HomeMy WebLinkAboutTB-03/12/2024 PH 1
1 TOWN OF SOUTHOLD
COUNTY OF SUFFOLK : STATE OF NEW YORK
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TOWN BOARD
4 REGULAR BOARD MEETING
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Southold, New York
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March 12 , 2024
9 7 : 00 P .M .
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15 B E F 0 R E :
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17 ALBERT KRUPSKI JR, SUPERVISOR
18 LOUISA P . EVANS , JUSTICE
19 JILL DOHERTY, COUNCILWOMAN
20 BRIAN 0 . MEALY, COUNCILMAN
21 GREG DOROSKI , COUNCILMAN
22 ANNE H . SMITH, COUNCILWOMAN
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MARCH 12, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 2
1 PUBLIC COMMENTS
2 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : If
3 there ' s no other business then, is there
4 anyone in the public who ' d like to
5 address the board on any matter?
6 ANNE MURRAY : Yes , I would . Thank
7 you . And I ' m gonna be referring to how
8 the Town looks today and will in the
9 future, as you just spoke about with
10 land preservation . My name is Anne
11 Murray . I live in East Marion and I ' m
12 speaking to you tonight as the Southold
13 Land Use Coordinator for the North Fork
14 Environmental Council . As you know, 14
15 years ago, the Town decided to embark on
16 the Comprehensive Plan . It was finally
17 adopted in September of 2020 , 10 years
18 later . Actually 14 . During those 14
19 years , the Town experienced an
20 unprecedented surge in development , the
21 loss of affordable housing, and a huge
22 increase in tourism and traffic . To its
23 credit, the Town Board has hired a
24 zoning consultant, convened a Zoning
25 Advisory Committee, and is currently
MARCH 12, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 3
1 holding meetings with residents in the
2 hamlets to align its outdated zoning
3 code with the Comprehensive Plan . All
4 very necessary . However, that will not
5 be enough . While the Zoning meetings go
6 on, lots are being clear-cut throughout
7 the town . Builders are breaking ground
8 and developers are buying up our
9 farmland . With zoning under review now,
10 it ' s the perfect time for a town-wide
11 building moratorium to take a pause and
12 consider, as the East End Beacon
13 recently put it, what this place would
14 look like if everything that could be
15 built here under the current zoning is
16 actually built here . Sorry . We
17 appreciated your discussion this morning
18 of a moratorium on hotels , but the NFC
19 feels that a limited moratorium will not
20 be enough to save what ' s left of
21 Southold . We believe that a 12 month
22 carefully considered moratorium on all
23 commercial development and subdivisions
24 excluding single-family homes that do
25 not need further approval , including
MARCH 12, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 4
1 Trustee permits , is vital . With a
2 moratorium in place , the Town Board
3 Planners and the public will have the
4 time they need to fully focus on the
5 zoning effort that has some breathing
6 room to carefully evaluate what we want
7 this place to look like 10 years from
8 now . Without a moratorium, we face
9 pages of plans from more developers who
10 care little for our fragile environment,
11 as well as , our fishing and farming
12 heritage . We know that all of you as
13 public servants care deeply about
14 Southold . Please consider putting a 12
15 month moratorium in place , and act
16 before we are faced with another
17 enclaves disaster .
18 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Thank you .
19 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank
20 you, Anne . Thank you for your passion .
21 DAVID LEROY HALLIGER : Good
22 evening . I ' m David Leroy Halliger from
23 Unity Baptist Church on Factory Avenue
24 in Mattituck . When I read this -- when
25 I read this about this budget cut for
MARCH 12, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 5
1 the highway and the roadway, Number 258 ,
2 Category Department Support, non-support
3 of the resolution . It says , whereas the
4 Town Board of the Town of Southold finds
5 that the proposed budget cuts will have
6 a deleterious effect on the health,
7 safety, welfare of the users of local
8 roadways through the absence of
9 necessary maintenance and repair .
10 Resulting from the loss of such funding .
11 Adequately funded highway budgets ensure
12 safe passage over and upon local
13 roadways . Affecting commerce, local
14 economy, and tourism. I came tonight to
15 ask the Board for consideration of work
16 that was needed on Factory Avenue in
17 Mattituck . Last Friday I attended the
18 Coffee for Cops at the Mattituck Library
19 and local police were there . And we
20 were talking about the traffic problems
21 on Love Lane, Old Sound Avenue, and
22 Factory Avenue . During the summertime,
23 it ' s a disaster . Especially on Sunday
24 evenings when all the tourists are going
25 back home and coming through Mattituck .
