HomeMy WebLinkAboutTB-01/21/2025 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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7 Southold, New York
8 January 21 , 2025
7 : 00 P .M .
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14 B E F 0 R E :
15
16 ALBERT KRUPSKI JR, SUPERVISOR
17 LOUISA P . EVANS , JUSTICE
18 JILL DOHERTY, COUNCILWOMAN
19 BRIAN 0 . MEALY, COUNCILMAN
20 GREG DOROSKI , COUNCILMAN
21 ANNE H . SMITH, COUNCILWOMAN
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JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 2
1 INDEX TO TESTIMONY
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3 Route 48 Speed Limits 3-70
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JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 3
1 PUBLIC COMMENTS
2 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : So now
3 we have a scheduled public information
4 meeting on changing speed limits on
5 Route 48 . Councilman Doroski , would you
6 like to read the notice?
7 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : So before
8 we read the notices , I ' ll just clarify
9 in the letter request that we received
10 from the County, the sections of road
11 that they ' re recommending that we change
12 the speed limit on . So, they are
13 recommending a 45 mile an hour speed
14 limit to a point 500 feet west of Cox
15 Neck Road and Mary ' s Road, a distance of
16 1 . 2 miles . 45 miles an hour between Old
17 North Road and Leon Road, plus/minus 400
18 feet west of Clark Road, a distance of
19 2 . 1 miles . 40 miles an hour between
20 Leon Road and Chapel Lane , a distance of
21 2 miles . 45 miles an hour between
22 Chapel Lane and Main Street, Route 25 ,
23 SH-8380 intersection, a distance of 1 . 6
24 plus/minus miles . And then in the
25 folder here just noticing this
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 4
1 information session . I have a copy of
2 the public notice . I have a copy of an
3 Affidavit of Publication of this public
4 notice in the Suffolk Times along with
5 an invoice for payment of that . I have
6 an affidavit signed by our Town Clerk,
7 Denis Noncarrow, that the notice was
8 posted on the bulletin board in the back
9 there . And I have a copy of the
10 resolution itself setting this
11 information session .
12 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank
13 you, and Councilwoman Smith, would you
14 like to add to that as liaison?
15 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : Yes . So
16 the request came in from the County
17 based on actually conversations that the
18 Transportation Commission had already
19 started with the Town Board, and they
20 decided to -- the original request was
21 simply looking at the road from the
22 Halyard to the intersection with
23 Greenport, and the County came in and
24 decided they would expand the study .
25 They wanted to do a further study and
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 5
1 there had also been discussions ,
2 especially about that Cox Neck to Mary ' s
3 Road, where it was a pretty quick speed
4 there . Those requests were heard, and
5 they did a further study . The liaison
6 from the County met with members of the
7 Transportation Commission and with the
8 Town Board, to review the engineering
9 study that they did . And had some
10 pretty sound reasons for recommending
11 this . We did have some folks on
12 Transportation who felt some of the
13 limits should be even lower, with some
14 concern about approaching the incoming
15 traffic circle in Greenport . But the
16 thought was to leave it as it is right
17 now, thinking that the traffic circle
18 coming up itself is going to naturally
19 slow traffic . And we ' ll keep an eye on
20 how that ' s going . Chief Grattan checked
21 in with his data on tracking speed
22 limits and tickets , and also was in
23 support of the changes for safety
24 reasons .
25 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Well ,
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 6
1 thank you . So would anyone like to
2 speak to the proposed changes .
3 LINDA APOSTLE : My name is Linda
4 Apostle . I live on the main road in
5 Orient, and I have had one heck of a
6 time trying to find out more information
7 about this proposal . I read about it at
8 the Suffolk Times regarding the speed
9 limit on 48 , which I sort of live on . I
10 live on the main road in Orient . They
11 don ' t call it 48 there , but at any rate,
12 I ' ve had a heck of a time finding out
13 about it . So it causes me suspicion,
14 unfortunately, which I don ' t like
15 feeling . I ' ve been on the Town website .
16 I could find nothing about why or who or
17 what . And I have been to the County
18 website where there is absolutely
19 nothing even though apparently the
20 County has studied it . I found a lot of
21 information, 34 page slide presentation
22 about County Road 39, but nothing --
23 absolutely nothing about County Road 48 .
24 So hence my skepticism about why this
25 got proposed . And I also am remembering
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 7
1 when the Sound View got the -- I ' ll
2 guess I call it the buffers . I don ' t
3 know that that ' s the technical name, but
4 the plantings on Route 48 in front of
5 the property . And we were promised then
6 that the speed limit would remain 50
7 miles an hour . And here we are they
8 want to change it -- wants to be --
9 somebody wants it changed to 40 miles an
10 hour . I would also heard that I want
11 consistent speed limits all the way
12 along the road . But what I just heard
13 from you folks , it ' s going to be 45 , 40 ,
14 45 , 40 . So on and so forth . I guess my
15 ultimate question is , what ' s wrong with
16 keeping it at 50 ? And why can ' t I find
17 out the logic behind any of these
18 changes ? Why is that a secret thing?
19 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Do you
20 have any information to provide from the
21 Transportation Commission?
22 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : From the
23 Transportation Commission, the request
24 came before I was on the Town Board to
25 look at that speed limit because there
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 8
1 was community concern about the rate of
2 speed and the crosswalks at the Halyard .
3 And then pedestrians walking and using
4 that Route 48 from Vineyard View to
5 their employment in different locations .
6 So the request came from the Town Board
7 at that time . Prior to my being on the
8 Town Board, to take a look at it . And
9 the County decided to extend the study .
10 So once you -- it ' s their road . So once
11 you invite the County in to assess an
12 area, they can determine -- they will
13 conduct an actual traffic engineering
14 study, which is what they did, and they
15 extended the extended the scope of the
16 study . Brought it back to Supervisor ' s
17 Office . The Commission studied what
18 their recommendations were, and then we
19 invited -- I can ' t remember his name,
20 he ' s a signature on that letter .
21 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : Alex
22 Prego?
23 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : Alex
24 Prego came to first a Town Board Work
25 Session, which was a public meeting, and
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 9
1 then the Transportation Commission . I
2 asked that he meet directly with that
3 Commission before they gave an opinion
4 to the Town Board . And the Commission
5 agreed that the recommendations were --
6 they were in agreement with them. So
7 the next step is that it comes to the
8 Town Board for approval before we go to
9 some other paperwork with, I think New
10 York State and the County .
11 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : That ' s
12 it . So it ' s been over a year in
13 process ?
14 LINDA APOSTLE : Well , I understand,
15 but again, the fact that there is
16 nothing anywhere on any internet or any
17 website that gives explanation for any
18 of this , is difficult for me . We talk
19 about the crosswalks and people walking
20 along Vineyard some place , whatever you
21 just said . Has anybody gotten hurt?
22 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Not
23 recently .
24 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : Not that
25 I ' m aware of, but --
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 10
1 LINDA APOSTLE : Well , then why --
2 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : There ' s
3 been some close calls , apparently, but
4 I ' m not a traffic engineer . I don ' t
5 think anyone here is . So we depend on
6 the County to have their experts --
7 LINDA APOSTLE : My sense is that
8 all of this was studied whenever the
9 road was changed, how many years ago
10 that was . I don ' t recall . Wasn ' t that
11 long ago . The other thing that is
12 concerning to me is I went to the
13 Transportation Commission website, and
14 the only thing I found there was -- if I
15 may read this , " the Transportation
16 Commission assists Southold Town and its
17 residents in finding solutions to
18 increase transportation efficiency and
19 create attractive alternatives to
20 individual automobile travel while
21 preserving the scenic and historic
22 attributes of the Town, State, County,
23 and local roadways . " What have they got
24 to do with the speed limit, according to
25 their mission? Absolutely nothing .
