Dear neighbor: In June of 2016 | heard rumors about money being taken out of the Redwood water and sewer funds and not properly accounted for. | then asked councilman John Stine to look into the matter. Our town supervisor Dale Hunneyman stated at the August 2016 town board ‘meeting that he intended to take out a loan [from a bank] on behalf of the Redwood Sewer District to pay back funds owed to the Town of Alexandria's general fund. He claimed that the town has been covering the Redwood budget shortages with the Town of Alexandria's general fund money for years and that the NY State Comptroller demanded the money be paid back by end of the fiscal year. This intention was announced in the TI Sun newspaper In August 2016. ‘As a part of my investigation, | started by asking questions to town board members followed by a FOIL request on October 18, 2016. | discovered that $227,215.25 was taken out of the Redwood Water and Sewer bank accounts and deposited into the town’s general fund in March 2026. (this was 75% of the annual budget after only 2 months of fiscal year) | have asked the Town of Alexandria supervisor, town board members, town accountant, and notified the town lawyer that ! want an accounting of every penny of that money and to include what it was for and proof of how it was spent. To date, | have not been given that documentation. Additionally, itis my understanding that there should have been an accounting made, and documentation presented, before the money was transferred, withdrawn, or approved by the town board. Further, the town clerk asked for an accounting of the money in March 2016 ‘when the transfer was done so she could have appropriate documentation for her records. (she did not receive any) The town clerk collects and deposits funds into these accounts and therefore requires appropriate documentation for her records. The law requires the town supervisor to file and keep financial records with the town clerk. At the March town board meeting the town clerk again asked for documentation of the $227,215.00 or if they plan to put money back into the districts. She was told "no comment” by the town board. The board then announced it was going into executive session. No financial transactions of this, type are allowed to be discussed in executive session by law. To date the town clerk has been not given documentation for this transaction, nor complete documentation for subsequent transactions.Further, | discovered that the full sum of money that the Town Supervisor had intended to borrow was $130,000.00. However, | can find no evidence that Redwood owed this amount of money in any of the town’s records. Two of the town board members admitted to me that they had not seen any documents to support that amount and they are unclear how that amount was determined, | asked them if they had seen any documents from the comptroller demanding a sum of money be paid back to the town's general fund. They stated they had not seen any such documents. | asked the town supervisor to produce all documents related to the claim that the comptroller demand this money be repaid by the end of the year. | also asked what documentation and information he used to calculate the $130,000.00 was owed to the town's general fund. To date, he has ot produced those documents or any information supporting his claims. The ‘town supervisor again claimed at January 2017 town meeting that redwood sewer ‘owed over $100,000 to general fund and was not challenged by any of the board members. 2 board members admitted to me that they had never seen any documentation to support supervisors claim for this amount prior to this meeting. Ihave documentation of these conversations (meeting minutes are available at ‘town office) why did these 2 board members not challenge this claim? have not received all the documents and information that were requested in my FOIL request that is now over 90 days old. Itis my opinion that the only reason this loan has not happened is because | started asking questions and demanding answers. | am confident if records are produced and audit performed, the final result will be that redwood sewer district does not owe the town general fund money. have recently discovered that the Redwood sewer district had money in what 7 ‘was called the Chilton fund, This was money awarded to the district by a law suit filed against the engineering company that designed the district. I have recently discovered old meeting minutes and sewer bank account statements showing $116,453.00 in a savings CD in 1998. 