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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTB-08/04/1993-FI 223 SOUTHOLD TOWN BOARD FISHERS ISLAND AUGUST 4, 1993 1 :00 P.M. A Regular Meeting of the Southold Town Board was held on Wednesday, August 4, 1993, at Fishers Island, New York. Supervisor Harris opened the meeting at 1 :00 P.M., with the. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. Present: Supervisor Scott L. Harris Justice Raymond W. Edwards Councilman George L. Penny IV Councilman Thomas H. Wickham Councilman Joseph J. Lizewski Councilwoman Alice J. Hussie Town Clerk Judith T. Terry Town Attorney Harvey A. Arnoff Assistant Town Attorney Matthew G. Kiernan SUPERVISOR HARRIS: At this time I'd like to tell you about the officials, that we brought over to Fishers Island today for questions, that you may have in the next few minutes of any problems, or any praises, that you'd like-to give to various departments for the help on the ongoing year. From the Town Board I have, of course, your Councilman, your Judge, Ray Edwards, Councilwoman Alice Hussie, Councilman Joe Lizewski, Councilman Tom Wickham, Councilman George Penny, Town Clerk Judith Terry. In the Town Attorney's Office, we have the Town Attorney Harvey Arnoff, and next to him is the Assistant Town„Attorney Matt Kiernan. From the. Highway Department we have James Richter here, and we also have Jim Bunchuck, who represents the Town of Southold in our Landfill on the Mainland. From the Police Department, we have the Chief of Police Stanley Droskoski, and we have the chief of communications, the Public Safety Dispatcher III, that's his title by Civil Service, John Raynor. From the ZBA we have Jim Dinizio. Of .your own ZBA member from the Island, Serge Doyen. From the Assessor's Office we have Scott Russell and Robert. Scott. From the Planning .Board we Ken Edwards, your own, again, from the Island. From the CAC, Conservation Advisory Council, we have John Holzapfel, who is the Chairman. We have Bruce Loucka, and we have John Hagerty here. From the Technical Committee. of the Southold Town Solid Waste Task Force, the Chairperson of that is Town Board., member Alice Hussie. Also representing the Committee is William Warner and Bill Cremers. From the Southold Town Tree 'Committee, the Chairman, Ed Dart is here. From Insurance, our consultants, and our insurance carriers, John Stype is here. Land Preservation Committee, we have Jim Rich, and Ruth Oliva here today. From the Board of Assessment Review of the Town of Southold we have Frank Thorp . here. From adjourning towns, our neighboring townships, from the Shelter Island Police Department, we have the Chief of Police Ferrer, an- island not unlike yours, which he serves obviously in that capacity, and from Riverhead Police Department we have the Chief, Joe Grattan. Say hello to both of them. From Legislator Caracciolo's Office, Suffolk County Legislature First District Office, we have a individual here, Theresa Aliperti, who is his Aide. From the Suffolk County District Attorney's representing James Catterson, we have Kerry Lectrecker, who is here. ' From Congressman's Hochbrueckner's Office, we have two representatives, Pauline Pierce, and Karen Blaikie. From the Suffolk County Executive's Office, we have John Kreutz, who is the Suffolk County Executive Assistant. From the Suffolk County Executive's Office for .Citizen Affairs we have Mary Fallon and from Weights E Measures, we have•<.C.liff Coleman here. Suffolk County Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services, the Commissioner Alfred Jardine. From 226 AUGUST. 4, 1993 the Suffolk County Office of Probation, George Kohl, Supervising Probation Officer. From the New York State Police, Troop L, we have Lt. Robert Mahon, Zone 1. Commander, and Sergeant Brody Schulz. From New York State Department of Trans- portation, Traffic E Safety Board, Donald Pagel. From the New York State DEC, Regional Director for Region 1 , Ray Cowan, Regional Solid Waste Engineer, Bob Mitrey, and Law Enforcement, known fondly as ECON, Rich Otterstedt is here. From the -Division of Legal Affairs, we have Jean Cop_ patollo here, from the New York State Archives and Records, Arthur Sniffin. From the New York State - Department of Transportation, Robert Schwartz, and from the New York State Department Ags and Markets, Doug McKay. If I've. left anybody out at this .time is your chance to be recognized. If not, these are the individuals, I'm sorry, the Justice of the Town, Bill Price is here, Ray Edwards' counterpart on the mainland. Judge, thank you for bringing it to my attention. Is there anybody else? (No response.) If not, at' this time I'd like to open the floor up to dis- cussions a little bit for those individuals,' who would like to bring up areas of concern, that you may have, areas of concern, that we have been addressing, that certainly maybe you'd like to be' enlightened about, area of concern, which possibly this town has been working on, but which has not come forward yet, because it's .still in the works. At this time let .me recognize Mr. Feagles. BOB FEAGLES: I don't have much to say, but I want to read aloud a report. My question, of course, concerns the Fishers Island metal dump.- More than ten years ago, together with my neighbors, landlords, began to ask that this environ- mentally unsafe blight be removed. Over the years we have been ignored, we've been put off, and we've been lied to. Even today, a year after the Town did in fact close the metal dump, more .debris is being added. We have watched the. value of our property decrease, while our taxes have increased. Recent questions to elected officials have produced, I'm afraid a little bit more of the bureacratic nonsense. One thing he said. in' private, that he thought that this issue was so political, that it would not be addressed in a election year. That to me is un- exceptable. The people with the responsibility, and the authority, to clean up this disgusting tanker, obviously won't, therefore my question is, to you Mr. Harris, as Town leader, when are you going to do it, and what are you going to do? This I would like to enter into the record of the meeting. SUPERVISOR HARRIS: Thank you, Mr. Feagles. Before I address this on my level, let. me turn to Councilwoman Alice. Hussie, who chairs the Solid Waste Com- mittee. She has been working on this issue for quite 'some time, working with various individuals on the is.land,. various contractors, various individuals in the Town of .Southold, that deal .with with solid waste, not to mention the Solid Waste Advisory Committee. Alice? COUNCILWOMAN HUSSIE: I am the the Chairman of the Solid Waste Task Force, and to be perfectly honest I have done some investigating into the metal dump cleanup, however I want to admit right here at the beginning, that there was a interpretation, which I interpreted incorrectly, in a letter from.the DEC. Last time when we were here, August of. 1992, there was a rather informal meeting with some members of the DEC suggesting that we could start cleaning up the metal dump, giving us some sort of an idea of what we were going to do. That was generated, and sent to them, and the reply came that the 'outclimb was inadequate. I interpreted inadequate as. being no good, however, this morning I was