HomeMy WebLinkAboutTB-11/19/2024 PH 1
1 TOWN OF SOUTHOLD
COUNTY OF SUFFOLK : STATE OF NEW YORK
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TOWN BOARD
4 REGULAR MEETING
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Southold, New York
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November 19, 2024
9 4 : 30 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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NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 2
1 INDEX TO TESTIMONY
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4 Public Comment 3-44
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NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 3
1 PUBLIC COMMENTS
2 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Before
3 we start the agenda -- and thank you
4 Dean for leading the pledge . That was
5 very good .
6 Is there anyone who would like to
7 address the Board on any agenda item?
8 ROBERT DUNN : 998 , Goldsmiths , I
9 guess that was -- Can I talk to you
10 about that , the permit?
11 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Yes .
12 ROBERT DUNN : That ' s just all
13 you ' re doing here?
14 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Which
15 resolution?
16 ROBERT DUNN : 998 , application for
17 Goldsmith ' s dredging .
18 TOWN ATTORNEY P . DECHANCE : So that
19 resolution authorizes the supervisor to
20 sign off on the DEC application for the
21 dredging .
22 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Yes , I
23 followed up on that to double check that
24 that was in fact in the works . And that
25 we want to make sure that we ' re prepared
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 4
1 to dredge it if necessary .
2 ROBERT DUNN : Okay . We ' ll have
3 something relative to that, not exactly
4 that -- should do it now? You want to
5 do it later?
6 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Go
7 ahead, if it relates to Goldsmith ' s
8 Inlet .
9 ROBERT DUNN : That picture is the
10 channel from the inlet .
11 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Sure .
12 ROBERT DUNN : You might be familiar
13 with it out .
14 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Sure .
15 ROBERT DUNN : In the neighborhood .
16 That ' s a lawn that ' s loaded in and hit a
17 pipe . For those of you who don ' t know,
18 in the back, Out of the town property,
19 there ' s a second pond, Autumn Pond, and
20 that drains down Second Avenue . A
21 private street crosses a town property
22 and drains into the channel . That ' s now
23 where it is . So while this is an
24 emergency, it has to be addressed . As
25 far as who ' s addressing it and whose
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 5
1 responsibility is , that could be a
2 discussion, but this must be addressed
3 because if it doesn ' t, sooner or later,
4 it ' s going to be flooding . Probably not
5 in my lifetime, but it will flood .
6 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : No, it
7 will . Is there any water flow out of
8 that , or is that logged completely?
9 ROBERT DUNN : Yes , I would say, you
10 know, it ' s about from the bottom of the
11 pipes about that big . And then like
12 maybe the last 200 of it, is constantly
13 draining .
14 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : And all
15 that shoreline and that ' s where that big
16 log landed, right?
17 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : Murphy ' s
18 Law .
19 ROBERT DUNN : You know I mean it ' s
20 like you could have you could have put
21 alfalfa . That ' s the worst thing that
22 happened today it ' s -- Okay, believe me .
23 In any case, this is something that
24 probably could be corrected with three
25 or four guys and the chainsaw in a
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 6
1 couple hours .
2 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Yes ,
3 thank you . Before it starts to rain
4 every week and is full again .
5 ROBERT DUNN : Well , what it could
6 be four years down the road could end up
7 being a lot and then there would be
8 liability from flooding and stuff like
9 that . You know, I don ' t know that it
10 would be the Town ' s liability, the
11 County ' s liability . That pipe is
12 actually is the beach, which is town
13 owned and there ' s a section which was
14 two houses that ' s county-owned . And
15 there ' s a little sliver that would have
16 been the extension of Second Avenue, if
17 it had been finished . Because whoever
18 developed that wanted to grab two more
19 lots on the side street instead of two
20 on the lady would have four to sell .
21 And then there was a second piece of
22 county property . So that middle piece
23 that ' s town property, was in theory to
24 be that road and that ' s where the pipe
25 is . Yes . So I mean you can ' t --
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 7
1 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : No, I ' m
2 very, very familiar with it . So thank
3 you for bringing it to the Town ' s
4 attention . It ' s not something you see
5 otherwise .
6 ROBERT DUNN : It needs to be
7 addressed . Michael probably doesn ' t
8 know that much about it . Jamie was real
9 good with it .
10 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Sure .
11 ROBERT DUNN : As was Jim McMahon .
12 I mean, Michael ' s been limited by, and
13 now he ' s got everything ducked out . So
14 it ' s hard . So I don ' t know how much --
15 he ' ll have it , but it needs to be
16 addressed long term . It ' s not a problem
17 for next week . It ' s not Christmas , but
18 it could be a problem to make some of
19 it .
20 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : No,
21 we ' ll get on this . Thank you .
