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TOWN OF SOUTHOLD
COUNTY OF SUFFOLK: STATE OF NEW YORK
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TOWN OF SOUTHOLD
PLANNING BOARD MEETING
RE: STRONG'S STORAGE BUILDING
DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT
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Southold, New York
May 15, 2023
6:00 P.M.
B E F O R E:
James H. Rich III, Member
Martin Sidor, Member
Pierce Rafferty, Member
Amelia Jealous-Dank, Member
Heather Lanza, Planning Director
Mark Terry, Assistant Planning Director
Brian Cummings, Planner
Jessica Michaelis, Senior Office Assistant
James Squicciarini, Deputy Town Attorney
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MAY 15, 2023 2
STRONG'S STORAGE BUILDING
MEMBER JAMES H. RICH III: Good
evening. I would like to welcome
everyone to this Public Hearing for
Strong's Storage Buildings also known As
Strong's Yacht Center. The purpose of
this hearing is for the Planning Board
to gather comments about the draft
Environmental Impact Statement, also
known DEIS for this project. The DEIS
was required by the Planning Board on a
New York State Environmental Quality
Review Act, SEQRA, to evaluate the
effects this project might have on the
community and environment. This
document must follow and answer the
final scope which outlines all the
potential impacts. No decision will be
made tonight. This is not a referendum.
It is for gathering information and
comments. The next steps after tonight
will be to continue this hearing on June
5th and we will gather and accept
written comments through July 10th.
Once the written comment period is
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MAY 15, 2023 3
closed, a Final Environmental Impact
Statement also known as FEIS is
prepared. After the FEIS is completed,
the Planning Board prepares a final
statement. This is where the Board
states their findings about whether or
not the impacts have been mitigated.
The findings must be supported by the
FEIS. The last step is a decision of
the project by the Planning Board. This
decision will be made by resolution at a
public meeting at a future date after
the findings statement has been
completed. The decision must align with
the Board's finding. This is a large
and complicated project and I would
personally like to thank the entire
staff at Southold Town Planning Board
led by Ms. Heather Lanza and Mr. Mark
Terry for a tremendous amount of work
that they have done on this project.
This is only the first hearing on the
DEIS, as we anticipate this hearing open
and to continue on June 5th. And again,
I said it before, the written comment is
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MAY 15, 2023 4
open now until July 10th. Tonight the
following topics will be covered by the
applicant's consultants and they have
asked this order to be adjusted a little
bit. Construction, related impacts and
schedule and details they will begin
with. Followed by traffic, noise. And
if we have time, unavoidable impacts.
And then the following meeting, June
5th, the following will be covered by
the applicant's consultants; water,
ecological services, air quality.
Project alternatives and their impacts.
The reason that we're splitting up the
testimony of the consultants, is that
the DEIS contains a large amount of
technical information on every one. We
want time for every one to get a chance
to speak. If you look at it, it's like
three major volumes thick. We will
start with the applicant's and their
consultants and the Board's traffic
consultant. You can expect that would
take about an hour. After they're done,
everyone else will have a chance to
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MAY 15, 2023 5
speak. You may speak on any topic
covered in the DEIS. Comments should be
limited to the Draft Environmental
Impact Statement and the impact of the
project. Most helpful comments, are
those of which address the reason,
rather than whether you are for or
against it. Please remember that this
hearing is not about the people who are
proposing this project. Personal
comments about the applicant should be
avoided. This is not a referendum on a
Strong Family business. We respect them
highly and I hope every one else will.
As a courtesy to everyone wishing to
speak, if someone has already said what
you wanted to say, there is no need for
you to repeat it. We have handouts for
you that describe the protocol that we
will follow for this hearing and also
the process and steps going forward for
this application. Please, we have
already received many written comments.
All will be entered in our record and
reviewed the same way as we hear
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MAY 15, 2023 6
testimony tonight. If you have already
sent written comments to the Planning
Board, it is not necessary you read them
tonight, it is not you read them
tonight. I would ask that everybody
remain respective of opposing thoughts
and feelings. We would like to give
everyone who wishes to speak a chance.
So please keep your comments as brief as
possible. If you're in agreement with
the previous speaker, you can just state
your name and address and voice your
agreement. At 8:00 o'clock we're going
to take a ten minute recess and at 9:30,
we're going to adjourn until June 5th.
So before -- Jess, do you want to read
some of the ground rules?
JESSICA MICHAELIS: Yes, I think
we're going to ask the technical
consultants to address the Board, first.
MEMBER JAMES H. RICH III: Okay.
Fine. Charles, did you want to speak
first momentarily?
JESSICA MICHAELIS: Please just
state your name for the record before
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MAY 15, 2023 7
you speak?
CHARLES CUDDY: My name is Charles
Cuddy. I represent the applicant. This
application is for two units that will
store boats. The two units that we're
talking about are 49,000 and 52,000
square feet. These units are to be
placed behind the existing building at
Strong's. As you may know, this is a
Marine District. In the Marine II
District, you can have all sorts of
storing of boats and that is exactly
what is planned. Ultimately, the boats
are to come in the inlet. There will be
80 plus boats at this site. They will
be stored in these two buildings. They
will come in the Fall. They will leave
in the Spring. We don't anticipate that
they will interrupt any use of the
inlet. And tonight, we're here to hear
your comments on our EIS. Thank you.
MEMBER JAMES H. RICH III: Thank
you, Charles.
DOUG ADAMS: Good evening members
of the Board. My name is Doug Adams. I
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MAY 15, 2023 8
an Engineer and Partner at Young
Associates. Offices in Riverhead, New
York. The later section 3 talks about
construction and the proposed need and
the construction schedule and briefly
summarize what is going on with that.
The proposed excavation is needed for
this project. It is required in order
to construct the proposed similar
buildings to the similar elevation that
are already there in the bulkhead. That
elevation is around elevation 10. And
the vessels that are going to be
serviced and utilized here are large and
can't be moved with traditional moving
trailers that can move steep grades and
what not. So they will be using what is
called a "travel lift." Basically a
giant cradle for large boats and it just
can't navigate elevations and grades
with a great change. So the elevation
of the buildings need to be very similar
to that of the existing building. The
project area is about 6 1/2 acres and
includes about a 1/2 acre in the
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MAY 15, 2023 9
Residentially Zoned of the property and
about 6 in the MII portion. As Charles
said the buildings are permitted in the
MII District. And with certain market
for large boat owners that currently use
waters for recreation. In terms of the
construction schedule activities, the
proposed project has a construction time
of over a year. About half of that time
would be preparing that site.
Performing the grading and necessary for
construction of the buildings necessary.
Phase One would be the -- first part
would be excavation, which takes about
half the time. Phase One of the
excavation would be about 123,000 cubic
yards of material that have to leave the
site. That will take about 5 to 6
months. Using Mill Road to the west of
the property, and a haul road that would
be constructed specifically to deal with
that large amount of material. Keeping
the activity and trucks away from the
main entrance and at northern part of
the residential area. Phase Two will be
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MAY 15, 2023 10
removing about 12,000, or a tenth of the
total yardage and would take only about
a month. Utilizing Mill Road, which is
conventionally known as the entrance to
the Strong property. Construction of
the buildings will take about another
six months. A little more specifically,
the first thing that would have to
happen on the site is tree removal and
grubbing and construction of that whole
road to prepare this property. For the
other activities, that's only going to
take about two weeks. The excavation
Phase One, as I said would be 5 to 6
months. This would be the bulk of the
excavation activity, including over 90%
of the material required to excavate --
needed to be excavated to complete the
project, which as I said before would
utilize the haul road. The second phase
of excavation would just take a few
weeks, if not four weeks. It would
basically get rid of the last 10%, as I
mentioned before. As it can't use the
haul road because now we'll be down to
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MAY 15, 2023 11
the elevation of, you know, getting to
the elevation of where the buildings are
gonna be. The next item would be the
onset of the retaining wall
construction. That should be about
three weeks. This would include the
beginning of the construction part of
the wall. Part of the retaining system
for the excavation is going to be the
buildings themselves. So these phases
will have some overlap. Then there's
excavation for drainage installation,
and other infrastructure, but the
drainage is probably the bulk of what
would need to be excavated. It's a --
it's a pretty large drainage system.
That would be about eight weeks. And
then the remaining construction phase
for the buildings would be approximately
six months. So that includes the onset
of the retaining wall. So as soon as
the major part of the excavation is
done, we move into starting construction
of the retaining wall, and the
buildings. And that's about six months
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MAY 15, 2023 12
as I said. At that point, the
construction activity is moving along at
a normal pace with normally anticipated
construction activity, and the schedule
is expected to be -- expected to be more
than halfway through at this point.
Some other information that I just
wanted to point out is the overall work
week would be Monday to Friday, 7 A.M.
to 5 P.M. for the excavation phases.
The overall work week of Monday to
Saturday, 7 A.M. to 7 P.M., with less
truck activity on Saturdays during the
construction phase. This is largely due
to Saturdays are typically reserved for
maintenance of equipment, and sort of
getting ready for the work week again.
And the hours of operation would be
reduced for daylight savings. Next,
we'll have our other consultant come up
to talk about some of the traffic that's
related to that construction.
RON HILL: Good evening. My name
is Ron Hill. I'm a principal with the
firm Dunn Engineering Associates, 66
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MAY 15, 2023 13
Main Street, Westhampton Beach, New
York. As has been stated, the proposed
project is to build two dry storage
buildings. One of 52,500 square feet.
One of 49,500 square feet. The
buildings will be winter storage for the
yachts averaging 60 feet in length, with
a maximum of footage of 85 feet. The
completed project will result in the
addition of 13 new employees. Will
generate most of the new traffic for the
site. Some of the new traffic will also
be generated by the work that's done on
those boats while they're in storage.
There'll be regular deliveries of
materials that are common to the boat
yard now. Carried by the same vendors
that do, or occasionally be larger
deliveries. Like an engine or something
that won't come in with a regular
vendor. It will be a regular delivery.
These will be somewhat infrequently
because we're not -- there's not that
many boats being worked on all the time.
Yachts of this size will ride by water.
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MAY 15, 2023 14
They're just too big to transport over
the road. In the Fall, over a period of
several months, the yachts will be
delivered to the site by the owner or
his crew. And some will be picked up by
Strong's employees, and will be brought
to the site. In Spring, the reversible.
Other than the new employees arriving in
the morning and leaving in the
afternoon, the new buildings will
generate little new other traffic. The
new traffic that is expected to be
generated was analyzed at intersections
required by the Town. The amount of
traffic the completed project will
generate will be small and no negative
impact is expected. The construction of
the project will create more traffic
with varying degrees when the project is
completed itself. The amount and type
of traffic, the project will generate
will vary by construction phase.
Clearing and grubbing on the site
expected to take two weeks will begin
December 1st and go to mid December.
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MAY 15, 2023 15
During this phase, it's expected to
utilize approximately nine workers and
generate 4-30 yard trailers of debris
each day. Phase Two or Phase One, I
should say, of the excavation, will
consist of the excavation of 135 cubic
yards of material. This will generate a
total of 8100 30-yard truck trips.
That'll be -- the material being.
JESSICA MICHAELIS: Excuse me,
please don't speak if you're not at the
microphone. Thank you.
RON HILL: The material being
removed is 100 and 35,000 cubic yards.
The number of 30 yard truck trips that
will be generated is 8100. 8100 in.
8100 out during this Phase One
construction. The final 1,212 cubic
yards of excavated material. That will
be during the first two weeks -- that
will be during the first two weeks of
May. Following the major excavation,
trucks will haul -- 400 of the trucks
will be used for that, and 30 yard
trucks. 400 coming in and going out.
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MAY 15, 2023 16
With that schedule over the 10 hour day,
we expect 40 trucks per day. Monday
through Friday. Four trucks in, and
four trucks out each hour. Following
the excavation and grading, retaining
wall will be constructed and drainage
will be installed. This will occur over
a 6 to 8 week period. During this
period, up to six trucks will deliver
material for this work to the site each
day. At the same time, the drainage and
the sanitary is going in, the building
construction will start with the
foundation work. And trucks of various
sizes will bring material. For
instance, in the beginning with the
foundation, there'll be concrete trucks.
Later, there'll be larger delivery
trucks pulling in the steel for the
frame, and the siding. And then will go
electrical, plumbing and that kind of
thing. During the construction, that
will be the period when the most
employees will be used. And that will
vary between 20 and 60 workers per day.
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MAY 15, 2023 17
They will generate the bulk of the trips
during construction other than the
trucks. The employees will come from
contractors yards. Many of them
transported by van or in trucks that
they'll use on site. It's anticipated
they'll generate a maximum of 40 trips
in, 40 trips out of the site each day
during the construction. The trucks to
remove material from the site, bringing
construction material to the site. We
use a designated project truck. That
route will consist of West Mill Road,
Cox Neck Road, Sound Avenue, Northville
Turnpike, Old Country Road and the Long
Island Expressway. The traffic was
analyzed at the two -- the two heaviest
construction periods. And traffic will
be the highest. And that was during the
Phase One excavation. During the Spring
and Winter to analyze for the Spring
months. And then in the Summer, when
the building construction is going on.
And we had more employees on site, as
well as, some truck. The traffic was
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MAY 15, 2023 18
analyzed at the intersections identified
by the Town, and no traffic impacts were
identified by this capacity analysis.
The concerns regarding the potential
impacts of trucking materials to and
from the site, special investigations
were held. Arching companies were
contacted to determine whether excavated
material could be removed by barge. The
the barge is necessary to do this kind
of work require. Require a 10 foot
draft at low tide. The Mattituck Inlet
only has a 5 to 7 foot draft. In
addition, there are sharp turns in the
inlet that barges will not be able to
navigate because of the their draft and
their width. Barging material out does
not appear feasible. Studies were also
performed to determine what the damage
of project trucks may cause roads they
used. The study was done by Tri-State
Planning Engineering and Survey. It is
intended -- appended to the Traffic
Impact Study. The study was also done
during -- using Federal Highway
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MAY 15, 2023 19
Administration, New York State
Department of Transportation, Equivalent
Signal Axle Load Procedures. The study
indicated that only West Mill Road would
experience a significant amount of ware
reducing its life expectancy by 11%.
