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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTB-08/12/1999-FI 2 7 I8 AUGUST 12, 1999 SOUTHOLD TOWN BOARD REGULAR MEETING A Regular Meeting of the Southold Town Board was held on August 12, 1999', at Fishers Island, Southold, New York. Supervisor Cochran opened the meeting at 1 :30 P.M. with the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. Present: Supervisor Jean W. Cochran Councilwoman Alice J. Hussie Justice Louisa P. Evans Councilman William D. Moore Councilman John M. Romanelli Town Clerk Elizabeth A. Neville Town Attorney Gregory F. Yakaboski Absent: Councilman Brian G. Murphy SUPERVISOR COCHRAN: I understand we have a special treat today. We are going to have a presentation from IPP. NANCY HUNT: Nancy Hunt, President of the Civic Association, and we have Sam Horn, and 1 believe her name is Chelsea Skinner, and Clint, who is a counselor from IPP, and the. children have made something for the Board to say, thank you very, very much for the purchase of the property that is behind Dock Beach. We all appreciate it, but the children most of all, and we. look forward to working with the Baard, and with the island .people, and with the Southold Parks and Recreation Department, and the children, and Alice I am so sorry. Apparently the,jetter . was written and we forgot to mention your name. It was my 'fault, but it was inadvertent. I think it was Highway Department, but sorry. So, the children will do the presentation now. CHELSEA SKINNER: My name is Chelsea Skinner. On behalf of IPP we would like to thank the Town's fathers and mothers for purchasing the parking lot by Dock Beach. SAM HORN: Thank you. My name is Sam Horn. SUPERVISOR COCHRAN: Thank you. Very nice. What do we have here? Very, very nice. This is going to go in Town Hall over on the mainland. We are going to hang it up. We will tell them about the land acquisition and being able to now develop a playground, picnic tables for all you young people, and older people, too. We thank you. Each year we go through the introductions of officials. I stand here, and last year, I believe Bill helped me read all the names, and we have a nice turnout, and it does give County and both our local municipality, and County, and State, the opportunity to greet and meet people of Fishers Island, but also any business. I know Lieutenant Cochran had some appointments, and the firemen have a meeting, and so on and so forth, so it is utilized for business in addition to just the pleasure of arriving at Fishers Island. I think what I am going to do, because I would like everybody to know who is here, I am going to let you introduce yourself this year. It may take a moment, but each year I just read through these names and nobody has a .face and a name together. I think it is important that when you hear a name you can at least picture the face that goes with It. So, Mary, I am going to ask you to start. We . are going to go up and down here, then we are going to go up -and down here, then we are going to hit there and u.. SOUTHOLD TOWN BOARD AUGUST 12, 1999 .across the back. I think you can all project, and say what your name is who you are. Mary Wilson, Assistant Town Attorney. Maureen Porter -and my husband, Elliot Porter, residents of the Island. Nancy Hunt, resident of the Island, and President of the, Fishers Island Civic Association. Chip DuPont, resident of the Island, and Fishers Island Ferry Commissioner. Ellen Parker. Peter Rugg. I have been here on and off for seventy years. Still coming back. Mike McGree, year round resident. Brad Burnham. Sue Horn, year round resident, and member of the School Board. Ray Cowen, Regional Director of the New York State DEC over in Stony Brook on the mainland of the United States of America. Katherine Murphy, DEC Regional Office. John Ski, island pilot and bulldozer operator. Mark Lowery New York State DEC Public Service Advisor Stony Brook, Scott Russell one of the Assessors for the Town of Southold, Mark Cerrara DEC, Steve Jones Suffolk County Planning. Bob Scott one of the Assessors. Gerald Goehringer member of the Zoning Board of Appeals, Town of Southold. Peter .Burke, Fishers Island. Marilyn Quintana, Receiver of Taxes. Harris Parsons, summer resident. Dick Ryan, member of the Land Preservation Committee. James Grathwohl, Friends of Fort Corchaug, but I am also Chairman of the Old House on Cutchogue Village Green. I invite every one of you to come Saturday to our 350th Anniversary Celebration. Looking forward to you all there. We will run a special boat from Fishers Island to Orient. Ray Huntington, Land Preservation Commission. Ken Edwards, year round resident, member of the Southold Town Planning Board, ' Ken Reeves, Recreation Director Town of Southold. George Conway, . Suffolk County Weights and Measures. Kevin McAllister, Peconic Baykeeper. Bob Stanonis, Suffolk County Office of the Aging. . Charles Gardner, Suffolk County Consumer Affairs. John Thatcher, Fishers Island Ferry District. Bernie Jacobson. I serve. on the Southold Town Transportation Committee. I also run North Ferry to Shelter Island. Elaine Arnold, Emergency Management. Jim Baranki, New York Emergency Management Office. Dr. Joseph Chiaramonte, Board of Ethics. Fred Daniels, FRES. Harry Mulhall, Suffolk County Probation Department. Joe Krukowski, Farmland Preservation Committee. John Raynor, Southold Town Emergency Management. Chris Edwards, year