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 11
1 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : These
2 requests were traditionally referred to
3 the Transportation Commission because
4 the Commission members , Highway
5 Department , Engineering, Planning, they
6 were all members from Greenport Village
7 law enforcement . They are all aligned
8 with transportation issues , so including
9 speed limit changes .
10 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : And the
11 Commission also addresses the goals of
12 the chapter on Transportation in the
13 Comprehensive Plan from 2020 . But we
14 are -- and all of their minutes and any
15 presentations are on in the Clerk ' s
16 Office and available online . I will say
17 not that easy to find, I agree .
18 LINDA APOSTLE : Exactly .
19 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : And we
20 are in the process of assessing new
21 website platforms that we will be
22 probably within the year putting in
23 place . So that it is easier for the
24 public, is one of our goals from the
25 beginning of the year . So now we have
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 12
1 to assess what platform is best and make
2 that transition so that ' s easier for you
3 to find things .
4 LINDA APOSTLE : Well , the other
5 thing I ' m hearing is it seems to me
6 they ' ve superseded their stated purpose
7 based upon what I just read .
8 TOWN ATTORNEY PAUL DECHANCE : Can I
9 add something here, if I could? I think
10 what you ' re suggesting is maybe that the
11 Transportation Commission decided
12 themselves to change the speed limit .
13 And I just want to make sure that that
14 information is corrected . So you should
15 know that if you contacted the law
16 department , we could have provided you
17 with information concerning this issue .
18 LINDA APOSTLE : Is it necessary for
19 me to have to search that?
20 TOWN ATTORNEY PAUL DECHANCE : No,
21 but you ' re saying that you ' re looking
22 for information, and I would be happy to
23 provide it to you . That the County
24 civil engineers and traffic engineers
25 took a look at this issue and in their
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 13
1 expertise made some recommendations .
2 Those are the recommendations that the
3 Board has before them. If you, for
4 instance, foiled county records , you
5 would find that study and you would find
6 the facts upon which their investigation
7 made conclusions . And that information
8 is there . It ' s not mysterious , it ' s
9 there . You just -- you apparently
10 looked in the wrong place . We could
11 assist you -- we could assist you . My
12 office can assist you in obtaining the
13 information to satisfy your request .
14 LINDA APOSTLE : Well , again,
15 there ' s a 34 page slide presentation on
16 the County website about Road 39 .
17 There ' s nothing about 48 .
18 TOWN ATTORNEY PAUL DECHANCE : I
19 can ' t speak for the County, but I would
20 be happy to assist you in obtaining this
21 information .
22 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : And I ' m
23 happy to let them know that we have
24 constituents who are struggling finding
25 information that they ' d like . And I ' m
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 14
1 sure they ' ll help us do a better job .
2 LINDA APOSTLE : Well , again, as I
3 read their stated purpose , and
4 Supervisor, you ' re telling me that they
5 are getting involved in these types of
6 things . So maybe that needs to be
7 changed on their stated purpose . But
8 the fact that they went to the County
9 rather than the Town Board --
10 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : No . The
11 Town Board goes to the County . The
12 Commission has no direct request to the
13 County . The Commission came to the Town
14 Board .
15 LINDA APOSTLE : Oh, I thought you
16 said the --
17 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : I may
18 have missed it .
19 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : The
20 traffic engineer did appear before the
21 Commission to give a report .
22 LINDA APOSTLE : Okay, well , thank
23 you .
24 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : You ' re
25 welcome .
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 15
1 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : And
2 your point about -- we had the
3 discussion today at work session on a
4 different matter about information on
5 the Town ' s website and it is so noted .
6 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : And
7 updating our mission statements to the
8 needs of the Town .
9 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : That
10 was another one, yes . The different
11 committees .
12 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : Yes . Not
13 just Transportation, everybody .
14 LINDA APOSTLE : Let me just finish
15 saying, we were promised when the
16 buffers went in front of Sound View that
17 the speed limit would stay 50 miles an
18 hour, and nobody ' s died and nobody ' s
19 gotten hit by a car since that happened .
20 To my knowledge . So I don ' t know why
21 we ' re even --
22 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : Yeah, I
23 don ' t -- I don ' t have the data on the on
24 accidents there, but I think there has
25 been some like short stops and people
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 16
1 being rear-ended . Fortunately, no
2 pedestrians were hurt, but car -- there
3 was -- there were car accidents .
4 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Not in the
5 recent past, but in the further past,
6 unfortunately, there were two
7 fatalities .
8 And that ' s -- And that figures into
9 the discussion of it, and we always want
10 safety . So perhaps that ' s why that was
11 changed . But I just want to make sure
12 we do remember the people who perished .
13 It was not recently, but it was , you
14 know, at least two people have perished .
15 LINDA APOSTLE : But can you let
16 ( inaudible ) safety? I guess you ' re
17 thinking that you can by putting the
18 speed limit lower, but , you know, if I
19 get hit at 50 miles an hour versus 40
20 miles an hour, I think I ' m still going
21 to be dead .
22 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Right .
23 But I don ' t know the specific rates of
24 survivability, but your chances increase
25 to lower the speed .
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 17
1 LINDA APOSTLE : Well then we ought
2 to have it -- 50 miles an hour .
3 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : All
4 right . Sir?
5 JOHN NICHOLSON : Good evening,
6 Supervisor Krupski . My name is John
7 Nicholson, and I live at 3985 Sound
8 Avenue . Representing a number of
9 families between Cox Neck Lane and
10 Burden Road, a number of people who are
11 here tonight . I didn ' t hear our area
12 mentioned tonight when you were talking
13 about the speed limits . So can we still
14 talk to that?
15 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : It ' s
16 considered South Avenue, but I think
17 Councilman Doroski , right , you mentioned
18 it in the description of area that was
19 studied?
20 TOWN ATTORNEY PAUL DECHANCE : That
21 is directly off of the County
22 correspondents .
23 JOHN NICHOLSON : So we ' re still
24 able to speak to that tonight?
25 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Yes .
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 18
1 JOHN NICHOLSON : Okay . Good . This
2 is my wife , Sharna, and I just want to
3 and thank her for organizing this whole
4 thing tonight .
5 SHARNA NICHOLSON : Hi , I ' m Sharna
6 Nicholson . And John and I moved here in
7 2012 , right before Sandy . And Sound
8 Avenue was busy, but not crazy busy .
9 And over the 13 years that we ' ve lived
10 here , we ' ve seen it get busier and
11 busier and busier . And we adore our
12 home . As we ' ve gotten to know our
13 neighbors , many of -- several of them
14 here tonight, we started to have
15 conversations with the neighbors and
16 heard about a lot of accidents that were
17 happening in the stretch from Cox Neck
18 to Bergen Road . John used to be a
19 paramedic . He ' s a retired paramedic .
20 And we hear things crashing outside our
21 door frequently . And he ' s the first to
22 triage . So we ' ve gone outside and thank
23 God there have not been any fatalities ,
24 I will say . But we ' re here tonight
25 because we don ' t want to become a road
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 19
1 or a stretch of road like Depot Lane,
2 where there were unfortunately severe
3 fatalities . And so hearing the stories
4 from our neighbors , we are here . We
5 wrote a letter back in August to the
6 Town and we submitted it . Several
7 people have probably seen it , where it
8 was signed by many of the neighbors . In
9 that stretch of property, even though we
10 lived there, we did not realize how many
11 homes there were , how many hidden
12 driveways there were, and how many
13 accidents there were until we started
14 really taking note of it . And heard
15 stories of many people who had been
16 involved in accidents or near accidents ,
17 or we witnessed those accidents . So we
18 have submitted to the Town a petition or
19 a letter indicating that we would like
20 them to look at the speed limit in that
21 stretch of area, where there are several
22 severe curves , many hidden driveways .
23 People are coming right off of 48 where
24 the speed limit is marked 45 , but people
25 are going 55, 65 . And we are grateful
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 20
1 that a double yellow line was painted on
2 the road, which was never there before .