Other roadways would experience less
than 2% loss of life expectancy. The
owner has pledged to inspect and repair
the deficits in West Road and Cox Neck
Road daily during trucking operation.
In addition, he will work with the Town
to repair any damage done during the
construction. Noise and vibration
studies were also conducted regarding
trucking operation, as well as, other
non-on-site operations. They will be
covered by Mr. Sean Harkin in the next
presentation. Potential mitigation
measures were also proposed. An
alternate of retaining 13,000 cubic feet
of material on site by spreading the
excess material to a height of no more
than 1 foot on an unused and lightly
vegetated portion of the property. West
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MAY 15, 2023 20
of the excavation is also being
considered. This would result in a 10%
reduction in the excavation activity.
Consideration was also given to Walton
trucking route using Bergen Avenue
rather than lower Cox Neck Lane between
West Mill Road and Sound Avenue.
Reducing the speed limit on West Mill
Road, Cox Neck Road, from 35 miles an
hour to 25 miles an hour during the
duration of the construction could be
also considered. Truckers will be
instructed to go no more than 30 miles
an hour. Even if the speed limit is not
changed. We also suggested considering
re-striping West Mill Road and Cox Neck
Road to provide 10 foot wide travel
lanes, increasing the shoulders that are
there. West Mill Road and Cox Neck Road
will be monitored daily to detect rough
surfaces and potholes. They will be
repaired immediately by the applicant.
Flaggers will be used for maintenance
protection, traffic at locations where
the roadway curves or an intersection
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MAY 15, 2023 21
where project trucks may be required to
cross the road center line. I have
attempted to cover the important aspects
of the traffic study. The study;
however, covers much more and in greater
detail that would be impossible to
convey in this short presentation. I
should direct your attention to the
written report for more information and
detail. Thank you.
DOUG ADAMS: Just a quick point of
clarification. I think Ron misread --
JESSICA MICHAELIS: I'm sorry, can
you just state your name again?
DOUG ADAMS: Doug Adams, Civil
Engineer, partner at Young Associates.
Ron had mentioned 8100 trips in and out
during Phase One. It's 4100 trucks
trips in and out on Phase One and 4100
in and out on Phase Two of the
excavation phase.
SEAN HARKIN: Good evening, Mr.
Chairman and members of the Planning
Board. My name is Sean Harkin. I'm a
Senior Acoustic Consultant at
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MAY 15, 2023 22
SoundSense, LLC, with offices at 39
Industrial Road in Wainscott, New York.
Tonight I will be providing an overview
of the noise and vibration impact
analysis we completed for the project.
I'll begin -- I'll cover each
individually. So I'll begin with the
noise impact analysis that we performed.
Acoustic greetings were collected at the
project site between April 14, 2021 and
May 23, 2021, to quantify the existing
background sound levels without exit --
without existing vehicle traffic and
were collected at two sites at the
Strong's Yacht Center property. Using
the existing background sound levels, as
well as, existing traffic data provided
by Dunn Engineering, a model in an
acoustic modeling software called Sound
Plan was constructed. The model was
constructed to develop a model for
existing sound levels for a wider area
of evaluation using the existing vehicle
traffic. Once the existing conditions
model was complete, additional acoustic
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MAY 15, 2023 23
models for the proposed development and
various construction phases were
generated to evaluate the impact of
construction activities, and the
additional park traffic on local roads.
Construction analysis showed that as
expected, there are acoustic increases
in noise level at nearby residents;
however, there are no requirements
within the Town of Southold noise
ordinance regarding maximum permissible
sound levels during construction
occurring between 7 A.M. and 7 P.M.
Monday to Saturday. Additionally, the
New York State Department of
Environmental Conservation does not
provide recommendations for construction
noise since its impacts are temporary.
Regarding additional truck traffic,
although there are additional increases
in sound levels, which would exceed
outdoor New York State Department of
Transportation overall recommendations,
all receivers with windows closed are
expected to meet New York State
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MAY 15, 2023 24
Department of Transportation recommended
criteria for interior sound levels.
Department of Transportation Guidelines
are instructive only and are not
requirements since the increases are
only temporary during construction.
These increases are only during the
construction period. Since tree
clearing and excavation are proposed to
start in December, and early winter, it
is anticipated that most residents would
have windows closed during this time,
and not be spending significant time
outside. Thereby reducing the potential
impact. Should be noted, that all
traffic noise models were constructed
using the Federal Highway
Administration's Traffic Noise Model
Methodology used inside the sound plan,
acoustic modeling software. This does
not account for any further mitigation,
such as, disengaging jake breaks or
using trucks, which may be quieter than
the standardized model, which would lead
to the model being completed as a
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MAY 15, 2023 25
conservative model, and anticipated to
be an over prediction of truck noise.
To reduce the impact of construction
activities, the applicant has committed
to the following mitigation measures.
Construction activities would be limited
Monday to -- Monday to Friday, 7 A.M. to
5 P.M., as Doug noted. In accordance
with the Town of Southold noise
ordinance, no work would be completed on
federal or state holidays. Work times
during the excavation phase would be
limited 7:00 to 5:00 Monday to Friday.
During the construction phases or work
on Saturdays -- Sorry. During
construction phases, work on Saturdays
and after 5 P.M. Monday to Friday, will
only include vehicle and machinery
maintenance and planning. No such
maintenance or planning would be
completed on federal holidays, state
holidays or on Sundays. All vehicles
which require the use of a backup alarm
will use a white noise backup alarm
instead of a single tone alarm.
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Although reaching the same overall
loudness to be compliant with OSHA
criteria, the white noise alarm allows
for a lower differential to background
sound levels, by distributing the sound
level across a wider range of
frequencies. Instead of having all the
sound energy at one singular frequency.
This helps to decrease the perception of
the backup alarm. All truck drivers
will be instructed to disengage all
jake-brake mechanisms once turning onto
Cox Neck Road from County Road 48. And
all dump trucks utilized will be Tier
Four Certified by EPA standards.
Although the tier -- although the Tier
Four Certifications do not have a noise
component, sound level data was
collected of a sample Tier Four dump
truck and demonstrated that there may be
expected reduction ranging from 11 to 22
DBA compared to standardized information
from the Federal Transportation
Authorities Transit Noise and Vibration
Impact Assessment Model. Published in
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2018. These are significant reductions.
A difference of 10 DBA is typically
described as half of the perceived
loudness. While 20 DBA would typically
be described as one quarter of the
perceived loudness. Therefore, an 11 to
22 DBA reduction would be quite
significant compared to the standardized
criteria used for the evaluation.
Regarding post construction noise
levels, anticipated noise sources at the
proposed buildings were evaluated.
Under the proposed plan site generated
noise is predicted to be compliant with
the Town of Southold Noise Ordinance.
And increases in sound level are
anticipated to be no greater than four
DBA, which falls under the criteria for
no impact per the New York State DEC.
Alternative plans including an
alternative site plan and alternative
truck route plan were also evaluated.
Although the review of the alternative
site plan was also found to be compliant
with the Town of Southold noise
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ordinance in its completed state, it
resulted in higher sound levels during
construction due to the fact that the
construction area is no longer
excavated. Since the proposed plan
included excavation and created a
natural acoustic barrier around the
project site, this reduced projected
sound levels associated with the
construction site predominantly to the
west and to the north one excavation was
complete. With the excavation phase no
longer occurring in the alternate, the
natural barrier is eliminated.
Resulting in additional noise exposure
during the construction period for a
greater number of residents. In a
review of the alternate excavation truck
route, which included routing return
trips down Bergen Avenue instead of down
the southern part of Cox Neck Lane,
there was a benefit associated with
routing those truck trips down Bergen
Avenue for the residents on the southern
part of Cox Neck Lane. No significant
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acoustic impacts were anticipated for
residents on Bergen Avenue as a result
of the alternate truck route. I'll now
switch to the Vibration Analysis portion
of the work that we completed. During
the review of the DEIS submitted
previously in December of 2021, concerns
were raised by the Town of Southold
Planning Board and the New York State
Historic Preservation Office regarding
potential damage to historic structures,
and nearby residents from construction
at the project site, as well as, truck
traffic on local roads. Since New York
State does not have specific vibration
criteria, recommended criteria from the
Federal Transportation Authorities,
Transit, Noise and Vibration Impact
Assessment Manual were used. I'll refer
to this as the FTA Guidelines.
Additional data from the State of New
Hampshire Department of Transportation's
ground vibrations emanating from
construction equipment were also
consulted. Refer to these as the New
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Hampshire Guidelines. FTA Guidelines
included peak particle velocity or peak
vibration levels in the ground.
Recommendations to avoid structure
damage for four categories of buildings,
ranging from reinforced concrete, steel
or timber. Down to buildings extremely
susceptible to vibration damage. To
evaluate possible damage to historic
structures, Category Four, buildings
extremely susceptible to vibration
damage was used to evaluate impact to
historic structures. To evaluate impact
to residential structures, Category
Three, non-engineered timber and masonry
buildings was used. In addition, ground
born routine squared or RMS velocities,
which is -- so what we're saying in
average. In velocity decibels were
evaluated for potential impact to nearby
residents. To evaluate predicted
vibration -- vibration readings of a
Peterbilt 389 2020 edition dump truck
were collected on August 2, 2022. To
evaluate measured vibration levels as a
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result of trucks passing on West Mill
Road, and at the Mattituck Creek Tide
Mill located at 5575 West Mill Road and
at the Frame Water Tower located at 5670
West Mill Road. Existing vibration
measurements showed that the peak
particle velocity in an RMS velocity
measured due to dump trucks is equal to
or below existing vibration levels,
which were also measured with existing
traffic present. However, all the
vibration levels were significantly
lower than the reference data that is
included in the FTA Guidelines.
Specifically vibration levels measured
on West Mill Road of the dump truck
passing were only 9.2% of the reference
values in the FTA Guidelines, which is a
very significant reduction. This
reduction is expected due to Long
Island's unique sandy soil structure,
due to its formation from a passing
glacier. The reference values that are
in the FTA Guidelines are reflective of
the entire country, which have a much
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different soil structure and thereby
much different vibration transmission
patterns. Although measured vibration
levels are significantly less than the
standardized guidelines, A conservative
approach was used with both the FTA
Guidelines, reference vibration levels,
as well as, the FTA Guidelines
methodology for predicting impact, with
a typical soil structure. This model
was made even more conservative with
information from the New Hampshire
Guidelines which had suggested
alterations to the FTA Guidelines
methodology for more efficient vibration
transfer. Analysis using the FTA
guidelines method along with the
corrections made from the New Hampshire
Guidelines resulted in worst case
scenario, minimum distances from roadway
surfaces, to avoid damage to historic
structures of 17 feet from the road
surface for damage -- for historic
structures, and 11 feet from the road
surface for damage to residential
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structures. For recommendations for
interior vibration levels, those had a
minimum distance of 79 feet from the
road surface. However, using the
measurements that were collected near
the project site, these distances would
be reduced to 2 feet from the road
surface, to cause damage to historic and
residential buildings, and a minimum
distance of 29 feet to exceed
recommended interior vibration levels
from truck traffic. On West Mill Road
and Cox Neck Road, although there are
some structures within 79 feet of the
road surface, no structures are closer
than 29 feet, likely that the actual
distance for potential interior
vibration disturbance, which is not the
same as damage, is somewhere between
these two numbers. Regarding exposure
to historic structures. Sorry.
Reviewing storage structures provided by
PW Grosser, along with the truck route
from Mattituck through Riverhead, there
was only one historic structure that was
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closer than 17 feet from the roadway
surface. This is the Water Tower and
building located at 3380 Westmore Road,
which is 12 feet from the road surface.
Once again, although the threshold for
damage is likely between the 17 feet
calculated through the FTA Guidelines
and the 2 feet calculated through the
measurements collected near the project
site, the 17 feet was used for a
conservative analysis. To address the
potential impact, the following
mitigation measures have been
implemented. A vibration monitoring
plan has been developed, which will
provide alerts to the acoustic
consultant and the construction
management team should vibration levels
approach the damaged criteria. Arrival
and departure times for trucks to be
loaded or leaving the site will be
logged to correlate any measured
vibration alerts. If it is confirmed
that an exceedance is due to the
operation of a truck associated with the
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construction, truck operators will be
required to reduce speeds near the Water
Tower and buildings, so that vibration
is reduced. All drivers are to be
notified of any speed restrictions.
Should two alerts confirmed due to truck
vibration occur on the same day, the
trips are to be halted until additional
data can be collected and further
mitigation can be implemented. In
addition to vibrate -- in addition to
vibration due to truck traffic,
vibration due to construction equipment
was also evaluated for the FTA
Guidelines. The highest minimum
distances from construction equipment
were found to be 42 feet to cause damage
to historic structures. 27 feet to
cause damage to residential structures
and 146 feet to exceed recommended in
indoor vibration levels. All nearby
residents and historic structures exceed
those distances with the closest
structure, a distance of 171 feet from
the edge of the construction site.
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Although there are no impacts or
anticipated impacts, the applicant has
agreed to implement vibration monitoring
measures during construction to ensure
that vibration levels do not exceed the
recommended criteria. This includes
deployment of three vibration monitoring
terminals near the construction area.
Notification -- if an exceedance is
measured to the construction manager and
acoustic consultant, verification of the
type of exceedance within the vibration
monitors, cloud hosted portal, should
the cause of the exceedance be linked to
construction activities, construction
should be halted immediately until
appropriate measures. Such as operating
fewer pieces of equipment near the
construction boundary or moving
construction activities away from the
construction boundary, can be
implemented. The only exception to
halting the construction would be if it
presents a life safety issue for the
construction workers or if it would
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result in an unsafe structure at the
time of halting the construction. In
each of these cases, construction should
only be continued until such time as all
workers would be safe and that all
structures are stable and would not be
in danger of collapse. Thank you.
CHARLES CUDDY: The last item is to
be transferred into the final hearing in
June 5th. The alternatives and impacts
will include the unavoidable impacts.