round resident. Chief Deputy Jenkins, Suffolk County. Michael Schlos, Suffolk County Clerk's Office. David Blados, Cutchogue Fire Chief. Bill Bleyer, Newsday. Mario Carrera, FRES. Bruce Conemeyer, New York State DEC. Julie Evans-Brumm, Fishers Island Conservancy. Don Fredericks, Shellfish Advisory Committee. Raz Freidel, Fishers Island Conservancy. Dave Halbfinger, New York Times. Jan Hanover, USDA Plum Island. Margaret Hoag, Suffolk County Adult Protection . Agency. Ed Hubbard, New York State DEC, Jim Hudson, Board of Ethics. Glenn Just, JMO Consulting. Kathy Koehnen, Superintendent Fishers Island School. Carol Ann Kydd, Canadian Red Cross. Ernie Lampro, New York DEC. Stephen Lorence, New York State DEC. Thomas Martin, Suffolk County Department of Health. Geoff Mascaro, Suffolk County Division of Real Estate. Tim McGowan, Mattituck Fire Chief. Doug McKay, New York State Agriculture and Markets. Steve Mudd, Agricultural Advisory Committee. Kathy Newcomer, Suffolk County. Department of Health. Salvatore Nicosia, Legislator Caracciolo's Office. Tom Norris. Robin Palmer, JMO Consulting. Eileen Peters, DOT Regional Director's Assistant. Richard Ploth, Board of Ethics. Paul Pontura, Suffolk County Department of Health Services. Eileen Powers, District . Attorney's Office. Norman Reilly, Town Fire Coordinator Liaison. Holly Rhodes-Teague, Suffolk County Office for the Aging. Gregg Rivara, Cornell Cooperative Extension. Thomas Shalvey, Southold Town's Chief's Council. Chris Smith, Cornell Cooperative Extension. Brendon Vail, Suffolk County Clerk's Office, Janet Von Berg, Suffolk , County Red Cross, Town Watkins, Greenport Fire Chief. Jim Welker, Motorola. Patricia Zielenski, New York State DEC. SUPERVISOR COCHRAN: Thank you one 'and all. My. staff, Ruthanne Woodhull, she usually answers_ the phone, and we have Melanie Doroski, also, and we borrowed one from .Betty.'s office, Liz Stathis. Thank you for the job, ladies. I will send you all flowers tomorrow. They will hold me to it, also. At this point I would like to introduce to you our State Assemblywoman Patricia Acampora, who would like to offer greetings to the body here at large. 2 O Q AUGUST 12, 1999 SOUTHOLD TOWN BOARD ASSEMBLYWOMAN ACAMPORA: I don't know how this came out. Did your Town Board introduce themselves? It is my pleasure to be here, and I always like to take the opportunity to make this trip, because it is kind of difficult to get here, and of course after you spend a long session in Albany I look upon today, even though it was raining, as my boat cruise and one day of vacation. It is also very good to be here ,because we get to actually put the face to the name 'that we talk to people on the phone, and of course, Fishers Island has had it's problems with various departments in the State of New York over the past few years, and of course, it has been my pleasure to always be the advocate and work withs.f,:;you on behalf of those problems. I notice there are the Superintendents here from the school district. We did good this year for Fishers Island. I Ahink you will be happy. I don't know if you still have the State Aid, but they are good, and there were some things we did good in the budget.;. There were some things that we could have done better, and I guess that i,s why government has to keep going around. We need to do better. But, it is always is my honor to come here, and to have the communication with you, to continue advocating on behalf of those things that are important to the residents of Fishers Island, certainly on behalf of all the residents of New ,York when we are talking about areas of the environment, and particularly the Long Island Sound. That is one of the reasons why this place is special, and while all of Long Island and the First* Assembly District is also so special, and we all know that if we don't take care of that Long Island Sound, and we don't care of our environment that there is no reason for us to be here. So, that is something that is truly important to me, and A continue to look forward to working with all of you.. John Thatcher is my unofficial contact and office member, I think, because we do dialogue quite often on the phone, but John has never steered me wrong, and actually he has been very helpful in educating me to a lot of the issues that are important to all of us here in this room. So, I will be ground, if anybody has anything they feel they need to tell me, come on over and talk to me. I am here, and it is unfortunate, that we only get ,to come here once a year, but it is a great opportunity for all of you because I don't think any other part of my district gets this kind of opportunity to have all these people from various levels of government, and all the different agencies, who come and want to have a dialogue with you, and want to do the right thing, so take advantage of today, make some new friends, and I will be .back again next year. Thank you. SUPERVISOR COCHRAN: Thank you, Pat.. I would like to introduce to you now the Board, and then I have two presentations I would like. to make. On my left is Councilman John Romanelli. Next to John is Alice Hussie, Councilwoman, Deputy Supervisor and Councilman Bill Moore. On my right is our Town Clerk Betty Neville, and your favorite Councilwoman Louisa Evans, and on the end is our Town Attorney Greg Yakaboski. That is the team that works together. Brian Murphy, he is, in the wholesale business for nursery stock, and he