HomeMy WebLinkAboutTR-12/06/1977274
~6, 1977
A regular meeting of the Board of TownTrustees was held at
7:30 pom., Tuesday, December ~,~.~977 at the Town Hall, Main Road,
Southold. Present were:
Alvah B, Gbldsmith, Chairman
Douglas Robertson, Trustee
Philip G. Horton, Trustee
Joseph Hataier, Trustee ~
Paul Stoutenburgh, Trustee-elect
Scott Harris, Trustee-elect
JohnNickles, Trustee-elect
Stephen Katz, L~ I.~Traveler-Watchman
Frances Wegoner, SUffolk Times ' "
Howard Petersen application for pilings'to ~oor transient type
vessels at Mattituck Creek off private property of the applicant]
The pilings are installed with permits from the New York State
Dept. of Environmental Conservation and U. S. Army Corps of
Engineers but no permit from the Board of Southold Town Trustees.
Judge Martin Surer spoke in objection to granting the permit in
his capacity as an individual member of the Southold Town Board.
He stated that ~the To~m Board has been involved in the removal of
several derelicts over the past five years which cost the tax-
payers thousands of dollars. Some of the spiles are 25 to 50
feet off the' highwater mark. There is a marrow channel and the
federal, and county governments have spent a lot of money to open
.it up. There are three derelicts which are being called transient
vessels. The problem comes When these vessels are no longer
afloat. Once they slide into the channel, it is very expensive
to remove them. There is one boat moored and the second is out-
· side of that. The commercial~?fis~ermen find it very difficult
~to get in and out at low tide. Justice Surer said it was his
understanding that Mr. Petersen~has been reported to the Army
Corps of Engineers. He-stated that although Mr. petersen'has
the permits.from the DEC and 'the Army Corps of Engineers, he still
does not have-'the''permit from the Board of Town Trustees.
Anthony ~DeMauIa, a'-commercial- fisherman, voiced his~ obje'ction;"
He said~ there are two' 30 foot-wide vessels moored ~ide by side._
If two boats'..tried to pass' in the channel, one would b~ aground
· on 'the 'east side. He said' ~hat'~.it iS necessarY tO .pumP;lout thege
boats to keep them afloat. ' '
Henry Drum.spoke as a representative of the Mattituck Chamber
of Commerce and as an individual as to his concern about the area.
He feels it:is a great hazard to navigation. ~
Jimmy King objected and voiced his concern that the barge will
sink and cover the channel.
Mr. Goldsmith 'said the'board will'contactMr. Almodovar of the
Army Corps of 'Engineers and arrange a meeting with him and any
other people concerned.
On motion ma~e by Mr. Hataier, seconded by'Mr. Robertson~ it was
RESOLVED to deny the applicati'on of HowardP~tersen to place
pilings in MattitUck Creek off private property of the applicant
to moor transientmtype vessels and to restrict the mooring Of
vessels in that area and take further action, if necessary.
Vote of theBoard: Ayes: Goldsmith, Robertson, Horton, Hataier
The application of Salvatore Cucinotta'to place dock, ramp and .
float at Little Creek off private property of the applicant was
tabled. A meeting is to be'requested With Mr. CarriE, the contractor,
and the owner of the property to determine the qu~stion'of the
necessity of the angle of the dock.
Leander B. Glover, Jr. request for a quitclaim deed to land
adjoining land of the applicant-which was filled with dredge spbil
by the County of Suffolk. The following letter under date of
December 2~ 1977 to the Board of Town Trustees was read:
Dear Trustees:
This firm represents the Fleet's Neck Property Owners Association,
Inc. which has been involved in litigation with Leander Glover, Jr.
over the ownership of certain land located~at-Fleet,s-Neck,
Cutchogue, NewYork. · ' ..
It is my understanding ~hat Mr. Glover has applied'to'the B6ard 'of
Trustees for a quitclaim deed to property abutting the property '
involved in the litigation. I request that this letter be read at
the meeting of'the Trustees scheduled 'for Tuesday; December 6,
1977 at 7:30 p.m.:which'lathe date, according to~the pubIic~notice,
that Mr;~-Glover~s application is to be conside~edi~ '" ~
This'is'to'inform~you that the litigation has~nOt been'terminated
and is still active. A trial was held in Supreme Court, Suffolk
County'and a decision was issued by the Honorable William R;
Geller in Mr. 'Glover's favor. As far as I kn6w, no judgment has~
been entered on this decisionthough'a judgment will most likely
be entered shortly. We have been retained by Fleet's Neck Property
Owners Association, Inc. to file aNotice of'Appeal from any'such
judgment and toperfect the appeal to theAppellate Division,
Second Judicial Department~ Brooklyn, New York. It will'be at
least several months before the Appellate Division will act on
this appeal. '- --~'
It is our opinion that the Board of Trustees should not take'any
action until the controversy between the Fleet"s Neck Property
Owners AsSociation,. Inc. and Leander Glover, Jr. has'been permanently
resolved.
rs/ Stephen R. Anget
276 ~ '~'~i
The following letter under date of December 5, 1977 to the Board
of Southold Town Trustees was read: '- '
Dear Mr. Goldsmith:
This is with reference to the application of Leander B. 'Glover,
Jr. to the Board of TruStees for a quitclaim deed to land adjoining
land which the applicant claims to own on Fleet'sNeck, Cutchogue,
iNew York. ' "'
The land referred to is stilt;:und~r litigation, as'the decision
madeby Judge William Gieler is being appealed by'the Fleet's
Neck Property Owners Association, Inc.
