HomeMy WebLinkAboutTB-08/07/2024 PH 1
1 TOWN OF SOUTHOLD
COUNTY OF SUFFOLK : STATE OF NEW YORK
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TOWN BOARD ANNUAL FISHERS ISLAND MEETING
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7 Southold, New York
8 August 7 , 2024
1 : 30 P .M .
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B E F 0 R E :
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ALBERT KRUPSKI JR, SUPERVISOR
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LOUISA P . EVANS , JUSTICE
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JILL DOHERTY, COUNCILWOMAN
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BRIAN 0 . MEALY, COUNCILMAN
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GREG DOROSKI , COUNCILMAN
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ANNE H . SMITH, COUNCILWOMAN
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AUGUST 7, 2024 ANNUAL FISHERS ISLAND MEETING 2
1 PUBLIC COMMENTS
2 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Then
3 that dispenses with the Regular Agenda,
4 is there anyone who would like to speak
5 to any item or any topic to address?
6 Please come up to the microphone and
7 give us you name that please state your
8 address ?
9 MR . MURPHY : Hi . My name is
10 ( inaudible ) Murphy and I am a resident
11 of Fishers Island . I would like to
12 thank you all for coming out here .
13 Thank you for the bond that you ' ve done
14 for the sidewalks . I believe that and
15 some other funding be able to start the
16 project .
17 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : He ' s
18 just thanking us , so I think he ' s done .
19 MR . MURPHY : Just to thank you all .
20 I do have a question . Our sidewalks are
21 over a hundred years old and it ' s
22 roughly a million dollars a mile for
23 these things . So we really should be
24 looking at a long-term capital projects
25 budget for the sidewalks out here . Not
AUGUST 7, 2024 ANNUAL FISHERS ISLAND MEETING 3
1 to mention other capital intensive
2 projects . So I ' d like the Board to
3 consider looking at a 10-year window and
4 say $200-500 , 000 dollars a year out
5 there to catch up . It ' s a hundred years
6 deficit . We ' ve got to go through . So
7 maybe something to consider for next
8 year . And you know, the sidewalks are
9 bad and it ' s going to -- not going to
10 get any better . So thank you for your
11 time .
12 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Well ,
13 thank you for the comment . The
14 sidewalks , we also have this great
15 demand in Southold Town now and there ' s
16 great demand that is trapping . And you
17 want to see how it ' s safe for
18 pedestrians . So it ' s something we ' ll
19 consider .
20 MR . MURPHY : Thank you .
21 UNKNOWN SPEAKER : Because the
22 reason I ' m here, everyone can hear . A
23 majority of us use the Town garbage dump
24 every single day . And the road going
25 into it is absolutely atrocious . Enough
AUGUST 7, 2024 ANNUAL FISHERS ISLAND MEETING 4
1 to wreck the undercarriage of any car .
2 I would suggest it very strongly that
3 the 100-200 yards of road gets redone .
4 So that we have a chance to go in
5 without wrecking our car . It ' s not that
6 much to you guys . Means a great deal to
7 me and a number of other residents of
8 Fishers Island . Thank you for your
9 consideration .
10 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank
11 you . It ' s not our actual road in the
12 highway system. So we ' d have to address
13 it in a different manner .
14 UNKNOWN SPEAKER : It really doesn ' t
15 matter . All of us that use it day after
16 day after day, we ' re going to end up
17 wrecking our cars . It ' s a very simple
18 thing . You ' re talking thousands and
19 thousands of dollars all over the place .
20 They ' re not very much money out of --
21 about $200 , 000 that road would be done .
22 And people have asked for it year after
23 year and nothing comes out of Southold .
24 We ' d like something done for a change .
25 Do you understand where I ' m coming from?
AUGUST 7, 2024 ANNUAL FISHERS ISLAND MEETING 5
1 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : I was
2 on the road . I understand what you
3 said .
4 UNKNOWN SPEAKER : All right . Well ,
5 why can ' t something be done? It ' s used
6 every single day . It ' s used more than
7 the sidewalks . Why can ' t they get done?
8 It would not cost very much money, under
9 $250 , 000 , probably .
10 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Well ,
11 everything costs a lot of money .
