sewer billing data - which is critical to make an informed decision about the future of our water infrastructure - was finally made available after 18 months of delay. It is concerning to see both the mayor and his fellow Republican trustee vote against providing this data and information to their colleagues, consultants and the revenue committee. The public has made complaints on how slowly the board has acted on water infrastructure like fixing the John St water tower and these delays in securing data don’t help.
Call to action pt. 3:
📖We need a strong and enforceable ethics law now more than ever. We call on all members of the public to speak up in support in the next meeting on 10/23 via emailing the village clerk or in public comment.
🇺🇸 As we saw in this week’s meeting with the discussion around financing key investments like the water tower and DPW equipment, it is crucial that our elected officials make sound financial decisions that prevent our village’s finances from sliding back into the red as we saw under previous Republican administrations. We call on all Village Democrats to support our candidate, Kamran Parwana in his campaign for village trustee this fall to keep the guardrails on and our village finances secure.
🗳️ Make a plan now to VOTE on 11/7 for Kamran (✅check one and done on the first line of the ballot!). If you want your Trustee vote to count for Kamran Parwana, you need to VOTE ONCE for Trustee. If you vote for Kamran AND a Republican candidate, your vote for Kamran will be cancelled out and BOTH Republican Trustee candidates will win. Kamran Parwana is the ONLY TRUSTEE to vote for on 11/7!
🪧 Consider putting a sign of support in your yard to remind your neighbors to vote on 11/7! Email miltondemocratsny@gmail.com to request a yard sign today!
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