is up in Canada right now buying his Christmas trees, so we do miss Brian today. I have two presentations would like to make, and one is to the Fishers Island Fire Department. As you may, or may not know, and maybe you saw some of it, but we do have some pictures of the airlift over here. Now, we were sitting over in Orient Point with fog so thick we couldn't see our hand in' front of our face, and the National Air Guard was able to . fly over, but they couldn't see us. I mean the whole world was sunshine except Orient Point, so we were unable to complete the mission, but the mission has been rescheduled for September 11th. The same people will be involved. Colonel Ittiny has already ordered a second sling, and we will be working with two helicopters this time, so there are ten cars left. We expect to move-them on September 10th and do it all in one day: So, that will be out of the way, but there were a lot of different, groups. If you notice the sign, one of which was the Fishers Island Fire Department, and the Orient Point Fire Department that helped us, so I believe the Chief is here. Would you. please? We would like to present you with this certification of appreciation, because we are going to ask you to be available again September 11th. A Certificate of Appreciation presented to the Fishers Island Fire Department, ,it's voluntary assistance of it's fire :fighters and 'rescu,e personnel' helped the New York Army National Guard towards the completion of it's mission regarding the project of Fishers , Island Auto Air Lift, July 23 to 25, 1999: With collaboration of the': New York, State Parks and Recreation and Historic Preservation, New 'Yoj k State Department of Bnvlronmohtal Coriiervatlon, Suffolk County Oipartment of Parks, Recreation, Preservation and SOUTHOLD TOWN BOARD AUGUST 12, 1999 2 8 1 Conservation, and the Town of Southold. So, we say thank you to your men for helping us out. You will get another letter on the 11th. Ray, I am going to give this to you. We had Captain Conklin, excellent, excellent member of the Department. He was supposed to be here today, but the weather may have changed . his mind. I know that the people of Fishers Island were very appreciative of the open space we were able to buy here, and we felt it was important for you also. You have your beach there. It is where the kids have their swimming lessons. It was a long road, but thanks to people like our speaker we were able to get there, and the Town now owns the Fitzgerald property, both by the beach and dockage, and the property behind, and yes, the Recreation Committee is available, and we would like to meet with some of your people, or what your concept is. It is open space money, so we certainly-+kcan't build sheds, and buildings, but we feel that we can put some play equipment, or picnic tables to enhance the area for the residents of Fishers foland, so we would like to communicate back and forth with. that with you. One of the gentlemen that worked so hard to bring this all about was Dick Ryan. Dick Ryan is Chairman of the Land Preservation Committee, 'and he is one of those unsung heroes in government that makes a lot of things happen, and in a good way, because we feel saving as much land as. we can is a good way. So, at this time Dick is going to share some of land preservation information with you, and please, let's give him a warm welcome. Dick Ryan. DICK RYAN: Thanks for the kind words, Jean. I feel like we ought to have tickets, and I, am up on stage here already for a performance. Jean had asked me if I would share with you all where we are at with respect to our land preservation in the town. So, I put together some information, some statistics here, in the front at least that I extracted out of the agricultural .strategy report that is in the formative stages at the moment, that will give some..focus to where we are going to go with our farmland preservation efforts: in the town at least. Within all of that data is some statistics that I wanted to share with you. That our town is comprised of approximately 34,000 acres of land,. that the community preservation plan, which was a component part of the enactment of the 20 transfer tax legislation last year,. which now is in place, and within that plan has identified about 6,545 acres comprising about 500 parcels, that are recognized in this preservation plan, as being protected in some manner .within the town, and that area represents about 980 of the Town's total area. In agriculture in our town we have a little over 10,000 acres, that is in agriculture production in one form or another. That makes up about 489 parcels that have been identified through the inventory process we did as part of our strategy. We have pending in our acquisition efforts currently six properties on our plate in front of our. committee, and I should 'introduce the other members of our committee, that are here today. They have already made a shot at that, but I want to recognize them again. Ray Huntington, and Joe Krukowski, and Peter Burr are members of this committee, too, and as a Chairman I can tell you I greatly appreciate their involvement, their attendance at ,the meetings, and the contributions to our efforts. In the farmland component of our land preservation efforts we have six properties up on our plate now that total abo"ut 180 acres, and have an estimated cost of about 1 .8 million in the purchase of development rights on these