Talk about it at that time. So there'll
be no further comments from the
applicant.
JESSICA MICHAELIS: Thank you,
Charles.
MEMBER JAMES H. RICH III: Jess,
I'm gonna ask you to read some comments.
JESSICA MICHAELIS: Thank you.
Please be respectful, and remain quiet
while others are speaking. This hearing
is recorded and for a clean record at
all times, please refrain from
applauding, calling out or making any
other noises. Each person may only
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MAY 15, 2023 38
speak once. You can line up at one of
the podiums. State your name first.
Direct all your comments to the Planning
Board. Limit your comments to three
minutes. A tone will sound after 2
minutes and 30 seconds. To alert you
that you have 30 seconds remaining. A
second tone will sound at 3 minutes to
let you know that your time is up. We
appreciate your adherence to this time
limit. If three minutes is not enough,
you can submit the rest of your comments
in writing. You have until at least
July 10th to do so. Written comments
have the same weight as verbal comments.
After you're done speaking, please write
your name on the sign in sheet. Those
attending via Zoom will be in invited to
speak after all in-person attendees have
spoken.
On Zoom, you may raise your hand
and if you're on the telephone, please
use *9. The Board plans to keep the
hearing open until the next public
meeting, June 5th. If you do not have a
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MAY 15, 2023 39
chance to speak tonight, you will be
able to do so either in person or on
Zoom at the June 5th meeting. Written
comments can be submitted in the
Planning Board Office or via e-mail.
Thank you.
MEMBER JAMES H. RICH III: Thanks,
Jess.
So I guess we'll start on the west
side. State your name, and then after
you finish, please write your name
legibly. So we have it for the record.
JOEL KLEIN: My name is Joel Klein.
I live in Mattituck. In my opinion, as
an environmental professional with more
than 40 years of experience writing and
reviewing environmental impact
statements, many of the conclusions in
the DEIS are either not supported by the
accompanying data or actually
contradicted by the data collected by
the applicants consultants. Evidence of
this is indicated in the detailed
comments I am submitting tonight. For
example, the DEIS states that during the
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six month long excavation phase of the
project, a total of 4500 quote "total
trips by 22 wheel haul trucks will be
made along West Mill and Cox Neck Roads
and Sound Avenue." That is not true.
The DEIS never uses the term round trip.
The Board required the DEIS to use the
Institute of Transportation Engineers
methodology to count trips. The
preparers of the DEIS should have known
that the ITE defines a trip as a one way
movement. As a result, the DEIS implies
that construction traffic volumes will
be half of what they will actually be.
The real number of haul truck trips will
be more than 10,000. The DEIS assumes
that each truck hauling sand will be
filled to its maximum 30 cubic yard
capacity. It also states that each
truck has a maximum permitted loaded
weight of 107,000 pounds. However; the
geo-technical report in the DEIS
indicates that most sand from the
project site weighs 3100 pounds per
cubic yard. Based on that information,
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MAY 15, 2023 41
each truck will be able to carry only 24
cubic yards of sand. Not 30. Without
exceeding the maximum allowable weight.
This will require more truckloads per
day, as many as, one every 6 minutes, 10
hours a day, 5 days a week. For 6
months or longer. The DEIS also
downplays traffic impacts in another
way. The traffic study includes a
number of tables in very small type
listing traffic count data according to
the FHWAs 13 truck size categories.
However; the DEIS lumps all trucks
bigger than pickups into a single heavy
truck category. Doing so, allows the
DEIS to say that project truck traffic
will not add significantly to existing
traffic. However; if one looks only at
semi-tractor trailer traffic, it turns
out that the project will cause an
approximately 8,000% increase in semi
traffic on West Mill Road. On the basis
of the traffic analysis alone, the DEIS
cannot be used as a basis for assessing
project impacts. The underestimating of
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traffic impacts also means that the
project's schedule impacts the
pedestrians and bicyclists, road damage
impacts, noise impacts, vibration
impacts, impacts the historic
structures. Air quality impacts and
impacts on emergency response times have
all been underestimated. Thank you.
MEMBER JAMES H. RICH III: Thank
you, Mr. Klein.
MS. LOUIS HARRISON: Evening,
members of the Planning Board. Louise
Harrison, Save the Sound. I live and
work in Peconic. Thank you for holding
this hearing. We hope you're pleased by
the level of community support here
tonight, for your important work. The
simplest and most obvious feature of
this proposal, is there is no room for
it on the site without imposing severe
unmitigated adverse environmental
impacts. Your decision will be
consequential. At stake are the
integrity of Mill Road Preserve,
wildlife, Mattituck Creek, the clean
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MAY 15, 2023 43
water productive maritime resources. We
also highly value, and much more. As
Lead Agency, you need to reach a
decision that's legally sustainable.
The good news, the public has
scrutinized this DEIS and is here to
offer insight. Save the Sound stands
with save Mattituck Inlet in its
criticism of the proposal and of the
DEIS. The DEIS obscures what it should
illuminate. It strains credulity. For
example, do you really believe that a
stormwater system emptying rainwater
from giant metal rxooftops into dry
wells is superior to a forest's
ecosystem services? Because tree leaves
give off water vapor? DEIS in this way,
portrays forest loss as a win. The DEIS
is deceptive about the extent of future
sea level rise inundation on the site.
And remember, rising seawater lifts
groundwater along the shore.
Groundwater intercepting septic and
stormwater systems could affect
Mattituck Creek's water quality in only
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MAY 15, 2023 44
a few years. The DEIS misapplies
Southold excellent coastal policies.
Gives erroneous treatment to the
Endangered Species Act. Downplays the
adverse effects on our public investment
Mill Road Preserve in favor of private
gain. Ignores that Southold's native
forests are the Town's best places for
replenishing clean ground water and
delivering untainted water to our creeks
and bays. You can't -- you just can't
rely on this document. Please require
the applicant to provide access to DEC's
wildlife units so they can verify
presence or absence of endangered
species on the property. A DEC
Incidental Take Permit may be required.
Please request to the applicant consider
public purchase of the property's native
coastal Oak Beach Park Forest, and
please prepare the final EIS yourselves
using your own consultants. Thank you.
Save the Sound will submit detailed
comments before the period -- comment
period closes.
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MEMBER JAMES H. RICH III: Thank
you, Louise. Harvey?
MR. HARVEY ARNOFF: Harvey Arnoff.
I live on Sound Avenue. I used to sit
up there as a Town Attorney with you
guys. I'd like to just deal with
something a little different. I'm not
being technical tonight. Let's be real.
What this application is about is
sacrificing the good of many for the
very, very few. Now, we have where we
live 80 trucks a day. Go outside and
take a look at the truck. Take a look
at the truck that's out there and ask
yourself, would you want 80 more trucks
than go buy your house regularly to be
in front of your house. During -- let
me point this out. During peak travel
times. 7:00 to 5:00. School buses.
Nobody mentioned that. Nobody mentioned
the fact that could be -- they could be
put at risk. The school buses are there
every day. Five days a week. That's
what they're doing. We have something
that I did not read before. They're
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talking about reducing the speed to 30
miles an hour. That's gonna invite
people passing on a double yellow line.
I presume as we go through life. Now,
this is gonna continue for six months.
Approximately 14,000 trips in front of
our house. Is that what you want? Is
that what you want to see this Town to
do? Now, there's a simple solution to
some of this. At least I think it is.
This all could be done at night. If in
fact, the Board would bend in some way.
There is no way that this works in the
daytime, that this works for our
community. It could be done at night.
It may require some manipulation of
code. It may require some manipulation
otherwise. And it may cost, oh my God,
the applicants some more money. Let him
use some of the substantial money that
he's getting for all the sale. Thank
you.
MEMBER JAMES H. RICH III: Thank
you for your comments. Sir?
BOB DELUCA: Good evening,
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MAY 15, 2023 47
Mr. Chairman, members of the Planning
Board. My name is Bob DeLuca. I live
in Southold Town and I serve as
president of group for the East End.
Nearly 40 years experience in Land Use
Impact Assessment, civic engagement
across the region, I'm here tonight to
urge you to ultimately deny this
application. It is simply impossible
for this proposal to responsibly meet
the environmental review and mitigation
requirements imposed on it and you,
under the State Environmental Quality
Review Act and your own Comprehensive
Plan. More specifically, given the
ongoing development under the current
zoning, the fragile coastal nature of
this parcel, the project's adjacency to
preserve land, its direct impact on
nearby residences, the vulnerability of
the site to future impacts and sea level
rise, the extreme nature of site
preparation required and the proposals
inescapable impacts associated with
160,000 tons site generated sand and
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MAY 15, 2023 48
gravel, twisting through winding
residential roads from Mattituck, and
all points west. Quite simply, at some
point, you have to ask, what were they
thinking with this application? But
don't take my word for it. The Planning
Board need only look to its own files to
see that when a similar proposal for two
very large boat storage buildings was
attempted on this site two decades ago,
the Board clearly indicated the proposal
was unacceptable due to its extensive
excavation, its intrusion into
residentially zoned areas, its massing
of proposed structures, its vulnerable
coastal location along the waterfront.
That was June 8th of 2000. Fast
forward. 20 years, in the Planning
Board can see nearly identical concerns
raised by the Suffolk Planning
Commission. In its review of April of
2020. Extensive excavation, increased
flooding and storm surge vulnerability.
Increased runoff and wastewater
management issues. The risk of
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MAY 15, 2023 49
repetitive economic loss for both of the
buildings that are proposed, but even
more important is the Town's
Comprehensive Plan, a decade in the
making and now the duly adopted planning
policy of this Town. Among its many
goals, the Comprehensive Plan is
unambiguously clear. The Town is to
support the protection of soil and
geologic features. Exactly the opposite
of the soil and features that this
project will erase, if it proceeds.
It's also the Town policy now to protect
upland habitat and trees. Exactly the
opposite of the 600 trees destroyed, if
this project proceeds. And this Town
policy to preserve the quality of life
in residential neighborhoods. And I'm
sure you'll hear more about that from
others. At the end of the day, the
Planning Board cannot make decisions
that are inconsistent with its duly
adopted Comprehensive Plan. And if they
are, what was the point in preparing it?
In summary, the subject proposal is
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MAY 15, 2023 50
essentially a more intensive
reincarnation of an already failed
project that the Southold Planning Board
had the good sense to reject more than
two decades ago. As such, it would be
an incredible step backward for the
Planning Board to further entertain this
proposal. And before this applicant
needs -- And before that, this applicant
needs clear direction that there is no
path forward here. And that the this
direction must come sooner rather than
later. Enough is ultimately enough.
Thank you for your time.
MEMBER JAMES H. RICH III: Thank
you. Yes?
MARIA FASULO: Hi. My name is
Maria Fasulo, and I'm a homeowner in
East Marion. But I am a boat owner, and
have the pleasure of actually having our
boats being serviced and cared for by
Strong's for the last 20 years. I've
also worked with other marinas in this
area. And I can tell you there's not
even a ounce of how -- the difference of
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MAY 15, 2023 51
how good Strong's is versus any of these
other marinas. One of the reasons I
like to use Strong's is because they're
a family business that is not gonna be
taken over by national companies that
really take advantage of situations of
boat owners. We have no recourse. I
take -- even though I keep my boat in
Greenport, I take it to be serviced from
Mattituck. And one of the reasons I do
that is because the work is done right.
They care about the customer. They care
about the boat. And one of the reasons
we all enjoy being out here on the North
Fork is because of the water. Whether
you look at it or whether you ride on
it. And boating is a critical part of
keeping the value of our community. And
I believe that Strong's with its
commitment to the Town, to its
community, will do the right things.
And that's one of the reasons they've
done as much as they have trying to make
sure this application is done properly.
I believe that with the right research
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MAY 15, 2023 52
and with the right community input,
things can get done to help the owners
of boats. Having inside storage is
really critical to keep the value of
your boat also. It's very tough winters
and it actually takes away the value of
our boats when they have to live through
the winter outside. So keeping it
inside, being able to get work done over
the Winter, so you don't lose valuable
time in the Spring. So you can actually
get out on the water and enjoy it. This
is about enjoying what's mostly around
us out here. And that's the water. And
I believe Strong's helps us to do that.
And does it in a very positive way. I
understand where everybody comes from,
but I appreciate the chance to hear it
from this side.
MEMBER JAMES H. RICH III: Thank
you for your comment. Yes?
DEBORAH WETZEL: Good evening to
the Chairman and the Southold Town
Planning Board. My name is Deborah
Wetzel. I'm speaking tonight on behalf
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MAY 15, 2023 53
of Karen Testa. She's President of
Turtle Rescue of the Hamptons. This is
an organization that rescues, rehabs and
releases turtles. Dear Southold Town
Planning Board. I'm writing to express
my opposition to Strong's Yacht Center
development project. I believe that the
Draft Environmental Impact Statement
does not adequately address the
mitigation efforts to protect the
eastern box turtle. The box turtle is
listed as a New York State species of
special concern. According to table
five of the DEIS, the box turtle has
been observed on site. And is expected
to be found in any one of the vegetated
upland habitats of the project site.
The study states in order to minimize
potential impacts to the turtle. Sweeps
and surveys for turtles will be
conducted prior to commencement of
clearing, grading and excavation
activities. And any observed turtles
will be relocated to areas that will not
be disturbed. Silt fencing or other
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barriers will be installed around work
areas to prevent turtles from returning
to construction areas. These statements
are misleading and inaccurate and a
danger to the eastern box turtle
survival and therefore, should not be
considered mitigation for the adverse
impacts of this proposed development.
All species of native turtles, including
eastern box turtles, hibernate
underground from October through May.
They live in underground burrows and in
tree stumps. Every New York species of
turtles nest on land and dig their
undetectable nests. Approximately 6 to
12 inches underground. Eastern box
turtles are elusive by nature, and their
camouflage makes it almost impossible to
find them in a natural setting.
Therefore, sweeps and surveys should not
be considered mitigation to the adverse
impacts of this proposed development.