3 However, trucks still pass us in front
4 of our driveway . Now there ' s a Hampton
5 Jitney bus that travels on that stretch
6 of road . Thankfully, and some of the
7 people who are here speak with me, we ' ll
8 tell of the tales of the school bus
9 drivers who are petrified to stop to
10 pick up children on that road, that
11 stretch of road . And so we wanted to be
12 here to share with you that we are
13 appealing to the Town to take a look, a
14 really careful look at that stretch and
15 the accidents that have happened
16 recently . Where we think that there are
17 other options besides -- first and
18 foremost, we want the speed limit
19 lowered, but we also see that it ' s
20 difficult to implement a change without
21 having a consequence . And we can ' t have
22 a cop, a police car there , stopping
23 every single infraction . Every day I
24 have people who hunk their horns as I
25 drive out of my driveway . And John will
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 21
1 share some information about the time it
2 takes as we get out of our driveway,
3 looking both ways and seeing no cars , we
4 pull out and someone nearly sideswipes
5 us . So I brought some options because
6 I ' m a "what can we do about it person"
7 and so I brought copies for you . And
8 I ' ll just quickly summarize that we know
9 that there have been studies done in
10 other towns and cities where they have
11 used solar lights saying speed limit and
12 look lowered speed limit and your speed
13 limit . They are not going 45 in front
14 of our house . They ' re going much
15 faster . We could add a sign . We could
16 -- those could be solar powered, so it ' s
17 low cost . We also think that there is a
18 need for blind driveway signs that
19 people could see . So that they know
20 that there are cars pulling out . There
21 are children on those roads and many
22 people who are walking because our
23 neighbors owns a bed and breakfast on
24 that stretch . There could be periodic
25 policing . I ' ve taken photographs of
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 22
1 cars who passed me going across the
2 double yellow lane and also into the
3 shoulders , where bicyclists are riding .
4 Frequently large groups of bicyclists .
5 So that ' s why we ' re here tonight to
6 raise that issue . Since we saw that 48
7 was being addressed, we are not 48 , but
8 we think it ' s even more critical on that
9 stretch of road . So I thank you for
10 your time .
11 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Thank
12 you .
13 SHARNA NICHOLSON : And several
14 people are here who would like to say a
15 few comments .
16 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : We ' re
17 trying to -- thank you, and please come
18 up . And speak we ' re trying to see if
19 that parts addressed .
20 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : I don ' t
21 think it is because it was --
22 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : -- 900
23 feet west .
24 SHARNA NICHOLSON : And right there
25 is industrial , right there .
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 23
1 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : Thank
2 you . I don ' t think it goes as far back
3 as --
4 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : And that
5 was noted by the Transportation
6 Commission as something that should be
7 looked at, yeah . I don ' t think the
8 study --
9 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : You know,
10 a few years back we put a streetlight
11 there, right .
12 SHARNA NICHOLSON : That ' s what
13 David ' s gonna --
14 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : Because
15 of this reason .
16 SHARNA NICHOLSON : Thank you very
17 much for letting us speak .
18 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : Thank you
19 for coming .
20 DAVE PERRIN : Thank you . Good
21 evening . Thank you for listening to our
22 ploy this evening . My name is Dave
23 Perrin . I live at 4850 Sound Avenue in
24 Mattituck, and I do also own a business
25 there . So it is a little bit of a
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 24
1 unique situation . My family -- we ' ve
2 lived there for over 15 years . And if I
3 was to say that when we first moved in,
4 versus now, life pulling in and out of
5 our driveway has evolved and changed
6 quite intensely . A couple of key points
7 that I just wanted to share with all of
8 you . The area that we ' re discussing,
9 the proposed area, would be from the
10 intersection, obviously, Middle Road in
11 Cox Lane to Bergen Road . That is . 9,
12 not even a full mile . In that window,
13 there are 25 points of exit or entry,
14 and that ' s short stretch of road, 25 .
15 So that ' s a lot . Now, interestingly
16 enough, four of those locations are
17 either additionally with multiple homes ,
18 business activity, or agricultural use,
19 which will directly increase the number
20 of vehicles entering as Sound Avenue .
21 My location specifically happens to be a
22 bed and breakfast . We have three
23 residential drivers in my house , and
24 then I have five guest rooms . So that
25 right there could mean eight cars .
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 25
1 Immediately to the east of me is Kerker
2 Plain . There is five homes up Kerker
3 Plain . There is also a wholesale
4 nursery that has 18 mulers that comes in
5 multiple times a day to pick up product,
6 which is great . But if you ' ve ever seen
7 that happen, that really can be a very
8 terrifying thing . Especially when they
9 pull on my driveway, a lot of thinking I
10 am the location . So now I have to ask
11 them to reverse . It really looks like
12 what terrifying moment and see how many
13 people are flying down that hill . Then
14 the other issues , just slightly to the
15 west of me , is a beautiful horse farm,
16 which also has riders and has horse
17 trailers going in and out . So there was
18 a lot of activity just in that small
19 area, which is in the base of the dip .
20 On any given morning or afternoon, there
21 was four potential school bus to pick up
22 or drop off spots in that less than a
23 mile stretch, along with 25 points of
24 entry . And all these other activities
25 happening . Also , 14 mailboxes . 14
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 26
1 mailboxes that are not off the road .
2 Mine , Kerkers are off, and the mail
3 trucks get to pull off the road . Up and
4 down in that stretch, 14 means they stop
5 on Sound Avenue . It ' s kind of a big
6 deal . It does impede traffic . Not
7 saying it ' s an issue for them. They ' re
8 great, but cars flying down . We also
9 have a new interesting situation on the
10 north side of Sound Avenue . Further up
11 the top of the hill to the east of me ,
12 there ' s been a property change .
13 Wonderful , beautiful . Looks great ,
14 except for with that change it has
15 completely impacted the water runoff of
16 Sound Avenue . You all did a wonderful
17 job by immediately addressing the issue
18 when contacted and put a drain in . That
19 drain cannot handle any kind of major
20 rain . If you ' ve never witnessed it, I
21 implore you to take a drive one night ,
22 safely, while it ' s raining and realize
23 that if you ' re heading westbound, the
24 entire lane is at least eight inches of
25 water . So what happens when people who
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 27
1 don ' t know that? We know, so we slow
2 down dramatically . Other people who are
3 flying immediately cut into the left
4 lane . Now, if you also know Sound
5 Avenue, it ' s a lot of traffic . It ' s a
6 nightmare waiting to happen . So that is
7 a very terrifying thing . I just want to
8 also throw that in there . And then
9 obviously, the rate of speed increasing
10 when heading west seems to be a normal
11 thing, right? They ' re coming down the
12 hill , now they ' re going up the hill , and
13 they know they ' re heading into open
14 farmland space . But wait , there ' s Farm
15 View . So there ' s an immediate stop of
16 cars also waiting to make a left-hand
17 turn . There is a lot of obstacles in
18 that area that need to be considered in
19 this situation . Lastly, I just want to
20 point out some of the obvious things .
21 We also have distracted drivers or the
22 drivers who are lost, or turned around,
23 or do turn around, which I happen to be
24 a major turn around point for, well ,
25 most of Mattituck and the North Shore .
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 28
1 I have personally been rear-ended once
2 and clipped and lost a mirror one other
3 time . Making a left into my driveway is
4 a very scary thing, but not when people
5 think it is . I ' m talking about every
6 day now normal traffic between 6 : 30 and
7 9 : 00 a . m. and then the same about 4 : 30
8 to 6 : 30 . It ' s busy now . It ' s not like
9 it used to be . And I ' m not talking only
10 in the high season come in January . I
11 have to wait to pull my driveway coming
12 back from dropping my kids off at school
13 I ' ve been rear-ended . Not by
14 out-of-towner ' s . Not by -- just people,
15 life . They ' re going and oh, I can ' t
16 quite fit on the left, you know, pass
17 them on the right at 50 miles an hour .
