HomeMy WebLinkAboutTB-04/21/2026 PH 1
1 TOWN OF SOUTHOLD
COUNTY OF SUFFOLK : STATE OF NEW YORK
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3
SOUTHOLD TOWN BOARD
4 REGULAR MEETING
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6
7 Southold, New York
8 April 21 , 2026
6 : 00 P . M .
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10
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14 B E F 0 R E :
15
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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23
24
25
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 2
1 INDEX TO TESTIMONY
2 Public Hearing :
3
4 Moffat Farm South, LLC; Moffat Farm
Rabbit , LLC; and Moffat Farm Tiny, LLC 3-22
5
Chapter 280 - Zoning, Accessory Apartments 22-28
6
Twelve Month Extension of a Temporary
7 Moratorioum, the issuance of approvals
and/or permits for Battery Energy Storage
8 Systems (BESS ) Facilities 28-70
9
Public Comments 71-121
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11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
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APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 3
1 MOFFAT FARM SOUTH, LLC; MOFFAT FARM
RABBIT, LLC; AND MOFFAT FARM TINY, LLC
2
3 TOWN CLERK DENIS NONCARROW : The
4 purpose of tonight ' s public hearing
5 is to consider additional parcel
6 owned by Moffat Farm Tiny, LLC to the
7 Town ' s Community Preservation Fund,
8 eligible parcel list for the purpose
9 of purchasing fee title to said
10 parcel together with the parcels
11 owned by Moffat Farm South, LLC and
12 Moffat Farm Rabbit , LLC for open
13 space purposes . Said parcels are
14 identified as Suffolk County Tax Map
15 Numbers as listed . The total area of
16 the property is 34 . 81 acres . The
17 full text of this proposed law can be
18 found on the Town ' s website and
19 posted on the Clerk ' s Bulletin Board .
20 This action was referred to the
21 Southold Planning Department and was
22 declared an unlisted action and
23 issued a negative declaration and
24 consistent with the LWRP . Legal
25 notices for this public hearing are
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 4
1 published no less than 10 days prior
2 to the public hearing in an eligible
3 legal town newspaper . The Town
4 Clerk ' s Office has received the
5 Affidavit of Service for the
6 newspaper indicating that the notice
7 was published . The Town Clerk file
8 also includes an Affidavit of Posting
9 on this public notice on the Town ' s
10 bulletin board at Town Hall .
11 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
12 Thank you . Mr . Johnson, are all the
13 public notices and legal documents in
14 order?
15 ASST . TOWN ATTORNEY BENJAMIN
16 JOHNSON : Yes , Mr . Supervisor . The
17 papers are in order .
18 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : So
19 we have our Land Preservation
20 Coordinator, Lily McCullogh who has
21 worked very hard on this . Well , we
22 have a different venue for everyone
23 to be meeting, so eventually we ' ll be
24 around .
25 LILY MCCULLOUGH : Okay . So ,
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 5
1 good evening . I ' m Lily McCullough,
2 the Town ' s Land Preservation
3 Coordinator . This hearing has two
4 purposes . The first is to add a lot
5 48460 County Route 48 , Tax Map Number
6 55-3-7 to the CPF Eligible Parcel
7 List . The second purpose of
8 tonight ' s hearing is to discuss
9 purchase of this lot, together with
10 the parcel surrounding it in
11 partnership with the County . So I ' m
12 going to take the first part first .
13 So I will orient you and I will do my
14 best for folks on Zoom . The small
15 parcel that we ' re adding to the
16 Eligible Parcel List is this one
17 right here . This is 48460 County
18 Route 48 . It ' s in Southold . This is
19 a 0 . 47 acre lot located on the
20 southeast side of County Route 48 in
21 Southold . It ' s in the R-80 zone .
22 This property is part of the proposed
23 overall purchase of 34 . 81 acres ,
24 which includes this lot, and the lots
25 surrounding it, which I ' ll describe
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 6
1 in more detail in part two .
2 Arguably, this parcel should have
3 been included on the CPF list , so
4 this is ultimately a procedural
5 correction to add a parcel that
6 should have made it on the list given
7 its vacant nature and the
8 relationship it has with the land
9 surrounding it . Basically, the
10 formula used to identify parcels to
11 add to the list generally excludes
12 small lots . However, it ' s worthwhile
13 to look at small lots that are
14 nestled into larger lots we ' d like to
15 preserve under common ownership . So
16 that should have been on the list .
17 This parcel should be added to the
18 list for the establishment of parks ,
19 major preserves , or recreational
20 areas in the preservation of open
21 space . Adding this parcel to the
22 list makes sense . It ' s an undersized
23 lot in R-80 zoning with challenging
24 access and it ' s surrounded by land
25 that the Town and County are now
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING
1 proposing to preserve . It ' s
2 bordering a freshwater wetland
3 located on the larger adjacent parcel
4 that ' s part of this overall
5 preservation deal , and generally the
6 town aims to maintain contiguous open
7 space and minimize potential for
8 encroachments as much as possible ,
9 which best protects the wetlands that
10 we ' re aiming to preserve with this
11 overall project . So part two deals
12 with this entire parcel . So that ' s
13 this small parcel here, this 24
14 acre -- roughly 24 acre parcel here,
15 and a 10 acre parcel here . For the
16 folks on Zoom, it ' s the sort of
17 roughly V-shaped, everything that ' s
18 outlined in red is the proposed
19 project area . So this is 34 . 81
20 acres , more or less , in the R-80
21 Zoning District . The proposed
22 acquisition here is a joint 50-50
23 partnership with the County for fee
24 title . The Town would handle the
25 long-term management subject to a
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 8
1 management plan to be developed in
2 the future . The total purchase price
3 is $110 , 000 an acre, which is
4 estimated to be $3 , 829 , 100 . The
5 price will be adjusted based on a
6 final survey . The Town share of that
7 is estimated to be $ 1 , 914 , 550 , and
8 the town will use the CPF to fund its
9 share of the purchase price and
10 related acquisition expenses . These
11 properties collectively are listed on
12 the CPF project plan for the
13 establishment of parks , nature ,
14 preserves , and recreation areas , the
15 preservation of open space,
16 preservation of fresh and saltwater
17 marshes , and preservation of
18 undeveloped beach lands and shoreline
19 at significant risk of flooding and
20 sea level rise . So these parcels
21 specifically, taking them outside of
22 those general categories , are
23 important because, one, they have
24 significant frontage on Long Creek,
25 which is a state designated critical
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 9
1 environmental area for its importance
2 to public health, water quality,
3 scenic beauty, and fish and wildlife
4 habitat . There ' s also a freshwater
5 wetland located on sort of that
6 larger piece of the "V" here . That ' s
7 closer to County Route 48 . And while
8 this entire piece of property is
9 adjacent to sensitive surface waters ,
10 Long Creek and Arshamomaque Pond,
11 it ' s also mostly buildable . So its
12 development could have a significant
13 negative impact on water quality and
14 habitat health in the area . And
15 while it ' s not directly adjacent to
16 other preserved open space, the map
17 that ' s onto here shows other
18 protected lands in the area . It is
19 in the neighborhood of about 100
20 acres of open space preservation . So
21 it contributes significant acreage to
22 wildlife habitat in the area . Birds
23 and other wildlife don ' t care as much
24 about contiguity as we do when we ' re
25 looking at these things . And so it ' s
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 10
1 important habitat for the area, even
2 though it ' s not directly adjacent .
3 And of course, it ' s providing an
4 opportunity for passive recreational
5 trails subject to that future
6 management plan . So we ' re grateful
7 to the county here , once again
8 partnering with us to maintain an
9 important -- to preserve open space
10 and an important area . They ' ve been
11 a great partner, and it ' s a voluntary
12 program . It doesn ' t work without
13 interested and willing sellers . So
14 we ' re thankful to the landowners here
15 and their willingness . To work with
16 municipal partners to preserve this
17 important piece . And I ' m pleased to
18 present this project today on behalf
19 of the Land Preservation Committee .
20 I request the Town Board proceed with
21 adding parcel to the Eligible Parcel
22 List and proceed with the
23 acquisition . Thank you very much .
24 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
25 Thank you . Thank you for all that
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 11
1 hard work . I know this is many years
2 in the making . So we ' ve heard the
3 presentation . Would anyone like to
4 speak to the public hearing? Please ,
5 sir .
6 VINCENT GUASTAMACCHIA : Hi ,
7 everyone . My name is Vincent
8 Guastamacchia, President of Southold .
9 $110 , 000 an acre for a -- what ' s the
10 record that you ' ve paid so far for a
11 preserved farm land?
12 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : No ,
13 it ' s for open space .
14 VINCENT GUASTAMACCHIA : Open
15 space . $ 110 , 000 an acre . That ' s
16 pretty much what full rate
17 development rights intact land is
18 going for .
19 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : So
20 the -- it ' s subject to two appraisals
21 and the County, I believe does both .
22 VINCENT GUASTAMACCHIA : But 110
23 acres pretty much the record --
24 LILY MCCULLOUGH : So we ' re
25 purchasing fee title . So we are
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 12
1 buying fully development rights
2 intact land, and the Town ' s gonna end
3 up owning the property . So it ' s not
4 an easement . We ' re not purchasing
5 development rights . We ' re purchasing
6 the land entirely .
7 VINCENT GUASTAMACCHIA : That ' s a
8 high price . Thank you .
9 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
10 Thank you . It ' s based on -- it ' s
11 based on appraisals .
12 LYNN SUMMERS : Lynn Summers . I
13 know this property very well . I knew
14 the family when they -- I don ' t know
15 whether they inherited this or not
16 but they grew Christmas trees there
17 forever . And with that Christmas
18 tree money, they put their children
19 through school . I know that the
20 parents and the grandparents would be
21 very proud to do this no matter what
22 it took . So it also intersects with
23 where I live . I am very grateful for
24 all your work . It ' s one of the best
25 things in my neighborhood to hear
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 13
1 about in the long time . Also it
2 intersects with a very tenuous place
3 where you go and enter Route 48 . So
4 if that was built or something it
5 would be dangerous . Thank you very
6 much .
7 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
8 Thank you . I don ' t see anyone on
9 Zoom . Is there anyone here in the
10 audience who ' d like to speak to the
11 public hearing?
12 (No Response . )
13 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY :
14 Motion to close .
15 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Second .
16 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : All
17 in favor to close?
18 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Aye .
19 UNKNOWN MALE SPEAKER : Excuse
20 me . Are we on the BESS topic yet?
21 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : We
22 are not . They will be coming up
23 shortly . We have one other public
24 hearing and then you will be on .
25 UNKNOWN MALE SPEAKER : Thank
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 14
1 you .
2 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
3 Thank you .
4 OZ HANLEY : I ' m sorry, one quick
5 question . Is it possible for people
6 in the community to get copies of the
7 appraisals that are done for these
8 properties , or are they something
9 that is held sort of in private by
10 the County officials .
11 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : They
12 weren ' t until today . I ' m not sure
13 the status after the property . Not
14 until the property -- We ' ve closed on
15 the property . So we ' re buying this
16 jointly with the County . And so all
17 those documents are confidential
18 because it involves values . It won ' t
19 be -- so the appraisals can ' t be
20 released until closing .
21 OZ HANLEY : Okay . Another
22 question I have is --
23 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Can
24 you just state your name for the
25 record?
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 15
1 OZ HANLEY : Oh, I ' m sorry, Oz
2 Hanley, Southold, New York . Another
3 question I have is -- I can ' t sleep
4 because of these sanitary flow
5 credits that are in my head from the
6 last meeting . When you buy the
7 development rights , as opposed to
8 buying the land itself, does that
9 have any difference in terms of how
10 the sanitary flow credits are dealt
11 with?
12 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Yes .
13 So we can only harvest sanitary flow
14 credits off of open space, because
15 agriculture still has a footprint on
16 the land . The Suffolk County Health
17 Department will not allow for any
18 taken sanitary flow credits for
19 farmland .
20 OZ HANLEY : For farmland?
21 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
22 Right .
23 OZ HANLEY : But this isn ' t
24 farmland that ' s being purchased,
25 right?
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 16
1 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
2 That ' s right . So we will get
3 sanitary flow credits . Because the
4 partnership with the County is 50-50 .
5 We will split those .
6 OZ HANLEY : And who determines
7 how many sanitary flow credits are
8 available? Is that done prior to the
9 purchase, or is that done after the
10 purchase? Because the agendas seem
11 to suggest that they may -- they use
12 the word "may, " be available when
13 this property is acquired .
14 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
15 They ' re based on the buildable areas ,
16 and they are based on the area of the
17 final survey . So I think we won ' t
18 know the exact amount until the final
19 survey is done .
