At the Village of Montgomery’s September 3 meeting, Mayor Mike Hembury announced that all future board meetings would be held on the village hall’s first floor, as the building’s upper floor and senior center were not ADA-compliant. The problem? The first floor can only accommodate 28 people, creating complications for the village’s September 17 meeting.

During last Tuesday’s session, about 40 residents crowded the village hall’s meeting room, some of them without seats and standing along the walls. Bruce Yancewicz, the village’s building inspector, appeared early into the meeting and ordered everyone to leave the room since the crowd exceeded the maximum capacity. Once everyone was outside, he instructed the residents on the meeting’s agenda to return to the room first, followed by non-agenda residents, until the room reached its 28-person limit.

“We got too many people in here, you’re going to have to vacate,” Yancewicz said. “What we’re all going to do is go outside orderly, then let people back in. I’ll be outside watching you go out.”

This caused a small commotion in the crowd; some residents shouted that they were being illegally removed from the meeting, while others said that these circumstances violated New York State’s Open Meetings Law. After 15 minutes of shuffling, most of the residents returned to the meeting room, but many were unable to reenter and listened to the board from the doorway. In response, Trustee Randi Picarello spent the rest of the meeting standing at the doorway so residents outside could hear her better.

During public comment, Resident Walt Pachuki reiterated residents’ biggest request: to hold the board meetings in the senior center. While he acknowledged that the senior center needs to be updated and appreciated the board’s progress, he asserted that the building is a safer, larger place to conduct meetings compared to the village hall.

“I understand that there is ADA-compliance work being done in the senior center at this time. When that is done, I’m requesting that this board commit to holding all future village meetings at that building,” Pachuki said. “I’ve never heard any reason from anyone why that isn’t the best place to hold meetings such as this.”

“It’s wrong that the people in the hallway can’t hear. A very simple solution is to hold the meeting in the senior center tonight,” he continued. “I don’t think it’s against the law or the fire code that we drive down to the senior center and have a meeting there. Is it fully handicap-accessible? No, there’s not a push button or pavers, that work is being done.”

Pachuki suggested that the board could hold its meetings in another area, such as the Valley Central School District, until the senior center is fully ADA-compliant. He also requested that the board post updates on the senior’s progress and collect feedback from residents about improving the village’s accessibility.

Picarello, speaking directly to the board, referenced a comment that Resident James Kiernan made during the September 3 meeting. She explained how other village meetings, such as those for NY Forward, are held at the senior center, promoting participation from residents. She warned the mayor and trustees that the board meetings’ current conditions discourage participation, and she hoped to discuss the subject more during this meeting.

Resident Katrina Tipton read a portion of the Open Meeting Law, emphasizing that the board must accommodate all residents during its meetings. She asserted that the meetings’ current state could lead to a lawsuit against the village down the road.

“I wanted to read a section of Open Meetings Law to the board, which says: ‘Public bodies shall make or cause to be made all reasonable efforts to ensure that meetings are held in an appropriate facility which can adequately accommodate members of the public who wish to attend such meetings,” Tipton said.

In a post-meeting conversation, Hembuery asserted that he wanted to hold the meetings at the senior center but his attorney advised against it due to the building’s incomplete accessibility. He assured residents that once the senior center is completely updated, he will be open to holding meetings there if additional capacity is needed.

“I wanted to hold them at the senior center, but our attorney told us no since the senior center is not in compliance,” Hembury said. “I signed a contract to bring the senior center up to ADA compliance and we’re hoping to have the building ready by the next meeting or the meeting after that. We just need residents to give us patience.”