HomeMy WebLinkAboutTB-04/14/1981 145
SOUTHOLD TOWN BOARD
April 14, 1981
WORK SESSION
1: 10 P.M. - Mr. Peter Sanko of Sea Grant and Mr. Donald Stanton
appeared before the Board to discuss their meeting with Chairman
of the Parks and Beach .Committee Councilman Nickles, Councilman
Murphy and Highway Superintendent Dean concerning the erosion
problem at Kenney' s Beach, Southold. Mr. Sanko outlined the
long term and short term alternatives. The long term alternative
would be to replenish the beach by bringing sand in by .truck,
however, such a plan would be extremely costly to the Towne. The
short term proposal was nature assisted beach enhancement which
would consist of bulldozing the sand back from low -water starting
in May and doing it periodically two to four times throughout the
season. This has been done in the past by the Public Works Depart-
ment -at the Town beaches. Mr. Sanko and Mr. Stanton assured the
Board that such a program should work and is relatively inexpensive.
This nature assisted beach enhancement program would be available
to many property owners with DEC approval. Supervisor Pell asked
if the Town would be liable for a 'law suit from people to the west.
Mr. Sanko feels it would benefit the people to the west and there
would be no problem with them, and he does not forsee any damage
to the people to the east, but the program should be done in ,
moderation. Mr. Stanton said he is also of the opinion there: is
a low probability there would be a negative effect to the people
to the east .--Councilman Nickles recommended to the Board that:
the Department of Public Works proceed with; the nature assisted
beach enhancement program which should "cost, over the season,
between $500. 00 and $1000. 00. Councilman Murphy and Highway
Superintendent Dean concurred in the recommendation, as did the
remainder of the Board. --The Board discussed the Goldsmith Inlet
jetty situation with Mr. Sanko and Mr. Stanton.
1 : 45 P.M. - Mr. James McMahon, Director of the Southold Town
Delin ueney Diver ion and preventiQn program addressed the Board
concerning the proposed application for a $75, 000. 00 Southold
Town Police' Juvenile Bureau grant. Mr.. McMahon outlined the
proposed budget- for the Bureau which included a Youth Coordinator
(Mr. McMahon) at a salary of $18, 500. 00, Juvenile Officer at a
salary of $21, 800. 00 (Southold Town Police Officer) , part-time
secretary receptionist at $5, 500. 00, part-time youth aid at
$4, 680. 00, benefits for the employees at $20, 078. 00, office
equipment and expenses at $755. 00. --Councilman Nickles expressed
the opinion that he does -not feel that in the four weeks that Mr.
McMahon has been managing the DD&PP the Town has had sufficient
time to evaluate the program, and would want such an evaluation
before such a grant is accepted by the Town. He is willing to
go along with the application for the grant as long as there is
sufficient time in the future to review the DD&PP program, and
have Mr. McMahon present evidence as to the effectiveness of
the program. --The Board agreed to adopt a resolution at the
regular meeting authorizing the Supervisor to make application
for the grant and they will conduct a full review of the DD&PP
before accepting the grant if it should 'be awarded.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
2: 30 P.M. = The Board discussed the police civil service list and
the Town accounting department.
146 APRIL 14, 1981
WORK SESSI-ON (continued)
3: 25 P. M. - Councilman Murdock discussed the proposals of Energy
Development Corp. concerning Southold Town' s municipal solid waste
program. (A copy of the summary proposal from Energy Development
Corp. is on file in the Town. Clerk' s Office) . A synopsis of this
report is: MSW-Southold, Ltd. would dispose of all of the burnable
municipal solid waste generated within the Township of Southold
for a period of 20 years for a tipping fee of $10. 00 per ton firm
through 1990. MSW-Southold would incinerate up to one part in
ten by weight of scavenger collected septic waste at a price of
$80. 00 per ton. --Councilman Murdock advised. the Board he expects
to have Energy Development Corp. address the Board at their first
meeting in May. Councilman Murdock also advised the Board he
will invite the firm of Sacco and Ahlers to address the Board at.
their next meeting relative to Sacco and Ahlers' recommendations
concerning the disposal area.
The Board discussed the cutback in services due to CETA terminations-
which are taking place in the Town. It was the entire Board' s
decision to put a freeze on future senior ci ; . .n bus trips until
they have an opportunity to reevxluate' other programs in the Town
that are in jeopardy of being terminated;--' especially the Nutrition
Program. Supervisor Pell advised the Board he would advise the
senior groups of the Board' s decision.
4: 30 P. M,. - The Town Board met with Harold Dombeck and Gary
Loesch- of Holzmacher, McLendon and Murrell, and individuals
from the Greenport Village government for a presentation by
H2M on the Greenport-Southold 201 Wastewater Facility PJU,
Alternatives Evaluation - and Environmental Assessment.
