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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTB-08/05/2009ELIZABETH A. NEVILLE TOWN CLERK REGISTRAR OF VITAL STATISTICS MARRIAGE OFFICER RECORDS MANAGEMENT OFFICER FREEDOM OF INFORMATION OFFICER OFFICE OF THE TOWN CLERK SOUTHOLD TOWN BOARD REGULAR MEETING Town Hall, 53095 Main Road PO Box 1179 Southold, NY 11971 Fax (631) 765-6145 Telephone: (631) 765 - 1800 southoldtown,north fork.net MINUTES August 5, 2009 1:30 PM A Regular Meeting of the Southold Town Board was held Wednesday, August 5, 2009 at the Fishers Island, 53095 Main Road, Fishers Island, Ny. Supervisor Russell opened the meeting at 1:30 PM with the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. Call to Order 1:30 PM Meeting called to order on August 5, 2~09 at ~i~hers Island, FiShers Island School, Fishers Island, Ny. Attendee Name William Ruland Vincent Orlando Albert Krupski Jr. Thomas H. Wickham Louisa P. Evans Scott Russell Elizabeth A. Neville To~ of Southold Martin D. Fi~ggan :Town o~Southold I. Communications Organization Title Status Arrived Town of SoUthold Councilman Present Town of Southold Councilman Present Town of Southold Councilman Present Town of Southold Councilman Present Tpwn of SOuthold Justice Present T~wn of Southold Supervisor Present Town Clerk Present Town Attomey Present II. Discussion F. 1. Sidewalk Project Mark Terry, John Sepenoski, Meaghan Burke Pledge to the Flag Opening Statements Supervisor Russell August 5, 2009 Page 2 Southold Town Board Meeting Minutes SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Please rise and join with me in the Pledge to the Flag. Okay, before we get any official business started, I want to take a minute to do a couple of things. First, I want to thank some people. Can you hear me folks? What I would like to do is before we get the meeting started, I want to thank a few people. First I want to thank the Fishers Island School District, of course and Superintendent Beyer. 1 want to thank the Fishers Island Ferry District as usual, Plum Island, Department of Homeland Security, I want to thank of course, Louisa for helping us a great deal, the Fishers Island people that have taken the time to give our reps tours, I want to thank you for that. I want to thank the custodial staff of Southold Town especially JJ Jerome, today's fine cook. I want to thank Albert for providing the corn, Tom for donating the fruit, there is a great deal of effort that goes on behind the scenes to get this trip together, I want to thank Carol Hydell, Melanie Doroski, Ruthanne Woodhull and Sandi Berliner, because you have no idea how hard they worked to put this whole thing together, I want to thank them for that. I want to thank Jeremy Doucette for the sound system, Tom (inaudible) I want to thank, I believe he is the custodian here who helped set this room up, Fishers Island Highway Department, I want to thank the three of you very much and now I want to, before 1, we have a list of names and I think historically I read the names and what we have is two hours of name reading and five minutes of business. What I would like to do is just say, you should have all the names, I want to thank and recognize everyone that is on this list for taking the time to come today, what I would like to do now is introduce the New York State Comptroller, Tom DiNapoli. Tom? TOM D1NAPOLI: Thank you Supervisor Russell and members of the Town Board, it is a privilege for me to be here as the state comptroller and as a New Yorker. This is my first time to Fishers Island and it has really been a wonderful experience. I got a great tour a little earlier and really have a wonderful appreciation now for the uniqueness and the beauty of this community. I also want to salute the Supervisor and the Town Board for keeping this wonderful tradition of coming here to Fishers Island for a Town Board meeting. I think that is bringing democracy right to the local neighbor. Give them a round of applause for keeping this tradition going and listen, just let me give you a very brief report. Our fiscal situation in the state is still a very difficult one, we have yet another budget gap that was recently announced by the Governor, so the legislature and the Governor are going to have to go back into session in the fall and deal with that. Next year's budget is going to be a tight one, we are stilling feeling the pain of this recession. (Inaudible) for local governments like Southold. But I do admire the hard work that this Town Board puts into keeping a close eye on the finances of this town, and certainly from the state comptrollers office we want to be a partner with you in helping deal with the tough and challenging climate. We have some literature from our office, tells you some of the things we are involved in that may be of interest to the residents and let me just conclude so that you can get to your business, what we like to do when we come to events like this, we have our unclaimed funds unit here