HomeMy WebLinkAboutTB-03/18/2025 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 March 18 , 2025
7 : 00 P . M.
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14 B E F O R E :
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16 ALBERT KRUPSKI JR, SUPERVISOR
17 LOUISA P . EVANS, JUSTICE
18 JILL DOHERTY, COUNCILWOMAN
19 GREG DOROSKI , COUNCILMAN
20 BRIAN O . MEALY, COUNCILMAN
21 ANNE H . SMITH, COUNCILWOMAN
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MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 2
1 INDEX TO TESTIMONY
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3 Public Comments 3-4
4 18-46
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2025 CDBG 4-18
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MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 3
1 PUBLIC COMMENTS
2 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Before
3 we start the agenda tonight, is there
4 anyone who would like to speak to any
5 matter on the agenda?
6 ERIC MCCLURE : Good evening, Eric
7 McClure , I ' m a resident of Mattituck . I
8 know there ' s going to be a public
9 hearing in May, but I just wanted to
10 address the accessory apartment ' s item.
11 I think it ' s great that the Town is
12 really trying to help the housing
13 supply . Accessory units are a great way
14 to do that . I appreciate the efforts to
15 increase flexibility in the way that the
16 Local Law is written, extending the
17 lease term from just one year to one to
18 two years , I think is helpful . I think
19 everything we can do as a town to
20 increase flexibility on housing and
21 things like accessory units is really a
22 big help, given the challenge that so
23 many people face in this community in
24 trying to afford to live here . So just
25 wanted to note that and say thank you .
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 4
1 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank
2 you .
3 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : Thank
4 you .
5 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank
6 you . It ' s a work in progress and we ' re
7 committed to it, so thank you . Anyone
8 else like to speak to any agenda item?
9 (No Response) .
10 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Seeing
11 none , and welcoming Justice Evans from
12 Fishers Island . I just want to
13 acknowledge her, so we ' re ready to start
14 the meeting .
15 (Whereupon, the meeting continued
16 onto Resolutions at this time . )
17 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
18 2025 CDBG
19 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : Okay .
20 The purpose of tonight ' s public hearing
21 is an amendment to the Community
22 Development Block Grant Program for
23 2025 . The proposed change would be from
24 moving a contract from the Recreation
25 Center Improvements to the Southold Town
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 5
1 Hall Annex Building Generator in the
2 amount of $ 199, 000 . And in the folder
3 here , I have a copy of the affidavit
4 signed by our Town Clerk, Denis
5 Noncarrow, that it was posted on the
6 back bulletin board . I have an
7 Affidavit of Publication of the legal
8 notice in the Suffolk Times , along with
9 a copy of the invoice for a payment of
10 that ad . I have a copy of the legal
11 notice, and I have a copy of the
12 resolution adopted by this Town Board,
13 setting this public hearing . And I
14 guess just to provide some brief context
15 for this , we had a discussion at a Town
16 Board meeting about a month ago, with
17 our engineer, where he provided us a
18 list of almost two pages of engineering
19 projects that he had ongoing . And we
20 had a discussion about the uncertainty
21 of Federal funding coming back to
22 Southold Town with some of the cuts that
23 are going on in the Federal Government .
24 He had had some discussions with some of
25 our contacts in the county, and they had
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 6
1 expressed some concern . While this was
2 going on, or kind of parallel to this ,
3 we had lost power at the Town Hall
4 Annex . And it highlighted the need for
5 a generator at the Town Hall Annex .
6 Now, one of the benefits of doing work
7 at the Town Hall Annex is we have a bond
8 in place, that ' s already been voted on .
9 That we ' re already paying on, of monies
10 that was available to pay for this . The
11 Town Board had a discussion, and We did
12 not want to be left holding the bag as
13 it were , if we did the work at the
14 Senior Center and we went to submit our
15 voucher for repayment and that funding
16 was not there . So we made the decision
17 because we had the funding in place at
18 another source that would not increase
19 taxes , that we would not need to find in
20 the budget anywhere else, There was
21 already a bond in place, that it would
22 be more prudent to do that .
23 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Can I
24 add that the amount that we ' re
25 transferring was the amount was approved
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 7
1 for the bathrooms . It doesn ' t mean
2 that ' s the amount we ' re going to be --
3 not using for the generator . We haven ' t
4 gotten the costs yet of the generator .
5 I don ' t expect it would come up to that
6 amount . So probably not be using that
7 whole amount . And it ' s a grant that
8 we ' re getting from, so .
9 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : So that ' s
10 what we got .
11 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : It ' s a
12 good explanation . It ' s a need that, a
13 real need that we have for safety .
14 Mr . DeChance, are all the paperwork --
15 is all the paperwork in order?
16 TOWN ATTORNEY PAUL DECHANCE : The
17 public notice documents are in order .
18 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank
19 you . All right . Having said that and
20 read the notices , would anyone like to
21 comment on this public hearing?
22 BOB BITTNER : I would like a little
23 bit of a clarification .
24 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Sir, can
25 you step to the microphone and say your
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 8
1 name and address please?