18 I ' m gonna take his mirror off . It ' s kind
19 of scary . We have to do something . We
20 have to create a means of awareness
21 letting people know how many residential
22 establishments there are in that short
23 stretch that didn ' t used to be there .
24 That ' s really, to me, the biggest
25 concern . I think those are some great
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 29
1 suggestions . But yes , the light was a
2 wonderful assistance, but it has not
3 done anything to deter speed . And then,
4 yeah, at the end of the day, I just --
5 if everybody was just going 45, that
6 might be, okay, but they ' re not . So if
7 we can get it down to a posted 35 or 40 ,
8 then we ' ll at least be traveling at a
9 normal 45, because we all know that
10 everybody goes at least five miles above
11 whatever the posted speed limit is
12 anyway . It is a dangerous spot and now
13 with a child who I ' m teaching how to
14 drive, it ' s even more challenging, but I
15 appreciate your time and consideration .
16 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank
17 you . And we will take a look at that ,
18 but we ' ll look all the way to the Town
19 line . We ' ll go further west than Bergen
20 Avenue .
21 DAVE PERRIN : Yeah, great .
22 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : No, no ,
23 because it ' s a short stretch --
24 SHARNA NICHOLSON : Well , they
25 slowed down because of ours , because of
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 30
1 this traffic .
2 DAVE PERRIN : Well , I will tell
3 you, Aldrich, obviously, has adjusted to
4 a 30 mile an hour, which a lot of people
5 didn ' t realize either . And I think that
6 was a wise move . There were so many
7 homes there now . And it didn ' t used to
8 be that way . But, you know, putting
9 down marks is a --
10 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Good
11 point .
12 JOHN NICHOLSON : So I ' m also a
13 mathematician . And I want to just share
14 with you some numbers and also some
15 personal experiences trying to get out
16 of our driveway . So when I go to pull
17 out of my driveway, I have a line of
18 sight of about 180 feet as the cars come
19 up the hill around the curve . So during
20 that time, if timing for a car going 45
21 miles per hour, that ' s -- that section
22 is about three seconds . From the time
23 they reach the top of the hill until
24 they look at my driveway . So that ' s not
25 a lot of time to be pulling out of your
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 31
1 driveway . So I take a look to the left,
2 no traffic . I take a look at the right,
3 no traffic . I look again at the left , I
4 pull out . The minute I pull out, there
5 is a car coming . And they don ' t slow
6 down . I have to go straight across the
7 road, cross the double line, and go off
8 the road to make my turn, so the car
9 would not hit me . This happens
10 regularly . At 35 miles per hour, or at
11 45 miles per hour, a car travels about
12 262 feet . So even it ' s 180 feet that
13 I ' m looking at, so they can ' t even -- it
14 won ' t be able to stop unless they hit me
15 at that distance . It ' s much farther
16 than that the stopping distance than
17 that distance . We look at -- now that ' s
18 for cars that ' s not for the heavy
19 trucks . That ' s not for the propane
20 trucks that go through there . The
21 garbage trucks that come up . I mean,
22 there ' s a lot of truck traffic that
23 comes through there also . So the
24 stopping distance for a car traveling 35
25 miles per hour is 187 feet . So it ' s
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 32
1 likely they won ' t hit me . So that ' s one
2 good thing about a 35 mile per hour
3 speed limit . Again, I think you
4 mentioned this also , David, that there
5 are 25 families and at least 21
6 driveways , many of them hidden on these
7 curves and hills at that area . Along
8 with there are school bus . There have
9 been multiple accidents , cars total ,
10 roll overs , head-on ' s , and no one ' s been
11 killed yet . I personally have been
12 first responder to most accidents . To
13 most of them out there . And as a
14 retired paramedic, as 25 years
15 paramedic, we ' ve been really lucky to
16 have that no one ' s been killed . When I
17 see these cars totaled, smashed in,
18 people trying to get out of their cars ,
19 and they have not been seriously
20 injured . We ' ve really, really been very
21 lucky . And you talked about Aldrich the
22 30 miles per hour . Aldrich is just a
23 straight shot . No dips . No curves ,
24 nothing . Yes , it ' s a neighborhood, but
25 so is this area . This area has become a
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 33
1 neighborhood . It ' s grown and increased
2 over the time and we ' re talking about
3 year-round residences . So I think it ' s
4 time to change the speed limits . It ' s
5 long overdue . I don ' t want to go out
6 there and find the worst case scenario .
7 So just consider the numbers . Consider
8 me trying to pull out in how much three
9 seconds time I have to get out there .
10 And just one more thing . When my wife
11 pulls out, I have to look out the window
12 to watch her pull out . I don ' t want to
13 hear -- I don ' t want to hear the crash .
14 I don ' t want to hear it .
15 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Well ,
16 thanks for coming tonight .
17 JOHN NICHOLSON : Thank you .
18 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank
19 you . Anyone else?
20 DREW WATSON : Thank you for hearing
21 us tonight . I ' ll keep my comments
22 brief . I ' m the new kid on the block .
23 My family and I -- I ' m Drew Watson, I
24 live at 4250 Sound Avenue , and these are
25 my neighbors . And we purchased our home
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 34
1 at 4250 Sound Avenue back in 2022 and
2 just in the few years that we ' ve lived
3 in the area, we ' ve really been shocked
4 by the amount of aggressive driving that
5 we ' ve seen happening on Sound Avenue .
6 And again just to paint the picture,
7 it ' s coming off of that four lane
8 highway on North Road, I think which is
9 Route 48 . After the stoplight, it goes
10 to the two lane road, Sound Avenue .
11 Their dips and curves as we ' ve
12 illustrated this evening, but we ' ve --
13 I ' ve seen in just that short period of
14 time cars wrapped around telephone
15 poles . I ' ve personally been
16 side-swiped . I don ' t have any facts and
17 figures about the injuries , but it ' s
18 pretty brutal . I think we ' ve heard a
19 lot of them tonight . But what I can
20 tell you is that what I regularly see is
21 people in a highway kind of LIE
22 mentality going down the four lane
23 highway . And after they stop at the
24 stoplight, and continue on Sound Avenue,
25 that mentality continues . And I ' m sure
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 35
1 it ' s not due to any sort of ill will or
2 intent, but people are just continuing
3 down going 50 , 55 , 60 , perhaps even
4 faster, down Sound Avenue . And as
5 you ' ve seen tonight , it ' s not a highway .
6 It ' s a real community of families and
7 neighbors that care for each other . And
8 pulling in and out of the driveway is
9 just really gruesome sometimes . The
10 amount of aggressive driving that we
11 see, people passing on the right on the
12 shoulder, tailgating the excessive
13 speeding . So my simple ask to the
14 council tonight would be to explore ways
15 that we can, Number One, at least
16 enforce the laws that are already on the
17 books with the speed limit, with the
18 laws that we have around safe driving .
19 And also I would urge the council to
20 take measures to look into the
21 possibility of lowering the speed limit
22 for the safety of the neighborhood . So
23 thank you very much .
24 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank
25 you for coming . All right . Would
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 36
1 anyone else like to speak on any topic?
2 ROBERT DUNN : Robert Dunn, Peconic .
3 I came specifically to talk about
4 something else, but I ' ve heard a number
5 of things tonight . I ' m just going to
6 make light comments . Don ' t respond .
7 The name Sound View keeps coming up .
8 And there ' s something that ' s Sound View
9 that is just a catastrophe waiting to
10 happen . They put planters out at the
11 curb . If you ' re coming from Greenport,
12 you cannot see who ' s walking out from
13 those planters . Now, it ' s not really a
14 problem if it ' s an adult that you can
15 see . But little kids run -- always run .