farms. How we succeed is largely dependent on what kind of response the farmland owners give back to us as we make an offer to buy these development rights. We try hard enough that' I like to feel that we are reasonably assured of the success of being able: to buy these 180 acres of farms. In our open space component of our': land preservation program at the present there are five properties that im a process leading hopefully to the purchase and preservation. The total is around 155 acres, and I have assigned an estimated .cost of about $2,000,0.00 to those. They run from woodlands 'to shore fronts , to wetlands. They are all considered to be environmentally sensitive. As one uses those words that three proposals that the development "opportunity on is somewhat restrictive because of the environmental. sensitivity, so hopefully we will be able to buy them at a price that reflects some rather limited potential sense of development, but none the less but :;still reflects that they do have values in the overall concept of the community, and 'the world we are living in, in the Town of Southold particularly,; whether they are wetlands or woodlands, or shore frontages. We are going to pay the price that the market suggests they are worth. These proposed acquisitions are candidates also for matching supplemental grant funding from the State. and/or the County, and/or private groups. Sometimes during the process of acquisition often times as 2 8 `2 AUGUST 12, 1999 SOUTHOLD TOWN BOARD a end result of a successful acquisition once they are owned .by the town then you can make an application for some supplemental funding to the cost of those purchases. Land Preservation Committee and . Community ;Preservation Project Plan funded by this Board and our town are one and the same. They are both legislatively created entities that are made up of sixty volunteers. There are farmers on them. There are retired State employees on them. There is County employees on. . There is retired business administrators on. They are male and female. We have a great time. We work well together. We think we are accomplishing a lot. We are continuously recommending proposed land preservation projects for purchase to the Town Board. At the present the Town has something in the area of $2,000,000 in acquisition funds available to support these purchases that we are working. As I said those will be supplemented by additional funds from other sources hopefully. The Town's program of land preservation is voluntary, that is to say we need participation of the property owner. The only mechanism we are using to acquire these lands is .that of negotiating purchase, so it is important that we stay in harmony, and in tune, and be sensitive to the needs and the wishes and the desire'i of the property owners as . we try to balance that with our perception `'of the needs, the wishes and the desires of the community. Today .the members of the Land Preservation Committee, who are here, have met with members of the Fishers Island community to explore some avenues, vehicles, to preserve some fort land areas here on Fishers Island, And I suspect over time Peter Burr, and Louisa, 'and, perhaps us on the committee will be articulating that directly to property owners, and in probably more generic sensitivity of Fishers Island communities. I hope that we have some opportunities to see what we can do to accomplish and insure preserved lands that are important to Fishers' Island. Thank you very much. SUPERVISOR COCHRAN: Thank you, Dick. Our next speaker is Kevin McAllister. Although he is baykeeper of the Peconic Bay, which is on the opposite side of-• the mainland, rather comes between the two forks, but I think some of what he has to share with you today will be of interest to you also. He is a very knowledgeable young man. When I start saying young, boy, I am in trouble. Kevin is going to share with us some of not only his duties, but I think some issues in this area. KEVIN MCALLISTER: Perhaps. Good afternoon everyone. I would certainly like to acknowledge Jean first and foremost for inviting me today. Thank you, and certainly for the opportunity to speak to everyone. I would ,also like to acknowledge the board for their ongoing support. From the inception of my work they have been behind me on a number of initiatives. Thank you very much. I guess I. will start with a little history to what the baykeeper movement is, or the keeper movement. Back in the 70's there was some serious concern about pollution •issues in the Hudson River. There was a fishermen's group that felt that• they were having difficulty dealing with some of the issues. Perhaps our government wasn't paying enough attention to it. Big industry had a great deal of power: that they weren't changing their ways, so they felt they had to take control of themselves. So, from that came the inception of the Hudson River Keeper. That is really modeled after basically the British Isles. There was one individual that oversaw particular rivers and streams. Since that time between an individual John Cronin, the Hudson River Keeper, and Robert Kennedy, Jr., they have had monumental success in cleaning up the vital estuary. It took twenty years time, a lot of battles, but certainly if you read the papers that stay abreast of the issues the Hudson River today is in a lot better shape than it was twenty years ago. That gave birth to the Keeper Movement. From that time . Keeper