2 BOB BITTNER : Sure . Bob Bittner .
3 Edward Road in Cutchogue . I just want
4 some clarification because the media or
5 the newspapers usually don ' t get
6 everything right . So, As I understand
7 it, you put in for a grant to fix the
8 bathrooms to be handicapped accessible .
9 Okay, and handicapped accessible is a
10 law, right? A long time ago, probably,
11 I don ' t know, 55 , 60 years ago .
12 Probably about that . I don ' t know when
13 the center was built, but my point is ,
14 you put in for "X" amount of money, but
15 a grant usually works that you put in
16 for the money to do a certain thing,
17 correct?
18 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Yes .
19 BOB BITTNER : Okay . So, if you put
20 in the money to do the bathroom, how are
21 we shifting that money?
22 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : All
23 right . So, that was put in, I would
24 say, about two years ago that request,
25 the grant . That came through Suffolk
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 9
1 County, Federal money coming through
2 Suffolk County . Passed through money .
3 So the time the Town Board put in to
4 renovate the bathrooms there in Peconic .
5 Since that time, the decision was made
6 this year after the noticeable
7 shortcoming of power failure at the bank
8 building, where we have over two dozen
9 employees , and the public uses that
10 building quite a bit . That it would be
11 a good use of the money to use that
12 money for a generator instead of the
13 bathrooms that are fully functional and
14 Peconic . I ' m not sure -- I wasn ' t here
15 when that original project was applied
16 for and granted through the County, but
17 so I ' m not sure about the accessibility
18 issue .
19 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : I do
20 think generally speaking --
21 BOB BITTNER : Why are we doing --
22 why are we doing the bathrooms at the
23 Peconic Center to make them handicapped
24 accessible ?
25 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : So this
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 10
1 money comes to us every year . And we --
2 we pick a project for our structures to
3 you know, to help with it . Like the
4 bathrooms here need updating . And then
5 also part of that money goes to other
6 nonprofit committees , like CAST get some
7 of that money, and Maureen ' s Haven get
8 some of that money .
9 BOB BITTNER : Okay . So what you ' re
10 saying --
11 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : So
12 every year we put in for a project .
13 This project was put in forward in the
14 middle of COVID . We never got to it .
15 And the bathrooms are somewhat
16 handicapped . There ' s handicapped stalls
17 in the -- in the bathrooms . So they ' re
18 not -- they ' re accessible handicapped
19 accessible , and they need updating . But
20 we felt that the over time since we
21 haven ' t done the work, that the priority
22 has shifted .
23 BOB BITTNER : Okay . So let me
24 understand what you ' re saying . Okay .
25 You put in for a grant that ' s not tied
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 11
1 to anything?
2 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : What do
3 you mean?
4 BOB BITTNER : In other words , it ' s
5 not tied to a certain project?
6 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : No, I ' m
7 sorry . It was tied to a certain
8 project, which was updating the
9 bathrooms in Peconic . And then we
10 contacted -- we went through the County
11 and contacted the County and said, look,
12 we have a different need here . Can we
13 transfer the money to a different Town
14 facility for that need? And they were
15 okay with transferring it .
16 BOB BITTNER : They gave you
17 authorization to do that?
18 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
19 Absolutely .
20 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : I think
21 if you step back from this , too, when we
22 set out the projects that are going to
23 be funded in these Community Development
24 Block Grants , we hold a public hearing .
25 And we ' re doing the same thing right now
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 12
1 to gather public input . And we have the
2 ability as a municipality to shift this
3 funding . And I think as we looked at
4 the need that the Supervisor outlined
5 coupled with the uncertainty that seems
6 to change day by day, with what ' s going
7 to be cut or what ' s not going to be cut,
8 that this -- there was a need and then
9 there ' s also risk of not having it . And
10 it seemed like a good decision by the
11 Board, and we universally agreed to this
12 at the time to move forward in this
13 direction, with the idea that there was
14 a need, and there was uncertainty with
15 the funding source . So this seemed like
16 the best thing to do . I don ' t think any
17 of us are saying that the work at the
18 Senior Center shouldn ' t be done or we
19 shouldn ' t apply for those grant monies
20 in the future . And maybe at budget
21 time , we will look at putting that as a
22 capital project . But as it relates to
23 this specific set of funding and our
24 list of engineering projects that we ' re
25 working through right now, that it
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 13
1 seemed like it made sense to do that .
2 Now, part of the reason that we ' re
3 having this public hearing is to gather
4 input from the community that you, for
5 instance, may disagree with this
6 decision and may say to us , hey, the
7 work there is important enough . I don ' t
8 care if we need to raise taxes and move
9 forward with this , no matter what .
10 That ' s why we ' re having it . So we can
11 gain community input so we can see you
12 know, is this a big enough priority that
13 we should move forward without that
14 certainty that we ' re going to receive
15 payment or should we move forward in the
16 direction that the Board has decided
17 that, hey, we have this other need at
18 the Annex . We have a bond in place .