with a computer. Unclaimed funds are old bank accounts, old security deposits that may have lost track of you if you moved around or somehow didn't keep up with your records. We are sitting on $9 million worth of money that we want to return to New Yorkers. One of you or more than one of you may be in our system and we will give you the paperwork to get that money back reunited with you. So before you leave, go to our booth back there, Michael is going to be back there, he will take your name, put you in the computer. About a year ago we were able to return to someone some old stock accounts that were valued at $4 August 5, 2009 Page 3 Southold Town Board Meeting Minutes million. So sometimes it is real money. Usually it is $50 to $100, so 1 don't want to get your hopes up too high and it is not quite the lottery but we do want to return money that is rightfully yours, so please take advantage of this booth before you go. And thanks for the warm welcome here to Fishers Island, thank you to the Board and Supervisor. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Again, I am going to say thank you to everybody that is on this list. We have representatives here from the federal government, the state government, the county government, the town government, all agencies involved. I want to thank them, I want to acknowledge them and I am just sorry for not taking the time to read the list this year. With that being said, I guess we should get on with the meeting. You have a very brief agenda. If you want to comment on any item as it appears on the agenda, we would be happy to entertain those questions now. After we get this business done, then we will of course, go to the point where you can ask us any question of mutual interest. Would anyone like to comment on any item on the agenda? Hearing none. V. Resolutions 2009-670 CA TEGOR Y: DEPARTMENT: Employment - Town Accounting Amend Dale on Resolution 2009-596 RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Southold hereby rescinds Resolution No. 2009-596 dated July 14~ 2009 regarding the intent to retire of Barbara Rudder. Vote Record - Resolution RES-2009-670 [] Adopted Yes/Aye No/Nay Abstain Absent [] Adopted as Amended william Ruland Initiator [] [] [] [] [] Defeated Vincent Orlando Seconder gl [] [] [] [] Tabled Albert Krupski Jr Voter [] [] [] [] [] Withdrawn Fhomas H Wickham Voter [] [] [] [] [] Supervisor's Appt Louisa P. Evans Voter [] [] [] [] [] Tax Receiver's Appl [] Rescinded Scott Russell Voter [] [] [] [] 2009-669 CA TE GOR Y: DEPARTMENT: Set Meeting Town Clerk Set Next Meeting 8/11/09 7:30 Pm RESOLVED that the next Regular Town Board Meeting of the Southold Town Board be held, Tuesday, August 11,2009 at the Southold Town Hall, Southold, New York at 7:30 P. M.. August 5, 2009 Page 4 Southold Town Board Meeting Minutes Vote Record - Resolution RES-2009-669 [] Adopted Yes/Aye No/Nay Abstain Absent [] Adopted as Amended William Ruland Voter ~ [] [] [] [] Defeated Vincent Orlando Voter [] [] [] [] [] Tabled Albert Krupski .Ir. Voter [] [] [] [] [] Withdrawn Thomas H. Wickham Seconder [] [] [] [] [] Supervisor's Appt Louisa P Evans Initiator [] [] [] [] [] 'Fax Receiver's Appt [] Rescinded Scott Russell Vntcr [] [] [] [] 2009-671 CATEGOR~ DEPARTMEN~ Employment - Town Accounting Create Rate of Pay for Tc~ Cashier RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Southold hereby establishes a rate of $15.31 per hour for Tax Cashier effective immediately~ except for currently existing staff members of the Tax Receiver's office appointed to this position~ whose hourly rate of pay will remain the same as their now current hourly rate. Vote Record - Resolution RES-2009-671 [] Adopted Yes/Aye No/Nay Abstain Absent [] Adopted as Amended William Rulmd Voter [] [] [] [] [] Defeated Vincent Orlando Iniliator [] [] [] [] [] Tabled Albert Krupski .Ir Seconder [] [] [] [] [] Withdrawn Fhnmas II Wickham Voter [] [] [] [] [] Supervisor's Appl Louisa P Evans Voler [] [3 [] [] [] lax Receiver's Appl [] Rescinded Scott Russell Vo~er [] [] [] [] 2009-672 CATEGOR~ DEPARTMEN~ Budget Modification Accounting Budget Modification for Phase II Scenic Byways Fiscal Impact: To provide.funding/hr Phase 11 New York &ate &'enic l~vways Project Agreement approved by Town Board on February 3, 2009, resolution 2009-152. Work is being completed by RBA Group, not to exceed $9,000, of which $6,032.61 has been spent through June 27, 2009 without an appropriation. RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Southold hereby modifies the 2009 General Fund Whole Town budget as follows: August 5, 2009 Page 5 Southold Town Board Meeting Minutes From: A. 1990.4.100.100 Unallocated Contingencies $ 9,000 To: A.1010.4.600.720 Town Board, C.E. Interpretative Signage project $ 9,000 ~' Vote Record - Resolution RES-2009472 [] Adopted Yes/Aye No/Nay Abstain Absent [] Adopted as Amended William Ruland Voter [] [] [] [] [] Defeated Vincent Orlando Seconder [] [] [] [] [] Tabled Albert Krupski Jr Initiator [] El [] [] [] Withdrawn Thomas H Wickham Voter [] [] [] [] [] Supervisor's Appl I,ouisa P Evans Voter [] [] [] [] [] Tax Receiver's Appl [] Rescinded Scott Russcll Voter [] [] [] [] Comments regarding resolution 672 COUNCILMAN KRUPSKI: No. I didn't vote for the initial phase of this project and I will stay consistent and not vote for the resolution. