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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTR-12/06/1977 274 December 6, 1977 A regular meeting of the Board of Town Trustees was held at 7:30 p.m. , Tuesday, December 6, 1977 at the Town Hall, Main Road, Southold. Present were: Alvah B. Goldsmith, Chairman Douglas Robertson, Trustee Philip G. Horton, Trustee Joseph Hataier, Trustee Paul Stoutenburgh, Trustee-elect Scott Harris, Trustee-elect John Nickles, Trustee-elect Stephen Katz, L'. I. ' Traveler-Watchman Frances Wegoner, Suffolk Times Howard Petersen. application for pilings to moor transient type vessels at Mattituck Creek off private property of the applicant. The pilings are installed with permits from the New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation and U. S. Army Corps of. Engineers but no permit from the Board of Southold Town Trustees. Judge Martin Suter spoke in objection to granting the permit in his capacity as an individual member of the Southold Town Board. He stated that' the Town Board has been involved in the removal of several derelicts over the past five years which cost the tax- payers thousands. of dollars. Some of the spiles are 25 to 50 feet off the 'highwater mark: There is a marrow channel and the , federal and county governments have spent a lot of money to open it up. There are three derelicts which are being called transient vessels. . The problem comes when these vessels are no -longer afloat. Once 'they slide into the channel, it is very expensive to remove them. ,. There is one boat moored and the secorid is out- side of that. The commercial fishermen find it very difficult to get in and out at low tide. Justice Suter said it was his understanding- that- Mr. Petersen. has been reported to the Army Corps of Engineers.: -He stated that 'although -Mr. Petersen has the permits. from the DEC and the Army Corps of Engineers, he still does not have 'the permit- from the Board 'of Town Trustees. Anthony ,DeMaula, a' commercial' fisherman, voiced his objection. He said there are two� 30 foot wide vessels moored side by side. If two boats tr'ied 'to pass in the channel, one would be aground on 'the east side. He said that it is necessary to pump out these boats to keep them afloat. Henry Drum spoke as a representative of the Mattituck Chamber of Commerce and as an individual as to his concern about the area. He feels- it:'is a great hazard to navigation. Jimmy King objected and voiced his concern that the barge will sinkrand cover the channel. Mr. Goldsmith 'said th.e board will contact Mr. Almodovar of' the Army Corps of Engineers and arrange a meeting with him and any other people concerned. 275 On motion made by Mr. Hataier, seconded by. Mr. Robertson, it was RESOLVED to deny the application of .Howard Petersen to place pilings in Mattituck Creek off private property of the applicant to moor transient type vessels and to restrict the mooring of vessels in that area and take further action, if necessary. Vote of the Board: Ayes : Goldsmith, Robertson, Horton, Hataier The application of Salvatore Cucinotta to place dock, ramp and float at Little Creek off private property of the applicant was tabled. A meeting is to be requested with Mr. Carrig, the contractor, and the owner of the property to determine the question' of the necessity of the angle of the dock. Leander B. - Glover, Jr. request for a quitclaim deed to land adjoining land of the applicant which was filled with dredge spoil by the County of Suffolk. The following letter under date of December 2-, 1977 to the Board of Town Trustees was read: Dear Trustees : This firm represents the Fleet' s Neck Property Owners Association, Inc. which has been involved in litigation with Leander Glover, Jr. over the ownership of certain land located' at' Fleet' s" Neck, Cutchogue,. New York. It is my understanding that Mr. Glover has applied ' to the Board of Trustees for a quitclaim deed to property abutting the' property involved in the litigation.. I request -that this-letter be read 'at the meeting of the Trustees scheduled for Tuesday, December 6, 1977 at 7:30 p.m. which is the date, ' according to -the' public notice, that Mr.- Glover' s application is to be considered-. This is to inform -you that the litigation has not been* te' rminated and is still active. A trial was held in Supreme Court,, Suffolk County and a decision was issued by the Honorable William R: Geiler in Mr. Glover' s favor.' As far as ' I know, no ' judgment has * been entered on this decision though* a judgment will most likely be entered shortly. We _have been retained by Fleet' s Neck Property Owners Association, Inc. to file a -Notice of'Appeal from any such judgment and to perfect the appeal to. the Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department; Brooklyn, New York. - It will be at least several months before the Appellate Division will act on ' this appeal. It is our .opinion that the Board of Trustees should not- take-any action until the controversy between the F1e'et' s-'Neck Property ' Owners Association, Inc. -and Leander Glover, Jr. has been 'permanently resolved. /sl Stephen R. Angel 276 The following letter under date of December j, 1977 to the Board of Southold Town Trustees was read:` Dear Mr'. Goldsmiths: This is with reference to the application of Leander B. Glover, Jr. to the Board of Trustees for a quitclaim deed to land adjoining land which the applicant claims to own on Fleet' s Neck, Cutchogue, New York. The land referred to is still' u:n.der litigation, as the decision made by Judge William Gieler is being appealed by -the Fleet' s Neck Property Owners Association, Inc.