HomeMy WebLinkAboutTB-03/24/2026 PH 1
1 TOWN OF SOUTHOLD
COUNTY OF SUFFOLK : STATE OF NEW YORK
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SOUTHOLD TOWN BOARD
4 REGULAR MEETING
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7 Southold, New York
8 March 24 , 2026
6 : 00 P . M .
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14 B E F 0 R E :
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16 ALBERT KRUPSKI JR, SUPERVISOR
17 KATE STEVENS , JUSTICE
18 JILL DOHERTY, COUNCILWOMAN
19 BRIAN MEALY, COUNCILMAN
20 ANNE SMITH, COUNCILWOMAN
21 ALEXA SUESS , COUNCILWOMAN
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MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 2
1 INDEX TO TESTIMONY
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3 Public Comments 3-48
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MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 3
1 PUBLIC COMMENTS
2 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : All
3 right . Would anyone like to talk
4 about any item that ' s on the agenda
5 before we go on?
6 BENJA SCHWARTZ : I don ' t know
7 what ' s on the agenda, I haven ' t had
8 time to check, but I would like to
9 talk about , you know, maybe if
10 somebody wants to give a brief
11 summary of anything that ' s --
12 particularly interesting --
13 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
14 Well , we will have plenty of time
15 afterwards for public comment .
16 BENJA SCHWARTZ : Well , it ' s hard
17 to understand sometimes when you read
18 those little , you know, items on the
19 agenda . So I mean -- I didn ' t see
20 any -- I saw public hearing heading
21 but no public hearings for example .
22 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
23 There are no public hearings .
24 BENJA SCHWARTZ : All right .
25 Thank you .
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 4
1 (Whereupon, the meeting
2 continued onto the Resolutions at
3 this time . )
4 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Is
5 there anyone who would like to
6 address the Board on any item?
7 SANDRA BENEDETTO : Good evening .
8 Thanks for allowing me to speak to
9 you again this evening . My name is
10 Sandra Benedetto . I am a homeowner
11 and taxpayer in Southold Town,
12 Village of Greenport . I would like
13 to direct my remarks this evening to
14 the ongoing community concern about
15 ICE raids in Greenport, also related
16 to OLA, and New York State
17 legislation, the newly formed Public
18 Safety Task Force, and my concern
19 about the lack of action by this body
20 regarding all of the above . Just as
21 a recap . I was here on January 27th
22 with about 40 other people, maybe
23 between 40 and 50 . My colleague Seth
24 Egan, who ' s sitting in the back,
25 presented a petition to this Town
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 5
1 Board with approximately, at that
2 point 800 signatures . That petition
3 has over 1 , 400 signatures now . This
4 is one page of 76 . I decided I
5 didn ' t want to waste 76 pages of
6 paper, but you will all get the PDF
7 of this tomorrow, including Mr .
8 Clerk, so that you have it for your
9 records . So this petition has now
10 over 1 , 400 signatures . At the
11 February 10th Town Board meeting, the
12 day after OLA released the first
13 version of their resolution and a
14 week after the February 4th ICE
15 raiding, Greenport , you heard
16 presentations from myself, from
17 Minerva Perez to support the OLA
18 legislation, and about 20 community
19 members urging the Board for action
20 to support , and/or revise or adopt
21 the OLA proposal . And for the Town
22 Board to consider other local
23 initiatives and actions it could
24 take . It was at that meeting that
25 this body announced that you would
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 6
1 establish a Public Safety Task Force ,
2 stating that it would review the OLA
3 and New York State proposed
4 legislation along with other
5 immediate actions Southold Town Board
6 could take based on local
7 initiatives . At that meeting it
8 appeared that the Town Board
9 understood the urgency involved here ,
10 and would move quickly . Yet here we
11 are , six weeks have passed . There
12 has been no public announcement of
13 who has been appointed to the task
14 force and how the task force will
15 interact with the public, if at all .
16 The task force has not even convened
17 as a body, but I have made private
18 inquiries because I ' ve contacted
19 people , and investigated and I have
20 some of this information . I know who
21 is appointed . I know that the task
22 force will meet for the first time
23 tomorrow, but I don ' t know where or
24 when, or if myself, or public
25 individuals are invited . I just
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING
1 don ' t understand why this information
2 is not publicly available to the
3 community and you have to go digging
4 for it . Respectfully, we ask that
5 you do not appease or placate the
6 community by forming a task force
7 that limits itself in this way and
8 therefore introduces delays for
9 action from its very inception .
10 Since I don ' t know how to reach the
11 task force or how to communicate, I
12 do have a couple of things that I
13 wanna say to the Town Board and to
14 members of the task force . At the
15 March 10th meeting, we heard a
16 comment from a candidate running for
17 New York State office , warning the
18 new task force and the Town Board to
19 not make decisions based on emotion .
20 Claiming that ICE agents were
21 arresting rapists , murderers , child
22 abusers , et cetera . The national
23 data does not support that statement .