started popping up all ,over. So, there is now 36 of us throughout the country and Canada. There is a lot more abroad. Our role is,to act As. .really a watchdog of a particular water body, and represent that water body. So, in respect to Peconiic System first and foremost I represent'`the bays: My employer is you folks, the public. That is who I answer to:; •the accountability of myself, my own soul in what is right, but .again, .being an on _government organization it is, really the public's will at the `end. So, I rely on public as- well as foundation support for my work. I guess with respect to the Peconics, I try to be a watchdog out here staying abreast of what the issues are, spending time on the water to have-' first hand knowledge, work to make a full time commitment to the protection of the environmental economic health of the estuary. We should� all know, and this is a tremendous place, 'and again I thank you for the hospitality of Fishers Island. Our estuaries " are at SOUTHOLD TOWN BOA" AUGUST 12, 1999 2 B :3 crossroads. Now is the time when we have to start really paying attention to the demand from our public officials that they do the right thing. With that said I see a key role with respect to the Peconic 'system. Very soon will be advanced the comprehensive plan. With that plan there are a lot of initiatives.. recommendations, but in some sense they are generalized initiatives. I think -my role is really to try to galvanize the public together and to advance those initiatives. Again, we are at crossroads. We have got a great opportunity to keep moving forward. On a local level I Would certainly like to thank John Thatcher for the tour I had today. This is my first opportunity' to visit the island, and it is tremendous, and I want to share with you, I guess a couple of observations. My background is essentially biological, marine biology, marine ecology, and coastal zoning management, academic training, as well as professional experience, so you know when I am out and about a'ny place I like to kind of key in on the environment. Clearly I like to applaud everybody in this room for being very good stewards :of 'of their land. That impressed me, acouple of items in particular. What we experienced in I Long Island is what I term the turf marks.. There is more and more trend for really turning our landscapes into vast turf areas, vast lawns, and with that a : lot of chemicals dependence, pesticides, fertilizers ultimately work their Way into our water bodies. Driving around here I could sense here that folks appreciate what they have. They are trying to. live with nature as ,,opposed to really controlling nature. The second item is really the golf,.k.course area, and that was more like old Scotland, where the Scottish golf courses where the amount of fairway is minimal; and the chemical application is reduced. Just driving around you can clearly see there is a great deal of rough fairways with a kind of a bluish green as opposed to emerald green, and really minimize to the green areas. So, they told me they are not using the water wastefully, as well as chemicals, because we do ' h'ave a fine line supply of freshwater particularly on this island. You have be ivery conscious of that. Land preservation, I would certainly like to acknowledge the museum for their -efforts, as well as the Conservancy, so with that said, you know, I am impressed. You have a jewel of a home here. Tune into it. Make that connection from land to water, because make no mistake that they are intricately connected. If we are not good stewards to land, certainly with a lot of water quality disappearing with that a whole host of problems. Again, thank you for your hospitality. Thank you to the Board, Jean in particular, for this opportunity. Last word I would like to say, although this is kind of the extension of my purview I want you to know I am a resource to you folks. There are issues out here that are -certainly universal in nature, and to the extent I can help and weight in on these issues I want you to know that I am there. Again, you need to know I am available. Reach out when you can, when you feel that perhaps the baykeeper can be of some help, and know that I work for you. Thank you. SUPERVISOR COCHRAN: Thank you. There was one resolution on the agenda, which we are holding. Our Labor Attorney had hoped' to be with us today, and he called us the first thing this morning from Nassau County, and due to the bad weather he missed the boat, and he has given advise to hold this resolution until we have some more opportunity to discuss it with his as a Board. Under my update as far as the 1999, hurricane season brochures it just 'being finished . up *in my office, and updated with telephone numbers, and so forth, so I will be giving those to Louisa to bring over the next Board meeting next week. They will be in the library, because there are some new numbers there. We talked about the junk car removal, so September .11th will be the date, and we will have two helicopters working,1.