most elated, because did have a conversation with people who know on the boat coming over, and was advised that we could start tomorrow to start to remove some of the metal in the recycling mode, remove the metal from the metal dump, and it was suggested that perhaps we have a rolloff, that .would take the plastic, that one comes see. In other words have three different phases, recycable metal, other stuff that can be gotten rid of, and then there is that. questionable part about in case they come across solvents, or something- like that, and that would also be taken care of. But, initially it could be done on a we shall take this stuff out from a recycling stand- point. We can get that started immediately, and my other question was, actually it's for the Highway Department, and Mr.. Jacobs is not here, so. I can't really speak for him, but I am going to ask him if some of that work might not be able to be done by the Highway Department, because we do have some equipment over here. I'm not promising, it's just" something I'm going to ask about. There is correspondence, as I said before, ' we did start .to talk about this, and do something it, and I must say it was my error in my interpretation of what we got from the DEC. However, I am ready to start out tomorrow, and we will not necessarily have to go to bid, and all that sort of stuff, because I think we might attack from a different standpoint. Yes, sir? AUGUST 4, 1993225 HARRIS PARSONS: This was brought up last year, and you were going to go back and do something about it, and obviously you didn't do one thing about it. COUNCILWOMAN HUSSIE: I did do something about it. HARRIS PARSONS:. Nothing you've done. You just talk about doing it now. COUNCILWOMAN HUSSIE: As I said in my opening remarks, I misinterpreted a letter from the DEC. .They said, that. . HARRIS PARSONS: For a year? COUNCILWOMAN HUSSIE: It sounds terrible doesn't it? HARRIS PARSONS: It does. SUPERVISOR. HARRIS: Sir, could you go through the Chair? Be recognized for the record. HARRIS PARSONS: My name is Harris Parsons, and I'm a summer resident. You haven't done a thing. I mean, you said, we'll take care of this. You went back to Long Island last year, a.nd that was it. Now, you come -up, '-I was going to this, I was going to do that. Why don't you dosDme.thing about it? COUNCILWOMAN HUSSIE: We will. HARRIS PARSONS: I hope so. SUPERVISOR HARRIS: Mr. Parsons, and Mr. Feagles, •to answer some of your concerns, last year, and we actually started the year before that, as you know the Town worked on a contract with the Fishers Island Garbage District to separate out portions of the budget of what would be considered to be part of the Cutchogue the Long Island section of the Landfill, to separate that out, so that you didn't pay for that portion' of it. So, what we did is come up with a contract. I'll let the Town Attorney, Harvey Arnoff, just tell you strictly, or actually explicitly, what contract we had signed with the Fishers Island Garbage District, so you know what we've done to date since that meeting, and what steps we have -taken, also, since then to take care of the metal dump, which is what you mentioned, which is going to be all of our concern, but our concern primarily, not the responsibility anymore of the Fisher Island Garbage District. Mr. Arnoff. TOWN ATTORNEY ARNOFF: What we did essentially was, because there was some difficulty in us entering into what's called intermunicipal, the difficulty was that the Town—there was some difficulty in drafting, and fitting this in, and what had happened was in the midst of the interim, the Town was in the process of forming it's own district. So we had districts there would be no overlapping of taxes. We did finally come up with an acceptable 'agreement. That agreement, I believe, back. in November, between Fishers Island Garbage District, and the Town. It was November 10, 1992. In any event, since that time, we now have a district, that has been approved, so that the taxing aspect would be completely separate. The metal dump is part of the mainland's district. problem. It's a whole town problem. It is not the Fishers Island Garbage District problem. That was how we set it up. So that you're garbage is yours, but the metal dump is ours. SUPERVISOR HARRIS: Yes? State your name, please. PETER BRINKERHOFF: Peter Brinkerhoff. About the metal dump, we discussed this last year, and talked about the. budgetary involvement then, where you didn't have specific outlay in one Budget or another at that time. . Can you tell me, number one, how much money did you set aside in one. budget or the other, whatever budget it is to deal with the metal dump problem, and two, going forward you -can assure us you set aside sufficent funds in the appropriate budget, so that the plans can be executed, as far as recycling mode of getting rid of this cancerous problem we have, which bothers everybody particularly the people close to it? 226 AUGUST 4, 1993 SUPERVISOR HARRIS: Let's just address the first part of your question. The Town of Southold working with the DEC has to come up with a plan, an actual plan, engineeringwise to find out what the fiscal impact would be for the town. Obviously, the town has not set aside any Budget amounts for this year. There's a few months left of this year, and we'll be out of this phase, but there was no money set aside because we just signed that agreement in end of November; and based on what we thought were regulations at that time it would be put in place, there was .no way to budget for it. We will bond that amount as needed, dependin on the amount that it takes with engineering, and following sixty rules, and regula- tions, so is no way to make a concrete definition of how much it's going to cost. We will bond that amount of money. What is needed, obviously, will not try to put that on the back of the taxpayers in a one year expenditure, such as what we do in the Town of Southold with the mainland, and when it comes to the point where we start capping, and closing that landfill the same amount of money is going to have to be determined what will be needed. Again, we would bond that amount to spread 'it. out over a number of years, so the impact to- the residents would not. be severe in a one year hit. So, that's number one. Number two, since. we've .been working on this, with the metal dump, remember that the residents of Fishers Island have been using this facility probably since the fifties. This facility was .officially closed last year. It has come to our attention, that there are people who are still going in there. However, there're. going there, we're not quite sure,. we have an idea that some people are just walking in with items. Others are driving around a back part of it to get in. That is something that we're,, hopefully., be addressing with some law enforcement in the future, because it's obvious that the landfill, even though we officially closed it, there are some who aren't recognized that fact. The point that Alice made, and which is a point that is very important, that I want to make, the eyesore part of it, the cleanup part of, which Mr. Feagles mentioned, and certainly Mr,. Lamborn, who lives up on the top, who can see that areas, and others, that part of it is going to be taken care of immediately. We had a