1tis possible this money is not accounted for and is missing. | have reviewed budgets from 1999 until present and | believe they do not account for this money ever being spent. In fact, in 1999, the Redwood sewer had $177,295.00 in a capital reserve fund and $66,302.65 in an operating fund, By reviewing budgets from 1999 until present, | believe it can be determined that the capital fund and operating fund have not been depleted. This could mean we have $116,453.00 owed to us plus interest which would be substantial. We need to investigate to ensure we get this money back if not accounted for! The districtis old and needs many updates. If we cannot reclaim this money, we will ikely need to borrow money adding to debt and causing rate increases. The town supervisor and others have been determined to raise rates 35% this year. | have fought hard to stop this and get accounting for our money but | need your help. Please come to town board meeting Wednesday, February 15° at 6pm and voice your opinion or just come to show your support. | am considering hosting a town hall meeting at the Redwood fire hall if there is enough interest and we can’t be heard at town hall meeting. | have asked to be on the agenda and have not heard back. | had also asked to be on the agenda for the December 2016 meeting and was told no and there would be no public comments allowed. Please email me at, oldsrocket403@gmall.com if you are interested in more information and would like to attend a meeting or would like to share your thoughts. | will be posting some info on weretheheckisredwoodny Facebook page. The TI Sun will not print any articles | have submitted even though | offered to run them as paid advertisements. Please also email Assemblywoman Addie Jenne at jennea@nyassembly.gov and NYS Senator Patty Ritchie at ritchie@nysenate.gov and Congresswoman Elise Stefanik at Stefanik.house.gov which has an email link and let them know we reed them to look into this matter and follow up with Attorney General and Comptroller. | am only one voice and | feel this issue is not being taken as serious as it should be. I need your help and support if we are going to get the necessary changes made that affect all of us. | have included complaint form for the attorney general's office please fill out and mail if you agree we need full investigation of our funds to include Redwood water funds which | also believe are not properly accounted for. The more complaints they receive the more serious it will be taken. Please take time to mail this in. We need accountability of 7 our hard-earned money! ‘The town clerk has been our best advocate for transparency and accounting for ‘our money that has been intrusted to the town, She deserves our thanks and gratitude. Please call her office or stop in personally and thank her. She has worked diligently to get proper billing and accounting changes made that for some reason the town board resists Sincerely: Dan Peterson, Chairman of the Redwood Citizens Committee and its members: Will Farman, Penny Kring, Eileen Kalee!Town of Alexandria Board Mesting Febroary 17,2016 Minutes were hen by Supervisor Dale Hunnesman afer ecutive session Fr the Re-pening ofthe oar Meeting lexcctive Session ended a 7-20pn aud Bou Mesting reopened per Supervisor Hunneyman. + Motion to tansier money to specific Hin items, Information was given to Bookkesper from Financial ‘Oficer) Motion made by Joli Stine and seconded by Brent Sweet, All wer in favor Attached above is section of town mooting minutes for February 17, 2016. These minutes’ shove that ‘own board ended public meeting by gong into executive session, (Which is when everyone leaves because we are not allowed in executive session) Then afterall the people left and executive session was over, reopened the meeting and voted on money transfers that were kept elusive and nonspesifc. this is highly suspicious and unusual, possibly illogl and definitely not ethical! financial issues are ‘normally done at beginning of meeting discussed and voted on in font of the genersl public, This is done that way by design for transparency and socountabilty. (are these transfers rlated tothe 227,215.00 in question) none given oe water and sone Town Cle asked ne i fi oe ea te spor Dati. Te oDa Ot retconment Noon made to go nto Executive Session by Bret Sweet and seconded by Tom Pet, Alin {vor Motion parse. ‘At 8:00pm Executive Session Attached above is section of town meoting minutes of March 2016 town meeting, These minutes" show that town clerk asked town board and supervisor if they intended to return the $227,215.00 back to water and sewer accounts that had en transferred into general funds. The board didnot. 3 ‘comment, but rather made motion to go into exscutive session. This is again highly suspicious and ‘ethical By law town board isnot supposed to talk secrely about financial transactions of this ype ‘Why did they not answer or discuss question? The wn pane oak os “Tithe Redwood Sener Dit © ‘Anached above is copy of August 2016 TI Sun newspaper article, announcing the towns plan to borrow moneyFINANCIAL REPORT: The financial report was discussed. Supervisor Sutton reported that the balance due onthe loan was about $374,000. The principal of $12,900 {is being paid out of the capital fund andthe interest of $19,350 is being paid out ofthe ‘yearly budget. There is about 15 years worth of principal left in the capital fund with ‘bout 20 years let on the debt. $23,000 has been used out ofthe “Chilton Fund” to pay ‘Bach's for tepairs tothe sewer and to buy the 4-wheeler. We have tobe careful with the Attached above is financial report dated January 25, 