MARCH 12, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 6
1 And they get up to the ice cream shop
2 and the traffic backs all the way down
3 to Love Lane . Then the traffic starts
4 coming off Love Lane to Old Factory
5 Avenue, and then they head out to
6 Riverhead . But a lot of them cut down
7 Factory Avenue, and go up by the ice
8 cream shop and make that right turn .
9 And one day there was an emergency up on
10 Factory Avenue, and they couldn ' t get
11 in . The fire department couldn ' t get in .
12 About five years ago, a dump truck was
13 going over from Old Sound Avenue down
14 Factory Avenue . Hit the railroad track,
15 and went up, went over, narrowly missing
16 a lady . That was about five or six
17 years ago . Factory Avenue has become a
18 byway now . With the pedestrian traffic,
19 the truck traffic, going into the plaza,
20 Mattituck Plaza . School buses have to
21 stop while they try to back in and out
22 of the marketplace . I was going to ask
23 the Town Board if in the budget this
24 year, could a consideration be made for
25 a study of Factory Avenue , where we
MARCH 12, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 7
1 could have some sidewalks put in and a
2 bicycle pass in the residential area on
3 a north part of Factory Avenue . I mean,
4 if it would be widened a little bit, I ' m
5 sure that the residents who live there,
6 all we need is a bicycle path to that
7 northern residential area going up to
8 Old Sound Avenue . I ' m not asking for
9 pavements put in . I ' m asking for just to
10 widen it and make it safe for
11 pedestrians and a lot of bicycle traffic
12 that goes down . Especially pedestrians
13 that are coming out of the -- and
14 traffic coming out of the cottages . But
15 when I saw this , I said, wow, I ' ll
16 probably standing here for nothing . But
17 I ' m in favor of it 1000 . 100o for what
18 we need in Mattituck . And I ' m also a
19 member of Mattituck Law Civic
20 Association .
21 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : Thank
22 you, Leroy . And I know you brought this
23 up at the meeting that we had on
24 emergency management and highway . So
25 this is definitely on the Transportation
MARCH 12, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 8
1 Commission ' s agenda . And we plan to
2 come and kind of walk that area . And
3 I ' d like to do that with you, if you
4 have the time . I know you ' re busy . You
5 have been talking about this for a long
6 time and we hear you .
7 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : And
8 while many local roads are busy, you ' re
9 complicated there because of your
10 proximity to all the businesses and all
11 the extra truck traffic that ' s there .
12 So it ' s , like a double whammy there .
13 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : And Deacon
14 Highly, I just want to say thank you for
15 your service to our community in many
16 capacities . Thank you for mentoring me
17 as a person to try to seek office . And
18 I appreciate that . And I also want to
19 gently remind you that we always listen .
20 When you tell us something we listen .
21 So it ' s not for nothing . And it takes
22 courage to stand in public and to say
23 what ' s important , and you ' ve always done
24 that for years and years , and continue
25 to do that . And we try to be
MARCH 12, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 9
1 listened -- we try to have big ears and
2 listen . So it ' s not for nothing and we
3 have addressed some of the things that
4 you spoke, but we have to do more work .
5 And we always appreciate when you speak
6 to the Board . So thank you very much .
7 DAVID LEROY HALLIGER : Thank you .
8 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
9 Please .
10 GISELLE WILKIE : Good evening,
11 ladies and gentlemen . My name is
12 Giselle Wilkie . I also live in
13 Mattituck, and I ' m fortunate enough to
14 live in the neighborhood of Sebastian ' s
15 Cove , if any of you are familiar with
16 it . I ' m here -- I live in that
17 neighborhood . I ' m also here tonight
18 representing our neighborhood
19 association . We recently -- had a
20 meeting Sunday evening . This is about
21 the road condition . So it kind of segue
22 what a lot has been talked about this
23 evening, but it ' s about the road
24 condition in our neighborhood . There ' s
25 only one road . It ' s called Sebastian ' s
MARCH 12, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 10
1 Cove Road . It ' s a straight road and
2 then has a cul-de-sac at the end . I ' m
3 here on the advice of Mr . Dan Goodwin .