The report consisted of. the following: ..
1. Non-Structural Alternatives : "
a. Optimization of the Greenport S.T.P.
b. Land Use Control
C. Fertilizer Control
d. Water Supply Management Plan
e.., Septic Tank Management Plan
f. Alternative On-site sewage disposal methods.
2. Structural Alternatives
a. Expansion of the Greenport Collection System
1. Sterling Basin ,
2. Pipes Cove
3. Conkling Point
4. North Greenport
b. Sewering of the Mattituck Area
C. Scavenger waste treatment and disposal
d. Ultimate sludge-disposal
(A tape recording of the presentation is on file in the Town
Clerk' s Office. )
A regular meeting of the Southold Town Board was held on Tuesday,
April 14, 1981 at the Southold Town Hall, Main Road, Southold, New
York. Supervisor Pell opened the meeting at 5: 30 P.M. with the
Pledge 'of Allegiance to -the Flag.
Present: Supervisor William R. Pell... III
Councilman Henry W. Drum
Councilman John J'. Nickles
Councilman Lawrence Murdock, Jr.
Councilman Francis J. Murphy
Town Clerk Judith T. Terry
Town Attorney Robert W. Tasker
Highway Superintendent Raymond C. Dean
Absent: Justice Francis T. Doyen
APRIL 14 , 1981 147
On motion of Councilman`brum, secori'ded`'by Couri`cilman Murdock, it was
RESOLVED that the next regular meetinK of the Southold Town Board
will be held at 3: 00 P.M. , Tuesday, aril 21, 1981 at the Southold
Town Hall, Main Road, Southold, New York.
Vote of the Town Board: Ayes: Councilman= Murphy, Councilman
Murdock, Councilman Nickles, Councilman Drum, Supervisor Pell.
This resolution was declared duly adopted.
SUPERVISOR PELL: Resolution number 1. This is a continuation of
the last Board meeting we had a week ago. We ran out of time in
the working day to discuss these things with the Town Board in
detail so we postponed a lot of these things until today until
we could get additional information and the Board could take the
adequate time to go into them, so we are going into resolutions
today.
1. On motion of Councilman Murdock, seconded by Councilman Drum, it was
RESOLVED that Supervisor William -R. Pell, - III be and he hereby is
authorized and directed to make application on behalf of the Town
of Southold for a grant under the Omnibus -Crime Control and Safe
Streets Act of 1968, as amended, and/or the -Juvenile Justice and I
Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, as. amended, in the amount of
$75, 000. 00 for a Southold Town Police Juvenile Bureau.
Vote of the Town Board: Ayes: Councilman Murphy, Councilman
Murdock, Councilman Nickles, . Councilman Drum, Supervisor Pell.
This resolution was declared duly adopted.
2 . On motion of Councilman Murphy, seconded by Councilman Murdock; it was
RESOLVED that the Town Clerk of the Town of Southold be and she
hereby is authorized and directed to advertise for bids for the
purchase of 500 bushels, more or less, of uncertified chowder clams,
for sbawnin2 purposes, to be ( 1) picked up the Town and delivered
to the Town Highway Department, Peconic Lane, Peconic, OR (2)
delivered to the Town Highway Department, Peconic Lane, Peconic,
New York.
Vote of the Town Board: Ayes: Councilman Murphy, Councilman
Murdock, Councilman Nickles, Councilman Drum, Supervisor Pell.
This resolution was declared duly adopted.
SUPERVISOR PELL: We have on the agenda, number three, we want more
information on. We still. are not -ready to move on it. We are -,
going to wait on that one until we can find some more information.
(No. 3 -. Amend the resolution establishing a minimum annual salary
and minimum work week for all new employees to be qualified for
benefits. )
4. On motion of Councilman Drum, seconded by Councilman Nickles, it was
RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Southold hereby appQsp.
Senate bill No. 858/Assembly bill no. 1194 entitled, "AN ACT to
amend the real property tax law, in relation to Qollection of taxe-a
in installments by a school district" , and the Town Clerk be and
she hereby is authorized and directed to send a copy of this
resolution to New York State Senator Kenneth LaValle and New York
State Assemblyman John Behan.
Vote of the Town Board: Ayes: Councilman Murphy, Councilman
Murdock, Councilman Nickles, Councilman Drum, Supervisor Pell.
This resolution was declared duly adopted.
5. Moved by Councilman Drum, seconded by Councilman Murdock,
WHEREAS, there exists a clear and explicit need to insure the
safe and unimpeded navigation of many miles of waterways in.