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Yes, I just want to say for the record, actually we have a very tight fiscal climate. It is not an allocation of $9,000 of taxpayer money, we were merely closing a gap temporarily, expecting the grant, the grant that was awarded to be delivered to us in September or October. This is just a budget move until the grant comes to us, this is not taxpayer dollars. This is a grant award that we won. 2009-673 CA TE GO R Y: DEPARTMENT: Litigation Town Attorney Retain Frank a Isler, Esq Fiscal Impact: Retains Frank A. lsler, Esq., as Special Counsel in the Supreme Court, Suffolk County Civil Action Entitled "Arthur J. Walsh and Nina ,~ Schmid E Anita S. Kalz and Cathy L. Richter Geier, as Commissioner.* of the Suffolk County Board of Elections, Suffolk County Board of Elections, and Daniel C. Ross" and Potential 7bird-Party Claims Against the Town of SouthoM RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Southold hereby retains Frank A. lsler~ Esq, as Special Counsel in the Supreme Court~ Suffolk CounW civil action entitled "Arthur J. Walsh and Nina J. Schmid v. Anita S. Katz and Cathy L. Richter Geier~ as Commissioners of the Suffolk County Board of Elections~ Suffolk County Board of Elections~ and Daniel C. Ross" and potential third-party claims against the Town of Southold, under Index No. 09-29736. August 5, 2009 Page 6 Southold Town Board Meeting Minutes Vote Record - Resolution RES-2009-673 [] Adopted Yes/Aye No/Nay Abstain Absent [] Adopted as Amended William Ruland Seconder [] [] [] [] [] Defeated Vincent Orlando Voter I~ [] [] [] [] Tabled Albert Kmpski Jr Voter gl [] [] [] [] Withdrawn Thomas H. Wickham Initiator [] [] [] [] [] Supervisor's Appt Louisa P. Evans Voter [] [] [] [] [] Tax Receiver's Appt [] Rescinded Scott Russell Voter [] [] [] [] 2009-674 CA TE GOR Y: DEPA R TMENT: Contracts, Lease & Agreements Town Attorney Authorizes and Directs Supervisor Scott A. Russell to Execute the Grant Agreement Between the Town of Southold and the Federal Aviation Administration in Connection with Construction Services for Project No. 3-36-0029-17-09for Runway Crack Repairs and Sealing Project at Elizabeth FieM Airport, Fishers Island, New York RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Southold hereby authorizes and directs Supervisor Scott A. Russell to execute the Grant Agreement between the Town of Southold and the Federal Aviation Administration in connection with construction services for Project No. 3-36-0029-17-09 for runway crack repairs and sealing proiect at Elizabeth Field Airport~ Fishers Island~ New York, subject to the approval of the Town Attorney. Vote Record - Resolution RES-2009-674 [] Adopted Yes/Aye No/Nay Abstain Absent [] Adopted as Amended William Ruland Initiator [] [] [] [] [] Defeated Vincent Orlando Voter [] [] [] [] [] Tabled Albert Krupski Jr Voter [] [] [] [] [] Withdrawn fhomas H Wickham Voter [] [] [] [] [] Supervisor's Appt Louisa P Evans Seconder [] [] [] [] [] Tax Receiver's Appt [] Rescinded Scott Russell Voter [] [] [] [] 2009-675 CA TEGOR Y: DEPARTMENT: Contracts, Lease & Agreements Town Attorney Authorizes and Directs Supervisor Scott A. Russell to Execute the Cosl Plus Fixed Fee Consultant Agreement for Construction Observation and Administration Services Between the Town of Southold and C&S Engineers, Inc'. RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Southold hereby authorizes and directs Supervisor Scott A. Russell to execute the Cost Plus Fixed Fee Consultant Agreement for August 5, 2009 Page 7 Southold Town Board Meeting Minutes construction observation and administration services between the Town of Southold and C&S Engineers~ Inc. in the amount of $5,987.00 in connection with Project No. 3-36-0029-17- 09(C) regarding runway crack repairs and sealing project at Elizabeth Field Airport, Fishers Island, New York, subject to the approval of the Town Attorney. Vote Record - Resolution RES-2009-675 [] Adopted Yes/Aye No/Nay Abstain Absent [] Adopted as Amended William Rulmd Voter [] [] [] [] [] Defeated Vincent Orlando Initiator [] [] [] [] [] Tabled Albert Krupski Jr Seconder [] [] [] [] [] Withdrawn [] Supervisor's Appt Thomas H Wickham Voter [] [] [] [] Louisa P Evans Voter [] [] [] [] [] Tax Receiver's Appt [] Rescinded Scott Russell Voter [] [] [] {3 Sidewalk Presentation Supervisor Scott A. Russell SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: That concludes the items. Okay, what I would like to do now is we are going to have what I hope is a short presentation on sidewalk inventory that was taken on behalf of the town or on behalf of the residents for the town. And