- - Therefore; we' feel that this application should not be taken into consideration. Furthermore, we object to any public lands, under the jurisdiction of the Board of Trustees, being given or sold to anyone for private benefit. The recent precedent that your Board set in denying the acquisition of public land for private benefit on Fishermans Beach supports our position' in this matter. '/s/ William Nicol, President Fleet' s Neck Property Owners Assn.. Mr. Goldsmith made the following comments: I would say this mould preclude any action by .the board at this time on the matter but would like to make some comments. We, as Town Trustees, have never .felt it was -within our jurisdiction to determine boundaries. That is the reason the board said it would be a court decision and not ours. There is one great difference over any other and that is that it involves the cutting off of a' public access to the 'water .that has always been in existence before. Never has this been done by the Trustees. The public access to water is very limited and it i.s. not being added to very rapidly by acquisition by the Town or other authorities: Unless some provision is made in that area where the public would have access, it would be a .disservice to this town that `the trustees make any such decision. ' I feel that the public access is an' important consideration of the Town ' Tru.stees. We can empathize with the individual or the association but' this ' goes far beyond that. It is a precedent setting situation that should never be resolved lightly and without due .consideration forr the welfare and benefit of the town. If there were some way that an easement could be granted to the town' in that area where a. roadway that ends now practically ' in the woods would be continued by agreement mutually made that some.'way or, another the public would have access to water and that channel where they had it before or, if' necessary, out to the point, .I think it would be to the trustees ! interest to insist upon such arrangement. I am voicing a private opinion and I haven't discussed it. with the board except for one member. I think we have to table any action 'on this request of .Mr. Glover' s until it is finally 'and definitely settled as to who owns what. 277 On- motion made by Mr. .Robertson, seconded by Mr. .Hataier, it was RESOLVED to deny the application of Leander B. Glover, Jr. for a quitclaim deed to land adjoining land of. the applicant which i was filled with dredge spoil by the County of .Suffolk. pending the result of the court litigation. Vote of the Board: Ayes : Goldsmith, Robertson, Horton, Hataier Mr. Stoutenburgh. suggested that a letter be written to the Dept. of Public Works for verification that they put the spoil there. Mr. Stoutenburgh does not believe that this was filled by the Dept. of Public Works but by Mr. Glover. Mr. Glover stated the county filled it and he put more in after- wards but the county 'filled the whole thing. William Nicol stated that, according to the court records, it was never clearly determined who filled it. Mr. Glover said, according to Mr. Nicol, that he used his bulldozer to push it across. The applications of Edward C. Thomsen, Neal A. McCarroll, Andrew Galgano and Charles Berner were again tabled as no further information has been received. Mr. Robertson made a motion that the minutes of the meeting of November 2, 1977 be approved as submitted. Mr. Horton seconded the motion and it was carried. The following comments by Dr. Thomas Samuels were directed by Mr- . Horton to be made part of the minutes of the meeting. Dr. Samuels: I can't let the last time that Mr: Goldsmith sits as chairman of the Board of Town Trustees go by without a comment. I have known him for twenty -years and at least ten with this body and the Town owes him a tremendous debt as is obvious even here tona.ght. His expertise and fairness and integrity will be very difficult ' to duplicate in this body. I have known him to have me move a bulkhead four feet and no amount of prodding would change his mind. I came to respect him for that. I respect Mr. Robertson, who is also not going to be the board, for that, too. Mr. Goldsmith has been in charge of this body in a very difficult transition period when the emphasis on granting -permits went at least 180 degrees. For a long period, he was castigated for giving rights away. He took the blame and I rarely saw articles criticizing any other members. As the nominal head, I am sure he accepted the responsibility. The town is going to miss you, A1.1_and Mr. Robertson. I know the new trustees will carry on in the fashion you have set. I want to thank you again as a citizen of the Town of .Southold. i (There was a standing ovation for the two gentlemen from the approximately 25 people in attendance. ) i 278 Mr. Stoutenburgh congratulated Mr. Robertson and Mr. Goldsmith on their.•.retirement. He._ stated Mr. Goldsmith had .done•.,a splendid job' and" he" thought there- had been some new thinking and he was .sure; .-hhat Mr.-., .Goldsmith' s leadership .had- brought, it -about. Mr-. .Goldsmith, and; _Mr. Robertson thanked the .peo.ple -for their comments and approval. - - I ' . There being no further business to come befo,re .the .board, Mr. Goldsmith declared the meeting adjourned at 8:35 P.M. Respectfully .submitted, . Mur-i.el_ .Brush, S.ecre.tary . Southold Town Trustees i i