2001 this report states thatthe istrict oes ‘$374,000.00 and there is 20 years left onthe debe (2022) and talks about money used out of "Chilton fund" there is no mention of loan for $93,400.00 or its balance. Attached below you will see section ‘of bond report showing all Bond (loans) recorded for town, Wha is this bond? low was it used” ‘Both bonds show maturity date of (2029). The sewer district was started in 1992 and was supposed to 'be 30-year ond (2022). Did they borrow money sometime ago without ur knowledge? BOND ‘BOND Oot [SEWER REDWOO) TORT THAI | SO Bs, Go] — $70,000 2000 |SEWER (REDWOOD) 12/23/1882] 12712020 | 5.00% $37 481] — $2500) i ES) md tached below is section of minutes fom November 2000 regarding financial report. History does ‘often repeat itself, Ihave not been unable to obtain satisfactory answers, I don’t know how much money we have, and it has not been productive asking accountant questions T have been called a ir ca pr ges va agement he gue sown on te epg te omen fi Princo prio of he de. He ons ot te S900, peas a haven ewe wait tt te Cait Opring cnt Hempel a ee ns enn Po nd bas en woes stirs asic ste, nvapensew Mopereer aera oracted bythe Town fr bookkeeping Servaes Chrmn Hartman need tat i ; mn Harman isis the manne in wbih twas set upon the computer. Quesion was Heart == do me acualy know white ha ne do ‘aver Discsson concerning the previous discrepancies noted on he report was hear. was sagged Roget cred hi onion hn he ated pre his ene wh the res ht be was ‘alle ‘ia’ and trough hin, every member of this bord accusing» at be weno ‘pst. Lion Coles nated ht har bsonations ota Thesvomins as ee eae Atachod is copy of email sont town attorney. I would like to note that there are records on line ‘and I eventually was given the link. However, these records are not at ll responsive tomy fol requests and do not go back to dates in question. The records Ihave were given tome by former sewer committee member and town clerk who has been very helpful and has asisted me as much as possible. Financial records requested should have been responded to and produced by town ‘supervisor o accountant at his equest‘On Fri, Dec 16, 2016 a 9:16 AM, Dan and Shannon P< > wrote: 1 Joe your last email asserts that your Fist knowledge of my foil request on 10-18-2016 ‘was on 12-15-2016? Please clarify if this is correct. In response to yout earlier emma that, ‘you are unaware ofthe specifics listed th specific laws and ecords that are not on ile with clerk or that she doesnot realize she has accesso. I am asking you to inform ‘supervisor that it is hs responsibility to make sure se has these documents and that she ‘has access to them. if they are electronic and require password or training on computer ‘rogram used toile them, the clerk needs the password and traning/instuction on using {his program. The law clearly states supervisor isto provide various documents to town clerk, I have alteady listed some very specific documents referenced in town la. These records clearly should already be prepared an filed with town clerk if these documents are not prepared yet and reside with accountant then we are taking about an additional and separate violation. Further had meeting with town supervisor Dale Hunneyman and ‘own Board member Brent Sweet yesterday. During this meeting we discussed some of ry concerns and had phone conference with Sherry Ferguson our town accountant. The accountant attempted to give a verbal explanation that I felt was not acceptable and nota direct answer to my inquiry. When | pressed the accountant to provide more accurate and specific details she became very agitated, belligerent and spewed various insults. She then finished by saying conversation is aver and I assume is fusing to cooperate in providing records Iam requesting. Joe this is not my first deo, 1 know what it means ‘when people refuse to cooperate in these circumstances. Further she mentioned information is online via cloud and that anyone has access. Neither town supervisor or -Mr. Sweet could bring this information up on computer for me. Both clsimed they dia’. ‘know how. So ask you joe how is it posible that our town supervisor that we also pay to be financial officer cannot access financial records? And town board member wh is Supposed to be his oversight also cannot? To get more specific now on key topic of concer. It appears that $177,215.25 was withdrawn from redwood water and sewer district on March 4 2016 and deposited into general fund that sume day. This was done after town clerk refused to sign check transferring money to that account without supervisor or accountant providing adequate ‘documentation forthe expenses elated to request. tis town policy that 2signature's are needed to issue a check. It would appear that town supervisor not only refused to provide documentation but also circumvented procedures. To be clear, to date there as not been any documentation provided to town clerk for this $177,215.25. I refer you to town lw ‘section 125(1) and 125 (2) a8 0f 8-22-2016 there has been $307,569.65 withdeswn from ‘redwood water and