19 There ' s no fear of if we get paid or if
20 we don ' t, the money is there . Either
21 way, no tax implications . It seemed
22 like a win-win . You may disagree .
23 That ' s why we ' re having this meeting .
24 BOB BITTNER : I ' m not disagreeing,
25 I ' m listening for clarification, because
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 14
1 now I ' m hearing from you that you decide
2 where the money goes , but I heard from
3 Al that you have to put in for it for a
4 certain thing and then get authorization
5 from the County to move it . Did I hear
6 different?
7 TOWN ATTORNEY PAUL DECHANCE : If I
8 can, Mr . Supervisor . And let me see if
9 I can clarify this for you . Originally,
10 those Community Development Block Grant
11 Funds are earmarked for a project . In
12 this instance , the recreational
13 bathrooms , the bathrooms and the
14 Recreation Department was not the
15 original project that these particular
16 funds were earmarked for . That project
17 changed . The Town has the ability to
18 alter the project by noticing and then
19 having a public hearing . And by doing
20 what the Supervisor indicated,
21 contacting the County . So in both
22 instances , if you heard the Councilman
23 and the Supervisor, what they ' re telling
24 you is accurate, it ' s just the process .
25 BOB BITTNER : Okay . That clarifies
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 15
1 it . Now, my other question then would
2 be what type of generator you ' re putting
3 in?
4 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : The
5 engineer is working those details out,
6 and he ' ll come back to us with the
7 details and the cost and everything
8 before we put him.
9 BOB BITTNER : Then you ' d have
10 another hearing on that?
11 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : No .
12 No, we wouldn ' t have a hearing .
13 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Because
14 the money is allocated . I don ' t think
15 we ' d have a hearing on what type of
16 generator it would be .
17 BOB BITTNER : Okay . So are we
18 putting in a solar or a gas or not?
19 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : It ' d
20 probably be diesel . Like the same one
21 that ' s out here .
22 BOB BITTNER : Okay .
23 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : And
24 those are on a schedule . The one out
25 here runs once a month to maintain it .
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 16
1 The -- you remember that somebody
2 knocked the pole down on the North Road
3 a month ago and all the lights went out,
4 this generator kicked right on .
5 BOB BITTNER : It happens once in a
6 while .
7 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : It
8 does , yeah .
9 BOB BITTNER : Once in 30 , it ' s 40
10 years . I don ' t know, but I just wanted
11 some clarification because the paper
12 wrote it up, made no sense .
13 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Yeah,
14 there ' s been a lot of it --
15 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : No,
16 it ' s but it ' s -- it ' s important . I was
17 over there actually and the lights went
18 out, it got pretty dark in there .
19 Luckily all the employees , they did the
20 right thing . They got out .
21 BOB BITTNER : We can start when our
22 hurricane comes too .
23 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Yes .
24 BOB BITTNER : Okay, thank you .
25 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : And we
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 17
1 have one of the generators at the
2 Nutrition Center in Mattituck as well .
3 BOB BITTNER : Okay . Thank you .
4 Appreciate it .
5 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Thank
6 you for coming .
7 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : That was a
8 good question . Thank you .
9 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Any
10 other comment on the public hearing?
11 (No Response) .
12 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : I ' ll
13 make a motion to close . I thought we
14 were closing it . I ' ll make a motion to
15 close and subject to written comment for
16 the next two weeks .
17 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : And I ' ll
18 second that .
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 .
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 18
1 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Aye .
2 We will not vote . We will keep it
3 open for written comment .
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5 PUBLIC COMMENTS
6 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : All
7 right, so after that public
8 announcement, is there anyone who ' d like
9 to discuss any item with the Town Board?
10 ROBERT DUNN : Robert Dunn, Peconic .
11 Six years ago before most of you were on
12 the Board, I got a county grant for the
13 septic upgrade . And I just kind of
14 wanted to give a follow-up so you know .
15 You might have -- today you have to put
16 the upgraded system in all new houses .
17 And if you put a new system in an
18 existing house, it has to be it . And
19 And I know there ' s some apprehension
20 about it . So I just figured I can
21 legitimately give you some numbers .
22 It ' s about $500 or $ 600 a year, between
23 $ 500 or $ 600 a year to run it . I ' m very
24 happy with it . It functions well , no
25 odor, no nothing . I mean, anything you
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 19
1 might have found negative in the
2 conventional system, you don ' t have a
3 big piece of concrete on my back lawn
4 that might grand kids could easily knock
5 off and be in the pot . It ' s all screwed
6 down . It ' s all real tight . My reaction
7 to you and you can take it to anybody
8 that might ask, it ' s very positive .
9 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thanks .
10 Thank you for that . So there ' s a new
11 county tax, 8 percent on your sales tax .
12 That is going to go to fund the
13 replacement for these because when the
14 County set this program up for the
15 replacement system, years ago, there was
16 a the concern was that the increase
17 cost . Because if you had -- if you were
18 going to replace your system it costs
19 this much if you ' re going to replace it
20 with the new system it costs a little
21 more . So that ' s why there ' s a County
22 program . Originally we put a little bit
23 of County money in there . And then we
24 got about $ 15 million from the State .