24 In fact, multiple sources from
25 multiple parts of the political
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 8
1 spectrum are reporting that roughly
2 70% of current detainees do not have
3 criminal convictions . And the
4 government itself, with recently
5 released data, Congress reports that
6 right now, "immigrants with no
7 criminal record are now the largest
8 group in U . S . immigration detention . "
9 I find it ironic and kind of
10 insulting that this kind of hot-butt
11 comment about -- hot-button comment
12 about murderers and rapists is used
13 to dissuade you and the task force
14 from making decisions based on
15 emotion . These are exactly the kind
16 of emotionally triggering statements
17 that are intended to distract, to get
18 you to react and take your eye off
19 the ball . First, it ' s not true in
20 Southold . And second, nobody in
21 Southold wants violent criminals on
22 the street . So I ask that you please
23 do not allow these emotional and
24 inaccurate statements to be
25 normalized . I urge the task force
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 9
1 and the Town Board to stay focused on
2 your jurisdiction, which is Southold
3 Town . And the eight people taken
4 from Southold Town are not criminals .
5 Again, if these men or even other
6 members in our community are
7 criminals , I would ask why the
8 Southold Police Department has not
9 already arrested them? Okay . That ' s
10 because they have are -- they have
11 not violated the law . Please base
12 your recommendations for improving
13 public safety on facts and data .
14 Recently and disturbingly, I was told
15 by a Southold law enforcement officer
16 to remember that half the country
17 voted for this in reference to
18 illegalized activities and the OLA
19 resolution . I personally don ' t
20 believe half the country voted for
21 this to have masked, armed,
22 unidentified, viable agents come into
23 their communities bringing chaos and
24 lawlessness and unmarked cars
25 speeding down small streets and
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 10
1 putting the entire community at risk .
2 And I certainly don ' t think the good
3 people of Southold voted for this .
4 But honestly, it doesn ' t matter what
5 I think . Look at the facts . I have
6 been very careful of my previous
7 remarks to you to avoid any partisan
8 comments . But you must know that
9 Southold did not vote for this . And
10 if you don ' t know, I will remind you
11 that in 2024 , in Southold, The
12 Trump/Vance ticket was defeated by a
13 margin of 6 . 2 percent . We had 14 , 248
14 people vote in Southold . 6 , 682 of
15 them voted for that ticket . 7 , 566
16 did not . That ' s a 46 . 9 to 53 . 1
17 difference . You may want to remember
18 this number, if you remember no other
19 number that I just quoted . 884 .
20 That ' s exactly how many more people
21 in Southold voted against these
22 policies . 884 . That ' s a rather
23 large number, especially when you
24 consider we live in a town where some
25 local officials can win or lose by
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 11
1 less than 20 votes . In fact , many of
2 you won your seats by less than 200
3 votes . 884 . That is a significant
4 number of Southolder ' s who are
5 telling you they do not want this .
6 Again, I urge the Town Board and the
7 Task Force to stay focused on
8 Southold, which is your jurisdiction .
9 Do not be distracted . I want to
10 close by asking the Town Board to
11 improve your communications regarding
12 this Public Safety Task Force and
13 other public safety initiatives you
14 are taking to protect your residents ,
15 especially your immigrant residents .
16 I have a few questions , like when
17 will the Town Board publicly disclose
18 the members of this task force? Will
19 the Public Safety Task Force meetings
20 be open to the public, or will they
21 be behind closed doors ? Will the
22 Public Safety Task Force receive and
23 consider public comment? Will the
24 Town Board be more forthcoming in
25 communicating to the public about
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 12
1 this task force and its
2 recommendations and all initiatives
3 taken by the Town Board regarding ICE
4 activities in Southold? There are
5 now over 1 , 400 people who have signed
6 this petition . We are community
7 members . We came to you in January .
8 Before the OLA resolution, before --
9 talk about the Public Safety Task
10 Force, we initiated this conversation
11 because we are concerned . We are
12 serious , and our purpose is clear .
13 We do not want to be kept in the
14 dark . We want to be informed . So
15 please take all necessary action to
16 communicate with the community on
17 this critical issue . Thank you .
18 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
19 Thank you .
20 SETH EGAN : Thank you . Seth
21 Egan, Village of Greenport . I just
22 wanted to come up and reiterate the
23 concerns over the task force that
24 Sandra just spoke to . It feels that
25 there ' s a real lack of urgency for
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 13
1 something that, if we were to have
2 faith in our local leaders requires
3 it . We know that it ' s been quiet
4 here since the February 4th raid and
5 quieter throughout Long Island in
6 general , in terms of ICE activity .