16 Y ' all had kids . They always run a few
17 feet ahead of the parents . Kids
18 couldn ' t zippin around . So that ' s a
19 problem . And it ' s right where the
20 gentleman got killed, right at that
21 point . So just hear me on it . It might
22 be something as simple as a telephone
23 pole . Cut some of them plants back a
24 bit, so that you can see who ' s about to
25 enter . You can ' t see it until you ' re
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 37
1 there . And if you ' re driving 50 , it
2 might be too late . End the story on
3 that one . Whatever you do with speed
4 limits , and if you need to cut the speed
5 limits down, I ' m fine for it . At my
6 age, I got one place to go . I ' m not in
7 a hurry to get there . But I think you
8 have to have some continuity in the
9 speed limits . It can ' t be all over the
10 place on one road . Go with the lowest
11 one . If you think this should be 40 and
12 this should be 45 and this should be 50 ,
13 make them all 40 . I mean, what are we
14 talking about from Laurel to Greenport?
15 It might take you three minutes longer .
16 And on that one, and just the point,
17 you ' re talking about putting the
18 aquatics in with the agriculture . I
19 hope everybody ' s going to read all the
20 things , because in the Agriculture
21 Committee, one of the requirements of
22 being on the Agriculture Committee is
23 that you have to be an agriculture . So
24 you can ' t put -- you follow me, if
25 you ' re going to join them, you can ask
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 38
1 them --
2 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Well ,
3 we have a lot of active shellfish
4 growers , and they ' re considered
5 agriculture . The aquaculture is
6 considered agriculture in part of Ag and
7 Markets . And we actually have --
8 ROBERT DUNN : I was just looking at
9 something and I read that .
10 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Yeah,
11 we have actually have an active
12 shellfish grower sitting in a Ag
13 Advisory now .
14 ROBERT DUNN : Yes . But agriculture
15 and aquaculture are two different
16 things . If you can put them together,
17 fine . I just wanted to point that out
18 that in the Agriculture Committee thing,
19 it does say you have to be a farmer .
20 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : They
21 consider themselves growers .
22 ROBERT DUNN : Okay . Back to where
23 I came from. I started talking to you
24 about it before . I guess a month and a
25 half ago, I spoke to you about
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 39
1 Goldsmiths . And I told you it would
2 have to be , and thank you . It was done .
3 I know that you had to go through the
4 permitting thing and it took a little
5 longer than you would have liked, but
6 the bottom line is what a horrible job .
7 What a horrible job . I mean, I ' m glad
8 to see that whatever sand they took out
9 there, they put it down on Town Beach,
10 correct?
11 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Some of
12 it . Some was put to the east to fortify
13 that shoreline as it moves to the east .
14 Some was moved to Town Beach to try to
15 fortify that .
16 ROBERT DUNN : I didn ' t see any of
17 it moved to the east .
18 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : There ' s
19 a couple piles there .
20 ROBERT DUNN : There may be, I ' m
21 just saying I did not see them do
22 that -- I know, but I think that at Town
23 Beach was certainly in need of whatever
24 you put there . And I ' m not debating
25 that you did that . I mean this was sand
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 40
1 you had to put it somewhere . And that
2 to me was a critical point, very wise .
3 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : I give
4 DPW the credit . They did a lot of the
5 work with the DEC and they did the work
6 coordinating the work that got done .
7 The RDPW, sorry .
8 ROBERT DUNN : RDPW?
9 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Yes .
10 They coordinated with the DEC, as I did
11 as well . They coordinated with a
12 contractor, because we ' re on a County
13 contract to get that work done .
14 ROBERT DUNN : Right .
15 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : So they
16 made the coordinated efforts to move
17 that sand .
18 ROBERT DUNN : Okay . Well , no, I
19 think it was a great idea to put it down
20 there . I mean, that beach was about to
21 become part of the road . So I mean a
22 good sense of that, but the last time
23 the town did a dredge was the first year
24 that Tim Roth had replaced Jeff . And I
25 spoke about it . I said it said he did a
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 41
1 fabulous job, and he did . And now it ' s
2 two or three years later . And this
3 dredge, I just think, was poorly done .
4 It ' s already closing . It ' s going to be
5 closed within a week on the low tide .
6 Not on high tide . High tide is still
7 through, but on the low tide side . And
8 that ' s just the beginning of it . You ' re
9 going to get a lot of people -- and this
10 is for you, you ' re going to get a lot of
11 people calling you on it that they
12 didn ' t like it . There ' s no way you can
13 please everybody there , because some
14 people just want beach . Some people
15 want water to move . Some people want to
16 go on the east beach . Some people want
17 to go on the west beach . So that, I can
18 just tell you, you ' re going to get a lot
19 of reaction from people that don ' t like .
20 But the bottom line is -- well , first of
21 all , they were pigs . I ' ll just tell
22 that flat out , and I ' ll be happy to show
23 you the pictures that I based that on .
24 They took wood, large timbers , and just
25 dragged them up the beach through grass .
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 42
1 Pulled the grass out, and dumped them in
2 the parking lot . That ' s just stupid,
3 stupid . And the idea, as a taxpayer,
4 that we would spend funds , that the Town
5 would spend my tax dollars to destroy my
6 beach is insanity . That ' s just
7 insanity . There ' s no excuse for that .
8 There ' s no justification for that .
9 Somebody should be fired for it . It ' s
10 disgraceful . Because all -- not only
11 was a bad recover, I personally planted
12 every piece of grass that went there
13 that they tore out . And to be honest , I
14 spent three weeks doing that . And the
15 last day I do it , I had chest pains and
16 the next day I had heart surgery . So
17 I ' m willing to do what I got to do , and
18 that would have happened anyway . If it
19 wasn ' t then, I would have done something
20 silly two months later . It would have
21 happened anyway . But all I ' m saying is
22 just stupidity to just drag lumbers
23 through grass , tree branches , and grab
24 and just dump in there . Another one
25 they put, when I planted the grass ,
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 43
1 there was no grass on Gaulsman ' s when I
2 moved there . None . Jamie put the
3 Armament in . While we ' re here and part
4 of the deal with the Armament, was the
5 Town was responsible for replanting the
6 area after it was done . And Jim McMahon
7 was still here and I told Jim, if he ' d
8 get the grass , I would seed the planting
9 and I did . And then I just kind of got
10 into it . So I kept going down the
11 beach . Since the grass was planted,
12 water has never come over that beach .
13 In other words , when it floods , it
14 floods down by Second Avenue . Water
15 comes down the channel to lower ground,
16 and then comes in . It used to actually
17 come over the beach . But between the
18 Armament, and the sand that ' s collected
19 from the grass that was planted there ,
20 the water never comes over the beach,
21 which means it ' s slower coming in . It
22 has to go all the way in . It has to
23 raise the level of the pond before it
24 can then come over the sidewalk . So I
25 mean, it ' s just from any which way you
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 44
1 look at it . What was done there last
2 two weeks ago , stupid, stupid . Poor,
3 unforgivable . Unforgivable .
4 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Yeah, I
5 haven ' t -- I didn ' t notice it . I was
6 there the last day they were dredging .
7 So I haven ' t been since .
8 ROBERT DUNN : Well , I mean you ' re
9 not going to be as critical as I am.
10 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Well ,
11 no you pointed that out, but they I
12 don ' t know when that when they did it .
13 ROBERT DUNN : They might have done
14 it at the last day . I mean there ' s --
15 there was three plantings between the
16 first two . I left them a track with so
17 that they could drive the machines . I
18 knew that they ' d be dredging coming and
19 although I did that on Father ' s Day, no
20 -- no time near dredging times . I just
21 knew that eventually it would have to be
22 dredged and you needed space to get
23 through . So I left it wide enough . Now
24 when they drove in a little bit gets
25 messed up because, A, some of the grass
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 45
1 grows in . B, it may not be perfect , and
2 C, drive in a big machine . So if you
3 knock down a couple of blades of grass ,
4 so what? It ' ll either grow back or it
5 won ' t grow back, or it ' ll come back from
6 somewhere else . So I don ' t question
7 that , but the idea of dragging wood
8 through planted grass , just, it makes no
9 sense to me . It ' s just stupid, stupid .