� because they have ordered a second sling, so it is quite exciting if you get the opportunity to go down and see the operati-on. It is amazing. The third item on my Supervisor's update says, third Constable for Fishers Island. - Scratch out Bay Constable. We are talking Constable not Bay Constable, the third d one. I know this has been a desire of the Island for; quite some time. I think it is time that the Board seriously considers it. We did do interviews today. People that are interested in the job,, and you have one person retiring so we will be replacing that person first, and then hopefully through my budget which I will put it into for the next coming year we can go on, and hire a second person, which would make three for you people, and hopefully it works. It is good that we have some young people coming along. We have many young people beginning to get more and more involved in government in Southold,' so this is an opportune time for us to look at the whole picture AUGUST 12, 1999 SOUTHOLD TOWN BOARD 28 of constables on the island, and training and some of the other things that go along with it, we will be doing that. At this time the Town Board has a policy that if you would like to address the Town Board on any given topic which is Town Board business we would be very happy to entertain your comments at this time. Is there anyone that would like to share something, or address the Town Board? PETER BURR: I just wanted to acknowledge on the behalf of the Civic Association, and also the Fishers Island residents how much we appreciate what Ed Dart and his Tree Committee• have done for us. We have received trees every year. He has been consistent and has followed through. The Highway Department has been helpful, and if the hurricanes don't take them all down we hope they grow to be as tall as some of the others. We really, really do 'appreciate it. It is a terrific program. Thank you. SUPERVISOR COCHRAN: You are welcome. I haven't had the opportunity to talk to Ed yet, but I think he is going to be needed down in New Suffolk. As you know we had a tornado. It was severe as a hurricane can be without the flooding, but the damage to the environment, and the trees. I think we lost four roofs off houses in different areas. It touched down in Mattituck down Park ' Avenue, and then it stopped over Kimogenor Point, and then New Suffolk, and then it bounced over across Cutchogue Bay, and across Nassau Point. Again, I would like to say thank you to all the people that were involved from the Cutchogue Fire Department, and they called in mutual aid, Southold, and Greenport, and Mattituck, and within ten minutes after the happening they were going door to.,door making sure that no one was injured. No one was injured. We don't: like to think any further than that. There was a time that we thought ;perhaps we could have—we had some capsized boats out in the bay, and we sent a diver out. We felt they all had to checked, and they were checked, and thank God there was no loss of life, but it has done a great deal of damage to the environment, so between the Highway Department, and the Police Department, and the Fire Departments, and we do have the Emergency Preparedness Plan in Southold, and through training they all know their jobs, and everyone went and did their job. We had- Suffolk County come out with their command post. We thank you again, and through the cooperation of every agency that was involved everything went very well. Ray Jacobs, our Highway Superintendent felt he would have most of it cleaned up by yesterday noon, but then of course once we clean the highways everybody drags it from the yard, but we are being good neighbors. We are going to take it all. It is going into the Landfill free. If anyone has damage to the house we are giving them emergency building permits, so it really has been, as i said to one of the papers, Southold people have a spirit, and I know the people here on Fishers Island have the same spirit, and when something like this happens you just pick yourself up off the floor, and keep going, so that is what Southold :has done. JOHN THATCHER: Thank you Jean for those words. I just wanted to congratulate and thank the entire Town Board for their work over the last year or so, particularly on environmental issues, and issues such as lobstering, which is so difficult to handle, and the dumping situation only a mile off our shores, and lastly Pat Acampora has been a gem for .Fishers Island. I don't 'know how many people in this room know what she has done for us, but. it is substantial, and .believe me very much appreciated. I also:,.want to •thank the two members of Cornell Cooperative Extension who were' here to primarily inform Fishers -Islanders on such things as raising the mussels commercially; things like that. It all has come together today. I just wanted to thank one and .all. .Thank you. SUPERVISOR COCHRAN: Thank! you,.. John. Anyone else like to address the Board? FRANK BURR: Frank Burr. First I want to thank you very much for addressing the matter of the third Constable. I did speak' to the Board last year at this time on behalf of Fishers Island Civic Association, the Police Action Committee, and Fishers Island Development Corporation. I think .you understand that we have an awful lot of months out here; where there is no presence .of the excellent New York State Police, who are here basically from May until December. Even . though during those times, which are obviously, are our busiest times with two constables, which aro obviously part time positions, and the fact that our troopers need time off':while they t .S SOUTHOLD TOWN BOARD AUGUST 12, 19992 :O are here as well. There are many times when there, is no coverage whatsoever, and you know of course that there is no presence from full time police from Southold here. So, frankly, in the months of December through May the Constables are the law enforcement on Fishers Island, and given the fact that they are part-time jobs, and they have lives to, live, and jobs to leave, the need for a third constable to us is.