7 And this is probably due in part to
8 them defending the homeland at JFK
9 and LaGuardia . They do have new
10 marked vehicles , which is great . We
11 can see them coming, but it literally
12 says "Defend the Homeland, " which I
13 don ' t know if you know history or
14 particularly a country in, you know,
15 World War II . That rhetoric is
16 unsettling . Very unsettling . "Defend
17 the Homeland . " Let ' s not protect and
18 serve . The warmer weather is
19 approaching . I would guess so is
20 something more ominous . As our
21 police commissioners , we are looking
22 for more . We are looking for
23 leadership, not task forces to
24 appease us and give us the sense that
25 you addressed our concerns . The
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 14
1 community doesn ' t feel safe ,
2 particularly the community that won ' t
3 come up here and talk, because they
4 are too scared . We need more . We
5 need you to address what we ask for
6 in our petition, condemn the illegal
7 actions of ICE agents , and have our
8 police department require them to
9 show proper identification and
10 warrants before actions in our
11 community . That ' s law enforcement,
12 no? This will make the community
13 feel safer and re-establish trust
14 between the community and our local
15 law enforcement . This is one
16 separate, but not unrelated issue . I
17 want to also bring up, is what seems
18 to be growing number of flock cameras
19 in the North Fork . Others have
20 brought them up in previous time
21 Board meetings , and I know that Chief
22 Grattan put out a statement that the
23 information gathered from them is not
24 shared with anyone without the police
25 department ' s permission . And I know
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 15
1 Chief Grattan hopes that what he
2 stated is the truth, and I ' m not
3 questioning his competency when I say
4 this , but would he even know if that
5 information was shared? Flock
6 cameras are an AI powered
7 surveillance cameras that transmit
8 data to a corporate cloud, which is
9 controlled by Flock systems , a
10 corporation . And ultimately,
11 Palantir, the company that provides
12 surveillance technology to the IDF,
13 so they could mass murder people
14 across the Middle East . Communities
15 across this country have been
16 speaking out against their
17 insulation . There is proof that
18 Flocks systems share data with border
19 patrol without the knowledge of the
20 cities and towns that were paying for
21 these cameras . They do not answer to
22 our police force . They answer to
23 their own board members . So I would
24 suggest, since you put them up
25 without our consent, that we take
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 16
1 them down . This is mass
2 surveillance . You know, all those --
3 I ' m a very big fan of science
4 fiction, but they ' ve kind of warned
5 us for years that this mass
6 surveillance is coming for us . On
7 both of these issues , we need
8 leadership and action by this Board,
9 who are also our police
10 commissioners , the ones that are
11 tasked with protecting and serving
12 this community . If your eyes are
13 open and you see the current state of
14 the world, we are all afraid . And
15 I ' m sure you are too . This is not to
16 blame you, but we are looking to you .
17 We need leadership . These are dark
18 times , and this is an attack on you .
19 Like I said, most of you do know what
20 is going on . We can ' t fix all of
21 that, but we can protect this
22 community . No one -- we can assure
23 the safety of our own community when
24 we ask each of you to take that
25 responsibility seriously . Thank you .
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 17
1 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
2 Thank you .
3 Is there anyone else who would
4 like to address the Board?
5 OZ HANLEY : Good evening . My
6 name is Oz Hanley . I ' m a resident of
7 Southold . I have a few more
8 pedestrian questions for the Board at
9 this point . One is , with respect to
10 the issuance of the bonds that are
11 mentioned in the agenda, does anybody
12 know at what rate -- what coupon rate
13 those bonds are being issued at? And
14 I think somebody said that they were
15 due in five years ? The other one
16 was , does anyone on the Board, or can
17 I get this information to find out
18 what the outstanding debt is in terms
19 of the issued bonds for the Town of
20 Southold up to this point in time?
21 The other one has to do with just my
22 general questions about, and I know
23 you ' ve been really busy with a lot of
24 things since the new Board was formed
25 in these last three months . But I ' d
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 18
1 really like to know what the status
2 is with respect to any action on
3 Affordable Housing in this town?
4 That ' s something that I think has
5 been sort of unmentioned in the last
6 six months or so that I ' ve attended
7 Board meetings . And I think it ' s
8 time that there be at least some
9 indication of what ' s happening with
10 respect to any activity . And is
11 there anything that citizens can do
12 with respect to inquiring about
13 Affordable Housing? And the other
14 question I have is , they wonder how
15 much money at the current times does
16 the Town have in the Community
17 Preservation Fund? I see that we ' re
18 spending several million according to
19 the agenda here for what looks like
20 very reasonably priced properties
21 from what I can understand, and what
22 the cost of land is , but I would like
23 to know how much money is left in
24 that fund? And if there ' s any
25 expectation this year of projection
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 19
1 of how much that fund may garner with
2 respect to real estate sales ? Thank
3 you .
4 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : So
5 if you can call the office tomorrow .
6 I don ' t know the rate of the bonds .
7 Our total debt, I don ' t know -- say
8 five years ago, we had almost -- it
9 was , as a township, we had very
10 little debt --
11 OZ HANLEY : I ' m sorry, what?
12 I ' m sorry?
13 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : As a
14 township, we had very little debt .
15 And then the Town made some decisions
16 to buy the bank because of that . It
17 was a good idea from a management and
18 office standpoint . And three parcels
19 of land, which were very good ideas ,
20 with an eye towards Affordable
21 Housing . So phased into the next
22 one , Next Monday, At Mattituck Laurel
23 Civic, we ' re having a panel
24 discussion on Affordable Housing, and
25 you ' ll learn from our Housing
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 20
1 Coordinator, Andrea Sullivan, that,
2 you know, the different programs that
3 we have in place and that we ' re
4 advancing . Not only some of the
5 subsidizing units for rent,
6 subsidizing units for sale, but we ' ll
7 also have coming up with a subsidy
8 for ADU ' s .
