MONTICELLO — Seeking to remake the old Travel Inn motel site at 529 Broadway into an assisted living community, developer Tommy Ting was hoping the Village of Monticello Board would agree at Wednesday's meeting to amend the property's zoning to allow for the use.

The property is currently zoned B1 (General Business), which allows for hotels, nursing homes and hospitals, but not assisted living. A public hearing was held before the start of the regular meeting, with planner Robert Tessier of Heritage Consulting Services out of NJ lobbying the board for the amendment, which would clear the way for Ting to obtain the proper licensing to move forward with the proposed project.

Tessier referenced an amendment last year to the village's B2 zone (which also allows for hotels, hospitals and nursing homes) that added assisted living to allowed uses.

“I think it's that assisted living is a relatively new definition,” opined Tessier. “It has to do with the evolution in senior care… it used to be [that senior care took place] just at home and then to a nursing home, but now they've actually come up with more of a graduated level of care.”

Regarding the village's B2 zone, Tessier offered, “At the time the ordinance was written, the category of assisted living didn't exist, [but] assisted living, I think, meets the intent of your original ordinance because if you put in there 'nursing home, hospital, hotel,' assisted living is that same kind of intent.”

New Village Attorney Michael Davidoff had some concerns: “I haven't seen, nor do I know if it exists, the specific language that somebody is requesting to amend the zoning code,” he said.

Davidoff also suggested that such a change to village zoning code would require that the request be brought before, and a “recommendation” be issued by, the village planning board.

“I would recess the public hearing or adjourn it, whatever, until that occurs,” recommended Davidoff, adding, “I think it's premature.”

Much to Ting and Tessier's disappointment, the board unanimously decided to adjourn the public hearing until the proposal was in fact brought before the planning board.

Ting complained that he had already met with the planning board regarding the project and it had sent him to the village board.

Resolutions tabled

During the regular portion of the meeting, the board tabled two amendments added to the agenda by Trustee Carmen Rue late last week. The first was a measure that would reverse a December 2013 decision by the prior board to move the Village Building Department, all of its files and Code Enforcement Officer James Snowden, from their usual location in Village Hall on Pleasant Street, to the Ted Stroebele Recreation Center on Jefferson Street. The resolution called for new Village Manager Ray Nargizian to oversee the move.

The second resolution would seek to reverse a May 2012 change in village operation. The board voted to revoke then acting Police Chief Mark Johnstone's ability to take home his work vehicle in what it claimed was a cost saving measure. Rue, however, saw the move as an affront to Johnstone and the department.

Wednesday's tabled measure called for reinstatement of the ability for current Monticello Police Chief Robert Mir to take his work vehicle home. The measure further directed all department heads to “park all village vehicles at Village Hall at the end of each work day,” with the exception of Mir.

Rue, who was the only board member Wednesday to vote yes on the two measures, with Trustees Doug Solomon and Jill Weyer prefering to table both, said, “The chief's car is specially equipped for him and as it stands now he has to come to Village Hall from his home to pick that car up during emergencies, causing valuable time to be wasted.”

Trustee Larissa Bennett was not present for the two votes, arriving much later in the meeting.

“I was shocked,” offered Rue in a Thursday Morning interview with the Democrat. “They [Solomon and Weyer] wanted these measures on the agenda and instead tabled them.”

For his part, Solomon offered, “We [he and Weyer] didn't necessarily want these items on the agenda last night. These are items that have been spoken about to a degree, but we're not ready to move on them yet.

“We're not in a rush to do anything without proper procedure and a plan in place,” continued Solomon. “These are items that need to be thought out more.”

Two resolutions that the board could agree on stemmed from the nearly failed village bid to obtain United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) funding for two critical projects: A $21.5 million wastewater treatment plant improvement project, and a nearly $6,000,000 water project.

The measures “re-affirmed” the boards desire to continue moving forward with the two projects, and most importantly, to continue seeking USDA funding for them.

Funding for the projects came into jeopardy after a damning state audit of the village's finances earlier this year raised several red flags.

In a February 6 letter to Jenkins, the USDA outlined their concerns, which included issues with loan and grant underwriting, control issues in the village, the lack of a permanent village manager at the time and more.

The USDA demanded “corrective measures” take place and that proof of such be provided before they would “approve additional advances of funding or approve the projects to start construction.” The government agency additionally granted the village a 90-day window from the date of the correspondence to hire a new manager.

Solomon is hopeful about the prospects: “It looks like these projects are going to be kept alive and that's great because we're down to the wire here. I really think we're in good shape and I spoke with Glenn Gidaly [of engineering and consulting firm Barton and Loguidice] and he said we were right on-track.”

A public hearing to dissolve a Police Commission, set up by Jenkins back in 2011, was set for May 7, the board's next regular meeting.

“How can we have a man convicted in a Liberty court as a criminal heading up a Police Commission,” said Rue. “It's not even a functioning body. It only has two board members and is supposed to have three.”

As for Jenkins, he said, “I'm tired of the back and forth with Carmen. She can say what she wants and I could honestly care less if I chair the police commission. I'm not about titles. I don't care about being mayor, manager or anything involving titles… I'm about doing the right thing for the community I live in and I truly believe that the Police Commission is a much needed resource for the residents of Monticello. People have lots of complaints about the police force in this village because there's just absolutely no ‘community policing' here in the village. The commission gives them [village residents] a place to vent and bring their issues before things get way out of hand. I'd actually love for Carmen to chair the commission if she likes, or at least be a part of its board.“The police in the village need to get out of their cars and walk around and say hi to the people on the street… that's community policing.”