20 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Health
21 Department does .
22 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Yes ,
23 thank you . The Suffolk County Health
24 Department will give us a number .
25 OZ HANLEY : A number, as to how
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 17
1 many are available . That goes into
2 the bank . And those bank credits are
3 then used to support the building of
4 Affordable Housing?
5 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
6 That ' s right .
7 OZ HANLEY : Developers have to
8 pay for the acquisition of those bank
9 credits when they build?
10 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Not
11 for Affordable Housing purposes .
12 Okay . But that also goes back for
13 decades .
14 OZ HANLEY : But I could buy
15 sanitary flow credits if I wanted to
16 when I was not building Affordable
17 Housing?
18 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : I
19 don ' t think we ' d sell them to you .
20 Do you want to build a sanitary flow
21 credit?
22 OZ HANLEY : Me, or just anybody?
23 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : So
24 that ' s just -- so the determination
25 to sell the -- sell the sanitary flow
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 18
1 credits is on the town . So it ' s
2 not -- you don ' t automatically get
3 it . You come in as a developer to
4 develop something, say it ' s a
5 commercial piece and you need
6 sanitary flow credits . Formula we
7 have a system and it ' s up to the town
8 to say yes or no .
9 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : We
10 have a finite quantity of them . So
11 we are -- we are keeping them for
12 Affordable Housing purposes .
13 OZ HANLEY : Is there any place
14 where we can find out how many of
15 those full credits are actually in
16 the bank?
17 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
18 Sure .
19 OZ HANLEY : Is that in the
20 budget somehow?
21 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Call
22 me office tomorrow .
23 OZ HANLEY : Thank you . I ' ll
24 sleep better .
25 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : It ' s
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 19
1 a it ' s a -- yeah, it ' s a complicated
2 thing . But we don ' t have -- because
3 we ' ve only preserved so much open
4 space . And if you look at the
5 protected land values , you can see
6 that . And so we ' re -- we ' re safe --
7 we ' re basically saving them and
8 that ' s how the Health Department
9 allows us to increase density on some
10 Affordable Housing .
11 OZ HANLEY : Thank you .
12 LOUISE HARRISON : Good evening
13 Mr . Supervisor, Members of the Town
14 Board . I ' m Louise Harrison . I live
15 in Peconic . I ' m a conservation
16 biologist, and I ' m speaking only on
17 behalf of myself this evening as a
18 resident . And I ' m in favor of this
19 acquisition . I think it ' s a
20 marvelous acquisition . And I ' d just
21 like to relate that anybody who has
22 kayaked up that creek, up to the
23 headwaters , knows how important it is
24 to keep those trees intact and the
25 forest intact there . If you kayak up
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 20
1 that creek, you enter another world .
2 It doesn ' t feel like the rest of
3 Arshamomaque Pond . It doesn ' t feel
4 like Southold . It feels like you ' re
5 in the Adirondack ' s . It ' s not for
6 very long, but it ' s a wonderful spot .
7 And to think that it ' s going to be
8 preserved forever is wonderful , and
9 it ' s going to be great water quality
10 protection to have that forest
11 intact . All in favor . Thank you .
12 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
13 Thank you . All right . The next
14 hearing --
15 ROBERT DUNN : Can I -- question
16 about what determines whether you buy
17 the land outright or development
18 rights ? Like on a parcel -- like
19 this -- what makes that -- is it the
20 seller or is it the Town and County?
21 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : It ' s
22 both .
23 LILY MCCULLOUGH : So, all of
24 these parcels are listed on the
25 parcel list for given reasons . In
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 21
1 general , we buy easements on farmland
2 exclusively . We have only in one
3 instance bought it outright, but we
4 still haven ' t even owned it . Open
5 space, we tend to purchase in fee , so
6 that we can manage it and own it .
7 And that ' s typically obvious from the
8 outside, if something has been a farm
9 and is a farm currently . If it ' s on
10 the Eligible Parcel List, it will be
11 acquired for farmland purposes . If
12 that changes , we might reconsider why
13 it ' s on the list . This is actually a
14 great example of that . It used to be
15 farmed, but it hasn ' t been in farming
16 in probably more than 20 years at
17 this point .
18 ROBERT DUNN : That would answer
19 my question . Yeah, that alone would
20 answer my question . So it ' s been
21 abandoned as of long .
22 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : And
23 it ' s also in an area -- because of
24 the watershed to Wall Creek and part
25 of that .
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 22
1 ROBERT DUNN : But that ' s pretty
2 much horizontal in some kind of, you
3 know, I mean, you can ' t lit a
4 cigarette here without effecting the
5 water surrounding .
6 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : All
7 right . Mr . Clerk, do you want to
8 read the notice for the next --
9 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY :
10 Motion to close the hearing .
11 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Second .
12 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : All
13 in favor?
14 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Aye .
15 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Aye .
16 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : Aye .
17 COUNCILWOMAN ALEXA SUESS : Aye .
18 JUSTICE KATE STEVENS : Aye .
19 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Aye .
20
21 CHAPTER 280 - ZONING, ACCESSORY
22 APARTMENTS
23 TOWN CLERK DENIS NONCARROW : The
24 purpose of tonight ' s public hearing
25 is to consider an amendment to
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 23
1 Chapter 280 of the Town Code of the
2 Town of Southold entitled, "A Local
3 Law in Relation to an Amendment to
4 Chapter 280 Zoning, Accessory
5 Apartments , " which proposes to strike
6 the requirement that accessory
7 apartments must be in a legally
8 existing one-family dwelling or a
9 legally existing accessory structure
10 and allow for the accessory
11 apartments to be built in a dwelling
12 or new accessory structure . The full
13 text of this proposed law can be
14 found on the Town ' s website and
15 posted on the Town Clerk ' s bulletin
16 board . Legal notices for this public
17 hearing are published no less than 10
18 days prior to the public hearing in
19 an eligible legal Town newspaper .
20 The Town Clerk ' s office has received
21 the Affidavit of Service from the
22 newspaper indicating the notice was
23 published . The application requires
24 notice to Suffolk County Planning
25 Commission . The Town Clerk ' s file
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 24
1 includes the response of the Planning
2 Commission dated April 6 , 2026 ,
3 considering the matter a local
4 concern only . The application was
5 referred to the Southold Planning
6 Department for SEQRA determination
7 and the action was considered a Type
8 II action under SEQRA, not requiring
9 further review and consistent with
10 the LWRP review of personal to
11 Chapter 268 . The Town Clerk ' s file
12 also includes an Affidavit of Posting
13 of the public notice on the Town
14 Clerk ' s Bulletin Board at the Town
15 Hall . Finally, a letter of support
16 from the Southold Town Planning dated
17 March 19 , 2026 , has been made part of
18 the record . Thank you .
19 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
20 Thank you . Mr . Johnson, are the
21 legal documents in order to conduct
22 the hearing?
23 ASST . TOWN ATTORNEY BENJAMIN
24 JOHNSON : Yes , Mr . Krupski , the
25 papers are in order .
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 25
1 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
2 Thank you . All right . Would anyone
3 like to speak to this hearing?
4 LESLIE WEISMAN : Leslie Weisman,
5 resident of Southold and Chair of the
6 Southold Town Zoning Board of
7 Appeals . I ' m here on behalf of all
8 of the members of the ZBA this
9 evening to fully support the proposed
10 code change to eliminate the word
11 existing from the code governing the
12 -- of accessory apartments and
13 accessory structures . I believe that
14 you ' re aware of the fact that
15 recently the ZBA had to deny a
16 Special Exception Permit Application
17 to create an ADU, an accessory
18 dwelling unit, on a homeowner ' s
19 property because they propose to
20 build a new structure rather than to
21 convert an existing accessory
22 building to an accessory apartment .
23 Now this restriction to build only in
24 something that exists is in conflict
25 with the Town ' s Comprehensive Plan
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 26
1 that encourages more housing options .
2 Especially rental housing for family
3 use and for those who are on or
4 eligible to be on the Town ' s
5 Affordable Housing Registry . The ZBA
6 will continue to review all
7 applications for accessory dwellings
8 as it currently is doing to be sure
9 that it will not have any adverse
10 impact on neighborhoods or adjacent
11 properties , and that it will comply
12 with all the other standard
13 requirements for approval . The ZBA
14 urges all of you, the Town Supervisor
15 and Town Board Members , to approve
16 this simple code fix that was
17 actually inadvertently overlooked
18 when you not too long ago removed the
19 requirement that an existing
20 accessory structure had to have a
21 Certificate of Occupancy for a
22 minimum of three years before it
23 could even apply for creating an
24 apartment in that structure . Tonight
25 you have the opportunity to actually
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 27
1 remedy that omission, and I urge you
2 all to adopt this simple code change .
3 Thank you for your time .
4 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
5 Thank you . Anyone else like to speak
6 on this hearing?
7 ERIC MCCLURE : Thank you very
8 much . Good evening, Eric McClure ,
9 Mattituck . And I ' ll just underscore
10 what was said previously . I think
11 this is a simple and important code
12 change . We are trying as a community
13 to increase Affordable Housing . And
14 requiring that an accessory unit be
15 built in an existing structure just
16 doesn ' t make a whole lot of sense .
17 And certainly doesn ' t further the
18 desire to increase the supply of
19 housing in the communities . I urge
20 the Board to vote yes .
21 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
22 Thank you, Eric . Anyone else who
23 would like to speak on this hearing?
24 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : I ' ll
25 make a motion to close the hearing .
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 28
1 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Second .
2 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : All
3 in favor?
4 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Aye .
5 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Aye .
6 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : Aye .
7 COUNCILWOMAN ALEXA SUESS : Aye .
8 JUSTICE KATE STEVENS : Aye .
9 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Aye .
10
11 TWELVE MONTH EXTENSION OF A
12 TEMPORARY MORATORIUM, THE ISSUANCE OF
13 APPROVALS AND/OR PERMITS FOR BATTERY
14 ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEMS FACILITIES .
15 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : One
16 more, Denis .
17 TOWN CLERK DENIS NONCARROW : All
18 right . The purpose of tonight ' s
19 public hearing is to consider a Local
20 Law to enact a 12-month extension of
21 a temporary moratorium on the
22 issuance of approvals and or permits
23 for battery energy storage system
24 facilities . Legal notice for public
25 hearings are published no less than
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 29
1 10 days prior to the public hearing
2 in an eligible legal town newspaper .
3 The Town Clerk ' s Office has received
4 the Affidavit of Service from the
5 newspaper indicating that the notice
6 was published . The application
7 requires notice to Suffolk County
8 Planning Commission . The Town Clerk
9 file includes the response of the
10 Planning Commission dated April 10 ,
11 2026 disapproving the proposed local
12 law . The proposed action was
13 referred to the Planning Department
14 for SEQRA determination and the
15 action was considered a Type 2 action
16 under SEQRA, not requiring further
17 review and exempt from the LWRP
18 review pursuant to Chapter 268 . The
19 Town Clerk file also includes an
20 Affidavit of Posting on the public
21 notice bulletin board at Town Hall .
22 Finally, a letter of opposition was
23 received from Key Capture dated April
24 17 , 2026 . An e-mail was received
25 Monday, April 20th from Harrison
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 30
1 Bench on behalf of students for
2 climate action . Two e-mails were
3 received today from Catherine Sattler
4 and one from Farah Al-Zur Farani .
5 Three letters in support were
6 received, one from the Planning Board
7 of Southold dated March 26 , 2026 , and
8 one from Friends of Oregon Road,
9 dated April 13 , 2026 . An e-mail
10 received today April 21st from Ellen
11 Costella and Michael Judge . Thank
12 you .
13 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
14 Thank you, Mr . Clerk . Mr . Johnson,
15 are all the papers in order for the
16 hearing?
17 ASST . TOWN ATTORNEY BENJAMIN
18 JOHNSON : Yes , Supervisor Krupski ,
19 the papers are in order .
20 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
21 Thank you . I will open this hearing .
22 I will start with Mike Corso because
23 he has been waiting patiently .
24 MICHAEL CORSO : Well , I
25 appreciate that . You know, I started
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 31
1 coming out to the North Fork 60 years
2 ago, and have been residing in
3 Greenport since 2003 . I am the
4 Executive Director of the local Solar
5 Energy Foundation, which is a
6 nonprofit focused on solar education .
7 I ' m a member of the Clean Energy
8 Action Coalition of the PCW . I ' m a
9 Board Member of the Sustainability
10 Advisory Board of the Town of
11 Newcastle . And I ' m a commercial
12 solar advisor with Rubio Solar . My
13 intention tonight was to come here
14 and educate based on facts , not fear .
15 But I wanted to get just sort of a
16 temperature of the room as far as
17 where we are in terms of the
18 moratorium . And, you know, I ' m
19 clearly here to express the latest
20 findings of New York State and the
21 Fire Department of New York, the
22 FDNY . But I just want to know how
23 deep I should go and whether it ' s
24 even warranted at this point?
