April 25, 2024 — Town Board

Town Board Meeting

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0:00Thank you.

0:30[transcription gap]

1:20Thank you, Tim.

1:26Counsel Rothwell, do we have somebody

1:28for invocation?

1:30yes we have Pastor George Dupree from the living waterfall gospel church in

1:40aqua bar Pastor here we do not have pastor here all right we will move on

1:52and we will go we have an announcement that those that may have just tuned in

1:56to channel 22 and you're looking for a town board work session hang in there we

2:01pause the work session to conduct a special town board meeting and we'll

2:05resume the work session at the conclusion of this meeting okay do we

2:09have comments any comments at all on the one resolution before us today we have

2:16anybody in the room that would like to comment on the one resolution we have

2:19today do we have anybody online we have nobody online to make a comment

2:25you

2:26okay Julie would you please call the one resolution sure resolution number

2:33376 accepts DG EIS for the 2024 town of

2:39Riverhead comprehensive plan update issues notice of compliance of DG EIS

2:44and schedules public hearing for the DG EIS and draft comprehensive plan so moved

2:49seconded

2:52both please Woskie yes Merrifield yes

2:56Kern yes Rothwell yes Hubbard yes resolution is adopted thank you we will

3:04now open the floor to any comments from the public on any matter any comments on

3:10any matter

3:19you

3:22Hi, good morning.

3:24Good morning.

3:24I'm Amanda Glenn.

3:25I live in Reeves Park.

3:27Wonderful, outstanding job with the comprehensive plan.

3:30I was one of those that sat 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.

3:45And I believe since COVID, it's been the non-residence has not been an aspect of purchasing a beach permit.

3:55Correct.

3:56If that could just stay in policy and procedure, that would be wonderful.

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

4:03I know Wading River, I was a rec person for a little while there.

4:08It also is very tight.

4:10I am here, yes, of course, in Jamesport.

4:12But I think since COVID and so many people have moved out.

4:15It's getting resident-wise even higher.

4:20So non-residents, if we could keep that off the docket, I'd appreciate it.

4:24My other concern is the 29-day rental within our township.

4:31I don't know if you've caught the news in the last, I'd say, month or so.

4:35There's now scams going on where people are taking the pictures off real estate or taking the pictures off other sites where,

4:45you know, they own my home or whatever.

4:48And putting it out on Airbnb for rental and the person sends the money in for the rental and 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...

5:15They gave over checks and cash to rent the place.

5:20When 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.

5:25We've had squatters.

5:29So I believe keeping the 29-30-day rule would close the gap on such an abuse of the rental.

5:43I 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 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.

6:04We've had cases where we've had to call the police for loud parties, people over.

6:09Or they say they're renting per bedroom.

6:12So four people.

6:13Four bedrooms, whatever.

6:14And all of a sudden, 22 people show up because it's a family gathering weekend that they rented for.

6:20I know code enforcement works so hard.

6:22They really do.

6:24And I know people have complained in our neighborhood about such transient rentals.

6:29So just those two concerns, if they could be left intact, we would truly, truly appreciate it.

6:36And thank you for listening.

6:37Thank you for your comments.

6:40Do we have anybody else here who would like to comment?

6:43On anything.

6:44We have one person online.

6:45We'll take that person online.

7:04Hello?

7:05Hello?

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

7:10You are on.

7:12Okay, hi.

7:13Yeah, this is Laura Jim Smith.

7:14I just have a question.

7:17For the DGEIS and for the updated comprehensive plan for 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, we stated it would be put online right after the meeting today,

7:36after it got presented to us.

7:38Everything's going up online.

7:41Okay, so.

7:43So we don't have a chance to view it, to comment on it for this resolution prior to you voting on it?

7:50The action of this award now is to accept the document and make it available for public review.

7:55Right, but you're accepting it as complete, correct?

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.

8:12For the purpose of commencing public review.

8:17So my question is, if you're accepting it as complete with respect to scope for the public comment,

8:24we will only be able to comment on the document that you're accepting today as complete.

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.

8:42Completeness is a technical term used in the State Environmental Quality Review Act.

8:46All 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 in this acceptance, the public is not able to review the documents, so this

9:02is really the chance to start that clock.

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

9:09This puts the documents now into the public realm.

9:11Okay, so next slide, please.

9:11Second, so this is clear.

9:12and starts the official clock on the public review.

9:15The clock will be up online.

9:18Okay, so let's just say there is a section that's not contained within the document they accepted it,

9:25for whatever reason, oversight, whatever it may be.

9:30Does that mean then the public will not have an opportunity to comment on that

9:35because it's not in the document that will be put forth before a public comment?

9:40If there's something in the adopted scoping, the seeker scoping document,

9:44and this has nothing to do with the actual comprehensive plan,

9:47you can make that comment during the comment period,

9:49and that comment will be answered during the final environmental impact statement preparation.

9:55Okay, and then also to the updating of the April 18th updating of the ComPlan,

10:00that 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.

10:10So it 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? Okay.

10:27Good progress.

10:27We are going to adjourn the town board meeting.

10:33Motion to close.

10:34And a second, please.

10:36So moved.

10:37Second.

10:38All in favor?

10:39Aye.

10:39All opposed?

10:40Okay.

10:41Town board meeting is closed.

10:43We are going to take another quick break to shut down the audio and restart again

10:49and go back to reopening of the work session for Thursday, April 25th, 2024.

10:56We'll be back.

11:10Thank you.

Full Transcript

Thank you. [transcription gap] Thank you, Tim.

Counsel Rothwell, do we have somebody for invocation? yes we have Pastor George Dupree from the living waterfall gospel church in aqua bar Pastor here we do not have pastor here all right we will move on and we will go we have an announcement that those that may have just tuned in to channel 22 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 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 you okay Julie would you please call the one resolution sure resolution number 376 accepts DG EIS for the 2024 town of Riverhead comprehensive plan update issues notice of compliance of DG EIS and schedules public hearing for the DG EIS and draft comprehensive plan so moved seconded both please Woskie yes Merrifield yes Kern yes Rothwell yes Hubbard 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

you Hi, good morning. Good morning. I'm Amanda Glenn. I live in Reeves Park. Wonderful, outstanding job with the comprehensive plan. I was one of those that sat 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-residence has not been an aspect of purchasing a beach permit. Correct. If that could just stay in policy and procedure, that would be wonderful. It's limited already for us who are there. I know Wading River, I was a rec person for a little while there. It also is very tight. I am here, yes, of course, in Jamesport. 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 rental within our township. I don't know if you've caught the news in the last, I'd say, month or so. There's now scams going on where people are taking the pictures off real estate or taking the pictures off other sites where, you know, they own 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. So I believe keeping the 29-30-day rule 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 it would be put online right after the meeting today, after it got presented to us. Everything's going up online. Okay, so. So we don't have a chance to view it, to comment on it for this resolution prior to you 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? 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 in this acceptance, the public is not able to review the documents, so this is really the chance to start that clock. So this is the official act of the Board to start that public review. This puts the documents now into the public realm. Okay, so next slide, please. Second, so this is clear. Second, so this is clear. and starts the official clock on the public review. The clock will be up online. Okay, so let's just say there is a section that's not contained within the document they accepted it, for whatever reason, oversight, whatever it may be. Does that mean then the public will not have an opportunity to comment on that because it's not in the document that will be put forth before a public comment? If there's something in the adopted scoping, the seeker scoping document, and 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 ComPlan, that 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. So it 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.

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.