number of proposals, that we've received with a specific amount of money. However, we didn't break it into phases. At that time we asked what would be the cost to remediate that premises as a whole. Remediation, reclaimation of that site, something we'll be working on with the engineering firm; and with the DEC. The first thing we want to do is. clean up the surface of it. The next part will be to find out if it's economical feasible for us to clean it back to it's. natural state.. As you know it is a gun placement, or a bunker; which has a concrete pad on the bottom. Hopefully, with the DEC's cooperation, and with a contractor that we can get to .go out to bid, which we'll have to do, because obviously it will be over $20,000.00, and by State law we're most likely have to bid this. We'll be able to clean out the whole thing back to it's natural state, instead of capping it, and just actually making like a chicken pot pie; and then worrying about other sixty rules and regulations, which would have to do with monitoring, and things like' this, of groundwater, even though I don't know of any groundwater, that would monitored under it. I don't even think there is' any, but that's' something we're addressing right now with the DEC, and the engineering firm is going to have to come up with a set of specified plans for approval by that agency to do phase two, which would- be a complete clean out of that bunker. But 'the actual initial phase of cleaning out the top, we've been working on that. If we can find out the cost of that relatively quickly, it would not exceed the bonding -limits set by the State of New York, or the bid limit set by the State of New York, we can work on that immediately,' as Councilwoman Hussie said,. and that's where we are basically' at- that point. PETER BRINKERFHOFF: To transfer it would cost less than. $20,000 to pull the cars and refrigerators out. of there. Somehow or other, through either manage- ment or the bids come high; whatever- proposal you people ask to be bid upon, we'd be back to our original problem. SUPERVISOR HARRIS: We had a number already of proposals, that have come in. Councilwoman Hussie had received some through Jim Bunchuck, and I'll let her tell you some of those right now. COUNCILWOMAN HUSSIE; We. have ,received a number of rather informal proposals. However, we have, like today again 'with this marvelous trip over from Southold to Fishers Island, discovered that there are other ways to do this. We might be able to just send out some inquiries to people who might just want to take this stuff for it's value, in which case we can immediately relieve you of the eyesore, and also relieve ourselves of an expensive bill. That would be one of the first things, that we would do. But there will be a point wherewe'regoing to have to be a little bit more sophisticated, but we certainly can get started on the phase. I have the names of a couple of people in Connecticut to contact to say, would you come. over, and see what you can salvage out of here, and take it away for salvage. AUGUST 4, 1993 227 PETER BRINKERHOFF: What is your timetable? COUNCILWOMAN HUSSIE: MY timetable is certainly within two weeks. PETER BRINKERHOFF: So we'll see some action on this, or you'll come back and tell us why? COUNCILWOMAN HUSSIE: Sure. I will. PETER BRINKERHOFF: I just want to bring up at the meeting, that we all like the' tennis courts. Thank you. SUPERVISOR HARRIS: That was also brought up last year, which has been addressed, and obviously in use, and understand getting a lot of heavy use, according to what Judge Edwards tells me, and other individuals on the Island. Any other issue at this time, that you'd like to address to the Board? JOHN THATCHER: John Thatcher. Fishers Island Conservancy. Pm, of course, delighted to see the reaction here today of the Town Board to the metal dump. It 'is an eyesore. I certainly back up what Bob Feagles had to say. It has been too long. The Conservancy doesn't care who does it, how it's done. It should be cleaned up as quickly as humanly possible. What I wanted to address the Board about today primarily is. on the horizon in another direction, and that is the plan of the U.S. Navy, and the State of Connecticut to dredge 2.7 million cubic yards of 'polluted residuum out of the Thames River, and dump it in the dumping grounds zoned by the State of Connecticut, which is just too close to Fishers Island, and which is too close to New York State. .-The :dump site is in the State of Connecticut, but the bottom of it rests practically on the New York State line. Giving the currents and tides that swell around that area there's absolutely no question that any dredge spoil, polluted dredged spoil of that nature is going to go in New York State waters. It's going to be carried perhaps a mile in the area, and it could effect the shell- fisheries in Long Island Sound. It could effect certainly the fisheries on the Mace, and. above all Fishers Island itself is only a mile and a half away. If these plans continue, and they are continuing as we speak, the action of the Southold Town Board to protest this .action would be very, very valuable, and very, very helpful in our efforts, and the efforts of our allies in Connecticut to save Eastern Long Island Sound. I should ask, that this dredging project is really for the benefit of the submarines. The Sea Wdlf class only two have been appropriate. The other subs, the Trj,dents, are not based' anywhere near Groton or New London, and there .are apparantly no plans for them to be based there. The future sub, the Centurion class, come up small, and will not require any dredging, so the staggering amount 2.7 million cubic yards, I would present to this Board frankly plus the capping ' material that has to go on top of it would create an island ,.up there, besides a terrific pollution hazard. I wanted to address the Board today on this issue. I wanted to alert them to the fact. that it has not died out.. We thought a year ago it might, but politicians .in the State of Connecticut feel that this would somehow relieve unemployment in the southeastern part of the state. I frankly don't believe it would. Two Sea Wolves is, no matter what, all that is going to be effected by this, and the Sea Wolves are currently planning to be based elsewhere, so it does effect New York State, and environmentally it certainly is a major dredge. I would hope that this Town Board put on some date in your future pass a resolution that would express a concern to the State of Connecticut about pollution in New 'York State waters. Thank you very much. SUPERVISOR HARRIS: Mr. Thatcher, thank you for bringing that to our concern. As you know, I have been working on this for some time, trying to stay on top of it, written a number of letters to various officials in the Federal level, not to mention our local level, the Senate, and the Assembly. I've brought it to the County Exec's attention. :lt- seems that nobody really has a clear plan, or a clear direction on what's going to happen yet. I also alerted, at the time, Newsday, and I think John McDonald did a great story on that on behalf of the residents of New York State, and I'm sure he's still following that as close as he can, right now as we speak. . That issue, obviously, is one that deals with federal