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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTB-12/02/2025 PH 1 1 TOWN OF SOUTHOLD COUNTY OF SUFFOLK : STATE OF NEW YORK 2 ------------------------------------------- X 3 SOUTHOLD TOWN BOARD 4 REGULAR MEETING 5 ------------------------------------------- X 6 7 Southold, New York 8 December 2 , 2025 7 . 00 P . M . 9 10 11 12 13 14 B E F 0 R E : 15 16 ALBERT KRUPSKI JR, SUPERVISOR 17 LOUISA P . EVANS , JUSTICE 18 JILL DOHERTY, COUNCILWOMAN 19 GREG DOROSKI , COUNCILMAN 20 BRIAN 0 . MEALY, COUNCILMAN 21 ANNE H . SMITH, COUNCILWOMAN 22 23 24 25 DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 2 1 INDEX TO TESTIMONY 2 3 Page 4 Public Comments 3-46 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 3 1 PUBLIC COMMENTS 2 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : So 3 before we start the agenda, is there 4 any agenda item that anyone would like 5 to address ? 6 TOM STEVENSON : Tom Stevenson, 7 Orient . Louisa, can you hear me? Oh, 8 you ' re muted . 9 JUSTICE LOUISA EVANS : Yes , I 10 can . Thank you . 11 TOM STEVENSON : Okay, great . I 12 just wanted to address the speed limit 13 resolution . What number do we got 14 there? 2025-804 . Wow, 804 . Getting 15 up there . So you guys know I ' m against 16 the speed limit changes . I don ' t think 17 you should do it . I think you should 18 vote no . The study, I hope you all 19 FOIL ' d the study and read the 20-page 20 study or whatever it was , because it 21 doesn ' t really say to do this . And 22 the -- just so you know, the one person 23 who started this all in motion, who 24 skipped over you and skipped over the 25 Transportation Committee and went right DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 4 1 to the County, right, is moving out 2 of town, sadly, to take care of his 3 wife who has dementia, which is 4 really sad, and going to move with 5 family, but he ' s not even going to be 6 here . So I just think it ' s not 7 necessary . You know, 3% of the 8 accidents are caused by speed . 55% of 9 the accidents are caused by animal 10 collisions . So I would say that, you 11 know, really the thing to do is work 12 on the deer . This does nothing 13 about clearing the overgrown edges 14 of the roads like Moores Lane and 15 Route 48 . It ' s so dangerous because 16 the vegetation has grown in and you 17 cannot see . And the school bus is 18 going and out of there . And people 19 have been killed there . The lines 20 on the road are , they need paint . 21 You can ' t see the lines on the 22 road on Route 48 , half the places . 23 So like, stuff like that versus 24 changing the speed limit . Anyway, I 25 know it ' s a done deal . And then the DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 5 1 Ag Advisory, Shellfish Advisory, 2 that ' s off . That ' s off . So that ' s 3 the main reason I was here . Thank 4 you . 5 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank 6 you . Anyone else want to speak on any 7 agenda item? 8 (No Response ) . 9 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Okay . 10 (Whereupon, the meeting moved 11 onto Resolutions at this time . ) 12 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : So is 13 there anyone that would like to say 14 anything about the ( inaudible ) on 15 Zoom -- anything to address the Board 16 on any matter? 17 TOM STEVENSON : Hello again . 18 Excuse me . Still Tom Stevenson, 19 Southold, Orient . It ' s been a day . 20 And I ' m sure it ' s been a day for 21 everyone with the Cyber Attack . I just 22 wanted to say, you know, the Ag 23 Advisory Committee , we ' re here , we 24 don ' t have a quorum, but we ' re almost a 25 quorum . We were hoping to be more DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 6 1 involved and included in the writing of 2 the code . We discussed it, but we 3 never saw a draft . We never got an 4 invite to Code Committee . We have not 5 gotten invited to a Work Session in -- 6 I have the notes from November 8 , 2023 . 7 We sat in the school , and we had a big 8 conversation about what we thought 9 this Town should be doing according to 10 the Comp Plan . And since that date, I 11 just feel like we ' re not included . 12 We ' re out in the cold . I mean, I ' m 13 sorry if that, you know -- all we ' ve 14 been doing is the Zoning Update . And 15 we reviewed a draft, gave notes , no 16 feedback . Then we got another draft, 17 gave notes , not much feedback . And, 18 you know, it ' s hard for us to meet . I 19 mean, he left the dinner with his 20 relatives . Doug ' s been in the 21 hospital . Steve probably wants to go 22 get some oysters . My daughter wanted 23 to put up her Christmas tree . And we 24 thought this was on the agenda tonight . 25 And we can ' t even get an e-mail saying DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 1 we scrubbed it off the agenda . I ' m 2 like -- because the only way I found 3 out it was on the agenda was because I 4 look at the agendas . And it just is 5 really, you know, it ' s a little much 6 because there ' s a lot of meetings and, 7 you know, it ' s not really -- things 8 never really slow down in agriculture . 9 And, you know, a lot of us , we don ' t 10 know what the future is going to be . 11 I mean, New York loses 10 of the 12 farms every year . I think it ' s going 13 to be a lot more . It ' s going to start 14 accelerating . And, you know, all 15 these words , all these things , all 16 these drafts , they ' re not just words . 17 You know, like things are changing in 18 this Town fast . And people make their 19 decisions . And I ' m not seeing a whole 20 lot about when -- we had agreement 21 from the ones that were on the Town 22 Board to look at allowing processing 23 on development rights sold land . 