Fencing and other barriers will not stop
the eastern box turtle strong instinct
to return to its nesting and feeding
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habitat. Turtles will instinctively
travel along a barrier perimeter to find
a weakened spot or small opening. If
turtles cannot find an opening, they
will likely dig under the proposed
fencing or worse, become entangled
leading to injury and possible death.
Turtles will also follow the fencing
line, which could lead to public
roadways and vehicular traffic leading
to injury and possible death.
Therefore, fencing and (inaudible)
should not be considered mitigation for
the adverse impacts of this proposed
development. For all of the above
stated reasons, the proposed mitigation
efforts of conducting sweeps, surveying
and installing barriers to protect the
eastern box turtle are ineffectual and
absurd. They should not be considered
mitigation for the impact -- for the
adverse impacts of this proposed
development. Please use your authority
to reject the DEIS and find a better
alternative. Sincerely, Karen Testa.
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President of Turtle Rescue of the
Hamptons. Thank you.
MEMBER JAMES H. RICH III: Thank
you.
PAUL PAWLOWSKI: Good evening.
Paul Pawlowski. Mattituck resident. I
wanna speak in a more practical way.
There's been a lot of technical data put
forth and -- and that's all very, very
important, but maybe it's not all
negative. As a North Fork town, don't
we wanna support a working waterfront?
Especially one that's been there for
many, many years. And hopefully for
many more to come. Isn't that the whole
point of most of that inlet? As a
working waterfront? Don't we want to
support new jobs? Don't we want to
support that truck that's out there?
That truck actually lives on that road
that most of these 4500 trucks are gonna
travel. Environmentally, is an indoor
storage better than outdoor? I could
see a lot of other things done at that
property that would be much more
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MAY 15, 2023 57
significant impact environmentally
speaking, if Strong's weren't the
applicant before us. And that's not a
scare tactic. That's just reality.
Indoor storage of 100,000 square foot
roughly, that's not a lot of boats in
the real world. It's just not. There's
many more boats on in that inlet as we
speak. And when you're factoring
regular boats that are being trailer in
over many years to come versus ones that
are coming by water, there's gonna be a
lot more traffic over the next 50 years.
(Inaudible) at by road and just simply
maybe that person that owns their boat,
didn't put the gas in right or things of
that nature. If there's an issue with
gas or oil indoors, it's noticed
immediately. And the one thing we could
all agree on if you go to their marinas,
they're fairly clean boat traffic again.
100,000 square foot sounds like a lot.
The boats they're talking about, we're
talking, it could be 60 boats. It could
be 80 boats, but that's the boat traffic
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is -- you won't even notice in the real
world. In the practical sense, you just
won't. And luckily, and while this is
one of the headaches for this
construction project, but when it comes
to boat traffic, it's pretty close to
the inlet in the south. It's not
further to the south. So that long term
speaking is, is better than if it was
further to the south. Removing sand and
soil, it can be done clean. It can be
done as with good practices. But yes,
and I agree, I wouldn't want that many
trucks going by my house. But we're
trying to work a waterfront or not
myself. I'm not even, I don't work
there. I have nothing to do with this
application. Thank God. But the truth
is, the truth is, you know, it can be
done right. And there's been a lot of
technical terms, but the environmental
impact can be done right. The water
runoff will be better and you could just
have a two minute conversation on that
compared to coming down the hill into
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MAY 15, 2023 59
the creek. Removing trees is a concern
and it should be, and soil and sand.
But let's put this in practical sense.
This is a 32 acre piece of property and
they're looking to develop roughly two
acres. Just over two acres, 100,000
square foot of buildings. That's the
equivalent of adding a 3,000 square foot
garage on a one acre piece of property.
So, no -- no, it's 7%. So yes, there is
that annoyance of trucks going by and
construction and there's never a perfect
application.
JESSICA MICHAELIS: Yes. I'm
sorry.
PAUL PAWLOWSKI: So I just wanna
say, I hope the short term concerns
don't outweigh the long term goals of
improving and creating a working
waterfront. Good luck.
MEMBER JAMES H. RICH III: Thank
you for your comments.
PEGGY LAUBER: Good evening. I'm
Peggy Lauber, President of North Fork
Audubon Society in Greenport. This
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proposal would directly destroy a
natural bluff and directly or indirectly
destroy all acres of a pristine coastal
Oak Beach Forest classified as rare by
New York State. The proposal would
eliminate about five acres of the forest
outright, and degrade the entire
remaining eight plus acres through
collateral impacts of forest edge
effects and fragmentation. This forest
contains prime bird and wildlife
territory, including habitat for dozens
of New York State protected, endangered,
threatened, special concern and other
species. The project will create
negative impacts on the neighboring Mill
Road Preserve, Mattituck Creek,
Mattituck in Long Island Sound and the
East End as a whole. Oak and Beach
Trees and other native trees are of
special ecological importance in
supporting entire ecosystems of
organisms. Both above and below ground.
The DEIS addressed the environmental
impact on one endangered bird species,
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the Piping Plover, and states that they
live over half a mile away on Breakwater
Beach, who would not be adversely
impacted. But their foraging area
extends up Mattituck Creek and even
beyond. And besides the Piping Clover,
there are 13 other birds of protected
status documented in the area. We've
calculated actually a total of 89 bird
species that would be impacted by this
permanent loss of nesting foraging and
hunting habitat. Just to give you an
idea, we just tabulated them. This is
the Audubon Birds of America Book. This
is how many species we're talking about.
So this area is on the Atlantic Flyway,
an important stopover corridor, for
millions of birds that migrate annually
along the Eastern U.S. from Canada to
the Caribbean and South American backs.
So they're passing through and stopping
over. The DEIS State said 122 species
of plants exist on the site, but there's
no analysis of how many of these are on
the New York State list of endangered
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MAY 15, 2023 62
and otherwise protected plants. It also
mentions one species of New York State
protected Salamander that could be
impacted by this project. However,
there might be up to six species. It
doesn't address the hundreds of species
of butterflies, moths, bees, turtles and
bats that may live in the Coastal Oak
Beach Forest. We urge the Town and
Strong's to consider an alternative to
preserve this Coastal Oak Beach Forest
and connect it to the neighboring Mill
Road Preserve. Thank you.
MEMBER JAMES H. RICH III: Thank
you for your comments. Sir, please
state your name.
STEVE BAKTIDY: My name is Steve
Baktidy. I've been in Mattituck for
over 50 years. I live on Mattituck
Inlet and been doing -- my family's been
doing business with the Strong family.
My dad, with Jeff's father, and me, with
Jeff and my son, as well. So three
generations on three generations. But
I'm not here to talk -- I'm here to talk
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MAY 15, 2023 63
about the Strong brand. Everybody keeps
saying about --
MEMBER JAMES H. RICH III: I don't
mean to cut you off, but the Strong
brand is not what we're talking about
here. We're talking about a project.
STEVE BAKTIDY: All right.
(Inaudible) was a disaster before the
Strong's went in and took it over.
Mattituck Inlet Marine as well was a
disaster. Everything -- everything that
they touch, they make beautiful. They
make it nice. They make it proper and
they bring value to the community. So
in no doubt in my mind that if he does
this project. He's gonna make it look
beautiful. And he's gonna bring value
to the area and to the property. So
that's all I have to say. Thank you.
MEMBER JAMES H. RICH III: Thank
you for your comment.
THERESA DILWORTH: Hi, good
evening. My name is Theresa Dilworth.
I live in Mattituck. Off Sound Avenue.
I'm a Board member and the Treasurer of
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the North Fork Audubon Society. And I'm
also head of the Trail Maintenance
Subcommittee, where we maintain the
trails of a 55 acre County Park in
(inaudible) County Park where the
Audubon headquarters are located
tonight. I want to talk about bats. We
do have an 80 page set of comments that
we're going to submit in writing. Where
we talk about 20 or so endangered birds
and other species. But tonight, I'm
gonna talk about bats. Before I get
into the discussion, I want to just
briefly talk about the different levels
of protected status under Federal and
New York Law. The different categories
of conservation status. So the first
status is extinct. Extinct means that
the species no longer exists anywhere in
the world. The second status is
endangered, which is defined as of high
risk of becoming extinct. The third --
the second -- the second is threatened,
which is high risk of becoming
endangered. So that's Level Two. Third
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is special concern, which is high risk
of becoming threatened. And the fourth
is the high priority species of greatest
conservation need, which is high risk of
becoming special concern. So the one
I'm gonna focus on is endangered, which
is the highest level of risk of
extinction. So the DEIS says there's 20
species of mammals at the site, of which
four are bat species. And that none of
the bats are endangered. The DEIS
consultant did not make any on-site
visits to check for bats. I made
on-site visits and I find -- I found
nine species of bats, not four. In
fact, I found all nine bat species that
are known to live in New York State.
And how did I find these bats? I have a
bat detector. Actually, we had two of
them. They plug into the charging port
of an iPhone. There's a microphone
here. You hold it up and it can detect
the ultrasonic sounds that bats make.
They're called echolocation calls. They
are beyond the range of human hearing.
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So this device can pick up the call.
And every species of bat has a different
call. In terms of the frequency pitch
volume, timber, the length of the call,
the frequency of the repetitions, the
time of the length, the time between
repetitions, etcetera. So this device
can detect the species of bats
automatically. I mean within seconds.
Through the logarithms and the
technology that it has. And also it
records the sonogram. So you can look
at them physically. You can look at
them on a chart. You can see the shape
of the sonogram, etcetera. It's very
similar to the technology used in the
Merlin Bird Identification App. For
those of you who are knowledgeable about
bird watching. There's a very similar
app, which is actually free that you
just hold up. You just hold it up, you
record and it will tell you what bird
species you're listening to. So it's
very similar to that.
JESSICA MICHAELIS: Thank you,
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Theresa, your time is up.
THERESA DILWORTH: Oh, ok. I just
want -- we will have more details in our
report.
KEVIN BYRNE: Hi, my name is Kevin
Byrne. I live in Mattituck. And I'm
also the Commissioner and Chairman of
the Mattituck Park District. And I'm --
want to talk a little bit. I understand
this is a very controversial issue in
our community. I just want to mention a
few things. One is that, as far as, I
know, no one or no agency or company or
anything, owns more property on the
Mattituck Inlet than the Mattituck Park
District. And as Chairman and
Commissioner, I am tasked and with the
responsibility along with my fellow
commissioners to protect and preserve
them. (Inaudible) That's fine. Well,
with the exclusion of Mr. Deegan
officially. Thank you for interrupting.
Thank you. It is our responsibility to
maintain, protect and preserve that
inlet. And in that regard, as I
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mentioned, I believe we have the most
property on the Mattituck Inlet of any
person or agency or company. Probably
the second highest amount of property on
the Mattituck Inlet is owned by Strong's
Marine and the Strong's family. So they
have an equal, almost nearly equal
interest and concern for the
preservation of the Mattituck Inlet.
Along with some of my fellow
commissioners, it's just about two years
ago now, I attended a meeting here at
Town Hall where the discussion was the
Mattituck Inlet and the condition and
the need for remediation of several
major problems with the Mattituck Inlet.
We know there's a run-off problem. We
know the Inlet is being polluted by
runoff water coming down and draining
into the Inlet. We know that the Inlet
has issues with its bottom. It needs to
be dredged. We also know that there's
need for soil testing and other things
to determine the actual condition of
that Inlet. And I just want to say
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that, you know, this is a controversial
issue and there's a lot of information
on both sides. I would ask you to
consider what was mentioned earlier,
about the history of the Strong's
family. The way they've dealt with the
Inlet. The way they've handled their
properties on the Inlet. And I would
also remind you or point out to you the
Save the Inlet and Save the Sound
people, that if you decline this
project, if you decide to not approve
it, you will have done nothing to Save
the Inlet. Thank you.
KEVIN WINES: Hi, good evening. My
name is Kevin Wines. I'm originally
from Mattituck and current employee at
Strong's Marine. First, I wasn't gonna
even comment about it, but I've heard
the word "natural cliff." The area that
they're looking to excavate was put
there by the State. It's not original
to the area. So don't go there. But
the reason I really wanted to talk was
when I went to high school in Mattituck,
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looking for career and jobs, and I felt
I had to go to greener pastures and move
on. Because it was not that many
opportunities for young people to grow
and raise a family. I joined the
military after college. And then worked
for the Federal Government, which I
helped -- I had a very secure job. Once
my family became pregnant, I wanted to
move home. I wanted to move back to
where I water skied and where I sailed
and fished and did all those things, and
raise my son in that area. And so we
have the same upbringing. I had a hard
decision because how do I move home when
I have such a secure job? Doing some
research on Strong's, the decades that
they have been in business prior to me,
the generations that their family has
owned and run the business, and the
sheer amount of times that they have
grown. They started with one property.
And now I've lost track. Okay. There's
a lot. But that speaks to the longevity
of Strong's and the longevity of where
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this project can lead. And most
importantly, it provides jobs for
someone like myself to move back to this
area and raise our children and raise a
family where we can afford to live.
Affordable Housing is great, but it
means nothing if we don't have a job and
a career to sustain that livability.
And that's why I'd like to say. Thank
you.
PAUL ROMANELLI: Evening. My name
is Paul Romanelli. I have a business in
Southold. I live in Cutchogue. Couple
of things. I tend to believe that stray
and feral cats out here probably kill
more birds in a month than land clearing
two acres would do. And there's never
really any criticism when a farmer
clears two acres of land for farming
because we all support farmers out here.
This is a business that is trying to
land clear to put up and grow their own
business, which really helps this
economy. We -- I don't think anybody
realizes how large the marine economy is
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out here on all aspects. It's not just
rich people with boats. It's smaller
people with boats. They're creating 14
jobs. But that's just 14 jobs from
Strong's. Those boat owners, the people
that repair those boats, all live, work
out here. Those boat owners will visit
our stores, our restaurants, buy
supplies out here. So the economy from
that is much bigger. I also -- I'm a
member of the North Fork Chamber of
Commerce and the Mattituck Chamber of
Commerce, as well as, the newly reformed
and revised Southold Business Alliance.
And we are a pro-business group with
still concern for what's best for the
Town, the environment and the economy.