10 Inexcusable . And defeats exactly what
11 they ' ve done . It ' s filling in again . I
12 mean, it ' s filling in because they
13 didn ' t -- they didn ' t dig it out right
14 at the shore .
15 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : It ' s --
16 we worked within the constraints of the
17 permit that was issued by the DEC was
18 the same -- the same project that they
19 have --
20 ROBERT DUNN : You think it ' s in --
21 these guys are smart enough to know when
22 you dig in sand, you took a straight
23 wall and water is going to run through
24 it, the sides are going to cave in . And
25 that ' s exactly what happened .
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 46
1 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : This
2 is -- we ' re working -- we were very
3 fortunate to be able to work with the
4 DEC to get that permit . It ' s a ten year
5 permit . If we have to dredge it next
6 year, we can . If we don ' t have to
7 dredge for another three or four years ,
8 we don ' t have to .
9 ROBERT DUNN : But what I ' m saying
10 is , I spent 40 years in the building
11 trades . I wasn ' t a road builder, I
12 wasn ' t -- I ' ve had some experience ,
13 minor experiences to that . But when you
14 dig in sand, if dig straight down in
15 sand, water ' s going to run through it .
16 I guarantee it ' s going to cave in .
17 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : No,
18 that system is not a natural system.
19 Once that jetty got built in the
20 mid- 60 ' s , that changed the whole dynamic
21 there . And it ' s been nothing but a
22 problem for the Town . The Town took the
23 jetty over for a dollar, and it ' s been
24 the Town ' s responsibility to keep that
25 waterway open . I ' ve been dealing with
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 47
1 it since I was a Town Trustee in 1991 .
2 And I know it ' s west versus east there,
3 because the west side benefited from the
4 accretion of sand, and the east side has
5 lost , there used to be houses there --
6 in my day, those are long gone on the
7 east side . Even the foundations and
8 cesspools are gone .
9 ROBERT DUNN : East side .
10 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : There
11 were like three bungalows there on the
12 east side .
13 ROBERT DUNN : On the west side .
14 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : The
15 east side of the inlet .
16 ROBERT DUNN : On the west side of
17 the inlet .
18 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : East
19 side of the inlet .
20 ROBERT DUNN : Across the street
21 from my house?
22 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Across
23 the --
24 ROBERT DUNN : On the other side of
25 Middle Lane from my house , there were
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 48
1 three houses --
2 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : East .
3 On the orient side of the inlet , there
4 were three houses .
5 ROBERT DUNN : They were over on the
6 other side?
7 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Yes .
8 ROBERT DUNN : What ' s now the County
9 in Town land?
10 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : The
11 County park, yes .
12 ROBERT DUNN : Okay .
13 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : There ' s
14 a sidewalk there still , if you go
15 through there .
16 ROBERT DUNN : I ' ve never seen it .
17 I know -- I know there were houses
18 across the street from my house on the
19 other side of the road .
20 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : No,
21 there were three houses there . I
22 remember as a kid, they fell in .
23 ROBERT DUNN : I ' m not quite sure .
24 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : The
25 whole thing ' s been -- so it ' s not a
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 49
1 natural system. All the creeks on the
2 bay side get dredged periodically, as
3 needed, because the sand moves .
4 ROBERT DUNN : Okay . But the thing
5 is , Al , when you dig in sand, if you dig
6 it straight -- straight, get down, the
7 sides are gonna collapse, unless you
8 put ' em back on an angle . And that ' s got
9 nothing to do with a permit . That ' s
10 just got to do with how you dig . I mean,
11 if you dig a hole like this , everything
12 between there and here is gonna
13 eventually be down in the bottom.
14 That ' s just the way it works . The water
15 comes through, it ' s gonna take it down .
16 You could see it that afternoon . The
17 afternoon they finished . Because what
18 happens is , the sand falls away and the
19 stone sand pops . So the whole side of
20 it was lined with stone . Full of stones
21 because the sand had washed away . So , I
22 mean, it was the clear as day . This was
23 just a poor job . And somebody ought to
24 tell them that . They ' ve done it before .
25 They ' ve done great jobs in the past .
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 50
1 And this was just done poorly . There ' s
2 a lot more sand there than there was ,
3 because the sand ' s coming through the
4 jetty now . There ' s so much sand
5 offshore there . I don ' t know how far
6 you ' d have to go out to keep that open .
7 I don ' t know if you could keep it open .
8 There ' s so much sand going from west to
9 east .
10 ROBERT DUNN : As I told you three
11 weeks ago, you don ' t need to clear it
12 out . Just cut through it . Cut through
13 it and let the shoreline go out . Why is
14 it to dig up all this and take it
15 somewhere else? I mean, in this case ,
16 it was good . You had use for it at Town
17 Beach . Why move all that sand, is it
18 not going to be effective?
19 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Well ,
20 it was closed . We had to open it up .
21 It was completely closed . And it was --
22 ROBERT DUNN : It was completely
23 closed a year before . A year before and
24 some guys went down there with a shovel .
25 I don ' t get involved in that because the
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 51
1 one time I did it, everybody got on my
2 case . So I don ' t do it anymore .
3 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : I don ' t
4 -- I wouldn ' t -- I don ' t know . I can ' t
5 comment on that . You and your shovel .
6 But it was way more than a shovel . I
7 mean, we saw -- you and I both saw it
8 when it was closed . There was a lot of
9 sand . That was a huge bar going across
10 the whole mouth of the inlet . It was
11 beyond somebody with a shovel .
12 ROBERT DUNN : You can cut through
13 that bore and not dig it all out . You
14 don ' t have to spend the money to move it
15 and let the shoreline grow . I mean, at
16 a real low tide there, the beach
17 actually goes to the end of the jetty .
18 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Oh
19 yeah .
20 ROBERT DUNN : That ' s how much sand
21 has --
22 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : I know .
23 ROBERT DUNN : -- built up
24 underwater . It ' s just a few inches
25 under the normal water level .
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 52
1 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : I think
2 as kids we used to run off the side of
3 that jetty and it was deep enough to
4 jump in from the jetty .
5 ROBERT DUNN : Right .
6 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : And now
7 it ' s just --
8 ROBERT DUNN : It ' s right there .
9 It ' s all sand . It ' s all sand right
10 there . Just my point is , this was just
11 a bad one, and I think we got to be a
12 lot more precise about how we do this .
13 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : So
14 noted .
15 ROBERT DUNN : It ' s just not a
16 matter of going and saying, okay, they
17 gave us a budget so much, so we ' re just
18 going to move so many truckloads .
19 That ' s good for them. It ' s not good for
20 the Town . It ' s not good for me . It ' s
21 not good for Goldsmith . It ' s not good
22 for the fish that live in the pond .
23 Right now at the edge of the entrance is
24 already an island growing . I mean and
25 this is what seven days later? Here is
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 53
1 the wood they pushed up . You can see
2 it --
3 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Yeah .
4 ROBERT DUNN : It pushed right up
5 the beach .
6 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Yeah .
7 ROBERT DUNN : That ' s a disgrace . I
8 mean, you know --
9 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Yeah .
10 ROBERT DUNN : It ' s already going
11 out in the middle .
12 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Sure .
13 I ' m going to look at it tomorrow . We ' re
14 not going to win there . Mother Nature ' s
15 going to win there .
16 ROBERT DUNN : I don ' t -- I don ' t --
17 well that shouldn ' t have been . I mean
18 how much -- what was the bill on that?
19 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : It
20 was -- I think it was over $20 , 000 .
21 ROBERT DUNN : And that ' s still
22 there . That ' s what they were supposed
23 to move . It ' s got to be what I call
24 inefficiency . Whether it ' s inefficiency
25 here or by then, it ' s inefficiency .
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 54
1 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : I ' ll go
2 take a look at it .
3 ROBERT DUNN : I mean, not even two
4 weeks . Not even two weeks .