9 OZ HANLEY : Well , it ' s
10 encouraging to hear that .
11 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : So
12 please come to the Mattituck Civic .
13 OZ HANLEY : And when is that?
14 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
15 Monday night .
16 OZ HANLEY : Monday night , the
17 30th . And where is it being held,
18 here?
19 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : No .
20 It ' s at the Veterans Beach in
21 Mattituck .
22 OZ HANLEY : Veterans Beach in
23 Mattituck .
24 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : And
25 that should be a very good program .
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 21
1 All right . Because we have been very
2 busy . It ' s what Councilwoman Suess
3 was talking about, communication .
4 We ' ve been very busy . You can see
5 from a pretty full agenda . There ' s a
6 lot going on and to try to better
7 communicate that . That Civic ' s have
8 been a good help . So please come on
9 Monday . As far as the CPF, we have
10 our CPF coordinator online . I was
11 hoping for a text from her on a
12 number, but please call the office
13 tomorrow on this way . It ' s all
14 public information . I just don ' t
15 have it on the top of my head .
16 OZ HANLEY : Sure . I ' m surprised
17 that you don ' t, but you know --
18 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
19 We ' re taking about $ 11 million a
20 year .
21 OZ HANLEY : I ' m not surprised
22 that you don ' t, is what I meant to
23 say .
24 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : We
25 have a lot of projects in the
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 22
1 pipeline , so it ' s kind of like
2 keeping the ball in the air . And
3 these projects that we were setting
4 public hearings on to vote, they ' ve
5 been in the pipeline for a couple of
6 years , and it takes years to get
7 these to the finish line . In the
8 meantime, the money keeps coming in .
9 OZ HANLEY : I understand that .
10 When you say "contact your office , "
11 you mean you or the Clerk ' s Office?
12 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : You
13 can contact my office .
14 OZ HANLEY : Okay, good . All
15 right . Thank you .
16 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : In
17 our Work Session today, we talked
18 about housing . Andrea Sullivan, she
19 updated us . As you know, we have the
20 housing plan, but we have to keep
21 inputting on that . So we ' ve made
22 some progress on that . And we have
23 steps to go through, according to the
24 statute that has been put to us . So
25 we hope to have some public hearings
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 23
1 by summertime to get things moving .
2 And there are several conversations
3 going on with several contractors who
4 want to build affordable housing . It
5 just takes time because it ' s a new
6 program . We have many of our
7 employees working on different
8 aspects of it .
9 OZ HANLEY : Thank you again for
10 your remarks .
11 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
12 We ' re also working with other towns
13 with the same half percent tax .
14 We ' re coordinating with them to see .
15 Trying to balance the kids off each
16 other and try to keep the, to build
17 some houses .
18 OZ HANLEY : Can I encourage the
19 Board to adopt a higher tax?
20 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : It ' s
21 New York State . You ' d have to appeal
22 to them .
23 OZ HANLEY : Talk to them . Okay,
24 thanks .
25 RANDY WADE : Thanks . I do
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 24
1 know -- it ' s Randy Wade in Greenport ,
2 I do know you ' re working really hard,
3 you have a lot on your plate . I
4 was -- oh, and just an addendum, I
5 agree with what Sandy and Seth said,
6 36% of Americans who were eligible to
7 vote did not vote in the last
8 election, just as a little point .
9 So, yeah, it was disappointing that
10 the task force was appointed and
11 there has been no follow-up . I was
12 away, so I couldn ' t bother you about
13 it, but I would hope, since their
14 meeting tomorrow, they would meet
15 with you confidentially, report, so
16 that you ' d have something to say at
17 the next Board meeting . But even so,
18 you ' re the police commissioners , it ' s
19 up to you, and you could say, you
20 want police officers to be present
21 whenever there ' s an ICE action in
22 this town . That is one simple thing
23 you could say as you ' re waiting to
24 take action on Fred Thiele ' s great
25 legislation . I mean, y ' all love him,
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 25
1 you know he can write legislation .
2 So it should really be a no-brainer
3 to just pass that without even a task
4 force having to make a big to-do
5 about it . I understand you might be
6 between lawyers , but I bet even
7 whoever the associate lawyer is , you
8 know, can handle it . Taking that and
9 turning it into something . But in
10 the meantime , you think you could
11 just make sure that we have police
12 officers present? That ' s the
13 question .
14 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : I
15 don ' t know the legality of it , so I ' m
16 going to -- I can ' t -- I don ' t want
17 to give you a --
18 RANDY WADE : You think it would
19 be illegal for a police officer to be
20 at the scene of some stressful thing
21 that ' s happening in the community
22 where children might be, like , losing
23 a parent or something?
24 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Our
25 response time to the police
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 26
1 department is three minutes .
