The Town Board called for a moment of silence Tuesday to honor the late Hon. Helen J. Rosenblum, former Town Justice, and Town Attorney. It also reviewed new rules for public input and held a special meeting to approve permit applications and appoint committee members.
“The Town lost a very good friend,” Supervisor Gerry Siller said at the start of the weekly work session. “She was a great lady, and she will be very much missed.”
Rosenblum was wholly devoted to the community, serving as a member of the Shelter Island EMS and providing legal advice to the Shelter Island Board of Fire Commissioners. (See her obituary here.)
COVID-19 and new rules for public input
With COVID-19 infections rates continuing to decline countywide, the Town Board has decided to reopen in-person senior programs, including the Dinner Bell congregate dining (meal delivery is still available for those who are homebound). Also reflecting the change, the FIT Center will no longer require N-95 masks, said Deputy Supervisor Amber Brach-Williams. Instead, patrons can wear surgical masks or cloth face coverings. Likewise, masks are needed for kids attending open gym nights.
The board reviewed a draft of new procedures for its meetings, developed by Town Attorney Stephen F. Kiely.
“The reason we’re doing this now is there’s been a lot of attention to Town Hall — our work sessions, our committee meetings, our board meetings,” Siller said. “We try to get the public’s input, we try to include everybody in what we do, but we need to have some decorum.”
Kiely said state statutes and Town Code enable the board to set rules for public participation.
“We want public participation; we want public comment,” Kiely said. “But it has to be done in an orderly way, and a way that doesn’t interfere with the board’s work.”
Generally, the new rules allow public comment only at proscribed times during the meeting. Individuals can sign up to comment on a sign-in sheet in the Town Hall meeting room or use the “Raise Hand” feature if they’re participating via Zoom. Comments must be relevant to the matters under discussion, and speakers will be kept to three minutes.
Councilman Jim Colligan, notoriously long-winded, got a laugh when he said the supervisor wants to apply to the three-minute time limit to Town Board members.
See the proposed resolution on the Town website.
WMAC, SCWA and ehtics board review
The Town Board reviewed a joint meeting held the night before with the Waterways Management Advisory Council (WMAC). Board members agreed the meeting was productive and resulted in consensus on WMAC and Town Board topics. (Read our coverage of that meeting here.)
The board briefly discussed the pending 40-year agreement with the Suffolk County Water Authority to operate the West Neck Water Improvement District. Earlier this week, the water district board met to present proposed contract changes to SCWA; the authority’s attorney said he’d review the changes and respond in writing. The Town Attorney will then review the consolidated document reflecting all the input to date.
The board also agreed to keep parking permit fees at 2021 levels; the daily rate is $25, weekly is $70, monthly is $125, and seasonal is $250. Parking is free for year-round residents. The Town took in “a little over $100,000” this past year, Town Clerk Dorothy Ogar said.
At the next Town Board work session, Siller said he expects to discuss the following:
- Reconstituting the Town’s ethics board to handle a citizen’s assertion of self-dealing by an appointed committee member
- Transfer of development rights legislation to enable the Town to bank land use credits for community housing and other high-density projects
- Making the Town Assessor a paid position
- Historical Society parking (located on Town-owned property)
- Outdoor assembly permit for a wedding at The Ram’s Head Inn
Siller said he also wants the board to assess which businesses to allow on Town Beaches this summer. The board has permitted paddleboard rentals, massage therapy, boat launch services, and a food truck in past summers.
Special meeting
The Town Board convened a special meeting and appointed:
- Julia Weisenberg, Planning Board through December 31, 2026
- David Austin, Planning Board through December 31, 2025
- Roxanne DuVivier, Conservation Advisory Council through September 20, 2024
- Daniel Clark, Conservation Advisory Council through September 20, 2023
- Elizabeth Hanley, Community Housing Board through February 9, 2023
The board also approved:
- a mooring permit for Susan Weber/5 Winthrop LLC in Dering Harbor at latitude 41.054737° north and longitude 72.349486° west.
- a major filming permit and fees for Paige Dorian, Inc., 4425 West Riverside Drive, Suite 101, Burbank, CA 91505, to film on Monday, February 14 at 52 Peconic Avenue. The project anticipates a 60-person crew utilizing two motorhomes, four cube trucks, four vans and five passenger vehicles with parking on site or at 60 Peconic Avenue, with $1,500 major filming application fee, $1,200 per day fee, and $1,000 clean up deposit.