cutbacks, and has to do with Naval bases, that would be open and closed. Connecticut, obviously, is in a position where it's looking at the best interest economically, and environmentally, I hope, for the residents of that area. Certainly, it concerns people in New York State, the lobstermen in this area, that are looking at what is going to happen silt, the millions of cubic yards, that are going to be dumped out there. Unfortunately, there is one problem that exists. There's an ongoing 228 AUGUST 4, 1993 permit, that has been given. Whether the Army Corp of Engineers has given it them. through Connecticut's policy makers or not, I'm, not sure, but it's it's an, ongoing permit, a permit that is still alive and well. The fact that it's going to. effect New York waters is a concern, not only for your Conservancy, but also for the residents from Fishers Island, also the commercial baymen. Those commer- cial baymen have expressed a concern to me, and I have, again, been tracking this. I can't gets anymore out of the U.S. Navy, or; certainly, out of the State of Connecticut on what their plans are going to be..'. Obviously, a nuclear submarine, such as the Sea Wolf type, my understanding is it draws about 36 feet of water, ' and the Thames River, or the Connecticut River, obviously as it silts in doesn't have that depth in some area's; and that's where this dredging will take place. It has been in the 'past, as you know, dumped out there. On the Coast Guard charts there is a dumping ground square. It says this is where we dump. Last time when it was done we raised our concerns. I'm sure that this Board will take it upon- itself to officially do a resolution to make sure that 'the residents, not to mention the residents of the State as a whole environmentally, will be protected. I'll be glad to present that at the next meeting, to present it to the various agencies including the Connecticut, I think, Department of Environmental Control over there, who I understand is in a political bout right now with those Legislators, about this matter. JOHN THATCHER: Correct. I would be overjoyed, Scott, if you could send me some correspondence, I would be happy to send you ours. SUPERVISOR HARRIS: Very good. Thank you. Any contribution you would like to make on behalf of the Conservancy, John, if you would forward that to the Town Attorney, we'll try to incorporate that into the body of the. resolution. Judge Edwards? JUSTICE EDWARDS: John, I agree with the 2.7 million cubic yards of spoils should not be' dumped i.n the dumping ground out there. The last. time it was done, when . they dredged the river for the Trident, the Thames River,; it did show up in their lobster pots in the Northville area. I know a lot of people, remember Frenchie? He came' in there with lobster pots half full of mud with dead lobsters in them, because it comes out from the west to the east. But, I can say that if they're going to build two Sea Wolves, and in order to get those two Sea Wolves out of the river, they're going to have to dredge that river. But, what the government has said, now that the Tridents are out of New London, they're down at King's Bay, and up north, that they're going to use, and they have permission to use the docks over at- the underwater Sound ramp, so if there is any dredging to be done, which they'll probably have do, where the spoils go is the big problem. But, if there's any dredging it's going to be half of that amount; because they're not going to have to dredge above the river to take the Tridents up to the base. JOHN THATCHER: Above the bridges then? JUSTICE EDWARDS: Above the bridges, and they won't even beyond the .State pier. They'll just go from the electric boat down to the point out by the light- house, so you cane cut that 2.7 in half, and now, if we can; convince the DEP in Connecticut to accept these spoils for capping landfills over; there, rather than put them back in the water, because that's where they came from originally. Now; we've got to find a place to put the spoils over there. JOHN THATCHER: Ray, -1 should add that the Conservancy is retaining a Connecticut environment engineering firm to try and find alternate spots for this dump. Our objection is not* with the sub plant. The Navy can build as many as they like. . Our objection is, please, don't dump it right here. You've done it before. To this day I've crabs from the Point, that have big black spots on them, which is pollution. Now, the crabs can't talk obviously, and you just .don't know, but that mud slide can easily go downto-theiRace, because you know it's 300 feet deep in some spots. JUSTICE EDWARDS: Are these crabs ten years old now? JOHN THATCHER: I think they are'. They're pretty big. I've got one in my car right now. AUGUST 4, 1993 - 229 SUPERVISOR HARRIS: I'd like to bring into the fold our Regional Director, Ray Cowan. Ray has been apprised of this situation, and I'm sure, Ray, if there's anything you want to say on behalf of the Department, as far as environmental pollution would go, I'm sure that your department would be glad to get involved with this to find out just exactly what you could do to help in the situation. RAY COWAN : I wasn't aware of this, but I took some notes. I will go back to the office, and try to find out. First of all, it's not.'where I thought, and if it is, and the permits have been issued, then there's, probably very little we can do, but if it hasn't been issued, and the DEC reauthorize, then there will be a Corp of Engineers procedure, and hopefully the Corp will involve New York State, and then we have the opportunity to comment, but quite frankly if it's all Connecti- cut I'm not quite sure what we can do. JOHN THATCHER: Ray, could I address you on this matter.:., We have 'the Environ- mental Protection Agency critique of the whole thing, which is a personal document, and we wilt ..continue to, I don't want to use bombarb you, but could certainly send your office whatever we can. I'd appreciate, I think the whole island would, any help you can give us. PETER BRINKERHOFF: I'll touch briefly on last year's Town Board meeting, the Civic Association sent you a copy of a report, that was financed_ by the Conservancy, which studied the back and forth of tax revenues from Fishers Island to Southold, an analysis of services received. This meeting last year, because there were so many other things were under discussion, that matter did not get discussed. It's been a year. You must of had time to look at the report. I think at last year's meeting you'd pass it on to department heads, and a,FIministration. First, have you concluded your study, and if, you have, can .you give us your thinking on the conclusions, that were concluded at the end of that report, which implied essentially that Fishers Island comes out short about $300,000.00 for the year in services? SUPERVISOR HARRIS: That issue is still one that is being looked at. That issue is a matter of interpretation, and a matter of opinion. The fact that one individual, or one firm, looked at this, and this is what their analysis said, does not necessarily mean that that is the conclusion. It's obviously one side's conclusion. Our comp- troller, and others, have looked at it, and there's obviously lots of,individuals who have various'opinions in reference to what was