Southold Town, and
WHEREAS, the current program of contract, daily rental and in-
house dredging is insufficient to complete the work necessary -
to insure the safe and unimpeded navigation- of the waterways; and _
WHEREAS, the maintenance of the harbors and waterways is vital
to the economic well being of Southold residents, in that it is
directly and indirectly involved in the fishing industry, and
provides a safe haven and free access for pleasure boaters to
and from our many miles of rivers and nearby bodies of water, now,
therefore, be it
RESOLVED that the Southold Town Board hereby urges Suffolk County
to purchase a larger county dredge and support eauibment, and be
it further
RESOLVED that the Town Clerk be and she hereby is authorized and
directed to forward a copy of this resolution to Suffolk County
Legislators Mrazek and Blass, Clerk ofthe Suffolk County Legis-
148 APRIL 14, 1981
lature and Suffolk County Executive Cohalan.
Vote of the Town Board: Ayes: Councilman Murphy, Councilman
Murdock, Councilman Nickles, Councilman Drum, Supervisor Pell.
This resolution was declared duly adopted.
6. On motion of Councilman Nickles, seconded by Councilman Murphy, it was
RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Southold- transfer
$4, 000. 00 from General Fund Whole Town Contingent Account A1990.4
to Program for the Aging A6772. 1 to pay the salary of Dorothy
Mysliborski, Assistant Cook at the Southold Town Nutrition Center.
Vote of the Town Board: Ayes: Councilman Murphy, Councilman
Murdock, Councilman Nickles, Councilman Drum, Supervisor Pell.
This resolution was declared duly adopted.
7. On motion of Councilman Nickles, seconded by Councilman Murphy, it was
RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Southold supports
. Senate bill no. 4094' Assembly bill no. 5625 entitled, "AN ACT
to amend the highway law, in relation to extending the provisions,
therein relating to programs for town highway improvement and
inceasing the amount of state aid available therefor" , and be it
further r
RESOLVED that the Town Clerk be and she hereby is authorized and
directed to send a copy of this resolution to New York State
Senator Kenneth LaValle an-d New York State Assemblyman John Behan.
Vote of the Town Board: Ayes: Councilman Murphy, Councilman
Murdock, Councilman Nickles, Councilman Drum, Supervisor Pell.
This resolution was declared duly adopted.
SUPERVISOR PELL: In case you don' t know what 'that bill is, it
gives the Town aid on the mileage of roads. We get state aid
on the amount of roads we have. We want the bill to be extended.
8. On motion of Councilman Murdock, seconded by Councilman Drum, it was
RESOLVED that the Town Clerk be and she hereby is authorized and
directed to advertise for bids for the modification of two (2)
libraries in the Town of Southold (Southold Library and Mattituck
Library) , to accomodate facilities for the handicabned, in accord-
ance with the Small Cities Single Purpose Program. Bid opening
10: 30 A.M. , April 30, 1981, Southold Town Hall.
Vote of the Town Board: Ayes: Councilman- Murphy, Councilman
Murdock, Councilman Nickles, Councilman Drum, Supervisor Pell.
This .-resolution was declared duly adopted.
SUPERVISOR PELL: Number 9 'i"s but, we do not have -to do that. It
is a transfer in Highway Item Budget IV and we do not ' have to do
a resolution for that one.
10. On motion of Councilman Murphy, seconded by Councilman Nickles, it was
RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Southold amend their
resolution adopted on March 31, 1981, setting the salary for part-
time Radio Operator Patricia Johnson_ at $5 .00 per hour to read:
"at ` $4. 00 per hour".
Vote of the Town Board: Ayes: Councilman Murphy, Councilman
Murdock, Councilman Nickles, Councilman Drum, Supervisor Pell .
This resolution was declared duly adopted.
SUPERVISOR PELL: The explanation of that one is that the part-
time policemen be paid $5. 00 an hour and -the radio operators,
part-time get $4. 00 an hour. Last week when we did this in a
rush I put the wrong number down, or somebody did, and the Town
Clerk picked it up.
11. On motion of Councilman Nickles, seconded by Councilman Murdock, it was
RESOLVED that the Town Board of the Town of Southold hire the
following mart-time police officers at a salary of .$5. 00 per
hour, effective this date, April 14, 1981: Carlisle Cochran,
Jr. , Martin Flatlev, Theodore Beebe, Jr.
- Vote of the Town Board: Ayes: Councilman Murphy, Councilman
r Murdock,: Councilman Nickles, Councilman Drum, Supervisor Pell.
_ This resolution was declared duly adopted.
SUPERVISOR PELL: That completes the agenda we have prepared.-
Usually at this time we go to the Town Board and ask them if
-. there .is,,.anything they would like to bring up. I'm sure of one
item :I ,�.would like to bring up before I do that because I ' talked
to mariy: of the people I ..see here in the room today either in
person in the last few days or by telephone. I talked to the
Town Board -on it in length during the past four months--three
months.