2 RANDY WADE : That ' s really good .
3 So maybe the problem is that they
4 just haven ' t been called .
5 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : I
6 don ' t know .
7 RANDY WADE : Yeah, we don ' t
8 really know . So anyway, if we do
9 have the Flock cameras right now, and
10 if our police -- the policeman have
11 access to that, there should be some
12 way for them to get word to know that
13 there ' s something going on and it
14 would be just reassuring to know that
15 you, as a police commissioners expect
16 them to be present . That ' s all .
17 Thank you .
18 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : And
19 as far as the Flock cameras go, you
20 know, the gentleman brought it up .
21 That ' s , I think -- It ' s something
22 that will be also discussed by the
23 task forces .
24 RANDY WADE : Oh, get rid of
25 them . But in the meantime, make use
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 27
1 of them to look for ICE vehicles .
2 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : As
3 far as -- do you have a list that you
4 also want surveilled with them?
5 RANDY WADE : Yeah, just the ICE
6 guys .
7 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : But
8 we will -- that was a good point of
9 who gets the data, and who shares it .
10 We ' ll double check on that .
11 RANDY WADE : Thank you so much .
12 And then what ' s the status of the Gas
13 Power Leaf Blowers that the CAC
14 recommended you legislate many months
15 ago?
16 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : We
17 haven ' t delved into that yet .
18 RANDY WADE : How about you just
19 make something move now?
20 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
21 Moving on a lot of fronts right now .
22 It is on the list .
23 RANDY WADE : Well , you have a
24 Code Committee meeting tomorrow .
25 Maybe they could just tag on at the
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 28
1 end? Or just give it to the lawyer .
2 I mean, Greenport has legislation .
3 Other places have legislation .
4 Somebody could just, you know, copy
5 it, and do something . There ' s a lot
6 of people that their lives are
7 seriously affected by this .
8 Especially our wonderful landscape
9 workers .
10 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
11 We ' re not taking it lightly here .
12 But we ' re not addressing it at this
13 moment .
14 RANDY WADE : Are you waiting for
15 something?
16 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : We ' re
17 doing one code at a time in
18 tomorrow ' s meeting .
19 RANDY WADE : Well , right , you
20 have the task force --
21 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
22 Short-term rentals . We ' re trying to
23 tackle the short-term rentals .
24 RANDY WADE : That ' s good .
25 That ' s important --
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 29
1 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
2 Effect has it quite a bit .
3 RANDY WADE : Yeah, totally .
4 Okay . But so you got the task force
5 working on the other thing -- I mean,
6 anyway .
7 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : But
8 the task force does include Town
9 Board members and personnel , staff .
10 That is getting our full attention --
11 RANDY WADE : What does it
12 take -- what do you think it would
13 take to just pass the Gas Powered
14 Leaf Blower legislation?
15 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH :
16 ( Inaudible ) the same --
17 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : It ' d
18 have to get people together that
19 would be interested in that sort of
20 legislation . Then we ' d have to have
21 Code Committees and public hearings .
22 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : And we
23 know that there are people interested
24 because you know, you ' ve come before
25 us as CAC, so it ' s on our list .
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 30
1 RANDY WADE : Okay . So you have
2 to have a meeting first . That would
3 be the first thing . Well , because
4 it ' s getting to be Spring, can we
5 just pick a time to aim for? To
6 schedule that meeting? Pick a month?
7 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : I
8 don ' t know --
9 RANDY WADE : How about April?
10 April showers , and we could --
11 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : We
12 are trying to finish up some of these
13 housing issues , and the short-term
14 rental issues and the cell tower
15 initiative .
16 RANDY WADE : I know, you got a
17 lot .
18 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Some
19 of these things that we ' ve got staff
20 very busy with all those things .
21 RANDY WADE : I know, there ' s
22 just so many issues that do need to
23 be addressed, so if we could pick a
24 month .
25 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : And
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 31
1 the issue with Town Beach, George
2 Sullivan Beach, trying to restore
3 that . We ' ve got a lot of things
4 going on right now .
5 RANDY WADE : Okay .
6 BENJA SCHWARTZ : Are you
7 volunteering to help?
8 RANDY WADE : I ' m totally
9 volunteering to help . I will hold
10 the meeting for you, if you ' d like .
11 You want me to schedule the meeting
12 and invite you? Then would that
13 qualify as the meeting?
14 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : No ,
15 thank you .
16 RANDY WADE : And you can ' t
17 commit to a month?
18 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : No ,
19 I don ' t think that ' d be prudent .
20 RANDY WADE : Not prudent . Okay,
21 well thank you .
22 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
23 Anyone else want to speak?
24 BENJA SCHWARTZ : The leaf
25 blowers are making me crazy . We ' ve
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 32
1 got teams of them all over the
2 neighborhood, and the people who hire
3 them aren ' t even home . They ' re in
4 the City every week . Benja --
5 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : --
6 identify yourself?