- absolutely essential, and the fact that you are considering it this year is something that I think we all say, thank you very much for that. I, also, want to just address you for a moment on the subject of the year-round population. As you know, we, under Brad Burnham's leadership .in the late 80's created the first growth plan for Fishers Island, which has been updated by subsequent Civic Associations, and one of the tenets of that report was the fact that the year-round population had declined to over 500 in 1960 to approximately 300 in the late 80's, and to our knowledge the number today is approximately 275 people. It is a number that concerns us greatly. Both the culture of this island, the greatness of this island, as well as the services of this island ride on fewer and fewer backs, if you were going forward: We have engaged in a number of initiatives to try to improve the situation. Frankly, if anything, it is flat and it may be down, but it has not grown, and it continues not to grow,' and continues to be of great concern. Obviously, we have most recently industrially trying to save the lobster industry for this island by way of all the initiatives that have been undertaken, and try and keep the shores and area adjacent to Fishers Island from being fished out by people who are engaging in practices that are not constant with their own. But, beyond that we have as you know an important housing corporation that is ' the 'current owner of thirteen homes, with the underlying leases on those homes. Walsh Park .continues to seek additional real estate for the purpose of rental as well,;as ownership. We have a school that is doing it's best to maintain headway with 75 or 80 students, close to half of them coming on the ferry:. We have been successful, as you heard in securing a full town doctor, 'Dr. Hand, for this island. We have taken initiatives in the area of various sundry ways of improving ferry service, creating more activities, doing :everything in our power to make this the place that people want to come and stay on .a year-round basis. I think that one of the issues that has, received the least attention, and one that we talked about the original time with the growth plan was employment, and the reason I stand before you, not only to bring you up to date, I am concerned that Fishers Island Development Corporation, and Civic and this whole community has on the subject is to say that you should be thinking, we would ask you to think on our behalf with respect to things that might be in Town government that could be lodged here, or things that come to your attention in the terms of businesses that maybe don't fit there, or could fit there as well as here. We really need to take the cottage industry, the small light industry the business level of this island to another level, and it is especially germane, if you will, appropriate employment for women. This is tended to be a place where the guys have found employment and things that they enjoy. We have not really been too successful in having the same for woman, and I think that the kinds of things that we envision are businesses that employ two, three, four, five people, so it is not only making a living, but it is also is a social environment that most of us enjoyed in other ways in our own business environment, so I would just say as you go through ..your work if you could think of our needs. I think it would be tremendous appreciated, and we would be responsive in terms of housing, in terms of trying to find housing, and trying to support industry through renovating things, building, or something like that, or spaces here in the fort or other places. There is definitely interest, and definitely some money available on this end to facilitate people here, so we would very much appreciate it. • Thanks. SUPERVISOR COCHRAN: Thank you. Anyone like to address the Town Board? (No response,.) If not, 1 .will call on Board members to offer their greetings or comments to Fishers Island. John Romanelli? COUNCILMAN ROMANELLI: I just want to say, thank you again. This is my second time here. Last year I sat here, and said it was my first, so I still enjoy the island. I also want to let you know that'-I honestly believe that Louisa comes over every other week and represents the people of the island pretty well. She lays issues on the table, and can be stubborn and pushy. for them sometimes, but she represents you real well. 286 AUGUST 12, 1999 SOUTHOLD TOWN BOARD SUPERVISOR COCHRAN: Alice Hussie? COUNCILWOMAN HUSSIE: It is nice to see you again. This is my eighth visit. I counted eight. Also, I was counting the people last time .we were here, ' and I see that us officials are still outnumbering the Fishers Island people by three to one, but it is better than it was last time. It is very nice to see you all, and I finally. have gotten to the point where I could associate the names with the faces, and it has nothing to do with Fishers Island except that Kevin McAllister mentioned trophy lawns, and I wanted to let him know that I am in the forefront of the movement not to have one. Mine would never qualify. It is nice to be here. SUPERVISOR COCHRAN: Councilman Moore? COUNCILMAN MOORE: It is great to