HomeMy WebLinkAboutTB-06/16/2026 PH 1
1 TOWN OF SOUTHOLD
COUNTY OF SUFFOLK : STATE OF NEW YORK
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SOUTHOLD TOWN BOARD
4 REGULAR MEETING
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7 Southold, New York
8 June 16 , 2026
6 : 00 P . M .
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14 B E F 0 R E :
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16 ALBERT KRUPSKI JR, SUPERVISOR
17 KATE STEVENS , JUSTICE
18 JILL DOHERTY, COUNCILWOMAN
19 BRIAN MEALY, COUNCILMAN
20 ANNE SMITH, COUNCILWOMAN
21 ALEXA SUESS , COUNCILWOMAN
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JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 2
1 INDEX TO TESTIMONY
2
3 Public Hearings :
4 Chapter 280 - Zoning, Wireless Code 3-5
5 Change of Zone - Pickett Power, LLC 5-30
6
Public Comments : 30-59
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JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 3
1 CHAPTER 280 - ZONING, WIRELESS CODE
2 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
3 Mr . Clerk, please read the notice?
4 TOWN CLERK DENIS NONCARROW : Will
5 do . The proposal of tonight ' s public
6 hearing is to consider adoption of a Local
7 Law in relation to amendment to chapter
8 280 Wireless Communication Facilities .
9 Legal notices for this public hearing are
10 published no less than 10 days prior to
11 the public hearing in an eligible legal
12 town newspaper . The Town Clerk ' s Office
13 has received the Affidavit of Service from
14 the newspaper indicating that the notice
15 was published . The application requires
16 notice to the Suffolk County Planning
17 Commission . The Town Clerk file includes
18 the responses of the Planning Commission
19 stating that this action is a matter of
20 local determination . The Town of Southold
21 classified this action as unlisted,
22 pursuant to SEQRA Rules and Regulations ,
23 and established itself as a lead agency
24 for the coordinated review of this action,
25 and has adopted the determination of
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 4
1 non-significance and declared this a
2 negative declaration . This action was
3 referred to the Town of Southold Local
4 Waterfront Revitalization Program, who
5 found this action to be consistent under
6 the Town LWRP . This action was also
7 referred to the Town of Southold Planning
8 Board, which supports the proposed
9 amendments . The Town Clerk Office also
10 includes a file of Affidavit of Posting on
11 the public notice on the Town Clerk ' s
12 bulletin board at Town Hall . Thank you .
13 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank
14 you . Mr . Johnson, are all the legal
15 notices in order?
16 TOWN ATTORNEY BENJAMIN JOHNSON :
17 Yes , Supervisor Krupski the papers are in
18 order .
19 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank
20 you . All right , we ' ll open the hearing .
21 Would anyone like to speak on the change
22 to Local Law in relation to the amendment
23 to 280 Wireless Communications Facilities ?
24 (No Response . )
25 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : I don ' t
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 5
1 see anyone here in public . I ' m looking at
2 the Zoom screen, I don ' t see any raised
3 hands . Someone like to make a motion to
4 close the hearing?
5 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : I ' ll
6 make a motion to close the hearing .
7 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Second .
8 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : All in
9 favor?
10 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Aye .
11 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Aye .
12 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : Aye .
13 COUNCILWOMAN ALEXA SUESS : Aye .
14 JUSTICE KATE STEVENS : Aye .
15 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Aye .
16 *** *** *** ** * * * * * * * *** *** *** *** * * * * ***
17 CHANGE OF ZONE- PICKETT POWER, LLC
18 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Mr .
19 Clerk, can you read the notice for the
20 next public hearing?
21 TOWN CLERK DENIS NONCARROW : The
22 purpose of tonight ' s public hearing is to
23 consider a change in zone for the property
24 identified as Tax Map Number as listed,
25 the Fishers Island Water Management
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 6
1 District on Fishers Island . Legal notices
2 for public hearings are published no less
3 than 10 days prior to the public hearing
4 in an eligible legal town newspaper . The
5 Town Clerk ' s Office has received the
6 Affidavit of Service from the newspaper
7 indicating that notice was published . The
8 application required notice to Suffolk
9 County Planning Commission . As of date ,
10 the Town, has not received comments back
11 and the hearing will be held open pending
12 their comments . The proposed action was
13 referred to the Southold Planning
14 Department for SEQRA determination under
15 SEQRA Rules and Regulations , declaring
16 this action a Type II Action not requiring
17 further review . Notices were sent to
18 neighboring town locations , and the Long
19 Island State Park Commission . This action
20 was referred to the Town of Southold Local
21 Waterfront Revitalization Program, who
22 found this action to be consistent under
23 the town LWRP . The action was also
24 referred to the Town of Southold Planning
25 Board, which supports the proposed zoning
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING
1 amendment , with the condition that a
2 covenant be filed restricting the use to
3 only solar energy .
4 A letter in opposition was received
5 by the Department of Navy raising concern
6 about the potential for electromagnet
7 usage .
8 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank
9 you . Mr . Johnson, are all the legal
10 notices in order?
11 TOWN ATTORNEY BENJAMIN JOHNSON :
12 Yes , Supervisor Krupski , the paperwork is
13 in order, pending the Suffolk County
14 Planning Commission comment .
15 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank
16 you . All right . I will open the hearing .
17 Would anyone here like to speak to the
18 change of zone, Pickett Power?
19 MARTIN FINNEGAN : I would . Thank
20 you .
21 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Good
22 evening .
23 MARTIN FINNEGAN : Good evening .
24 Martin Finnegan, 13250 Main Road, for The
25 applicant , Pickett Power, LLC . The
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 8
1 applicant with the consent of the Fishers
2 Island District , which owns the subject
3 premises , is seeking a change of zoning
4 classification for a portion of the
5 premises from our R-120 to Light
6 Industrial , to clear the way for the
7 construction of a ballasted solar
8 photovoltaic energy system, a use that is
9 not permitted currently under the R- 120
10 Zoning District . The subject parcel was
11 acquired by the Waste Management District
12 in 2001 . It consists of 18 . 5 acres in
13 total , but it is constrained with
14 approximately 10 acres of freshwater
15 wetlands . The proposed solar energy
16 production system will occupy less than
17 five acres of the parcel . The parcel is
18 surrounded, for the most part, by
19 privately owned residential parcels , with
20 the exception of the large federally owned
21 parcel to the southwest of the site, which
22 is a naval testing facility . I would just
23 note that we did receive the letter from
24 the Naval Planning Office , which I did not
25 take as a letter in opposition, but more
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 9
1 as a request for additional information,
2 so they can analyze any potential impacts .
3 They have not made any statement as to
4 support or opposition for the application .
5 So I just want to make that clear for the
6 record . And also, we are preparing a
7 response, and will provide the requested
8 information to the Naval Planning Office .