25 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 32
1 Well , I think -- it ' s a public
2 hearing . So I think we want to hear
3 your opinion on it . We have moved --
4 Previous Town Board and Supervisor
5 have started the moratorium . This
6 Board had actually extended it to
7 make sure the town did not move
8 forward with the legislation at the
9 time because the state was updating
10 their guidance documents for local
11 government . That work has just been
12 finished in February . So the
13 recommended 12 month extension of the
14 moratorium would be time to complete
15 and accomplish the steps recommended
16 by the State in their new battery
17 energy storage guidance document .
18 And the year would be spent updating
19 that . This comes from our Planning
20 Department . The first step in the
21 State ' s guidance document is to
22 update the Town ' s Comprehensive Plan
23 about the battery storage facilities ,
24 which would include public input . So
25 that ' s a public process in itself .
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 33
1 And that process takes time . Once
2 completed, the Town Board can use the
3 updated plan to support new zoning
4 code for the battery storage . In
5 addition, the Town Board must decide
6 when to reconvene the Battery Storage
7 Task Force , which there is one member
8 here tonight . I hope I didn ' t miss
9 anybody else that had been on the
10 task force . In addition, the town
11 board must decide when to reconvene
12 and then direct their efforts in
13 reviewing the latest guidance from
14 the state , making recommendations on
15 this energy storage proposal . Then
16 it is up to the Town Board to use the
17 Comprehensive Plan and the Task Force
18 recommendations to draft new
19 regulations for the BESS facilities ,
20 which is why the Planning Board
21 recommended a 12-month extension of
22 the moratorium to give the Town time .
23 Because we are busy with other
24 operations to give the town time to
25 conduct this one properly .
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 34
1 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : May
2 I clarify that a little bit? So in
3 other words , we ' re not getting into
4 the proposed code tonight . We ' re
5 talking about giving ourselves more
6 time so we can continue to do more
7 research . And then there will be
8 time to, in the future, when we
9 decide what kind of code we ' re going
10 to put .
11 MICHAEL CORSO : That ' s
12 wonderful . I appreciate the
13 background . So if I may, do I have
14 three or four minutes to speak?
15 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Go
16 right ahead, please .
17 MICHAEL CORSO : Okay . So the
18 future in the U . S . is all about solar
19 and batteries because of two things .
20 There ' s rising rates and there ' s
21 pollution . In terms of rising rates ,
22 we have a lot of demand from data
23 centers , EV ' s , et cetera . And also
24 the utilities are mandated to upgrade
25 the grid . Transmission lines need to
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 35
1 be updated, and those billions of
2 dollars across the country are gonna
3 be passed on to consumers . And then,
4 of course , there are geopolitical
5 events . I don ' t need to talk to you
6 about what we ' re seeing in the news
7 every day . From my research and the
8 people that I ' m speaking with, I ' m
9 gonna answer the question why
10 moratoriums are being lifted across
11 the country, and especially in New
12 York State . And I ' ll argue that a
13 12-month moratorium isn ' t necessary
14 in light of the fact that New York
15 State, with their very rigorous
16 18-month review, just came out with
17 the guidelines . It ' s basically an 11
18 point guideline , which is what is
19 being followed by most counties
20 throughout the state now . And they
21 are looking to the FDNY, who was
22 adamantly opposed to BESS projects
23 for several years , up until 2023 ,
24 when their governor convened an
25 interagency organization to analyze
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 36
1 where we are and why there was any
2 pushback . And we all know why there
3 was pushback . Three years ago, there
4 were a couple of fires . They were
5 contained, but what came out of this
6 18-month review, was a very rigorous
7 testing, and the technology has
8 advanced at warp speed since 2023 .
9 So the Governor ' s Interagency Fire
10 Safety Working Group, I can tell you
11 who was in that . I don ' t think I
12 need to waste our time, but there
13 were about 12 organizations . And
14 like I said, it was an 18-month
15 review, and the results are these 11
16 recommendations , which the point of
17 me mentioning the results of the
18 review is that counties and fire
19 departments across the state are
20 looking at New York . Especially New
21 York City . Again where they had
22 opposed and they ' re saying well now,
23 if the FDNY is on board and they have
24 confidence in not only the technology
25 but also the peer review and the 24 / 7
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 37
1 monitoring et cetera -- et cetera .
2 Well why? Why do we need to reinvent
3 the wheel? So that ' s my message to
4 the Town tonight . We don ' t need to
5 reinvent the wheel , we don ' t need to
6 extend the moratorium . We need to
7 simply follow this very thorough
8 report that was put out by the State .
9 It was approved last July . It was
10 put into law January of this year .
11 And again I can ' t emphasize enough
12 that we don ' t need to reinvent the
13 wheel . We just need to follow those
14 guidelines and we could have an
15 entire follow-up meeting on what
16 those guidelines are . I mean it ' s
17 not really that complicated that
18 long, but they basically provide a
19 lot of comfort and security and
20 assurances that should a BESS project
21 be proposed anywhere in the state , it
22 is not going to be turned on unless
23 these guidelines are followed . And
24 I ' ll add that in 2024 , there were
25 zero incidents . Now, let me put that
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 38
1 in perspective . There are 6 , 800 BESS
2 projects throughout the state .
3 Remember that number, 6 , 800 . We
4 heard of a couple of high profile .
5 When I say "high profile , " I just
6 mean media coverage of fires , one in
7 upstate New York, one of the
8 Hampton ' s . That was in 2023 . In
9 2024 , zero incidents . In 2025 , there
10 was one incident in Warwick, and it
11 was as a result of a non-compliant
12 system . Meaning they didn ' t get all
13 the permitting and it never should
14 have been turned on . And the
15 incidents in the past were basically
16 from antiquated systems . The modern
17 systems now, the modern technology,
18 and I can tell you that the fire
19 testing that has gone on has been
20 rigorous , is enough for a project to
21 have been installed . And I was at
22 the ribbon cutting about four months
23 ago in Bronx, a utility scale BESS
24 project . I mean, this thing had
25 about three or four large containers
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 39
1 and it was placed across the street
2 from a school , an elementary school .
3 That was on Gunther Road . You could
4 look it up in the Bronx . So again,
5 6 , 800 BESS projects . And I ' ve taken
6 up enough time that I just wanted to
7 summarize . Can I take one more
8 minute to read the letter from the
9 FDNY?
10 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : For
11 sure .
12 MICHAEL CORSO : So this is the
13 Fire Safety Declaration on Battery
14 Energy Storage . They wrote this last
15 year . And this is what got us to
16 where we are now with this law being
17 enacted in January . So they say, "as
18 fire safety professionals , our top
19 priority is the protection of life,
20 property, and public health . We have
21 closely reviewed battery energy
22 storage systems , studied the codes ,
23 examined how these systems are built ,
24 monitored, and maintained . We are
25 here to say clearly and confidently
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 40
1 battery energy storage systems , when
2 installed and operated under New
3 York ' s rigorous and updated safety
4 standards , are safe . " I ' m going to
5 skip the next paragraph, which talks
6 about the National Codes of
7 Standards . It mentions , it does
8 summarize the safeguards that were
9 included, which is , and these are
10 four very important points ,
11 independent engineering review and
12 permitting, continuous 24 /7
13 monitoring . Rigorous testing for all
14 final installed equipment to mitigate
15 fire propagation and emergency
16 response planning developed in
17 coordination with local fire
18 departments . And by the way, the
19 important thing to know here is that
20 the training that is provided is no
21 cost to the town . So fire department
22 needs training that is covered
23 through the state . The last thing
24 I ' ll mention here is that the people
25 who signed this , I ' ll just mention a
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 41
1 few of them . Thomas Van Essen, he
2 was the FDNY Commissioner of the City
3 of New York . Daniel Murray, he was a
4 former FDNY Battalion Chief, Hazmat
5 Operations . Ray McGuire , Fire
6 Chief ' s Council of Nassau County,
7 again honorary Battalion Chief of
8 FDNY, and I ' ll mention two others .
9 There was a former FDNY Assistant
10 Chief, Thomas Jensen, and there are
11 several others , but I could share --
12 I ' m happy to share this letter with
13 you . But again, those are my
14 comments , and what I hope everyone
15 takes home tonight is that the 18
16 month review brought us to a place
17 where there should be complete
18 confidence in the testing and sign
19 off on systems before they ever get
20 turned on, and we just need to follow
21 those 11 points rather than -- like I
22 said, come up with our own laws and
23 regulations so that we can move to a
24 future that will be sold over a
25 battery and takes us away from the
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 42
1 dependence on fossil fuels . And one
2 fun fact , before I shore up, the sun
3 in one year provides 10 , 000 times the
4 amount of energy that this entire
5 planet needs in a year, 10 , 000 times .
6 We are under utilizing, and that ' s
7 why in my life, the local solar
8 energy foundation, I ' m on a mission
9 to get solar on as many commercial
10 building roofs as possible . And to
11 just make sure that we are cleaning
12 up the planet and saving consumers
13 and businesses a lot of money . So
14 thank you for -- thank you for --
15 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
16 Thank you for your work in renewable
17 energy and Councilwoman Doherty has a
18 question .
19 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : So
20 since you ' re so close to this
21 subject, you might know the answer .
22 In talking with the fire departments ,
23 do they need -- what kind of
24 apparatus do they need? What kind of
25 equipment do they need in addition to
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 43
1 what they have to fight a
2 lithium-battery fire? Do you know
3 that answer?
4 MICHAEL CORSO : Okay . So I have
5 spoken with the people who are
6 training fire departments and there ' s
7 never been a mention of any special
8 equipment or apparatus that they
9 need . And one of the reasons why is
10 because of the 24 /7 monitoring and
11 the fact that the technology has
12 brought us to a place where should
13 there be a very unlikely fire event,
14 it ' s contained within a module ,
15 within that large cargo space .
16 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : So
17 they just let it burn out, I guess ?
18 MICHAEL CORSO : They basically
19 let it burn out , in fact the National
20 Fire Prevention Association doesn ' t
21 even recommend evacuations . They say
22 that shelter in place for these types
23 of events is better than evacuations .
24 And also since 2018 , the growth of
25 BESS projects has grown at a rate of
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 44
1 25 , OOOo -- 25 , OOOo and there have
2 only been 23 incidents . Again, those
3 were from antiquated systems . In
4 2023 alone , and this is the last year
5 that I have the data for it, there
6 were 210 , 000 fuel based fire
7 incidents , cars , fuel based fire
8 incidents . So the National Fire
9 Protection Association points out
10 that fuel based fire incidents are
11 not only at a much larger scale , but
12 that any BESS fire is aligned with
13 the products that you find in a
14 structural fire , you know, combustion
15 from a structural fire . So there ' s
16 nothing out of the ordinary or scary,
17 let ' s say, about a BESS fire versus a
18 house fire , car fire, et cetera .
19 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
20 Thank you .
21 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY :
22 Thank you .
23 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : And
24 Councilwoman Smith made a point that
25 the recommendation was for a 12 month
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 45
1 moratorium . The State did take 18
2 months to consider this . So 12
3 months does seem ambitious , but we
4 don ' t need it . To take the 12 months
5 if we pass more time, it could be
6 added at any time . So if our review
7 is sufficient for the community .
8 So is there anyone in the
9 audience who would like to speak?
10 Yes , sir .
11 KOLIN LOVELESS : Supervisor
12 Krupski and members of the Town
13 Board . Thank you for the opportunity
14 to speak . My name is Kolin Loveless .
15 I ' m here with Key Capture Energy . I
16 don ' t need to rehash everything that
17 we put in our written comments , but I
18 would like to take the opportunity to
19 this group to introduce Key Capture
20 Energy . Key Capture is an Albany
21 based developer, owner, and operator
22 of Battery Energy Storage projects .
23 We operate the largest project in New
24 York State . We ' re the first to bring
25 projects online in New York . We also
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 46
1 operate a large portfolio of projects
2 in Texas . Beyond just who Key
3 Capture is , speaking to some of the
4 points that Mike Corso was just
5 making, the previous speaker, we
6 conducted training for all of the
7 fire departments that host projects
8 where we operate, and annual
9 refreshes . We were doing that before
10 it was required by the New York State
11 Code . How we operate an interface
12 with first responders in our
13 community to discuss most important
14 things for how we approach this . I
15 have some thoughts , but before I
16 address those, I want to take the
17 opportunity to address freshly the
18 comments that were just made about
19 fire safety, in particular about
20 equipment . When it comes to
21 equipment, and this is having sat
22 through with a number of towns as
23 they ' re going through this
24 conversation, the number of fire
25 departments , the things that you
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 47
1 really need are an ability to measure
2 temperature, ability maybe for
3 breathing apparatus , most fire
4 departments already have that , and
5 then the standard equipment that they
6 generally have . So I think that
7 makes it pretty well addressed, but
8 when it comes to, in particular, the
9 recommendation to let anything burn
10 out, the primary reason is because
11 the facilities are typically not
12 manned . They ' re monitored remotely
13 24 /7 with full remote access with
14 remote and redundant communication
15 mechanisms . So that we can detect
16 what ' s going on without having
17 someone on site . So in the event of
18 an incident, there ' s no human safety
19 that you need to protect . Therefore ,
20 it ' s just equipment, and you can
21 allow it to burn out without risking
22 any further first responder safety .