12 UNKNOWN SPEAKER : Well , of course
13 it was a lot of money, but we ' ve asked
14 for this for year after year after year .
15 Get it done . And I don ' t care what
16 department it ' s coming from. You guys
17 are . We are in the Township of
18 Southold . Get it done , please .
19 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank
20 you .
21 MR . GEORGE DE MENIL : Good
22 afternoon, Mr . Krupski , Members of the
23 Town Board of Southold . Again, I want
24 to ask my thanks , and I think you know
25 that it ' s a community wide feeling for
AUGUST 7, 2024 ANNUAL FISHERS ISLAND MEETING 6
1 the $250 bond issue that you just
2 authorized for sidewalks on the island .
3 And Gordon stated it well . Our needs
4 here vastly exceed that matter . I think
5 it was two years ago, the Town did a
6 very good job repairing the sidewalk,
7 and refinishing the road between the
8 Village Market and Union Chapel . If you
9 made a decision today, and I ' m not quite
10 sure what your bond issue implies in
11 terms of action, but if you made a
12 decision today to repair the sidewalk
13 between this school and the center of
14 town, the earliest anything would
15 possibly happen would be 2025 . During
16 the three month period that would lapsed
17 the increase in property taxes paid by
18 Fishers Island to Southold, would likely
19 pay for the job . So I urge you take a
20 look at the sidewalk outside this
21 building . Take a look at the sidewalk
22 that leads from this school up to the
23 post office . It ' s dangerous . This is a
24 sidewalk that is used by working people
25 every day of the year to go to and front
AUGUST 7, 2024 ANNUAL FISHERS ISLAND MEETING 7
1 work . It ' s used by students every
2 school day of the year to go to and from
3 school . Those sidewalks are precarious .
4 Now, I make this plea to you, both
5 because I think it ' s important . I
6 should have identified myself . I ' m a
7 voter in this Town, a taxpayer in this
8 Town . I pay my share of the roughly
9 three and a half million dollars that
10 the Town pays to Southold . Paid to
11 Southold last year . Well , the -- so I ' m
12 highly motivated . And many people here
13 are highly motivated to urge you to
14 pursue your action on this . I speak
15 also because a senior leader of this
16 community, who you all know, who is
17 extremely respected, Peter Criss , who
18 unfortunately could not be here today,
19 asked me to raise this question with
20 you . Now, actually, to be honest, what
21 Peter asked was that we organized a
22 demonstration such as we had organized
23 in 2019 , in favor of sidewalks and also
24 the bike path, with placards and signs
25 and a parade . But we didn ' t have time
AUGUST 7, 2024 ANNUAL FISHERS ISLAND MEETING 8
1 to do it this year . I hope that the
2 progress that is underway, which I think
3 is well-described, the needs are
4 well-described by Gordon . I hope that
5 it is such that we will not make the
6 decision to organize, such a
7 demonstration a year from now . Thank
8 you very much .
9 MR . DENIS NONCARROW : Your name ,
10 sir?
11 MR . GEORGE DE MENIL : George de
12 Menil , a voter, taxpayer, a member of
13 the Island Community Board .
14 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank
15 you, George . You know, it ' s -- like I
16 said, the sidewalks are a pressing issue
17 all over Town . And unfortunately,
18 Fishers Island, that costs are about a
19 million dollars a mile of sidewalks .
20 There ' s about 4 . 7 existing miles of
21 sidewalks that we ' ve replaced to come
22 down . And that ' s a challenge . You
23 know, we ' re trying to prioritize here or
24 here . We ' re trying to stage it by the
25 Highway Department in the time that
AUGUST 7, 2024 ANNUAL FISHERS ISLAND MEETING 9
1 you ' re doing a very good job . And they
2 try to coordinate the drainage work, if
3 there ' s paving to be done . So it
4 doesn ' t have to be torn up and redone .
5 So there ' s a tremendous amount of
6 coordination . To make sure the proper
7 work is done before sidewalks and they
8 can get them. And they can be left to
9 run their useful force and not be done .
10 MR . GEORGE DE MENIL : I appreciate
11 Mr . Supervisor . The complexities and
12 the difficulties . We all realize that,
13 that it ' s very complicated . It is also
14 true that Fishers Island makes a serious
15 contribution to the budget in Southold .