22 ROBERT DUNN : Okay . Thank you .
23 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Thank
24 you .
25 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Would
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 8
1 anyone else like to address the Board on
2 any other logs , questions , pipes?
3 (No Response ) .
4 (Whereupon, the meeting continued
5 on to Resolutions at this time . )
6 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
7 PUBLIC COMMENTS
8 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
9 That concludes the Regular Board
10 Agenda . Is there anyone here who would
11 like to address the Board on any matter?
12 ANNE MURRAY : Hi . I ' m Anne Murray
13 with the North Fork Environmental
14 Council , and I ' m here tonight to thank
15 you all for considering the proposed
16 tree code this morning . I think it ' s so
17 important . Thank you, Jill , for finally
18 bringing it to the work session . And
19 we ' ve been waiting for this for a long
20 time . And I know the Tree Committee has
21 also . And I just want to , if I can,
22 urge you to work on this as quickly as
23 you can, because every week we get
24 another lot that ' s clear-cut . And you
25 know how long it takes trees to grow .
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 9
1 And we ' ve also lost some historic trees ,
2 right, Jill?
3 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Yes .
4 ANNE MURRAY : I know that when I
5 went to a Tree Committee Meeting this
6 past summer, they were talking about
7 someone bought a house in Peconic on
8 Peconic Lane, a really old home , and
9 they cut down an enormous old tree that
10 was a historic tree . I don ' t know if
11 they have plaques on them, do they?
12 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : That
13 particular -- we found out after the
14 tree did not have plaques on it , and it
15 was dead, and it was a safety issue .
16 ANNE MURRAY : Oh, I see, okay .
17 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : And we
18 did talk about putting a mechanism
19 together to have that quantified before
20 they cut it down, and we haven ' t done
21 that yet . We decided not to add that to
22 this code at this time .
23 ANNE MURRAY : Yeah, I think that ' s
24 a very important thing to do , and again,
25 please work on that as quickly as you
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 10
1 can, because we all know --
2 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : We have
3 a date set ready for the Code Committee
4 for the tree .
5 ANNE MURRAY : Fabulous . What ' s the
6 date?
7 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Is it
8 December loth or the 12th? December
9 10th .
10 ANNE MURRAY : Thank you so much .
11 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Would
12 anyone else like to address the Board?
13 CHARLES LAINER : Hi . My name is
14 Charles Lainer with North Fork
15 Environmental Council . I also want to
16 thank the Town Board for working on the
17 Tree Code . I also wanted to point out a
18 typo in this -- not in a resolution
19 text , but in 988 in the italic text that
20 the word " appropriate" I think is
21 missing an "o " . Thank you .
22 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank
23 you . Would anyone else would like to
24 address the Board?
25 ROBERT DUNN : Robert Dunn, Peconic .
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 11
1 I happened to come across the draft for
2 the sprinkler thing . Watering after a
3 rainstorm. No watering of lawns for a
4 minimum of two days after half-inch
5 rain . Just so we all know, that could
6 be very expensive for people .
7 Especially the two days thing .
8 Depending on the age and quality of your
9 controller . So just before we start
10 throwing these -- you may want to
11 decide, well , if it ' s going to cost
12 them, it ' s going to cost them. If they
13 want to order their lawn, that ' s going
14 to cost the order of your lawn . And
15 that ' s a reasonable decision . But I
16 just think we ought to be fully aware ,
17 when we put any of this than what the
18 cost might ultimately be to taxpayers .
19 But I mean, I agree with the purpose of
20 this 1000 . There ' s no question on that .
21 And maybe they gotta get off of
22 automatic and go out and turn it on two
23 days a week or three days a week . But I
24 mean, the thing is , it ' s just -- forcing
25 -- assuming that people had the ability
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 12
1 to just put that equipment on might be a
2 bit .
3 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : No,
4 actually we worked a lot with the water
5 sprinkler, lawn sprinkler installers on
6 this because they ' re the professionals .
7 And they understand, one, that the
8 resource of the water needs to be
9 protected . And they also understand how
10 to operate the systems . So they are --
11 they ' ve been good partners in drafting
12 this legislation .
13 ROBERT DUNN : Okay . Not to
14 question anybody ' s honesty, but they ' re
15 also the ones that ' ll make a lot of
16 money if they ' re installing new pieces
17 on everyone and their customers . So
18 that ' s hard . It ' s very hard to get
19 people to accept truths from the
20 salesman .
21 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Well ,
22 no, because they ' re the experts in how
23 the systems run . And they also need
24 them to run properly -- and they ' re very
25 conscious of not wasting the resource .
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 13
1 So they ' re residents too . So they
2 understand this .