9 The site, in question, was operated by the
10 district as the Picket Landfill until 2005
11 when it was capped . It ' s subject to a
12 post-closer monitoring and maintenance
13 plan, with a 30 year testing requirement
14 that will continue through 2035 . That ' s a
15 plan with the DEC, obviously . A small
16 portion of the premises is encumbered with
17 a 2009 easement for a recreational path
18 that runs outside the perimeter of the
19 capped area, and it will not be impacted
20 at all by the proposed array . In 2024 ,
21 the Waste Management District sought
22 proposals from New York ' s solar energy
23 development companies for the lease of the
24 Pickett Landfill and the installation,
25 operation and maintenance of the solar
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 10
1 energy system on site . The intent and
2 goal of the request for proposal is to
3 site a solar energy system for the benefit
4 of the Fishers Island Waste Management
5 District and the Fishers Island community
6 in general , by creating a revenue stream
7 for the district, and in turn, energy
8 resource for residents . Pickett Power was
9 accessible bidder for the project . They
10 have entered into a lease to construct and
11 operate the solar generation facility for
12 up to 40 years , obviously subject to all
13 required approvals . I am joined here this
14 evening on Zoom, that is all the ones you
15 see there , by the owners of Pickett Power,
16 Travis Garcelon and Brad Burnham . Justin
17 Tondo, who is the project engineer from
18 Crawford & Associates , and Sarah
19 Malinowski , who is a long standing
20 commissioner for the district . So we ' re
21 going to divide and conquer a little bit,
22 hopefully conquer, with our presentation .
23 And Brad and Travis are going to introduce
24 the professionals who have assembled to
25 make this project happen . Also explain
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 11
1 what they are looking to do . Justin will
2 explain his role in the project . How the
3 system is design will protect the capped
4 landfill . And Sarah is going to offer
5 some perspective from the Waste Management
6 District Commissioners on why they pursued
7 the project , and the anticipated benefits
8 to the residents of the district . And at
9 the conclusion of their comments ,
10 obviously, we ' ll all be available to
11 answer any questions that the Board may
12 have . So with Amy ' s help at this point , I
13 wanted to bring Brad and Travis in,
14 together hopefully . Travis ?
15 BRAD BURNHAM : Hello?
16 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Just say
17 your name , please, so that we know for the
18 record .
19 BRAD BURNHAM : My name is Brad
20 Burnham . And if you can hear me , I ' ll
21 continue? I do have a couple of slides
22 that I can show .
23 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Please
24 share the slides , that ' d be great .
25 BRAD BURNHAM : Okay . So I ' m looking
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 12
1 for the share on this Zoom . It ' s not at
2 the bottom where I ' d expect it . I should
3 be able to share . There we go , share .
4 Sharing is not turned on . I need to
5 request -- my request has been sent . And
6 I ' m going to share my desktop . Can ' t
7 believe it wants me to open settings to
8 share . Travis , can you share the slides ?
9 TRAVIS GARCELON : I can sure try .
10 But I also don ' t have a share button .
11 BRAD BURNHAM : You ' re going to have
12 to be a panelist as well . And I ' m being
13 told that I need to open system settings
14 and then -- yep .
15 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : You can
16 paraphrase .
17 BRAD BURNHAM : Okay, well I will do
18 that, and Travis , I ' ll talk while you look
19 to see if you can figure out how to share
20 it . So I ' ll start with an introduction .
21 My name is Brad Burnham . I have been on
22 the island since I was born in the
23 summers . My grandfather originally came
24 to the island in 1913 , bought a house in
25 1923 . I came here in summers through my
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 13
1 childhood, and then worked here for a year
2 after college and continued to come every
3 summer since . I have two siblings that
4 live and work on the island, and they live
5 here year round . So I feel very attached,
6 close to the island . We are proposing to
7 bring a solar array and -- to a capped
8 landfill , the Pickett Landfill . There
9 are , I think Martin ' s already told you
10 that, you know, we won the bid from -- and
11 we have a signed lease from Fishers Island
12 Waste Management District . We have a very
13 experienced team that includes Crawford &
14 Associates , CTec for construction and TRC
15 for permitting . Between them, they ' ve got
16 over 100 megawatts of solar arrays on
17 capped landfills . And so, it ' s a very
18 experienced team . Martin ' s already also
19 mentioned that the need to change the
20 zoning -- obviously the current zoning is
21 a non-compliant use in our R-120 . But in
22 order to be able to do this , we need to
23 change the zoning to allow for a solar
24 array . We have been very clear that
25 that ' s the only purpose, and we ' re happy
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 14
1 to have a covenant that restricts the use
2 of that property for just that solar
3 array . The project is a 1 to 1 1 /2
4 megawatt solar array, covering about five
5 acres of an 18 acre site . It will be
6 fixed ballasted, in order to protect the
7 integrity of the cap on the solar array .
8 The benefits of the community are -- this
9 array will generate about 20% of the
10 electricity that the island uses . Today,
11 the island depends on two cables to the
12 mainland for power . We get our power from
13 the New England Power Grid . And we source
14 that power through the Groton utilities .
15 We brought in Connecticut, which in turn
16 sources their power from a -- something
17 called the Connecticut Municipal
18 Electrical Energy Cooperative . The
19 dependence of the cables is a risk for the
20 island . We have had an incident in the
21 past, where one of the cables was pulled
22 up by an anchored boat . If either of
23 those cables go out, it ' s going to be a
24 challenge for the island . One of the
25 cables was put in, in 1967 and one in
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 15
1 1989 . They ' re both pass their sell by
2 dates , and the island is actively looking
3 to replace them, but we will always
4 continue to be dependent on cables in the
5 mainland . The solar array will complement
6 that source of electricity, and it will
7 allow for an independent source of power
8 on the island in the event that, in the
9 worst case , both of those cables were
10 taken out . And it will also allow for the
11 possibility of managing the rates for the
12 island community . Obviously, we ' ve all
13 heard about the expected rise in
14 electricity prices . One of the great
15 advantages of locally generated renewable
16 power is that it ' s a fixed capital cost ,
17 and where it could be able to deliver the
18 power to the island at less than what
19 they ' re paying Brocton or at least the
20 same as what they ' re paying Brocton . So
21 we think it will be a significant benefit
22 for the island in both resilience for
23 liability and affordability . The project
24 is going to be privately financed . It ' s
25 fully financed, and it will be at no cost
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 16
1 to the ratepayers . We will be generating
2 at lease income for the district, and
3 we ' ll be able to help them turn a current
4 liability into an asset . And finally, we
5 will obviously be helping to advance New
6 York State ' s clean energy goals . I don ' t
7 know if Travis is going to slide up on the
8 proposed layout . I don ' t know if we
9 pulled that off, but you ' re now -- if
10 you ' re now looking at the proposed layout,
11 this is Pickett Landfill , and the proposed
12 layout . And I think I ' ll turn it over to
13 Justin, who can talk a little bit about
14 the design and how we intend to manage the
15 landfill and make sure that we are
16 respecting the cap, and the -- and the
17 surrounding wetlands . Justin?