16 And I think under those circumstances ,
17 we ' re not talking about all sidewalks in
18 the immediate that need attention . I
19 think that there is this particular
20 passage from here to the center of town .
21 It ' s widely used by a lot of people .
22 And these people are voters . They
23 deserve their attention . So I thank you
24 for thinking of it .
25 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank
AUGUST 7, 2024 ANNUAL FISHERS ISLAND MEETING 10
1 you, George .
2 MR . MICHAEL ROBERTS : Thank you
3 members for being here today . I am
4 Michael Roberts . I ' m a resident on
5 Whistler Avenue . Just to add a little
6 to what ' s elegantly stated by my friend,
7 neighbor George, that these sidewalks
8 are not only unsafe , they are simply a
9 trap hazard and a menace in legal terms .
10 There have been a number of people that
11 have fallen and luckily have not
12 sustained serious injury . You talked
13 about the cost of your repairing a
14 sidewalk, but I can assure you, as an
15 attorney, you ' re familiar with these
16 things , but the cost of a broken leg is
17 $250 , 000 . And we ' ve been lucky not to
18 have been to make . That condition there
19 that ' s at the sidewalk is so unevenly,
20 that my wife won ' t walk there at night
21 anymore . And she walks in the roadway .
22 And the condition that ' s made it worse
23 and exacerbated by the fact that there ' s
24 been no lights on the street for two
25 years . Recently they put one light in
AUGUST 7, 2024 ANNUAL FISHERS ISLAND MEETING 11
1 some place at the middle of the block .
2 But it ' s highly insufficient and no one
3 is doing the job . Of course , to get
4 this lighting back . Maybe we should
5 have to -- have to wait two years
6 together . I ' d ask you to reconsider
7 getting more money from the sideboards ,
8 both for your own safety, the safety of
9 the residents . Thank you .
10 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank
11 you . And yes , the lights are, thanks to
12 our DPW, the lights will be replaced
13 with functioning lights .
14 MR . RICHARD MILLER : I ' m Richard
15 Miller, member of ICB, taxpayer,
16 resident and so forth . A few years ago,
17 a segment of a sea wall supporting the
18 road on the north side of the avenue of
19 the island collapsed . And there has
20 been work done to address this , but the
21 current status and outcome of this , here
22 in Fishers Island, are cloaked in
23 history . If you ' re going to do anything
24 other than simply put it back the way it
25 was , I think the people of Fishers
AUGUST 7, 2024 ANNUAL FISHERS ISLAND MEETING 12
1 Island would like to be involved in the
2 resolution, and also we just generally
3 speaking would like to know what ' s going
4 on . This is kind of installed, I think,
5 for quite a while . Thank you .
6 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Yes ,
7 I ' m familiar with the seawall . I was in
8 township for 20 years , and I ' ve seen
9 that . A number of us went to take a
10 look at it today . So we ' re going to
11 work with Justice Evans on a number of
12 different options . But thank you for
13 your outreach and ( inaudible ) . It ' s a
14 condition that is not getting better .
15 Thank you .
16 MR . JOHN : John ( inaudible ) ,
17 President of the ( inaudible ) Greenport .
18 I don ' t know if you ' re aware of this but
19 recently in June the utility company and
20 FITCO came out with a study, they ' re
21 going to study one of our
22 infrastructure . And they ' ve mentioned a
23 number of $ 80 million dollars . And
24 that , of course, makes the whole island
25 here quite apprehensive of what ' s going
AUGUST 7, 2024 ANNUAL FISHERS ISLAND MEETING 13
1 to, how it ' s going to affect all their
2 pocketbooks . Anyway, is there a way
3 that we can work with Southold, perhaps
4 they can find us on some government
5 programs or is there a way we can
6 collaborate on this ? That ' s my new
7 question .
8 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : We
9 could appreciate a more specific ask of
10 which projects . I mean the airport is
11 something that ' s worked on a pretty much
12 regular basis as far as resurfacing and
13 maintaining that . So some of the things
14 are being worked on . I know the Highway
15 Department is trying to put the paving
16 and drainage work on a regular schedule .
17 Just like the Town, a regular schedule .
18 Specifically what we could do to help --
19 to try and work that end .