23 That ' s the primary recommendation
24 then . The additional recommendation
25 is to monitor temperature from
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 48
1 ( inaudible ) that doesn ' t spread from
2 any existing container, and that
3 component is one of the major safety
4 tests that goes into ensuring their
5 safe systems . The ability to not
6 have a fire spread from one incident
7 to another . It ' s one of the
8 foundational codes , and the
9 international code is called UL 9540
10 -- 9540A that ensure that it can be
11 done safely . Now, coming back to
12 important things from Key Captures
13 perspective, we do have a project
14 proposed in town, and we would love
15 to continue supporting the town as
16 you ' re working through this process .
17 We urge you to vote no on extending
18 the moratorium because, as the
19 previous speaker mentioned, there are
20 fire safety codes in place from the
21 State that would allow you to move
22 forward in parallel with reviewing a
23 permit to ensure that this can be
24 done safely . And most importantly,
25 Key Capture stands ready to support
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 49
1 those conversations , to provide
2 information, to provide anything that
3 we can to help you with that review .
4 Finally, and probably the most
5 important thing is , what would be in
6 it for the town and considering the
7 listing of a facility here in the
8 town . And I think it ' s really
9 important to highlight these are
10 facilities that then become revenue
11 generators that can bring revenue
12 back into the town and reform on tax
13 revenues and other whole community
14 benefits . And we ' d like to continue
15 that conversation as have this move
16 forward . Thank you for the
17 opportunity to speak . If there ' s
18 anything else we can address as
19 questions , I ' m certainly happy to do
20 that while I ' m here .
21 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
22 Thank you .
23 KOLIN LOVELESS : Thanks .
24 ROBERT DUNN : Robert Dunn ,
25 Peconic . General , my opinion on it ' s
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 50
1 positive like anything solar related
2 to it . It ' s got to be correct . It ' s
3 got to be whatever . But that ' s not
4 what I could turn it out to be . This
5 will be the third extension . That ' s
6 something attorneys will just have
7 fun with . You need to make a
8 decision so that doesn ' t backfire .
9 Whether the decision is for or
10 against, I ' m not gonna discuss that .
11 That ' s a decision that you guys make .
12 But the bottom line is , if you don ' t
13 make it, someone ' s gonna beat you up
14 just on how many more -- how many
15 times you ' re gonna kick it down -- a
16 can -- kick the can down a road .
17 It ' s -- you gotta make a decision .
18 And regarding the other side, the
19 industry side, they tell you about
20 all these things about New York City .
21 Well , let me tell you, the fire
22 department in any borough in New York
23 City has a larger budget than the
24 entire Town of Southold . It ' s just
25 the fire department . So there ' s no
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 51
1 comparison there . It ' s like talking
2 about bus stops and airplanes .
3 They ' re just -- they ' re not related .
4 So that ' s all .
5 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
6 Thank you . And as far as -- and you
7 make a very good point about another
8 extension -- another proposed
9 extension .
10 ROBERT DUNN : To avoid -- you ' re
11 just gonna have a great time . Then
12 I ' ll look at first thing . Cause you
13 haven ' t -- there really has never
14 been a concrete reason for the
15 extension --
16 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Oh
17 no, no, there was . Because in 2024 ,
18 the Town ' s BESS Task Force provided
19 the Town Board with an excellent
20 report and model zoning code . The
21 town was unable to move forward on
22 legislation at that time . Cause
23 there were several fires at
24 facilities that caused the State to
25 announce they needed to update the
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 52
1 fire code . So the town at that point
2 was waiting for the -- was not
3 kicking the can, cause the State had
4 to give us the can . So we had -- it
5 took 18 months for the State to
6 provide guidance and now we -- the
7 moratorium would be to provide --
8 ROBERT DUNN : Okay . But didn ' t
9 you say a little while ago that the
10 committee had been enacted?
11 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
12 Since they issued -- the Task Force
13 issued their report . Yes , they have
14 been enacted .
15 ROBERT DUNN : In ' 24 ?
16 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Yes .
17 Waiting for the State to come out
18 with guidance, because there ' s no
19 point in the town passing legislation
20 if the State is going to pass
21 something that would be contrary .
22 Then we would have to react to that .
23 We wanted to make sure we were in a
24 good position .
25 ROBERT DUNN : Why did this work?
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 53
1 Again, it ' s a third extension, and
2 things haven ' t been done . And we ' re
3 waiting for this -- and just so
4 lawyers can have a great time with
5 that . If they want it . I mean,
6 there ' s a lot of money in this .
7 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
8 Sure .
9 ROBERT DUNN : So there ' s a lot
10 of motivation for people to want to
11 get into it .
12 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
13 Sure .
14 ROBERT DUNN : And if we don ' t
15 want it, fine . Let ' s build a good
16 fence to keep them out . But don ' t
17 give them a fence they can jump on .
18 Thank you .
19 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
20 Thank you . Yes , sir?
21 Yes , sir .
22 BILL BRAMHALL : Hi . My name is
23 Bill Bramhall , Cutchogue , Oregon
24 Road . I ' m not against battery
25 storage to our solar power . I have
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 54
1 solar panels in my house . But I
2 don ' t have a battery . And the reason
3 why, I don ' t have a battery . Battery
4 is because I pretty much grew up in a
5 nuclear submarine from the age of 19 .
6 And on US nuclear submarines , we have
7 batteries from where we submerged,
8 but we don ' t allow lithium ion
9 batteries because you can ' t contain
10 the fire . And so that ' s a concern .
11 One of the other things is location .
12 Where we are , if there ' s a fire , the
13 water table runs right underneath
14 that . I have well water . So I know
15 where the water table is . If you try
16 to extinguish that fire or let it
17 burn, anything that is a fall off
18 from that fire is going to go down
19 into the water table . And that ' s
20 going to wreak havoc on everything
21 else . The other thing is , in terms
22 of location, is where most of the
23 power is consumed, I would guess it ' s
24 Riverhead . And we are building a
25 battery storage unit out here . I
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 55
1 might be mistaken, but I think that
2 the further you have to transport
3 electricity, you need transformers ,
4 substations , things like that , which
5 cost more money on top of the money
6 that it costs to build the storage
7 utility, the storage facility . Every
8 nut, bolt, bag of concrete that it
9 takes to build those substations are
10 going to be charged back to us .
11 They ' re storing the power . They ' re
12 going to charge the power company .
13 For storing the power, the power
14 company is going to charge it back to
15 us . So it seems like if we ' re going
16 to have a BESS facility, it needs to
17 be closer to the source where they ' re
18 using the most electricity, not out
19 here . It just doesn ' t make sense . I
20 mean, there ' s just practical
21 solutions . I ' m not saying, no . I ' m
22 just saying we should think about
23 that .
24 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
25 Thank you . What boat did you serve
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 56
1 on?
2 BILL BRAMHALL : Gato .
3 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
4 Thank you for your service .
5 BILL BRAMHALL : Thank you .
6 MARGARET STEINBERG : Margaret
7 Steinberg, resident of Southold Town .
8 I have over 20 years of experience in
9 developing new technologies from fuel
10 cells to aerospace products and jet
11 engines . I ' m very familiar with the
12 assessment of risk when adopting new
13 technologies . I am a 100% for
14 renewable energy and battery energy
15 storage because I know it is enabling
16 for a clean energy future . When we
17 assess risk projects large and small ,
18 we look at two key parameters . The
19 likelihood of the risk, the bad event
20 happening, and the impact of the bad
21 events . What I heard tonight is that
22 in the case of battery energy storage
23 systems , the likelihood of a bad
24 event, such as a fire has gone down
25 dramatically in the last several
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 57
1 years thanks to the improvement in
2 the chemical and the technology of
3 the batteries and probably the
4 separation of the electrodes . What
5 hasn ' t changed is the impact . It ' s
6 gratifying to hear that most of the
7 counties in New York State feel that
8 they can go forward with battery
9 energy storage systems . But most of
10 the counties in New York State and
11 most of the towns do not have the
12 unique and fragile environment,
13 including an aquifer, a sole source
14 aquifer under our feet that the Town
15 of Southold has . So I would argue
16 that most of the counties and towns
17 in the state can look at that risk in
18 terms of the likelihood of the impact
19 and the probability of the impact and
20 say they are satisfied . We have a
21 tougher decision to make on the
22 impact because of our fragile
23 environment . So I fully support an
24 additional 12 month extension of the
25 moratorium, so we can make sure that
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 58
1 the guidelines that the state has
2 come up with can be applied
3 appropriately to the Town of
4 Southold . And we can rest assured
5 that we have adequately assessed the
6 risk . Thank you .
7 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
8 Thank you .
9 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Thank
10 you .
11 TAMI LOEFFLER : Good evening,
12 Tami Loeffler, Mattituck . I actually
13 didn ' t come here for this , but I just
14 wanted to ask a few questions . Who
15 profits off of this ?
16 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
17 Well , you have to -- you have to
18 address the Board .
19 TAMI LOEFFLER : Okay . Who
20 profits off of this ? Who will run
21 it? What happens to the batteries
22 when they ' re no longer good? Who is
23 responsible for their disposal?
24 Where are they disposed? What is the
25 benefit of this to Southold Town? If
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 59
1 I ' m not mistaken, and it could be ,
2 but I think the North Fork at its
3 widest point is like five miles
4 across , give or take . So every bit
5 of land here is precious . Why not
6 have this further west where the land
7 is , you know, the island is wider
8 across ? And I would also say that --
9 you know, and one question -- another
10 question, how long does -- they say
11 just let the fire burn out . Is that
12 days , weeks , months ? How long does a
13 fire take to burn out? And then I
14 also just want to make a statement
15 that having worked in the Democratic
16 Republic of Congo, in the mining,
17 Province of -- I ' m just blanking out
18 the Hubbubs , there is no such thing
19 as clean energy . This might be
20 cleaner, but if you read up at all
21 about the mining of cobalt, which is
22 used to make lithium batteries , there
23 are children -- and the Democratic
24 Republic of Congo is being devastated
25 with the mining of these minerals
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 60
1 that are in these batteries . So it
2 might be clean for us , but the
3 environmental devastation is just
4 being wreaked havoc elsewhere in the
5 world . So we don ' t see it, but it
6 still happens . That ' s it .
7 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : So
8 to your points , though -- thank you
9 for asking those questions , but we ' re
10 not gonna answer those tonight .
11 TAMI LOEFFLER : No , I know .
12 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : This
13 is only give the Town time to
14 consider all those things .
15 TAMI LOEFFLER : Right , but I
16 think, yeah -- those are the things
17 we need to consider . I ' m not
18 expecting the answer tonight, but
19 just listening to them, the gentleman
20 that was speaking on Zoom and the
21 gentleman that are here that will run
22 it, I just wonder -- genuinely, what
23 are the answers to those questions .
24 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Very
25 good questions . Thank you . Mr .
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 61
1 O ' Mara?
2 KEVIN O ' MARA : Hi , how are you?
3 I ' m Kevin O ' Mara . I ' m speaking on
4 behalf of Friends of Oregon Road .
5 Just a couple of things that were
6 said earlier . Mr . Corso was a very
7 passionate advocate for solar energy,
8 which I agree with . However, the
9 battery storage system is completely
10 unrelated to solar energy . Key
11 Capture will take energy from the
12 grid . Store at lower, in the
13 evenings when it ' s cheaper, store it
14 and sell it back to life when it ' s
15 more expensive . And to answer the
16 last lady ' s question, that ' s how
17 they ' ll make their money, is by
18 energy arbitrage . The second
19 question, I think, is that in which
20 some of the -- raised is what ' s in it
21 for the Town of Southold . The Moss
22 Mending Fire , which was only last
23 year, had a two mile radius , cobalt
24 and manganese in the soil ground,
25 contamination . And to the point
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 62
1 where it impacts the ability to
2 conduct agriculture . The town spent
3 millions of dollars preserving
4 agricultural land around this site,
5 which would become unusable , if there
6 were a fire because of the
7 contamination of these heavy metals .
8 The other interesting thing was that
9 a Key Capture gentleman mentioned
10 that, oh, there ' s no risk to human
11 life because it ' s unmanned . So we
12 don ' t have to worry about anybody
13 there . What he slipped in is that
14 there would be a shelter in place
15 order for everybody who was within a
16 certain perimeter of the facility .