18 JUSTIN TONDO : Hello . Can you hear
19 me?
20 BRAD BURNHAM : Yes . I can hear you
21 now .
22 JUSTIN TONDO : Perfect . Good
23 afternoon, everyone . My name is Justin
24 Tondo . I ' m an Assistant Project Manager
25 with Crawford & Associates Engineering
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 17
1 based out of Hudson, New York . I am on
2 the Solar Design Team and the Solar Design
3 Team has been involved with over 80 solar
4 projects . Well over 1 , 000 megawatts , and
5 much of that on Brownfields and landfills ,
6 as well as , several projects set coastal
7 waters . So we are familiar with the
8 unique challenges of installing solar on
9 Brownfields and landfills , particularly
10 maintaining safe distances from existing
11 wells and vents on the landfill , utilizing
12 ballasted racking, as Brad has already
13 mentioned, to limit any penetrations or
14 disturbance to the cap, as well as ,
15 ballasted fencing, with above ground wire
16 management . We also are experienced with
17 coordination with the DEC when it comes to
18 these sites , on the landfills and
19 Brownfields , conforming with and updating
20 the post-closure monitoring and
21 maintenance manual and work plan . And we
22 certainly plan on doing our due diligence
23 with this project, as well , to be
24 respectful of this landfill cap and
25 minimize any potential impacts . And if
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 18
1 you still see the solar lab, you ' re
2 maintaining certain setbacks from
3 wetlands , from existing features . And we
4 plan on minimizing any potential for
5 erosion and excluding, you know, steep
6 slope areas or 15 percent grade , I
7 believe . And yeah, we plan on making sure
8 this landfill cap is intact and minimally
9 disturbed . And I think I can hand it over
10 to the next person .
11 BRAD BURNHAM : So I think we are
12 handing it back to Martin or back to the
13 Board, if there are any questions for us ?
14 JUSTIN TONDO : Unless , Waste
15 Management, Sarah Malinowski --
16 SARAH MALINOWSI : Hi there . Can you
17 hear me?
18 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Yes .
19 SARAH MALINOWSI : Okay . I ' m Sarah
20 Malinowski , and I ' ve been on Waste
21 Management Board for about 10 years , which
22 we support the zoning change , which will
23 allow a solar field to be built in our
24 decommissioned landfill . A solar field
25 will allow Fishers ' Islanders to reduce
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 19
1 their greenhouse gas emissions and help
2 New York State reach its climate goals .
3 We are excited, this otherwise unusable
4 land, can be utilized for the economic
5 environmental benefit of our island, and
6 our town, and our state . As a community
7 that is surrounded by warming and rising
8 ocean, we think it is important to do our
9 part . And we ' re very excited to sort of
10 offload this landfill in a way that will
11 be so beneficial to us . That ' s it .
12 BRAD BURNHAM : Thank you, Sarah .
13 SARAH MALINOWSI : Any questions ?
14 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Okay .
15 So does the Board have any questions ?
16 Congratulations for getting this far . I
17 know it could have -- a solar --
18 commercial solar production, renewable
19 energy production in Southold Town solar .
20 Of course we have wind now, and solar,
21 this is a great accomplishment .
22 MARTIN FINNEGAN : Thank you . This
23 is Step 1 , but we have a couple more steps
24 to get through .
25 JOANNE LECHNER : Can you hear me?
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 20
1 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Yes .
2 JOANNE LECHNER : I just have a
3 question . I really don ' t know about this ,
4 but I am trying to figure out exactly what
5 we ' re talking about . Are we talking about
6 a battery array? Are we talking about
7 solar panels ?
8 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Can you
9 say your name for the record? I ' m
10 sorry --
11 JOANNE LECHNER : I couldn ' t hear the
12 rest of what you ' re saying?
13 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : That was
14 it . Just go right ahead, ma ' am . Thank
15 you .
16 BRAD BURNHAM : I ' m happy to respond
17 to that . We ' re talking at the moment
18 about a solar array . We are not asking
19 for permission to install a battery system
20 at this time .
21 JOANNE LECHNER : So you ' re basically
22 putting up panels ?
23 BRAD BURNHAM : Yes , fixed panels ,
24 yes .
25 JOANNE LECHNER : And you said you ' re
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 21
1 going to provide the funds to install the
2 system?
3 BRAD BURNHAM : Yes . The system has
4 been privately financed, and so it will
5 cost about $3 million dollars to install
6 the system . And we hope that we will
7 recover most of that from payments from
8 the Fishers Island Utility Company . It ' s
9 an off-taker for the electrical power that
10 would be produced by the solar array .
11 JOANNE LECHNER : And will the
12 electric bills increase or decrease?
13 BRAD BURNHAM : We believe that the
14 electric bills won ' t necessarily decrease,
15 but they won ' t increase as fast as they
16 might otherwise . By producing 20% of the
17 power locally at a fixed cost, compared to
18 pulling power over mainland from the New
19 England grid, where there is speculation
20 that rates can increase from 20 to 30% .
21 This is all for grid upgrades that are
22 necessary for the grid . By producing
23 power locally, we avoid the need for those
24 graded upgrades , and we won ' t have to pay
25 for them in the race . But it ' s a
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 22
1 complicated formula to figure out exactly
2 how much of an increase it would avoid or
3 whether it would possibly decrease the
4 cost of electricity for islanders .
5 JOANNE LECHNER : We ' ve had increases
6 here from the State . They have put in
7 windmills . The electric bills have gone
8 sky high . The water bills have gone sky
9 high . Can you assure the Board somewhere
10 along the lines that the amount of money
11 that people are paying for their electric
12 will not go through the roof?
13 BRAD BURNHAM : The short answer to
14 that is , yes . And the way that we will do
15 that is we have committed to the island
16 that we will deliver power to the Fishers
17 Island Corporation at the same price they
18 pay now or less . So we will not in any
19 way contribute to a rate increase . It ' s
20 possible that we will also end up -- well ,
21 we have committed to deliver power to the
22 Fishers Island community at a fixed price .
23 So we won ' t -- it won ' t be affected .
24 JOANNE LECHNER : Will the Board have
25 that in their contract?
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 23
1 BRAD BURNHAM : I am not sure that
2 it ' s something that the Board will be
3 engaged in . We won ' t have a contract with
4 the Board of Southold . We will have a
5 contract with Fishers Island Corporation .
6 And they are a regulated utility to try
7 and do what they can to manage increases .
8 JOANNE LECHNER : There is nothing on
9 Long Island that manages increases .
10 BRAD BURNHAM : I understand the
11 reality of that , and I appreciate that .