Businesses can't be stifled for growth
purposes if it's done right. And
historically, this particular family for
four generations has done a tremendous
job of making sure that the marine
quality, the work they do, the repairs
they make are done in such a way that it
helps produce more work for all of us on
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the east end of the island. And I wanna
make sure that everybody understands the
short term effect of clearing this land
and those trucks will help improve in
the long term the Mattituck Inlet and
the businesses that are there, as well
as, the businesses that go through here.
Thank you very much.
JAMES HINSCH: My name is James
Hinsch. I live in Laurel. I've known
this Strong family for over 40 years.
They're people of integrity with a
commitment to the North Fork and its
maritime history. They're ambitious
people. They're not reckless people.
Every project that they have undertaken
has improved the physical plant where
they employ collectively over 150 people
in approximately nine locations
throughout Long Island. Jeff and Ree
raise their family here in Mattituck.
They live on Mattituck Inlet. Like so
many others enjoy what it has to offer
for recreation. They can be seen
kayaking and boating on the same inlet
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with their children and grandchildren
throughout the year. The project is
ambitious, and it will temporarily
inconvenience the neighborhood. The
property is zoned for this usage.
There's no need for any special
variance. The Strong's have done
everything that the town has asked them
to do and more they have taken into
consideration the disruption that their
project will cause temporarily and have
committed to minimizing that to the best
of their ability. Yacht storage for
vessels of this size is currently going
on at this facility. This is not a new
use. The Town's own local waterfront
plan calls for expanded use at this
location. One of the Strong's concerns
about the future of our community is a
properly trained workforce. Jeff has
been in communication with our local
school districts to encourage students
to consider a career in the marine
industry. Many of our youth need to
leave Town to seek employment. This
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MAY 15, 2023 75
project will result in more better
paying jobs in our community. There
will be an increase in revenue for the
Town, State and County. In terms of
property and sales tax collected. The
project will help ensure that this
location remains a working boatyard.
Over the last few years, we've seen many
businesses on the North Fork, sell to
large out of town corporations. This is
one of our own family owned businesses,
who are not selling to outside
interests, but see a need in their
industry and want to expand their
capacity to meet that need. Thank you.
ANNE SHERWOOD PUNDYK: Hi, good
evening. My name is Anne Sherwood
Pundyk. I do want to thank the Planning
Department and the Board for all of your
extensive work, and in keeping with
that. I want to respect the those
efforts by having my comments address
the topic of the evening, which is
commenting on the DEIS, as opposed to
other things. So I live at 1185 West
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Mill Road in Mattituck. Less than a
mile from Strong's Marine Yacht
Warehouse project. I have spent over 50
years translating the three dimensional
world into two dimensional images using
many different media, including
architectural drawings, photography,
digital tools, such as Photoshop. I
have a Master's Degree in Fine Art from
one of the country's leading art schools
and I work full time as a professional
artist. My painting studio is adjacent
to our home in Mattituck. So I first
visited the North Fork as a small child.
I'm deeply sensitized to the qualities
of light, natural beauty and rural
character of the North Fork. I have
deep family roots. My great
grandparents and grandparents are laid
to rest in Orient. All right. I'm
qualified to evaluate the physical
impact information presented in the
revised DEIS based on that. So the
conclusion in the DEIS that there will
be no significant visual impacts from
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the project is not supported for several
reasons. The materials presented in the
DEIS are in key respects, poorly
prepared and omit information necessary
to determine the nature and full
significance of the visual impact of
this project, within the context of the
shoreline and community character of
Mattituck, as required by the final
scope of the DEIS. The information the
DEIS centers on, is the relationship of
the existing buildings to the proposed
buildings. Not the relationship of the
buildings to the project's natural
setting. For example, the DEIS states
existing buildings seven and eight would
effectively screen most of the proposed
buildings nine and ten from properties
to the east of the subject property.
Meaning, this is the view from the water
looking directly across. So that's the
view. So what they don't mention is the
gaping hole behind all of these
buildings, where the entire woodland
hillside has been removed. So that line
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that you see now, would now go down like
this. So that's a visual impact and
it's very strong. Furthermore, in the
set of architectural drawings provided
by the developer, there's no elevation
showing the topography. The buildings
but no topography. We don't know
exactly -- We won't -- can't determine
visually what those the change in
elevation will look like. This is just
one example. I'm outlining several more
in a detailed written response I'll be
giving, you know, later to the Planning
Board. And I do support the positions
that have saved Mattituck Inlet.
MEMBER JAMES H. RICH III: Thank
you.
TERRI BOYLE ROMANELLI: Hi. My
name is Terri Boyle Romanelli. I live
in Cutchogue, and I am here to ask the
Board to support this project and
support the businesses and economic
development in our community. And I'm
going to read some of the goals from our
Comprehensive Plan that support our
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economic development. And you will see
that this project with Strong's,
supports all of them. Goal One,
encourage new and facilitate the growth
of existing business sectors that pursue
stable and sustainable employment. We
know that Strong's does that. We've
heard that from people before. My son
had a summer job there. They're great.
Two, promote economic development that
ensures an adequate tax base without
compromising the unique character of the
Town. We all know that we are an
agricultural and maritime town and we
have always been a tourist town. And
the tourists that they bring to this
community help our farms and our
businesses thrive. And we thank them
for that preserve and encourage
industries that support existing and
future agriculture and agriculture uses.
They certainly do that, and they are
very good stewards of the land as we
have all observed as community members
here. Preserve, encourage and continue
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MAY 15, 2023 80
to support existing and future maritime
uses as an important business sector
within the Town's economy. And they
certainly do that. And I'm asking the
Board to show your support for Strong's
and show you support for economic
development in our town that will enable
us to continue to thrive. Change is
inevitable. We are going to change and
we need to manage the change, but we
also need to respect the businesses that
have gotten us to where we are today and
have thrived. And we need to continue
to support them as they find new ways to
be profitable and bring jobs to this
community and bring additional
recreational opportunities for us, and
the tourists who come here to visit us
and help our community thrive. So I'm
asking you to please support this
project. Thank you.
ANTHONY MARTIGNETTI: My name's
Anthony Martignetti. I own the old mill
and I'm currently renovating it. I'm a
direct neighbor of this project. Please
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don't let my affiliation with trying to
lift the old mill call into question my
sanity. While I'm very good friends
with some people who don't support this
project, I'm also very good friends with
the Strong's and people that do. I know
this is a very tough moment for the
community, but I'm actually here to
support the project. I think a lot
worse things could be going on there.
The first thing that I see is that there
was a hotel -- 200 room, which is what
it's zoned for. That would be 800 cars
a day coming in and out. This traffic
isn't a great thing, but there -- it's
only going to be six months of car
traffic and big truck traffic. It's not
great. I live at the top of the road,
but they're trying to do what they can.
Secondly, this is only winter storage.
If they were trying to add 60 more slips
and increase boat traffic, that would be
a very tough thing. That would also, in
fact, inflict a lot of damage on the
waterway itself, but these are boats
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that are coming in once and out once.
Lastly, I own the two historical
buildings that people have spoken about
in the events. In the earlier
presentation. I happen to have the same
structural engineer and he assured me
that I am not to be concerned about the
vibrations that are happening. And
lastly, I'm very concerned about
Mattituck Inlet. A lot of you like to
look at it. I actually swim in it every
single day of the Summer. That also
might call into question my sanity.
But, I love it. My wife kayaks there.
I ride my bike up and down the road. If
we're really concerned with the runoff
and the storm drains of the, of the
Strong's buildings. There's a 24-inch
storm drain that is under the City's
control that runs straight out of a City
through my bulkhead. And every time it
rains puts all of the runoff off
Mattituck, off West Road. Straight over
my floating dock and into the water. It
pumps all the pesticides and all the
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green grass, fake stuff that people use
on their lawns up and down the road.
That's really something we could talk
about if we want to talk about Save
Mattituck Inlet. Aside from that, I
know that this is a very tough thing and
it was tough for me -- tough for me to
come to these conclusions, but I have
looked into it as deeply as I can.
Thank you.
MEMBER JAMES H. RICH III: Thank
you.
ANGELA DEVITO: Good evening. My
name is Angela Devito, and I'm a
resident of the Town of Riverhead. And
I'm here to plea with you this evening
to consider this project as a North Fork
project. The impact although it's only
for a brief period of time, six months
during the construction phases of this,
on the Town of Riverhead will be
considerable and perhaps they are some
of the unanticipated impacts that are
going to be discussed at another point.
Another date. The fact that you're
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going to be having one truck on the road
every seven minutes means that in the
Town of Riverhead, every hour, there
will be seven of these trucks traveling
either on Northville Turnpike or on
County Road 58. On County Road 58, as
opposed to coming out of the Town of
Southold. There are 17 traffic lights
at a traffic circle, at a hospital site,
that will have to be maneuvered by these
massive trucks with their massive loads
over time. The noise that will be
generated by them will not only disturb
patients in that hospital, but will
interfere directly with the ability of
ambulances to get patients that need
care to those hospital, to those
hospital services. The impact, we have
the largest school district on the North
Fork. We have 5500 students who are
bussed every single day. Starting at
6:10 A.M. in the morning. And going
through 5 o'clock at night, our buses
are on the roads. The impact of having
these massive trucks who will have to
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stop and come to halt at 17 traffic
lights as they travel through our town
is considerable. I would just ask at
this point, I looked at the DEIS very
briefly. Have to admit that. And we
were sort of an afterthought. A little
footnote in there and we're not the
impact on us and the impact of this
project should have been considered
across the towns as a -- and as I said,
as a Norfolk project. So I'm asking
that there is a mechanism to do this,
that it be put in place immediately.
And thank you for your time, and thank
you for holding this hearing.
MEMBER JAMES H. RICH III: Thank
you, sir. State your name, please.
JERRY ADLER: My name is Jerry
Adler. I'm a resident of Mattituck. In
public venues, Mr. Strong speaks
eloquently as we -- as many of his
supporters have tonight, of his desire
to honor the maritime history of
Mattituck and Southold Town. And the
DEIS presents this project as a means to
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ensure that tradition, which is a goal
also of the 2020 Town Comprehensive
Plan, and the Local Waterfront
Revitalization Program. This project is
the wrong way to go about it. It does
nothing to enhance the maritime
character of the town, the Hamlet or the
inlet, which were built around
commercial and the sport fishing and
small boat recreation by local
residents. Not storing multimillion
dollar yachts. The project comprises
two enormous sheds with no more visual
appeal or apparent maritime function
than warehouses. The boats they are
meant to service will be shut up inside
for half the year and sailing somewhere
else the rest of the time. Whether or
not they get built, yacht owners will
continue to buy, dock and service boats
at Strong's and at Strong's other marina
locations and store them for the Winter
wherever they store them now. Strong's
marinas are a thriving business.
Mr. Strong is not making a hardship
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MAY 15, 2023 87
claim, but to the extent that revenue
from the yacht storage project is
necessary to subsidize the Strong's
company or might be in the future,
surely there are other less
environmentally destructive ways to
accomplish this. Public and private
entities including Southold Town,
Suffolk County and the Peconic Land
Trust routinely purchase properties or
development rights to preserve land in
its natural state or in agricultural
production. Why not extend those
initiatives to maintain shoreline
property for maritime uses? Enabling
Mr. Strong to achieve the goal of
ensuring the future of his property, the
character of the town, and his family's
legacy without digging up an entire
hillside in the process.
MS. SHELLY: My name is Shelly
(inaudible). I live in East Marion and
as a North Fork resident animal lover
and all around nature lover. I am very
much against the destruction of
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Mattituck Inlet and the community is
there against stealing the homes and
environment of many species of
endangered and soon to be endangered,
birds, mammals, reptiles, butterflies,
bees, and against destruction of our
tree friends that supply us with fresh
clean air, shade and visual beauty.
Congestion will be created in one way.
One way out roads. That the general
public needs to communicate to for their
work, shopping and other needs. And
which will interfere with school buses
and getting the kids to school on time.
I was a bus monitor. And you have to
get them on time. You -- there's no
ifs, ands or buts. The benefits of life
and beauty in nature will be replaced
with a flat out big unsightly hole, pure
ugliness and total community chaos.
This action is nothing more than an act
of financial greed, personal gain and
lack of regard for humanity and
Mattituck wildlife land and community.
The Strong's should not be allowed to
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destroy this site on Mattituck Inlet or
any other place on the north or south
shore.
MEMBER JAMES H. RICH III: Please
stick to the project. Please.
MS. SHELLY: Thank you.
PHIL KARLIN: My name is Phil
Karlin. I'm a commercial fisherman and
I've been fishing out of the Mattituck
Inlet for 55 years. And I just want to
make one point about the creek in
Mattituck. It's been more productive in
the recent years than it was 50 years
ago. It was good then, but it's gotten
better even. With the runoff from. And
as far as the project goes, really not
gonna have much. And there's twenty
some odd -- full-time commercial
fishermen, (inaudible) on Strong's to
service our boats, store our boats. And
they're at -- we'd have to travel 25-30
miles to get more. If we break down, we
have to get to. So it's very important
that this project goes through. And as
far as the impact on the surroundings,
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it's just a little bit of an area.
Plenty of woodland around Mattituck and
I love wildlife and I see it all over it
and it will move. I know around
Riverhead. We have acres and acres of
woodland and it's still productive with
wildlife and lizards and frogs and
turtles and everything. But it's
important that for us as commercial
fishermen to support our families. Help
dependent and Strong's has done a very
good job. So I appreciate them. Thank
you.
DAVE CHICANOVIC: Dave Chicanovic.
Local businessmen of a landscape
business, retail business out here.
Lived here all my life. Born and raised
and I listen to the comments that I hear
tonight. And I am just as much
concerned about the environment, water
and everything that everybody's talked
about tonight. As anyone -- my family
have preserved over 70 acres of farmland
in the process to help keep it the way
it was. Which was memories long ago
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MAY 15, 2023 91
that I remember what nice, beautiful
land we had out here and waterways we've
got invaded. I call it invaded. I had
a lot of people that enjoy the beautiful
area that we have here. The reasons
they enjoy it, is the way we try to keep
it the same way. And if there's one
company that would do it, it would be
Strong's. Everything that I've seen on
that seems very appropriate. That I'm
sure there's gonna be hiccups and
problems. But if there's anybody
leading the charge, it would be them.
