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Moratorium proposal nixed
Garant looking to adopt Marine Waterfront committee report
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At the insistence of Mayor Margot Garant, a motion to rescind last winter's moratorium proposal was made at Monday's first business meeting of the new Village Board. That motion passed unanimously. Although open to the idea of a limited moratorium, the new mayor had told the trustees, "I'd kind of like to close the door on the existing one." Garant called that proposal "overbroad" and said, "We didn't need it as drafted."
At the same time, Garant is moving to adopt the Marine Waterfront District committee's final report by next month, which would lay the groundwork for the preservation of the west side of the harbor from over-industrialization. At the business session Monday, Garant embraced the need for comprehensive planning and said any future moratorium proposal "will have a much more narrow scope."
Garant also addressed the issue of cell phone service on the golf course, saying she wanted to fast track a proposal to hide antennas inside the clubhouse cupola. Garant asked that a meeting be arranged between the entire Village Board and representatives of Lombardi caterers, who run the food service at the village-owned clubhouse, in order to come to an agreement on the cell antenna and other outstanding issues, including unpaid bills for construction of the golf course halfway house and its hours of operation.
Looking like the antithesis of a "do-nothing" mayor, Garant also told the trustees she wanted to make a number of board appointments at the next business meeting of the Village Board to be held July 20 so that those boards could operate fully staffed. Unlike her predecessor, Garant welcomed the various liaisons to propose candidates for those mayoral appointments.
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| | | Mayor Margot Garant is congratulated by Gary Vegliante, mayor of West Hampton Dunes Village, following the public meeting of the Village Board Monday. Deputy Mayor Leslea Snyder looks on at left. Photo by D. Willinger. (click for larger version) | |
Earlier that evening, during the public portion of the Village Board meeting, Garant had announced one of her first priorities as mayor would be to return all boards to full membership. There are two expired terms on the Zoning Board and one on the Planning Board. The Architectural Review Committee has one expired term and one open seat. The terms of four members of the Conservation Advisory Council expired last month.
Garant also said she is exploring the idea of expanding the Planning Board from five to seven members, in order to bring more legal expertise to the board and enhance continuity when a member retires.
Garant announced her mayoral appointments for the organization of village government at the public session, attended by about 50 persons. She created a new position, that of administration and employee liaison, in order to have a "direct line of communication" for village staff. Garant said she is still looking to fill the slot of mayor's assistant and is looking for someone who would, among other things, assume the task of community relations — directing queries from the public to the proper department within village government. Garant said she became aware of such a need from interactions with residents during her campaign.
Garant also named Trustee Carmine Dell Aquila and newly elected Trustee Leslea Snyder co-commissioners of Public Works. In so doing, Garant said the goal is to make use of the particular expertise of each — Dell Aquila in construction contracts and Snyder in securing government funding — in order to repair village roads as soon as possible while using village taxpayer dollars only as a last resort.
Garant's appointments were ratified by a 3 to 2 vote of the Village Board, with Dell Aquila and Erland voting nay. Later Dell Aquila told Garant at the business session, "I don't have a problem with many of your appointments" but had voted "no" due to a lack of prior discussion on the matter. None of the trustees had offered any comments during the public session when the motion was on the table prior to the vote Monday night.
A main topic of discussion at the business session was the expiring lease agreements the village has for its fleet of Jeeps used by code as well as by the department heads. Garant said later she was "flabbergasted" village officials were weighing whether to purchase the cars at the end of the lease's term without having a copy of the lease available. Garant wants to explore all options but said she is looking to downsize the village fleet where practical. Dell Aquila said he believes the code budget needs to be trimmed.
The new board was not willing Monday to sign off perfunctorily on the warrants. Those documents, which authorize disbursement of village funds, in the past were typically circulated among the trustees during the second half of the business session and usually signed without significant discussion, although Dell Aquila repeatedly brought up irregularities and refused to sign warrants under the administration of Mayor Brian Harty. Monday night, Trustee Leslea Snyder and Mayor Garant raised questions regarding two payments, which consequently were tabled until additional information could be made available. Garant, who stressed accountability in government during her campaign, also asked that in the future warrants be made available at 5 pm the night of a meeting to give the board more time to study them as well as to expedite the process.
The Village Board went into executive session to discuss the Liberty Meadows lawsuit, the civil service disciplinary hearing involving suspended Village Planner Will Rau and a personnel matter having to do with the possible hiring of a third lieutenant for the code enforcement department.
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