3 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : And not
4 to preempt the discussion that we ' re
5 going to have , you know, we postponed
6 it . But one thing we were considering
7 doing in a past iteration of this is
8 requiring these sensors on new systems
9 as a first step . And then looking at
10 older systems down the road . And you
11 know, for me personally, I would favor a
12 more incremental approach, but water is
13 a limited resource . I think we are -- I
14 think we ' ve been somewhat fortunate on
15 the east end to be, you know, somewhat
16 insulated from the droughts that other
17 parts of the country are facing . But it
18 is super dry out there right now . And
19 you know, I think it ' s more and more
20 we ' re going to have to contend with .
21 And it ' s long overdue addressing this .
22 I think it ' s also important to say just
23 so it ' s absolutely clear . This only
24 impacts residential customers . It does
25 not impact the agricultural industry .
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 14
1 Just so we ' re clear . But I think your
2 point is well taken and I ' m sure the
3 Board will consider this as we ' re having
4 the discussion with the committee that ' s
5 going to report to us . I believe it ' s
6 been scheduled for the next work session
7 and any change that we would bring would
8 be noticed and there ' d be a public
9 hearing . And I ' d absolutely welcome you
10 to come and --
11 ROBERT DUNN : I don ' t want to see a
12 point where we ' re two years or three
13 years down the road and half the town is
14 breaking the rules . Because that ' s just
15 -- because I fled that . That ' s why I ' m
16 here . Okay . I don ' t want to see a
17 town . And I see little things here and
18 there that are happening as we grow .
19 Little things that people aren ' t paying
20 attention to . And that leads to
21 something nobody here wants . And we ' ve
22 never discussed it . But I can see
23 nobody here wants -- I don ' t . I ' ve
24 experienced that for 70 years .
25 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : Well , one
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 15
1 of the mechanisms that ' s been talked
2 about is actually requiring a permit to
3 install these systems and then having
4 that as part of the code . So it would
5 be kind of an enforcement mechanism
6 within the permitting process , which I
7 think would be useful . So we ' re not
8 kind of going on a wild goose chase or
9 requiring neighbors to call on other
10 neighbors . But I think you ' re right .
11 We need to write enforceable code and we
12 need to enforce the code that ' s out
13 there . Yeah, absolutely .
14 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : And just
15 to further the discussion that we ' ve
16 been having has been about a phased-in
17 approach and certainly an equivalent
18 education program to get people to want
19 to be conserving water through reducing
20 irrigation .
21 ROBERT DUNN : I understand that ,
22 and I agree 1 , 0000 on that . We ' re
23 not -- we can ' t drink salt water .
24 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : No, and
25 this is the first step in water
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 16
1 conservation efforts locally . It was
2 the town nearby that doesn ' t allow for
3 any irrigation on their lawns . So this
4 is - -- The truck in our water to fill
5 their swimming pool .
6 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Mr . Dunn,
7 we know you ' re the seventh board member .
8 I just encourage you to go to the water
9 quality meeting . That ' s one of the most
10 well-run . I ' m glad to Anne is the
11 liaison to that . It ' s been a pleasure
12 to go to those meetings over the last
13 several months . It really is a high
14 quality, well dedicated committee . And
15 they ' re thoughtful , and they ' re really
16 going to give us some good
17 recommendations . So I look forward, as
18 Greg said, and as Al said, but it just
19 has been an honor to sit in with the
20 people who are on that committee . They
21 really are dedicated to give the best
22 quality response to what our needs are .
23 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Anyone
24 else in the audience like to address the
25 Board?
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 17
1 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : We do
2 have two people online .
3 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Please .
4 ZINTA SCHNORE : This is Zinta
5 Schnore from East Marion, I ' m sorry I
6 can ' t be there but I couldn ' t get out of
7 work early enough to get there . I tuned
8 in to this morning ' s work session to
9 listen to your discussion about the
10 fence for the pickleball courts at Old
11 Schoolhouse Park . And you mentioned a
12 Sound Engineers Report . And although I
13 haven ' t seen it to see what the exact
14 recommendations were, it seems that they
15 recommended the standard 10 foot fencing
16 and sound mitigating materials to be
17 installed around the outside of the
18 courts . So I listened to your
19 discussion and at the end it seems that
20 the Board just dismissed these
21 recommendations completely in favor of
22 the already planned 5 foot chain link
23 fence and then decided on some addition
24 of some ivy to cover that fence . As if
25 that ' s some kind of satisfactory sound
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 18
1 barrier . First off, as you pointed out
2 before, vegetation doesn ' t really
3 mitigate sound unless it ' s planted
4 densely over a broad area . So ivy ' s
5 going to do nothing . A 5 foot fence,
6 even covered with acoustic fencing, it
7 won ' t do anything to mitigate the sound,
8 either, because in the science of sound
9 mitigation . They say you block the line
10 of sight to the source of the sound in
11 order to mitigate, to buffer it . So I
12 know that the Board ' s concerns were
13 about the 10 foot sense and the
14 buffering materials that, you know,
15 there are aesthetic concerns and
16 concerns about socializing and security .