17 That includes homes , businesses , a
18 church . Well all within the two mile
19 radius . And as somebody said and as
20 widest the North Fork is five miles .
21 So a two mile radius around the
22 facility is a substantial chunk of
23 the town, including Route 48 . All of
24 these issues are significant and
25 require a lot of thought and planning
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 63
1 before we move forward with any piece
2 of -- any piece of code relating to
3 the putting aside . All that -- it
4 also should be considered where as
5 part of that process is this an
6 appropriate place to have a BESS in a
7 substation . Brownland Leisure last
8 month called out Oregon ( inaudible)
9 of the most scenic roads on the North
10 Fork and something that tourists
11 should do . I don ' t think driving
12 past a substation in a BESS facility
13 is really going to enhance the
14 touristic value of the North Fork .
15 It ' s the power we use in Riverhead
16 and further west, there ' s no reason
17 for the Town of Southold to host this
18 thing, where we ' re not getting any
19 benefit, and we ' re taking on risk;
20 however small it may be . We are
21 taking on that risk . Our residents
22 are , our businesses are and our
23 farmers are . And it is not an
24 appropriate thing to consider . Thank
25 you .
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 64
1 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : All
2 right . Is there anyone in the
3 audience would like to address the
4 Board on this topic? Okay . Tracy
5 Levy, if you can hear us , we ' d like
6 you to speak . You ' ve got your hand
7 up .
8 TRACY LEVY : Yes , I do . Thank
9 you very much . I am urging the Town
10 Board here in Southold to extend this
11 moratorium on battery storage , or,
12 like the other gentleman said, take a
13 stance and say "no" to this
14 technology . It is outrageous that a
15 technology such as this , which will
16 be obsolete by the time it is built,
17 is being considered for the most
18 beautiful spot on the North Fork,
19 which is Oregon Road . New York State
20 is re-examining its energy policies .
21 Governor Kathy Hochul admitted that
22 she needs reliable base load
23 generation . And despite what the
24 other gentlemen said, the future is
25 not solar and wind . The future is
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 65
1 another source of reliable base load
2 generation . We see in Cape Cod there
3 are windmill wings being flown off .
4 We have battery storage, fires going
5 elsewhere . And ask the New York City
6 firefighter if he really wants to
7 respond to one of these lithium
8 battery fires . I can ' t bring a
9 lithium battery on an airplane , so we
10 want to put all of these in
11 Cutchogue . It ' s outrageous . Battery
12 storage is a stopgap measure . The
13 implications that have a long-term
14 portion to this environment, we have
15 a beautiful environment here . Why
16 are we even considering this ?
17 Southold is not going to make a dime
18 off of this . This is BESS . This is
19 this Key Capture . They ' re not even
20 an American company . And they want
21 to operate and just -- do you think
22 you ' re a bunch of like -- I don ' t
23 know, we ' re a bunch of hicks ? We ' re
24 not . There are many people here who
25 want a sound energy policy . We want
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 66
1 same transmission, interconnection
2 that ' s reliable . However, battery
3 storage does not do that for us .
4 This moratorium should either be
5 extended or this whole thing should
6 be quashed . It is the wrong project
7 in the wrong place , with the wrong
8 people involved . Thank you .
9 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
10 Thank you . To answer part of that,
11 the reason we ' re considering this as
12 a town is this language was not
13 considered in any part of the Code of
14 Comprehensive Plan . So when it ' s
15 proposed that it ' s like anything new,
16 then the town has to consider what
17 the impacts are going to be and
18 weighed about and to someone ' s point,
19 to see if there ' s going to be a
20 benefit in the town ' s residents . And
21 that ' s why we ' re considering it .
22 TRACY LEVY : Well , the common
23 sense here looks at agriculture and I
24 see that they can ' t even get an
25 interconnection to the transmission
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 67
1 system without going through
2 Southold ' s landfill . So you guys can
3 squash this whole thing by saying,
4 nope, you ' re not going to use our
5 landfill property . So to me, this is
6 such common sense . Clean energy .
7 The lady said, you know, we ' re mining
8 this stuff out of places in the world
9 and we ' re causing all sorts of
10 problems . We are not -- We have a
11 super majority in the New York State .
12 Legislature of people who want to
13 push a climate change agenda . That
14 is not where we ' re at right now as a
15 country . And I think that we need to
16 put a pause on this and really just
17 step back and be like , holy moly,
18 this is a beautiful place . Why are
19 we putting this here?
20 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : All
21 right, thank you .
22 TRACY LEVY : You ' re welcome .
23 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : And
24 this is not to consider placing
25 anything . This is only to
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 68
1 consider -- tonight ' s action is only
2 to consider a 12 month moratorium on
3 that usage . And it ' s not for a
4 specific project .
5 Would anyone here like to
6 address the Board on this topic?
7 ERIC MCCLURE : I don ' t want to
8 belabor this , but Eric McClure ,
9 Mattituck . I will take a
10 counterpoint and say that our future
11 is clean energy, and being able to
12 store some of that energy and
13 distribute it when it ' s needed is
14 important . So I ' d certainly read
15 the -- my reading of the Board is
16 that you ' re gonna vote "yes " on this ,
17 and don ' t take great issue with that .
18 I do think that we should be in a
19 position to not further kick the can
20 down the road and start really
21 working toward some decisions on BESS
22 systems , and we all use electricity
23 here in the Town of Southold and
24 being able to manage that electricity
25 distribution I think is important .
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 69
1 And so I ' ll just say that I do think
2 that we ' re gonna need to reckon with
3 that .
4 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
5 Thank you . Mr . Corso, you ' ve spoken
6 already, and would you like to add
7 anything else to the record?
8 MICHAEL CORSO : Well , yeah, I
9 just -- there was one point I wanted
10 to make, which is one of the reasons
11 why there have been moratoriums in
12 the past is , and the way they ' re
13 structured is based on tiers . So
14 Tier One , Two, Three based on size .
15 What I forgot to add earlier was that
16 the larger systems are actually safer
17 than the smaller systems . And for
18 everyone in the room, you should know
19 that you have lithium ion batteries
20 in your cars , in your phones , in your
21 toys . You have more batteries in
22 your home than you can imagine .
23 These very large systems are being
24 monitored 24 /7 and they actually are
25 safer . So if the town and looking at
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 70
1 utility scale projects , thinks that
2 kind of cutting off based on size is
3 the right approach, I again point you
4 to the State Code that was approved
5 in January . Thank you .
6 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
7 Thank you . All right . I don ' t see
8 any other speakers here or on Zoom .
9 Do I have a motion to close the
10 hearing?
11 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : I ' ll
12 make a motion to close the hearing .
13 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Second .
14 TOWN CLERK DENIS NONCARROW : All
15 in favor?
16 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Aye .
17 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Aye .
18 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : Aye .
19 COUNCILWOMAN ALEXA SUESS : Aye .
20 JUSTICE KATE STEVENS : Aye .
21 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Aye .
22 That hearing is closed .
23 (Whereupon, the meeting
24 continued on to Resolutions at this
25 time . )
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 71
1 ** * ** * * * * * * ** * ** * ** * ** * ** * * * * * * ** * *
2 PUBLIC COMMENTS
3 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : All
4 right . I ' m going to dispense with
5 the Regular Agenda . Is there anyone
6 who ' d like to address the Board on
7 any matter?
8 GEORGE MAUL : Good evening . My
9 name is George Maul . I ' m a resident
10 of New Suffolk . And I ' d like to talk
11 to the Board tonight about the
12 proposal to restructure the Zoning
13 update project that the Planning
14 Director, Heather Lanza, presented at
15 this morning ' s work session . At the
16 Zoning Update Committee meeting on
17 Saturday, it was nice to see that the
18 meeting was attended by almost all of
19 the committee members . The meeting
20 was two and a half hours long and
21 included questions from the audience ,
22 which was the first time for this
23 committee . I have been following
24 this committee for two and a half
25 years , and this was the first time
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 72
1 they accepted comments from people in
2 the room or questions . And it ' s come
3 a long way since it was held in the
4 Annex and there was a rope around the
5 committee . I wasn ' t able to attend
6 the meeting . I watched it on Zoom .
7 It was wonderful to watch . I really
8 enjoyed it . We made popcorn . I was
9 at another meeting . I was at a
10 meeting in East Marion of all the
11 Civic Association Boards , which was
12 the first time that all of the eight
13 Civic Associations Boards met
14 together in one room . And that was
15 an exciting meeting too . We decided
16 as a group that we wanna collaborate
17 more together, rather than just the
18 one people from each Civic
19 Association that we had been having
20 together . So I think that ' s gonna be
21 good for -- for some of the issues
22 that we can help to work on in the
23 town . One of the things that came up
24 at that meeting is that we ' re in the
25 middle of a housing crisis . And
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 73
1 Andrea is doing a great job at the
2 Housing Community . And we ' ve been at
3 this a long time now, and it ' s a
4 crisis . Young people are having a
5 hard time living here . The
6 population of the Town of Southold
7 from 2010 to 2020 went up 10% about
8 2 , 000 people . But the young people
9 are not part of the increase in our
10 population . I live in New Suffolk
11 when I walk around in my
12 neighborhood . I find myself saying a
13 family used to live here and a family
14 used to live here . And it ' s a
15 terrible feeling . Now, at the
16 subdivision meeting the other day was
17 another great meeting . Heather put
18 up a chart , she ' s put up several
19 times about how building permits
20 average like 50 a year . And that may
21 be steady, but the way that our
22 neighborhoods is changing is drastic .
23 So that makes me wanna just bring up
24 some ideas . I don ' t really feel like
25 we can wait five years for a housing
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 74
1 authority to consider a housing
2 authority . I don ' t know what the
3 process would be to pursue that . If
4 that happens in the ZAC Committee or
5 somewhere else, wherever it happens ,
6 can we please talk about that? The
7 Town Housing Committee has done a lot
8 of great work on Affordable Housing .
9 When it talks about Affordable
10 Housing, it always seems to be that
11 when they say Affordable Housing,
12 they mean -- they mean a subsidized
13 housing . Now as a landlord for 40
14 years , I have to tell you that most
15 landlords don ' t want anything to do
16 with subsidized housing . There ' s too
17 much red tape . There are too many
18 restrictions . There ' s too much
19 control , and it ' s just not worth it .
20 Can we please have some talk in the
21 town about how we can incentivize
22 small apartments , small houses , and
23 smaller places to live? The ADU ' s
24 are great, but that ' s not going to
25 fit the bill completely . Can we have
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 75
1 year round rentals in the private
2 market so the Town isn ' t in the
3 housing business ? Is there a way
4 that we can have some co-op structure
5 so that young people can build equity
6 in real estate? At the subdivision
7 forum last week, three people in the
8 audience asked the Town for creative
9 solutions and thinking outside the
10 box . And I don ' t really think we ' ve
11 seen any of that yet . I would really
12 like to see it, and I ' d like to throw
13 out a few crazy ideas to just stir
14 some imagination . How about a forum
15 with the Health Department to see
16 what ways we can maximize apartments
17 above stores without a sewage
18 treatment? Do we really know the
19 answer to that question? I don ' t
20 know it, and I have a degree in
21 Wastewater Engineering that I don ' t
22 like to admit that I have .
23 UNKNOWN SPEAKER : Now we know .
24 GEORGE MAUL : Now we know .
25 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 76
1 You ' re on the record .
2 GEORGE MAUL : Jamie Gordon is
3 conducting a survey of all of the
4 commercial properties in Downtown
5 Greenport to see what the
6 possibilities are for having
7 apartments above stores . Can the ZAC
8 Committee undertake a project like
9 that? If the ZAC needs help to
10 conduct small projects to gather
11 information and conduct surveys , can
12 they reach out to the community for
13 volunteers ? At the ZAC meeting on
14 Saturday, Leslie Weisman said that
15 when Ms . Moore said she would like to
16 be on the Zoning Update Committee ,
17 Leslie said we have enough expertise
18 on this committee . The people on the
19 committee are great, and they have
20 expertise . But that committee has
21 been going there for two and a half
22 years , and they need more information
23 in order to get some of these things .
24 Can we please help? Can we come up
25 with a number of attainable housing
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 77
1 units that we would like to shoot for
2 and then ask what we would have to do
3 to actually achieve that goal .
4 That ' s the way I understand problem
5 solving . Let ' s just pick a number .
6 What would we have to do to get 500
7 units of housing in the next three
8 years instead of 75 or 100 ? Leslie
9 Weisman has initiated a policy of
10 small changes to the code . We could
11 add some other small changes . A
12 maximum house size of 10 , 000 square
13 feet in the Town of Southold . Large
14 houses affect the culture of our
15 community . They make it harder to
16 interact with your neighbors . And
17 it ' s just not as warm a feeling when
18 you ' re talking to a hedge . Glenis
19 Berry, one of my favorite people, the
20 other day at the high rent, low
21 water, another and another meeting .
