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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/09/2004 . Fishers Island Civic Association Adjourned Annual and Regular Quarterly Meeting October 9, 2004 4pm at the Fishers Island School Heather Burnham, President of FICA, called the annual meeting to order and handed the gavel to Barry Bryan to conduct this meeting. Barry noted that a quorum was present. He asked for and received a motion to approve the minutes of the August meeting, which was seconded and passed unanimously. Barry noted that today marked the expiration of the term for three Directors, Barry Bryan, Sarah Malinowski and Mike Imbriglio. The Nominating Committee had nominated Kate Reid, Jack Hesse and Rosemary Baue for election as Directors for a three-year term ending in 2007. The Nominating Committee also nominated Speedy Metler and Art Walsh to fill two vacancies in the class of Directors with terms ending in 2005. The rest of the existing Directors will remain in office until their terms expire. The floor was opened for any additional nominations of candidates. None were added, and Barry called for a vote. A motion to elect the slate of candidates nominated by the Nominating Committee was made by Ron Shongar, seconded by Harry Ferguson and approved by a show of hands. . The FI Ferry update will be received in the form of a written supplement to the minutes of the meeting, as Mr. duPont could not be present. Barry invited Karla Heath to the podium to report about the activities at the school. Karla noted that as is evident from the looks of the outside of the school, the Science Lab addition/ renovations are well underway and they have actually been ahead of schedule with the project. Some of the high points of the project have been the removal of a thirty year old oil tank and its replacement, the connection of the heating and plumbing, the funding of the project being secured with Munistat Services, and successful temporary relocations of the classes until construction is over. Next, Karla noted the welcoming of a new Guidance Councilor to work with the students one day per week as well as a new 5th/6th grade teacher, Mrs. Tawnya Eastman. Mrs. Eastrnanjoins the staff as well as the community with her family. As for the rest of the teaching staff, they have just completed a two-day professional training seminar this past Thursday and Friday in compliance with the newer New York State Education Department mandate. The Teacher's Association wrote a $1,000 grant to defray the cost. The New York Department of Education also offers mini-grants to the staff to enrich student-learning possibilities. Karla then noted the great success of this year's Senior Class Golf Tournament and thanked the community for their support. In closing, she noted a few upcoming events that everyone is invited to attend. October 13 the Jennings School 4th grade and Connecticut Story Tellers will join our elementary students for another "Play in a Day" activity, arranged by IPP, which will culminate in an open performance at 3:00 pm. The student Council will be presenting a Halloween Dinner at the end of October, which will include an interactive dinner theater. Karla asks for questions from the floor and clarifies that the Presidential political propaganda for both parties was placed in the haIls in conjunction with a Senior Class project in which they are holding mock debates representing both parties. . . . . Barry introduced State Trooper Kevin Drew to present a wrap up of the summer's activities on FI. Kevin introduced his temporary replacement, Terry Mailer, who will be filling in for him while Kevin is attending dog training. The blotter review stated that there had been four arrests consisting of two DUI offences, a fireworks violation and one assault arrest. Vehicle accidents on the whole were way down this summer with only 3-4 accidents, two of which concluded in the two DUI arrests. The only lasting concern was that the windows in the constable's car had been broken out while parked at the airport. In this case there was not enough evidence to charge anyone and this was mitigated by tightening of security and watch over the beach parties on that end of the island. The next agenda item was the update of the Fishers Island Community Board's (FICB) activities. Barry handed the floor to John Spofford for this update as well as giving an introduction to Meredith Harr, the new Island Institute Fellow who will be serving in the role of Island Administrator for the next year. John reported that the Community Board has had two meetings to date. A document detailing these meetings will be sent out as an attachment to the minutes of this meeting. John gave a brief summary of the budget and description of what will be the election process for the FICB. Kate Ried and Jack Hesse have been charged with organizing these elections, which they hope to hold before Memorial Day 2005. He reminded that the goal of the FICB is to have a positive outreach to all other organizations and include them in the process. The