17 You know, I understand the security
18 concerns , but , you know, with a 10 foot
19 fence, ultimately you ' d be able to lock
20 it at night, if that ' s an issue . But it
21 also seems like the Town Board is more
22 concerned with, you know, the experience
23 of the pickleball players than the
24 neighbors of the park and our quality of
25 life . On top of this , I obtained the
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 19
1 planting plan for the courts , and I and
2 my neighbors have concerns with these
3 plans . As it stands , the larger
4 vegetation trees will be planted on the
5 west and north sides of the court .
6 There ' s concern that there ' s the
7 potential for the sound to be deflected
8 off of these trees directly towards our
9 homes . So I ' m not really sure why a
10 sound engineer was hired, and then all
11 of the recommendations were, you know,
12 go unheeded . The -- this planned fence,
13 the 5 foot fence , is not going to do
14 anything for us on Main Road or anybody
15 on Starrs and Cayleys . And I feel like
16 if putting this -- you know, going ahead
17 with this , it doesn ' t work . You ' re
18 going to come back, and you ' re going
19 back and you ' re going to say we need a
20 10 foot fence . We need soundproofing,
21 and there ' s going to be just more
22 taxpayer money then to do something
23 else . You also note that this morning
24 when you guys were talking about the
25 courts , you mentioned one adjacent
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 20
1 neighbor, I think that ' s me, and a
2 neighbor across the street . You made it
3 sound as if there was only two of us who
4 are concerned, and I want to remind you
5 that we presented you with a petition
6 this Summer of over 50 signatures that
7 we collected in only two afternoons of
8 other people in East Marion, who are
9 concerned about these courts . You know,
10 I ' m aware that because the courts or the
11 park is owned by Oyster Ponds Board of
12 Ed that there ' s no need for a public
13 hearing, but I still can ' t believe that
14 the Town Board didn ' t make an exception
15 in this case . Knowing how controversial
16 pickleball is , and that it ' s a
17 contentious issue across Long Island and
18 the country . And it ' s not just alarming
19 to me and our neighbors in East Marion .
20 I ' ve talked to other people in Southold,
21 in the Town of Southold, friends and
22 acquaintances . And everybody ' s just
23 alarmed at how this could go on, you
24 know, this could happen without properly
25 notifying the public and without any due
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 21
1 diligence . So, you know, I ' ve sent you
2 guys articles , you know, I know you get
3 my e-mails . And I know I ' m probably a
4 thorn on the side, but I really, I ask
5 you to read them so that you can see why
6 we are so concerned . You can see that
7 people are dealing with across the
8 country . People have spent years
9 fighting this in litigation because they
10 can ' t use their yards in their houses .
11 They can ' t open their windows . So
12 please, I don ' t know if you ' ll listen to
13 me about this , but I beg you to
14 reconsider the sound engineer ' s
15 recommendations . Thanks for your time .
16 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank
17 you . And I ' m glad to hear that
18 conversation this morning . The fencing
19 is put up on any park for a number of
20 reasons . One is safety, so people are
21 confined to a certain area . Another, of
22 course, is convenience , so the ball
23 doesn ' t just keep rolling away for
24 whatever activity you have . But when
25 you consider a 10 foot fence with a
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 22
1 solid wall of some sort of artificial
2 soundproofing attached to it , it would
3 make using that space very difficult in
4 the summertime with the sun beating down
5 on it . And I think the idea -- and we
6 had an e-mail come in early this morning
7 about plantings the fence with some sort
8 of vine that would mitigate the sound
9 coming off the court . And it would be a
10 natural approach . It would also provide
11 a little bit of shade and we are also I
12 think very interested in planting some
13 larger deciduous trees , which would
14 provide , I think quite a bit of not only
15 shade and comfort for the people playing
16 and the people who are waiting to play,
17 but also sound mitigation for the entire
18 neighborhood . So we ' re not saying this
19 is the final say here, but I think we
20 sort of need to know what sound we ' re
21 mitigating before we start on saying
22 that this is going to be bad today or
23 it ' s going to be bad with that solution
24 because we don ' t really know what that
25 means yet . So it ' s hard to know before
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 23
1 it ' s built and before it ' s used . And if
2 it ' s a real problem . We can all go and
3 experience it and we can try to adjust
4 it after .
5 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : And it
6 seems like this is a really key point
7 and we had this discussion this morning
8 of really not taking the most extreme
9 approach to sound mitigation only from
10 the starting point, because with many of
11 these complex issues , you need to
12 balance a number of different concerns .