attributed to whom, and how much can you allocate for such. So, that matter has not gone away, but that matter also is not on the top of 'the priority list, because it's a matter of interpre- tation. Somebody did the study to see what the possible difference was, what was paid out, what is paid in. I'd just like to say, that you could probably take- that scenario to any government, and say what do we contribute to Suffolk County? What do we get back? What do we contribute to the State of New York? What do we get back? What do we contribute to the Federal government? What do we get back? PETER BRINKERHOFF: I know you can't deal with it. .SUPERVISOR HARRIS: You can deal with it, because it's the same level as this. .I mean it's a matter of interpretation. How much do you split up to be part of the Town Clerk? How much do you split up to be part of the Highway Superintendent? How do you allocate that? It's great the study was done. I think you gave people an idea of monies that went in and out. There's nothing wrong with the study, but it has not been one of the priotities of the Town to keep pursuing it, because the matter lies, again, in interpretation, how you contribute so much money to each of the following entities. It's not saying it's going to go away, if you obviously keep pursuing it, but I don't see that as a burning issue on behalf of the residents of the 'Township as a whole. It's a look-at, what services come in, what services go out, and obviously the arguement can be, made by other residents on the main- land about services they receive, and services they don't from other various munci- palities or agencies, that they deal with. That's all. It's not a put-off. I'm just saying it has not been addressed that way. PETER BRINKERHOFF: So, basically, you have looked at it? I think that the disparity is so big. Well, it's not a burning issue to you on the mainland. It is for us. This is not going to die. . 230 AUGUST 4, 1993 SUPERVISOR HARRIS: Again, let me just reiterate, that it's a matter of interpre- tation. I mean, no matter who you want to bring in, you're. paying these people. You can make them produce the numbers in your favor. If the Town was to do the same, which it has not done, to have people come, and look at it to make it . show the opposite, you know, again, would it go away? Would that mean negates' it? Obviously not: I think the study was good. I think it gave everybody an idea of services, that were generated both ways. 1 ;think that's one of things that help come up with the Garbage District contract, that' we came up with for services that were provided, to offset some of that money that residents over here feel that are not coming back, not 1.00%, but maybe not even a percentage that they would like to see. That was one of the reasons that contract was formulated in the way it way, to help offset some of those monies. Anybody else? Any other issue at this time? LESLIE GOSS: My name is Leslie Gross. I'm a member of the Fishers Island Civic Association. I understand. from some of the islanders, about classification in your Open Space and -Farmland Preservation. You mentioned there were some people here from Land Preservation. If they'll identify themselves, and if we could have two seconds, just so that we can talk about how we can go about participating in the Program. Is the money still there? SUPERVISOR HARRIS: Yes, there is, Leslie. There is money, obviously, still there. Judge Edwards time and, time again has brought that to our attention. A number of :times, Leslie, as you know., the Judge had brought over proposals from various people to look at the Open Space Inclusion Program, or the referendum that passed, and as you know the Land Preservation Committee at that time rejected those proposal. I don't know if. Judge Edwards wants to elaborate at all on that, or any other Board member on what has transpired. That is certainly something that we're working towards. One of the reasons, I think, that Land Preservation came over here today was the fact that in Mrs. Ridgeway, Carol, in your letter, your nice correspondence that we received, that was at the closing of your letter, mentioning the Open Space, and obviously there are a number of people that came over, here today to look, maybe; at. .maybe that's what they did during the time before our meeting started, to look at a couple of properties, that might be include but certainly to make sure that these talks are ongoing, and that there are parcels, formally .submitted through the Town, that. we can look at, and then make a reasonable determination. LESLIE GOSS: We'd like to know .the process, so that we can submit it. SUPERVISOR HARRIS: The two people that are here, there's actually three people that. are here, would you stand up for a minute? Jim Rich, Ruth Olvia. LESLIE GOSS: Thank you very much. SUPERVISOR HARRIS: Any other issues at this time? PETER BURR: My name is Peter Burr. I'd just like to acknowledge on .behalf of the Civic Association, our appreciation of Ed Dart, and his committee, particularly for ten new trees, maple trees, last spring, and also, we lost several through disease and storms, and I want to thank them, again, for driving around with us, and helping us locate the spots for additional ten, twenty, thirty, if the area is available over the next year or so. We thank you. SUPERVISOR HARRIS: Hopefully, while Ed is the helm of that committee, and hopefully will be for some time, we'll continue to divide that.. We work with the State of New York, also, and right now there are a number of programs which Ed has been working on for grant money to get us monies to continue that supplyin of trees, not only to Fishers Island but also for the mainland for many. areas that were devastated by the four storms, that we've had, as you know, in the last two years. .I mean I don't know .what we did against Mother Nature to incur her wrath, but we've done something, and I hate to tell you that the reports I heard from Hurricane Center, because of the `temperature, extreme warm temperature, of the waters right now it makes it very conducive, again, for a hurricane to come into our area this year. I hope that, that prophesy doesn't come true, because the last thing that I need right now is another hurricane, after dealing with one in December, and one in March, as you know, in 1993. 1 think back to back storms is enough for about a decade at least, maybe even longer. Any other questions at this time? Carol? AUGUST 4, 1993 _ 231 .CAROL RIDGEWAY: Carol Ridgeway with the Civic Association. I just wanted to thank Judge Edwards, and the Town Board, again, for their getting the State Vehicles and Traffic to come over here in June, and I was wondering if they s , were going to do this every year, Ray, or have some schedule? JUSTICE EDWARDS: I was told that they could like.