7 BENJA SCHWARTZ : I live in
8 Cutchogue , currently, from around the
9 East End . My name is Benja Schwartz ,
10 the first two parts of Benjamin . And
11 to those of you Board members who
12 have not been here as long as I have ,
13 I apologize that I haven ' t been here
14 regularly . People have been asking
15 me for years to come back and join
16 you, so it ' s very nice to be here
17 today . And it ' s nice to be here in
18 this beautiful auditorium, and the
19 historic Peconic School . I do have a
20 little question . Conversational , but
21 has anybody ever considered -- have
22 you ever considered -- I know you ' re
23 trying to figure out what to do with
24 the lobby of the Southold Town Annex,
25 the former Southold Bank building .
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 33
1 Have you considered turning that into
2 an auditorium for Town meetings ,
3 including Town Board, committees , et
4 cetera? The parking there is
5 available . It ' s a central location,
6 the meeting room in that building
7 currently -- the executive meeting
8 room, is way too small for public
9 participation . So has that been
10 considered?
11 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : So
12 last year, we embarked on another
13 space management journey . It
14 resulted in a beautiful meeting
15 space, almost this large , in the
16 cellar of that building, that we used
17 for the first time today for a work
18 session . And it is fully wired with
19 all this sort of audiovisual .
20 BENJA SCHWARTZ : You ' re ahead of
21 me .
22 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : --
23 Technology that you could dream of,
24 and -- so it can be used by other
25 Boards , other committees , it ' s a
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 34
1 really nice space . Go take a look at
2 it .
3 BENJA SCHWARTZ : That ' s in the
4 basement of the Annex?
5 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Yes .
6 BENJA SCHWARTZ : Okay . Do we
7 need to -- do we need to make an
8 appointment to take a look at it?
9 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Yes .
10 BENJA SCHWARTZ : Okay . Who do
11 we contact -- okay . Sounds great .
12 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Call
13 my office?
14 BENJA SCHWARTZ : Okay . Thank
15 you .
16 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
17 We ' re currently evaluating that space
18 the original plan is to move the
19 Clerk over there, which would free up
20 a lot more room in the Town Hall
21 because it is a beautiful space .
22 We ' re going to use it . We just fit
23 out -- so if you notice all the
24 options are going -- we just fit out
25 for remediation of that space and
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 35
1 once that ' s done, we can build the
2 Clerk ' s counter in there .
3 BENJA SCHWARTZ : Okay . We ' ll
4 skip that one because you all want to
5 go home . SEQRA, first of all the
6 modern rendition of the word -- I
7 know our Town Planning Director was
8 one of the keynote speakers in the
9 500 year anniversary . Was it the 20
10 or 25th Anniversary?
11 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
12 Close .
13 BENJA SCHWARTZ : I don ' t
14 remember the beginning of it, but
15 these days most people are just
16 referring to it as SEQR without the
17 A . It ' s really more about the review
18 and the procedure than the fact that
19 it ' s a law . We know it ' s a law .
20 Hardesty and Hanover are known for
21 building bridges , I believe , but I ' m
22 curious how they got selected as a
23 SEQRA consultant? And for what
24 purposes of -- what -- for all SEQRA?
25 For everything, or what -- I mean
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 36
1 that ' s a lot of different types of
2 things . Now, SEQRA itself has built
3 in means of determining lead
4 agencies , it doesn ' t require specific
5 consultants , but it just boggles my
6 mind that the Town select one
7 consultant to function in all
8 contexts in which SEQRA
9 determinations are required .
10 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : So
11 in the Planning Board, they are short
12 handed . And we lost the staff member
13 that was conducting SEQRA for us . In
14 the resolutions today, in the agenda,
15 we finally took a long time to find
16 the right person to be hired that
17 will help the Planning Board with
18 SEQRA going forward . But it ' s going
19 to take a while to train that
20 employee . And so this group was
21 hired to fill the gap . And also
22 there ' s a provision in the law for
23 the -- Planning Boards allowed to
24 hire someone out in the case of a
25 really large project, whether they
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 37
1 need professional help, but for
2 SEQRA, to conduct a proper review .
3 And so that that ' s what the
4 professional service would be for .
5 BENJA SCHWARTZ : Okay . Thank
6 you . The Dandelion Festival , the
7 resolution of permitting it this
8 year, refers to it as a " free
9 educational event, " and it will be
10 educational , but I think it would
11 be -- first of all , I ' d like to say a
12 few words about the dandelion
13 festivals . Dandelion is symbolic .
14 Yes , they celebrate dandelions , and
15 all the dandelions do, and they are a
16 very healthy plant that does a lot of
17 wonderful things for the earth and
18 us , and they make good wine . But ,
19 you know, we ' re also going to have a
20 lot of fun, including food, music,
21 dance, and most notably, in my mind,
22 is that the previous dandelion
23 festivals have incorporated
24 discussions by leading East End
25 environmentalists . So, anybody who
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 38
1 wants to listen in or participate in
2 those discussions , I encourage to
3 attend the Dandelion Festival . I ' d
4 like to --
5 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
6 Thank you .
7 BENJA SCHWARTZ : Thank you . And
8 thank you for providing this
9 opportunity to speak . The one last
10 topic that I want to speak about is
11 this site plan pending before the
12 Planning Board for the Ackerly Pond
13 Lane, " storage building . " So has the
14 Town Board expressed any opinion or
15 communicated with the Planning Board
16 regarding this application?