25 We got $ 15 million from the State
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 20
1 because the County had this
2 infrastructure in place with the
3 installers . With the maintenance people
4 all trained to do this properly . All
5 the systems had been piloted and sampled
6 and tested . So that they were going to
7 meet the new County standards , Article
8 19 standards . Now, what happened is
9 there ' s -- you ' ve replaced yours . And
10 there ' s 360 , 000 existing cesspools in
11 the County . So now there ' s only
12 359, 000 . So there ' s a long way to go .
13 So we just passed this 8 percent on the
14 extra penny on the sales tax to try to
15 fund the replacement of these . So
16 there ' ll be a consistent funding source
17 for the next 30 years . So the money
18 will be there . The County has the
19 program in place , and the money now is
20 in place to replace all these systems .
21 ROBERT DUNN : The truth of the
22 matter, and I think the County ought to
23 consider this , and you might want to
24 pass it along to them. I probably would
25 have done -- I would have done mine
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 21
1 anyway, because I was planning an
2 expansion on my house . The existing
3 system, I didn ' t like it as it was with
4 three bedrooms . I certainly wasn ' t
5 going to like it with five . So I needed
6 to put an expanded system in and the
7 County offered that . So, I mean,
8 somebody ' s going to give you money, why
9 wouldn ' t you take it? But just the
10 system itself works .
11 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank
12 you . Thank you, and I will pass that
13 on . I am the East End Supervisor and
14 Mayors , I ' m the representative . There ' s
15 a Board that ' s going to meet in the
16 County, 21 member board, that ' s going to
17 meet to see how money is going to be
18 dispersed . Because a portion of that
19 money goes to subsidize all the
20 wastewater treatment plants that a
21 County owned in Suffolk County . And a
22 portion goes to replace the individual
23 septic .
24 ROBERT DUNN : And the thing is , as
25 long as you ' re talking to them, I don ' t
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 22
1 think it would be absurd and it would
2 certainly be in the interest of Town
3 like Southold that ' s surrounded by
4 water, literally covered by water, to,
5 you know, you might want to kick up a
6 few bucks .
7 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Well ,
8 the County will be providing that, and
9 we ' re paying into that . We all pay --
10 ROBERT DUNN : Does the grant -- is
11 any more than -- does the County still
12 give the grant?
13 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Yes ,
14 but it ' s your money . See , it ' s the
15 sales tax that ' s collecting .
16 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : So it ' s
17 $ 4 . 2 billion over 50 years .
18 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Yeah,
19 now it comes out of sales tax . It had
20 been coming from New York State , which
21 is coming out of your out of your other
22 pocket . So they finally figured out a
23 way of the most equitable way of paying
24 for the replacements . And Southold was
25 ahead of the curve because Southold was
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 23
1 requiring these on certain permits
2 before the County mandated the
3 replacements . Thank you .
4 ROBERT DUNN : It ' s positive .
5 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Anyone
6 else with a positive comment?
7 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : Positive
8 comments only .
9 TOM STEVENSON : Tom Stevenson,
10 Orient . I sort of have a list here and
11 the septic . So I ' ll tell you in Orient,
12 we had our wells tested and we went from
13 nine parts per million nitrates 20 years
14 ago to two and a half with nothing . So
15 let ' s just make sure the science is
16 behind all this because $ 4 billion
17 dollars is a lot of money .
18 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : That ' s
19 good to hear . A lot of the effort on
20 the treatment was also focused on some
21 of the other things that go down the
22 drain . You know, you think about not
23 just the nutrients , but you think about
24 all the pharmaceuticals and that pass
25 through you, and also household cleaners
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 24
1 and whatnot . But thank you .
2 TOM STEVENSON : Oh, yeah, no,
3 they ' re in there . And when I was doing
4 vineyards , we volunteered for
5 groundwater testing with USGS . And the
6 part per trillion level things --
7 there ' s a lot in there . And what ' s
8 natural ? What isn ' t . What are the
9 breakdown products ? I mean, there ' s
10 like the list that you see, and so
11 there ' s the big list, and you ' re like ,
12 whoa . So, and I ' m an organic farmer .
13 So I ' m hoping none of that stuff ' s mine .
14 Let ' s see, so I ' m not talking about the
15 Zoning update , really . I mean, I did --
16 as you guys know, feel like to get your
17 ideas on what ' s happening with the
18 Zoning update is really important . So
19 that ' s why I really want to make sure
20 that the discussion and deliberation is
21 where we can hear it . But -- and then
22 things that are, as a Board President, I
23 know that Executive Session is these
24 list of items and the tendency, even in
25 my meetings , hey, hold on, let ' s get
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 25
1 back into a Regular Session . Even if no
2 one ' s there . No one comes to our
3 meetings really . Maybe two, three
4 people . And they don ' t speak enough .