20 MR . JOHN : The big concern is the
21 under sea-cable going over to Broughton .
22 And then in general , just with, I think
23 our electric meters . Anyway, we ' ve got
24 a big project ahead, because we ' re doing
25 with a over 100 year old infrastructure
AUGUST 7, 2024 ANNUAL FISHERS ISLAND MEETING 14
1 here . And I was just wondering if
2 Southold has a team that we can work
3 with? Is there anybody specifically we
4 can talk to and might even need us to
5 certain programs or certain subsidies
6 and grants ?
7 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Please
8 call or you know e-mail my office and
9 we ' ll try to contact you with people who
10 could be of help . Because there are --
11 yeah, there are different federal
12 programs that might be in help there and
13 I know Plum Island -- I ' m not sure about
14 the mechanics and gentlemen are here
15 from Plymouth . I ' m not sure of the
16 mechanics of that, of how that, this is
17 a great deal of permitting and what that
18 goes before you even start by the
19 infrastructure operating place .
20 MR . JOHN : Okay, we ' ll be in touch .
21 JUSTICE LOUISA EVANS : ( Inaudible ) .
22 MR . JOHN : I ' ll speak to you later
23 about it .
24 JUSTICE LOUISA EVANS : Okay .
25 MS . NATASHA: Hi , I ' m Natasha . I
AUGUST 7, 2024 ANNUAL FISHERS ISLAND MEETING 15
1 am a resident . I ' m also speaking today
2 with my hat on as a member of the
3 Fishers Island School District . The
4 question to you, in which many people
5 here on the island, are wondering about,
6 and I know there ' s been many different
7 conversations within conversations in
8 silos , and it would be really helpful if
9 we had one voice on what is happening
10 with the State Police or the policing on
11 Fishers Island . As you know, in the
12 Winter, the State Police left the island
13 after negotiations fell apart between
14 the Town and the State on the State
15 Police Barracks . Since that time, the
16 Town has come through monthly and has
17 provided us with two officers .
18 Certainly during the school year and
19 then now full-time during the Summer .
20 As we move forward, there seems to be
21 two questions that exist . One is what
22 is happening with the State Police
23 Barracks and the housing? There seems
24 to be and many others that we ' re waiting
25 to see what is going to happen and how
AUGUST 7, 2024 ANNUAL FISHERS ISLAND MEETING 16
1 the State Police Barracks is going to be
2 used . Will it be used a as a residence
3 or will it be used ( inaudible ) we have
4 to wait . There is also the question
5 that the State Police might want to come
6 back . If they want to come back and
7 they want to get paid . The benefit of
8 this , is that we did not have to pay
9 officers . The State had done that . So
10 it appears that having local town police
11 that we pay for, as opposed to as the
12 police make more sense . Again, I don ' t
13 know what the thinking of the Town
14 Board . Certainly as a Town, when we go
15 into the Fall . I also heard that
16 perhaps we will go down to one Town
17 officer instead of two during the school
18 year . And that ' s during the week and
19 nobody on the weekend . And I just
20 question the safety of that . We do have
21 a school . We have teachers . We ' re in
22 an environment in this kind, an age,
23 where it ' s not as safe as it used to be,
24 even on Fishers Island . And it ' s safe
25 until it ' s not safe . And so I want to
AUGUST 7, 2024 ANNUAL FISHERS ISLAND MEETING 17
1 know what you ' re thinking on that,
2 because also, what we also know is the
3 Town Budget is being determined now . We
4 do know that the officers have to be
5 trained . They have to be budgeted, and
6 if it ' s not in the budget and it becomes
7 more difficult for us , Fishers Island to
8 have the police force that we need to
9 maintain a safe and happy environment .
10 And certainly with the housing what is
11 happening with the housing . So we would
12 really love to have some clarification
13 on that today thank you .
14 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : We ' re
15 committed to fixing that building, the
16 Town owns it . So in some fashion, we
17 will be ( inaudible ) alleviation before
18 we start to renovate it . As far as
19 the -- and these two fellas are great
20 uniforms in the fact that we ' re paying
21 attention to this . But thank you for
22 the question . You know, it ' s still --
23 it ' s still unclear if the State Police
24 are going to police the island on a
25 scheduled basis or the Town is going to
AUGUST 7, 2024 ANNUAL FISHERS ISLAND MEETING 18
1 continue its obligation here as it had .