12 JOANNE LECHNER : That ' s the reality,
13 and I think the Board is representing the
14 people . The Board has to approve your
15 company going in . So I think maybe there
16 should be something that the Board will
17 protect the people of Fishers Island, so
18 that next year or the year after, it ' s
19 going to be , whoops , our calculations were
20 wrong, and the people are going to get the
21 bills they can ' t afford .
22 TRAVIS GARCELON : I think there ' s
23 also one other item just to note that
24 Fishers Island doesn ' t price electricity
25 like the rest . So the electricity from
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 24
1 Fishers Island comes actually from
2 Connecticut . So any increase , if you ' re
3 talking about electricity out in Southold
4 --
5 JOANNE LECHNER : No, I ' m not talking
6 about Southold . I ' m just generally
7 stating that in today ' s market everything
8 is going sky-high . Anything new is going
9 to cost more . And if you can bring it in
10 price and I don ' t know how the Board would
11 be involved in this , whereby the people
12 will -- in other words , some of my bills
13 have almost doubled and I haven ' t received
14 anything extra . And I guess a lot of
15 people are in the same position, and you
16 have a lot of people that are seniors . So
17 the idea that you have is wonderful , but
18 let ' s get down to dollars and cents .
19 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : This is
20 a zone change application to the Town of
21 Southold . This property is currently not
22 zoned for this use . And so in order to
23 have a private company come in, and
24 develop this , a cap landfill into a solar
25 field that would produce electricity that
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 25
1 would benefit Fishers Island, they have to
2 get a zone change from the Town of
3 Southold in order to apply for this use .
4 That ' s what we definitely need to explore,
5 just to change the zone to allow for this
6 use .
7 JOANNE LECHNER : All right . I just
8 hope it all works out .
9 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank
10 you . Does any -- I don ' t see any more
11 hands up on Zoom . I don ' t see any hands
12 in the audience , but is this more -- Do
13 you have more?
14 MARTIN FINNEGAN : Yeah, I just --
15 well , I was waiting . If there ' s any -- if
16 there are no questions or further
17 comments , I just wanted to wrap it up with
18 a couple of things . Obviously, Pickett
19 Power submits and believes that this is a
20 beneficial adaptive reuse of the parcel
21 that will result in enormous benefit to
22 the residents of Fishers Island . We do
23 have no objection to limiting the change
24 of zone to the project area, to the area
25 where the solar array . And we ' ve defined
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 26
1 that area, and that can be part of --
2 should this be granted, we can provide the
3 description of that area for the purposes
4 of the zone change should the Board decide
5 that they want to limit it and not change
6 the zone on the entire parcel . Obviously,
7 the parcel is significantly constrained
8 with wetlands , so I ' m not sure what other
9 use could actually go there in the future,
10 but I understand the Planning Board ' s
11 concerns . I do want to just clarify, and
12 I did mention this to Ben because the
13 comment from the Planning Board was
14 somewhat ambiguous by suggesting that the
15 covenant would be would limited to -- I
16 think the language of it was solar energy
17 production . And it says , as mentioned in
18 the application, what we offered and
19 agreed to is a covenant that would limit
20 it to the one use in the code , which is
21 the use in 280 . 62 (b) 10 , which is a
22 commercial solar energy production system,
23 which also contemplates battery energy
24 storage . That is not part of the current
25 plan obviously because there is a
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 27
1 moratorium . And in respect of that, it is
2 not included . I just would ask that the
3 Board not word a condition that would
4 preclude the -- an application for battery
5 energy storage in the future , should the
6 moratorium expire and should the Board
7 adopt code . Obviously, it would be
8 subject to an application in compliance
9 with whatever regulations would be adopted
10 for such a system in the future . But I
11 just -- I don ' t want you to just pick up
12 the words that the Planning Board said
13 because it could -- I don ' t want to have
14 to come back and ask for a revision of a
15 covenant because we know that ' s a
16 nightmare . So with that , and if there are
17 no other questions , we would just
18 respectfully request that the Board grant
19 the change of zone . We know that we have
20 to move on to the Zoning Board and the
21 Planning Board . So this is just the first
22 step here . I really appreciate your time
23 and consideration .
24 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank
25 you . And you know that the -- we ' re --
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 28
1 paperwork went out for the Planning, some
2 kind of planning, we have not received a
3 response .
4 MARTIN FINNEGAN : Understood .
5 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : But we
6 legally have to get their opinion on .
7 MARTIN FINNEGAN : Absolutely .
8 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : So we
9 will not be able to close the hearing
10 tonight .
11 MARTIN FINNEGAN : Understood . So in
12 definite --
13 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Definite
14 we can ' t close .
15 MARTIN FINNEGAN : Okay, right .
16 Leaving it open, but is there without a
17 date?
18 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : I ' ll let
19 Ben answer that .
20 TOWN ATTORNEY BENJAMIN JOHNSON : We
21 don ' t have a firm date yet . So I would
22 say, yeah, we ' ll leave it open subject to
23 the comment from Suffolk County Planning .
24 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : Is it 30
25 days that we have to wait?
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 29
1 TOWN ATTORNEY BENJAMIN JOHNSON :
2 Correct .
3 MARTIN FINNEGAN : Is it just open
4 for that purpose?
5 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Yes .
6 MARTIN FINNEGAN : Okay . Thank you
7 very much .
8 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Now, if
9 there ' s no other comment from the audience
10 or from Zoom, I will entertain a motion to
11 close -- no , to recess .
12 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : I ' ll
13 make a motion to hold the hearing open for
14 the purposes of Suffolk County Planning
15 Commission comments .
16 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Second .
17 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : All in
18 favor?
19 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Aye .
20 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Aye .
21 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : Aye .
22 COUNCILWOMAN ALEXA SUESS : Aye .
23 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Aye .
24 JUSTICE KATE STEVENS : Clerk, please
25 note my recusal .
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 30
1 TOWN CLERK DENIS NONCARROW : Thank
2 you .
4 PUBLIC COMMENTS
5 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : All
6 right, I don ' t see any other business on
7 the agenda . I would like to say, if
8 anyone would like to address the Board on
9 any matter at this point? Yes , sir .
10 CHARLES GUELLY : Charles Guelly,
11 Laurel Wood Drive, Laurel . I dropped this
12 off in April . I couldn ' t attend the April
13 Town Board meeting, and also in May . So I
14 came because I realized that I should go
15 through this verbally to see if there are
16 any questions or comments about it . It ' s
17 three pages . Dear Members of the Town
18 Board, while I have great respect and
19 admiration for the members of our local
20 government, affordable housing is an area
21 where I believe a strategy change is
22 needed . The current situation, giving
23 developers options regarding affordable
24 housing, has not produced the desired
25 results . The attached two pages show
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 31
1 results of a study I ' ve made about two
2 alternatives . The first being mandating
3 affordable housing in certain locations
4 and types of developments . And the second
5 being the option of Southold Town creating
6 their own affordable housing . While the
7 hypothetical options offered only show
8 what the possibilities are, each situation
9 would have to be examined due to many
10 variables to determine acceptable results .