I'd be happy to support. I am also a
member or a committee member of the
Southold Tree Committee. They've
reached out to us and they are going to
assure us that there's going to be
additional trees being put throughout
the Town of Southold, courtesy, because
of the impact that they're affecting us
one area. So you talk about getting rid
of some birds and things in one area.
They'll be coming to another area in
town. That's our mission. The Tree
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Committee is to try to keep the way this
looked 40 years ago, the same today.
That's a problem. Fortunately with the
help of the Town Hall, we are getting
better funding and we're able to do more
tree plantings on a yearly basis, which
has been fantastic. But again, keeping
this area the way we want it, is a hard
job. Everybody wants to say "no, not in
my backyard or not next door." Well,
you know, the simple solution is like
buy the property, you'll keep it the way
you want it. If you want it that way,
it's zoned properly. They're going
through every hill and dale to get this
progress -- this project done and I
fully support and hope you do. Thank
you very much.
MEMBER JAMES H. RICH III: Hey,
John.
JOHN SINNING: Hi, John Sinning.
I'm a full-time commercial fishermen. I
fish out of Strong's Yacht Center. I
just wanna repeat what Phil said about
the support that Strong's has given to
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the entire commercial fleet out of
Mattituck, including the five or six
guys that are in there, plus aquaculture
project that's in there. So indirectly,
Strong's, not only are they providing
jobs at the marina, they're running a
number of other jobs of commercial
fishermen, out of (inaudible) and like
other people have said here, I believe
that Strong's will do the right thing
with their property. They already they
already have. Thank you.
ERIC SCHIEBLER: So my name is Eric
Schiebler. I'm a driver of all those
beautiful boats that we're talking about
bringing in and out of Strong. I drive
all those. And so very much like Kevin
here, I left New York a long time ago.
I was fortunate enough to have the
opportunity to come back home. And
being a captain, as many of you also
suffered from, we have seasonal business
out here in the north end, and in the
marine industries. And so Strong's have
been fortunate and -- have been kind
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enough to offer me the opportunity to
work for them, but I'm done in October.
So the impact not only to me but to
other crew members of all these
different vessels that -- that they're
(inaudible) over the winter time. It
creates far more than just (inaudible).
It provides opportunities for so many of
us in the industry to extend our season.
A very important amount of money that we
don't otherwise see from November to
say, you know, March. If you ever
stepped foot on any of the properties
that Strong has, you can't stop and say
that they would intend to any of the
properties. Those properties are
absolutely beautiful. And the clientele
that they bring to their facilities are
-- you know, their they're higher-end,
you know, upper middle class. Happy
people. Bringing revenue to all of the
communities around here and add that
number of people from other places. I
mean, from Connecticut, from Rhode
Island. The indoor storage is very,
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very hard to come by in this area. To
have that kind of facility, be able to
bring that revenue into the area, to the
restaurants, to the hotels, to the bed
and breakfast, all the different
facilities around. It just adds value
to the whole entire program. And again,
I can't reiterate the goodness of the
Strong's family. I can't imagine for
one second their intentions would ever
be to degradated Mattituck. There are
many generations here. And I have
nothing but good things to say about
them. Thank you.
SAL MESSINA: Good evening. My
name is Sal Messina. Just real quick,
for probably 25 to 30 years, I made a
living working on the Sound. Basically
with companies that supported many of
you got people here for years.
Northville Industries, Costco, Conoco
Phillips. Now it's United terminals.
Also as a liaison for the Coast Guard,
with spills, with environmental
incidences on both shores, Connecticut
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and Long Island. You know, the Sounds a
rough place. It's tough out there.
Most of us just always think of it as
you know, that scenic sunset. But let
me tell you, when you're working out
there as even these guys know a fishman,
it'll kick you. And Mattituck Inlet was
always a place of restitute and solace
to come in. As soon as you hit those
that turn, it was always okay. We're
here, we're home, we're here. Mattituck
Marina was a great place to come with
the boats. 20 years later, I was hired
as a general manager when Strong's took
over. There were people here sitting
now that pretty much when that Marina
needed to build buildings. They did. I
dug up quite a few pictures in the
archives in the basement and all and
what it really consisted of the anchor
in next door, the old mill. And then
there was just one building, which was a
(inaudible) but as the boats got bigger
and as they needed to expand, Mattituck
Marina did so. And I just think that in
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today's -- it's time the boats -- need
to expand and to do things safe.
Someone said before, to cradle those
boats and just put them in a building is
the right way to go. I know this
environmental thing is big. You always
hear it. Environmental, environmental,
environmental. I understand that we
have to be sensitive. In the five years
that I was the GM there, the creek is
unbelievable. I mean Cornell has a clam
program that they said unheard of any
place else. The actual oxygen and
minerals and everything that flow
through that, that current there is
perfect for clams. We just finished a
two year kelp program. The kelp is
unbelievable. I couldn't, you know,
this big, this thick. So I've seen more
runoff on the east side in horrible
storms. So I don't know -- I just
wanted to let that out that as time goes
on, there are different needs and
there's solutions to everything. So I
hope you guys will consider that.
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STEVE MARESCT: Good evening. My
name is Steve Maresct. I'm a boat
owner. I keep my boat at the marina in
there. I used to just -- use it for
winter storage, get my boat on the south
shore during the summer. I believe that
this is an appropriate use in with the
environment in nature. Marinas are
disappearing on the east end, either
through being sold to developers or just
you being priced out. Middle class is
being priced out and my particular
marina was bought up by some rich
person. It went up 220%. Now I'm
keeping my boat at Strong's Marina for
the Summer or well, I hope so. Hope that
this marina is able to expand, able to
maintain working people to maintain our
boats. Thank you.
STEVE BOSCOLA: Steven Boscola from
Mattituck. If you zoom in on that
picture right there, about 120 feet
north of those buildings right there is
our home encased in that, in the
Strong's property, which was residential
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MAY 15, 2023 99
until somehow the zoning got changed.
That the town can't seem to explain.
However, our community is relying on the
Planning Board and the Planning
Department to take a careful look at
what's being proposed here. This is a
Town where we pass restrictions on the
(inaudible) hours you can use your leaf
blower because we value each other's
space and quiet enjoyment of our homes.
Yet this proposed project would upend
our lives and our neighbors lives for 12
months or more all day, five days a
week. And for what, who really benefits
the 15 jobs that were down to 11, which
are now 13? What if they're actually
five? What if none? The DEIS doesn't
explain when these people will be hired.
Is it after the first building? The
second building? What if no buildings
get built and there are no jobs as
people on the Board have asked during
some of the work sessions? What will
these people do all Summer long when
these boats are gone? What are they
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MAY 15, 2023 100
gonna do? Do they get laid off? Do
they go on Summer vacation? The DEIS
does not explain what these jobs are
actually gonna do, as you may recall.
We're 120 feet from this project. Our
initial concerns voiced to you in March
of 2020 have only gotten worse despite
Mr. Strong's best efforts to downplay
this project or even go so far as to buy
us out of our home. We've read the
DEIS, sharpened our pencils and put
substantive comments. The misstatements
in this document. Some of the claims
made by the developer are not only
ludicrous, but they're also dangerous as
they disregard the fact that we're in
the middle of this project. Literally.
You've heard tonight, people saying, oh,
if the vibration gets out of control,
we'll stop and reassess. What happens
to the slope? There's no explanation.
The DEIS of a -- as was supposed to be
in the scope, prolonged delays in
excavation. Who stabilizes the slope?
Excess vibration will just stop work and
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MAY 15, 2023 101
reassess. Well, how long will that
take? The DEIS needs to disclose what
that means for the slope stability that
is 100 feet from our home and feet from
other homes as well. Despite the
developer telling us you shouldn't have
built your house here. This has been
our same family home since it was built
over 52 years ago. Once again, before
the inexplicably changed zoning. I
think once you've read all the comment
letters and heard all the testimonies, I
think you'll see that this project
merits rejection. Please keep in mind
that the community is watching this
project and there's extensive and
substantive support for you to reject
it. Thank you.
JAMES KAMINSKY: My name is James
Kaminsky. I'm a lifelong resident of
Mattituck. I'm a marine contractor. I
do marine electronics. I do work for
Strong's as a contractor. I want to
talk today about what these buildings
will do for the Town. Southold Town
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historically has had a very seasonal
economy. In the Summer, there's lots of
work. Lots of jobs. In the Winter,
those jobs dry up. People are
scrounging to find work in the Winter.
These buildings will do exactly the
opposite. It will open up work for the
Winter. All the employees of Strong's
that they're going to hire, they will
have jobs. Contractors like myself and
others that come in and work there, will
have jobs in the Winter. We can expand.
We can hire more people. All right. No
one's talking about these benefits, but
they're important and they're real. And
it's unfortunate that there'll be
consequences. And things to the
neighbors and such. But it's short
term. These buildings will be there for
decades. Giving jobs to the town for
decades. That's it.
BETH LEBOWITZ: Hello, Planning
Board members. My name is Beth
Lebowitz. I'm a resident in Mattituck.
Right on the inlet and from the east
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side and looking across the way. My
concerns regarding this development are
many. Most important are environmental
concerns shared by many neighbors. In
the community over the impact of the
demolition of woods and hillsides. The
wood in the hillside is quite large.
It's got 90 year old trees in it. It's
not gonna be replaced by planting trees
in Mattituck itself, or even the 60
trees that the project has offered to
replant. We're talking about hundreds
of trees. But the main issue here for
tonight is that the -- significantly
these impacts are not acknowledged in
the DEIS. And I think that's very
important since we are looking at the
DEIS. The DEIS is also very inaccurate
about the zoning, and does not clearly
demonstrate that the project complies
with the zoning. I should note, on this
nerdy subject, that I was the Director
of the Zoning Division at the New York
City Department of City Planning before
I retired in 2019. So I call myself a
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Zoning Nerd. I also worked in the
Economic Development Division. Should
you think that all of us who are
concerned and opposed to this project
are simply anti development? The DEIS
is inconsistent in its description of
the applicable zoning because there is
no clarity on the size of the R-80 MII
portions of the of the lot. The
applicants bulk calculations are not
accurate. A serious underlying problem
is that the boundary between the MII and
R80 portions is uncertain. The zoning
maps accompanying the 1989 Southold Law,
one, show the boundary between the
maritime industrial and residential
districts was moved several 100 feet to
the west of the previous location away
from the edge of the existing bluff.
But there are no records of an official
action authorizing this change. And the
associated zoning map with metes and
bounds was never submitted to the
county. This issue needs to be
addressed and resolved as part of the
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MAY 15, 2023 105
environmental review of the project.
Typically, applicants are required to
include with their proposal, an
application rectifying any zoning
mistakes or missing parts. Before a
SEQRA finding statement can be -- can be
issued, MII district rules in Section
280-54 of the zoning code -- Sorry.
State that the proposed development
should have direct access to marine or
tidal waterways. Given the site's
elevation, it doesn't and it is
therefore nonconforming with the intent
of the MII zoning. Instead, the site
will have to be intensively modified to
make it suitable for the proposed use.
Another issue there is lack of clarity
as to ownership of parcel, which is part
of the project parcel. This parcel is
not listed on the Town of Southold's
assessment role. The DEIS states that
the building height of the two
warehouses is 4588 inches measured from
ridge height to adjacent grade.
According to the zoning code, the
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maximum building height in an MII
district is 35 feet. Therefore, these
buildings would be noncomplying with
your zoning.
JESSICA MICHAELIS: Thank you,
Beth. Your time is up.
BETH LEBOWITZ: Yeah, I will hand
in some more comments of the nerdy sort.
JESSICA MICHAELIS: Thank you.
MEMBER JAMES H. RICH III: Sir?
PAUL SILANSKY: Paul Silansky,
Cutchogue. Five years ago, Strong's
Marina had completed many small
incremental cleanup improvements to
their recently purchased yacht center
marina. And were now ready to fully
realize their vision to offer complete
services, including expanded storage to
satisfy their client demand. Five years
ago, Applicant, Strong's Marine was but
a building permit away from potentially
realizing return on the risk they took.
Investing in the purchase of expensive
property going for Marine II uses. Five
years later, they find themselves still
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MAY 15, 2023 107
embroiled in the court of public opinion
concerning their exercise of private
property use rights, which have been
respected by most citizens since the
time of George Washington, with the
establishment of the patent office,
making the property stake official.
Some mistakenly believe that their
property rights extend for as far as
they can see or imagine. Indeed into
all this private property, backyards and
even how they use it. Please be
reminded that private property owners
have the rights to acquire property.
Exclusively deploy it for any legitimate
use and dispose of it as they see fit.
Further, be reminded that owners enjoy
the right and freedom to exercise their
property rights without harassment
through the 5th and 14th amendments to
the constitution. Five years in
counting to obtain a building permit is
excessive bureaucratic and very costly.
Just in the last two years, inflation
has run wild. Driving up the cost of
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steel and other building and landscape
materials. Inflating the cost of labor
and services. And now the perverse
inflation of the cost of credit through
rising Fed rates makes it extremely
burdensome to finance any project under
Title Six DEC State Environmental
Quality Review. General Rule 617.3,
agencies must carry out the terms and
requirements of this part with minimal
procedural and administrative delay
where feasible for combined and
consolidated pre-proceedings and must
expedite all SEQRA proceedings in the
interest of a prompt review. Five years
and turning into six and possibly seven
cannot be construed as prompt. Five
years later, it remains this property
was approved for Marine II uses
accepting the environmental impacts of
that zoning class. Five years later, it
remains the decision on a legitimate use
of this property was made upon the
approval of its Marine II zoning class.
Five years later, it remains that this
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building application satisfies all the
zoning guidelines. Five years later, it
remains that this building permit
request satisfies all Southold building
permit requirements without the need for
any variance request. Five years later,
it remains this improvement plan.