then after that we are going to go to question and answer on, I am sure, many issues that you want to talk about. Can I direct, who are our techies? Let's get them up here and operate this thing. Mark Terry, Senior Planner MARK TERRY: 1 would just like to introduce Megan Burke, the Planning Board intern that the Town Board hired this year. She attends State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse. And she did an exceptional job going out and mapping all the catch basins and the sidewalks on Fishers Island and this is a summary of all her efforts and also the work plan that the Planning Board directed, the Town Board directed the Planning Board to put together with Pete Harris and the Highway Department and with that I will hand it over to Megan Burke. Megan Burke, Planning Intern MEGAN BURKE: Good afternoon, I am Megan Burke with the Planning Board of the Town of Southold. And in response to last years sidewalk survey conducted by Patty Faulkner and Cynthia Riley, the Town has launched a new Fishers Island sidewalk project 2009, which was conducted by Cynthia Riley and I. Okay, so based on a series of criteria, we identified three target areas and the criteria that we used are car traffic, walking traffic, bicycle traffic, visibility and the three target areas that we noticed are Whistler Avenue on the northern side, it is the (inaudible) on the side with the houses and Equestrian Avenue and between those two sidewalks, it goes from the school all the way to the village. The second target area is Crescent Avenue, the entire sidewalk on that street which goes from the ball field all the way to the grocery store, and Montauk Avenue, also the entire sidewalk on that street, from the Red Barn gallery which goes up past the Peqout Inn all the way to the end. So this is your sidewalk project, we implemented a few new ways to collect our data to sort of update the project that was done last year. This year August 5, 2009 Page 8 Southold Town Board Meeting Minutes we used the GPS unit and what we did with that is we collected line segments for all of the sidewalks on Fishers Island, so now the town knows where they all are. And then we went back to those three target areas from the previous slide and we collected points that we found to be hazardous. We also filled out inventory sheets for each hazard in those three target areas. On the inventory sheets we identified 132 hazards that could be from, anywhere from one slab up to a number of slabs depending on the given situation and then on those sheets, we ranked the condition with a numerical rating system where one is the worst condition and the first priority to fix and then two and three, three is not that big of a priority but it is still clearly a hazard. And then just as they did in last years survey, we took photos of each hazardous area but we just wanted to reiterate that and then I have a binder where those inventory sheets are organized with the pictures that go along with each sheet. So this is our GIS map that was developed in the Town of Southold and I know it is a little hard to see but there are lines where each of the sidewalks are in red and sort of where it looks like there are thicker lines, those are actually the points of the hazards and you can see where those three target areas that we focused on are located. This would be Whistler to Equestrian, up here Crescent and Montauk. So in those three target areas, we encountered a few different types of safety hazards. The first is vegetation, the second uplifts, third cracks and fourth grade change. The issue with vegetation mostly involves encroaching vegetation, whether it be from someone's personal hedges or from a wooded lot or from overgrown grass, soil, a whole number of issues. Uplifts obviously a safety hazard for tripping and the cracks, there are a lot of sidewalks that have just deteriorated with a lot of cracking and the grade change is just an uneven slope that makes walking very uncomfortable. Now we come to how we should address it. In response, the Town has begun a two phase solution. The first phase will involve maintenance, which is getting rid of vegetation and cleaning up the sidewalks because many of the sidewalks are in great condition, they are just covered with some soil and some grass and overgrown brush. Phase two involves repair and replacement. Repairing smaller issues that don't require as much money and attention and replacement is areas that are past repair and need complete replacement (inaudible). So the work planned for these phases entails that two highway department employees on Fishers lsland will clear vegetation in those three target areas. So like I said, that would involve removing brush, grass, soil, things that are covering some sidewalk that may or may not be a perfectly good sidewalk but we need that to be moved before we can identify what the condition the sidewalk is in and how to approach that issue. Phase two, like 1 said, involves repair and replacement. For