Village of Dering Harbor
Board of Trustees Meeting
Minutes

March 8th, 2025, 9:00 AM

• The meeting was called to order at 9:14am
• Attendance- Ari Benacerraf (mayor), Samuel Ashner, Karen Kelsey, Eric Deutsch; absent- Tom Kusner; Vicki Shields (village clerk), Donna Ritzzmann (stenographer), Ken Kraus (GBCC), Eric Spies
• A motion to accept the minutes from the January 25th^th, 2025 meeting was moved by Sam and seconded by Eric seconded. All Board members present voted in favor.
• A motion for a resolution authorizing payment of the monthly abstract, with payment to Chris Johnson subject to a walk-through with Eric Deutsch and receipt of pothole proposal, was moved by Sam and seconded by Eric. All Board members voted in favor.
• New Business

1. 1. Presentation of Tentative Budget for FY 2025/26 to the board. Sam said that he has been successful in, so far, not piercing the Tax Cap. This year’s budget (the amount to be raised by taxes) is $167,240.00, which is a 3.77% increase over last year’s budget. Part of the increased revenue is related to what the village collects in permit fees, which has increased because of the increase in construction in the village. He also projects some permitting and licensing fees related to the harbor management. But neither is a revenue generating source because of the associated costs of permitting and the review process. The cost of insuring the village is projected to increase 10% based on an estimate from the insurance carrier. IT costs seem high to Sam and he wants to talk to Charlene about how they compare to other villages. Vicki explained that part of the increase was related to a discussion she had with Tim Collins about cyber security and the new insurance the village needs to carry related to cyber security. Some things like fuel oil have gone up, which is out of anyone’s control. Sam pointed out that there is $1,200 budgeted for repair to Village Hall in next year’s budget, which may want to be reexamined ahead of the final budget, if there are any capital improvement projects that need to be done to Village Hall. Ari asked Sam to make sure there is money in the budget for the code enforcer. Sam said that one thing that has never been budgeted for is street lights. Sam suggested looking into that. Karen suggested the sconces on the front of Village Hall be put on some sort of smart system where the lights can be controlled remotely. Also, a number of residents have complained about the color of the street lights. Sam spoke about the road paving and asked Karen to explain the process, which she did and said it needs more work. Sam described which roads are slated to be paved this FY versus upcoming years. He did say that the job that was done in 2022 has held up. Karen had a question about the budget line item on legal expenses. Last year the amount was very low. Sam explained that the amount he put into the draft budget is closer to what was spent in 2024 and 2023 as a safety measure.
   2. A motion for a resolution to schedule a Special Meeting on Friday, April 25^th for the purposes of holding a Public Hearing on the Tentative Budget was moved by Eric and seconded by Karen. All Board members present voted in favor.
   3. A motion for a resolution to schedule a Public Hearing to hear any and all persons either for or against the Annual Estimated and Tentative Budget for FY 2025/26 was moved by Sam and seconded by Karen. All Board members present voted in favor.
   4. A motion for a resolution to accept a proposal from Dunn Engineering Associates, P.C. was moved by Sam and seconded by Eric. All Board members present voted in favor.
   5. The tree removal application for 3 Gardiner Way was rescinded by the applicant.

• Old Business

1. 1. The review of a tree removal application received from Fred Hyatt on behalf of GBCC to remove trees at 2 Dering Woods Road continued. Ken Kraus explained the premise for the application, which is to maintain the turf health of the green nearby. It is in shade for a large portion of the day and has been a problem in the past. He said the scope of the work may change because of the proposed work at 2 Dering Woods Road. Ari clarified that the trees in question are on Cristopher Sprigman’s property. Ken Kraus handed out a sheet explaining the reasoning and the sheet was made part of the record. Eric asked if the big fan that is often seen used in the area would cease and Ken said that is his hope. The application was tabled until GBCC and the property owner of 2 Dering Woods reaches out to the clerk.
   2. Pothole repair- Chris Johnson repaired the potholes but never submitted a proposal to Vicki as requested, for the purposes of requesting CHIPS reimbursement for the work. Eric said he would follow up with Chris on this.
   3. Update on tree maintenance- Eric is going to look at the original scope document and check on what was done. Karen asked about one tree on Dering Woods Road that was slated to come down, because it limits visibility, that has not been taken down. Eric apologized that it was not scoped. They were focused on getting rid of all the dead limbs. Eric agreed with Karen that taking down that tree needs to be revisited.

• There was no new litigation to discuss.
• A motion to appoint Margarita Benacerraf to the ZBA, to fill the seat vacated by Eric Deutsch, was moved by Sam and seconded by Karen. 3 votes in favor, 1 abstention (Ari). Motion passed.
• Sam asked Vicki to reach out to Bridgford to update the terms for the various board members. Karen followed up with concerns about the website.
• A motion to go into Executive Session at 10:04 am to discuss Litigation/Personnel was moved by Eric and seconded by Karen. All Board members present voted in favor.
• A motion to come out of Executive Session at 10:47am was moved by Eric and seconded by Sam. All Board members present voted in favor.
• Date for Special Trustees meeting– Friday, April 25th, 2025, at 11:00AM
• Date for next regular Trustees meeting –Saturday, April 26th, 2025 at 9:00AM
• A motion to adjourn at 10:47am was moved by Sam and seconded by Eric. All Board members present voted in favor.