11 Option one , I have two examples in
12 Mattituck, which are now being reviewed by
13 the Planning Board . 615 Pike Avenue , Tax
14 ID 140-2-21 in the HB Zone, and Tax ID
15 122-6-2-35 . 4 in the Business Zone . Both
16 submissions call for retail space with
17 basements and storage on the second floor .
18 And I believe the Town should consider
19 making the second floors of projects like
20 this in the future mandatory to be
21 affordable housing, because the basements
22 could be used for the storage and we need
23 the affordable housing . The developers
24 might object saying that they didn ' t
25 bargain for residences . But if they ' re
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 32
1 already planning on managing their retail
2 spaces , it would be no extra trouble at
3 all for one person to also manage the
4 residential spaces . Option Two, Southold
5 creating affordable housing, I ' ve examined
6 single-family homes like the cottages and
7 rental apartments . Neither appeared to be
8 financially viable . I also looked at
9 condominium units . One example is , I
10 looked at was four units in a Halo Zone
11 and the other is 24 on 2 acres of a 10
12 acre parcel on farmland purchased by the
13 town . These could work, and they would
14 show that the town is indeed serious about
15 affordable housing . I request a written
16 response to my suggestions , and I ' m
17 willing to offer my expertise for analysis
18 and review on a volunteer basis . The
19 second page basically breaks down the
20 parameters of New York State , the
21 percentages of area median income
22 calculated annually by the U . S . Department
23 of Housing and Urban Development and to
24 ascertain the limited costs or prices for
25 the individual homes and also how they got
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 33
1 to the rental rates for studios , one
2 bedrooms , two bedrooms and three bedrooms .
3 The first example that I did a
4 hypothetical study about was 10 acres of
5 farmland, which would be purchased for
6 approximately $ 150 , 000 per acre with two
7 acres being used for residential use and
8 there will be 12 units per acre . I run
9 examples of ownership of homes like the
10 cottages and rental properties . They are
11 not viable alternatives because in the
12 case of cottage homes , construction costs
13 over the last 10 years have skyrocketed,
14 and it would cost more to build those
15 homes , I believe , than what you could sell
16 them for under the parameters of the city
17 of New York State . As far as the rentals ,
18 you ' d have to get a property manager to
19 manage the rentals , if the town did it
20 themselves . And that would add extra
21 cost, and you ' d be responsible for the
22 maintenance . And I don ' t think that you
23 could break even for at least the first 15
24 to 20 years . So I don ' t think that ' s
25 viable either . Condominiums , on the other
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 34
1 hand, if you took those same rental units
2 and claimed them as condominiums , then the
3 owners would have an HOA, and they ' d have
4 their own management . The total cost for
5 24 units , 14 one-bedrooms and 10
6 two-bedrooms , would be $ 8 , 100 , 000 ,
7 including soft cost, construction costs ,
8 and the cost of buying 10 acres of
9 farmland . The income would be 14
10 one-bedroom units at $300 , 000 and 10
11 two-bedroom units at $395 , 000 , adding up
12 to $8 , 150 , 000 . That basically is a break
13 even . However, various studies have been
14 done on successful municipal housing
15 projects . And those studies have shown
16 that projects like this should include
17 residents from different economic levels .
18 So that if you took 8 of the 24 and sold
19 them at market rates , the town could make
20 roughly a million dollars on the 24 unit
21 project . Other alternatives exist . For
22 example , if this was done in a Halo
23 District, you wouldn ' t have to cost -- the
24 cost of the 10 acres of land . And you
25 could have a four unit building in a Halo
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 35
1 District, for a cost, it would be about
2 $1 , 150 , 000 , and the income would be about
3 $1 , 390 , 000 based on 1 one-bedroom units
4 and 2 two-bedroom units . Another option
5 that I don ' t think has been discussed at
6 all is to make these units senior housing .
7 Of course , I personally, myself and my
8 wife , have many friends who are single
9 now . And they live in the homes that they
10 purchased when they had families living
11 there . So now, we ' re living in a four
12 bedroom house , and downsizing wouldn ' t be
13 a problem at all . And then either our
14 grandchildren or children could move into
15 the house or they could be sold to younger
16 families . My conclusion is , by the town
17 building the condos , it will ensure that
18 building of affordable housing . While
19 generating additional income is not the
20 primary goal , condominiums present an
21 alternative that won ' t lose money .
22 Leaving it up to developers has not
23 produced the desired results . Another
24 option might be to seriously incentivize
25 developers with tax breaks .
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 36
1 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank
2 you for bringing all that up . In the
3 Spring, we had a Housing Forum in
4 Mattituck . We had our Housing Coordinator
5 there, Andrea Sullivan, and we also had
6 Dinni Gordon, who is on the Housing
7 Committee for Greenport Village . And it
8 was a good forum . It was well attended
9 there in Mattituck . Talking about a lot
10 of different options because of the
11 challenges of getting this done , the
12 town ' s been working on this for a number
13 of years . We have money for subsidies to
14 subsidize something . Today we had another
15 meeting, you know, at our work session .
16 And I don ' t know, Jill or Anne or Alexa,
17 would you like to explain some of the
18 proposals that we discussed today?
19 COUNCILWOMAN ALEXA SUESS : So, yeah,
20 so there are multi-faceted solutions that
21 we ' re exploring right now through the
22 Community Development Department . One of
23 those is , yes , developer subsidies , which
24 have not really been released yet because
25 we have to make changes to the code so
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 37
1 that our code aligns with our Community
2 Housing Plan . There ' s also , of course,
3 the ADU subsidies , which have not been
4 released yet either . But right now, on a
5 parallel track, we ' re considering
6 first-time homebuyer essentially, loans ,
7 where that, potentially, that loan would
8 be given to a first-time homebuyer, you
9 know, up to 180 of their down payments ,
10 where the first-time homebuyer would
11 potentially be paying 20 of that down
12 payment and would get them over the
13 mortgage insurance . And would reduce
14 their overall payments by quite a bit . So
15 the goal here is , yes , to assist in down
16 payments , but also to reduce the cost, the
17 monthly cost of a first-time homebuyer
18 getting into a home and having a mortgage .
19 So the idea is looking at these solutions
20 in parallel because the code changes are
21 going to take a little while and recognize
22 that . So we are also looking at
23 first-time homebuyer loans as another
24 option in parallel . So we ' re sort of
25 trying to come at this for multiple angles
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 38
1 at once .
2 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank
3 you . Because of the State Law, we ' re
4 collecting a half percent of the transfer
5 tax . We have a fund of money right now
6 that we ' re trying to subsidize housing .
7 Because it ' s a State Law, we have to have
8 a volunteer committee to help administer
9 that money . It ' s called the CHAB, the
10 Community Housing Advisory Board .
11 Everyone seems to believe there ' s
12 vacancies on that Board, if you ' re
13 interested in that sort -- of that sort of
14 position . If you could call my office, I
15 think there ' s a meeting coming up soon, I
16 don ' t know .