24 And nothing ' s happened . I don ' t 25 know why . We were told the zoning DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 8 1 update ' s the most important thing . 2 Okay, so we ' ve been good, diligent, 3 looking at that . Keeping our heads 4 down, but I don ' t know how much longer 5 I can keep doing this because , you 6 know, I mean, we ' ve had a vacancy for 7 over a year . Chris Bayes passed 8 away . And so we ' re supposed to have 9 nine . We have seven . And then the 10 other vacancy is a long-term vacancy 11 that just has not been filled . So 12 when we talk about how we ' re going to 13 reconfigure the group, I mean, it 14 matters to us . I mean, when Bill Rulin 15 was our liaison and Chapter 71 was 16 passed, we were at the table . Like, 17 you know, we didn ' t get -- obviously, 18 we ' re just advisory, we ' re just 19 citizens , we ' re just farmers , but we 20 didn ' t get everything that we wanted . 21 I mean, the most important thing that 22 we wanted, and in your new draft, it 23 concerned me . We wanted to be able to 24 review the easements for development 25 rights sales before they close . And we DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 9 1 lost that battle . We were told, you 2 will get to review a sample easement 3 after, you know -- you ' ll get a sample 4 easement from the town, which took a 5 year . And then COVID hit . So then we 6 went through the sample easement . And 7 honestly, I mean, it needs to be thrown 8 out and started completely . I don ' t 9 know who wrote it . Paul , you weren ' t 10 even here . So not on you, Paul . But 11 we tried to go through it because , you 12 know, I don ' t know if people 13 understand . And I always say, like, 14 maybe one-tenth of 10 of the people in 15 this Town even understand these issues . 16 And it just, you have all this 17 experience , like years and years . I 18 don ' t know how long Doug ' s been on the 19 committee , but like -- like , use us for 20 the knowledge and listen to us . I 21 mean, we ' re trying to help and 22 volunteer and make it better . But 23 those easements , I don ' t know if you 24 realize, we debate whether we would say 25 the Town should stop buying development DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 10 1 rights until the easements get fixed . 2 And we sit there going, okay, we ' ll do 3 this one -- or we ' ll -- I mean, we 4 don ' t have the decision-making power, 5 but we think they ' re so bad . And I ' m 6 not pointing fingers , but we ' ve gone 7 from, you know, the County program in 8 the 70 ' s were two paragraphs , Ag 9 Production . They are now over 20 pages 10 of things that even lawyers , most 11 lawyers would have a hard time 12 understanding . Like only certain 13 lawyers like specialize in this . And 14 we just think like when the Town ' s 15 going to do something that ' s in 16 perpetuity, you know, or as Doug says , 17 until the , you know, if the United 18 States ceases to exist . But I like 19 perpetuity a little bit better . You 20 know, what ' s this Town going to look 21 like in 200 years ? I mean, think about 22 it 350 years ago . Unbelievable change 23 has happened . And that ' s going to 24 continue or accelerate . So we can ' t 25 have vast swaths of the town with DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 11 1 easements that just are so restrictive, 2 where we feel like when a farmer sells 3 their development rights , I sold my 4 development rights to the County . I 5 don ' t have any more to sell . You know, 6 it ' s a one-shot deal . And whoever has 7 that farm after has to deal with what ' s 8 in there . And it ' s not like the 9 farmer -- oh, the farmer sold the 10 development rights . They got rich . 11 And now, you know, that ' s what they ' re 12 doing it for . Over time , no one will 13 have development rights to sell . 14 You ' ll either have rights sold land or 15 not . And you look at that piece of 16 land and you say, that land is 17 buildable . That ' s got County 18 development rights on it . That ' s got a 19 70 ' s easement on it . That ' s got a 2010 20 easement . The end result was we 21 thought the mid-2000 ' s easements that 22 the Town were writing, were the ones 23 that like a farmer and any layman could 24 read them . They made sense . It ' s 25 referred to as the Ag of market DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 12 1 seizement . It ' s obviously you want 2 to -- if the Town ' s buying development 3 rates , they need to, you know, everyone 4 needs to be protected, but you also 5 need to let the farmer farm . So 6 anyhow, on that subject, done . Yeah, 7 so Shellfish Advisory Committee , we ' re 8 going to meet and we ' re going to 9 review . We don ' t have a meeting 10 scheduled till , I don ' t, I couldn ' t 11 e-mail Laura . But in January, I think 12 we ' ll , you know, you get the new Board 13 and we ' ll get together and I ' m sure we 14 can just tweak a little couple of the 15 words . So thanks for showing up . I 16 did listen to the Work Session today . 17 I had a couple thoughts about the -- so 18 like the whole committee , this idea of 19 a Communication Committee . Well , I 20 mean, we can just communicate , like I 21 think just the basic community -- you 22 don ' t need a committee to just improve 23 the communication . One idea was that 24 everyone on committee should really 25 have a Town e-mail . Think about it . DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 13 1 And then I was confused . Does the Town 2 Board interview and appoint committee 3 members ? Because that ' s how, like, 4 when I got on the Ag Advisory 5 Committee , like we -- Scott Russell and 6 a few, I don ' t know, Bill was -- you 7 know, I mean, you don ' t find a lot of 8 people who are willing to do this . So 9 like, we want to increase to 11 people . 