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HomeMy WebLinkAboutVENTOSO, LINDAJune 22, 1988 Linda Ventoso, President West End Properties Association of Camp Mineola P.O. Box 479 Mattituck, N.Y. 11952 Frank Kajawski, President Board of Town Trustees Town of Southold Town Hall, 53095 Main Road P.O. Box 728 Southold, N.Y. 11971 Dear Sir: We are in receipt of your letter of May 25, 1988. Unfortunately, it does not shed much light on why the Town Board made a series of irresponsible decisions concerning the dredging of Jar~es Creek, the location of the spoil site and the notification of local residents. Specifically: You claim that the location of the spoil site was not in your jurisdiction. This is true. However, we have information that the Town specifically requested that the spoil site be moved further back from the beach SO THAT YOU COULD CLAIM THAT YOU HAD NO JURISDICTION, and therefore, absolve yourselves of any wrongdoing. You are quick to blame the DEC for making a bad decision, however, it was your action that allowed the DEC to be the decision-making authority in this situation. Holding a so called "Public Hearing" on February 26th in a community that consists of 95% "summer" residents strikes me as being somewhat callus. It meets the "letter" but not the "spirit" of the law. If you were concerned about ALL the taxpayers of Southold, you would have either: - Held the Public Hearings in the summer, or, - Notified the local property owners. Frank Kajawski June 22, 1988 Even though you may not be legally responsible to notify the local propertyowners, you are MORALLY responsible to do so! We are incredulous that you can justify notifying local propertyowners if a neighbor wants to build a deck one foot too close to the road (a real case from our community) and, then justify NOT notifying anyone when you allow 50 tons of sand to be dumped on another neighbors property! You state that permits are "routinely" reviewed. After hearing all of the concerns of Mr. Wamback (and interruptir~ your dinner!) why did you approve the renewal of the permit the next day? If you were indeed concerned why didn't you refuse to renew'the permit since this obviously wasn't a "routine" situation? (We would like a copy of the minutes of that meeting) You have also neatly avoided the issue of floodin~ in this area. Who will be responsible for the damage - Mr. Cicorelli or the Town? Finally, you state that there is misinformation in our letter - if that is so - then it is dwarfed by the MISREPRESENTATIONS in your letter. We are still callin~ for Public Hearings on this matter since we were not given that opportunity earlier. We will not stand idly by while you make irresponsible decisions that have major impact on our community. cc: Albert J. Krupski John M. Bredemeyer,III John L. Bednoski Jr. Henry P. Smith Camp Mineola Con~unity Members FRANK A. KUJAWSKI, JR., President ALBERT J. KRUPSKI, JR., Vice-President JOHN M. BREDEMEYER, III JOHN L. BEDNOSKI, JR. HENRY P. SMITH TELEPHONE (516) 765-1892 BOARD OF TOWN TRUSTEES TOWN OF SOUTHOLD Town Hall, 53095 Main Road P.O. Box 728 Southold, New York 11971 May 25, 1988 Ms. Linda Ventoso, President West End Properties Association of Camp Mineola P. O. Box 479 Mattituck, New York 11952 Dear Ms. Ventoso: I would like to state that the Town Trustees acted in a responsible and legal manner in their handling of the dredging application referred to in your letter of May 17, 1988 concerning 'James Creek. The points raised in your letter contain many errors in fact and I would like to clarify: 1. Elected officials of Southold Town are not giving away your natural resources. The sand dredged from James Creek belongs to the State, and the State of New York (D.E.C.) had the sole authority to establish a spoil site. The site in question was not in the jurisdiction of the Town Trustees. From a historical perspective, the Town Trustees for 300 years controlled only to the mean tide boundary on the creeks. Through the efforts of elected officials and many citizens this was changed several years ago to extend for an additional 75', but not as far as the spoil site in question. This was not within our leqal jurisdiction. 2. Local property owners are notified for a variance, because a variance is an exception to the law. This maintenance dredging project was not an exception, but within the legal scope of the laws. This application originally was advertised and a public hearing was held prior to approval. (Public Hearing was held on February 26, 1987.) 3. Town permits .are granted for a period of two years. Those dated for one year are routinely renewed for the second year. We would like to have all projects completed within one year, but this is not always possible or practical. An emergency meeting of the Trustees was not held as you stated. 4. I personally held three telephone conversations with Mr. Norman Wamback, and one with Mr. Eugene Daneri concerning this project. In addition, I interrupted my dinner one evening to meet with Mr. Wamback and Mr. Eugene Daneri at the spoil site site in Camp Mineola. I don't believe this constitutes a "Public be Damned" behavior. I explained all of the points I am presently discussing in this letter with both gentlemen. The next day Mr. Wamback informed me that he had contacted a lawyer in an attempt to stop the spoil from being deposited, but could find no means to do so. It is by request of the Town Trustees that spoil is deposited down drift by the County when creek mouths are opened, as James Creek was in 1987. This is not a method of erosion control, but rather beach nourishment that acknowledges erosion and will continue as a natural process. Finally, I believe the Town Trustees would agree that the choice of depositing sand on this site was a poor decision by the Department of Environmental Conservation. We would always prefer sand to be used as beach nourishment. I believe a better line of communication could have prevented the misinformation in your letter and I would welcome any future discussions concerning Trustee matters. My home phone number is 298-9146. I would request