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Residents contest Menands Village drafts for alarm, irrigation and solar rules during public hearings
Summary
The village held public hearings on three proposed local laws—nuisance alarm, lawn irrigation, and solar energy systems. Some residents supported the measures for safety and environment, while others criticized the drafts as duplicative, containing loopholes, or imposing dual permitting with the Town of Colony.
Menands Village opened public hearings on Local Law No. 3 (nuisance alarm), No. 4 (lawn irrigation systems) and No. 5 (solar energy systems, chapter 141). Resident Bill consistently spoke in favor of the three measures, citing public safety, welfare and environmental benefits. "For health and welfare, public safety and efficiency reasons, I do support local law number three," Bill said during the nuisance alarm hearing.
An online speaker who identified himself as Brian objected to the drafts and repeatedly urged the board to revise language. Brian said the drafts appear duplicative of Town of Colony code and could create enforcement loopholes. "I rise in opposition to the new nuisance alarm law as quite frankly it appears to be highly duplicative of current code..." he told the board. Brian said the irrigation draft reads "like an RFP" and appears to apply only to contractors, leaving homeowner-installed systems exempt unless a homeowner chooses to obtain a permit.
Board members discussed the concerns on the record. On the irrigation law, trustees agreed it would be acceptable to expand the language to make clear whether homeowners must obtain permits and to correct contractor-only phrasing rather than tabling the law for an entirely new hearing. The board closed the hearings and proceeded to the regular meeting; motions to adopt the local laws and associated procedural items were made and carried by voice vote according to the transcript.
Why it matters: these local laws will change permit and enforcement responsibilities for property owners and contractors, and they include fee changes that residents and businesses will pay. Several commenters cautioned about duplicative permitting with the Town of Colony, which could create additional cost burdens unless language is clarified.
The board also reviewed a fee schedule tied to the local laws. The transcript records permit fees discussed for alarm, irrigation and solar permits (for example, the irrigation residential permit was discussed as $100 and commercial permit as $200; the solar permit structure was described as $10 per $1,000 of construction value after an initial tier), but several fee figures in the record are garbled. The board moved to adopt the fee schedule as amended and approved it by voice vote.
Ending: The hearings are closed and the board moved forward with adoption votes and fee adjustments on the consent agenda; trustees directed staff to revise unclear language in the irrigation draft to address contractor/homeowner coverage and said they would incorporate changes without requiring a new public hearing when the changes are non-substantive.