That's all existing Southold Town
ordinance. In closing five years ago,
Strong's Marine operations were
evaluated in all aspects by marine
industry experts achieving an industry
wide coveted rating in the top 100 but
of 3500. Marine is nationwide. Coming
in at Number Five, within the top 100,
they were recognized for their expertise
gleaned over four generations. The
Strong Family, respect for community,
respect for the sensitive environment.
They interact with on a day to day
basis. Additionally, they engage in
peer reviews on a regular basis.
Inviting 20 other marina managers from
around the country to their facilities
and provide feedback as to best
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MAY 15, 2023 110
practices. Ron's marine team are among
the best of the best and the most well
suited to implementing this passive
marine tool storage improvement plan.
You can expect all valuable input
obtained from communication with the
community be leveraged and obtaining the
best result possible.
MEMBER JAMES H. RICH III: Excuse
me, the initial plan was to take a five
minute break period. But it seems like
it's moving well. So we will continue
here. Sir?
JEFF PUNDYK: Thank you. My name
is Jeff Pundyk and I live on West Mill
Road, which is just down the road from
the Strong's proposed yacht warehouse
project. So that makes me an investor
in this project. In fact, the entire
North Fork is being asked to invest. We
would be investing our quality of life,
our public safety on local roads, our
climate resilience, our property values
and our future as this development
threatens to tip our delicate ecological
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balance. Professionally, I'm a managing
director at Deloitte, which is the
world's largest accounting and
professional services firm. And at
Deloitte, we're trained to look at risk
versus report the risk of this project
are well documented. We hearing and the
DEIS does little to mitigate them. In
addition to the concerns about the
environment, the impact on Mill Road
preserve truck traffic during the
construction period, Fire safety, the
degradation of community character. I'd
like to add a very real risk of starting
this project and not finishing it.
Given the threat of recession, rising
interest rates, supply chain issues,
instability of banks, volatility of
demand for the service. There's the
risk that the project starts, but never
gets completed. Virtually all of our
clients, the leading companies in the
world are planning for these threats.
There's no mention of any of this in the
DEIS. In this scenario, we get all the
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downsides of the project and none of the
upsides. We're left with a hole in the
ground. So let's look at the upsides as
outlined in the DEIS. According to the
DEIS, we can expect a few benefits.
You've heard up to 11 jobs. But DEIS
not specify the nature of these jobs.
It's fair to assume that they are
seasonal and primarily low wage. Nor
does the DEIS guarantee that these jobs
will go to North -- a property tax is
one of the upsides of project. But the
project would be eligible for the tax
exempt tax exemption for 10 years. As a
result, the estimated increase in
property taxes for the first three years
would be about $32,000, and year four
would be about $37,000. These numbers
are roughly for three homeowners paying
tax. Just putting on my Deloitte hat,
balance sheet for this project is really
clear. The risks are outweighed. Thank
you.
MARK HAUBNER: Hi, Mark Haubner,
From the North Fork Environmental
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Council. I thought it was gonna be last
and could talk till 9:30. Maybe not.
Like there's only two points left that I
had on my list. So I'll not belabor the
other ones. There's no benefit to the
Town and its residence in destroying a
50 foot bluff in a flood hazard area.
Destroying 650 trees at a time in which
clean air is becoming a luxury. Suffolk
County is a non-attainment district for
the DEC for clean air. We never see
clean air in Suffolk County anymore. So
I'm kind of concerned at the services
that the trees provide in filtering
pollution, as well as, providing oxygen,
as well as, the trucks and all the
vehicle traffic that we've talked about.
The loss of contiguous habitat is much
more negative. Has much more negative
impact than anyone realizes. And I hope
that's part of the discussion within the
DEIS, among you as well. And the
footprint of the huge storage buildings,
which are almost the size of Costco in
Riverhead. Adding impervious surfaces
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and parking areas are gonna double --
more than double the footprint of this.
This project to over eight acres. More
than a quarter of the site and it's
going to increase stormwater runoff. I
know they've got a stormwater management
system proposed to handle a two inch
rain event. (Inaudible) that we're
never going to see more than two inches
of rain. Climate change demands more
stringent stormwater controls,
especially in light of the Florida's
recent 30-inch rain event in 24 hours.
We haven't seen a Category Three storm
in a lot of years. I would question
that. The calculations have been
already done for the runoff of that
hillside, pre-excavation and that the
Barren Hill is gonna provide a different
number than that. And I hope you're
accounting for those as well. Thank
you.
MEMBER JAMES H. RICH III: Yes,
sir? Good evening.
JOHN MCAULIFF: I'm John McAuliff.
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I live in Riverhead. I work with a
group called (inaudible) Watch, which is
trying to save the (inaudible). We have
had a home in Riverhead for 30 years,
but have many times come to the
Southold, to concerts and the vineyards.
And I was very glad to hear the old Mill
Inn as being resuscitated because it was
a favorite place as our sons were
growing up. I've spoken before the
Planning Board, your counterparts in
Riverhead, and I see planning boards as
playing an absolutely essential role in
preserving the character of the East
End. All you have to do is look west of
Riverhead and some parts of Riverhead
even, but at least look west of
Riverhead and you can see a lot of
development that was all done for good
reasons. It was done because of the
jobs it was done with promises about
considering the environment. It was
always done because it was a step that
was considered forward. I think that
it's -- it's very important in this
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project to consider not just the in
special interests of the owner of the
people that will have jobs there, but of
the larger community interest. And that
you see yourselves as playing a role of
the defenders, the protectors of the
East End. I have a deal for you. We'll
try and keep the jet cargo planes from
coming over your head. If you try and
keep the trucks from coming down our
roads and our traffic circles. Thank
you.
MARGE MCDONNELL: Good evening. My
name is Marge McDonnell. I live in
Mattituck. I live about a quarter mile
from the Mill Road Preserve. I walk by
near, in or around the preserve on
almost a daily basis year round. I know
the area very well. It's hard to
exaggerate the special and unspoiled
nature of this part of Southold. Right
on the Mattituck Inlet and covered in
forest. There is an astonishing variety
and abundance of wildlife in this area.
Every single day, I see it. Turtles,
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snakes, turkeys, raccoons, rabbits,
deer, possum, hedgehogs. All make this
area their home. And the bird life is
staggering. To listen to the bird song
on a Spring morning is to be in awe. It
is a gift. That unspoiled natural
environment is why the Town in 2002, saw
fit to spend roughly $900,000 in today's
money, to establish the Mill Road
Preserve. At the time, the Town Board
said "the purchase will serve to
continue the sense of openness, special
to this area of the Hamlet of Mattituck
specifically and the Town of Southold in
general." Clearly, the Town was making
this entire area a priority for
protection for the enjoyment of the
whole town. The Strong's property is
directly adjacent to and contiguous with
the preserve. It is in fact one
ecosystem. There is no reasonable
expectation that the boat storage
project will not significantly
negatively impact the preserve.
Contrary to what they say in the DEIS.
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Changes to the forest, the microclimate,
arrival of invasive plants, the negative
impact of light penetration, as a result
of the removal of the forest.
Disruption to the habitats, nesting
areas and environments of all these
creatures. Not to mention, the sheer
chaos and destruction of a massive
construction project is utterly
inconsistent with the stated intent of
the Town regarding preservation of this
area. In closing, I have a request of
the members of the Planning Board.
Please, before you make any decision
about this project, if you have not
already done so, walk the Mill Road
Preserve. Park at the trail head and
walk in. See it. Listen to it,
experience it for yourselves. I believe
that will help inform your decision. I
know it has informed mine. Thank you.
MEMBER JAMES H. RICH III: Thank
you. Yes?
RICK GAINOU: Hello. My name is
Rick Gainou. I live Mattituck. I don't
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know if anybody remembers, we've talked
about the commercial fishing and
pleasure boats of Mattituck Inlet, but
it was an industrial section at the
north end of the inlet years ago. As
full storage tanks and a stone yard next
to it. So for years and years and years
that stone had to come in and it had to
go out. Somehow it went out in trucks,
semi trucks. Straight dump trucks,
anchor, trailers for the oil.
Distributed trucks for the road, oil and
lo and behold, the roads are still
there. And I don't know of any houses
that fell down. So trucking went on
there for years and years and years.
Nobody probably remembers it. And six
months of trucking is not gonna destroy
the roads. I was in the road paving
business for 40 years. Anything that
the trucks do to the roads can be fixed.
The trucking route -- I don't know if
it's been finalized, but you have empty
trucks go one way, full trucks go
another way. So they're not passing one
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another on the two lane roads. And the
speed limits would have to be enforced.
Truck drivers are professional truck
drivers. I'm a Class a license holder
myself. When we stop for school buses,
we pay attention to what we're doing.
And this whole project can be done
without any deaths or destruction to
anyone, as far as I can tell. I was
also like to talk about economics.
That's not part of the deal. United
States economy is built on capitalism,
free enterprise. I'd like to talk about
free enterprise for a minute if I could.
There are five principles to free
enterprise. One is free to choose your
business. The Strong's bought the
Mattituck Marina and Shipyard that was
once a thriving dealership for yachts
and service yard. And sort of went into
decline from previous owner. The
Strong's have refurbished the marina.
Their sheds are full. They would like
to build more sheds so they can store
more boats there. Mattituck Inlet is
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the only service yard. The next one
closest is Glen Cove Brewery Yard in
Glen Cove. So in between Northport,
there are no real service yards, just
boats. So that certainly feels a need
for the boating community of which I am
a member and a licensed captain in the
last 10 years. The second pillar of
free enterprise is the right to private
property. This (inaudible) in question
is zoned for what the Strong's would
like to do. That's another reason that
they should be allowed to do what they'd
like to do. Third, principle of free
enterprise is profit motive. The
Strong's have a profit motive. It's a
business. Anybody who's had a business,
they try to maximize their profit.
These buildings will help them store
more boats, which will help them
maximize their profit. Fourth pillar is
competition. Other marina store boats
not real close to us. That's why this
is a needed project and it's just to
keep their marina competitive with
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others in the Long Island Sound, New
England area. And the final pillar
of -- Am I done? How many beats? How
many beats is that speeding? I'm fine.
Thank you very much.
MEMBER JAMES H. RICH III: Thank
you.
BOB VANBOURORDE: Good evening,
Jim. I'll adhere to your original
comments about the Strong Family. 50
years ago, this month was when we moved
out here. So I call myself a
transplant, not a native. We bought the
farm between Chikan (phonetic) and John
Bauer. (Inaudible) have a greenhouse
operation. I'm a big believer in
property rights. I know that this
project would be First Class. I feel
that it will be an asset to Southold
Town and the impact. I think will be a
lot less than most people fear. People
have an aversion to change. Nobody ever
wants change. 50 years ago, life was a
lot simpler. I could have put up the
gate 50 years ago. We wouldn't have the
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problems that you guys got headaches for
I'm sure tonight. So, anyway, I'd just
like to say that there'll be a lot of
trucks going up and down the roads. But
in a short period of time, it will be a
memory and it will be history.
MEMBER JAMES H. RICH III: Thank
you.
ERIC MCCLURE: So, good evening.
My name is Eric McClure. I'm a resident
of Mattituck. In 2003, my wife and I
purchased a home in Mattituck. And in
the Spring of 2004, I purchased a boat
from Strong's Marine, which I had
winterized and serviced, stored at
Strong's every Winter. But then in
November of 2014, I sent an e-mail to my
service manager at the end of the season
to inform him that I would not any
longer be storing my boat and having it
winterized at Strong's, because of the
enormous impact that Strong's Water Club
from which I lived directly across Long
Creek, was imposing on our neighborhood.
Specifically, our residence and my
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neighbor's residences with excessive
music and excessive -- an excessive
number of events. And Mr. Strong
e-mailed me after I had e-mailed my
service manager to say that he was sorry
that I would not be using their services
anymore. He explained that they had
taken steps to try to mitigate the noise
by aiming the speakers back toward their
property. I think that lasted for about
two weeks. If you go over there now,
you'll find the speakers aimed directly
across the water at me and my neighbors.
He said they took decibel readings to
see to make sure that they were not
exceeding the noise levels. And I have
probably 300 recordings with a decibel
meter and an iPhone of the excessive
noise. Well above the noise ordinance
in the Town of Southold being generated
from their property from which they held
about 90 live music events last year.
So if that is Strong --
MEMBER JAMES H. RICH III: Sir,
excuse me. This is a DEIS review --
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ERIC MCCLURE: With all due
respect, sir, I'm getting to that. So
if that is an indication of the
mitigations that you can expect at
Strong's Yacht Center to the concerns
raised in DEIS, I think we are all in
for some great disappointment. The
project is going to remove six acres of
old mature hardwood forest. More than
630 trees, which cannot be replaced.
They won't be replaced. This town has
dedicated itself to really preserving
its environment and buying back
development rights, trying to preserve
the environment in this town, and has
done an admirable job of that. This
project would run directly counter to
that type of thinking in this town. And
would destroy habitat needlessly for the
comfort of climate controlled yacht
storage. So given my unique
relationship to Strong's operation,
having lived across the water from it
for the last 10 years with after they
acquired it, I am deeply, deeply
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concerned about the impacts of this
project. And absolutely convinced that
the mitigations will not be adequate to
address the issues raised. Thank you.
MEMBER JAMES H. RICH III: Thank
you. Cooper?
DOUG COOPER: Good evening, ladies
and gentlemen, Doug Cooper, Mattituck.
Many of my comments have been already
spoken. The gentleman just shortly
before who spoke of the oil terminal and
down on Neagle Drive around the corner
from Strong's. I remember that when it
was in operation and there was often
trucks, many trucks carrying fuel oil
out. It would come in by and be trucked
out with no detriment to the roads. To
speak of occasional maintenance. And
sand and gravel had a yard there.
Again, they would come in by ship and go
out by trucks and the traffic has been
going on for many years. And even
today, everybody who gets fuel oil
delivered to their homes. Every trucks
-- again that went on the roads. It
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wasn't that many years ago either. Had
to be 60 years ago. I can barely
remember it that much of that land up
there was farmed and where the preserve
is, that was all farmland, much of it.
