April 25, 2024 — Town Board

Town Board Meeting

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Timestamped Transcript

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0:00Thank you.

0:30Thank you.

1:00Thank you.

1:20Thank you, Tim.

1:25Counsel Rothwell?

1:27Counsel Rothwell, do we have somebody for invocation?

1:30Yes, we have Pastor George Dupree

1:37from the Living Waterful Gospel Church in Aquabar.

1:41Is your pastor here?

1:44We do not have a pastor here.

1:48Okay.

1:49All right.

1:50Well, we will move on,

1:52and we have an announcement

1:54for those that may have just tuned in to Channel 22

1:57and you're looking for a town board work session,

1:59and you're looking for a town board work session,

2:00hang in there.

2:01We pause the work session

2:02to conduct a special town board meeting,

2:04and we'll resume the work session

2:06at the conclusion of this meeting.

2:08Okay.

2:09Do we have comments, any comments at all,

2:12on the one resolution before us today?

2:15Do we have anybody in the room

2:17that would like to comment

2:18on the one resolution we have today?

2:21Do we have anybody online?

2:23We have nobody online to make a comment.

2:26Okay.

2:28Julie,

2:29would you please call the one resolution?

2:32Sure.

2:32Resolution number 376.

2:35Accepts DGEIS

2:38for the 2024

2:39Channel Riverhead Comprehensive Plan update.

2:41Issues notice of compliance of DGEIS

2:44and schedules public hearing

2:45for the DGEIS

2:47and draft comprehensive plan.

2:49So moved.

2:50Seconded.

2:52Vote please.

2:54Waske. Yes.

2:55Merrifield. Yes.

2:56Kern. Yes.

2:57Rothwell. Yes.

2:58Hubbard. Yes.

2:59Yes.

2:59Resolution is adopted.

3:01Thank you.

3:03We will now open the floor to any comments

3:07from the public on any matter.

3:09Any comments on any matter?

3:12Up.

3:23Hi. Good morning.

3:24Good morning.

3:27Wonderful.

3:28Outstanding job.

3:29I'm a member of the comprehensive plan.

3:30I was one of those that set up and saw the videos and the maps and tried to get as much information as I could absorb.

3:39From one of the maps, I noticed there was a comment in the Reeves Park section about the parking itself.

3:46And I believe since covid it's been the non residents has not been an aspect of purchasing a beach permit.

3:55Correct.

3:56If that could just stay in policy and procedure.

3:58Yes.

3:58That would be wonderful.

4:00It's limited already for us who are there.

4:03I know waiting river.

4:04I was a wreck person for a little while there.

4:07It also is very tight.

4:09I am here.

4:10Yes, of course.

4:11And James port.

4:12But I think since covid and so many people have moved out, it's getting resident wise even higher.

4:19So non residents.

4:21If we could keep that off the docket, I'd appreciate it.

4:23My other concern is the 29 day.

4:25Right.

4:25I'm not sure if you're familiar with the

4:21The other concern is the 29 day.

4:26Right.

4:27Right.

4:27The 29 day rental.

4:29Within our township.

4:32I don't know if you've caught the news in the last month or so.

4:35There's no scams going on where people are taking the pictures off real estate or taking the pictures off other sites where, you know, my home or whatever.

4:49And putting it out on Airbnb for rental and the person sends the money in for the rental.

4:55And yet there is no rental.

4:57So that scam has been going on in Reeves Park as well.

5:00We had a house that went up for sale.

5:04They took the picture, put it on Craigslist.

5:08Six gentlemen went to go rent that property and met them at a third location.

5:14And when they gave over checks and cash to rent the place, when they showed up to the home, of course, their key didn't work.

5:22And the neighbor said, oh, my gosh, I can't believe you were scammed.

5:24We've had squatters.

5:25We've had a lot of scammers.

5:26We've had a lot of scammers.

5:27Really bad.

5:30Really bad.

5:31Really bad.

5:32Really bad.

5:33would close the gap on such an abuse of the rental.

5:44I know people want to make a buck.

5:46I'm not saying that.

5:4729, 30 days, great.

5:49But you're introducing a whole other scam

5:52or also to the residents who live in that area

5:55having to deal with that type of person

5:59who comes in to enjoy or over-enjoy their stay.

6:04We've had cases where we've had to call the police

6:07for loud parties, people over,

6:10or they say they're renting per bedroom,

6:12so four people, four bedrooms, whatever,

6:14and all of a sudden 22 people show up

6:15because it's a family gathering weekend that they rented for.

6:19I know code enforcement works so hard.

6:22They really do.

6:24And I know people have complained in our neighborhood

6:26about such transient rentals.

6:29So just those two concerns,

6:31if they could be left intact,

6:34we would truly, truly appreciate it.