10 Can you even find 11 people in this 11 Town who want to do this ? But I don ' t 12 feel like the committee should be 13 appointed . You know, we -- sure, we 14 could recommend someone, but really the 15 Town Board has to has to do that . You 16 don ' t want like everyone just sort of 17 like it ' s good to have different 18 opinions . So like if a committee 19 recommends someone , oh, we like that 20 person, they think like this , then it ' s 21 group speak . And not necessarily good . 22 You ' re not getting ideas from other 23 people . So the idea of like getting 24 order to it is great, where like the 25 beginning of the year, you have the DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 14 1 liaisons and the chair . Oh, we shared 2 the handbook with the committee , so 3 they saw it at least . So social media, 4 and I don ' t -- me personally, maybe I ' m 5 just a curmudgeon, I don ' t think 6 government should be doing social media 7 as much as I know it gets to young 8 people and stuff . I just think focus 9 on the official outlets and make sure 10 that that stuff is up there and clean . 11 And I know we ' re getting a new website 12 and all that . So hopeful that we can 13 do that . One thing that really nags me 14 is when I look for the agenda for these 15 meetings on like a Thursday or Friday, 16 you ' ll see it . And then a lot of 17 things tend to get added in there 18 between when the public gets to see it 19 and the day of, you know, now . And I 20 just feel like, you know, on the school 21 board, that ' s pretty rare when we do 22 that . Like, I mean, you can have a 23 motion from the floor or something 24 that ' s an emergency or yes , personnel 25 that you really have to appoint . But I DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 15 1 would caution against doing adding 2 resolutions , you know, between morning 3 Work Session or whenever you ' re having 4 it and the meeting . It ' s just -- it ' s 5 really hard to pay, you know, to find 6 out what the Town is doing, you know, 7 and it doesn ' t give the public time to 8 ask questions or show up . So then -- 9 oh, sorry, I thought I was done with 10 the Shellfish Advisory, the SAC . If as 11 part of that public notice, would you 12 be striking out the old code for what 13 created the Shellfish Advisory at the 14 same time , eliminate that, clean it up? 15 Then, okay -- wireless stuff, raise the 16 towers . The Town Board meeting times , 17 yeah, going to 6 : 00 p . m . , seems to be a 18 good compromise . I don ' t know what you 19 guys decided with Work Sessions , but 20 that makes for a really big day for 21 everyone . Like having a Work Session 22 one week and the Regular Meeting the 23 next week . That ' s up to you guys . But 24 what else we got here? Sorry . Just 25 going over my notes . I think that ' s DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 16 1 mostly what I got . Brian had a 2 question . Does the Town have the USGS 3 data for the water? No, because it ' s 4 not published . 5 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : It was a 6 rhetorical question, but I hope to have 7 that data too for us . 8 TOM STEVENSON : Yeah, well , 9 Fred ' s amazing, but I know that the 10 Water Forum, they were like , come on, 11 can you tell us what it says ? 12 Everybody wants to know . And he ' s 13 like, well , science move , we ' re doing 14 the data, and then we peer review it , 15 and then it comes out, and then you get 16 to read it . Yeah, right . Yeah, he was 17 doing that on his own dime . And he ' s 18 smart . He ' s like, I do the science, 19 not the politicking . It ' s you guys . 20 So anyway, I think that ' s what I got . 21 Thanks for listening to me . 22 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : Well , 23 sorry for not reaching out to you, you 24 know, just that this wasn ' t going to be 25 on tonight . I did see your phone DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 17 1 number there , and we kind of moved on 2 to the next thing . And we had -- you 3 know, Paul and I , all of us were kind 4 of talking . And I thought we were 5 clear that it wasn ' t going to be on 6 tonight . I should have proactively 7 texted you on that . 8 TOM STEVENSON : I thought this 9 was our one chance to change history . 10 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : And we 11 did, you know, to be fair, you did 12 bring it to Ag Advisory last time . We 13 talked about it . I thought we were in 14 agreement with the change of the makeup 15 and -- 16 TOM STEVENSON : The general 17 agreement, yeah . 18 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : And, 19 you know, frankly, we had never talked 20 about -- 21 TOM STEVENSON : But like we ' ve 22 always said mariculture and aquaculture 23 is agriculture . There ' s zero 24 distinction . And so in the proposed 25 code, it really made a -- it made it DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 18 1 sound like there was a distinction . 2 And then watering down our, like, do we 3 get the referrals , that was like 4 really -- And the other thing was like 5 up to 11 members . I don ' t know of a 6 committee . You either have 11 members 7 or you don ' t . How do you know if you 8 have quorum to do a meeting? 9 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Well , 10 there was -- there was -- not to get 11 into it too deeply, but there was 12 discussion today about having, and it 13 goes back to the Shellfish Advisory, 14 because that was the day when it was 15 Baymen who were on the Shellfish 16 Advisory Committee because there was no 17 aquaculture in town . So in those days , 18 you had Baymen who would not meet on a 19 regular basis , but meet as needed in an 20 official capacity . So the reason it 21 was written that way is because then 22 you could have a Bayman, and if you 23 couldn ' t find a Bayman who would be 24 willing to volunteer to serve , then you 25 could have someone else . That ' s why it DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 19 1 was written that way . 