now as far as repair, we will have one highway department employee trying to repair those dangerous uplifts that result in tripping hazards (inaudible), one day per week while the other two are working on vegetation. And at this point, as far as replacement, we are looking at that being implemented in the future when we have funds available to pay for that project. We would also like to address that the town code states that many of these issues are actually homeowner obligations and as stated here, article 3 section 237-20 requires that homeowner or occupant of a building, lot, if you are responsible for the church, anything along those lines, you are also responsible for keeping the sidewalk in front of your property cleared. And as stated specifically, these five items are listed in the code, snow, ice, filth, dirt and weeds. So as you can see in this picture, the sidewalk is not broken, however, there is grass coming through, someone's grass clippings are on it and that is actually the property owners responsibility. So in summary, the town has identified that the sidewalks on Fishers Island are a safety hazard to the public. To assess this issue, we launched the Town of Southold sidewalk project in 2009, August 5, 2009 Page 9 Southold Town Board Meeting Minutes collecting all this data and as our solution, we are moving forward with the highway department work plan in clearing the vegetation and repairing the sidewalks until we are able to fund (inaudible). Closing Statements Supervisor Russell SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Okay. We met with the island community board a little bit earlier today. These are the items that will be on next Tuesday's town board agenda. First is we are going to try to prepare a bond for road resurfacing for Fishers Island. We have an opportunity, we think, of being able to economize based on an asphalt plan that is scheduled, a temporary one that is scheduled, in the near future. (inaudible) and we are going to have to go out for bid for that (inaudible). We are going to resolve, I think we have to once and for all, this lake mobil business. I am, frankly, tired of talking about it after 20 years of coming here. I know the engineer went out today, we are going to instruct him to draw up the plan so that we can try to get that work done. If there is nothing that can be done, which in the past it has been said yes we can do something, no we can't, we need to have an answer once and for sure and that issue has to be resolved Tuesday, I believe. We are also going to prepare a bid, (inaudible) is going to fax me some information so we can prepare a bid if necessary, to go out for the purchasing of the video teleconferencing equipment, to outfit the rec center so that the town board's will be able to be presented to you live and they will be more of an interactive approach to the town board meetings. That, I think is about, what was the culmination of the meeting this morning, there are a lot of other projects, obviously there is a tight economic climate but there is a lot of other projects coming down the pipe and we are going to be the best we can. I promised Peter Brinckerhoff I would reach out to him Wednesday or Thursday to let him know what the results of Tuesday's meeting were. With that being said, I want to ask any of the elected officials that have come, I know County Legislator Ed Romaine is here, if he would like to say a few words, please feel free to. COUNTY LEGISLATOR EDWARD ROMAINE: I just want to say hello, if you need any help from the county, I have offices in Riverhead. Just call me, district 1. right in the telephone book. I am located on the second floor (inaudible). So if yon have any issues, 1 know ! have been working with the island on FEMA grant regarding a two and a half megawatt generator that we are looking to bring to Fishers Island but I am also working with the DMV, as you know DMV suspended the mobile unit and I am looking to restore that to Fishers Island so that at least once a year they here to handle DMV so you don't have to go to Riverhead. Take the two ferries and then drive into Riverhead. But anything else that is around, please let me know and I will be there to address it. Thank you. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Okay. and the other elected officials, thank you very much, Ed, the other elected officials I believe have representatives today, so I would just ask anybody that is representing our Assemblyman Marc Alessi to raise your hand? Okay, how about Senator Ken LaValle's office? Okay, so if you have any questions for those elected officials, please feel free to see these people. You know, I have to be honest, it is very nerve wracking and unsettling to have the state Comptroller sitting right in front of me. I am off my game today. Oh, also, I August 5, 2009 Page 10 Southold Town Board Meeting Minutes believe we have a lady from Governor Patterson's office, so if you would like to, there she is, way in the back. So if