By:  Progress for Westhampton Beach

The meeting was called to order and Rob Rubio and Brian Tymann were sworn in as village trustees.

The biggest news of the evening was the elimination of free lifetime health and dental care benefits for retired mayors and trustees.  An exception was made for those former mayors and trustees who have already begun to receive those benefits.

In addition, while the mayor and trustees will continue to be eligible for health and dental care while in office, they will have to pay the full premium for the benefits.

It was a full agenda for the re-organizational meeting.  Some of the  the highlights were:

The Conservation Advisory Council was reconstituted.

• William Bennett (1 year term)
• Patricia Schaefer (1 year term)
• Christopher Clapp (2 year term)
• Raymond Dowd (2 year term)
• Trustee Brian Tymann (2 year term)

We are fortunate to have residents both willing and qualified to serve.  Upon the expiration of each board member’s term each, or his successor, is eligible to be appointed to a 2 year term.

Similarly, the Ethics Board was reconstituted.

• Trustee Ralph Urban (1 year term)
• Carol Matthews (2 year term)
• Bob Lilley (2 year term)
• Ralph Hubbard (3 year term)
• Barbara Rasmussen (3 year term)

After a brief public comment period the meeting was adjourned and many in attendance headed to the Great Lawn for the second Movie Night.  The weather was, once again, perfect for outdoor cinema and the crowd that gathered was substantially larger than for the inaugural showing the week before.

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By:  Progress for Westhampton Beach

The meeting was called to order shortly after 7:00 p.m. and the Board of Trustees promptly proceeded to three hearings on local laws that were on the agenda.¹⁾the Mayor has continued her practice of not only providing the agenda, but also the resolutions as well.  Paper copies are handed out at meetings and pdf files are posted on the village website.  This has proved a convenience to those who follow and comment on village government.  

The Board of Trustees authorized the Mayor to sign a grant application for Main Street Revitalization.  This application is for a grant made annually by Suffolk County.  It is the first occasion in recent memory that our village has sought this grant, its about time.

There are restrictions on the grant,  the funds can not be used for maintenance or repair.  The village application proposes to use the County funds to the reconfigure the intersection of Mill Road, Main Street and Library Avenue which is often a summer snarl during busier parts of the day.

One resident was exasperated by the cost of public works projects. All public works are pricey.  This is a consequence of state Labor Law that sets the price for labor on public works.  It is well beyond the control of village government, we agree the resulting costs are maddening.

If the village is successful in obtaining the grant this will take a lot of the financial sting out of an improvement to this intersection that has proved daunting to motorists and pedestrians alike.

Continue reading June 4, 2015 →

By:  Progress for Westhampton Beach

The Mayor called the meeting to order at 7:00.  The Board of Trustees received further presentation from Kyle Collins concerning proposals for improvements in re-configuring  sidewalks, crosswalks, curbs, and most especially the intersection of Mill Road, Main Street and Library Avenue.  A copy of the presentation is available for viewing in the Clerk’s office at Village Hall.

The Trustees considered a variety of applications for the use of village property. Among them was an application for use the Great Lawn by the WHBPAC for the Zoppe Family Circus, scheduled for July 23-26, with the big top being erected earlier in the week.

Getting to the bread and butter of the evening,  your tax dollars, the public hearing on the tentative budget for the fiscal year beginning June 1, 2015 and ending May 31, 2016 was opened.

The hearing was to review the 2015-2016-Tentative-Budget, as amended by the Board of Trustees at the last meeting.  The Mayor’s Budget Message is posted here and on the village web site.  After the hearing, with no objections having been voiced by anyone, the Board unanimously adopted the tentative budget as it final budget.

With both bread and circuses having been addressed, the meeting was adjourned at 8:40.

Closer inspection… Continue reading Budget Hearing: 04/15/15 →