4 I ' ve been in communication with him.
5 He ' s always been very helpful via e-mail
6 and phone call and forthright with me ,
7 but he suggested I come here to speak to
8 the Town Board to seek help and guidance
9 on perhaps expediting or having somebody
10 you suggested walking the street . I
11 would love to do that with any of you .
12 We have really big potholes , cracking .
13 It ' s really a safety issue for
14 pedestrians . A lot of bicycles , people
15 bicycle in our neighborhood . Kids on
16 bicycles , pets , cars , anyway ' s , you name
17 it . The street used to be privately
18 owned from what I understand, but the
19 Town of Southold took it over at
20 least -- I think, 17 years ago . I ' m
21 pretty new to the neighborhood, two
22 years , but many people have lived there
23 much longer . And from what I
24 understand, it has not been repaved or
25 resurfaced as much at all , except little
MARCH 12, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 11
1 patches in at least 17 years . So I
2 guess I ' m here to express my concern at
3 the advice of Mr . Goodwin . And if
4 there ' s anything that I can assist with,
5 pictures or anything, but I would love
6 your input to look into this , please, if
7 possible .
8 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Well ,
9 thanks for coming and letting us know,
10 and we ' ll be in contact with the Highway
11 Superintendent . And we ' ll take a look
12 at it .
13 GISELLE WILKIE : Thank you so much .
14 I appreciate it .
15 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Anyone
16 else? Please .
17 JACK GIBBONS : Hi guys . First of
18 all , I want to express my gratitude for
19 all the hard work you guys do . It ' s
20 amazing . Every time I come to one of
21 these meetings , I ' m shocked at how much
22 you have to deal with . And I hate to
23 throw something else on your plate , but
24 I ' m going to formally request a meeting
25 with you guys to present this .
MARCH 12, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 12
1 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Excuse
2 me, can you just -- I ' m sorry, can you
3 just state your name for the record?
4 JACK GIBBONS : I ' m sorry, Jack
5 Gibbons , Cutchogue . Sorry . But I would
6 like to have a meeting with you guys as
7 a working session, about 20 minutes to
8 explain and go over the current
9 situation and climate change as it
10 applies to Southold Town . It ' s -- I
11 know it ' s not a local agenda, but it
12 really is . I look at that Southold seal
13 and I look at 1640 . Wow, I mean I
14 taught Social Studies and I can remember
15 teaching about that . That ' s 384 years
16 of Southold Town . I ' m here to tell you
17 as a little preview to this meeting,
18 there won ' t be another 384 of Southold
19 Town unless we act . I ' m an old guy . I
20 know I probably think I ' m a crazy old
21 guy . Maybe a little crazy . But the
22 current situation on climate change is
23 not good . The projections as of
24 December 2023 , we are looking at an
25 increase in a global mean temperature .
MARCH 12, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 13
1 By 2 , 100 of 2 . 5 centigrade degrees .
2 That ' s an increase over what the IPCC
3 uses as their standard 1850 to 1900 .
4 That ' s 4 . 5 degrees Fahrenheit . That ' s a
5 global increase in temperature . If we
6 hit that Southold Town, I ' ll be standing
7 in a foot of water . Right here . I have
8 the information . I can explain to you
9 where we are now, how we got here, where
10 we ' re going, why that ' s bad, and
11 basically what we can do . If we had
12 time , I wouldn ' t be here . I ' m an old
13 fart , you know . I would not be here .
14 We don ' t have time . There is a very
15 limited window of opportunity for us to
16 act . When I say that 20 to 30 years to
17 really get behind an effort to mitigate
18 climate change and global warming . By
19 mitigate, I mean, cutting emissions .
20 It ' s not only good science . It ' s good
21 economic policy, I believe . If we had
22 solar panels on the roof here, your
23 electric bills would be reduced . We
24 have a Southold landfill cap that ' s
25 ideal for a bank of solar panels . I
MARCH 12, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 14
1 know that our present superintendent is
2 highly respected in all of Suffolk
3 County . If Riverhead and Southold got
4 together, if Riverhead used the
5 Enterprise Park in Calverton, as a
6 resource for solar panels and perhaps
7 some wind turbines , we might very well
8 become energy independent . All I want
9 is the opportunity to meet with you guys
10 and make this presentation . I think
11 it ' s important and as I say, I ' m not --
12 that ' s not a virtual claim. This is
13 what scientists are predicting . You
14 won ' t see another 384 years of Southold
15 Town unless we act . So I ' m hoping that
16 I hear from you guys on a time that ' s
17 convenient for you . 20 minutes . I have
18 maybe 20 exhibits to show you . It ' s all
19 graphics , or pretty much all graphics ,
20 from respected sources like NOAA and
21 NASA, EPA, and I ' ll lay out the story .
22 And then you guys can decide . And I
23 promise I won ' t be back to bother you
24 again because I know you ' ve got a lot to
25 do .