13 And although the sound engineer when
14 looking at sound mitigation as the sole
15 factor opted for a very extreme approach
16 here , we felt -- without really knowing
17 how bad it was going to be, with a
18 commitment to addressing it in both the
19 short term and the long term, that it
20 made sense to balance these numbers of
21 concerns that weren ' t just aesthetic .
22 They dealt with public safety . They
23 dealt with the enjoyment of this for the
24 public . And looking to make something
25 that addresses and balances all of these
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 24
1 concerns kind of equally . And the
2 Board, you know, we left the discussion
3 with the idea that this is what we were
4 going to do now . We would look at it in
5 the future . And I think, and I hope
6 that you would see our actions over the
7 course of this discussion as proof that
8 we ' re committed to finding good sensible
9 solutions here . And I guess maybe just
10 push back on the idea a little bit that
11 this discussion, that we didn ' t have
12 adequate discussion . I know of at least
13 four public meetings where we discuss
14 this , that were all noticed to the
15 public . I know the school board was
16 discussing it . And it also, it is a
17 public park . It ' s not like we took
18 woods , cut it down, and put this there .
19 I just hope you ' ll continue to be a good
20 partner with us and give us the benefit
21 of the doubt that we will do the right
22 thing and we will continue to do the
23 right thing here .
24 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank
25 you .
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 25
1 ZINTA SCHNORE : Okay . I looked
2 through public meetings to see when, you
3 know, where this was discussed . I only
4 found one meeting in November of last
5 year where it was brought to the board .
6 And then there was the acceptance bids
7 in, I think, June . So , you know, I , and
8 none of us knew . I mean, and it ' s not
9 like any of us live under a rock . But
10 of 50 signatures we got, no one new
11 about it . So I understand what you ' re
12 saying, and I understand that it ' s a
13 loophole, and I get it . I just really
14 -- you have to understand how we feel .
15 That these are our homes . And we want
16 to be able to enjoy them. Not saying we
17 don ' t want people to enjoy the park, but
18 pickleball is a completely different
19 thing . And I ' ve said it before . We
20 live next to the tennis courts , and
21 we ' ve been happy next to the tennis
22 courts . We ' re fine . We ' re fine with
23 the basketball courts and kids coming
24 and playing music, because it ' s not from
25 dawn to dusk . Pickleball is going to be
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 26
1 dawn to dusk . Those people play all day
2 long . So that ' s why we ' re concerned,
3 and I know you ' re concerned about it
4 being hot for the pickleball players
5 without , you know, with the materials ,
6 but it ' s gonna it ' s gonna make being in
7 our backyards impossible if you don ' t
8 have the materials . So that ' s why we
9 just , you know, this is why we keep
10 pushing for this and pushing for
11 something because it ' s , you know, it is
12 what it -- you know, it ' s not -- it ' s
13 not tennis . And if you look at the
14 articles , again and the videos I ' ve
15 sent , it ' s not tennis .
16 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : I don ' t
17 have to ask you I think to stay in touch
18 on this . But once the once the leaves
19 come out on the trees , you know, ask you
20 to, you know, evaluate it and see what
21 other additional measures we could take
22 to mitigate the noise .
23 ZINTA SCHNORE : Okay . Okay .
24 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank
25 you .
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 27
1 ZINTA SCHNORE : All right . Thank
2 you so much .
3 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
4 Margaret?
5 MARGARET DE CRUZ : So I did attend
6 this morning ' s meeting and I am thrilled
7 that we ' re going to have a Tree Code .
8 That ' s one of the reasons I wanted to go
9 on . So I don ' t know what ' s in it, but
10 I ' m very happy about that . So I support
11 a really good Tree Code . The other
12 thing this pickleball fence thing, I ' m
13 happy to be here because I play
14 pickleball . I love pickleball . And so
15 when I was hearing you talk about the
16 fencing, I was surprised to hear you
17 guys think that a 10 foot fence would
18 make it -- like we would be too much, a
19 sweat box . So here ' s what I would
20 recommend, an 8 or 10 foot fence with, I
21 love the Virginia Creeper idea . Because
22 it grows fast . It ' s not that dense .
23 It ' s beautiful and it feeds birds . It ' s
24 native . You could do that kind of thing
25 on three sides , and maybe a 5 foot fence
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 28
1 on one side . You know, you ' re worried
2 about people watching . I mean, what we
3 do at Tasker Park, because it ' s so
4 crowded, we end up hanging out on the
5 fence and watching . But otherwise we
6 would just be playing . Now, I heard the
7 woman right ahead, that park isn ' t
8 occupied all the time . A lot of times
9 there was nobody playing, but I don ' t
10 think the park in East Marion is going
11 to be like Tasker . Because you know the
12 reason Tasker is so busy is because
13 that ' s the only one there is but East
14 Marion is further east . A lot of those
15 people aren ' t going to come here . I
16 live out here too . So I would recommend
17 either an 8 foot . I don ' t know about a
18 10 foot fence . That ' s pretty high .