you would like to address any issue with her, please feel free. At this time, I am going to let the residents come on up and ask the Town Board any question that you might want to. Does anyone want to come up and comment? Ron Schondler, FI summer resident RON SCHONGAR: Hi, I am Ron Schongar, I am a summer resident and I am delighted to have you all over here again today. There have been a number of these meetings and it is always a real (inaudible). But I read the July 24th article in the local paper about a non Fishers Island resident making a run tbr the Fishers Island board seat and I am interested because the newspaper report didn't cover any feelings on the part of the Board. And I would really like to hear from each of you how you feel about that possibility of Fishers Island being without local representation. Councilman William P. Ruland COUNCILMAN RULAND: I will speak first. I think it is wrong. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: By the way, if you are waiting for more elaboration by Bill, that is all you are going to get. Councilman Vincent Orlando COUNCILMAN ORLANDO: I think it is important to have Fishers lsland representation on the Town Board because once we remove that, we just remove this town board meeting from here and there would be no representation. Fishers Island is part of New York State and I think it is important to keep that. Councilman Albert J. Krnpski, Jr. COUNCILMAN KRUPSKI: I have come over here for 20 years as a Town Trustee and for the last four as a Town Board member, so I am sort of familiar with the island and certainly familiar with your representative, Louisa. And she has been a great colleague and really a pleasure to work for and I tell you, she represents not only Fishers Island but she represents the whole town also. So I don't think it is inappropriate to have a representative from Fishers Island sit on the Town Board. Supervisor Russell SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: You know, the system of government we have works very well. We have a unique situation folks. You know it and I know it. Democracy isn't always perfect but it works just fine the way it is. We have a very independent minded Town Board member, I know the gentleman doing it and I happen to think he is a good man and he was a good councilman but I don't think that this should ever take place. The unique geographic interests of this community need to be represented at Town Board, the meetings take place in Southold not here other than this one a year and I think you need to have your representative Justice Louisa P. Evans JUSTICE EVANS: My only comment is that it is not a political issue. The papers have made it to be Republicans, Democrats and I don't feel it is that and it is not an issue about me. It is an August 5, 2009 Page 11 Southold Town Board Meeting Minutes issue about Fishers Island getting representation over there and I think that is what we should fight for. Councilman Thomas H. Wickham COUNCILMAN WICKHAM: Tom Wickham is my name and I am happy to be with you today and I want to say this is probably the last meeting I will be with you on. As you know, 1 am stepping down this year as a Town Board member. We have a very good candidate, the former chair of our Planning Board, who is a nominee of my party and we are looking forward to, I hope, that she can be elected and be here at subsequent meetings. It was about 15 years ago when we established a third party. It was explicitly a non-ideological, non-partisan, objective party and Louisa Evans was a charter member of that. She was with us; myself, Ruth Oliva and Joe Townsend when we came to office as United Southold. Ever since then, she and I hope myself, have tried to play as objective a role as possible in town government. There has been hardly a trace of any partisan or ideological bias or ef~brt on her part and I hope, on my part. We are tempted to think that this is the way government should work. That government should be purely objective, that there is no political part to it. It just is not true. Party politics is part of a Town Board. You get placed on a ballot based on the party you are associated with. You make decisions as you go along and I will just give you two examples of those decisions. I decided to leave the Republican party and stay with United Southold and ultimately become a Democrat. Clearly that cost me a seat and I lost elections. I have no regrets. In fact, I am happy with that. But it was a choice I made, a political choice, and it has had an impact. My colleague, Louisa, made a different choice. She decided to stay with the Republican party and I think that by all accounts it was a very good move on her part. she has served the party well, she has served Fishers Island well, and as Albert Krupski said, she serves the whole Town of Southold. She has done a wonderful job of it. As a Republican. However, there are impacts of the political decisions that we take. Her choice to stay as a Republican essentially