MARCH 12, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 15
1 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank
2 you for your advocacy . It ' s important .
3 JACK GIBBONS : I ' m waiting to hear
4 from you guys .
5 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Thank
6 you very much . And I just want to let
7 you know that we do have a solar project
8 for the landfill , and it ' s been stalled
9 for many years . The company that is
10 proposing it had been waiting for the
11 LIPA money . And it ' s just been a lot ,
12 and then COVID came . But it ' s going to
13 come up pretty soon . And you ' ll see
14 solar on our landfill .
15 JACK GIBBONS : I know that you guys
16 are aware of it . Just for further
17 information, the wind farm off the East
18 Hampton coast went on line in December .
19 They ' re now generating electricity
20 that ' s going right to the substation in
21 East Hampton . The technology is there .
22 It ' s not -- and the science is simple .
23 If you took science , physics , and
24 chemistry in high school , you ' ll
25 understand it . But against that, you
MARCH 12, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 16
1 have a huge amount of money being
2 devoted by the fossil fuel industry to
3 create disinformation and misinformation
4 that fogs the issue . Anyway, I ' m here
5 at your service and --
6 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank
7 you .
8 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Thank
9 you .
10 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : I just
11 want to repeat a standing invitation,
12 Mr . Gibbons to come to speak to the
13 committee I ' m proud to liaison with, the
14 CAC . And we ' re dealing with more of the
15 issues that you sent, the packet you
16 sent with us , which I read . And I
17 remember, as a student of yours , to get
18 our attention, you would use a stick to
19 beat your desk . So I kind of see this
20 as metaphorically beating the desk with
21 the stick to get our attention . So I
22 appreciate your efforts to remind us .
23 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : This is
24 the speech before the stick .
25 JACK GIBBONS : You guys all know me
MARCH 12, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 17
1 as a Social Studies teacher . The way I
2 got involved in climate change in 2002 ,
3 I began a second career . I was an
4 adjunct professor for 18 years up until
5 COVID at Long Island University,
6 teaching perspective teachers . And I
7 had him writing lesson plans . And back
8 around 2005 , some of the students wanted
9 to write about climate change . I didn ' t
10 know anything about it . So I had to do
11 my own homework . You get a basic
12 undergraduate textbook on climate
13 science . And once you know a little bit
14 about it, you start to become very
15 scared . And I ' m very scared right now .
16 It ' s literally true that sea levels will
17 rise that much unless we act .
18 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : It ' s a
19 dire warning, and it ' s something that we
20 can really see every day when you go by
21 the creek or the bay . It ' s like --
22 JACK GIBBONS : Yeah . I mean, it ' s
23 not going to happen overnight .
24 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : No, but
25 you see it happening in real time, which
MARCH 12, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 18
1 is kind of -- it is terrifying to see
2 that .
3 JACK GIBBONS : Yeah, it is
4 happening in real time . Anyway, I ' m at
5 your service . Thank you .
6 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank
7 you very much . Would anyone else like
8 to address the Board?
9 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : I ' ll
10 make a motion to adjourn .
11 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Second .
12 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : All in
13 favor?
14 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Aye .
15 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : Aye .
16 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Aye .
17 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : Aye .
18 JUSTICE LOUISA EVANS : Aye .
19 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Aye .
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21 (Whereupon, the meeting concluded
22 at this time . )
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MARCH 12, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 19
1 C E R T I F I C A T I O N
2
3 I , Jessica DiLallo, a Notary Public
4 for and within the State of New York,
5 do hereby certify :
6 THAT , the within transcript is a
7 true record of said Board Meeting .
8 I further certify that I am not
9 related either by blood or marriage to
10 any of the parties to this action; and
11 that I am in no way interested in the
12 outcome of this matter .
13 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto
14 set my hand this day, March 12 , 2024 .
15
16
17 ( Je$)ica iLallo )
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