19 Definitely I would think some kind of
20 native, easy, fast-growing bushes , also
21 for wind protection . Because that ' s one
22 of the worst things if you ' re a
23 pickleball player is the wind, it
24 just -- but I know you guys don ' t care
25 about that . This is about sound, I
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 29
1 don ' t think -- I just think natural
2 barriers would be the best . And what
3 else did I want to --
4 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : Well , the
5 supervisor suggested poison ivy could be
6 a good idea .
7 MARGARET DE CRUZ : No, I know, I
8 was going to say that for a joke, but I
9 didn ' t even want to plant that .
10 Virginia creeper is a beautiful thing .
11 Not ivy either . Okay . So that ' s my
12 idea, and thank you for listening .
13 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank
14 you, Margaret . All right . I don ' t see
15 anyone else on Zoom . Is there anyone
16 else here who would like to address the
17 Board? Yes , sir? If you could just
18 come up to the microphone , just your
19 name and your hamlet .
20 UNKNOWN SPEAKER : ( Inaudible ) I
21 live right across the street from the
22 schoolhouse park where you ' re putting in
23 these new pickleball courts . When the
24 site was chosen, who chose it?
25 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : It was
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 30
1 a collaboration of the school and -- The
2 school came to us . The town --
3 UNKNOWN SPEAKER : Who shows that
4 site have any planning, knowledge,
5 schooling, any idea of the impact?
6 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : The
7 site was -- that site was located where
8 it would have -- where it would be
9 compatible with the other current uses
10 of the park .
11 UNKNOWN SPEAKER : Well , my question
12 was , was anybody on that team schooled
13 in planning? Or was it just chosen
14 randomly?
15 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : I don ' t
16 know what they were schooled in, but it
17 was chosen based on the current uses .
18 So that would be compatible . And the
19 safety, there was clearing that was done
20 this year, that some people were
21 concerned about on the east side of the
22 park . And that was because of safety
23 concerns that they wouldn ' t -- we had to
24 allow for emergency vehicle access to
25 the back of the park . Just in case
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 31
1 there was an unfortunate accident . That
2 had to be provided for . So that
3 clearing was done, but based on that,
4 there has to be access to the back of
5 the park, one for maintenance and two
6 for emergency vehicles .
7 UNKNOWN SPEAKER : Okay . So that
8 drive has always been accessible . And
9 the clearing went from the trees all the
10 way to the fence . They ' re not driving
11 between those trees . Why was that
12 cleared? You can still get back there
13 without having to clear all of the
14 effects . Secondly, my question was , did
15 anybody have training on planning who
16 chose the site for the Pickleball Court?
17 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : I don ' t
18 know about formal training of the people
19 that were --
20 UNKNOWN SPEAKER : Like urban
21 planning?
22 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : I don ' t
23 -- I couldn ' t answer that question .
24 Urban planning . I don ' t know what kind
25 of academic background they had .
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 32
1 UNKNOWN SPEAKER : So basically, it
2 was just chosen because it was a
3 convenient spot to put it .
4 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : It was
5 chosen because it ' s compatible with the
6 existing uses of the park .
7 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : And we
8 were a leaseholder of the property . And
9 the owner of the property, the school
10 board, came to the Town as we were
11 talking about renewing the lease,
12 talking about upgrades to the park .
13 There was discussion about upgrading the
14 playground . Upgrading the courts .
15 Adding some uses . There was a
16 discussion about potentially adding a
17 bigger parking lot . Kind of looked at
18 all of these discussions over .
19 UNKNOWN SPEAKER : Now that you ' ve
20 mentioned the parking lot , what are the
21 plans for the parking lot when the
22 Pickleball carts are up and operational ?
23 Because now when the traffic comes in
24 and out of that park, especially as you
25 mentioned, we are extremely dry, the
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 33
1 dust is ridiculous . And I can send you
2 videos if you ' d like to see them. And
3 that dust travels to my neighbor ' s front
4 porch, my front porch, the woman who was
5 just speaking ' s front porch . It
6 literally clouds over Main Street . Is
7 that going to be addressed as well ?
8 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : I don ' t
9 know anything about dust mitigation .
10 And there ' s no plans to do anything to
11 the parking lot to make any changes .
12 And actually the parking lot was
13 addressed during the discussion about
14 the placement of the pickleball . And
15 the decision at the time was made that
16 there wouldn ' t be any changes to the
17 parking lot .