5 So let ' s see, just from the Work Session
6 this morning, again, thank you for
7 keeping the Zoom going because I can ' t
8 come down here during the day for the
9 Work Session, but some things that
10 really blew my mind was half a million
11 dollars for a website? Oh my god . I ' m
12 like , I know the website ' s bad, but it ' s
13 not bad .
14 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Not a
15 website .
16 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : No,
17 that ' s not for the website .
18 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Cyber
19 security .
20 TOM STEVENSON : Oh, yeah .
21 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Because
22 after -- I mean --
23 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : We did
24 talk about a website, too .
25 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : You
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 26
1 hear about it a lot .
2 TOM STEVENSON : It ' s still a lot .
3 Well , I know you need it every -- Like,
4 we had to -- of the school district, we
5 got extra insurance and every year it ' s
6 like , you know, an added cost that you
7 didn ' t have before .
8 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
9 Technology is very expensive .
10 TOM STEVENSON : Oh, yeah .
11 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : This is
12 for all new servers throughout this
13 town, all the buildings , all new servers
14 and the cyber security that goes with
15 it .
16 TOM STEVENSON : Oh, good . Because
17 I ' m like, you know, I ' m not that good at
18 making website ' s , but -- I ' m not
19 building website ' s . So let ' s see, what
20 else , the dump, again, I was like
21 $ 50 , 000 for consultant to fill out the
22 permit that we need . I mean, can ' t you
23 just sort of photocopy the old one and
24 change the numbers a little bit? I
25 mean, that ' s real money .
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 27
1 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Yes .
2 Ask DEC that question .
3 TOM STEVENSON : Unbelievable . It ' s
4 a transfer station, you ' re not even
5 dumping anything .
6 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : That ' s
7 one of the reasons we decided to do a
8 two -year extension and then speaking
9 with the Director after the DEC has
10 waived their inspection fee for this
11 year . So that ' s going to be an offset .
12 TOM STEVENSON : That was nice of
13 them .
14 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : Well ,
15 they get all their other unfunded
16 mandates , so it ' s four grand .
17 TOM STEVENSON : They are an agency
18 out of control . I can say that . You
19 guys can ' t but what they do to shellfish
20 farmers in this Town is a travesty .
21 Okay . And if they come after land
22 farmers like me, like they do after a
23 selfish farmers , I mean, I ' m done . I ' m
24 out . I mean they want to shut down
25 people and for no reason . Like the
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 28
1 science isn ' t there . I mean the Town --
2 I don ' t know if you guys know that
3 history . I won ' t get into it, but the
4 Town really went to bat for shellfish
5 farmers . On behalf of them, I would say
6 thank you . But it didn ' t really take .
7 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : We
8 didn ' t get anywhere .
9 TOM STEVENSON : No . No . And you
10 tried, and unfortunately, they can just
11 keep grinding you down and where you
12 have to give in . That ' s not really --
13 It ' s not really my America . Nick was
14 here this morning . He had handouts , I
15 don ' t know if that ' s something that
16 would go on the website or something,
17 you know, like whatever, I ' m sure it was
18 boring, but I mean, I didn ' t know what
19 you guys were , probably .
20 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : He read
21 what was on the handout .
22 TOM STEVENSON : Good .
23 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : And it
24 was just an outline of what those costs
25 were and what was dealt with . I do --
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 29
1 we are making a better effort to get the
2 handouts attached as --
3 TOM STEVENSON : It ' s a constant --
4 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : The
5 Town Clerk is in the works of updating
6 our system . So it ' s just all electronic
7 and it goes to each department . And
8 then in the future, he ' d be able to sit
9 at his desk . Nick would sit at his
10 desk, put this information in and it
11 would automatically go up there for
12 everybody .
13 TOM STEVENSON : Yeah, that sounded
14 really good if it can --
15 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Yeah,
16 we ' re working on that .
17 TOM STEVENSON : You know, that ' s
18 worthy doing . And so then the other
19 thing I have is , I did get a copy of the
20 traffic study . I recommend you guys all
21 foiling it . Maybe it could go on the
22 website . I had a question, if that TE9,
23 --
24 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Which
25 traffic study?
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 30
1 TOM STEVENSON : The County Road 48 .
2 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Oh,
3 okay . So the speed limit change?
4 TOM STEVENSON : Yes . Okay so turns
5 out this was all started by one resident
6 in Orient . Just the same one who got
7 the causeway speed limit changed . Same
8 one . Same person . So that ' s very
9 disturbing to me . That one person --
10 petition your government all you want .
11 That ' s great . But they bypassed you and
12 then you came in, you only get at the
13 end of the process . So they went to the
14 County, the County ran all these
15 studies . And then they come up with a
16 recommendation . And so, you know, when
17 you -- when you read through it, I mean
18 I could summarize here . Town Beach
19 George -- Lieutenant George Sullivan
20 Town Beach, so everyone, excellent . The
21 seasonal speed limit there is still
22 recognized by New York State . So New
23 York State still thinks it ' s 1988 , and
24 that ' s the seasonal speed limit . So
25 it ' s 40 in the Summer and 50 in the off
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 31
1 season, which makes sense . I don ' t get
2 why -- it seems like there ' s confusion
3 why seasonal speed limits are not
4 allowed . I mean, the Southold Town
5 Police is sort of unclear . They ' re
6 asking for clarification . Who knows ? I
7 mean, find out, but it makes sense . I
8 know they don ' t -- they used to go and
9 change the signs , you know . You know,
10 in the Summer they can ' t go over 40 .