APRIL 14, 1981 149
The -Officp, of Mental Retardation, First of all let me
explain to you that my daughter does work there. She' s 23
years old, she trained for this field. She worked for the
State of Virginia before she came home to work for New York
State. I said it before and I will say it again, when. it comes
to a vote I will abstain from any vote on this. This was reported
in the press when my daughter first took . the job and this first
came up. It appears in the Board minutes and it will be in today.
On' December 30th we had two applications come before the
Town Board, One was for hr •o t h „gue, one was forGillette
Drive, F St Marion. These were read in o the record under public
notices. At that time we sent a letter to the office and invited
the lady, Barbara Townsend, to come out and address the Town Board.
On January 13th she came out and addressed the Town Board. On
January 19th under the direction of the Town Board I wrote a letter
to her and I will read you the last , paragraph. " I- wotild appreciate
it. if you could hold in abeyance any decisions on the previously
mentioned residences: Gillette Drive, . Short Street --rather Shor Road.
Okay, that we did. She., Barbara Townsend, has a. job to do.' Upon
further investigation Gillette Drive was withdrawn whenthey, the
Office of Mental Ret ardation, turned it down for structural reasons.
Short Road was never turned down for structural reasons at that
time, Gillette was. A month ago Barbara Townsend was in visting
a house in the Village of Greenport, stopped in to this office
She said, "What' s new on Short Road? What' s the feeling of the
Town on that?" I said, "The feeling of Councilman Drum"`, who
has been opposed from day one on it, opposed when she was here,
I said, "Far as I know he still stands opposed to it.'.' Councilman
Murdock was opposed on day one of it. After about a week, Council-
man Murdock came in and in his interpretation, he said, "I 'm still
opposed to it, but if they think they can use it, that ' s up to
them. - Personally I 'm still,.opposed ,.to it .',' I relayed this feeling
to Barbara Townsend on that day. I said, "We have had--I have had
one or two telephone calls into this office opposed to that. '.' End
conversation on Short Road until last work session of the Town Board.
Councilman Drum says, "Where du we stand on Short Road?" I said,
"I really don' t know."' Hank, Henry, Councilman called him up yesterday
as I had called in too to find our where Short Road was. T talked
to Barbara Townsend and was told that Short Road was already ,in
process and that Supervisor Pell had given his blessing on Short
Road. This morning I asked Hank what he found out yesterday. ' What
did Barbara say to him yesterday? Hank told me exactly .what I� just
said. I shook my head. I got through to Barbara Townsend today.
I said, "What is going on with Short Road?" I said, "We -officially
are on record of asking you to hold it in abeyance until you come
in to this decision from the Board as of letter, "-I spoke of the
letter of January 19th. She says, "That is right. " I said, "The
day you were in my office you take that for official okay to move
ahead on it?" She says, "Not really. " I said, "Fine, what did
you tell Hank yesterday that I gave you your blessing on it. " I.: ..
said, "This Town has not given the blessing on Short Road and where
is it?" She said, "It' s sti11 in hold, one more step. " It • is going
through. th.e next step. ..In. talking to Councilman Nickles last night
around half past five, six o'clock right out here sitting down in a
chair, John explained the steps- that they go through. So I said,
"Barbara, there' s one more step, in there we still have the final
say on it?" She said, "You' re right, Billy, there's one more step.
The Town Board still has a chance to hold it. " I said, "Well. you
put this on hold right now until you hear from -as. We have a meeting
today and are going to discuss this. " She said, "Fine, no problem
at all. I:t ' s on hold." I said, "As of the letter of the 19th, we
will get a letter out i.n the near future, either this week or next
Town Board meeting either for or against. " Now, yesterday Joe
Oates who is sitting in the back of the room done a superb job. He
came in with a petition with many- names on it . - In the last few
days we have seen many, one, two, two additional letters come to
my office to back up. Joe showed me today something that is very
worthwhile and I- asked him to leave .a copy of it with me today and
will you read Article Number 9, Joe,. please. . Use the microphone
so it will go into the record. I want Joe to read this so you all
will hear it then he is going to turn it in to me and it will go
into the packet to the State.
TOWN CLERK TERRY: Article 9 is what, Bill?
STJPERVISOR PELL: It is the restrictions of the covenant of the
people that buy the land there. '.