18 UNKNOWN SPEAKER : Okay . So if we
19 go to the school board and complain to
20 them about the dust , they ' ll use that
21 process and bring it to your attention;
22 is that how that works ?
23 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : They
24 could . I mean most of the town I can ' t
25 think of any town parks that aren ' t
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 34
1 gravel .
2 UNKNOWN SPEAKER : At least gravel
3 would be great . We just have sand and
4 mud and dust and it just blows around .
5 There ' s no gravel there . It ' s just
6 dusty soil . And I ' d also like to
7 comment about putting in live plantings
8 on a fence . I don ' t know where you
9 live , but the deer in my neighborhood
10 will eat your fence . Even if it is
11 metal . So anything you plant around
12 this pickleball court is probably going
13 to be chewed down . And how much
14 mitigation are you going to get from
15 thing that ' s only this high? Because
16 everything below that will be eaten .
17 Has that been discussed in the
18 plantings ? And the plantings that we
19 saw the little diagram of, who came up
20 with those plantings? Someone with a
21 knowledge of sound mitigation or just a
22 landscaper?
23 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : The
24 professionals on the Tree Committee that
25 --
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 35
1 UNKNOWN SPEAKER : Are those tree
2 committee members trained in sound
3 mitigation or just in plantings in
4 general ?
5 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : I can ' t
6 tell you if they ' re trained in sound
7 mitigation, but they ' re professionals in
8 their field of landscaping .
9 UNKNOWN SPEAKER : I ' m sure they ' re
10 fabulous landscapers , but do they know
11 how to plant and mitigate sound?
12 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : I would
13 assume they come up with that with
14 different --
15 UNKNOWN SPEAKER : Let ' s try to be
16 sure of what they know, and let ' s make
17 sure they know how to plant for sound
18 mitigation, because right now, planting
19 the way you have it set up --
20 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : We
21 asked them to design it for the purposes
22 of sound mitigation and that ' s what they
23 came back with .
24 UNKNOWN SPEAKER : Do we -- do you
25 know who they are? Can we contact them?
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 36
1 Can I see their credentials for sound
2 mitigation plantings?
3 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : I don ' t
4 know if they have credentials for it,
5 but, you know, they ' re --
6 UNKNOWN SPEAKER : I could say I
7 know how to plant for planting sound
8 mitigation, if they have no credentials .
9 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : I think
10 though, as we talked about with the
11 previous speaker, we are looking at this
12 as we ' re going to start with what we ' re
13 doing now . And we ' re going to continue
14 to look at this . And we ask you to stay
15 engaged with it . We will stay engaged
16 with it , and actually listen to see what
17 the sound concerns are , what the sound
18 realities are , because I think, you
19 know, and I ' ve read a number of the
20 articles that the previous speaker has
21 sent us . A lot of them are talking
22 about urban environments , where there ' s
23 a concentration of these courts within
24 tall buildings . And the sound is just
25 kind of echoing around . I can say
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 37
1 personally and we saw at the 9/ 11
2 Memorial , they were playing pickleball
3 at the pickleball courts . And we were
4 across the street and honestly you
5 really couldn ' t hear it . I don ' t want
6 to get into a discussion about sound .
7 I ' m not a sound engineer, but what I can
8 commit to you as a member of this Board,
9 and I know I can speak for the rest of
10 the Board here, we ' re committed to
11 addressing the realities that are faced
12 by the community there . And I think,
13 and I hope that you will look at our
14 efforts this far and see them as an act
15 of good faith to address the concerns
16 here . And if we need to do more, we
17 will do more .
18 TOWN ATTORNEY P . DECHANCE : And Mr .
19 Malfatone, if I could add, the Town did
20 hire experts who looked at sound
21 mitigation from a variety of ways . One
22 of them was vegetation, another was
23 fencing . There were different aspects
24 that they looked at . So while the
25 committee members may not have had
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 38
1 degrees in sound engineering . Certainly
2 the Town went as far as hiring experts
3 to get opinions .
4 UNKNOWN SPEAKER : We just saw that
5 recently . Right . It was just, that was
6 the, and the plantings came from that ,
7 recommendations ?
8 TOWN ATTORNEY P . DECHANCE : The
9 plantings were considered and other
10 recommendations were made apart from the
11 plantings , or instead of the plantings .
12 UNKNOWN SPEAKER : So none of this
13 is final yet?
14 TOWN ATTORNEY P . DECHANCE : I ' m
15 sorry?
16 UNKNOWN SPEAKER : The plantings
17 finally out, is there no fence, what has
18 been finalized?
19 TOWN ATTORNEY P . DECHANCE : The
20 Board made decisions today concerning
21 fencing .