17 ASST . TOWN ATTORNEY BENJAMIN
18 JOHNSON : So, just to say one thing,
19 Mr . Schwartz , the Town Board has been
20 advised not to comment on open
21 planning for that .
22 BENJA SCHWARTZ : By whom?
23 ASST . TOWN ATTORNEY BENJAMIN
24 JOHNSON : By the Legal Department of
25 the Southold Town .
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 39
1 BENJA SCHWARTZ : Well , you know,
2 I used to work for the Legal
3 Department of Greenport Village . I
4 am an attorney, and I believe that
5 it ' s the Board member ' s decision, not
6 the Legal Department ' s decision . But
7 if you are telling me that the Legal
8 Department has made a decision like
9 that, then I would expect that there
10 be a reason for that . And I do
11 understand that the Planning Board is
12 the lead agency with regards to the
13 site plan . But are the Planning
14 Board members aware that the Planning
15 Board has requested that the Town
16 Board comment or express opinions
17 they have invited -- They ' ve sent a
18 memorandum that says the Planning
19 Board refers this application to
20 Albert J . Krupski , Members of the
21 Town Board and Denis Noncarrow, Town
22 Clerk, your information, comments ,
23 review and a determination of
24 jurisdiction, if applicable . And I
25 fully understand the jurisdiction .
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 40
1 And I believe that there is
2 concurrent jurisdiction with the Town
3 Board that although the site plan
4 process is under the control of the
5 Planning Board, the Planning Board
6 itself and the laws which the
7 Planning Board follows , et cetera,
8 are all under the control of the Town
9 Board . And the Town Board, I
10 believe, has some concurrent
11 jurisdiction, which includes
12 responsibility for any decision,
13 which, as I can gather from the
14 horrendous meeting that I attended
15 yesterday, the Planning Board is
16 rushing this through with, you know,
17 under the control of the Planning
18 Board . The banner of farmers have
19 rights that supersede everybody
20 else ' s rights , whereas the
21 Right-to-Farm laws were enacted to
22 prevent people essentially from
23 moving in next to farms , and then
24 complaining about the dust and the
25 noise and the odors that might
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 41
1 emanate from existing farms . The
2 applicant in this case has informed
3 the Planning Board that this farm
4 will be like no other farm has ever
5 been . One of the things he ' s -- a
6 big issue right now, is access to
7 water, to public water . He wants to
8 have access -- it ' s not public, but
9 Suffolk County Water, which it ' s a
10 quasi-public institution . It ' s not
11 part of Suffolk County . It ' s not
12 part of Southold Town . But -- we
13 have been concerned, those of us who
14 care about this environment, about
15 the North Fork, have been concerned
16 about the lack of water . And the
17 good water is so valuable to
18 everybody and to have it go to a farm
19 that might be using it for more
20 irrigation . Normally the farms have
21 wells , the Planning Board could
22 easily say to him, have a well .
23 Instead he wants -- the Planning
24 Board is saying to him, every single
25 issue that comes up they say, well
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 42
1 what do you want? Oh okay, that ' s
2 fine, that ' s fine . The Planning
3 Department told the Planning Board
4 you could do this . They said, well
5 do you want us to do that? He said,
6 no . They said, okay, do what you
7 want . I mean the -- I also have a
8 problem with the letter from the fire
9 department . And again the fire
10 department is a separate entity than
11 the Town Board, but it ' s happening
12 right here in Southold . The Southold
13 Fire Department is saying that he has
14 to have a road from the fire hydrant
15 to his barn . Now never mind that
16 he ' s building -- I believe he ' s
17 building, the plans in the
18 application are for a -- not for a
19 proposed building but for a -- some
20 building, I think it ' s in Virginia
21 designed by somebody in Alaska or
22 something -- no . I don ' t recall the
23 specifics , but there are no
24 specifics . There is no specific plan
25 for any specific building . The only
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 43
1 thing in the application is an
2 outline of a 70 by 30 foot area, but
3 the plan that is supplied -- the
4 boilerplate plan that was not
5 purchased by the applicant and the
6 applicant never agreed to follow,
7 that -- I believe it ' s for a steel
8 building, I think, which can ' t burn
9 down, and that ' s the owner ' s problem .