5 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : There
6 was a big dredge job done decades ago ,
7 and they opened it . That was when there
8 was deeper water offshore . They opened
9 it all the way back up into the inlet .
10 I mean a big channel , and it wasn ' t much
11 longer than two weeks . And it was
12 completely sanded in . There ' s a lot of
13 energy there and a lot of sand .
14 ROBERT DUNN : Certainly is . You
15 know, I ' m living there 15 years . 15
16 years now, and it ' s not my -- I ' ve been
17 in the neighborhood since ' 89 . I built
18 my mother-in-law ' s house on the hill .
19 She ' s not there anymore . My
20 sister-in-law has it now . So I mean,
21 yeah, I know what ' s here . And what I
22 also know what ' s coming out here, I
23 mean, I ' m a city kid, but I ' ve been
24 coming out here longer than I think all
25 of you have been alive . I first started
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 55
1 coming out here in ' 49 . I ' m married to
2 my wife almost 50 years . I met her out
3 here . I was staying with friends on 16 .
4 She lived around the corner on Marlene .
5 So I ' ve seen how things go, and I ' ve
6 seen how they ' re deteriorating . And we
7 can ' t just stand by and let it happen or
8 we ' re going to be living in Queens .
9 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Well ,
10 thank you for your observations . I do
11 appreciate your -- and the thing with
12 the beach grass , so I will talk to --
13 ROBERT DUNN : That was just dumb .
14 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Yeah,
15 I ' ll talk to DPW . Anyone else?
16 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : You
17 missed my shout-out to you . Your point
18 about the need to amend Chapter 70 . So
19 if you ' re gonna speak about the
20 information meeting, we decided to pull
21 that so we can notice a public hearing
22 next time .
23 TOM STEVENSON : Well , greetings .
24 Tom Stevenson, Orient . I know it ' s been
25 a long day for everyone . So because
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 56
1 that work session went on and on . And I
2 was listening in and I ' ll spare too much
3 on that . The beach grass , I feel your
4 pain, because I mean, me and the Cub
5 Scouts on probably a day like this out
6 there planted them, probably 10 years
7 ago in Orient , all still doing really
8 well .
9 ROBERT DUNN : Yeah . I mean, it
10 doesn ' t take much to grow it .
11 TOM STEVENSON : You know, you got
12 to leave a spot for foot traffic and
13 whatever --
14 ROBERT DUNN : And if you don ' t,
15 you ' re asking for trouble , because the
16 foot track --
17 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : We have
18 to keep it to the Board . You guys can
19 talk all night in the parking lot,
20 please just address the Board .
21 TOM STEVENSON : I just felt the
22 pain and then I felt the pain on 48 --
23 well , Sound Ave . I used to drive the
24 grape harvester on that stretch .
25 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Sure .
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 57
1 TOM STEVENSON : It was like a long
2 time ago . But if you ' ve ever driven one
3 of those, they ' re not self-leveling . So
4 you have a helicopter joystick . And as
5 you go around that turn, you had to be
6 good -- and level the thing up, and
7 people are passing you . And you cannot
8 stop . You ' re doing 19 miles an hour,
9 which is fast for that .
10 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Pretty
11 fast .
12 TOM STEVENSON : That ' s limited
13 right there . I didn ' t get a ticket .
14 But it ' s all hydraulics , so you can ' t
15 stop . So I mean, farm equipment on
16 that , and there ' s not much of a
17 shoulder . So yeah -- that ' s not County
18 though, right?
19 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : No,
20 it ' s Town road there .
21 TOM STEVENSON : It starts right
22 there . I ' m learning . What ' s the point
23 of the County stretch then, from
24 Greenport to --
25 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Before
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 58
1 my time . It goes from town -- it goes
2 from town -- because Riverhead has Sound
3 Avenue .
4 TOM STEVENSON : Right .
5 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : We have
6 a little bit of Sound Avenue , and then
7 it goes to County 48 , and then it goes
8 to State and Greenport , so .
9 TOM STEVENSON : Because the
10 State -- and I think November I came and
11 spoke when the Transportation Commission
12 was first talking about the -- or no, it
13 was the work session where there was a
14 presentation and with Zoom. I couldn ' t
15 really see the actual presentation .
16 That ' s why I was asking, could we get a
17 copy of that? And then I went to the
18 Transportation Commission meeting and I
19 was asking about it . And they were
20 talking, it ' s from here to here and it
21 really helps to have a map and whatever
22 they put up there to be able to see .
23 But so I ' ll keep, mostly on the Sound
24 View, I already commented in November, I
25 think . But the idea of like having
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 59
1 seasonal speed limits make a lot of
2 sense, because in the Summer, you ' re not
3 doing the speed limit anyway . This is
4 all traffic . In the Winter, why can ' t
5 it be a little bit faster, because
6 nobody ' s on the road? So I don ' t know .
7 I didn ' t like the whole project there .
8 I didn ' t think the land swap . There
9 were just things that happened there .
10 But it made it sort of unsafe with the
11 plantings and with the middle median .
12 And I know the traffic engineers say,
13 when you narrow the roads , it makes it
14 safer . But that was like the one
15 stretch of straight road . You could see
16 100 feet clear . There was like one
17 crosswalk . You know, now there ' s three
18 crosswalks . None of them are light
19 controlled . You know, whatever that
20 thing is that or that ' s a State , right?
21 The State won ' t put in a crosswalk
22 without a light?
23 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Yeah,
24 they will .
25 TOM STEVENSON : If you -- if you
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 60
1 go --
2 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Sure
3 they will . No, they will . You think of
4 all the crosswalks in Town none of them
5 have lights --
6 TOM STEVENSON : Or new ones .
7 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Well ,
8 they ' re gonna do -- they ' re going to
9 adjust some in Mattituck without lights .
10 TOM STEVENSON : We could use one at
11 the top of Village Lane by Young ' s
12 there, but I guess that big hedge is not
13 to code . So that needs to be enforced .
14 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : -- down
15 on the list . We have it all .
16 TOM STEVENSON : The bottom wood
17 tree . I know everyone ' s like But I
18 don ' t think it ' s going to make it .
19 Sorry about Madrid . And then I think I
20 spoke on the Moores Lane, which is like,
21 you talk about jurisdictions . You have
22 Mary Beth was here . She ' s like , well ,
23 Moores Lane is a Village road, right?
24 Then -- yeah, you weren ' t at that
25 meeting .
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 61
1 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : I was
2 not .
3 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : I tell
4 you everything though .
5 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : How was
6 the Moores Lane a Village road, because
7 the school is in the Town, is in
8 Greenport Hamlet , but not in the
9 Incorporated Village .
10 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : She said
11 that , I haven ' t looked at that map .
12 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Part of
13 that road -- the first part of the road
14 coming off the County is County . Then
15 there ' s Town, and then there ' s Village .
16 So it ' s split into three different
17 ownerships .
18 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Okay .
19 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : The
20 Village , definitely there .
21 TOM STEVENSON : Well , the north
22 side is unsafe simply because like the
23 trees have grown in . So it really needs
24 to be cleared back . That ' s not as
25 unsafe as the south side, where the
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 62
1 school buses can ' t make the turn .
2 There ' s no crosswalks for the kids on
3 Front Street, ' cause then you get to
4 Village . So you have like four -- if
5 you throw the school and you got like
6 five jurisdictions right there . So the
7 idea of having everyone together and
8 trying to figure it out .
9 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : That ' s
10 the plan .
11 TOM STEVENSON : Yeah . Greenport
12 has a new school superintendent .
13 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : Oh good,
14 I didn ' t see that .
15 TOM STEVENSON : Yeah . So yeah --
16 you know, I didn ' t think that lowering
17 the speed limits , I mean, we were
18 promised, or at least at the time, that
19 it was going to stay the same at 50 . I
20 mean, that ' s a stretch that I ' m driving
21 sometimes , like four times a day . I
22 know it ' s three minutes different, but I
23 mean, three minutes is three minutes .
