By:  Progress for Westhampton Beach

As a matter of public interest:  Lashley Beach access has been restored to both the parking lot and vehicle access to the beach as well.  The contractors for the Army Corp. of Engineers have advanced their work¹⁾Kyle Campbell of the Southampton Press took a great series of photographs of the work in progress that can be found at this link west and there is no need for continued restrictions.  Striper season continues until December 15th.

The Board of Trustees Meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m.  The first matter on the agenda was a public hearing concerning proposed uses for the Community Development Block Grant Funding.  The Director of Hugs, Inc., Kym Laube, made a request for funding to support an after school program in the Middle School that is run by HUGS, Inc.²⁾Mission Statement:  HUGS, Inc, strives to bring forth high quality youth development and leadership programming to assist young people in successfully navigating their teen years. Areas of specialty include; underage drinking and substance abuse, bullying, self-esteem, leadership, interpersonal skills and strategies for success. Weekend long seminars, day long workshops, and assemblies are offered to schools and communities upon request. Daily we house an after-school program for middle school youth which is designed around safe supervised recreation and opportunities to build and enhance personal development skills

Ms. Laube provided the Trustees with a report detailing the success of the program in the preceding year.  No one else wished to be heard and the hearing was closed.

The Board of Trustees directed that five public hearings be noticed to permit public comment on changes to the Village Code that:

• that increases the school zone speed limit on Mill Road from 15 mph to 20 mph.  No new signs will be required because the zone has always been posted as a 20 mph zone

• will prohibit sleeping in any stationary motor vehicle between the hours of 2:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. on any street, park, or parking area owned or controlled by the village.

• will now permit stopping and standing on both sides of Lilac Road to accommodate parents picking up and dropping off students at the high school.  Parking is still prohibited during some hours.

• prohibits the operation of motor vehicles on the beach between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. from May 15th through Sept. 15th along with other restrictions concerning the operation of vehicles on the beach.

The Board of Trustees took further action on the special exception application submitted by CVS.  The Village Attorney has advised the Trustees that the application for a special exception constitutes an “Unlisted” action under the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) and the Trustees Resolved that the Clerk is to provide notice to other involved agencies as required by state regulations.  The attorney for CVS, John Bennett, Esq., interjected that he objected and said that he did not consider the action an Unlisted Action, but instead a Type II action that does not require any further review.  The Board has determined that SEQRA review is required and will proceed.  The Board of Trustees retained Community Land Use-Economics, at the expense of the applicant, to conduct a market and municipal impact study with respect to this application for a special exception.

Counsel for CVS had previously advanced his opinion that the Village’s Special Exception law is legally flawed insofar as it requires a market study to consider the effects on the local market including market share.   The Board of Trustees retained the services of Nelson, Pope & Voorhis to examine the propriety of the criteria in the special exception law, and review whether the requirements for the special exception appropriately implement the existing Master Plan.

In the public comment portion of the meeting

 Irina Richardson, a current member of the Architectural Review Board, stated that she had heard rumors that the Trustees might dissolve the police department. Ms. Richardson advised against it.  Remarking on her background in law enforcement she endorsed hiring Lt. Trevor Gonce provisionally as the next Chief of Police for the Village.  The Mayor told Ms. Richardson that the Trustees are working on it and the matter will be resolved soon.

Former Village Attorney Herman “Bo” Bishop asked why the Trustees were hiring  Nelson, Pope & Voorhis to review the special exception law.  Village Attorney, Anthony Pasca, Esq., explained that there has been a legal challenge advanced by counsel for CVS and that the review was prudent.

By:  Progress for WHB

The Board of Trustees Meeting was commenced at 7:00.  Highlights from the meeting agenda include a resolution designating the Southampton Press and Newsday as the official newspapers of the Village of Westhampton Beach.  The New York Times was not designated.

A casual inquiry was interjected during the Trustees’ meeting concerning the relative circulation of Newsday as compared to the Times, with the suggestion that Newsday was in a circulation death spiral.

The Mayor explained that municipalities designate newspapers so those interested  know where to look.  Unlike advertisers who are interested in circulation numbers¹⁾Newsday circulation scandal is not forgotten. the Village does not need to hope readers will stumble upon legal advertisements by chance, the village has told everyone exactly where to look — in the designated publications.

The decision to bury The Old Gray Lady as an official newspaper was a matter of economy.  Legal notices must be published in all designated papers.  A requirement the village, in the past, has honored in the breach.

With the demolition of the firehouse the Village now needs a different fueling station for municipal vehicles.  The Village has been using Suffolk County refueling stations.  Tonight the Board authorized the Mayor to execute a Municipal Agreement for the purchase of fuel from Southampton Town.  The County and the Town each add a 15% surcharge.

The Trustees also authorized the Village Clerk to provide legal notice to bidders for the construction of a fuel dispensing system for the village to be located on the DPW property.

The construction of the new firehouse appears to require more sanitary flow credits to meet Suffolk County Health Department requirements.  The Health Dept. expects more sewage to be produced at the new firehouse. ²⁾There remains some legal question as to whether the firehouse, as a municipal corporation may be able to get the necessary flow credits from Suffolk County without cost. We will leave it to the Sons of the Beach to comment on effluvium that flows in the back room.

The Village agreed to transfer some of its sanitary flow credits associated with the municipal parking lot (used for the Farmer’s Market) to the fire department in return for a perpetual easement granted to the village for parking on the fire district property with the exception of 20 stalls to be reserved exclusively for the department.  If it turns out the fire district does not need the sanitary flow credits the credits will revert to the village.

The Trustees then adjourned the meeting to enter executive session.

By:  Progress For WHB

The meeting was called to order at 7:01 p.m., routine matters on the agenda were addressed with dispatch and all business together with public comments was concluded by 7:40 p.m.

Not surprisingly, the public comments were largely addressed to the unsubstantiated report in the Southampton Press that village officials had discussed consolidation of police departments with the Town of Southampton.  See post under 4th estate and truth at this link.  The Mayor and each of the trustees made it clear that consolidation of the police departments was someone else’s invention.

A matter of significant note was the appearance of John Bennett, Esq. of Bennett & Read Attorneys at Law, the attorney for CVS on the application it submitted to the Village Board for a Special Exception.   CVS seeks approval to operate a store (in the former bowling alley on Sunset Avenue) with floor space in excess of the square footage restrictions of the Hamlet Commercial district. CVS has requested that this out-sized use be permitted by special exception.

Counsel for CVS undertook to hijack the public comment section of the meeting by presenting  legal arguments concerning the application process where both his remarks and trustees’ responses could be captured on video for posterity, or some other advantage at a future date.

Counsel for CVS  remarked that it had submitted a completed application in April of this year and argued that it was time for the trustees to act.  However, the Mayor pointed out that it was only at 4:00 p.m. today that additional materials were received from the applicant as had been requested by the former village attorney.

Village trustee, Patricia Debenedetto, spoke at length and took umbrage at the suggestion by Mr. Bennett that the Board of Trustees had not been diligent and could be viewed as being dilatory in its handling of the application.