made it possible for the Democratic party to say, you know what? We would like that seat. We would like to have a claim or an opportunity to contest that seat. The same way that the Republicans contested the seat that I gave up. That is how practical politics work. A group led by Dan Ross and Dan himself, feels that there is a niche that he can exploit in state law to seek a nomination for this position. If she were a Democrat, he would not be making that case. Probably the Republicans would have and they would have done it more aggressively and earlier. But the point is, it is an opportunity and elected office has a political dimension to it. Not in the decisions that we make on a week to week basis, on which Louisa and I and Scott and everybody else participate in, but the reality is that there is a political content behind getting on the ballot and how to work it. The decision will not be made by this Town Board, it will be made by a court. Some of you may recall in Bush vs. Gore, the Supreme Court made a call on that. This will certainly not go that by, it won't be that long; a decision will be made by a court based on some legal argument, not on a political argument to resolve this one way or another. I would like to conclude by saying that I am sure Louisa has a long period still ahead of real community service, not only to Fishers Island but to the Town of Southold. I have no idea what capacities in, I am sure she will find a role and change occurs to all of us. You don't just think doing the same old thing year after year, there is change and generally speaking it is for the better and a more dynamic and a new perspective. With that I leave you this brief statement and I will be not expecting to be back with you in subsequent years. Thank you. August 5, 2009 Page 12 Southold Town Board Meeting Minutes Supervisor Russell SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: I know, I have a hard time telling him and Bill Ruland apart, too. Benja Schwartz, Cutehogue BENJA SCHWARTZ: Good evening, Benja Schwartz, Cutchogue. I am not going to comment on the lawsuit to eliminate this special preference for Fishers Island residents, 250 people to have one justice and the rest of us share five but I think it also, we need to look at the big picture, the day to day picture all year long. This is my first time here at this meeting and I hope to come back. It cost me $50 to get here and took me three hours on the ferry. Of course, anyone from Fishers Island is always welcome because this is the Town of Southold. I think it would be nice if the town had some kind of official tour, 1 would like to hear from the people of Fishers Island about their involvement in Southold Town politics, not just today but every day. We have a camera over here that I don't know if everybody is aware that these meetings are streamed up to the internet and are available, the Southold Town board meetings. The work sessions are not and we have heard that it would be too expensive but we have never heard how much it would cost, there have never been alternatives explored, such as having a volunteer camera person. I would volunteer for that, by the way. Anyway, I love your island and if anybody ever comes over to Southold Town, I would love to show you around. We have some beautiful places, too. Maybe not quite as protected as you are. Have a good day. Supervisor Russell SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: Would anybody else like to come up and address the Town Board at this time? (No response) Okay, I just want to thank all of you very much for being such gracious hosts as usual. TOWN CLERK NEVILLE: Excuse me, I would like to say something if I may. Good afternoon everyone. I would just like to say that we do have the Town Board meetings on the intemet, through, if you go on the website www.townclerk.com <http://www.townclerk.com> put in the Town of Southold, put the zip code on the right hand side and then you will see it come up Town of Southold on the left and just click on that and you will be directed to a website that has all of the Town Board meetings on it, agenda. It is not interactive that you can, you know, participate live but you can basically right after the meeting, I upload it after the meeting within like an hour or two after, you can go on the website and you can hear everything that transpired during the meeting. I just wanted to make everyone aware of that, that that is available. Thank you. SUPERVISOR RUSSELL: With that, I want to thank everyone very much. Motion to adjourn? Motion To: Adjourn Town Board Meeting COMMENTS - Current Meeting: RESOLVED that this meeting of the Southold Town Board be and hereby is declared adjourned at 2:21P.M. August 5, 2009 Page 13 Southold Town Board Meeting Minutes eville Southold Town Clerk RESULT: ADOPTED [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Louisa P. Evans, Justice SECONDER: Albert Krupski Jr., Councilman AYES: Ruland, Orlando, Kmpski Jr., Wickham, Evans, Russell