2 TOM STEVENSON : That makes sense . 3 Yeah, I think -- 4 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : 5 Because you are volunteers , and I think 6 we really appreciate your efforts on 7 behalf of the Town . 8 TOM STEVENSON : That did come 9 up -- sorry, but the nine members , 10 right, when Chapter 71 was first put 11 in, we were debating -- and the Town 12 Board was debating whether or not it 13 should be all bona fide commercial 14 farmers . I thought that was too 15 strong . You got to leave room for a 16 little flex for, you know -- 17 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : 18 Support people . 19 TOM STEVENSON : Yeah, related, 20 because otherwise, you know, it ' s too 21 strict . 22 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : I think 23 the point you were raising, though, 24 about whether aquaculture and 25 mariculture is part of agriculture DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 20 1 really gets to the heart of some of the 2 frustration that I share with you about 3 the slow -- really lack of progress 4 with the Zoning Code update . Because I 5 know Agricultural Advisory spent a lot 6 of time talking about that definition 7 and whether it made sense to spell out 8 aquaculture and mariculture , especially 9 so the land-based activities of that 10 industry are protected . Even though 11 the farm itself may be out on the 12 water . And in the Code Committee , I 13 brought that up as , at least for now, 14 making that distinction in there, just 15 so that ' s all protected . But again, I 16 share your frustration with the slow 17 process because as you bring up in the 18 discussion of allowing Ag processing on 19 development rights sold land, the other 20 thing we ' ve spent a lot of time in Ag 21 Advisory talking about is potentially 22 updating Chapter 70 . And as we ' ve 23 talked about , we really need to update 24 280 first with the definition . And at 25 least at the time, there was agreement DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 21 1 with the Board members who were there 2 that we would take a look at Chapter 70 3 after looking at 280 , but we can ' t do 4 that until 280 is done . And you folks 5 have spent a lot of time providing 6 feedback . The Town Board has spent a 7 lot of time . The community at large 8 has spent a lot of time . And we ' re 9 still waiting on a draft . And, you 10 know, frankly, we ' ve missed a lot of 11 deadlines , and things have taken much 12 longer than we had all hoped . And, you 13 know, as you point out, agriculture is 14 kind of at a crossroads now . And we 15 need to update the code to reflect 16 those realities . And we also need to 17 update the code to reflect the 18 realities of the business community and 19 what they need in this town . And the 20 idea that, all right, we ' ll just, you 21 know, kick the can down the road, that 22 really doesn ' t work . You know, one 23 thing that really came up in our public 24 engagement sessions is frustration with 25 the Planning process . And what we said DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 22 1 to people is we really need to get the 2 code right , and then we can drill into 3 this other stuff . But we ' re unable to . 4 And, you know, the other thing we 5 talked about today is just all of the 6 other big projects that Planning is 7 working on . You know, you mentioned 8 the cell tower . You know, we ' ve had, 9 what, one Code Committee on that, 10 another Code Committee scheduled, a 11 bunch of Work Sessions on that . You 12 know, we ' re looking at short-term 13 rentals , you know, you name it . You 14 know, you listen to all the Work 15 Sessions , and a lot of that stuff 16 Planning is involved with . And, you 17 know, if I have any frustration in my 18 departure from the Board, it ' s that 19 we ' re not done with the Zoning Code 20 update in four years . That it feels 21 like -- 22 TOM STEVENSON : You get to come 23 and talk about working waterfronts with 24 us . 25 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : I look DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 23 1 forward to that . But this is -- and 2 then I ' ll stop rambling . Really, 3 really important that we get it done . 4 TOM STEVENSON : The last thing, I 5 think I signed off, but the last thing, 6 we ' re meeting with Ed Romaine from the 7 school superintendent and I are meeting 8 with Ed Romaine Monday or Tuesday about 9 Plum Island . We felt like Oyster Pond 10 School and Oyster Pond ' s Fire 11 Department , the lowest level of elected 12 officials . We ' ve never been consulted 13 about this whole plan . And Plum Island 14 is Orient . It ' s part of Orient . So we 15 would love to partner with any other 16 local governments to try to define what 17 happens there that makes sense for us , 18 like working waterfront, modern docks , 19 maybe aquaculture, striped bass 20 hatchery, something . And if the Town 21 and the fire departments and the County 22 can tax anything that is public-private 23 there, that would be good, so we don ' t 24 have to raise taxes . 25 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : I DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 24 1 would be happy to be part of that 2 meeting . I ' m not sure what plan you 3 referenced . 4 TOM STEVENSON : The Preserve Plum 5 Island Coalition has a -- they have a 6 -- it ' s a go to the website Preserve 7 Plum Island Coalition . It ' s like a 8 whole -- you know, they have the Town 9 zoned -- rezoned the island where -- 10 and the -- and the ferry is Marine III 11 that ' s only for ferry back and forth . 