17 COUNCILWOMAN ALEXA SUESS : Yes .
18 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : Yes . And
19 letters of interest would go to the Town
20 Clerk ' s Office for that committee to then
21 look at any openings and applications .
22 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : And
23 that ' s a committee that is similar in
24 function to the land Preservation
25 Committee where you, it ' s a state
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 39
1 requirement because there is actual money
2 there that you ' re going to be looking at
3 projects and evaluating actual projects .
4 Thank you .
5 CHARLES GUELLY : Thank you for your
6 time .
7 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : I just have
8 a question . Did you say you had submitted
9 those comments already to the Board?
10 CHARLES GUELLY : I dropped off
11 copies in April .
12 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Can you
13 just resubmit them, submit them to Denis
14 so we could review them again? Because ,
15 you know, we ' re talking about the Zoning
16 Update , Housing, I just want to make sure
17 that we internalize the comments that you
18 just shared and others in the public can
19 hear what you were saying .
20 CHARLES GUELLY : I screwed up on
21 this topic, but I can send Denis an
22 electronic copy .
23 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : That ' d be
24 great . Thank you .
25 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 40
1 you . And we just had next door the Zoning
2 Update and update, and the focus really is
3 on housing, and so this is very timely .
4 Thank you .
5 CHARLES GUELLY : Thank you .
6 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank
7 you . Anyone else in the audience like to
8 address the Board? Seeing none , do I have
9 a motion?
10 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : I ' ll
11 make a motion to adjourn -- I take that
12 back .
13 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : We
14 didn ' t vote .
15 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Gotta be
16 quicker than that, Benja .
17 BENJA SCHWARTZ : Those days are
18 gone .
19 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : So true .
20 BENJA SCHWARTZ : Congratulations on
21 reposting the Laserfiche online .
22 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Benja, we
23 know you, but can you just announce
24 yourself?
25 BENJA SCHWARTZ : I ' m sorry, Benja
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 41
1 Schwartz from Cutchogue .
2 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank
3 you for your patience with the Laserfiche .
4 We have a very good IT Department , and
5 we ' re very glad they put it back online to
6 serve the public, but also they did it in
7 a way where they are -- as a town, our
8 information and our assistance is
9 supported .
10 BENJA SCHWARTZ : What ' s the status
11 of hiring somebody to manage the online
12 presence of the Town of Southold?
13 Normally, when people create website ' s ,
14 they have a website designer, or somebody
15 that ensures that the website has an
16 integrity, and to maintain it and continue
17 it . There are a lot of information
18 missing, and old information scattered
19 around -- around and very difficult to
20 find things . Talked to Gemini , and it
21 basically reinforced the conclusions that
22 I had already come to , that the town had
23 turned the website development over to the
24 IT Department , who are experts in digital
25 technical technology, but not -- really
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 42
1 don ' t have any ability to work with the
2 content and to organize the content . My
3 understanding is that different
4 departments try to give them information
5 and then they try to put it up, but my
6 honest belief is that you need someone to
7 look at the whole picture , similar to the
8 way that you should be as the Town Board
9 looking at the whole picture of the Town
10 of Southold . In particular, right now,
11 I ' m interested in -- say, the Draft
12 Community Preservation Fund Plan, which I
13 think is the last one , I believe , is 10 or
14 more years old, and you reviewed it at the
15 work session this morning . Being that
16 that was on the agenda public meeting, it
17 seems reasonable that the public would
18 have had access to the draft to also look
19 at it and review it . What I ' ve heard from
20 the Planning Department in the town is
21 that they want to work with people . But
22 working with people in the modern world
23 involves using modern forms of
24 communication . In addition to
25 face-to-face personal meetings , not that
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 43
1 we ' re going to stop that , but when we have
2 a face-to-face personal meeting, if
3 there ' s information that is pertinent, we
4 need to have access to that , as well as ,
5 the Board members . If we had the ability
6 to post that either on the Laserfiche or
7 on the various civic parts of the website,
8 but is that currently online and available
9 and accessible?
10 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Yes ,
11 you ' re right about the website and getting
12 information out to people . Alexa, maybe
13 you could talk about a little bit about
14 what we talked about today?
15 COUNCILWOMAN ALEXA SUESS : Yeah,
16 definitely . Thank you for your comments .
17 I think you ' re actually great on time ,
18 because I ' m not sure if you saw this
19 during the work session today, but there
20 was a Communications Task Force . That was
21 formed in December, January . And then we
22 have put out , on one of the liaisons to
23 have Task Force , we have put out
24 multi-page recommendations -- series of
25 recommendations to the Board for how to ,
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 44
1 One , to update the website and to make it
2 easier to navigate . So to your point .
3 Also, including social media engagements
4 and newsletter, in ways that we can better
5 communicate with members of our community .
6 So thank you for bringing that up . It is
7 top of mind, and it would be something
8 that we will be working on shortly .
9 BENJA SCHWARTZ : Is that -- was that
10 provided to the Board this morning at the
11 work session? And is it available to the
12 public?
13 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : I knew
14 you were going to ask that .
15 COUNCILWOMAN ALEXA SUESS : I ' m so
16 glad you mentioned that . Yes , it was
17 available for the members of the Board . I
18 have just asked, as of two minutes before
19 this meeting started, I asked IT to post
20 this to the website .
21 BENJA SCHWARTZ : Okay, well , we ' ll
22 see where they put it .
23 COUNCILWOMAN ALEXA SUESS : On the
24 homepage . In the Quick Link section .
25 BENJA SCHWARTZ : May I suggest that
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 45
1 the Quick Link section should be reserved
2 only for links to information that is also
3 posted in other places in compliance with
4 the informational architecture of the
5 website . The town has at least half a
6 dozen website ' s . And there are ways to
7 coordinate and make them easy to use and
8 user friendly . I have offered before , and
9 if you need help, I ' d be happy to do that .
10 While I appreciate the utility of the
11 Quick Links , I don ' t think that anything
12 should be exclusively available on the
13 Quick Links . It should be put in its
14 place and then also accessible for review
15 through the Quick Links . What about the
16 draft of the Community Preservation Fund
17 Plan? Are we going to have that online
18 soon?
19 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : I don ' t
20 think a draft is available yet . I think
21 we are working on some policy revisions
22 that we talked about this morning .
23 COUNCILWOMAN ALEXA SUESS : We didn ' t
24 receive a copy of the draft . There is no
25 draft yet .
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 46
1 BENJA SCHWARTZ : Who is working on
2 that draft?
3 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : The
4 Preservation Coordinator .
5 BENJA SCHWARTZ : So Sep and Lili ?
6 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Yes .