6:36And thank you for listening.

6:37Thank you for your comments.

6:40Do we have anybody else here

6:42who would like to comment on anything?

6:44We have one person online.

6:45We'll take that person online.

7:03Hello?

7:05Hello?

7:07Yeah, I just wanted to confirm I'm online.

7:10You are on.

7:12Okay, hi, yeah, this is Laura Jim Smith.

7:14I just have a question.

7:17For the DGEIS and for the updated comprehensive plan

7:22for the April 18, 2024,

7:26I'm trying to look for that.

7:27I couldn't find it online anywhere.

7:31Well, if you were listening earlier,

7:33we stated that we were going to do a survey.

7:33We're going to do a survey.

7:33We stated it would be put online

7:35right after the meeting today,

7:36after it got presented to us.

7:38Everything's going up online.

7:41Okay, so we don't have a chance

7:44to view it, to comment on it

7:46for this resolution prior to voting on it?

7:51The action of this award now

7:52is to accept the document

7:53and make it available for public review.

7:57Right, but you're accepting it

8:01as complete, correct?

8:02Correct.

8:02No, we're accepting it as a draft.

8:05In the resolution it says that it's complete with respect to its scope and content for

8:13the purpose of commencing public review.

8:16So my question is if you're accepting it as complete with respect to scope for the public

8:23comment, we will only be able to comment on the document that you're accepting today as

8:29complete.

8:30We will not be commenting on anything that is not contained within that document.

8:34Is that a correct statement?

8:36No.

8:37Just to clarify, this is Sarah Yackel from BFJ Planning, the secret consultant.

8:43Completeness is a technical term used in the State Environmental Quality Review Act.

8:47All that is saying is that the Board has received it, it addresses the items that are listed

8:51in the adopted scope, and now it can be reviewed by the public.

8:55This is setting the public comment period.

8:57Prior to today and this acceptance, the public is not able to comment on it.

9:00They are able to review the documents and so this is really the chance to start that

9:04clock.

9:05And so this is the official act of the Board to start that public review.

9:09This puts the documents now into the public realm and starts the official clock on the

9:13public review.

9:14The document will be online.

9:15Okay, so let's just say there is a section that's not contained within the document they

9:23accepted it for whatever reason, an oversight, whatever it may be.

9:29Does that make sense?

9:30Does that mean then the public will not have an opportunity to comment on that because it's not in the document that was put forth before the public comment?

9:40If there's something in the adopted scoping, the seeker scoping document, and now this has nothing to do with the actual comprehensive plan, you can make that comment during the comment period, and that comment will be answered during the final environmental impact statement preparation.

9:53Okay, and then also to the updating of the April 18th updating of the Complant Act will also be available to the public after the vote is taken?

10:05Correct.

10:07Okay. All right. Thank you.

10:08I think Noah just needs to get back to our office, which might take him a couple hours, and so they will be up later this afternoon.

10:14Okay. Thank you.

10:17Do we have anybody else online?

10:20No? Nobody in the room?

10:23Okay.

10:26Good progress.

10:28We are going to adjourn the town board meeting. Motion to close. And a second, please.

10:36So moved.

10:37Second.

10:38All in favor?

10:39Aye.

10:39All opposed? Okay. Town board meeting is closed.

10:43We are going to take another quick break to shut down the audio and restart again and go back to reopening of the work session for Thursday, April 25th.

10:532024.

10:55We'll be back.

11:23Thank you.

11:26Thank you.

Full Transcript

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Tim.

Counsel Rothwell? Counsel Rothwell, do we have somebody for invocation? Yes, we have Pastor George Dupree from the Living Waterful Gospel Church in Aquabar. Is your pastor here? We do not have a pastor here. Okay. All right. Well, we will move on, and we have an announcement for those that may have just tuned in to Channel 22 and you're looking for a town board work session, and you're looking for a town board work session, hang in there. We pause the work session to conduct a special town board meeting, and we'll resume the work session at the conclusion of this meeting. Okay. Do we have comments, any comments at all, on the one resolution before us today? Do we have anybody in the room that would like to comment on the one resolution we have today? Do we have anybody online? We have nobody online to make a comment. Okay. Okay. Julie, would you please call the one resolution? Sure. Resolution number 376. Accepts DGEIS for the 2024 Channel Riverhead Comprehensive Plan update. Issues notice of compliance of DGEIS and schedules public hearing for the DGEIS and draft comprehensive plan. So moved. Seconded. Vote please. Waske. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Hubbard. Yes. Yes. Resolution is adopted. Thank you. We will now open the floor to any comments from the public on any matter. Any comments on any matter? Up.