12 And then the labs is zoned just for lab 13 and then the rest of the island is 14 passive, which is fine that makes 15 sense . But as to whether it ' s going to 16 be an it ' s real complicated . So like 17 I ' m still educating myself, but whether 18 it ' s going to be a national monument . 19 Whether like DHS doesn ' t want to give 20 it up . Whether Department of the 21 Interior wants it whether . What 22 happens is if nobody at the federal 23 level wants it and it doesn ' t get made 24 a national monument then it kicks down 25 to the State , then to the County, then DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 25 1 to the Town . And I told them well 2 we ' ll take it as the school district , 3 if you ' re giving away an 800 acre 4 island . 5 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : I 6 tell you I ' ve been involved with that 7 since -- I think Louisa too, since 2008 8 when GSA came and announced that they 9 were going to sell the island . 10 TOM STEVENSON : Yeah, nobody 11 wanted that . 12 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : And 13 since then the Towns had our big 14 involvement was to do the rezoning of 15 it upon sale , and that in effect has 16 preserved it since then because they 17 were going to close the island . Don ' t 18 forget 2013 , that ' s when they ' re 19 closing it . So they were quite sure 20 themselves -- 21 TOM STEVENSON : Well , some people 22 are saying it ' s still well -- well away 23 and then other people are saying it ' s 24 moving quickly . 25 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 26 1 There ' s a lot of history there that 2 that the Town has been part of and you 3 know, rezoning those parcels on sale . 4 Said it -- said it on a different 5 course than the federal government had 6 set it in 2008 . And so you know, your 7 school district should be part of it , 8 the whole community should be . 9 Absolutely . 10 TOM STEVENSON : Well , we can -- I 11 think we could share the invite . 12 That ' d be helpful . 13 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : 14 That ' d be helpful . 15 TOM STEVENSON : Pretty sure it ' s 16 next Monday afternoon . 17 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : I ' ll 18 echo what Greg said about not being at 19 the Ag Advisory . Not being at Code 20 Committee . Are we -- is the plan to 21 send this to Code Committee? 22 TOWN ATTORNEY PAUL DECHANCE : The 23 plan is not to send it to Code 24 Committee . There were some minor 25 changes made -- suggested today and the DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 27 1 plan was to make those changes and also 2 potentially to send it to Ag Advisory 3 for further comment . That I -- 4 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Just 5 wanted to make sure we had a clear -- 6 we were very clear on what was going to 7 happen . 8 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : I 9 should have texted Tom . 10 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : And 11 Tom, to your point about the Zoning 12 update , we had a long discussion about 13 that . And that ' s why we ' re moving in a 14 parallel path on -- some of these Greg 15 mentioned some of those important items 16 now are being addressed as the Zoning 17 update plots along here . We are 18 addressing things that need addressing 19 in a parallel fashion . 20 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : I just 21 quickly -- I just wanted to add I ' m the 22 liaison to several committees and I try 23 to find what are the important work of 24 the committees that I ' m not the liaison 25 for . I ' ve sat in for over a year on Ag DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 28 1 Committee and learned so much . I 2 respect all of you individually . I 3 respect all of you collectively, and 4 that has been one of the most 5 informative processes I ' ve undertaken . 6 And we are grappling with, you know, 7 representation, what ' s aquaculture? 8 And is wine is winemaking agriculture? 9 Yes , winemaking is agriculture . So I 10 just want you to know, I ' ve been trying 11 to listen to what you guys have been 12 saying . We all collectively listen and 13 I am sorry for the frustration that you 14 feel , but in my mind I can be respected 15 because I respect you as human beings . 16 I respect you as community members . So 17 keep telling us , keep informing us and 18 I hope that the process will become 19 more clear with the -- with the Zoning 20 update . So don ' t give up on us , but I 21 just appreciate what you do and it has 22 been an honor to sit in on those 23 meetings and to understand 270 and all 24 the things that you guys are concerned 25 about . And just to know farming is at DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 29 1 the center of our, you know, genetic 2 makeup if . We didn ' t have farming, we 3 wouldn ' t have Southold and then what ' s 4 the future of farming and you guys have 5 talked about that . So i just want you 6 to know, we ' re trying . We ' re trying to 7 sit in and listen and try to continue . 8 So please don ' t give up on us . 9 TOM STEVENSON : Appreciate it, 10 Brian . 11 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : All 12 right . Any other comment? 13 UNKNOWN SPEAKER : If we could 14 fast track the vacancies on Ag 15 Advisory, I think it would help us a 16 lot to achieve it ( inaudible) in 17 Southold . Just so if you could fast 18 track the vacancies on the Ag Advisory 19 Committee , I think would help achieve a 20 quorum on many nights that five of us 21 or four of us show up, and we can ' t 22 reach a quorum . So we -- we have to 23 dissolve the meeting . 24 COUNCILWOMAN DOHERTY : We do -- 25 we do have two members , but we need to DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 30 1 change the code first . Before we 2 appoint those members so -- once we 3 change the code , then we can appoint 4 those two members . 