By:  Progress For Westhampton Beach

The public portion of this month’s work session was called to order at 7:00 pm, outside the temperature was near 25 degrees Fahrenheit, but that was far better than the six feet of snow dumped on Buffalo with more snow forecast to be on the way.

Kyle Collins, the village planner, was in attendance to contribute to discussions with respect to repairs and design work on Main Street, and to field questions concerning grocery/supermarket uses in the B-2/B-3 districts and the studies available concerning the possible impact on the village’s B-1 district.¹⁾These matters were on the distributed agenda

The deficiencies of the Waldbaums on Sunset Avenue are no longer seriously disputed, and of late we have only rumors of rumors that a Fairway market might supplant the decrepit store.  The 25,000 square foot supermarket is a millstone at the center of the B-1 District not a cornerstone of a thriving commercial center that attracts customers.  Many find it unacceptable and go elsewhere.

The Board of Trustees has its work cut out for it.  Whatever it does decide and whatever it doesn’t decide will be the subject of comment and criticism.  Hopefully, its work will be informed by legal principles that can serve as guideposts along the way, but these guideposts will never produce “the” answer.  In the end, it will be the industrious efforts of hardworking people that will fill the framework the Board provides for businesses in our village.

Continue reading November 19, 2014 →

By:  Progress for WHB

The meeting was called to order at 7:00.  The Trustees worked through the agenda for the work session.  The best presentation of the evening was a request by Catherine Penn to be permitted to plant perennials and landscape the three parking islands located in the Mill Road municipal lot at the north end of Glover’s Lane.  Catherine is working towards the highest award in Girl Scouting, The Girl Scout Gold Award.  Juliet  Gordon Low would be glad to see the tradition continue.

This was followed by an initial proposal ¹⁾no application for use of village property had been filed for the use of Village property by Lorraine Girard for what she described as a Food Truck Festival.²⁾a nickel search found a website for a Food Truck FestivalThis Festival was presented as a fundraiser for the Moriches Bay Project.  As a sop to local food merchants Ms. Girard offered that local shop owners could participate as vendors free of charge.

She anticipated having 25 mobile food stands use the Mill Road parking lot after the Farmer’s Market had concluded for the day.  The Food Truck vendors would continue from late in the afternoon through the evening hours with the possible accompaniment of music apropos of the cuisine being served: Tortillas – Mariachi music; Keilbasa – Polka music; Bratwurst – an Oom-pah band; etc.  The anticipated application will seek to schedule the Festival for a Saturday during the summer, with the hope that it can be an annual event.

The Trustees received the proposal politely.  It won’t be until a formal application is submitted that it will be subjected to closer scrutiny.

Trustee Pat DiBenedetto presented the application for the use of village property on behalf of the fire department.  Fire Chief Chip Bancroft had a conflicting engagement.  The fire department has requested permission to use the old DPW property for practice in cutting up cars with a Hurst Tool and putting out car fires.  The department has done these practices at this location previously without reported incident and the request was well received by all members of the Board of Trustees.

Trustee DiBenedetto gave an update to the Board on the annual Holiday Lighting contest and proposed adding new categories for participants.

Maureen Jones a past victor in the contest was present in the audience, no doubt seeking advance intelligence for this year’s competition.  Residents its time to get your game on.

Trustee Ralph Urban reported that rules for the use of marina that had been updated last year will be ready for implementation for the 2015 boating season.  Payment for slips will be due earlier so that boat slips that are declined can be made available sooner to those on the waiting list.

The Trustees returned to traffic control issues:

• they addressed the specifics for the school speed zone on Mill Road that require correction;

• they plan to relax regulations of Lilac Road to allow for both standing and stopping in order to accommodate student pick up in the afternoon when cars have been idling (standing) and not merely stopping while waiting for their children; and

• Lt. Gonce reported on an occasional issue in the village, municipal parking lots have been used for sleeping in vehicles overnight. Think Conversion Van, not RV.  The Lieutenant proposed adopting a local law modeled after a sleeping proscription that has been on the books in the Village of Quogue since 1970.³⁾Quogue Village Code § 123-10. Sleeping in vehicles in public places:  No person or persons shall sleep in any stationary motor vehicle at or on any street, park, recreation area, beach, beach access road or parking area owned, controlled or operated by the Village of Quogue, New York, between the hours of 2:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m.