150 APRIL 14, 1981
MR. JOSEPH P. OATES, JR. : This,: is_-aBargain and Sale Deed, with
Covenent against Grantor' s Acts - Individual or Corporation, which
is basically a list of restrictions as to what we can do or can' t
do on your particular property. I am quite sure that -everyone who
has purchased property in the old. Stanley Graham Case subdivision,
which goes back to 1958 on my. document . This was made out to Fred
and Meta Mornhauser, the people or the estate that I bought this
property .from. It has all the, standard restrictions and whatever
as to fences and dwellings and whatever and I think the most
important part is Article: 9 which--says, and I shall read from this,.
"The said premises shall be used for residential purposes. That
neither the party of the second part nor their- heirs, distributees
or assigns, shall or will manufacture, or sell or ,cause or permit to
be sold, on any portion of the premises hereby conveyed, any goods
or merchandise of any kind, ' and shall not carry on, or permit to be
carried on, on any part of said premises, any trade, business or
profession whatsoever, or any boarding house, asylum or hospital.."
That' s what I showed Supervisor Pell earlier and he felt that it
was important. In addition to this, the petition that I gave
Supervisor Pell yesterday was signed by 29 of the residents that
reside in or around Short Road and ,I will have more because a great
many of the residents in this area are on vacation or I haven' t had
a chance to see them yet since we just busy on this' after 'Thursday' s
Suffolk Times article and so I ' ll leave the rest up to ,you for now.
SUPERVISOR PELL: Thank you, Joe.
COUNCILMAN NICKLES: Joe, what are those covenants and restrictions,
do they run with the land or is there a termination date?
MR. OATES: The termination is the year 2000.
SUPERVISOR PELL: Thank you. I want a eopy of that .too. Now, in
regards to Short Road. That is still in .a' hold pattern. 'The Town
Board will either today or next week, I will ''ask' them to take an
official position on that, where it has been'a controversial issue.
The state is looking for direction. Now, I .want�; to remind you that
the state has every right, legal right, to do' exactly what they want.
They do not have to have the Town' s blessing or negative approach
on it . This, did appear in the paper. The Suffolk Times had quite
an -article on it on the week of .January L 15th, If any of you want,
to dig -back or dig the press; out, it was in: there, a big story on
Gillette Drive and Short Road.' Gillette Drive people started to
call the Office of Mental Retardation directly themselves and
protested, instead of calling this Town Hall here. They went
directly. But as I said, during the investigation of the house
it was called off because of- structural differences within the
_ house to make it suitable. The' only negative discussion I had
with the office this afternoon when I left the Town Board room
to go into my own phone, to answer the phone was, there- is two.
things that she says, 40 days from the time they sent us the notice,
nothing happened in January when it appeared in the local press
after January 15th and now it is April 13th and people are getting
involved. We had done so much paper work. If they had stopped us
here we. wouldn' t have invested this much more money. She was a
little bit upset at the time limit. So I said to her, "We are
on record of asking no to do -anything. " ' So, - if she did anything,
it' s on your own fault .
On Orient-By-The-Sea, it appeared in the, paper last week. People
from Orient----Oh, a second point ' I want to make. ' She says, "When
you turn down a site, we ask you to come up with an alternate site. "
So they are going to be asking .when we recommend, if we do recommend
to turn down Short Road, they are 'going to ask you to come back with
an alternate site in.-the same hamlet. ----Orient-By-The-Sea Property
Owner' s Association has done a superb job and I commend them for this.
After last week' s, or two weeks 'ago in the press when this appeared,
they wrote a letter April 13th directed to myself and Town Board, a
two page letter, in detail, ,petitions all signed with approximately
75 names. Individual letters came. in the last two or three days on
this. One, two, three, four, five, six of them. Also they came up
with an alternate site already whicIT was turned in and I believe
they inspected the house yesterday. The alternate site was inspected
yesterday by the Office. They came up with several parcels of land
in Orient that are already off of -the tax roll. They done a superb
detailed map of this -and all- this will be forwarded to the Office
of Mental Retardation on the proposed house 'on Plum Island Lane.
And you gentlemen have done a superb job, . and I told this to the
Office today,' that I- had this stuff. She said, "Good, just forward
APRIL 14, 1981 151
it into us and"we. will ,go from,,there. " I said, "I will after the
Town..Board reviews it# '!'" Th'at' s 'wY er" '"' F'I tf nd"in both--all three
instances. Gillette Drive was withdrawn because of structural
barriers. Short Road is on hold. The 40 day period on Orient-By-
The-Sea is in time table., or whatever, it is running on that.
Basically those are the three that are in consideration at this
time under discussion, . There are several approaches the Town Board
can take on these things. They ask us for input,. We can give them
our input. We will definitely,. by law, we are required to send
this information that we got. to the Office . at the end of the 40
day time period. So, any questions you can have I"ll try to answer
or the Town Board will. I tried to- answer a lot of them before
they were asked. Now, we' d like to ask if there are 'any questions
on these homes? I have suggested one more thing, I will suggest
that the Office of Mental Retardation come -out here and hold a
public information meeting. They said they would be glad ,to. Let
the• Town, Board select the date ..and they will come. My daughter, .
who was involved in the North fork, I asked that she be transferred.