5 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : We 6 have people who are interested in 7 volunteering . 8 UNKNOWN SPEAKER : Right . So if 9 we could just speed that along, I think 10 it would help achieve quorum for us . 11 LILY DOUGHERTY-JOHNSON : Thank 12 you . Lily Dougherty-Johnson, Village 13 of Greenport Trustee . So I didn ' t get 14 to watch your Work Session today, so I 15 apologize if I missed something . But I 16 came because I did listen to part of 17 your Work Session previously, I think 18 it was November 18th, and I , of course, 19 not surprisingly want to talk about 20 Community Preservation Funds . But I 21 just -- some of the conversation at 22 that meeting when you guys were talking 23 about it , Councilwoman Smith and I have 24 been working on the whole chart -- sort 25 of the public ' s education of projects DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 31 1 that could be in Greenport using the 2 10% that State Law is requiring now CPF 3 funds go to disadvantaged communities . 4 And, you know, there was sort of talk 5 that some of that chart was not 6 actually eligible or which of these 7 projects is eligible . And I just , 8 after working pretty hard on that 9 chart, with the exception of Morris 10 Woods , all of those projects are CPS 11 eligible . They ' ve been done in other 12 towns on the East End . So I think 13 there ' s -- I guess it was a little 14 dismaying to hear not a lot of progress 15 being made . And that ' s not to say, 16 like -- we ' ve -- I know that Anne and I 17 have made progress , but then to hear 18 you guys talk about it in a way of 19 like, let ' s have more meetings , which I 20 know we ' ve discussed, but -- and I 21 think I speak for my whole Board when I 22 say, like , we ' re willing to meet . 23 We ' re willing to do anything to move 24 this forward . But to have meetings 25 that are like CPF 101 , when Anne and DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 32 1 I -- I know, have spent quite a bit of 2 time and effort doing this over the 3 last months . Our Boards have both been 4 talking about this for years . So I 5 don ' t think we need to start there when 6 we ' ve given you -- I don ' t know how 7 many projects are on that chart, but 8 over a dozen . And I understand that 9 they ' re like -- nothing ' s going to 10 happen very soon, but I mean, it has 11 been a year since the law has gone into 12 effect . And there ' s water quality 13 that, you know, you guys could update 14 your plan that hasn ' t been updated 15 since 2016 . You could appoint a Water 16 Quality Advisory Committee . You could 17 let us know what is the process to put 18 these -- get these projects moving in 19 some kind of way that gets us actually 20 moving forward . Because it feels like 21 having more meetings , and just sort of 22 like keeping on talking about things is 23 not necessarily moving us forward, 24 which I know is what, you know, when we 25 decided to meet and work on things , DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 33 1 that was the goal , to move things 2 forward . 3 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : Just to 4 clarify, the chart that you ' re 5 referring to has gone to the Land 6 Preservation Department and to related 7 staff . We haven ' t had a full 8 discussion of it as a Board . 9 LILY DOUGHERTY-JOHNSON : Okay . 10 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : I guess 11 we have to staff working group with 12 representatives from both Boards and to 13 look at it under the umbrella . The CPF 14 101 is to make sure that things fit 15 under what ' s allowed . 16 LILY DOUGHERTY-JOHNSON : It 17 seemed like at that meeting, the Work 18 Session, you guys were talking about -- 19 the staff was saying not all of these 20 projects are eligible . 21 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : They 22 might not be . I don ' t know that . 23 COUNCILWOMAN DOHERTY : We haven ' t 24 seen it yet . 25 LILY DOUGHERTY-JOHNSON : I DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 34 1 understand that . I ' m just saying, to 2 my mind and all the research I ' ve done 3 and all the links that are on those 4 charts , with the exception of Moore ' s 5 Woods , which often gets brought up, 6 which is why it ' s on the chart, but the 7 Village already owns it . So that may 8 not be CPF eligible . Probably is not, 9 I don ' t think, in my opinion . But 10 plenty of water quality, plenty of 11 historic, any open space would be . So 12 I guess I ' m just asking that we move it 13 forward in a timely fashion . And, you 14 know, we ' re sort of, I feel like the 15 Village is a little bit at your mercy 16 of like -- we have projects , we have 17 needs . The law requires that . I mean, 18 I guess also what upsets me about this , 19 to be perfectly honest, is like, I 20 don ' t really think any of you sitting 21 up there like want to not follow the 22 law and not give a disadvantaged 23 community what it ' s due . But that ' s 24 what it really has felt like for all 25 this time . And, you know, this is DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 35 1 previous to my -- like our 2 administration and my Board . 3 Greenport ' s been coming to Southold and 4 asking for use of CPF funds for water 5 quality projects . And I know, you 6 know, we ' re talking about aquaculture, 7 we ' re talking about agriculture . Water 8 quality is really important for those 9 too . And Greenport is part of Southold 10 Town, you know, and it ' s an important 11 part . It ' s a thriving . It ' s our 12 little downtown city for the whole 13 North Fork . And it deserves the same 14 kind of preservation and protection 15 that the whole North Fork does . And it 16 is a little different for sure . You 17 know, we don ' t have huge open space . 