The Lakewood board of trustees passed a resolution Monday to close its public beach for the upcoming 2020 season. P-J file photo

LAKEWOOD — In response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the village of Lakewood board of trustees passed a resolution Monday to close its public beach for the upcoming 2020 season.

The decision was one of several steps taken by the board in response to the outbreak, which continues to force local governments to make changes. Lakewood residents were able to participate a public hearing on the proposed 2020-21 budget via Zoom, with some choosing to present questions in advance. The board responded to specific questions on budget appropriations, and plans to make alterations to the budget including 30 expenditure changes and one revenue change.

Lakewood will hold another public hearing at its next village board meeting on April 27 at 6:45 p.m. to take questions on those changes, and also agreed on a resolution allowing for the passage of the budget in the event that it should exceed the tax cap.

“We are all pretty close,” Trustee Ted McCague said. “I think it is just a matter of hammering it out, taking into consideration the comments that we’ve heard tonight from the public. Again, we’re all kind of in the same place, so I think we hammer it out to find the numbers, make sure it all works, and then consider that the final budget and put that on the website for the public to see.”

The board members plan to make alterations to the budget and post those changes to the Lakewood website in short order. McCague said he did not expect that the budget would exceed the tax cap.

Questions asked Monday included the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on tax revenue, and general expenditures.

“Like every other business and municipality in the country we are just going to have to be flexible,” Trustee Doug Schutte said. “It is a very difficult time to plan a budget when we don’t know.”

Mayor Randy Holcomb said that the board would work hard to make sure that there is not a tax increase, but emphasized that the situation is fluid. Rather than pass a formal resolution to limit spending during the outbreak, board members have opted to speak with department heads about curbing expenditures.

“All of us are being very diligent about our spending,” Trustee Ellen Barnes said. “If the taxes do increase at all it is going to be to pay for existing bills we already have and to keep our departments going. Hopefully we have it so we don’t have any tax increase, but we don’t know yet.”

The board plans to spend approximately $36,000, splitting the cost between the current and future budget years, to upgrade its computer systems in the village offices. The board also intends to move grant funding and expenditures from the budget’s general fund into a separate account, in order to more easily track finances related to projects such as the Chautauqua Avenue revitalization.

Lakewood’s July 4 fireworks celebration is still in limbo as of Monday’s meeting. The board has a 45-day window before the event to cancel the contract with Zambelli Fireworks without a penalty if necessary. That issue will be discussed again at future meetings.

In other business, the Lakewood Volunteer Fire District had three new members approved, including Kaylynn Rosequist, Tage Coil and Aden Froah. In his report, Fire Chief Kurt Hallberg said that the department had responded to four calls which required the use of personal protective equipment, and thanked Chautauqua County for helping provide that equipment.

The board also took a question regarding Airbnb property rentals within the village, and concluded that the issue merited further discussion.