The Great Lawn across from St. Marks is open space purchased by the village with CPF funds.  There are recorded covenants that restrict the use of the property.  It was recently brought to the Mayor’s attention that the village has not consistently honored the restrictions, and going forward the use of the property will be more limited unless a waiver can be obtained. There is sure to be a scrum for the reduced allotment of time that will be available.

The Trustees authorized the Mayor to sign a contract with Rosemar for the paving of Mill Road at a price that had been determined on a previous bid with Suffolk County.

In response to requests from residents of Meadow Lane, and in the interests of public safety, the Trustees agreed to the installation of two additional street lamps on the southern portion of Meadow Lane.  These lights are to be installed from an existing inventory.

John Kearns reported to the Board on his search for a flat bottom boat for use in annual inspections of storm water outfall pipes.  This will be used in maintaining compliance with State D.E.C. requirements.

Repairs for the decking at Roger’s Beach were also discussed with Dunn Engineering to examine the scope of the work required.

At 9:00 the Trustees adjourned to executive session to discuss pending litigation and police personnel issues.

By:  Progress for WHB

The work session had an early start this week at 5:30 p.m. to accommodate religious observances that begin tonight.

The Work-Session-Agenda began with a review of the 2013-14 Financial Report for the village.  It was recommended that an Employee Benefit Accrued Liability Reserve Fund be established for designated funds that, to date, have carried over each year as part of the operating budget.  It is a change with no financial impact, but will be in accordance with generally accepted accounting principals applicable to municipalities.  See NY State Comptroller Local Government Management Guide:  Reserve Funds.

Trustee Urban inquired whether a “Litigation Reserve Fund” could be established.  An “Insurance Reserve Fund” can be created (same thing, different name). The amount paid into this reserve fund during any fiscal year may not exceed the greater of $33,000 or 5 percent of the total budget of the fiscal year. There is no limit on the cash balance.  See Insurance Reserve Fund Gen. Muncipal Law § 6-n.

Building Inspector, Paul Houlihan, continued his storm water mitigation report to the Board of Trustees and one particularly wakeful resident, and advised that full compliance with the DEC’s requirements will be accomplished by early next week.

The Trustees discussed the school speed zone on Mill Road and the incongruity between the restricted speed in the village (by local law 15 mph, but posted at 20 mph) and the Town of Southampton portion of the zone from Oneck Road west on Mill Road to the flashing signals almost to the crest of the hill which is posted at 20 mph.  Also mentioned were the zones at the front of the high school on Lilac Road (30 mph) and on Oneck Road north of Mill Road (30 mph).

The Mayor advised the Board that since it has designated 3 newspapers as the “official newspaper” of the village, legal notices would have to be published in all three for such notice to meet legal requirements.  (NY Times, Newsday and Southampton Press).  The Trustees will consider reducing the number of official newspapers.

There was some discussion about relocating the venue for the ice skating rink from the marina to either the municipal parking lot on Mill Road, or Glover’s Park — the pitch of the park will certainly be a consideration.

The rink might not be a subject for a  Courier & Ives lithograph, but it could chase away the cabin fever when winter sets in.  DPW Superintendent, John Kearns, remarked that he had a workable substitute for a Zamboni, and while Apolo Ohno might disagree, Ohno retired last year and can take things slower.

The Trustees agreed to ruminate on these matters until the Board Meeting on October 2nd.

A motion was made to enter executive session for the purposes of discussing litigation and police personnel matters.  The public portion of the meeting was over until the conclusion of the executive session which took place at  9:20 p.m. when the meeting was adjourned.

By:  Progress for WHB