10 But now, the fire department is
11 saying he had offered to put the barn
12 a 100 feet from the affordable
13 Southold Villa ' s Community
14 subdivision . Now due to the fire
15 department saying he ' s got to have a
16 road from the fire hydrant to the
17 barn, he ' s saying building a 100 foot
18 load-bearing highway that will be 20
19 feet wide and support the weight of a
20 fire truck would cost too much . So
21 he wants to move the barn closer to
22 the people . To the people who are
23 going to be exposed . Not just to the
24 dust and the odors and the -- you
25 know, there ' s a lot of questions
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 44
1 whether there will be toxic . Dust
2 and with bacterial contamination and
3 we really don ' t know what he ' s going
4 to do . It ' s not in the record and I
5 myself wrote -- took me a long time,
6 I wrote a 5-page letter . I believe
7 you received a copy of it the other
8 day, but you know I ' m not going to go
9 through 5 pages . The heading of the
10 letter is , "Request to Reopen Public
11 Hearing of the Incident Site Plan
12 Application . " I was at that meeting
13 for an hour . They said they
14 addressed every thing that every
15 comment and every question that they
16 received . They never addressed
17 resuming or scheduling a new public
18 hearing . They told the public that
19 the public could not be heard . The
20 public hearing was at the very
21 beginning of the process before
22 anybody knew what the plans were
23 about . Now that the plans have been
24 a little more fleshed out, the public
25 might be able to comment on the
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 45
1 details , which have emerged and been
2 added to the record and comment on
3 the details and the specifics , which
4 are still not in the record . So you
5 have an invitation from the Planning
6 Board . It is your job to respond to
7 that application . You don ' t have to,
8 you ' re not required to by law, but
9 you know I ' m an attorney and I hope
10 I ' m a law-abiding citizen . But if
11 all we do is follow the law, we would
12 not have a very healthy world . We
13 are supposed to do what ' s ethical ,
14 what ' s right , and be honorable
15 people . The law tells us what we
16 can ' t do . It says we have to do
17 certain things , but it doesn ' t tell
18 us how to live . So, you know, this
19 proposal is next to one of the first
20 affordable housing developments in
21 the Town of Southold . I encourage
22 you to go there and visit . There ' s
23 some very good people that live
24 there . They need your help, your
25 protection . It ' s also in the center
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 46
1 of the North Fork . The Planning
2 Board in connection with the site
3 plan has not , there are no maps in
4 the file . There ' s been no
5 consideration of that . I ' m sorry . I
6 will call it a night . I ' ll let you
7 go home . There ' s one last thing I ' d
8 like to share with you . I think you
9 would probably enjoy it . I visited
10 this same building recently, and the
11 new historian ' s office got a chance
12 to look at some of the treasures that
13 we have in this town . We have an
14 incredible history, including
15 wonderful environmental resources .
16 I ' ve been here 60 years . Just in the
17 last 60 years , much of the beauty and
18 the healthy environment has been
19 already damaged . We can bring it
20 back, but we need to work together .
21 The so-called farmer, who is
22 currently a student at NYU University
23 in New York City studying real estate
24 business . I don ' t believe he ' s ever
25 farmed, but paid right to farm . He
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 47
1 owns the property . He paid over half
2 a million dollars . We paid over a
3 million dollars for the development
4 rights . Development rights don ' t
5 just say what you can ' t do, they say
6 what you can do . And the site plan
7 review process is the town ' s
8 opportunity to weigh in and require
9 things . But the Planning Board is
10 saying, no . Hands off, let him, he ' s
11 a farmer . He could do whatever he
12 wants . So there was a book in the
13 Historian ' s Office called the Young ' s
14 Family, Vicar Christopher Younges and
15 Ancestors in England and Descendants
16 in America . That ' s here . The motto
17 of the book, toujours jeune . French
18 for " forever young, " I believe . I
19 forget exactly what it means , but
20 something like that . Coincidentally,
21 this farm, proposed farm because it ' s
22 not a farm . It would have been nice
23 when the town purchased the
24 development rights , if at that time
25 the town had paid some attention to
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 48
1 rejuvenating the farm . He calls it
2 rejuvenate farms . But he ' s taking a
3 natural area that very well might
4 have native natural vegetation that
5 has emerged since the farm was
6 abandoned a generation ago . I don ' t
7 know all the details . I just became
8 aware of this . But the history and
9 genealogical book by Selah Youngs ,
10 Jr . And it was published in 1907 .
11 I ' d like to conclude with the --
12 quote . And as far as I could tell
13 from reading the book, it was by
14 Selah Youngs , Jr . It is a wonderful
15 book . It talks about everybody,
16 people in the town, and how they
17 live . But this is the quote . "The
18 truth is that men who do not honor
19 their forefathers deserve not the
20 respect of their own children . And
21 generally, they do not receive it . "
22 Thank you for giving me the
23 opportunity to express my opinions .
24 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
25 Thank you . Anybody else like to
MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 49
1 address the Board?
2 (No Response ) .
3 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : I
4 don ' t see any hands up online .
5 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : I ' ll
6 make a motion to adjourn .
7 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Second .
8 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : All
9 in favor?
10 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Aye .
11 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Aye .
12 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : Aye .
13 COUNCILWOMAN ALEXA SUESS : Aye .
14 JUSTICE KATE STEVENS : Aye .
15 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Aye .
16
17 (Whereupon, the meeting was
18 adjourned at this time . )
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MARCH 24, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 50
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
5 New 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
10 to any of the parties to this action;
11 and that I am in no way interested in
12 the outcome of this matter .
13 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have
14 hereunto set my hand this day,
15 March 24 , 2026 .
16
17
18 (Jessica DiLallo)
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