18 We don ' t have farms right in our square 19 mile, but we have a lot that everyone 20 should be wanting to protect . I think 21 I could keep going about CPF, but I 22 think that I would like to . 23 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank 24 you . It ' s encouraging that you ' re 25 here, and it ' s encouraging that you and DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 36 1 Councilwoman Smith met a number of 2 times on this because we ' re trying to 3 be good partners in this . And being 4 here really, really, I think, really 5 helps set the tone . And CPF, you 6 mentioned some of the people that we 7 have in on staff . The Town ' s been 8 running its own program for well over 9 two decades . So we have three people 10 on staff full-time . One manage is the 11 CPF coordinator, but we have two other 12 people that are really immersed in it . 13 And we made decisions as a Town over 14 the years that were big policy 15 decisions on how that program was run . 16 So to change that -- and New York State 17 changed the law, we didn ' t change the 18 law . So this was a total overreach for 19 the State to change the law . We were 20 never consulted in those changes . 21 We ' re trying to adapt to it . We ' re 22 trying to be part of a now 11 member 23 regional committee that we have 24 agreed -- we as a Town agreed to join . 25 Last Summer . And we ' re still trying -- DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 37 1 we as the other towns , we ' re trying -- 2 still trying to form it . 3 LILY DOUGHERTY-JOHNSON : But to 4 say, it ' s overreach, the whole CPF 5 Law is State law . Like those were -- 6 that was created by the state so 7 that the East End could preserve the 8 many things that keep us in the East 9 End . 10 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : It 11 had been managed locally . Five 12 different ways , right . Five different 13 programs . 14 LILY DOUGHERTY-JOHNSON : It still 15 is managed locally . It ' s just there ' s 16 a requirement that disadvantaged 17 communities get a portion of that . And 18 that ' s not just Greenport, that ' s 19 Shinnecock . And I don ' t -- I just, to 20 me, that ' s really important . And I 21 think it would be important even if I 22 wasn ' t from Greenport . 23 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : And so 24 you know, and I shared this at your 25 meeting, the Town Board had already DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 38 1 agreed that we would plow ahead 2 regardless of the formation of this 3 regional Advisory Committee that was 4 supposed to be shedding light on the 5 one sentence that talks about the 10% . 6 And we decided we were going to forge 7 ahead with our best guess on how to 8 implement that law . Without the 9 Advisory Committee . Now they ' re 10 actually going to be forming, but we ' re 11 going to keep going with that . That ' s 12 a high priority for us . 13 LILY DOUGHERTY-JOHNSON : That ' s 14 good to hear . I just think, I mean, I 15 think updating the plan, creating a 16 Water Quality Advisory Committee, which 17 is in your -- you don ' t have a Water 18 Quality Advisory Committee . 19 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : Right, 20 but both quality and quantity . 21 LILY DOUGHERTY-JOHNSON : Well , 22 that ' s not what its Committee 23 Resolution and mission says . But 24 that ' s great to know, and that would be 25 great then if they could approve water DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 39 1 quality projects . But I think I said 2 my piece about that . I do -- was going 3 to say one other thing about the 4 Suffolk County Working Waterfront 5 Advisory Committee that you also 6 discussed at that Work Session . But if 7 you already appointed someone , I won ' t 8 waste your time . You were talking 9 about appointing Lily McCullough? 10 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Yes . 11 LILY DOUGHERTY-JOHNSON : Has that 12 already happened? 13 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : We 14 haven ' t officially yet, but I think 15 that ' s the best way to know . 16 LILY DOUGHERTY-JOHNSON : Well , so 17 I listened to that part of the Work 18 Session too, and I heard Greg talking 19 about having somebody representing 20 aquaculture . And again, just as 21 representing Greenport and knowing that 22 we don ' t have a voice on that committee 23 separately because we ' re a Village, not 24 a town . And so you ' re representing 25 Greenport too . I think having someone DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 40 1 involved in aquaculture and commercial 2 fishing or just any -- you know, that 3 is really important . And I understand 4 I ' m not trying to say that -- I mean, I 5 get where you ' re coming from appointing 6 Lilly . 7 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : Are you 8 volunteering? 9 LILY DOUGHERTY-JOHNSON : I am not 10 volunteering . No . But I also , and I 11 understand that , like , oh, we could 12 just appoint her for now . But to 13 Greg ' s point , saying, you know, there ' s 14 only like three spots for aquaculture 15 people , I think it would be really 16 important to put that, like , to do that 17 right away . So, and I think we ' ve 18 discussed that as a board in Greenport 19 also . 20 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : So I 21 think there was value in having someone 22 like Lily who ' s involved in 23 preservation, whether it ' s farmland or 24 open space or, you know, golf course 25 preservation . Someone who ' s got DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 41 1 that -- can speak that language, so 2 you ' re going to preserve working 3 waterfront . The devil ' s in the 4 details . What are you preserving? 5 What rights are you taking off of it? 6 What rights are you leaving for 7 operations , right? And it goes back to 8 what the Ag Advisory was saying . So we 9 need -- that ' s as important as anything 10 right now when you get that program up 11 and running . 