She .was :transferred from Southold Town to Oyster Bay Township. It
is hard to take but I didn't want my own daughter, which wa:§"'mentioned
in one of the letters that was sent in to me, that she is my daughter
and I might have conflict. I called up after. I got the letter and
said, "Will you please transfer her. " She was transferred yesterday
from Southold Town to Oyster Bay Township which is part of the burden
I ,have to bear. - Any questions from the audience?
MR. HILLER. KAHN: I 'm President of the Orient-By-The-Sea Property
Owners Association. One of the questions I have that you might be
able to answer is when a final resolution is up, when can we get
a decisions, whether the decision is no -or no-go with Orient-By-The-
Sea, because we have all kinds of contingency plans in case this -
proceeds.
SUPERVISOR PELL: Your timetable runs out--I think your 40 day
comment period runs out on the 22nd of April. We have a Town Board
meeting on the 21st. I plan to.,put all .this information I -have from
you and everybody else on that- agenda for the 21st . I distributed
the letters today to the Board and I will put it on for Board action
at that time. Now, we as a Board only recommend to this authority.
How long it is going to take the authority to act, I have no -idea.
I cannot answer that question.. We',t.can recommend; we can ask.:that
they will keep us informed :. 4 if, we tell them we want to be- itnformed
of this. Where you have an alternate site'already selected, ' I know
that ' s .under review. But- on the Mental Retardation' s Office,., I cannot
answer for them, but we have until the 27th.
MR. KAHN: When you say, we, you mean the Town Board?
SUPERVISOR PELL: The Town Board.. The comment period is 40 days : . .
In the 40 days all the comments that we- receive will be sent in to
the Office of Mental Retardation with any recommendations that the
Board wishes to make.
MR. KAHN: Well, I just want to conclude by saying that in a , .
democratic society if the will of the people is listened to,
you made a very fair presentation of our attitude out there.
We. are . almost totally and unanimously against this and I just
hope the Town Board and- state are responsive to the will of the
will of the people. Thank you.
SUPERVISOR PELL: Shank you very much. I always try to make a fair
presentation of both sides.
MR. ROBERT BROWN: I .live on Short Road right across the street
from the house in question. I 'm rather new out here so I''m not
familiar with your way .-of doing things so I don' t know whether
I'm in order or not but I was wondering whether in your remarks -
you are really suggesting that the people in the area of Short
Road go out and find some alternative sites? Dig] I get that .
impression correctly or did I misunderstand you? . ,
SUPERVISOR PELL: No, you understood me. Under Section 41-34,
I guess it is the Mental Retardation Law---they give you. the law
number---you are required to forward any comments of your municipality
concerning this site,-within 40 . days of the- receipt. of notification.'
You may either, one: approve the site; two: suggest one or 'more
alternative. sites in the area of your community which could"
accomodate such a facility; three: object to. the establishment of
152 APRIL 14, 1981
a residence at this .site. because to do so in your community opinion
would result in a concentration facilities that goes on. They give
you very little to actually say you don' t want one in the area, but
they say they want you to come back with an alternative site. Like
the people in Orient picked a site out already_. They are looking
for another site in Cutchogue. They are looking to somebody, whether
it' s the Town Board, for they ask the Town Board to comment and come
back with a site. Now, I have had people- come in to me, like the
Orient people come in, we don' t like this site, but they have this
site in for an alternate site. That I have done. I have people
come in with different sites all the time. I just forward them in .
to the people. they evaluate them. They' re looking for somebody
to come with another site. The letter is directed to the Town
Board and we' re looking to you, the people of . the area.
Anybody else wish to speak on this subject?
COUNCILMAN MURDOCK: As most things start on a Town Board level,
we get involved with the Office of Mental Retardation and came
out and talked to us about one little facility and we agree and
we cooperate, but now with the nature and scope of this entire
program it seems to me that the state is expending quite a
considerable sum of money. To the people of the entire State of
New York to,ltake this kind of an expenditure where they' re looking
for housing, go into an area whether it' s this county or this town
or this state, but go into an area that is depressed. There are
many areas of this state, in particular in Suffolk County to be
more specific where there are a lot of foreclosures. There are
a lot of houses boarded up and abandoned. Can ' t get anybody .to
buy a piece of property there and' here the state is spending a .
half a million dollars going into locations that are. prime
residential areas, they don' t seem to have any bearing at all
on the purpose of the state' s function and they completely violate
the zoning rights. -In most instances they' re violating people' sinherent beliefs in what they bought their specific property for.