11 And then in the Winter, when there is no
12 one out there , picking up a kid at 3 : 00
13 in the morning -- ( inaudible ) you know,
14 his plane was delayed . They were
15 delayed in Alabama for a competition .
16 And then the tornado -- They were right
17 in the tornado . They ' re fine . But 4 : 00
18 a . m. -- you know, like why am I reducing
19 my sleep? You know my point there .
20 Now, if you go east of there , then you
21 get into where you get into the
22 Soundview section that all got redone .
23 And in my opinion made a lot less safe,
24 then when it was open, then you could
25 see . There -- the two models that they
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 32
1 use to figure out speed limits , both of
2 those models say that the speed limit
3 should be 50 miles an hour right there .
4 Now, their recommendation is to reduce
5 it to 40 . I would make a couple other
6 recommendations there . I would try to
7 fix the landscaping to make the
8 visibility -- you have beach grasses
9 growing in the middle of the road . You
10 can ' t see people there , so if you talk
11 about a rear-end collision, it ' s because
12 someone sort of jumped out from behind a
13 bush and someone slams on their brakes
14 because it ' s a crosswalk, and then boom.
15 I mean I ' ve had to go up in the medians ,
16 you know, leave a gigantic rut there .
17 Just because, you know, that is really
18 the risk there . And then my question
19 is , if crosswalks are only -- only added
20 if there is a controlled intersection,
21 then why did they add two more
22 crosswalks there ? There is no traffic
23 light there . It just doesn ' t make any
24 sense . And then at night, if you ever
25 drive down there at night, the lights
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 33
1 are not over the crosswalks . So there ' s
2 no lighting -- there ' s no like -- I
3 mean, could there be like some sort of
4 other signage or something like be
5 careful , slow down instead of just speed
6 limits ? So what else in here in the
7 study? Animals are by are the number
8 one cause of accidents , not speed . By
9 far . Only 3% were recommended to speed,
10 whereas 55% were animal accidents . So I
11 do have a recommendation on that, but I
12 don ' t know if you want to hear it .
13 Whoever ' s pulling the night shift in the
14 police department, they shouldn ' t come
15 back until there ' s a couple up along the
16 ground .
17 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : A quota?
18 TOM STEVENSON : No, I mean, you
19 drive here in the middle of the night,
20 you ' re passing 15 , 20 , 30 deer right on
21 the side of the road . I mean, those are
22 the ones that are getting hit .
23 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : Well , you
24 talk about the DEC, Environmental
25 Conservation, that ' s another -- that ' s
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 34
1 where it is .
2 TOM STEVENSON : I know, but the
3 police department are uniquely situated
4 to be able to not -- they have a lot of
5 -- you wouldn ' t have to train them and
6 get them all checked out . Anyway . What
7 else ? Crosswalks , street lights . Okay,
8 you got that . All right . Yeah, the
9 zoning update . I have not gone through
10 it I was like reading through it .
11 There ' s a you know, you look at that
12 slider map and you ' re like, okay -- he ' s
13 getting up zone .
14 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : It ' s
15 pretty good, right, the map?
16 TOM STEVENSON : Yeah, it ' s pretty
17 cool . The aquifer overlay stuff isn ' t
18 on there . So I ' m like a little bit -- I
19 know Greg said, maybe we ' re gonna push
20 that back . But those overlays are a
21 little bit, if you read about what is
22 and isn ' t allowed in there, like, I
23 can ' t farm if I ' m in an aquifer overlay
24 because the AG exemptions --
25 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : That I
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 35
1 mean -- that ' s that ' s going to be Phase
2 Two or Phase Three because that ' s
3 something that you ' d have to look at so
4 in depth . We ' re trying to just work on
5 the basic consistency of the zoning
6 across the board .
7 TOM STEVENSON : Yeah .
8 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : And as
9 you talk about AG exemptions that ' s
10 another thing that the Planning
11 Department is instructing the consultant
12 to add to different sections . Like the
13 tree clearing section where, you know,
14 obviously --
15 TOM STEVENSON : Yeah, I mean, this
16 whole tree -- the Tree Code thing is out
17 the window because it ' s in zoning, like
18 sort of what I had said, like you can
19 just deal with this in zoning, but the
20 language in it is really like -- you
21 need a permit for any tree . Not even
22 just -- you know, like I would recommend
23 the clear cutting could be dealt with
24 that way . But I don ' t think -- you -- I
25 don ' t think we want to be -- I don ' t
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 36
1 know me -- personally, I don ' t want to
2 live in a town that you know, I can ' t go
3 and take a tree down on my farm .