that this letter be shared with all of your members. Sincerely, Frank A. ~u~awski, Jr. President ~ Board of Town Trustees FAK:ip cc: Town Trustees Town Attorney Mr. Norman Wamback Mr. Richard A. Curcio Mr. Eugene Daneri May 17, 1988 Linda Ventoso President, West End Properties Asso. of Camp Mineola Camp Mineola Avenue P.0.479 Mattituck, N.Y. 11952 Frank Kujawski President, Board of Town Trustees Southold Town Town Hall, 53095 Mainroad, P.O. Box 728 Southold, N.Y. 11971 Sir: The West End Properties Association of Camp Mineola is most distressed by your position on the recent dred~in~ of James Creek· Instead of placin~ the sand on our beaches to control erosion, you allowed the Department of Environmental Conservation to give. that sand to a local propertyowner. This is a mis-use of our natural resources and we believe that you and the board have abrc~ated your responsibilities as Trustees of SoutholdTown. Your action raises several serious questions: · Why are the elected officials of Southold town givin~ away our natural resources to one individual? Why weren't local propertyowners notified (as they are when a zonin~ variance is called for) when this application was bein~ sought? When questioned abOUt an out of date permit for the dred(3in~, why did you hold an emergency meetin~ of the Board the next day to extend the date of the permit? Why were calls and requests from the residents of the West End Properties Association of Camp Mineola repeatedly ignored by you and other Board members? Frank Kujawski Now that the dredging is complete (and an 8 foot high "plateau" exists on this property) there are several other serious issues at hand: . Flooding is already a serious problem in this vicinity. We believe that building a house on top of this "plateau" will have a serious impact on the surrounding areas. · What is to be done about our erodir~3 beaches - who will pay to have them replenished? We demand Public Hearings to address these issues. We want answers on why this was allowed to happen and how it can be prevented from happening in the future. We have attached copies of two letters: . A letter to Thomas Jorling of the DEC on their role in this fiasco. · A letter to the "Suffolk Tim~s." We refuse to accept your "Public-be-damned" behavior. We await your response. Linda Ventoso /~ cc: John Bredemeyer / PhillipGoubeaud Albert Krupski, Jr. Ellen Larsen -2- May 3, 1988 Richard A. Curcio Camp Mineola Avenue P.O. Box 522 Mattituck, N.Y. 11952 Mr. Thomas Jorling Con~issioner, N.Y. State Dept. of Environmental Conservation 50 Wolf Road Albany, N.Y. 12233 Dear Sir: Recently, % contacted your agency to protest dredging activities in James Creek in Mattituck, New York. It appears that DEC had given approval to dredge part of James Creek and instead of replenishing our beaches with this sand, it was given to a propertyowner to raise the level of his property so that he could build a house. When I called DEC to complain about this mis-use of our natural resources, I was given the "run-around." Robert Green, a supervisor in your Stoneybrook office, was extremely rude, stating "We don't have time to talk to you about this and we~are not going to stop the dredging," I want to know why the DEC agreed to mis-use the natural resources of the State. Our beaches are eroding and the best use that your agency can find for our sand is to give it to a propertyowner so that he can build a house. This is worse than. mis-management, it is the wanton destruction of the environment that your agency is chartered to protect. The DEC file numbers are: Salt LakeVillage ... 10-86-1714 Cicorelli ... 10-87-0856 The DEC claims that they filed a "Legal Notice" in the newspaper. This is a summer community; people are not here everyday of the year and therefore, do not have the option to read the "fine print" in the newspaper. Responsible behavior on DEC's part would have been to have public hearings and/or notify all adjacent homeowners when the original application was being considered. IF THIS REQUIRES A CHANGE IN YOUR POLICIES AND PROCEDURESTHEN THAT CHANGE IS LONG OVERDUE. Mr. Thomas Jo~linq The Camp Mineola Comn~nity association sent a letter to Suffolk County last year concernir~3 future dredging of James Creek and the use of that sand to replenish our beaches. (I will send you a copy at your request) DEC should have contacted Suffolk County before approving any permits. I have also attached a copy of a letter sent to the Suffolk Times, our local newspaper. The rude "pubticbe damned" attitute and behavior emhibitedby some of your employees will not be tolerated by the people of Southold Township. We want a public apology, an explanation of how and why these applications were approved, and a change in how these applications are approved in the future. We await your response. cc: Mario Cuomo Louis Concra Herbert Doig Richard A. Curcio //7 ; ' -2- RICHARD A. CURCIO Camp Mineola Avenue Mattituck, New York April 29, 1988 11952 Editor Suffolk Times P.O. Box F Greenport, New York 11944 Dear Sir: Recently, part of Dames Creek in Mattituck was dredged with approval of both the Town Board and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Much to the consternation of local residents, the sand from this dredging was not placed back on local beaches in order to help control erosion. It was given to a local property o~ner in order to raise the level of his property so that a house could be built. When confronted with this misuse of the natural resources of Southold To~n - the To~n Board and the DEC ali hid behind bureaucratic legalistic mumbo/jumbo. The main issues raised from their actions are: ° Why are elected officials of Southold To~n and State government employees giving away our natural resources? ° Why weren't public hearings held? * Why weren't local residents notified (as they are when a zoning variance is called for) when this application was being sought? Residents of the Camp Mineola Community are asking that public hearings be held in order to investigate why this was allowed to happen and how it can be prevented from happening in the future. Sincerely,