It just seems to me that maybe we ought to, on a Town Board level,
or in some capacity, send a letter to the state suggesting that they
might more centrally locate their efforts at areas that could use
rehabilitation and could use an . influx of fresh money. I don' t
want to sound like we' re a. little conceited here because we' re
not but we happen to be a very fortunate area and a big part of
our time now,. and a big part of our citizen' s time is spent in
worrying that the state is coming in here and putting a program
where there is very little need_ for it and certainly very little
access. Short Road--no .stores, no community. Plum Lane in Orient-
By-The-Sea--areas that you couldn' t be "further from facilities. I
don' t understand. It almost looks like they' re block busting. There
just doesn' t seem to be any rhyme. or reason for where they' re
suggesting homes . If it' s the state' s purpose that these people
be put in prime residential areas, that' s a program that we should
address.. And if it' s prime residential areas then they�-.certainly
are meeting qualifications. If it' s only for the benefit of providing
a home and a homelike atmosphere for disadvantaged people, that we
can all -symp.athizewith, but it ' should be in an area that maybe a
lot more needy of an influx of money and I think the state could
be more well advised to address their efforts to areas that could
really use substantial help instead. of areas where they are distrupting
every home in the area. I don' t really--I feel very upset by what
I see going on by the total number of people in our community that
are upset with what' s going on.. I just feel there should be a
better way.
SUPERVISOR PELL: Councilman Drum?
COUNCILMAN DRUM; I 'd like to say in general I* understand the
program and 1 feel for the people. I realize we have different
peoples in our whole community and the mental retardation is one..
I think the-Bois the -Boisseau Avenue is working .out well. I have opposed
specific_ sites from the _every beginning. I have opposed the Short
Road site. I didn't think it was proper for many reasons. Similar
to the Gillette Road it was a small, less than one half acre, and
specifically when I read the article in the local paper I was concerned
enough to call to Barbara Townsend who is in the Office of the Mental
Retardation. Developmental Disabilities and at that specific time,
yesterday, she stated Supervisor Pell stated .recently the Short
Road site for the retarded was a suitable site. He was quoted as
saying, "People in the area did not object ." Now, I quote from the
Southold Town Board meeting of April the 7th, 1981, last week. "The
proposed residence on Short Road was discussed. . Supervisor Pell will
APRIL 14,` 198r ; �
158
notify the Office rof ;;the Mental Retardation, and ..Disabilities that-
there has been one complaint regarding that site. " At that particular
time I said- I have received many complaints and I want that to go into
the record. 1' .personally ,feel and Mr. Pell has explained 'his comments
to Mrs. Barbara Townsend. ' I 'm only ,repeating ,what he had ' said to me
on -the phone, and I am concerned when I read this in the Town Board
minutes of last week. I just would ask . that--request that our Super-
visor Pell speak for himself when he selects a site, not speak for
each individual member of this Town Board. I do not feel that in a
case of Short Road or any location--Orient--I feel that it ' s un-
fortunate that petitions and local action by our Town residents is
necessary to stop an' action to me that was wrong in the first place.
I guess this is why in our country we have so many special' interest
groups. Perhaps maybe the feeling is that we are not representing
them. But I want to say this in the case of the Short Road, I have
opposed' it and I will continue to oppose it,. As I said, not because
of the people that are being put there.- I just do not feel it is a
suitable site, as is Orient. Thank you.
SUPERVISOR PELL: Anyone else wish to speak? John?
COUNCILMAN NICKLES: I just want to reemphasize what the Supervisor,
was reading from the OMRD letter notifying the Town. The 'grounds
for objecton are such that you cannot find any grounds for` objection
beca.use,. -if I can. remember what it says which is, that the only
grounds. for objection are that there may already be an oversaturation
of similar type facilities within the area.. Now,- it is very hard to
come up with an oversaturation when we only have two sites, I think,
approved in the Town and possibly one in l4attituck which I think an
option was signed on that one yesterday. I think the Town Board' s
position when this was first introduced to us was that , we were-,
concerned, are we going to bte. serving; a community out here or are
we going to be a warehouse area for people from other parts ' of New
York State. We were told we would not be serving as a warehouse
area, warehousing people out here so to speak: It' s not a pleasant
term but obviously we know that when we put people sometimes who . ,
are institutionalized, they are warehouses. It' s not pleasant. .On
that basis we were told that there were eight residents in the house,
probably 50% of the residents come from. the Town. One of the 'other ,
questions asked by, us, how many are you projecting for this area.