back. The first time I came over was four years ago, and I .came in a suit, jacket, and tie, and I stuck out like a sore thumb. So, I have learned my lesson. We now have the official attire of the Town Board, and you will know that Fishers Island is actually setting fashion trends over on what Jean like to call the mainland, which I get kick out of, because we are an island too, but relative to Fishers Island. We actually have summer dress code now for. the Town Councilman. The woman haven't quite joined us. COUNCILWOMAN HUSSIE: We didn't know there was one. COUNCILMAN MOORE: We didn't share the news, but .now you know. In case you hadn't noticed the Councilman, the men anyway, are wearing shorts and golf shirts, the Town Board on their work days through the summertime. So, congratulations to you guys for having us loosen up a little bit. I am very happy that we acquired the property, and Dick Ryan did a great job of negotiating on behalf of the town. That was not an easy proposition. It was quite tortured at times, and that was highs, and there were lows, and we weren't sure what was going to happen, so it is a great opportunity to see taxpayer money used back here. I know there is always a tension when. . Washington and the States, we give so much there, what do we get back in return? So, I can appreciate the sentiment from the island, and boy, it is nice to have some of it come back, on something that is going to be used by a lot of people. That is a terrific thing. I ditto what John said about Louisa. She gives persistent, I won't say stubborn, but she does a nice job of presenting the point of view, and the concerns, and interest of the community to the Town Board. The phones exist, but somehow we don't seem to use them back and forth. Please, you don't have to rely solely on Louisa. Reach out and if you have a question or concern get a hold of us or drop us a line, because we do seem so disconnected geographically. There is no need to have it quite the way it is, but Louisa does a fine job in sharing what we think of most of our concerns. Again, it is great to be here. I look forward to another visit back next year, and thank you again. SUPERVISOR COCHRAN: Thank you, Bill. Louisa? After all of this I don't know. JUSTICE EVANS: Thank you all. for the kind words. That was very nice, and I usually end up thanking everybody here, the School Board for allowing us to use the building, and the school superintendent, the Highway Department for helping. me set up all the chairs and cable, Ruthanne for doing the meal, so that took a chore off my back, all the islanders who help me at the boat, and do everything else, so that the people that came had people to take them around, and it was more enjoyable.: Thank you everyone else for coming, the people who come to the meeting from the island, and the people who have come to the meeting from the island, and -the people who have. come here so that the Fishers Island people have a chance to meet you face 'to face, and I think that is really important to make the connection; because as Bill says, it shouldn't always be me. I am happy to. relay things to people, but I am also happy for everyone to call people on their own, too. I think you coming here gives them that opportunity to speak one on one, so, thank you. SUPERVISOR COCHRAN: Betty, would you like say something? 4F SOUTHOLDIJ OWN BOARD+ AUGUST 12, 1999 TOWN CLERK NEVILLE: Yes, good afternoon everyone. It is always a pleasure to be here to meet some new' faces, and to meet with the faces that I speak on the phone with all the time. This is my second visit as Town Clerk, but one of- many visits over the years in my other capacities with other departments. Twenty-eight years, I believe, it is this year. But, again, thank you. It is a pleasure to be here. If my office can ever assist you, Town Clerk's Office. Some of you do call, and send in, please, continue to do so. Thank you. SUPERVISOR COCHRAN: Thank you, Betty. I would just like to add that I mentiohed earlier that is nice that we are having more and more young people involved, so`- we have a balance of the seasoned older person, that can share their knowledge with some of these young people with enthusiasm, and think they know all the answers, but they don't always, but it makes a nice balance. It really does, and it is different with the shorts between Brian and Bill, and you know these men are always coming into the Town Board meeting with shorts, but they are behind the dais, so they figure nobody can see them. So, we live with it. I don't know about Alice, but I don't intend to put shorts on: Once again, it is always our pleasure to come over here. We only do it once a year, and it would be nice if we could do it more often. I would like to thank all the agencies once again from State and County,, and our local people for coming today. It is a nice feeling. We thank you for all your kind words. We are going to continue to look at issues on Fishers Island, and your needs, and we are all here to work together, so that is what we are all about. Thank you again for joining us. Moved by Councilwoman• Hussie, seconded by Supervisor Cochran, it was RESOLVED that this Town Board meeting be and ;'hereby is adjourned at 2:39 P.M. Vote of the Town Board: Ayes: Councilman Romanelli, Councilman Moore, Justice Evans, Councilwoman Hussie, Supervisor Cochran. This resolution was duly ADOPTED. S _ Eliz eth A. Pille Southold Town Clerk