22 Thank you, Rise and Tides and
23 Lowering Wind, I don ' t know what to
24 say . She came up with a crazy idea .
25 She said, what if we form a new
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 78
1 hamlet? What crazy idea is that? We
2 have enough trouble with the ones we
3 have . Across the street from King
4 Kullen, is that something that maybe
5 somebody is already thinking about?
6 If we were to create a new hamlet
7 downtown area, could we do it in a
8 way that would work? Because there ' s
9 nothing there, and we could start
10 from scratch and actually have
11 something that works well ? I don ' t
12 know . We need a vision of what the
13 North Fork will look like . Now, is
14 that vision conservation subdivisions
15 along Oregon Road and bustling
16 walkable hamlets full of local year
17 round businesses ? Places where
18 people can live and walk to work, is
19 that what we want? If that ' s what we
20 want, let ' s say so . If it ' s not what
21 we want, what is the vision of this
22 project so we can work towards it?
23 Because I ' ve been watching this for
24 years . I ' m not really sure what the
25 vision is that we have . Can we reach
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 79
1 some kind of consensus on what the
2 vision is for the community, for
3 everyone? Another crazy idea . Is
4 there some way that we can raise more
5 money for the CPF funding? Someone
6 at the Subdivision Meeting said, can
7 we ask the billionaires to contribute
8 more money? I mean, it ' s not -- I
9 don ' t think it ' s crazy idea . Every
10 time we hold an event, we have a
11 raffle and whoever wins the raffle,
12 half the time they give the money
13 they give the money back to the
14 raffle . Maybe somebody wants to be
15 -- when Robins Island rebuilt the New
16 Suffolk boat ramp, they paid to do
17 that themselves and they just did it .
18 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Very
19 good neighbor .
20 GEORGE MAUL : Very good
21 neighbor . So we have other good
22 neighbors . Can we can we ask people
23 to contribute to donate? Maybe we
24 need to have a Go Fund Me to get more
25 money, so we can preserve more land
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 80
1 or maybe we could these -- you know,
2 just throwing out some ideas . And if
3 we throw out some of these ideas ,
4 maybe we can use some . And I just
5 want to close with one following
6 small story about following the
7 rules . A couple years ago, I built a
8 house in New Suffolk on a lot that
9 was 7 , 500 square feet in size because
10 of the size of that lot the setbacks
11 that the town allows . My footprint
12 was 30 X 30 . I put a second-story on
13 that house and I -- partial
14 second-story, and I built a house
15 that was 1 , 370 square feet . I built
16 that house . I totaled up the money .
17 It cost me $249 a square foot to
18 build that house . Okay . In this
19 market . I did a lot of work myself,
20 but that was the number . Just for
21 reference , when you ' re looking at a
22 budget for some building . Around the
23 corner from me -- and I ' m very happy
24 there . Around the corner from me ,
25 there was another house that was
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 81
1 proposed on a lot that was 6 , 900
2 square feet, smaller than my lot, and
3 the lot -- and the house that was
4 proposed was 2 , 000 square feet . The
5 Zoning Board of Appeals approved that
6 lot . When I asked my friends at the
7 Zoning Board, because I had friends
8 at the Zoning Board, why that was ,
9 they told me that was because of
10 precedent and because of the
11 surrounding properties . Where I
12 built in new Suffolk, the house next
13 door where Barbara Solo lives , is 10
14 feet off the property line . My house
15 has set back 35 feet . Those are the
16 rules right now in the Town of
17 Southold . Why can ' t we follow the
18 rules ? Why can ' t our institutions ,
19 our Boards , why can ' t they enforce
20 the rules ? Why is it up to the
21 neighbors to show up in mass ? Why
22 can ' t -- and argue with your
23 neighbors . It ' s not a fun place to
24 be . Why can ' t the Boards just follow
25 the rules ? To grant an exception, a
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 82
1 small exception, that ' s what it ' s
2 for, but to grant large -- and then
3 unanimously the Board of Trustees
4 reverse that decision . Now, what
5 does that do for the homeowner? The
6 homeowner has spent $20 , 000 on plans
7 and permits and drawings , and then he
8 gets to the end of the line , and the
9 Board of Trustees says , no . That ' s
10 not the way it ' s supposed to work .
11 That ' s not good for anybody, and
12 that ' s why people get angry . That ' s
13 why people sue the Town . That ' s why
14 we ' re not going in the right
15 direction . We need to follow the
16 rules . We need to set the rules , the
17 zoning update, follow the rules . And
18 I just want to say my final thing . I
19 ran into one of the Trustees this
20 morning, and I told him that the
21 people in New Suffolk, when they saw
22 what happened, that the Trustees
23 refused that application, they had
24 new faith in government . They had
25 new faith in government, and that was
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 83
1 a nice thing to see . Thank you very
2 much .
3 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
4 Quick on the first things that you
5 said about the housing, and the town
6 not wanting to be in the housing
7 business , that is -- that is part of
8 a lot of what Heather was saying this
9 morning . I ' m trying to say that
10 Zoning Update that started four years
11 ago was all encompassing . It was a
12 little much . And to focus on
13 priorities housing, I think is the
14 main priority right now . Focus on
15 that is something that the Board is
16 really interested in and not to get
17 into the housing business . You hit
18 it right on the head when there ' s
19 subsidized housing and then there ' s a
20 lot of red tape with it . I ' ve seen
21 it at other levels of government
22 because it ' s taxpayer money . So that
23 they have to make sure there ' s a lot
24 of administration, so that everybody
25 has to follow the rules . And then it
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 84
1 makes it really complicated if you ' re
2 there trying to operate something .
3 So that you hit it -- you hit it
4 right up on the head with that . But
5 that ' s the direction I think the
6 Board wants to go in . That sort of
7 housing where people can go that way
8 thank you .
9 GEORGE MAUL : Thank you .
10 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Yes ,
11 sir .
12 JOHN REICHERT : John Reichert,
13 Southold . Very glad to hear that the
14 Board is so ( inaudible) about
15 preservation of property . Does my
16 heart good to sit here and listen to
17 everybody speak about preserving
18 land . I ' m here to speak about
19 preserving homes and lives . I ' m
20 speaking tonight formally to
21 challenge the classification of
22 proposed poultry operation,
23 approximately 6 , 000 chickens ,
24 including egg washing and sorting
25 facilities , as a Type 2 action under
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 85
1 the New York State Environmental
2 Quality Review Act known as SEQRA .
3 On site egg processing, washing
4 sorting and handling, intensive waste
5 generation, manure , wastewater and
6 run off . Close proximity
7 approximately 50 feet to neighboring
8 residents . These characteristics
9 elevate the project beyond routine
10 agriculture activity, and require
11 environmental scrutiny . The blankly
12 classification Type 2 appears to
13 ignore site specific impacts which
14 SEQRA explicitly requires agencies to
15 consider . Extreme proximity to
16 residents 50 feet . The operational
17 bonds located approximately 50 feet
18 from an existing residence in which I
19 occupy . Creating unavoidable and
20 significant impacts . Owners from
21 manure handling storage and land
22 applications . Air emissions ,
23 including ammonia and particulate
24 matter . These impacts are not
25 incidentally . Unpredictable and
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 86
1 potentially significant .
2 Particularly given the intensity of
3 the operation . It ' s such close
4 proximity to established residential
5 use . Water quality and runoff
6 concerns . Jockey Creek Watershed .
7 Now, I understand that I ' m
8 surprisingly very concerned with
9 water quality . Southold is
10 absolutely concerned about water
11 quality . Long Island is concerned
12 about water quality . But it seems to
13 stop with a chicken farm . That ' s
14 going to run off into Jockey Creek .
15 The site drains toward Jockey Creek,
16 raising serious environmental risks .
17 Nutrient runoff, nitrogen, and
18 phosphorus from manure . Bacterial
19 contamination from animal waste and
20 egg washing operations . Storm water
21 runoff carrying pollutants into
22 surface water . These impacts spread
23 not only in the immediate area, but
24 also downstream water quality . SEQRA
25 requires agencies to consider site
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 87
1 specific environmental sensitivity,
2 which appears not to have been
3 adequately evaluated . Maybe I just
4 say that again? Consider site
5 specific environmental sensitivity,
6 which appears not to have been
7 adequately evaluated . Manure
8 management and land application
9 concerns . The spreading of manure
10 across approximately 15 acres raises
11 additional issues . Risk of over
12 application relative to soil
13 absorption capacity, runoff during
14 precipitation events , all the impacts
15 extending beyond property values .
16 Potential groundwater contamination .
17 Without detailed review and nutrient
18 management planning, these impacts
19 cannot be dismissed as insignificant .
20 Traffic and neighborhood character
21 impacts . The project introduced
22 regular truck traffic on a
23 residential street . Jasmine Lane
24 will be the main truck route for that
25 farm . And everybody knows it , it ' s
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 88
1 already been approved . It goes
2 through the cul-de-sac, where the
3 farm building is gonna be . It ' s a
4 residential area with children and
5 people who have lived there for 30
6 some odd years . The project
7 introduced regular truck traffic on a
8 residential street in which the Board
9 has the power to control truck
10 traffic . Delivery of fee and
11 transport of eggs , movement of manure
12 and waste . This represents the
13 material change in the use and
14 character of the roadway with
15 associated concerns . The roadway is
16 narrower than most roadways in
17 Southold because of Affordable
18 Housing . Crazy mess that they did .
19 They made a narrower road because of
20 Affordable Housing . What that has to
21 do, I don ' t know . I don ' t know .
22 Noise and vibration, road safety,
23 orders from transported materials .
24 Such impacts extend well beyond the
25 project site and must be evaluated
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 89
1 under SEQRA . Improper segmentation .
2 The Town has evaluated components of
3 this project separately, e . g . poultry
4 housing versus egg processing versus
5 manure handling . This may constitute
6 impermissible segmentation under
7 SEQRA . Right? The listing, right?
8 The entire operation must be reviewed
9 as a single integrated action,
10 including animal housing, egg washing
11 and processing, feed storage , waste
12 handling and land application . The
13 intensity of manure management
14 activities , the increase in truck
15 traffic . It is unreasonable and
16 unsupportable to conclude that this
17 project meets that standard .
18 Accordingly, I respectfully request
19 the Southold Town Planning Board and
20 Southold Town Board rescind the Type
21 2 classification . Reclassify the
22 project as an Unlisted or Type 1
23 action . Require preparation of a
24 Full Environment Assessment Form .
25 Issue a positive declaration
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 90
1 requiring preparation of an
2 Environmental Impact Statement .
3 Conduct a coordinated SEQRA review
4 with appropriate involved agencies .
5 Please take notice that failure to
6 comply with SEQRA ' s procedural and
7 substantial requirements may result
8 in legal challenges , including an
9 Article 7B proceeding, which I intend
10 to do .
11 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
12 Thank you . Would anyone else like to
13 address the Board? We have someone
14 on Zoom . Mark G, would you like to
15 address the Board?
16 MARK G . : Good evening . Can you
17 hear me?
18 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Yes .
19 MARK G . : Great . Two quick
20 questions , or a question and then a
21 statement . Does the Town Hall have a
22 calibrated decibel machine?
23 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Yes .
24 I believe , yes . The police
25 department rather . Thank you .
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 91
1 MARK G . : I ' d like to confirm
2 that . Great . The second part, I ' ll
3 try to keep it brief . It ' s been a
4 long night , and I appreciate all the
5 work you guys do and land protection
6 that ' s been taking place . So I ' m
7 just going to read straight from it .
8 This is a formal notice of technical
9 debt, hardware discrepancies , and
10 procurement failures regarding the
11 Flock safety infrastructure . My name
12 is Mark Gamime . I ' m from Southold .
13 Going coming up on three decades .
14 I ' m speaking tonight to formally
15 place this Board on actual notice of
16 significant technical and legal
17 liabilities regarding the Town ' s
18 current surveillance deployment . The
19 Town ' s March 13th FOIL response
20 describes our Flock system as a still
21 image, LPR tool or license plate
22 reader tool . However, my physical
23 audit confirms the presence of Condor
24 and Ray Run sensors . These units are
25 designed for live video streaming and
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 92
1 acoustic detection . Deploying audio
2 and video hardware while maintaining
3 a policy that only discloses still
4 images is a procedural failure that
5 violates the privacy standards
6 established by the United States
7 Supreme Court in Carpenter versus the
8 United States . The FOIL response of
9 March 13th audit logs prove this is
10 not a standalone local tool . These
11 records show self help officers
12 current a national network of up to
13 94 , 280 individual devices . One log
14 even shows an individual being
15 tracked across multiple states . This
16 integration into our national mass to
17 balance network was never disclosed
18 in the original resolution . Finally,
19 the Town is assuming a reckless
20 technical debt . These units operate
21 on Android 8 . 1 firmware, which has
22 not received a security patch since,
23 wait for it, 2021 . This hardware
24 contains documented vulnerabilities ,
25 specifically CVE-2025-59403 and hard
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 93
1 coded credentials , as someone keenly
2 mentioned in the last Board meeting
3 in referring to them as creepy .