Initially we 'were under the impression maybe two, -three, but- down
the road they are looking at eight, nine,`--ten. I question having
eight, nine, ten -homes out here because I don' t know as it is _rep
resentative of the "makeup of our community and various ones on the
Town Board have worked hard. In the case of Orient-By-The-Sea;
one gentleman did call me and through him I got the alternative site..
which I submitted to the Supervisor. I think it was inspected..
yesterday. So that' s kind of the works. for you people in' Orient.
Whether it passes as their criteria, I cannot answer at `this A-
point, but that 's in the works. We have one in . Mattituck which
was submitted and we' re trying to move that one along. Now, _ the
fastest I can move that along, and I met with the man .that owns_
the house yesterday and. I met with some people from OMRD, - is a
sixty day option. In all that time during that option period,
this man' s anxious to get out of here , he' s going to Louisiana. .
It is not 100% degree. certain that his house is sold. In talking
to the people when I met them yesterday they are well aware of.
the problem. I don' t know if they are aware of the problems with
Short Road, but they are -certainlyaware- -of .the problem at Orient-
By-The Sea. I don' t think that even though we may not have the
kind of grounds that they indicated are necessary, I don' t think
they are going to ignore a strong protest from the Town Board
combined with your protest. I think they want to come to the
community and I think they want'to be accepted in the community.
I don' t think they want to come and be what the neighbors. 'think
is a blight. So as the Supervisor suggested 'to those in ;Orient,
if you folks that are in "the Cutchogue area can come up- with an
alternative, I think we can submit it through the Supervisor. and
I think they would be very happy to come out and inspect that
site in lieu of Short Road. But I want it clear that what the
original concept was--of this Town Board was--we though t.the . ,.:
people of Southold Town were willing to accept their obligations,
within the State of New York because we do have disadvantaged
type people here. We are willing to do- our share. - .A lot of
this stems from Willowbrook .if you remember back- a number of
years ago. One court decision that came down was the disbursing--
not 1007o: of the reason--a Jarge part bf "the reason was Willowbrook
and the court decision was that these people should. be. disbursed,
154 APRIL .14, 1981
they should be put into :homes where they have a homelike atmosphere
instead of living like animals. I don' t think .anybody in this room
would object to having these people within their community.' Maybe
some of us don' t feel they are in the right place now but I think--
and you tell us, tell me if I 'm wrong, that I think we should do
our share relative to these hostels. What I am saying is we accept
your objections and I 'm sure that will be conveyed on those particular
sites.
SUPERVISOR PELL: . Councilman Murphy?
COUNCILMAN MURPHY: Yes, Bill, I have just a couple of remarks.
I agree 1000% with John on everything he says. I would just
like to stress that I don' t think it ' s a good idea to go into
distressed areas, I think the whole purpose of this is to have
the houses in different areas so you are not creating an imbalance.
I do think that from what I--the short time I spoke with this
Barbara Townsend, that they are definitely interested in the
feelings of these people in the neighborhood and if there is
certain reasons, there is criterias close to stores, this .,type..
of stuff in an area that might be dangerous, that these homes
shouldn't be put in, but I do think and I do think the people
in the Town have shown their very good faith in finding other
locations and I think we can do this and there is a definite
need. Any one of us who has ever gone to a mental hospital or
seen some of these veteran' s hospitals or something it really is
depressing and distressing. So I .think the people of the Town
are doing a good job and letting the government agencies know
that we don,' t want it in a� certain place but there is another spot
that would be suitable and I think this type of system of taking
care of these people definitely deserves a chance and. if it ' s done
right in meeting the criteria . and the needs of the people in the
community. Thank you.
SUPERVISOR PELL: Thank .you. Anyone else wish to. address the
Town Board? The answer to the question is simple. Communications.
People communicate with the Town Board' and the Town Board communicates
with me and I will have the answers to give to the .people. Communica-
tion. We advertised it, we mentioned it here. John. -reads reports
every week. Orient people I commend you for your fast action. You
have done a beautiful job. Beautiful work is something to be proud
of. In fact, I' ll be proud of these reports when you send it in;
all the detail work involved:. The word is :communication., You
communicate with us and we can communicate with the authorities.
John just brought up a point. The alternate site in Orient was
already presented--in the works before I actually received official
notice and again they read it in the paper--communications--and they
went right to work and again I commend the Orient people--Orient-By-
The-Sea. Motion is in order to adjourn.
On motion of Councilman Drum, seconded by Councilman Murdock, it was
RESOLVED that there being no further business to come before this
Town Board meeting adjournment be called at 6:05 P.M.
Vote of the Town Board: Ayes: Councilman Murphy, Councilman
Murdock, _ Councilman Nickles, Councilman Drum, Supervisor Pell.
This resolution was declared duly adopted.
h T. Terry.u'df' �
Town Clerk