4 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Yeah,
5 no . I have some ideas . I already
6 talked to Assistant Town Attorney Julie
7 that I ' m working on with it, to
8 incorporate in our code, instead of a
9 separate permit . I haven ' t discussed it
10 with the rest of the Town Board, but
11 just, you know, so making it kind of
12 part of the existing permit process .
13 TOM STEVENSON : Right . ' Cause if
14 you ' re cutting on a single separate lot,
15 I mean, if it ' s a commercial property
16 that ' s all planning, it ' s already --
17 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Yeah,
18 we already have that in the code .
19 TOM STEVENSON : But you could just
20 leave -- like my friend, Mike, back
21 there, we were on the Tree Code in the
22 ' 90s .
23 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Yeah .
24 TOM STEVENSON : And it was -- The
25 Tree Committee was created to come up
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 37
1 with a Tree Code that we still don ' t
2 have . And I could tell you why it
3 couldn ' t ever get through -- because of
4 this . We are and in conclusion was , and
5 we tell this to the Tree Committee . The
6 thing people could live with was you
7 cannot go and clear cut an empty lot .
8 You can cut for your house . You know,
9 sliding scale , you know, the smaller the
10 lot, the more you could cut, whatever it
11 is . You know, you ' re building envelope,
12 and then after that, there was no
13 restriction . So like just to prevent
14 what you see that nobody likes is to
15 come in and produce every little stick
16 off a property and just turn it to dirt
17 start .
18 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : And
19 that ' s how our conversation started and
20 it turned into this Tree Code that to me
21 is way too much . So I ' m still working
22 on it .
23 TOM STEVENSON : All right . That ' s
24 all I got . I got your e-mail . The
25 water, USGS, the study that if people
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 38
1 aren ' t aware, I know you mentioned it,
2 but the science they ' re doing is
3 incredible . They ' ve drilled wells to
4 bedrock, which in some places is 2 , 000
5 feet down, all on Long Island to find
6 out for real what ' s happening . Not a
7 guess . And then basically dropping like
8 MRI type tools down there . And they can
9 see exactly where it goes from fresh
10 water to salt water . And then clay, and
11 then back to fresh water . And then
12 they ' re making maps that have already
13 done the Western -- Long Island ' s
14 already like done in Eastern ' s coming
15 up, it ' s in peer review . They ' re like
16 really doing this great science .
17 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : They
18 started in the west-end because they
19 have a lot more water problems in the
20 west-end and years later, they ' re
21 finally coming out to the east-end . And
22 thank you for the support there in
23 Orient, to get another well in . Because
24 they ' re trying to get a very good view
25 of our aquifer . And they ' re -- they are
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 39
1 good -- it ' s pure science . You know,
2 they ' re very good . We have them come
3 out to speak to the Water -- Towns Water
4 Committee . And I ' ve been in contact
5 with the DEC, well -- you know, the well
6 permitting and the Water Division, and
7 I ' m trying to get on their Steering
8 Committee .
9 TOM STEVENSON : So I think it would
10 be great to have it at Oyster Pond
11 School . I mean, I ' ll -- yeah, we ' ll see
12 what the rest of the board like . Thank
13 you just for the kids to see what is a
14 --
15 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : 2 , 000
16 well -- 2 , 000 foot drill .
17 TOM STEVENSON : Yeah, I mean . Like
18 this is a project -- it ' s like a eight
19 inch casing and every 20 feet . They ' re
20 taking core samples . And just the
21 science of that ' s amazing . You know,
22 like that ' s something that the glacier
23 put down, yeah . You know? And then --
24 but they actually want to see, I mean,
25 it ' s fascinating, like , I know this
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 40
1 science . You know, where you get to
2 like Riverhead and that bubble of water
3 sort of disappears as you come up the
4 North Fork . And, you know, the deep,
5 the Lloyd Aquifer, the super deep one ,
6 what ' s there, you know, everybody really
7 wants and now like is there -- anything
8 there is , there not so . They ' re finding
9 things that I think they predicted
10 pretty well what they would find, but
11 there ' s still some surprises , right .
12 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : If
13 you ' re if you ' re around tomorrow I ' ve
14 got to go to a meeting in Riverhead, but
15 if I could call you before then --
16 TOM STEVENSON : Sure .
17 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Just to
18 check with you with what ' s going on at
19 the school ?
20 TOM STEVENSON : Yeah, absolutely .
21 Yeah, I mean, the opportunity for the
22 kids to see real science like that is
23 not -- Yeah, that comes every day . All
24 right . Well , thank you .
25 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : Thank
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 41
1 you .
2 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Anyone
3 else like to address the Board?
4 TAMMY LEFFLER : Hi , Tammy Leffler
5 Mattituck . It ' s my first time attending
6 and speaking . So thanks for your
7 generosity . If what I ' m about to say, I
8 don ' t really know if this -- is the
9 forum, but I know that you guys spend a
10 lot of time talking about affordable
11 housing here . And I just moved -- I
12 grew up in Mattituck and just moved back
13 in June , almost a year . And of course,
14 you know, a huge thing that I was just
15 sort of shocked by was the price of
16 housing . And not only that, but there
17 is no year-round housing . And I know
18 you guys have been working on Airbnb,
19 weekend things , but honestly, it ' s even
20 if someone ' s only renting their house
21 for three months in the summer for
22 $ 30 , 000 a month each month, that is a
23 house that is completely off the market
24 for a local person who wants to live
25 here around . We can talk about the fact
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 42
1 that it ' s $3 , 500 to rent a house and
2 hard to find anything less than that .