4 Given this Town ' s recently issued
5 half a million bond to recover from a
6 digital breach, it is irresponsible
7 to host an untouchable third-party
8 devices on our public poles .
9 Finally, the procurement of a sole
10 source resolution . I use those words
11 specifically . Resolution 2025-75
12 bypassed the competitive bidding for
13 hardware that is technically at end
14 of life . I am requesting the Board
15 immediately suspend the operation of
16 these units until a full independent
17 security audit is performed by
18 providing this notice tonight . I am
19 putting -- sorry I have to scroll
20 down . I ' m putting the Board -- I ' m
21 ensuring the Town can no longer claim
22 ignorance of these specific
23 securities and civil liberty
24 liabilities . Full stop . I also want
25 to say that I am a friend of the
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 94
1 Town . I ' ve lived there my whole life
2 and I am not adverse . For our law
3 enforcement department having proper
4 tools to do their job . This was not
5 the process to do that . Thank you
6 for the time and even hearing that .
7 There was a number of key statements
8 in that . I fully believe that
9 quality of life is affected by this .
10 I ' ll just say that observance implies
11 supervision . Supervision implies
12 control . Thank you .
13 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
14 Mark, could you do me a favor? One
15 thing just to clarify, the half a
16 million that we spent in the bond
17 money was already planned last year
18 before the security . That was
19 planned before the security breach .
20 That was to update our systems . So
21 that was our --
22 MARK G . : Yes , yes . I just
23 don ' t want us to get into that again
24 because these things place us into a
25 very simple liability, remedial to
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 95
1 access these devices and exploit the
2 Town yet again . So there are point
3 of vulnerability .
4 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : I
5 have a limited understanding of this
6 subject, and I would appreciate if
7 you could call my office tomorrow and
8 we could try to get a better
9 understanding of your point here .
10 MARK G . : Sure . I mean, I will
11 mail what I wrote, I spoke to you --
12 I have that in full . And there ' s a
13 FOIL records going back to 2025 .
14 This is not a new subject to me and I
15 will follow up on both accounts . I
16 appreciate it, but I am formally
17 requesting that you suspend the
18 operation of these units until a full
19 independent security audit is
20 performed .
21 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
22 Thank you . I appreciate that . So
23 the cameras that are up that you see
24 were not all placed there by the
25 town . And so that ' s something that
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 96
1 we are -- we ' re trying to sort out .
2 Is where we -- where we live in that
3 -- in that world of security cameras .
4 Because they are everywhere and we
5 have them in the -- we have the
6 discussion today . They are in the
7 woods to protect our resources on our
8 preserve Parkland and so how does
9 that information how is that being
10 used that is a topic that we are
11 engaged in . So thank you .
12 MARK G . : Right . And those are
13 very two different use cases . I ' m
14 happy to speak to you to the
15 liabilities of these . And again, I ' m
16 not adverse to people having the
17 tools to do effective law
18 enforcement, but they ' re -- the laws
19 of the land state there ' s better ways
20 of doing it . Anyway, thank you, sir .
21 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
22 Thank you .
23 MS . JEWEL : Hi . My name is
24 Jewel ( inaudible) from Southold . You
25 guys are not going to be happy with
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 97
1 me . I have been here a long time ,
2 and I have a lot of opinions . So I
3 wrote them out . Last time I saw you,
4 Mr . Krupski , was at Cedar Beach . You
5 were at the County, and you were
6 discussing with me the pony swim, and
7 you were going to get back to me .
8 You never did, but that ' s okay,
9 because I stopped riding my horse
10 there because of all the dig fishers ,
11 the hooks , the broken glass , and the
12 trash all over the beach . There ' s a
13 lot of stuff that ' s wrong with this
14 town, in my opinion . The taxes are
15 high, and it ' s getting harder to stay
16 here every year . You ' re driving
17 people out . Mostly the younger
18 generation, who are volunteer
19 firefighters and EMT ' s , as well as
20 others . So thank you for the pattern
21 of your time . My husband ' s a
22 volunteer . He ' s also a city fireman .
23 If stuff goes down, believe me , he
24 won ' t be there, because I ' ll be
25 dragging him out . How do you expect
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 98
1 us to support the salaries and the
2 benefits of the people that are
3 working and the retirement for the
4 ones that retire at high salary? I
5 understand when you came here , you
6 brought your secretary . And looking
7 it up, she makes $89 , 000 a year, plus
8 benefits . Your son has a nice cushy
9 job at the landfill for $144 , 600 a
10 year . Plus trustee money . I believe
11 your friend John is Deputy
12 Supervisor . There ' s no pay, so
13 thanks for that . But when you guys
14 go on vacation and you go away
15 together, who ' s in charge of the
16 Town? Anybody? The police are
17 retiring, and we are hiring more,
18 which is what ' s needed . But that
19 also adds up . The highwaymen are
20 retiring in droves . It seems like
21 everybody ' s jumping ship . Look at
22 the Boards here . There ' s outrageous
23 things going on with them . You may
24 not be aware that the Oysterpond ' s
25 Historical Society is demolishing the
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 99
1 back and the rear of the historic
2 house . It ' s a contributing house to
3 the National Register . It ' s in the
4 Historic District . They ' re building
5 a 1 , 831 square foot . It ' s concrete
6 and steel and metal , onto the back of
7 a historic house . The entire campus ,
8 there ' s six buildings and sheds on
9 them . They only have four parking
10 spaces . So all the cars fill the
11 streets whenever they have any . And
12 they have a lot of events and there ' s
13 hundreds of people that go to them .
14 This monstrosity is going to be 15
15 feet away from my property and it
16 blocks my entire property . Look at
17 the Boards that you have . There ' s a
18 woman on the Historic Preservation
19 Board . She ' s a member and a
20 Treasurer for them . She ' s been Vice
21 President of development for many
22 years . There ' s a platform and
23 building with her name on it for all
24 the donations that she ' s made to
25 them . Do you think that ' s a fair
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 100
1 vote or anything was influenced on
2 that Board? Because I don ' t think
3 that ' s fair at all . We have a real
4 estate salesman that ' s on the Zoning
5 Board . I don ' t think that ' s fair
6 either . I think that ' s conflict of
7 interest . His partner is a real
8 estate attorney . I wonder if anyone
9 who purchases their house gets
10 special favors . That ' s just my
11 opinion also . This person also knows
12 that it ' s destroying my property . I
13 sat up and spoke at the meetings that
14 he was at, and now he said in the
15 posts to add to my social media
16 account . So let ' s talk Southold
17 Town . To join the Oysterpond ' s
18 Historical Society . That ' s conflict
19 of interest, in my opinion . The old
20 attorney, in my opinion, has formed
21 friendships with these Boards . He ' s
22 worked with them for over the years ,
23 and there ' s a lot of stuff I feel
24 gets rubber stamped through . He had
25 30 signatures on for this humongous
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 101
1 building 15 feet away from my
2 property . And funny, they were all
3 people that lived in Orient that are
4 on the Board . I had 75 signatures .
5 They were people from all over
6 Southold Town . Somewhere in the
7 states , some of them have, they ' ve
8 left because of stuff that happens
9 like this . They can ' t afford to
10 stay . And they still care about
11 here . The majority of them were
12 people that are in Southold Town .
13 And some of them have second homes ,
14 and they ' re only out here in the
15 Summer, but apparently the 75
16 signatures didn ' t matter . If you
17 look over the application that was
18 submitted to the Boards , there ' s a
19 lot of discrepancies . There ' s hazmat
20 on a mapper tool . No one knows where
21 it is . He questioned about it, but
22 nobody knew . So we ' ll just skip over
23 it and we ' ll let that go . A grant
24 was received from the State , but
25 there ' s a no on the form . They
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 102
1 checked "no" that there was no money
2 coming from the Federal , State . The
3 Historic Preservation has a covenant
4 on this property as well . They were
5 not notified until late in the game,
6 and that was probably because I
7 restarted in May, bugging the heck
8 out of them that something was going
9 on out here . It was even mentioned
10 at one of the meetings . Oh, why did
11 they jump in the game so late? They
12 probably weren ' t notified . It wasn ' t
13 on the paperwork . They said that at
14 the meeting, yeah, we ' re not gonna do
15 what they wanna do because it costs
16 more money . They were concerned that
17 it was too large and too close to our
18 property . It ' s not historic looking .
19 It doesn ' t fit in the area . They had
20 another grant for $4 , 000 to go
21 through their archives . It was
22 suggested that they get a rate of
23 stuff that had no value or nothing to
24 do with Orient . They suggested they
25 have better use . Use of their
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 103
1 storage and that they store stuff off
2 of campus if they really wanted .
3 They could possibly put a small
4 addition to the house , not something
5 like the one that ' s it ' s a foot lower
6 than the two and a half story
7 building and it ' s 15 feet from my
8 property, and it blocks 100% of my
9 property . And they have parties over
10 there all the time . All the streets
11 are filled with cars with all these
12 hundreds of people that come to their
13 auctions and all the other stuff that
14 they do . Would you want that in your
15 yard? Would you want that that close
16 to your house? I guarantee any of
17 you on this Board building wouldn ' t
18 be being built if it was in front of
19 your property, and what are you guys
20 going to do about that? My property
21 is not going to have any value
22 anymore if I ever go to sell it .
23 They ' re tax exempt , they don ' t pay
24 taxes . Are you going to exempt me
25 from paying taxes ? Look at this
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 104
1 monstrosity there because I don ' t
2 feel that it ' s very fair and then
3 they ' re going to put big huge trees
4 up and that ' s going to make it even
5 more ( inaudible ) in the air and the
6 light . I ' m going to have pine
7 branches in there . In my yard and
8 needles . I won ' t be able to have a
9 garden . I don ' t know . I just feel
10 there ' s an awful lot wrong in this
11 town . A friend was at the meeting
12 and told me that several people they
13 don ' t need were upset about the size
14 of it, but nobody wants to speak up
15 against them . Someone spoke at the
16 meeting that was the Chair of the
17 building, and the first thing she
18 said is , oh, we ' re not gonna discuss
19 the setbacks . We ' re not talking
20 about the setbacks . It affects the
21 people in the back and on the side .
22 I know the guy in the front ' s against
23 it, but he won ' t speak up against
24 them . He said, oh, I pay my
25 membership, but I don ' t go to their
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 105
1 stuff anymore . They promise to be
2 good neighbors . Yeah, they promise
3 to be good neighbors . They throw dog
4 shit over the fence onto my father ' s
5 shed, and they throw their dog bones
6 out there when they had people
7 renting it . They ' re not good
8 neighbors at all . There ' s a lot of
9 stuff that they do that ' s not good .
10 The first thing she said was , we ' re
11 not gonna discuss setbacks . We ' re
12 the ones that -- she said, the people
13 in the back are the ones that get
14 affected the most . I know the guy
15 that ' s on the side , he ' s not happy
16 that the handicap ramp is gonna be a
17 foot away from his driveway . Suppose
18 somebody falls , he ' s gonna get sued .
19 Oh, we ' ll be a good neighbor . We ' ll
20 put some trees up around there .
21 Don ' t worry about it . He just put an
22 outdoor shower in . Oh, did you know
23 that the building ' s two and a half
24 stories high? It ' s a one-story
25 building, they ' re saying, but the
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 106
1 height of it is a foot lower than the
2 two and a half story building . And
3 he said, oh, so he went over -- oh,
4 we won ' t look at you while you ' re in
5 the shower . Really? That ' s your
6 answer? We ' re not gonna look at you
7 while you ' re in the shower? You need
8 to look at what ' s going on with all
9 these Boards in the town, because
10 there ' s a lot of crushing going on in
11 this town . And you ' re at the head,
12 you ' re steering it . So, I haven ' t
13 been here in years , and that ' s why .
14 You Laserfiche is still down . Now,
15 why do I have to hire an attorney to
16 file an Article 78 ? And it ' s getting
17 late, and I don ' t have any money .
18 And if I go hire an attorney, how are
19 they gonna get the paperwork that
20 they need in the time to get stuff
21 filed . Because the Planning Board
22 resolution was on April 4th . And try
23 to get an attorney that wants to take
24 something to fight against the town .
25 And poor Denis , thank God for him .
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 107
1 He ' s probably still sick of me from
2 FOIL ' g him . Every day he ' s getting
3 Foils . How am I going to have an
4 attorney and have them FOIL stuff
5 when the Laserfiche is down? How
6 long has it been down? And then part
7 of the paperwork that was put in
8 their packet, I found a deed that
9 says that the property is supposed to
10 be to the east of the Vail House .