24 And you know, traffic enforcement . But
25 I think the light -- one thing they
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 63
1 could do is put lights over the
2 crosswalks , because the lights are not
3 over the crosswalks , the street lights .
4 That would be like a number one thing to
5 do that , because I think Bobby Haas , Sr .
6 Was like the last -- or Bobby Haas ' s dad
7 died there , yeah, terrible . So anyway,
8 Tree Committee . I went to that one too,
9 because it ' s the right time of year to
10 go to these committee meetings .
11 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : We didn ' t
12 have Ag ' s .
13 TOM STEVENSON : You know, I was on
14 the Tree Committee in 1990 , Gene
15 Cochran, 1999 , 2000 , 2001 , something
16 like that . And it ' s great what has
17 happened, but they actually got a budget
18 ' cause I remember that was like , we
19 don ' t really have a budget to do street
20 trees . It was all from the memorial
21 trees , right? So -- but in terms of the
22 Tree Code, that was the real reason I
23 went there . And back then we were
24 working on a Tree Code . Pretty sure
25 that ' s why the Tree Committee was formed
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 64
1 to do a Tree Code . And it just was
2 never right, you know, whatever we came
3 up with was never right . And so we sort
4 of like tried to simplify it all the way
5 down to no clear cutting on vacant
6 residential lots . You could cut on a
7 sliding scale up to what you needed to
8 build your house . And then -- but there
9 was no restriction, like no DBH
10 measurements , no permit . And that we
11 thought that that would, you know,
12 because that ' s the main thing . Like a
13 spec builder comes in . Buys a lot
14 clears it to the property line, and
15 they ' re not even the ones living there .
16 And seems like not the right thing to
17 do . And one question I had was could
18 that be addressed through the Zoning
19 update through a bulk schedule? Could
20 would you add -- I don ' t know if it ' s
21 possible, but in lieu of a Tree Code,
22 which seemed like the Building
23 Department didn ' t really wanna take on .
24 The budget , like how much is this gonna
25 cost for both the Town and for property
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 65
1 owners to either hire an arborist or for
2 the Town to hire arborist or I mean
3 there ' s no mention of an arborist in the
4 Tree Code, but that was always one of
5 our things . Is the Town really should
6 have an arborist at least , you know, to
7 work with the Utilities when they go and
8 massacre the rights away . That that
9 works not done to any sort of standard .
10 It ' s just cut it . So I don ' t know, that
11 was just an idea to try to simplify it
12 if possible . Where it could be in the
13 bulk schedule for like R- 80 Zone .
14 Depending on the size of the parcel , you
15 could do that . I don ' t know . Just
16 throwing it out there . Water Committee,
17 I did that . We ' ll have time later for
18 some of that stuff .
19 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Well ,
20 we are going to have another Code
21 Committee on the tree, so please submit
22 your comments to that .
23 TOM STEVENSON : Okay .
24 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : That ' s
25 still very much a work in progress .
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 66
1 TOM STEVENSON : All right . Great .
2 And then combining the Ag Advisory, you
3 would have to look at Chapter 71 , which
4 is Ag Advisory Code . And occasionally
5 we do go back over what our roles ,
6 duties , whatever . We do have a vacancy
7 now . Not really sure -- I guess -- did
8 Chris come in and talk to you? At one
9 point, just about vacancies , I think
10 like the terms you know, we might be
11 like a little off with like members , but
12 this could be a way to like correct it .
13 Like if we have a vacancy now and then
14 we if -- up to you guys , I mean I
15 thought we could go from nine to ten or
16 eleven . We are having a hard time
17 sometimes getting quorum. So I don ' t
18 know if it ' s better to have -- you know,
19 you need quorum for --
20 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : The
21 bigger the number, the more you need to
22 have present . We did this on Housing
23 Advisory to like -- wait a minute, we
24 just made it harder to get quorum.
25 TOM STEVENSON : Yeah, exactly .
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 67
1 It ' s harder to get it . There ' s nine .
2 You need five people . You go to 11 , you
3 need six . So you if you were gonna go
4 10 , you would go yo 11 . The person
5 who ' s staying home on a cold night still
6 stays home .
7 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : It
8 happens in Winter on all the committees .
9 TOM STEVENSON : So, all right,
10 that ' s it, I think .
11 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : All
12 right . Thanks , Tom .
13 TOM STEVENSON : Thank you .
14 Hopefully . Our next Ag meeting, though,
15 is the Lunar New Year, I think, is on
16 the schedule . Is that a Town --
17 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : It ' s a
18 school holiday . In all the schools .
19 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : Yeah,
20 it ' s just the schools .
21 TOM STEVENSON : So, okay, so we ' re
22 on with that . Okay, cool . Thank you .
23 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank
24 you . Anyone else?
25 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Is there a
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 68
1 hand up on Zoom?
2 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Go
3 ahead, Margaret .
4 MARGARET DE CRUZ : Yes , I ' ve been
5 wanting to say something about the speed
6 limit idea, which I would love to lower
7 the speed limit . I have almost hit --
8 two deer ' s came out in front of my car
9 in the last two months . And if I were
10 going more than 40 something, I would
11 have hit them, but I was able to avoid
12 them . And there ' s so many times when
13 people are on the side road, and then
14 other -- you know, you really have to be
15 able to think and move quickly to avoid
16 things . Because -- and the more people
17 speed, the less time you have to do
18 that . I just think it ' s unsafe on our
19 roads . I think a 40 mile per hour speed
20 limit would be great . I do understand
21 how changing them from 40 to 45 , people
22 hate that, but I do think we could
23 change maybe the mindset about driving
24 if it was all 40 . People would have to
25 realize , all right, you come to the
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 69
1 North Fork, you ' re not going to be
2 speeding . I ' m sure people are still
3 going to have behavior that is
4 dangerous . Like passing, which has
5 happened to me recently . You know,
6 passing right in front of me when
7 there ' s no passing lane and another time
8 I had to pull over . So yeah, there ' s
9 that . And the other thing about
10 informing the community about what ' s
11 going on, if I weren ' t on the Southold
12 Town -- or I request notifications for
13 meetings and things like that, I
14 wouldn ' t have known about this . And so
15 I notified a lot of people about this ,
16 so that they could voice their opinion .
17 But I heard that somebody said there are
18 postings in the Town Hall or maybe more
19 posting should be put in the other
20 Village Town Halls or post offices when
21 there ' s something like this . Because
22 people don ' t know . And that ' s really
23 important, you know, I think . So I
24 think that ' s all I want to say . And
25 yeah, more enforcement . I see a lot of
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 70
1 police cars out there . And so I ' m
2 hoping that they ' re catching people
3 driving insanely, which is what ' s
4 happening out here a lot . So thank you
5 very much .
6 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank
7 you, Margaret . And yeah it is noted
8 about the notification because we try to
9 reach out to the public and it ' s -- and
10 you do the best you can, but we do it
11 certainly legally, but to do it more
12 effectively would be important .
13 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Just to
14 piggyback on what Margaret said, one of
15 my favorite radio stations since I was a
16 kid is WLNG, and they ' re very good at
17 giving the community meetings . This is
18 the way they ' re connected, but we can
19 always do better in reaching out to the
20 community . And I just appreciate the
21 feedback from the people who said they
22 weren ' t aware . And it ' s something --
23 it ' s just a comprehensive way of trying
24 to make sure we get the word out . So
25 thank you for giving us feedback .
JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 71
1 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : I ' ll make
2 a motion to adjourn .
3 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Second .
4 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : All in
5 favor?
6 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Aye .
7 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : Aye .
8 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Aye .
9 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : Aye .
10 JUSTICE LOUISA EVANS : Aye .
11 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Aye .
12
13 (Whereupon, the meeting was
14 adjourned at this time . )
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JANUARY 21, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 72
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, January 21 , 2025 .
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17 ( J si 0aiLallo )
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