3 Another time, but the fact is , there
4 isn ' t even anything available year
5 round . And I know -- I ' m sure there ' s
6 some -- we can ' t march around and say,
7 "You ' re not allowed to rent your house
8 in the Summer, " because a lot of people,
9 that is , how they make their ends meet .
10 So I don ' t necessarily have a solution .
11 I don ' t know if there ' s a feasible one,
12 but I do know, like , as someone that
13 wants to stay here, that chose to come
14 back here and be in my hometown, it ' s
15 very frustrating for me to walk around .
16 You know, I walk my dog all over
17 different neighborhoods and half the
18 houses are empty . But they ' re not
19 available to me . They ' re not available
20 to my friends , my colleagues , my sister .
21 My -- you know and I just think there ' s
22 got to be something we can do . And I
23 don ' t know what it is . But yeah, it ' s
24 changed a lot as you all know since the
25 90 ' s . And I just I want to stay and I
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 43
1 hope that we can find a way for people
2 to be able to come back and people that
3 live here to stay .
4 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : We are
5 working on the short-term rental issue .
6 As far as people renting for a month or
7 more that would still be allowed . So
8 those Summer rentals can still happen,
9 but we are working also to enhance
10 our -- we had -- it used to be called
11 the ADU, the Accessory Dwelling Unit .
12 So we ' re trying to enhance that . That
13 was public hearing that ' s going to be
14 scheduled pretty soon . To make it a
15 little more, a little easier for people
16 to try to do that . There are rules
17 there . You either have to rent a family
18 member or to someone on the affordable
19 housing list .
20 TAMMY LEFFLER : Yeah . No, I
21 understand . I ' m just -- wanting to
22 point out explicitly that whether it ' s a
23 weekend or three months , it really
24 doesn ' t matter . It ' s irrelevant . It
25 takes it off the market for someone to
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 44
1 live in your round . So I appreciate you
2 working on the short-term because, of
3 course, the limits parties and people
4 not respecting the neighborhood and not
5 part of the community . The fact is that
6 the neighborhoods are empty in the
7 Winter . It ' s a little bit depressing .
8 And then they ' re not available for
9 community members , so . Thank you for
10 your time .
11 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank
12 you . Anyone else?
13 (No Response) .
14 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : Can I
15 make one announcement?
16 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Sure .
17 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : I was
18 with Sonya Spar this week for a meeting
19 and the Supervisor came in and she let
20 us know that she ' s received a really
21 great honor . Organization Latino
22 Americana, also known as OLA . On behalf
23 of OLA Eastern Long Island, I ' m excited
24 to share with you that you ' ve been
25 selected to receive our award,
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 45
1 Outstanding Community Advocate . So
2 Sonia will be honored in a celebration
3 that they ' re going to hold in April .
4 And we ' re just really proud of her and
5 the work she ' s doing as a good title for
6 her outstanding community advocate . So
7 we just want to announce that and
8 congratulate her .
9 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Can I just
10 quickly say it ' s been nice celebrating
11 ST . Patty ' s for nearly a month . We all
12 were at the great parade and cut jog and
13 Jill was the best dressed .
14 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : She
15 actually has been dressing this way all
16 month .
17 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : It was the
18 19th Annual Cutchogue parade . Most of
19 us were there . And just thank you to
20 the Cutchogue Fire Department . And
21 congratulations to Helen and Joe Corso,
22 who were the Grand Marshals . And then
23 it was just nice to be with Supervisor
24 Krupski , and I was going to say,
25 Congresswoman Doherty . But Councilwoman
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 46
1 Doherty and Councilwoman Smith at the
2 senior center . Jackie did such a great
3 job, and the staff are so caring of our
4 seniors that go there . And it just was
5 nice . There was entertainment, the
6 corned beef and cabbage was good . And
7 I ' m just proud to announce my corned
8 beef and cabbage diet has paid off . I ' ve
9 gained 97 pounds . So I ' m just going to
10 encourage everybody to have their corned
11 beef and cabbage , which was really nice .
12 So it just won ' t be nice that we know
13 how to celebrate and St . Patty ' s Day in
14 Southold .
15 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank
16 you, Brian .
17 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : I ' ll make
18 a motion to adjourn .
19 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Second .
20 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : All in
21 favor?
22 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Aye .
23 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : Aye .
24 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Aye .
25 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : Aye .
MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 47
1 JUSTICE LOUISA EVANS : Aye .
2 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Aye .
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4 (Whereupon, the meeting was
5 adjourned . )
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MARCH 18, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 48
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, March 18 , 2025 .
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17 (Je sic DiLallo)
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