7 BENJA SCHWARTZ : Just by themselves ?
8 They don ' t have -- any committee involved?
9 Community Preservation?
10 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : Right now
11 we ' re in the executive summary . And then
12 the actual draft plan will be put out to a
13 variety of, I think -- just like 10 or 12
14 different stakeholders , who will have an
15 opportunity to review it , and give
16 feedback, including the public . So
17 there ' s a process that will follow with
18 that . Public hearings --
19 BENJA SCHWARTZ : The sooner the
20 public has a look at it, the sooner the
21 public can give you some input as to what
22 direction we ' re going . I don ' t know if I
23 want to talk specifically tonight about
24 the proposed chicken farm . I think you
25 all know that chickens are not potatoes ,
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 47
1 they ' re not grapes , they ' re not pumpkins .
2 We have never had an intense industrial
3 intensity chicken farm in the Town of
4 Southold . The planning for the industrial
5 intensity chicken farm has been assigned
6 to the Planning Board in the form of a
7 review of a site plan . However, the
8 approach of the Planning Board has been to
9 say that, farmers are -- we love --
10 farmers know everything . And we don ' t
11 know anything . And they do -- whatever
12 they do, and we don ' t have any control
13 over it . There are County, State and
14 Federal agencies that might exert some
15 control , but not the Town of Southold, but
16 that ' s not the way it works . The way it
17 works is that the Town of Southold has
18 invested more than double the funds that
19 the farmer did in purchasing the property
20 on which the chicken farm is planned .
21 Chicken farm is going through a site plan
22 review process . Site plans according to
23 the Town Code of the Town of Southold
24 Chapter 280 Zoning Section 280-127 ,
25 Applicability, include any change in use
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 48
1 or intensity of use . Now for over 50
2 years , I believe this was a fallow --
3 piece of fallow farmland it was not being
4 used . Now it ' s going to be used as not
5 just a farm, but an industrial intensity
6 chicken farm . I know a little bit about
7 chickens . I ' ve done some research and I
8 love birds . I have flocked myself .
9 Chickens and my birds too like to fly . I
10 mean, I try to keep them on my property,
11 but they see the grass on the neighbor ' s
12 property, and they think that ' s greener .
13 They get tired of pegging, so they fly
14 around . This is not just limited to the
15 particular, almost little shy of 16 acre
16 farm, on which the site plan is being
17 applied . This also includes the
18 surrounding area, including the affordable
19 housing project that is directly next
20 door . And supposedly one of our most
21 important goals now is affordable housing,
22 but the affordable housing project there ,
23 their property rights are being ignored
24 and denied by the Planning Board . The
25 farmer ' s property rights are important .
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 49
1 I ' m not saying don ' t honor them . But the
2 Town of Southold purchased development
3 rights for over a million dollars , the
4 applicant paid over a half a million
5 dollars . We have property rights . We
6 need the town to protect the town, which
7 is also were paid for by public tax
8 dollars through the Community Preservation
9 Fund Tax . So we need that to be
10 protected . We need the Planning Board to
11 look at the use . That is what triggers a
12 site plan approval , is change in use or
13 intensity of use . And that ' s what ' s
14 happening here . The building is one part
15 of that, erecting the building, but where
16 that building is erected depends on what
17 else is going on that property, and we
18 need to know the farmer is planning .
19 We ' re not going to tell him what to do,
20 but we ' re going to find out what he wants
21 to do, and then we ' re going to tell him if
22 he can or he can ' t , and we have a lot of
23 authority to adjust what happens there .
24 So that it will be more profitable for the
25 farmers and the agricultural industry will
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 50
1 be more successful on the Town of
2 Southold, if they ' re working with the
3 public, and with people who care . A lot
4 of people are interested in agriculture ,
5 not just farmers . Why is the Agricultural
6 Advisory Committee only have farmers on
7 it? It doesn ' t make any sense to me . The
8 Planning Board made a decision to classify
9 the proposed chicken farm as a Type II
10 action, not required to have any SEQRA
11 process on that . I don ' t understand that
12 because I know we all love SEQRA . But
13 SEQRA is the way that we identify and
14 analyze and judge the potential
15 environmental impacts of industrial
16 intensity chicken farms . Number 1 , they
17 could destroy the farmland . The whole
18 purpose of the development rights
19 purchases was to preserve farmland . And
20 now you ' re permitting a type of farming
21 that is extremely destructive to the land .
22 Well , that ' s fine . But if you put in some
23 buffers , maybe there ' ll be little less
24 chickens . Even though they ' ll still be
25 densely concentrated, there ' ll be less
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 51
1 area . To put them in . But the Planning
2 Board decided they don ' t need buffers .
3 Now maybe you don ' t need buffers on a
4 pumpkin farm . I don ' t know . No
5 disrespect . I love pumpkins . But maybe
6 buffers are not necessary . But a chicken
7 farm? Anybody who knows anything about
8 planning and regulating, and operating
9 chicken farms knows that buffers is about
10 six different kinds of buffers . From
11 buffers that protect the neighbors , to
12 bio-security . And neighbors , by the way,
13 include other farmers . We ' re talking
14 about a farm that is predicted by the
15 neighboring farm that it will be
16 destructive to the neighboring farm . So I
17 appreciate your listening . I haven ' t had
18 much luck with getting the Planning Board
19 to listen . But the Type II designation,
20 that says that that site plan is not
21 subject to SEQRA needs to be reversed .
22 The Type II designation says that -- oh,
23 if you ' re building on a farm, you don ' t
24 need to do SEQRA . But there is no farm
25 there until he starts farming . It ' s farm
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 52
1 land, but it ' s not a farm . And the land
2 use changes to create an industrial
3 intensity chicken farm in the Town of
4 Southold has never been reviewed . Nobody,
5 the Planning Board, the Agricultural
6 Advisory Committee , the Land Preservation
7 Committee , they didn ' t want to know
8 anything about this . About what, about
9 how this land use will or will not -- And
10 my guess is that it will not be consistent
11 with generally accepted principles of
12 farming . And if it ' s not, then it does
13 not fit in the Type II category . Then it
14 needs to be subject to SEQRA . The
15 nitrogen from the chicken farms , the
16 ammonia, which rises into the air, floats
17 around and settles and spreads the
18 nitrogen out . The nitrogen that goes into
19 the groundwater, then travels through our
20 groundwater . All of that stuff, when
21 there ' s too much of it, a little bit of it
22 is very good, but too much of it is very
23 bad . And in addition to us trying to
24 control the amount of nitrogen that goes
25 into the water, and we ' re building these
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 53
1 alternative waste treatment plants for a
2 lot of the residences in town . We should
3 also consider the fact that due to climate
4 change , the oceans have been and are being
5 acidified . And that ' s a continuing
6 process . And as the acidity of the ocean
7 increases , the impacts of the nitrogen
8 also increases . And that is destructive
9 to other farms , which are farming or
10 harvesting crops from the waters , from the
11 Peconic Bay Estuary . I would have thought
12 that the history of duck farming on Long
13 Island would have been enough to alert
14 this town to the potential dangers of
15 developing industrial intensity chicken
16 farms . And this one that I know
17 definitely is industrial intensity . I
18 don ' t care what size it is , anyone who
19 says that the amount of chickens that he
20 has told the Planning Board and told us
21 that he ' s going to put on that farm is
22 based on a standard that ' s set up for
23 generic farmland . But in this case, we
24 have very sandy soils . We have a sole
25 source series of aquifers , which provide
JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 54
1 all our freshwater, which are already
2 compromised . And Suffolk County Water
3 Authority is already spending millions of
4 dollars to try and filter out the
5 nitrogen . Why would we want to add more
6 nitrogen into that system? The
7 Right-to-Farm Laws are inapplicable, and
8 yet they ' ve been cited by the Planning
9 Board . Time and time again in this record
10 and by the Planning Department , and the
11 staff reports , but the Right-to-Farm laws
12 those are for when a farmer is farming and
13 he ' s doing what he always did, and he ' s
14 doing fine . It ' s not creating a problem .