inclusion of several different constituencies on the Board will assure this. John then talked briefly about the Town of Southold's Hamlet Study that has been offered as an opportunity for Fishers Island. He handed the floor to Meredith Harr for more explanation of the Hamlet Study. Meredith reported on the Hamlet Study by explaining that these studies have been conducted in other Southold Hamlets and will basically serve as mini-plans for the Hamlets involved. A private planning consulting firm that has been doing these studies for Southold will conduct the study. This study will produce inventories of the land and infrastructure on FI. This includes a resource catalogue of maps of zoning, land use, and infrastructure as well as inventories of Town and privately owned land. She explained that from this resource the Island can begin to steer its vision for the Island and use this study as the basis for implementation actions. From this might emerge zoning or land use changes that can be made in order to better move along the FI Growth Plan and preserve the character of the Island in the most successful fashion. Meredith explained that this study will be afforded by the Town and is an example of a way for FI to utilize the Town as a funding source for some of our goals. She stated that she has samples of the other Hamlet studies in the Island Office and people are welcomed to drop by and look at them as well as contribute any input they might have on the matter. Lastly, John Spofford talked briefly about the desirability of having a year-round State Trooper on the Island. This situation presents itself in the form of Trooper Joe Curto's interest in living on FI fulltime, bringing his new wife with him. John and Frank Burr have spoken with Curto, who has spoken with his Major. The Major was not opposed to the idea, and this attitude at least keeps the question on the table for further consideration. Nothing concrete has happened in the discussion and further inquiries will be made into the matter. . . . meetings each month. In this way FICB will be carrying out one of FICA's primary functions of providing a forum for addressing issues of concern to the community. When FICB is up and running FICA will call a meeting of its members to vote on a proposal to consolidate the two organizations, effectively merging FlCB into FICA, by amending FICA's charter and By Laws to change its governance structure. If this proposal is approved by FICA's membership, the members of the FICB Board will become the Directors of FICA. FICA will continue to exist as a New York not-for-profit corporation, with its new Board structure, two classes of members, year-round and seasonal, and possibly a change of name. Membership will be open to all Island residents who apply without payment of dues, although there will likely be some sort of annual appeal. The Board will be made up of three representatives of the year-round community, three representatives of the seasonal community and the heads of eight organizations that have the greatest impact on the community. Barry continued by emphasizing the positive aspects of this shift as merely a change in governance structure and not an end to FICA as we know it. He called for questions: Q: Does FICB have a Chair? Yes, FICB will elect its Chair after the at large FICB representatives have been elected. For the interim John Spofford is serving as FICB Chair. Q: Will FICB feel that they can take certain positions on issues, in particular with the Town? Yes, FICA has not always felt it could in the past, but the new FICB will be able to as it is a more broad representation of the Island community and organizations. This should make recommendations more effective as well. Q: How will the Hamlet Study work with our existing Growth Plan? Will it only focus on Southold interests? No, the planning consultant, Pat Geary, has visited with members of the community and has taken our proposal detailing our wants for the study into consideration. He will also be working hand-in-hand with the Island Administrator and Island Office for the information we have and can provide. Sarah Malinowski noted that this Study will include any previous studies that have been conducted on FI. Q: Will FICB be publicizing reports on their progress as they evolve that can be accessed by all? Yes, transparency is of key concern to FICB and minutes will be made available as FlCB progresses. Q: Will FICB meetings be open to public? Yes, presently the meetings are not open for participation other than just coming to listen in because they are still in the extremely formative stages. After they get off the ground, the meetings will be public and participatory on a by-monthly schedule. There er questions, the meeting was adjourned at 4:50 pm. RespectfullYSUbmittedbY,' ....",- N&T ~~ ~~ ~ Meredith Harr, Secretary, October 9, 2004 /2.JJ kfs ~,f . NOTICE OF REGULAR QUARTERLY MEETING: A Regular ~ly Meeting of Member of Fishers Island Civic Association will be held at 4:00 pm on Saturday January -J 200S at the Fishers Island School.