The Board of Trustees opened its March 25 meeting with a public hearing on the proposed $20 million village budget for fiscal year 2026-27 — and not a single resident showed up to comment. The hearing was opened and closed in under a minute. The real fireworks came during the second hearing, on Local Law No. 3, a sweeping zoning code cleanup that would, among other things, slash the minimum distance for chicken coops from 50 feet to 15 feet from property lines and scale the number of fowl allowed based on lot size. {{photo:1142:3049:Board Of Trustees meeting}} Truesdale Drive resident Matthew Rubenstein delivered a pointed five-minute critique. "Ten fowl, 15 feet from a neighbor's property line — that's problematic," he told the board, describing clouds of dust drifting from a neighbor's coop onto his property. He noted the irony of the village mailing bird flu advisories while simultaneously proposing to move coops closer to homes. Rubenstein also recounted a failed attempt to get the engineering department to enforce an existing order against a noisy coop — an order that was ultimately rescinded rather than enforced. {{quote:3052}} The board also heard from Ed Riley, who used his five minutes to blast the village's legislative priorities list, calling New York State "one of the worst legislatures in the United States" and arguing that the school district's $2.5 million investment in five electric buses was a cautionary tale against rushing into climate-related spending. Riley questioned the village's credibility on zero-emission initiatives, citing a police car that had to be "repurposed" after failing to perform as expected. {{quote:3855}} Village Manager Bryan Healy reported that Dobbs Park renovations won't be finished by opening day but a fenced walkway will allow access to the fields for the parade. The rental registry letters have gone out — residents with non-10520 mailing addresses may have received them in error and should contact the engineering department. The new 3% occupancy tax on short-term rentals takes effect April 1, with the first payment due in July. The board also learned that Quaker Bridge tree removal is complete, but the project remains stalled awaiting Army Corps of Engineers approval. DPW will begin site work at Gouveia Park next week, clearing areas before the growing season. And residents with village tax exemptions that aren't on the Town of Cortlandt roll need to file by May 1 to keep them.