`to come over here once year. Now, they did so many this last time, and how many people we missed, how many new reciprocals will, be. coming in. It's very expensive on their part to do this. Now, ,if they can come over once every eighteen months it would be helpful, even once-every two years, because the reciprocals are the biggest problem, people moving from Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts to the Island wanting to change their licenses. -it's a hassle to go to White Plains, or Riverhead, but the imaging worked -out well. They did 250 right here at the Legion, and the people that did get missed, they missed the boat, and these images will stay in there for at least 'ten years, but if you grow a mustache, it's your problem, or if you decide to curl your hair. I had an interesting call this morning, and there's going to be a public hearing held on Fishers Island on the Epic Program, which is in New York' State. Senior Citizens are allowed to get prescription drugs through a New York State pharmacy at a extremely reasonable cost, and we had a problem here on the Island, because there are no New York pharmacies in the local area. So, in. working with Albany, they have decided to include Fishers Island as to the town, village, or hamlets, that is allowed to cross state borders. So, I think we're going to get a program .lined up with probably the Medicine Shop in New London, possible James Drug, whoever is more competitive. So the senior citizens on Fishers Island will be able to use this facility at a much cheaper rate for buying their prescriptions, and there's going to 'be;°a.''public hearing on the Island. I think it's the first Thursday in September. It's tentative now'. It will be posted, but I. was just talking to the.,man this morning at about 10:30, and that's what is coming past. JOHN CLAVIN : John Clavin. Harbormaster. I just want to thank anybody, and everybody, who had anything to do with our new boat ramp. I know it was a lot of work with the engineering and construction, and particularly the funding. We really appreciate it. It's a really first class job. SUPERVISOR HARRIS: Thank you, John. Also, John, I was going to bring that up. Jim maybe you'd just like to give us a progress report on where vile are at this minute. As you know, this was brought to our attention last year by John Clavin, who said it was a serious problem with that area. People had been using as a launching ramp, when it really officially wasn't a launching ramp. As you can imagine, there's a number of hurdles, that have to be gone through before you can you can start construction. Jim, I just wondered ..if, there's anything you wanted to comment on at this date with that ramp facility? JIM HANCOCK: We didn't have a tape cutting ceremony. The ramp is ready, and you can use that right now. They did a great job. JUDGE EDWARDS: - I have some pictures, that I'll have by next week of,the installation of the ramp (tape change.) FIDCO and the Highway Department here, I would see if it were possible for FIDCO to give permission to have the area across from the boat ramp launching area to sort of bulldoze out, by courtesy of the Town, because there 'are a lot of people that go in there, and park their trailers to launch their boat. It's FIDCO property. It's kind of an eyesore. It's overgrown with brush. There is some boulders in there. I think it could be cleaned up, and I'm not saying blacktopped, but it could be cleaned up by the Highway Department with FIDCO's permission, and it would enhance that area, boat launching area, quite a bit. SUPERVISOR HARRIS: Any other questions at. this time, that you'd like to bring to the concern of the Board? I'd just like to, also, bring to your attention, that you know there',s a lot of elected officials, and appointed officials, from Fishers Island, who do a great job on your behalf. I don't think that the residents of the Island, who are not year-round .residents of the people who are here, recognize the amount. of work these people do `on your behalf in your absence. These people who are on the Planning Board, on the Zoning Board, are very conscientious. They attend all the meetings. They make sure that the problems, not only of the mainland are addressed, but also, the problems of Fishers Island are addressed, probably on a monthly basis, if not more frequently. These individuals, who serve in these 2 3 2 AUGUST 4, 1993 capacities, certainly don't do it for the money, because the money is very little._ They do it because of their love of, the island, and their love of the area where they live, and I'd.just like to acknowledge the fact, that Fishers Island should be proud of the representatives on these Boards. These people do a magnificent job for you. As a matter of fact, I've seen times when they probably spend more time over there than they do on Fishers Island, where they live, probably not due their own doing, but probably because of scheduling with boats, or planes, or weather conditions. These individuals I just wanted to publicly praise them for the work that they do. They are really doing a great job on behalf of all the people of Southold,, but especially the people on Fishers Island, including Judge Edwards, who as you know is probably the strongest advocate that you have in reference to siding for what you feel is important to you, but also which is important to you when it comes to a quality of life over here. Carol Ridgeway was fortunate enough to provide documentation for the number of things that have been done in, the past, including within the last year and a half for Fishers Island. There's a lot more that we will be doing over here. There's a lot more concerns, . know that will be, coming to our attention. This Board is probably doing as much as it possible can .right now for everyone in the Township, who are those individuals who certainly are concerned about Fishers Island. My main concern for Fishers Island right now happens to be an issue, which I want to bring to your attention, That happens to be the 911 emergency calling situation, that exists over here. Some time ago it came to our attention, that 911 , which is not dispatched out of our communications headquarters in the Town of Southold, but which is dispatched out of Groton. A new billing system had been put in place by AT&T for the under- ground lines. The Town of Southold did not have any knowledge in this increase in this billing, however, the fee went from approximately, I think, $282.00, -is that right, Matt? ASSISTANT TOWN ATTORNEY KIERNAN : Yes, from $282.00 to an excess of $1 ,200.00 a month. SUPERVISOR HARRIS: We had no knowledge of this. It came to our attention. I•'s certainly like to let Matt Kiernan tell you a little bit about what he's been workin on, on behalf of the residents of Fishers Island. I've been, by the way, in complete dialogue notonlywith the Judge, who fortunately happens to have a telephone backgrou , a communications background, as John Raynor, who is here, who's also dispatching for Fishers Island, but we were 'fortunate enough that in our contract New York Telephone, I feel, is obligated to help provide a service to the Fishers Island residents, because they are still part of the State of New York, even though Judge Green in one of his decisions .decided that Fishers Island should be put in a different ladder, and it's not a video game, ladders, and spiders, and all these things. These are all terms, that are used by telephone communications individuals, but they're in a different ladder, which means that they're not part of New York, they're in Connecticut, or they're in Rhode Island, and which means New York Telephone basically is stalemated at this point. Well, I'm right now in communciation with. New York Telephone. They're