Hi. Good morning. Good morning. Wonderful. Outstanding job. I'm a member of the comprehensive plan. I was one of those that set up and saw the videos and the maps and tried to get as much information as I could absorb. From one of the maps, I noticed there was a comment in the Reeves Park section about the parking itself. And I believe since covid it's been the non residents has not been an aspect of purchasing a beach permit. Correct. If that could just stay in policy and procedure. Yes. That would be wonderful. It's limited already for us who are there. I know waiting river. I was a wreck person for a little while there. It also is very tight. I am here. Yes, of course. And James port. But I think since covid and so many people have moved out, it's getting resident wise even higher. So non residents. If we could keep that off the docket, I'd appreciate it. My other concern is the 29 day. Right. I'm not sure if you're familiar with the The other concern is the 29 day. Right. Right. Right. The 29 day rental. Within our township. I don't know if you've caught the news in the last month or so. There's no scams going on where people are taking the pictures off real estate or taking the pictures off other sites where, you know, my home or whatever. And putting it out on Airbnb for rental and the person sends the money in for the rental. And yet there is no rental. So that scam has been going on in Reeves Park as well. We had a house that went up for sale. They took the picture, put it on Craigslist. Six gentlemen went to go rent that property and met them at a third location. And when they gave over checks and cash to rent the place, when they showed up to the home, of course, their key didn't work. And the neighbor said, oh, my gosh, I can't believe you were scammed. We've had squatters. We've had a lot of scammers. We've had a lot of scammers. Really bad. Really bad. Really bad. Really bad. would close the gap on such an abuse of the rental. I know people want to make a buck. I'm not saying that. 29, 30 days, great. But you're introducing a whole other scam or also to the residents who live in that area having to deal with that type of person who comes in to enjoy or over-enjoy their stay. We've had cases where we've had to call the police for loud parties, people over, or they say they're renting per bedroom, so four people, four bedrooms, whatever, and all of a sudden 22 people show up because it's a family gathering weekend that they rented for. I know code enforcement works so hard. They really do. And I know people have complained in our neighborhood about such transient rentals. So just those two concerns, if they could be left intact, we would truly, truly appreciate it. And thank you for listening. Thank you for your comments. Do we have anybody else here who would like to comment on anything? We have one person online. We'll take that person online.

Hello? Hello? Yeah, I just wanted to confirm I'm online. You are on. Okay, hi, yeah, this is Laura Jim Smith. I just have a question. For the DGEIS and for the updated comprehensive plan for the April 18, 2024, I'm trying to look for that. I couldn't find it online anywhere. Well, if you were listening earlier, we stated that we were going to do a survey. We're going to do a survey. We're going to do a survey. We're going to do a survey. We're going to do a survey. We're going to do a survey. We're going to do a survey. We stated it would be put online right after the meeting today, after it got presented to us. Everything's going up online. Okay, so we don't have a chance to view it, to comment on it for this resolution prior to voting on it? The action of this award now is to accept the document and make it available for public review. Right, but you're accepting it as complete, correct? Correct. No, we're accepting it as a draft. In the resolution it says that it's complete with respect to its scope and content for the purpose of commencing public review. So my question is if you're accepting it as complete with respect to scope for the public comment, we will only be able to comment on the document that you're accepting today as complete. We will not be commenting on anything that is not contained within that document. Is that a correct statement? No. Just to clarify, this is Sarah Yackel from BFJ Planning, the secret consultant. Completeness is a technical term used in the State Environmental Quality Review Act. All that is saying is that the Board has received it, it addresses the items that are listed in the adopted scope, and now it can be reviewed by the public. This is setting the public comment period. Prior to today and this acceptance, the public is not able to comment on it. They are able to review the documents and so this is really the chance to start that clock. And so this is the official act of the Board to start that public review. This puts the documents now into the public realm and starts the official clock on the public review. The document will be online. Okay, so let's just say there is a section that's not contained within the document they accepted it for whatever reason, an oversight, whatever it may be. Does that make sense? Does that mean then the public will not have an opportunity to comment on that because it's not in the document that was put forth before the public comment? If there's something in the adopted scoping, the seeker scoping document, and now this has nothing to do with the actual comprehensive plan, you can make that comment during the comment period, and that comment will be answered during the final environmental impact statement preparation. Okay, and then also to the updating of the April 18th updating of the Complant Act will also be available to the public after the vote is taken? Correct. Okay. All right. Thank you. I think Noah just needs to get back to our office, which might take him a couple hours, and so they will be up later this afternoon. Okay. Thank you. Do we have anybody else online? No? Nobody in the room? Okay. Okay. Good progress. We are going to adjourn the town board meeting. Motion to close. And a second, please. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Okay. Town board meeting is closed. We are going to take another quick break to shut down the audio and restart again and go back to reopening of the work session for Thursday, April 25th. 2024. We'll be back.

Thank you. Thank you.