12 LILY DOUGHERTY-JOHNSON : I mean, 13 I would just -- I would think the 14 County would already have a lot of 15 that . And I think what the committee 16 might bring to the table is like actual 17 working problems , like, you know, 18 actual knowledge of what the needs and 19 what the -- not the easements , because 20 I know that ' s a different thing, but 21 like what those rights look like, what 22 they ' re allowed to do, what they ' re not 23 allowed to do in the future so that we 24 actually get that right . And that 25 might be people who actually aren ' t DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 42 1 working in the business . But , you 2 know, completely up to you . 3 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : The way 4 that we had left it was to look into 5 some of the other members that were 6 going to be appointed to the committee 7 and looking, you know -- and I guess as 8 I look at transitioning into my new 9 role, really keeping an eye on who ' s 10 going to be on this committee . And as 11 you point out, you know, we ' re not 12 allowed to have more than three 13 members . It ' s , you know, two , but not 14 more than three members of the 15 aquaculture community . Maybe the 16 County is going to appoint them in a 17 different direction . So just to make 18 sure all of these views are represented 19 and to have this diversity of opinion, 20 to make sure , all right, if we do need 21 to use our pick in Southold to be an 22 aquaculture person, to make sure 23 someone like Lily who has that 24 institutional knowledge of the nuts and 25 bolts of land acquisition, and land DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 43 1 preservation to make sure who ' s filling 2 that spot . So we really do, you know, 3 it ' s a 17 member board, need to look at 4 rounding out all of the different 5 requirements . And that ' s where it ' s 6 not just our one request . It really is 7 filling out that full thing . And it ' s 8 one of the things that I ' m going to be 9 focusing on even before I ' m there . 10 LILY DOUGHERTY-JOHNSON : That 11 makes sense . 12 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : And 13 that ' s how we had left it in that 14 discussion . 15 LILY DOUGHERTY-JOHNSON : Makes 16 sense . I would just say from 17 Greenport ' s perspective, something 18 marine related makes a lot of sense . 19 That reminded me that I guess one last 20 CPF thing is that the Board wrote you 21 all a letter . We wrote you a letter in 22 October . And so I guess , we would just 23 love to hear what the next steps really 24 are and how we do it in a really timely 25 manner . Because I feel like this has DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 44 1 been sort of a very long ongoing 2 debate , and we ' d like to move it 3 forward . But I will leave it there . I 4 appreciate you listening . 5 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : We have 6 a plan in place and now with that -- 7 LILY DOUGHERTY-JOHNSON : Sounds 8 good . Thank you . 9 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : All 10 right . If there is no other comment . 11 I would just like to go on record again 12 thanking everyone in Town . You know, 13 right away the police department 14 collaborated with their partners . If 15 you went to the dump this weekend, you 16 noticed it was open and operational . 17 If you have to go to court tomorrow, it 18 will be open and operational . There ' s 19 a lot of things . 20 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : You ' re 21 still going to have to pay your taxes . 22 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : 23 There ' s a lot of things that thanks to 24 our men in IT . There are a lot of 25 things that are functioning in Town, DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 45 1 and because of the hard work they did 2 over the years . 3 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : And 4 also, you know, Al , since the minute 5 you became supervisor, we started 6 talking about Emergency Management in 7 every facet of what that looks like . 8 And this is another example of 9 Emergency Management . So I hear your 10 focus on that from the beginning, 11 whether it ' s weather-related, food 12 insecurity, or other things going on in 13 our community . It worked, we stepped 14 up . And I think it ' s built a stronger 15 team as a result . Thank you for your 16 leadership . 17 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank 18 you . 19 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : I will 20 make a motion to adjourn . 21 COUNCILWOMAN DOHERTY : Second . 22 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : All 23 in favor? 24 COUNCILWOMAN DOHERTY : Aye . 25 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : Aye . DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 46 1 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Aye . 2 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : Aye . 3 JUSTICE LOUISA EVANS : Aye . 4 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Aye . 5 6 (Whereupon, the meeting was 7 adjourned . ) 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 DECEMBER 2, 2025 REGULAR MEETING 47 1 C E R T I F I C A T I O N 2 3 I , Jessica DiLallo , a Notary 4 Public for and within the State of New 5 York, do hereby certify : 6 THAT, the within transcript is a 7 true record of said Board Meeting . 8 I further certify that I am not 9 related either by blood or marriage to 10 any of the parties to this action; and 11 that I am in no way interested in the 12 outcome of this matter . 13 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have 14 hereunto set my hand this day, 15 December 2 , 2025 . 16 17 18 (Je si DiLallo) 19 20 21 22 23 24 25