in communication with their regulatory affair, to try to provide this service to you, which I feel you should get, not that you're not having an adequate job done now by Groton. That's not the point. The point is I feel that if these fees are going; .to continue to be_ex.a.r..bitant such as what took place, and I'll let 'Mr. Kiernan explain to you how we came to this point. I think we' have to all. we can with contracts, that we have in place legally to hold New York Telephone to an obligation,, that I feel they have in contract with the Town of Southold providing 911 , Enhanced. The problem comes in, as I said, with some of these technical terms. I'll let the Judge speak a little bit on that after Mr. Kiernan. ,I just wanted to bring you to date on this, because I think this is a serious situation, where AT&T is allowed to have one rate, happen to be do an audit, . and happen-to come up' with an exorbitant charge all of a sudden, because somebody didn't realize that a line wasn't being properly charged for, or somebody had forgotten that there was a dedicated line there, and didn't do adequate billing for it. Mr. Kiernan? ASSISTANT TOWN ATTORNEY KIERNAN : Basically, there is two issues involved with current 911 problem on . Fishers Island, and the first issue concerns an unpaid balance,. which has been outstanding for about sixteen months between Fishers Island Utitilty. Company and AT&T. Sometime prior to 192 the Town of Southold agreed to provide 911 to Fishers Island residents at a cost of about $282.00 a month. There's .been some relationship between AT&T and Fishers Island Utility Company, Telephone Company, with regard to the services, and there is an outstanding balance that is owned. I'd rather not discuss that here today, because AUGUST 4, 1993 233 there is correspondence between myself and Mr. Doherty, and we have not had a chance to discuss the matter fully. I do not see Mr. Doherty here today. I was hoping to meet him on the Island. It's really a contratual matter between Fishers Island Utility Company, and the Town of Southold. The other .issue is to continue to provide 911 service to the Island, but hopefully in a more economical manner, and that an issue which Mr. Arnoff, and Judge Edwards, and John Raynor,' have been working on. They've been studying different types of communication systems to continue to deliver 911 Service to Fishers Island.; Right now, I think it's premature for me to report on my discussions with Mr. Doherty, but you'll all be made aware of it once we reach a solution to the problem. I think it's just a little too sensitive right now. SUPERVISOR HARRIS: The reason why I just brought it up, I want you to know that New York Telephone is obviously concerned about this. They have been working very hard on our behalf for this service. 911 is something, that obviously in an emergency, conditions, I think is imperative to have in place. Hopefully, if all else fails you always have 911 service through dedicated lines. One of the things that I feel is very important is the fact that Fishers Island has a 516 Area Code. It doesn't have a long distance area code. It has a area code, which is attributed to Suffolk County, Nassau County, and parts westward, which is part of the, obviously, the New York exchange. New York, I think, realizes that they have a problem, New York Telephone realizes there' is a problem with this. They would like to set up a meeting, and Judge what they would like to do is set up a meeting with the Fishers Island Utility Company to discuss the technical aspect of providing the service to the Island, maybe in a way that is not proved the 911 dispatch out of our headquarters, but a 911 that is still through the proper ,proce- dure route, which I guess would .be through. Groton, and across under the Sound, but anymore, obviously, ' feasible way that you and I will end up paying less for what, I think is a vital service. I just wanted to bring that to your attention, so you know that is something that has come up. Obviously, the sensitive nature of this, which Matt explained to you, will elaborated hopefully in the near future, but the point is, that I think that Fishers Island right now is getting short- changed, when it comes to the New York Telephone Company, and I'm hoping with their. continued cooperation, and through their legal affairs, their legal people, which they have representing them, that we can come up with something that would be much more feasible than AT&T's new increased going to $1 ,200.00 or $1 ,500.00 a month, which what the new rate, I understand, has been imposed upon. I just wanted to bring that to your attention. Ken? KEN EDWARDS:Ken Edwards. Fire Commissioner for Fishers Island. I was just there at the Fire meeting on Saturday. I wanted to say, that the Fire District is taking out the old sections, and going 'to an alternate system along the roads, as well as the system we have today. SUPERVISOR HARRIS: Absolutely. Thank you, Ken. Thank you. That's great. Yes,- ma'am. LESLIE GOSS: Supervisor Harris, Leslie Goss, again. I just wanted to bring this to your attention. I .think everyone in this room is very appreciative of the work of the Town Board, and all the work that you.The:re:-oug.ht to be ravings about Fishers Island, in the spirit of volunteer work helping the year-round. community, as well as the summer, and the senior community, and I would ask you folks in turn to recognize, and respect the work that the volunteers do here on the behalf of our community, so there's a mutual give and take. We hear you. Vie hope you- hear u s. SUPERVISOR HARRIS: Just to ditto that. That really is what make the Town of Southold very special. It's the community spirit, that we all have, especially in the time of.crisis, such as the storms that we had. Everybody pitches in, and works together for the benefit of each other. That's what makes it a v.ery special place. You're absolutely right. Thank you. Is there any other matter at this time? . I'll certainly entertain a motion to adjourn, if there's nothing else. CHERRY RAFFERTY: I just got back from checking out the children, and I may have missed something. Did anyone bring up the fact that we're really concerned our messages going over to you guys? - - Every year it seems to me I ask you the same question. Isn't there some way that can have a preliminary meeting here, either with our Zoning Board, or one of the other officials, and then have that -person take that information .bade. to you guys,so you'll know what we're thinking. Was the critical environment discussed too today. 