- a wetlands permit for Audrey and Campbell Meyers at 2 Bay Avenue (corner of Simpson) for renovation of a pre-existing residence, the installation of a new swimming pool, patio, outdoor kitchen, outdoor fireplace, accessory structure that will include a pool cabana, garage, basement and attached storage shed, where 100 square feet of intrusion into the regulated 75-foot wetlands is permitted by code. The plan as approved contemplates 110 square feet of intrusion. Numerous caveats and conditions regulate the permit; see a pdf of the board’s resolution on the Town website.
Board member reports
Councilwoman Meg Larsen said the Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee would meet on February 28 to review a new draft vision statement and outline for the Comprehensive Plan Update.
Colligan reported on an aquaculture meeting he attended relating to oyster farming. And, he gave a shout-out to five former Town engineering department interns who’ve gone on to successful careers, including two now working at NASA.
Councilwoman BJ Ianfolla said the Community Preservation Fund reported $4.4 million in revenues in 2021 — “what a banner year!” She said CPF Chair Gordon Gooding claims that municipal law “severely limited us in terms of what we can do with CPF lands.” As the Town has proposed possibly using a CPF-funded site for a wastewater treatment facility, she asked him to clarify his position.
Ianfolla said that Gooding acknowledged that his committee had not updated the Town’s original CPF acquisition plan, as required by law every five years.
“He was completely aware that it needs to be updated,” she said, adding the plan should be posted on the Town website.
[Editor’s note: We raised the issue at the meeting. Gooding, who is traveling out of state, told the Gazette he would assemble documents and share them as soon as he’s able to do so.]
A discussion ensued about the large Town-owned property at Sachem’s Woods, which was acquired as a potential well field before the CPF was instituted. Not clear is whether the property has deed restrictions that prohibit other uses, such as the proposed treatment plant.
Brach-Williams reported that the Town’s Community Housing Board awarded a community housing license for a property on Jaspa Road. The owner intends to use the current dwelling as an income-restricted rental and build a new primary residence. Both will be full-time, year-round rentals. The proposal must be further vetted by the Zoning Board, the Suffolk County Department of Health Services, and other entities.
Colligan also reported that the Town has, at last, been able to track down the owner of a derelict Cozy Lane house. The Town has declared the structure unsafe and seeks to have it torn down. Kiely agreed to look into the next steps.
Public comments
Ram Island resident Pam Demarest objected to the Town Board review of pending applications from LLCs until it institutes new definitions. Kiely said the board is discussing whether to curtail such permits in the future, but no moratorium is currently in place. Under the existing code, LLCs qualify as residents. The Town Board is investigating options to make the code “domiciliary” — meaning it would allow permits only for natural persons living on the Island.
John Kerr, who lives near the proposed sewage treatment plant site at Klenawicus Airfield, asked for clarification on precisely what might be in liquid waste piped to the plant from eight municipal buildings in the Town Center. “We need to know no matter where this is placed,” he said.
Town Engineer Joe Finora said that during the upcoming design phase, the Town would gather data about the contents of the wastewater. He said the proposal calls for the wastewater to undergo numerous treatments, including a nitrogen-reducing process called Nitrex.
“But in a centralized treatment system, there are a number of components that are designed specific to the flow characteristics,” he said. “So when we talk about what’s in the effluent as it comes out, Nitrex is only one part of that treatment system.”
Councilwoman Larsen, who installs septic systems for her family’s business, told Kerr that it’s impossible to say what will be arriving for treatment at this very early, conceptual phase.
“You’re not going to know exactly what kinds of treatments you need,” she said until sampling takes place during the design phase.
“We know we have to solve for nitrates,” she said. “We know PFOAS are probably a problem. We know that you’re going to want to test for other things like bacteria.”
The system proposed by Lombardo Associates anticipates multiple treatment modules, enhancing the capacity to treat a variety of pollutants.
Finora said the main reason for proposing the treatment system at the airfield was to move it closer to surface water. As a result, the effluent exiting treatment would flow more rapidly out of the groundwater. Effluent entering groundwater in the Town Center takes decades, or possibly centuries to reach surface waters surrounding the Island. At the proposed site, the rate of travel is much faster, meaning any pollutants that may remain — despite best treatment efforts — will flow more rapidly out of the Town’s drinking water supply.