11 Well that makes a difference of
12 whether they have two second fronts
13 or one front . If it has to be 50
14 feet from my property, which it
15 should be by law, they wouldn ' t be
16 able to build a building this big,
17 this tall , this huge . The Historic
18 Preservation Commission doesn ' t want
19 it either . But they ' re not
20 authority, they can only give
21 suggestions . And they hold a deed on
22 there . So when you look at the
23 application, go ahead, I dare you,
24 look at the application . It checks
25 right on there . Is there any money
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 108
1 coming from the Federal Or State
2 government ? They check "no . " They
3 did that on purpose so they could
4 push this up through . You think they
5 accidentally left that off, that they
6 weren ' t receiving money from the
7 Federal or the State? I think they
8 left it off so they could get a
9 rubber stamp through quicker . What
10 was the other thing on there , Glenn?
11 The grading in the fill . Oh, yeah .
12 They ' ve put on there that they ' re not
13 doing any grading and they ' re not
14 doing fill . They ' re putting 10
15 cesspools behind our house . They ' re
16 putting 10 cesspools behind my aunt ' s
17 house . That volume of cesspools for
18 a storage unit and they ' re putting a
19 kitchenette in there, what do they
20 need all that for? For all their
21 parties , for their warming trays ? If
22 you ' re taking dirt out to put storm
23 drains in a parking lot and to put
24 cesspools in, you ' re sure not putting
25 that dirt back in the same hole . So
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 109
1 what are you doing with that dirt?
2 If you ' re put on your application,
3 not removing dirt, and you ' re not
4 going to grade the property, what are
5 you doing with that dirt? Where ' s it
6 going? Isn ' t that like
7 misinformation on your application?
8 Shouldn ' t there be some kind of
9 consequences for that? And I
10 guarantee you, if I tried to put
11 where our little aluminum pool is a
12 little tiny part of my house or one
13 of those little tiny homes , I
14 guarantee you wouldn ' t let me build
15 on my property . But here, it ' s like
16 taking my house and sticking it there
17 and taking my house again and
18 sticking it on top, and then adding a
19 bunch more feet this way . It blocks
20 100% of our property . And you ' re
21 just sitting there like a deer in the
22 headlights .
23 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : I ' m
24 listening to you .
25 MS . JEWEL : Okay . Thank you .
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 110
1 Do you have any opinions ? Will you
2 meet with me and look at their
3 application?
4 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : If
5 you ' d like to come in .
6 MS . JEWEL : Can you do anything
7 about it?
8 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : I
9 don ' t know . I haven ' t reviewed it .
10 From what you ' ve said, I couldn ' t
11 make any opinion . I have to review
12 it .
13 MS . JEWEL : Well , call me and
14 make an appointment, and I ' ll come
15 over . And sit with you and you can
16 look at all the mistakes on their
17 application by the old Town Attorney .
18 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : You
19 started by referencing the pony ride
20 at the County Park . I got back to
21 you numerous times on that . We had
22 many conversations .
23 MS . JEWEL : Yes , we had many
24 conversations , but you never gave me
25 an answer .
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 111
1 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : If
2 you would like to meet with me , could
3 you please contact my office to set
4 up an appointment .
5 MS . JEWEL : Yeah, you ' re going
6 to go over this historical society
7 with me? Can you do anything about
8 it?
9 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : I
10 haven ' t reviewed it . I don ' t know
11 what I can do about it .
12 MS . JEWEL : Okay . Well , the
13 clock ' s ticking . Thank you .
14 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
15 Would anyone else like to address the
16 Board?
17 TAMI LOEFFLER : Yes , I ' ll be
18 very brief . Tami Loeffler . I just
19 had a few questions about the East
20 End Beacon article regarding the
21 Affordable Housing . Well , sorry,
22 community housing at Youngs Avenue .
23 I just have questions . And I don ' t
24 expect answers today . I am wondering
25 if we take money from the State for
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 112
1 that housing, are we then obliged to
2 let people outside of Southold Town
3 live in that housing?
4 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : We
5 are obligated by Federal Fair Housing
6 Laws for any kind of subsidized
7 housing .
8 TAMI LOEFFLER : Right . That
9 just doesn ' t solve the Affordable
10 Housing crisis in Southold Town if
11 you ' re opening it up to people that
12 don ' t live in Southold Town .
13 COUNCILWOMAN ALEXA SUESS : We
14 have to abide by Fair Housing Law,
15 which is Federal .
16 TAMI LOEFFLER : I understand .
17 So there ' s no superseding that .
18 Right . But then, why build it if
19 people from Southold Town can ' t live
20 there? You ' re just creating more
21 housing for people that aren ' t from
22 here . So you ' re not solving an
23 Affordable Housing crisis in Southold
24 Town if they can ' t live there?
25 COUNCILWOMAN ALEXA SUESS : You
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 113
1 would have to take that up with the
2 Federal government .
3 TAMI LOEFFLER : Right .
4 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
5 There was just a lawsuit settled that
6 had been going on for over 10 years
7 with the township on Long Island .
8 And they lost the lawsuit . And they
9 had to take out local preference from
10 their law .
11 TAMI LOEFFLER : I just -- I
12 mean, if it ' s bringing more people
13 in, but not letting people that live
14 here --
15 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
16 Originally, we had local preference
17 for living here or working here built
18 into our law . Federal government has
19 changed that . It is now these
20 Federal Fair Housing Guidelines that
21 we have --
22 TAMI LOEFFLER : No , I
23 understand, but then it ' s not solving
24 a problem, is all I ' m saying .
25 JUSTICE KATE STEVENS : But I can
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 114
1 just point out that anyone who lived
2 here would become a community member .
3 TAMI LOEFFLER : So I mean , we ' re
4 becoming more crowded . And then the
5 people that are already here, that
6 are from here, that don ' t have
7 anywhere to live, still don ' t have
8 anywhere to live . And now they ' re
9 just fighting for resources with
10 people not from here .
11 JUSTICE KATE STEVENS : But it ' s
12 the exodus of people who ' ve been
13 leaving . Maybe some of those people .
14 Can come back and how do you identify
15 who ' s from here , who ' s not from here
16 in terms of -- I mean there ' s this is
17 a fluid boundary I would imagine
18 you ' ve got people who ' ve been forced
19 to leave and now could have an
20 opportunity to return I don ' t know
21 how you can kind of tag who should
22 have sort of precedents in such a --
23 TAMI LOEFFLER : I ' m not sure
24 either, but I just know it doesn ' t
25 seem like a good solution . And who
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 115
1 defines what is affordable? Is it
2 300 of the income that you make ?
3 Where -- what ' s the amount? So it
4 says a -- it ' ll be open to 800 of the
5 median income . What do we know what
6 that? Is it like o100 , 000 ?
7 JUSTICE KATE STEVENS : You can
8 e-mail me , Tami . I can get you that
9 information .
10 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : Okay .
11 We set those every year based on
12 information we get from the Federal
13 Government .
14 TAMI LOEFFLER : Okay .
15 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : It ' s
16 based on income from people from
17 Nassau and Suffolk . So it ' s not what
18 you ' d call a local number .
19 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : It ' s
20 still not affordable number .
21 TAMI LOEFFLER : That ' s what I
22 mean .
23 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
24 These are the guidelines that we ' re
25 constrained with . And when people
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1 say you should create Affordable
2 Housing, this is why it ' s so
3 complicated, because we ' re playing a
4 game with other people ' s rules .
5 TAMI LOEFFLER : I understand .
6 And I don ' t know . It just seems like
7 it ' s not going to solve anything . I
8 mean, maybe for like -- what are two
9 people from Suffolk? I hear you
10 saying, Kate , I don ' t know how you
11 quantify it . I mean, I understand
12 it ' s ridiculous to say, like , if
13 you ' re not born here, you can ' t live
14 there . But it just is frustrating to
15 watch people that are from here not
16 be able to live here . You know, I
17 understand . What someone was saying
18 before about watching your town
19 change like a court reset, it ' s just
20 like driving down the road and you
21 don ' t even recognize it anymore . And
22 I just want to stop it . And I don ' t
23 know how . And Mary Edinburg said,
24 don ' t get emotional . It doesn ' t
25 work . But you know, I meant what I
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1 said, even if we don ' t let them build
2 it, they won ' t come, like the big
3 houses . And we limit . I know
4 there ' s property rights and things
5 like that . But it ' s just really
6 heartbreaking to see the place you
7 love just through your fingers like
8 sand . Yeah, I just -- I know
9 everybody ' s asking you guys to do
10 everything . But I just want to do
11 something . So sorry, very long
12 night . And I was going to keep it
13 short . And I didn ' t want to get
14 upset, but just asking for help to
15 keep this place . I still do love .
16 So thanks , sorry .
17 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
18 Thank you . Mr . Supervisor, I have
19 two quick announcements for the
20 community . Is that acceptable to
21 give you to ? Quick announcement .
22 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : As
23 soon as we make sure whether there is
24 anyone else who would like to address
25 that --
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1 ERIC MCCLURE : I ' ll be really
2 quick . The gentleman raised a
3 decimal meter on the Zoom . I was
4 here two weeks ago at the last
5 meeting, and I asked about any
6 progress on sound, and Supervisor
7 Krupski , I believe your response when
8 I raised the question was
9 enforcement . And I just wanted to
10 get some clarity on that because I
11 want to make sure that we ' re not
12 talking solely enforcement . I ' m
13 hoping the town is going to continue
14 to think about ways to change the
15 Sound Code or the Noise Code in the
16 town . I was looking at Greenport ' s
17 entertainment permits , which seems
18 like a really good model for the type
19 of situation that my neighbors and
20 then we have encountered with
21 Strong ' s and Windermere . So I just
22 wanted to get a fuller picture on
23 that . I know there was a work
24 session toward the end of last year
25 where you guys spent quite a bit of
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1 time talking about different
2 possibilities for noise regulation .
3 And I just wanted to point out on the
4 enforcement side that I think I ' ve
5 demonstrated repeatedly and pretty
6 conclusively that the sound at the
7 Town Code level is overbearing and
8 really intrusive in our community .
9 So just enforcing the code as it
10 exists is not going to solve the
11 problem that we face in Broward ' s
12 Woods . I do really just think it ' s
13 important that we think beyond just
14 the simple enforcement, which also
15 puts the onus on me or my neighbors
16 having to call police and police
17 having to come, and take decibel
18 readings and having a more
19 comprehensive solution to the issue
20 of live music or amplified sound is
21 really important . So thank you .
22 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
23 Thank you . Anyone else who would
24 like to address the Board?
25 (No Response . )
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 120
1 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
2 Okay .
3 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : So just
4 quickly here on Saturday, May 2nd, we
5 have the Environmental Expo and
6 Repair Cafe . There ' s some community
7 members here that helped develop this
8 and it ' s a partnership with the Town
9 to talk about issues like recycling
10 food out of the wave stream . There
11 is going to be rain barrels . It ' s
12 going to be Nick Krupski , our Waste
13 Management Coordinator . He ' s going
14 to be here giving talks . So it
15 really is an informative thing here
16 Saturday, May 2nd, 12 : 00 to 4 : 00 p . m .
17 and I just want -- that we received
18 an announcement from United States
19 Coast Guard Auxiliary that they ' re
20 going to have Safety Week, May 16th .
21 We have an Auxiliary Board Member,
22 Mr . Bob Martinez , also NYPD Deputy
23 Chief . So we just thank you for your
24 service and Mr . Martinez also won a
25 prestigious national award for Fleet
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1 Management . So we just thank him for
2 his contribution to our community .
3 We look forward to seeing him on May
4 16th as the Coast Guard Auxiliary
5 demonstrates at Mitchell Park the
6 safety and Mr . Martinez teaches the
7 safety . Safety class to our young
8 people . So he really is an engaged
9 member . Thank you for being here to
10 remind me of the Coast Guard Safety
11 Week . So it ' s something that the
12 Town Board has always been a part of .
13 So thank you for being an engaged
14 community member, Mr . Martinez .
15 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
16 Thank you . Thank you for that
17 announcement . That is very
18 important . All right . I don ' t have
19 any more comments .
20 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : I ' ll
21 make a motion to adjourn .
22 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Second .
23 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : All
24 in favor?
25 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Aye .
APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 122
1 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Aye .
2 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : Aye .
3 COUNCILWOMAN ALEXA SUESS : Aye .
4 JUSTICE KATE STEVENS : Aye .
5 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Aye .
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7 (Whereupon, the meeting was
8 adjourned at this time . )
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APRIL 21, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 123
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 April 21 , 2026 .
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18 (Jes is D ' Lallo)
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