Things change and that's all that is
happening. Now, I am a strong believer
in property rights and if the property
is zoned for this, it should be allowed.
Yes, there's gonna be some mitigation
and controls on it. That's
understandable. But it should be
allowed to continue. The Harbor is the
only safe harbor from Port Jeff or
further east or further west around to
Greenport on Long Island. It's a
working harbor. It's important for the
fishermen. Important for the community.
I strongly urge this project. Thank
you.
MEMBER JAMES H. RICH III: Thank
you. Sir?
FRANK UTAH: My name is Frank Utah.
I'm a full-time resident and business
owner in Mattituck. I'll go back to
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what my thoughts were. Very sad to hear
that the Planning Board doesn't want to
hear comments from public about the
veracity of the applicants and the
contractors and developers because I
think that should weigh a lot. But
we'll put that aside and go to the facts
of the project. We're just not looking
to make this into a personality thing
have -- something that's legitimate.
But we're not -- we're trying not to
make this into a personality attack.
Okay.
MEMBER JAMES H. RICH III: Well,
let's get to the facts because other
people would like to speak.
FRANK UTAH: So according to a few
conversations that I've had with several
people in Mattituck that I've known for
many, many years. My family's been here
probably since the early fifties. We
owned several homes throughout Southold.
And I've learned that the original
owners of this property have filed and
were approved for similar storage
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buildings in the past. The buildings in
questions are landward, which is not
said in social media or papers. They're
not what the water edge. The sand that
is to be removed by these dump trucks
from what I understand -- (inaudible) I
see shaking heads. If that's not true,
I'd love to have a conversation with you
about that the trucks needed to remove
the sand will be one time as opposed to
several of the projects in Southold
would have been or will be approved.
Creating constant traffic and noise.
The Strong Family for the past 65 years
has been stewards of the marine
community and surrounding waterways
causing no negative impact to our
environment to date that I'm aware of.
Of any of the elders that I've spoken
to, this is true. Also for several of
the communities in which the Strong's
own marines. Although Mill Road is long
overdue and I know that this has already
been said, overdue for repairs. The
Strong's have agreed to partner with
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Southold Highway Department and repair
of Mill Road. Any damage that can be
occurred. This project is within the
zoning. I know this has been repeated
zoning guidelines and requires no land
use changes and has received a
non-jurisdictional letter from the DEC.
So if this project is to be denied, so
should so many others that will require
land use chains, such as several hotels,
battery storage facilities and many
other proposed buildings in our
community. Especially those on Oregon
Road, which was deemed a Greenway years
ago to preserve the natural landscape
and serenity of our farmland. Like to
remind everybody, COVID has changed many
things and many aspects of all our daily
lives. Especially due to the influx of
many outsiders who have fled congested
areas for more serene way of life. At
what expense. And the most unfortunate
change COVID has brought in the absence
is the absence of common sense, as this
project compared to the other buildings,
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land use changes and constant traffic,
is by far, comparison to detriment to
quality of life. Thank you.
MEMBER JAMES H. RICH III: Thank
you.
BETH DUMBLIS: Hi. My name is Beth
Dumblis. I live on the west side of the
inlet on point. I look at this project
very differently. I've raised the next
generation of boaters. We use the yacht
center, but I do not have a yacht. I
have a 21 foot Ranger Tug that my
children and numerous children. They're
all in their twenties, all middle class
family kids that grew up in Southold and
Mattituck, use that boat every Summer.
The Strong's this year got it out early
for me. For one reason. My son is
going away for the entire Summer and I
said, please get that boat out early. I
know it's not a yacht. They did that.
All of these children have seen how well
Strong's has treated my children. That
is private property. No, I don't live
across from that, but I believe as a
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private property owner, they have a
right do what they wanna do with their
land. I know if I want to build
something more in my property, it has to
conform to the Town's Code. I think
they are a good steward of their
property. And despite the fact that I
will never ever own a 70 foot yacht or
bigger, I feel that my family and all of
these 20 something kids all been treated
with respect by the Strong's. And I'd
like this community to also treat them
with dignity and respect. Thank you.
MEMBER JAMES H. RICH III: Thank
you.
ANNE MURRAY: My name is Anne
Murray. I'm a resident of East Marion
and I'm also the Land Use Coordinator in
Southold for the North Fork
Environmental Council. I'll be very
brief. In the Draft Environmental
Impact Statement, the applicant stated
that he's responding to market demand
and the proposed project is designed to
attract large yachts. According to the
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DEIS, it appears that in order to
accommodate boats of billionaires, the
residents of Southold must accept the
loss of a coastal bluff, the loss of a
forest of over 600 mature trees in the
5.5 acre area, and the destruction of a
wildlife habitat for birds, box turtles
and the endangered northern long eared
bat. We must endure months of heavy
traffic with trucks making over 9,000
trips, hauling sand and debris from the
site, over our already crowded roadways,
which are sure to damage the roads and
pollute our air. According to a survey
recently conducted by the North Fork
Civics of Southold, residents value the
preservation of natural habitats, rural
character, farms and open space in
Southold. Their two big biggest
concerns right now are the cleanliness
of the bays and the sound and
overdevelopment. This project goes
against everything Southold residents
said they want. Thank you.
NICHOLAS DEEGAN: Yeah. Hi,
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Nicholas Deegan, a deputy chair of the
Mattituck Park Commission. And while we
had this on the agenda a few weeks
ago -- two months ago, and my colleagues
on the Board decided this wasn't a
position that they Park Commission
wouldn't get involved in. Take a
position. But this is personal for me
is that I prefer the habitat for the --
and the trees through the, you know, of
the cliff side. And I will echo at
McDonnell's that it is a special place
up there with the middle road there,
preserve. And it's the best kept
secret, I think inside the old town. So
I would urge the Board to look carefully
at this and say, you know, preserve the
habitat that we have because I think
that's far more important down the
years. People coming to visit. And
this is why they come out here or this
is like that, that you have there. And
then, you know, I think that be -- and I
have great respect for the Strong
Family. But I think their legacy would
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be enhanced if they say the hillside
there, and found some other way to do
the project without it -- ruining the
hillside of all that oak trees. So
that's -- you know, I just hope you take
a careful look at the habitat, the
aspects of that that would be lost
forever. Thank you.
MEMBER JAMES H. RICH III: Thank
you. Yes, ma'am.
TOGUI TERCHIN: Good evening. My
name is Togui Terchin, and I greet you
this evening from the Greater Calverton
Civic Association, as their president.
I'm also the Land Use Coordinator for
Riverhead with the North Park
Environmental Council. So traveling the
20 miles or so from my place, I kept my
eye out to notice the size, the
condition and the shape of our roads.
Mindful of the natural beauty with
maintaining form -- focus on my duty to
navigate. I noticed several troubling
spots in the proposed tractor trailer
pathway, which have already been brought
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forward by a few folks at the
microphone. I just want to draw your
attention to Route 58, which is the -- a
retail corridor, and the very popular
one for folks on our entire North fork,
as well as, our South Fork, is the
intended pathway for these tractor
trailer trucks. They would have to go
around the rotary at the Peconic Bay
Medical Center. I know that was already
mentioned as well. But please do keep
that in your minds as you look at the
impacts of this EIS. And the other
troubling spot was the turn on
Northville Turnpike onto Sound Avenue
and the reverse. It's a very difficult
spot. I know that you're focusing on
your local roads here in Southold and
rightly so. Please do think about your
neighbors in and around Riverhead. As
the Planning Board, your task is risk
management and has already been, as has
already been mentioned, the intensity of
the tractor trailer trucks are not only
here but they're also with your
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neighbors in Riverhead. And with the
flaws that have been revealed tonight in
the DEIS, I would ask that they, you
know, not be cured, but looked at and
scrutinized more deeply. And I finish
with a question, which is, is there a
way to support Strong's Marina with
alternatives to this currently very
controversial project? And I appreciate
your time. Thank you.
DENISE GOEHRINGER: How you doing?
My name is Denise Goehringer. I live in
Mattituck. I grew up on Bayview Avenue,
which backs up to this. Spent many,
many hours in this amazing woods that
we're considering destroying., I think
everybody said a lot what I was gonna
say, but what I don't think we've said
is, once this project starts, it can
never be reversed. Never. Once that
sand comes out, and those trees come
down, we're destroying something that
can never, never be fixed. And I just
hope that that is taken into
consideration, and I understand that he
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has property rights. And I think that's
wonderful. But trees are something that
we need -- everybody needs for oxygen,
which I think has been said, but it's
just concerns me. That once this
property -- if this was started, it
could never be reversed. I just think
that's something that really needs to be
taken into consideration. Thank you.
MEMBER JAMES H. RICH III: Anybody
else wish to address the Planning Board?
Steve?
JESSICA MICHAELIS: If anyone on
Zoom would like to address the Planning
Board, you can raise your hand now.
STEVE MUDD: Good evening, Chairman
and the rest of the Board. My name is
Steve Mudd. I'm with Mudd Vineyards
here in Southold. Listening to all the
concerns -- justified concerns tonight
on both sides of the aisle, I would
strongly recommend for everybody to
reconsider consideration. It's been
mentioned numerous times and tonight
this property is an accepted use. It's
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owned for. I know we got -- everybody's
got a ways to go. I'm here to support
this project. And all I'm asking
everybody consider being more
considerate and see if we can get this
project completed. Thank you. Thanks,
Steve.
RANDY WADE: Hi. My name is Randy
Wade. I'm from Greenport and the
wonderful community that has looked into
this, and put out materials and has
convinced all of us on the North Fork
that this is exactly the opposite kind
of development we want. Just today I
saw in the paper that Suffolk County has
a new bike trails. It's like bike and
hike maps for different towns. And
people have talked about how very nice
Mr. Strong is, and how wonderful it is
that he's creating jobs, but we don't
have the housing for more jobs. But
what we do want to have is tourism.
That is not dependent on motor vehicles
and driving to your boat and driving
anywhere. And so this kind of looking
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for places to hike and get there from
the train that could be the future of
tourism. And it'll help the downtown --
you know, economy of the businesses in
downtown. So I hope you reject this.
MEMBER JAMES H. RICH III: Thank
you. Have anybody else? Anybody on
Zoom, Jess?
JESSICA MICHAELIS: There was
someone. Go ahead, Steve Gessler.
State your name?
STEVE GESSLER: Yes. Steve Gessler
from Calverton. How are you? My
concern is, I would say all my concerns
have been raised by previous speakers
about this project. And I'll focus on
the roads and conditions of roads. Are
you going to partner with the Town of
Riverhead to repair the damage done to
the roads as these giant 22 wheel
vehicles are heading through Route 58,
around the traffic circle, by the
hospital? As others have mentioned.
And I should add, I'm disturbed by the
idea that this nature preserve could be
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damaged. I spent a lot of time there
over the past few years. It's pretty
unique to the North Fork and quite
unique to the State of New York, and of
that of the East Coast. I don't think
it's worth the damage to destroy this
place. And the idea that people think
or suggest that animals are simply gonna
go someplace else or birds are gonna go
to trees that are planted someplace
else, that's not based on science.
That's completely false. But I'll close
with, I hope this project doesn't go
forward. And I hope that you really
consider the implications on the Town
surrounding. It's not just an issue you
hear for your Town. You have to
consider your neighbors. Thank you for
allowing me to speak tonight.
MEMBER JAMES H. RICH III: Thank
you. Do you have anyone else, Jess?
JESSICA MICHAELIS: Diana Padilla?
DIANA PADILLA: Hi. My name is Dr.
Diana Padilla, and I'm a professor at
Stony Brook University in the Department
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MAY 15, 2023 142
of Ecology and Evolution. And I'm an
professional Ecologist and have worked
in this field for over 30 years. And I
had opportunity to look at the forest
nearby the shoreline nearby and observe
the property from across the creek, and
looking at other people. And then I've
I spent a lot of time reading the Draft
Environmental Impact Statement. And I
can't say that there's a great deal in
that Draft Environmental Impact
Statement that has me extremely
concerned. There's lots of things that
it just does not address that should be
addressed. It does not addressed sea
level rise. It does not address the
increasing amount of storm surge and the
increased amount of rainfall that we're
expected to see with ongoing climate
change. All of those things will impact
the models that they have for hydrology
and runoff and what's likely to happen.
Once that hillside is excavated and once
all those trees are removed, that site
will see increased flooding on a regular
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basis. And these things are not
addressed. Other things that are not
adequately addressed, is that in many
cases, statements about mitigation, in
terms of planting trees or growing
plants are overstated at best. And in
other cases, just completely inadequate
for the kinds of things that this in
this project will do. And I strongly
urge the Planning Board to look
carefully at the Draft Environmental
Impact Statement. Look at the
evaluations that have been placed in
terms of its impact on the forest, on
organisms, on the shore and other
things. And take that into account
because natural resources belong to all
of us. They are a shared resource and
all of this will impact the quality of
the water in the creek. It will impact
the organisms that live there and impact
all of us in real ways. Thank you.
MEMBER JAMES H. RICH III: Anyone
else in the audience wish to speak? Do
you have anybody else? Anyone else on
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zoom? In the audience wish to address
this?
(No Response).
MEMBER JAMES H. RICH III: If not,
I'm gonna ask for an adjournment until
June 5th, to discuss water, groundwater
modeling, ecological resources, air
quality and project alternatives and
also the unavoidable impacts, which we
had postponed from tonight.
Can we get a motion for
adjournment.
MEMBER MARTIN SIDOR: Motion to
adjourn.
MEMBER JAMES H. RICH III: Thank
you very much for everybody's input, and
we appreciate you coming here. We
appreciate your patience. Have a nice
evening.
(Whereupon, the meeting concluded.)
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MAY 15, 2023 145
C E R T I F I C A T I O N
I, Jessica DiLallo, a Notary Public
for and within the State of New York, do
hereby certify:
THAT, the within transcript is a
true record of said Board Meeting.
I further certify that I am not
related either by blood or marriage to
any of the parties to this action; and
that I am in no way interested in the
outcome of this matter.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto
set my hand this day, June 20, 2023.
_________________
(Jessica DiLallo)
* * * *