Therefore, we:feel that this application should not betaken
into consideration. ' ~
Fu_~thermore, we object to any public lands, under the jurisdiction
of the Board of Trustees, being given or sold to anyone for
private benefit. The recent precedent that your Board set in
denying the acquisition of public land for private benefit on
Fishermans~Beach supports our position in this matter.
/s/ William Nicol, President'
Fteet's Neck Property Owners Assn.
Mr. Goldsmith made the following comments: I would say this
~uld preclude any actionby the board at this time on the matter
but would like to make some comments. We, as Town Trustees, have
never feltit was within our jurisdiction to determine boundaries.
That is the reason the board said it would be a court decision ·
and not ours. There is one great difference over any other and
that is that it involves the cutting off of a public access to
the water that has always been in existence bef6re. Never has
this been done by the Trustees. The public access to water is
very limited and it is not being added to very rapidly by
acquisition by'theTown or other authoritiesl Unless som~
provision is made in that area where the public wouldhave access,
it would be a disservice to this town that~th.e trustees make any
such decision.' I~feel~'that the public access is an important
consideration of the Town'Trustees. We Can empathize with the
individual~or'the association but this'goes fa~ beyond that. It
is a precedent setting situation that should never be resolved
lightly and without due consideration for thewelfare and benefib
of the town. If there were some way that an easement could be ·
granted to the town'inthat~area wh~re a roadway ~at ends now
practically'in the woods would be continued by agreement mutually
made thatsome way or, another the public wouldhave access to
water and that channel Where they had it before or, if necessary,
out to the point~ I think it would be to the trustees' interest
To insist upon such arrangement. I am voicing a private opinion
and I haven't discussed it with the board except for one member.
I think we have to table any action on this request of Mr. Glover's
until it is finally'and definitely Settled as to who owns what.
277
On. mo~ion made by'Mr. LRoberts0n,' Secondedby MrL Hataier, it was
' '~'~'REsOL~D'~o'deny the apPlication'of Leander B. Glover, Jr.
for a quitclaim deed to land adjoining land of. the applicant which
was filled with dredge spoil by the County of Suffolk pending the
result of the court litigation.
Vote of'the'Board: Ayes: Goldsmith, Robertson, Horton,_Ha~aier
Mr. Stoutenburgh suggested that a letter be written to the Dept.
of Public Works for verification that they putthe spoil there.
Mr. Stoutenburgh does not believe that this was filled by the Dept.
of Public Works but by Mr. Glover.
Mr. Glover stated the county filled it and he put more in after-
wards but the county filled the whole thing.
William Nicol stated that, according to the court records, it was
never clearly determined who filled it. Mr. Glover said, according
to Mr. Nicol, that he used his bulldozer to push it across.
The applicationsof Edward C. Thomsen, Neal A. McCarroll, Andrew
Galgano and Charles Berner were again tabled as no further
information has been received.
Mr. Robertson made a motion that the minutes of the meeting
of November 2, 1977 be approved as submitted. Mr. Horton seconded
the motion and it was carried.
The following comments by Dr..Thomas Samuels were directed .by
Mr. Horton to be made part of the minutes of the meeting.
Dr. Samuels:. 'I can't let the last time that Mr~ Goldsmith. sits
as chairman of the Board of Town Trustees go by without a comment.
I have known him for twenty .years and at least ten with' this body
and the Town owes him a tremendous debt as is obvious even here
tonight. His expertise and fairness and integrity will be very
difficult'to duplicate in this body.
I have kn0wnhim to have me move a bulkhead four feet and no
amount of prodding would change his mind. I came to respect him
for that. I respect Mr. Robertson, who is also not going to be
the board, for that, too.
The town is going to miss you, Al,and Mr. Robertson. I know the
new trustees will carry on in the fashion you have set. I want
to thank you again as a citizen of the Town of Southold.
(There was a standing ovation for the two gentlemen from the '
approximately 25 people in attendance.)
Mr. Goldsmith has been in charge of this body in a very d~fficult
transition period when the emphasis on granting permits went at
least 180 degrees. For a long period, he was castigated for giving
rights away. He took the blame and I rarely saw articles criticizing
any other members. As the nominal head, I am sure he accepted the
responsibility.
278
Mr. Stoutenburgh~ongratulated Mr. Robertson~ndMr. Goldsmith
on their retirement. He stated Mr. Goldsmith had done a
splendid job~and"~e~th0ught therehad been some new th~n~ng, an~
he was sure that Mr.~Ggldsmith-'s leadership had. brough~.i~ aoou~.
.Mr. Goldsmith and'i'Mr'. Robertson thanked the people for their~
comments and approval. ~ .~ ~-
There being no further business to come before the board, Mr.
Goldsmith declared the m~eting adjourned at 8:35 p.m.
~ ~Se ret
Muriet Brush, e ary
Southold Town Trustees