22 UNKNOWN SPEAKER : I ' m -- I ' m sorry?
23 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : So yes ,
24 they will be fencing and they will be
25 plantings . Not all those plantings , no .
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 39
1 Because we ' re looking at starting with
2 the plantings , especially the deciduous
3 trees , which are gonna take a little
4 longer to grow . We ' re looking at
5 different materials that are gonna work
6 on the fence . That will be -- nothing ' s
7 deer proof, but deer resistant .
8 Obviously, if the deer won ' t that
9 something grow, it ' s a waste of time .
10 You wouldn ' t plant sweet potatoes there .
11 But -- and then looking at the
12 effectiveness of the plantings based on
13 the reality of the noise, would it be
14 more effective to plant on the fence
15 line or would it be more effective to
16 plant on the property lines , as far as
17 screening the noise from the neighbors?
18 So it ' s gonna be hard to tell with the
19 prevailing wind . And to, you know, to
20 Greg ' s point, looking at those articles ,
21 this is not an urban environment . You
22 have , you know, I ' ve been there in the
23 summer when the trees are leafed out .
24 UNKNOWN SPEAKER : That ' s when it ' s
25 noisiest at my house . When the trees
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 40
1 have their leaves , it funnels that sound
2 directly across the street . In my
3 kitchen, which is on the back of my
4 house . If I have that screen door open,
5 which is on my front porch, on the side
6 front porch, I can hear their phone
7 conversations on their cell phones , but
8 on this , not playing . Okay . I can hear
9 them talking on the phone , like I ' m
10 talking to you, right across .
11 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : And this
12 is basketball and tennis as it was
13 before?
14 UNKNOWN SPEAKER : Yes . And they ' re
15 not playing tennis , they ' re just on the
16 phone . Are you on your way? What time
17 are you going to get here? Diane said
18 she ' s going to be here . I can hear
19 the phone calls perfectly clear if
20 there ' s no traffic . That ' s how sound
21 travels when there ' s leaves . When
22 the trees lose their leaves , the sound
23 is way better . I don ' t hear
24 anything .
25 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Well ,
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 41
1 and that ' s kind of -- that ' s quite a
2 point you made there with the phone
3 calls , but that illustrates the point
4 that we ' re trying to make to see what
5 the noise is like and then mitigate it
6 from that standpoint .
7 UNKNOWN SPEAKER : Okay . So you ' re
8 open to , after these courts open up, to
9 readdressing this situation, if
10 necessary .
11 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Yes ,
12 and to Greg ' s point , the 9/ 11 day, we
13 parked actually right next to the
14 courts .
15 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : Yeah, Al
16 and I walked right by it .
17 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : And
18 there were a lot of players
19 there .
20 UNKNOWN SPEAKER : If you come
21 across the street, if you want to really
22 see how that park operates in sound
23 travels , come across the street , a pot
24 of coffee, you can sit on the front
25 porch and you can hear how sound travels
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 42
1 from across the street . It ' s
2 ridiculously uncanny how sound travels .
3 My side of the street has a berm. So
4 any sound that comes across hits that
5 berm and rolls right up into the front
6 lawn . Right into the house . On the
7 second floor, you ' re practically sitting
8 with them. That ' s how the sound travels
9 across . So I don ' t know how you ' re
10 going to mitigate that . To make the
11 park friendly for both, me and the
12 players .
13 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Well , I
14 would think that the deciduous trees , as
15 they grow, will muffle a lot of that
16 sound . There ' s deciduous trees in front
17 of the park now . Blocking you so you
18 can ' t see?
19 UNKNOWN SPEAKER : I can ' t see, but
20 I can hear everything . You need to come
21 and see the situation . You need to be
22 there for a couple of hours and see how
23 the sound travels from that space . You
24 can hear the kids playing on the
25 playground that ' s directly in front of
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 43
1 that pickleball court . And if I can
2 hear them, I ' m going to hear them
3 playing pickleball .
4 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Well ,
5 we will make an effort to mitigate what
6 we can .
7 UNKNOWN SPEAKER : Okay . All right ,
8 Thank you .
9 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank
10 you for your time . Would anyone else
11 like to address the Board?
12 (No Response ) .
13 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : All
14 right . Seeing none .
15 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Make a
16 motion to adjourn .
17 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : I ' ll
18 second it .
19 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : All in
20 favor?
21 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Aye .
22 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : Aye .
23 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Aye .
24 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : Aye .
25 JUSTICE LOUISA EVANS : Aye .
NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 44
1 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Aye .
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3 (Whereupon, the meeting concluded
4 at this time . )
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NOVEMBER 19, 2024 REGULAR MEETING 45
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, November 19 , 2024 .
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17 ( Jes ica Lallo )
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