2 You know, you mentioned the budget and
3 you ' re absolutely right because they
4 should be properly budgeted for . They
5 weren ' t in 2024 and we managed to cover
6 the island for public safety purposes
7 because we thought it was part of the
8 Town and it was an important thing to
9 do . So we ' re still working on the best
10 solution for all the Town ' s residents .
11 Providing sort of public safety . We
12 haven ' t reached a resolution yet .
13 MS . NATASHA: We appreciate the
14 answer to that, I guess that when I come
15 back to the podium, we have no more
16 information than when I left the podium.
17 So I really would appreciate some, a
18 little bit more detail in terms of time .
19 Do you have an estimated time when you
20 will make the decision? Does it need to
21 be a time because you have a budget? If
22 the police come back, will we be paying
23 for them? Will that be budgeted out of
24 the Town? And when you say, "Town" , we
25 are part of the Town . We at Fishers
AUGUST 7, 2024 ANNUAL FISHERS ISLAND MEETING 19
1 Island do pay to the Town . Certainly
2 Fishers Island contribute to those
3 resources . So I just want to make that
4 note .
5 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Sure .
6 Part of the whole town and the Town
7 Police Department, I think has done a
8 very good job . And I ' m going to thank
9 the Chief who ' s here today for making
10 the effort to schedule offices here to
11 provide the public safety .
12 MS . NATASHA: Time?
13 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : I can ' t
14 give you a timeline on that quite yet .
15 It ' s not -- ( inaudible ) we ' re all very
16 concerned about it . Whether it ' s
17 Laurel , whether it ' s Orient . It ' s the
18 same to provide public safety . Provide
19 safety to the whole Town . So it ' s just
20 a matter of trying to figure out what
21 we ' re going to do here . Is a little
22 more difficult to get protection here ,
23 which we ' ve provided since November .
24 MS . NATASHA: The State Police, are
25 still a possibility?
AUGUST 7, 2024 ANNUAL FISHERS ISLAND MEETING 20
1 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : I
2 wouldn ' t -- I wouldn ' t say, no . Yeah,
3 the State Police is still a
4 possibility .
5 MS . NATASHA: And so in terms of
6 renovating the housing, they ' ll still
7 keep renting the current housing for
8 them? So right now the police are --
9 you, the Town rents a building to house
10 them because there is not another
11 building . Will that be we renting that
12 again for next year?
13 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : We ' re
14 not sure . That ' s next year . So we ' re
15 not we ' re not sure about where they will
16 be housed, but we have -- we have, you
17 know, the presence there in the Office
18 of the Ferry . It was the Ferry Office,
19 and that ' s now the Community Center had
20 let us use that as a police station .
21 So now the police station is at the
22 Ferry Office, which is a good location .
23 It ' s very visible . So we thank the
24 Ferry addition for their cooperation
25 with that . But we ' ll continue to
AUGUST 7, 2024 ANNUAL FISHERS ISLAND MEETING 21
1 work on housing and schedule and
2 coverage .
3 MS . NATASHA: Thank you .
4 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : All
5 right . If there ' s no one else, I ' d just
6 like to thank everyone for coming here .
7 And if you have any other questions or
8 follow-up questions , you know, please
9 don ' t hesitate to reach out to my
10 office . And we do have a lot of
11 resources . Especially if it ' s things
12 that aren ' t in the Town doesn ' t do ,
13 that maybe the county or the state and
14 some other some other governmental
15 agency does . And we can help you,
16 you know assist . So thank you for
17 coming .
18 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : I will
19 make a motion to adjourn .
20 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Second .
21 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : All in
22 favor?
23 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Aye .
24 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : Aye .
25 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : Aye .
AUGUST 7, 2024 ANNUAL FISHERS ISLAND MEETING 22
1 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Aye .
2 JUSTICE LOUISA EVANS : Aye .
3 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Aye .
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5 (Whereupon, the meeting concluded . )
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AUGUST 7, 2024 ANNUAL FISHERS ISLAND MEETING 23
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, do
5 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, August 7 , 2024 .
15
16 /
17 ( Je5 ica iLallo )
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