sewer account which is over adopted budget and isnot properly accounted for. This i not rocket science I um asking them to prove the money Was spent on district the money belongs to. Spevfialy, itemized detail eport and possibly receipts if anything online items looks suspicious. {am requesting that you advise town supervisor ofall legal obligations regarding what {have described and compel everyone involved to comply with my request for this information in relation o fol request that is ‘naw over 60 days from date received which Iam sure you are aware i in violation of| {il Please share all eorespondence and corrective actions, sere are several concerned taxpayers. This situation needs tobe hundled with complete transparency oF more ‘questions and concerns and likely distrust could result.Avroeser 19:44 ax susenso0ss FLEET BAO Boos neDW000 SEWER DISTRICT cermarso nevenut porn. von, grave réceves pecae> = ‘recavag©sUOGETED $000 __YRFODATETou7_YREND (07 08, SEWER RENTS sggotas rama tases n00.00 Tornes WATS OTT TOOT vreest cxeomo 110481 es 19000 soo eo 32100 TOTANTEREST TUT emit TOTALREVENUE s.ns4 x.ie408 engti26 saraaae “tame sehen ese en “a oe py ne a Ps This chills Aumd P Old Business ~ David Perry questioned the $23,000 from the “Chaton Fund’, where tg is? Supervisor Sutton reported that it was kept in CD's. Also thatthe budget hed been. amended to take these items from tht fund, The property taxes paid were on the ‘Treatment Plant, which is in the Town of Therese.Bullets for petitions to Attorney General’ office: ‘+ Alexandria Town Board meetings tht are open tothe public are often closed prio to ‘opportunity for public questions or comments. Rules of Order are often ignoted and chaos takes meetings without intervention or appropriate control from the Town Board. 1+ Alexandria Town Board ha often refused town members the opportunity ta ak questions at town meetings. ‘+ Alexandsia Town Board have been closed after a financial question s brought tothe floor by Town Clerk, at which point the Board members go into an executive session are remain there Lunt the pubic leaves the building then they end the executive session and continue the financial discussions without public witnes or allowing ny questions or comments, ‘Loan was taken by Town of Alexandria for Otter Street Water District, due to Town Supervisors inability to maintain adequate records that would have allowed for a USDA grant. After expending the loan proceeds on the Otter Street Water Dstt needs, the remaining balance was applied to the Route 12 Water District and only the Oter Street Water District residents are participating in paying of the loan, Town Supervisor has more than ance withdrawn money from Town accounts a the bank without appropriate ‘second’ authorizing signature of Town Clerk, and without any explanation ‘of what the money was intended for or the reason forthe withdrawal, and without providing the Town Clerk any documentation supporting the need fr the withdrawal. + Town Supervisor receives pay to provide services in his position a financial officer, yet aso pays ‘an accountant to provide those services as he lacks the necessary education and experience to provide the job requirements + Town Supervisor has neplected to provide the required documentation and request to Feimnburae Ue Town ol Alexa va he tturane company for the $38,000 that Was ‘embezzled bythe previous Town Clerk 1+ Towa records during service of previous town clerk, prior to 2034, have several entire months missing. Records were destroyed by shredding and physical removal from offices ‘+ Town supervisor was witnessed loading town documents into his personal vehicle in 2016 and wien asked what he was doing, he indicated that he was taking them tothe transfer site (dump) without the town clerks knowledge, ‘+ Town has Lawyer, Joe Russell has 2 retirement pan pad thru the Town of Alexandra andi indicated as 2 fulltime employee ofthe Town of Alexandria, But he also provides the same J services othe towns of Hammand, Clayton Orleans and Alexandria, +The Town Lawyer, Joe Rusel, has billed the Town af Alexandria on several occasions for services provided by his personal law frm outside retained/salaried hours. + Town Lawyer and Town Board members often use intimidation tactics against town clerk then they don’t want information released, ‘+ Town atorney and accountant have refused to supply documentation oF ait town clerk in competing FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests + FOUA requests have been ignored and/or town officials have refused to provide any response to these documented request since porto October 2016, + Comptroller has audited twice, 35 well as a separate accounting firm hos been responsible for auditing town nancials over 3 years (2013.14 615), no resolution has resuited and origi ‘questions and concerns regarding missing monies and potential misappropriations remain. We: are requesting a thorough review, audit and accounting of Towa record to include: financial, employment records and processes, operating structure/procedures and overeach of town storey.