2,34 AUGUST 4, 1993 SUPERVISOR HARRIS: One of the things, that I brought up was the fact that Judge Edwards keeps us abreast of everything concern that the Island has, not only through his dealings, with you, but also the members on the appointed Boards, the Zoning Board, the Planning Board, and so on. Of course, the Civic Association constantly keeps us informed: One time they even had people coming back and forth, sharing information,, which was great, that they volunteered to do that to come over to our meetings. We've been working hopefully to continue that comJn,_uni- cation, and I think it's been great. I really do. CHERRY RAFFERTY: I think with the environmental problems, it's very hard to figure out exactly what our front door is, and our back door is, as compared to . . you have a system that is a little different from ours. There's nothing really in our Zoning information. It should say in there a lot a more, I think you do it for others, too, when we 'have critical environmental situation, what you could add in that, such of the. Zoning, this does not apply to Fishers Island. We're all very confused over here. I'm sure you are, too, so I want communications in that way with your ,Zoning Board, and our groups here on the Island. SUPERVISOR HARRIS: . Judge Edwards, he'd like to address, I guess, some of this. JUSTICE' EDWARDS: . I do: In as much as all of Fishers Island is a Critical Environ- mental Area, that was put upon us three or four years ago, I don't know whether to say it's a farce or what, but .I've seen more activities done without permits on Fishers Island, that. should go through a permit process. Now, I can not write tickets. In my .position, .I can, not write a ticket, and I can't inquire, but I. see more lots being. cleared, work being done, that shouldn't be done without going through the. full Environmental Impact Statement, and I don't see that. many coming across my paper work. It's not my fault. It's the. watchdogs on the Island, that are not on top. of it. JOHN THATCHER: Scott? John Thatcher of Fishers Island Conservancy. I think perhaps I could 'enlarge a little bit on this., This is very true. Things, Judge Edwards knows this as well as I . Things happen on this island almost overnight without permits. It's a very difficult thing to police. I get anonymous calls, even in my winter home in New Jersey.,all the time about what goes.on here. Perhaps, _and I just bring this up for your consideration, perhaps a member of the Fishers Island community,who is on the Southold Board of Trustees, might be of some help. I'm not sure at this point .whether this would be a plus, or whether it would be a minus, but I would just .like" to bring it up, so that you could consider it. SUPERVISOR HARRIS: John, 'I think this has been brought up before. I don't know what the statute is in reference to where those elected officials have to origi- nate from, possible our Town Clerk has the information on this for her number of years of dealing various Boards. Judy, do you have any information on how this works? TOWN CLERK TERRY: I would just say that, the law isn't as specific as it is for the Judge, who must be a resident of Fishers Island. There's nothing in the law that speaks about a Trustee being' a resident of Fishers Island, so that would hove to_beamended, because otherwise you wouldn't have a chance. This is an elected office, and supposing the individual from Fishers Island, lost, and you still would not have a representative. The law would have to be changed. SUPERVISOR HARRIS: As you know, John, a number of years ago the Trustees had probably no jurisdiction at all on Fishers Island until they started .obtaining more ordinances, that were assigned to them by the Town Board, mandates which came down from the State of New York, which they took upon themselves to make sure there was Home Rule applied, rather than the generic plans, coastal erosion, all these different things. Now the Trustees, obviously, are playing a major role. JOHN THATCHER: That's why I made the suggestion, because you're quite right. There are a host of regulations we need to obey, now that everybody knows what they are. We do our best. We can: blow a whistle. That's it. SUPERVISOR HARRIS: Steve, would you identify yourself. i AUGUST 4, 1993 235 STEVE MALINOWSKI : Talking about Policemen, we have two Bay Constables on the Island, who not only have the authority to do that by the contracts they signed, but have the responsibility to do. So, we already have people on the Island to do it. SUPERVISOR HARRIS: I'm not sure, Steve, what their legal parameter is in that area. That's something that I'd certainly have to look into. I know that there are other entities. Building Inspectors certainly are. here on a frequent basis on the Island, a weekly basis, giving permits, and certainly if somebody could bring to their attention some of the matters, that you mentioned, and certainly bring it to the Judge's attention. We could certainly take appropriate action immediately, if not sooner, once it has come to our attention, because we certainly do have the personnel to enforce that, but we obviously don't have the personnel to be able to to be able to, as John just said, to be able to continually monitor, it's absolutely physically impossible. CHERRY RAFFERTY: Is it possible to get together with your Zoning group, and go through the application process, but have it spell out this is so on the mainland, and this is so on Fishers Island, and I'm not sure that we even have a Critical Environmental qualifications on the mainland. Maybe that could be spelled out. SUPERVISOR .HARRIS: There are many areas in the Town of Southold on the main- land, that are CEA's, designated -CEA's, but Fishers Island as a whole, my under- standing was, was designated a Critical Environmental Area, and such is under a complete set of rules and regulations, as far as what work can be done, or even initiated. I think, if I'm hearing you correctly, certainly you're representatives from the Island, who are .here, if this was brought to their attention, zoning is strictly. obviously the Zoning Board of .Appeals, and if this was brought to Serge Doyen's attention, .and even the residents here feel that it's needed to have the complete Board come over here for the lineation on a certain area, or certain matter. I'm sure that they'd be amenable to any citizen here, or a group, let's say the Civic Association, that opportunity to address certain matters with them. I'm sure. If not, certainly your representative can bring it before the. Board, and bring back the answers that you seek. CHERRY RAFFERTY: I think we need to work together more closely, because I think it doesn't sink in maybe, or else it should be in writing, and not try to tie us all down to rules and regulations, but some of this many be necessary. . It could be a educational process for us, and we aren't trying to bring you over., because you're all volunteering a lot, too,. but we could have some meetings here, and then have one of our representatives be sure to take it over to you guys, again. SUPERVISOR HARRIS: Okay, thank for that. Is there anyone else, who would like to address this Board on any matter? (No response.) I realize it's extremely warm in here today. I appreciate the opportunity, as this Board does, to meet with you today, but of course as you know, we're available 365 days a .year to address concerns .that you have. We certainly appreciate the great attendance that we had. Enjoy the rest of the summer, and please, pray that no hurricanes come this year again. Enough is enough. Do your best on that aspect. Thank you very much. A motion to adjourn? Moved by Justice Edwards, seconded by Councilman Wickham, it was RESOLVED that the Town Board meeting by and hereby is adjourned at 2:25 P.M. Vote of the Town Board: Ayes: Councilwoman Hussie, Councilman Lizewski, Councilman Wickham, Councilman Penny, Justice Edwards, Supervisor Harris. This resolution was declared duly ADOPTED. Judith Terry Southold Town Clerk