15 And then some people move in next door,
16 and they have a problem with the farming .
17 In this case the people are already there
18 and the farmer is the one moving in . And
19 as far as we know, his plans are
20 extremely, extremely -- they ' re going to
21 create some environmental disasters , which
22 there ' s no reason we can ' t prevent them.
23 But once they happen, we may never be able
24 to reverse them . So I ' ve been
25 communicating with the Town Attorney and
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1 the Planning Board and we ' re hoping to get
2 this application back on track, but I
3 thought that as the Town Board you should
4 know what ' s going on . And you know this
5 thing about the site plan -- site plan
6 looks at the whole site and also the
7 surrounding environment . And that is your
8 job, even if you want to sit there
9 laughing at me all night . Mrs . Smith
10 that ' s not you . You seem to have a very,
11 very funny smile on your face .
12 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Let ' s --
13 ( inaudible ) .
14 BENJA SCHWARTZ : All right, but I
15 feel like I ' m being disrespected and it ' s
16 hard for me to speak . Okay . But you
17 know, I love this , the North Fork and the
18 Peconic Bay Estuary . And I want to see
19 somebody that will -- it ' s fine if we
20 can ' t do -- and nobody can do everything
21 all at once . But a Comprehensive Plan is
22 supposed to have integrity . You as the
23 Town Board are supposed to look at the
24 integrity of the town government, which
25 includes the website . And the website and
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1 the day-to-day, meat and potatoes whatever
2 you ' re going to call it, physical
3 operations , those should be coordinated,
4 if one is not happening properly then the
5 other isn ' t happening properly . But you
6 know, I live on Fleet ' s Neck . Not a neck,
7 is between two creeks . It ' s on the land
8 but it ' s also surrounded by water as is
9 the North Fork . Every hamlet, we have all
10 these hamlets , each hamlet has its own
11 unique identities , but we also -- we all
12 live on the same peninsula . I like to
13 call it the beginning of Long Island, not
14 the end . Thank you . Do you have any
15 questions ? Anybody?
16 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : I ' d just
17 like to say, as far as farming goes , I
18 think you have to be, as a society, you
19 have to be careful . Because farming is a
20 difficult business , and you don ' t get food
21 from a bank . You don ' t get food from a
22 pantry . You don ' t get food from a truck .
23 You get food from a farm. And if you --
24 this is the 250th Anniversary of our
25 country, and do some research, and look at
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1 what the founding fathers had to say about
2 agriculture , because they were very wise
3 men, and they understood benefits of
4 agriculture to our country . And if one
5 community says , we don ' t like that kind of
6 farming . And the next community says , we
7 don ' t like that kind of farming, for
8 whatever reason . We don ' t like this , we
9 don ' t like that , it ' s fine . Pretty soon
10 we ' re gonna have a lot of food coming
11 through the Strait of Hormuz . And it ' s
12 not gonna be good for us . So we need to
13 be -- as a matter of national security, at
14 the very least, let alone for national
15 health, we need to be producing our own
16 food here . And farming is a very heavily
17 --
18 BENJA SCHWARTZ : It ' s been
19 exaggerated, when they say that no
20 farmers , no food . It ' s a little bit of an
21 exaggeration .
22 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : So if no
23 one needs food, what would they do --
24 BENJA SCHWARTZ : The initial food
25 sources of the human race did not come
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1 from farms . When the human races
2 developed, and it started out , there was
3 hunters and gatherers .
4 BENJA SCHWARTZ : That ' s true .
5 BENJA SCHWARTZ : Okay . So they got
6 the nature . Nature is the ultimate
7 farmer . And the farming that exists
8 today, there are two types of farming, you
9 could say . You can classify farming as --
10 my mind is as -- one is mercenary farming,
11 in which the whole purpose of the farm is
12 to make money . Believe me, I ' m not saying
13 that farmers don ' t need to make money . Of
14 course they do . But there ' s also
15 sustainable farming that respects the
16 nature , and doesn ' t -- and that is more
17 sustainable . That ' s more economically
18 viable , and will be viable in the future .
19 So no one is trying to stop the farmers
20 from doing whatever they want , as long as
21 that is not going to -- you know, a little
22 dust is one thing, but if the dust has
23 pathogens in it and creates health
24 problems for the neighborhood, then the
25 farmer -- a good farmer, learns how to
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1 control that . A good farmer uses , for one
2 thing, buffers . Buffers keep the
3 pathogens and the exit nutrients . They ' re
4 managed on the farm . Not dispersed
5 through the environment . The profit of
6 the farmer should be from growing, from
7 producing things on the farm, not from
8 creating externalities that other people
9 are losing money . And it ' s costing them .
10 Their property values are going down . So
11 I agree with you, that we need farmers ,
12 but I think we have to look at the --
13 BENJA SCHWARTZ : There is nothing
14 wrong with being a good neighbor .
15 BENJA SCHWARTZ : Okay . Thank you .
16 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Motion
17 to adjourn --
18 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Can I just
19 make a few comments .
20 (Whereupon, Councilman Mealy shared
21 upcoming events at this time . )
22 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Motion
23 to adjourn .
24 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : I have a
25 motion to adjourn .
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1 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Second .
2 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : All in
3 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 .
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11 (Whereupon, the meeting was
12 adjourned at this time . )
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JUNE 16, 2026 REGULAR MEETING 61
1 C E R T I F I C A T I O N
2
3 I , Jessica DiLallo , a Notary Public
4 for and within the State of New York, do
5 hereby certify :
6 THAT, the within transcript is a
7 true record of said Board Meeting .
8 I further certify that I am not
9 related either by blood or marriage to any
10 of the parties to this action; and that I
11 am in no way interested in the outcome of
12 this matter .
13 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto
14 set my hand this day, July 2 , 2026 .
15
16
17 (Je ica Lallo)
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