City Council

FINAL MINUTES JULY 22, 2024 Village of Bellport Regular Meeting Monday, July 22, 2024 at 7:00PM This meeting will be held in the Community Center AGENDA This meeting is open to the public in the Community Center, located at 4 Bell Street. It is an in-person meeting and will be streamed on Zoom. Open Meeting On a motion by Deputy Mayor Mackin, seconded by Trustee Rohrmeier, and unanimously carried the Board opened the Regular Meeting at 7:19 pm. Opening remarks by Mayor Maureen Veitch. Mayor Veitch thanked and congratulated Trustee Rohrmeier on the success of the 5K race on Sunday. Trustee Rohrmeier worked tirelessly to make sure the run was a fun event but a safe event. Also, I want to thank the Bellport Village Program Fund for sponsoring the event, Greg Miglino and the EMS team for their support. Also, I want to thank our Code Department for their participation in the event. Besides sponsoring the 5K race the Bellport Village Program Fund purchased Mobi mats for Ho Hum and Mothers Beach. The mats make it easier for older people and myself to walk on the soft sand. Again, thank you Bellport Village Program Fund for your support and contributions in the Village. Every Sunday the Village provides a push notification to residents on upcoming events. To sign up you should call Village Hall or go on the website and add your email. We’ll make sure that you receive regular notifications on what’s happening each week. The Gateway is having a gala to celebrate their 75th Anniversary. The sandcastle event is coming up at Ho Hum and other events that will be on the Village website. Page | 1  FINAL MINUTES JULY 22, 2024 Friday night the Friends of Bellport Bay had a wonderful presentation at the Community Center. There were two speakers that educated the audience on oysters and the effect they have on cleaning the bay water. One oyster can clean 50 gallons of water a day. Mayor Updates Capital Projects, Grants, Etc. a. Garbage drop offs on Sundays at DPW from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm. Sanitation Sunday is a pilot program that started July 8th and will end on September 8th it is a program at DPW from 2:00 pm until 5:00 pm. A Village resident with a valid ID can drive up to DPW, an employee opens the gate, and put their trash in a garbage truck. The participation of residents has been 9 to 10 per week with an average of 32 bags per day. We have received letters from residents who are concerned with vermin. To date no vermin have been seen. Again, this is a pilot program which will be evaluated whether or not it was successful. Discussion continued and Trustee Young suggested that we could consider raising the gate a little higher. This potentially would have cosmetic attractiveness to DPW without a great deal of difficulty and little expense. It could be raised two to three feet. Trustee Young went down to DPW and stated that he thinks the DPW is one of the most organized sanitation departments he has ever seen. Mayor Veitch stated we are trying to solve a problem and the problem is throughout the Village. There is often trash left out on a Sunday for people who have a pickup on Tuesday, and it really isn’t fair to the whole village to have to pick up someone’s garbage. So, in addition to offering this possibility for dropping garbage on a Sunday. We’re also looking at the code with our attorney to put in more stringent fines for people who do not abide by the code, so we’re doing both at the same time. Mayor Veitch stated that she has received calls from residents who are happy with the program. One long-term resident was going away for a week on vacation with the family, and rather than put the garbage out on a Sunday night and have people know that they’re not home, he dropped them off at DPW. They appreciated being able to drop off the trash. Two residents sent in letters which will be read at the next meeting. b. HUD HUD Marina Project is a 2.8-million-dollar grant earmarked for improving safety and refurbishing both the Bellport and Ho Hum marinas. We’re having a really exciting meeting this week with the Waterfront Commission to talk about design of the marinas. Once something is settled on, the Board will have a meeting where the public can weigh in and look at the designs. Nothing is going to happen without having a public meeting to discuss the plans. Page | 2  FINAL MINUTES JULY 22, 2024 c. FEMA We received our second of the third reimbursement checks, and we’re working on the third submission. I’m guessing we’ll be ready to submit the third submission in three weeks and it takes about nine months to receive the money. d. GEI GEI is involved in the project going on at Howells Creek. We have the permitting process in place and have funding of 3.33 million dollars. Mayor Veitch thanked Senator Schumer, Senator Gillibrand, and Congressman Garbarino for supporting the Village with the grant that will address both the erosion along the golf course and the road ending at Otis, South Howells, and Thornhedge. e. Browns Lane/Shore Road I hope people are enjoying the fact that Browns Lane and Shore Road are open. There was some controversy over the guard rail, but we are working with the Beautification, Environmental, and Historic Committees to come up with the plan this fall for putting vegetation behind the guard rail. It will be beautiful and we are looking for input from residents. Contact one of the committees to weigh in with your thinking. f. Solar Panels We had an emergency at Ho Hum at the very opening of the season. The solar panels were working for 7 minutes. Thank goodness for Jason Crane, Teddy Hermus, and our electrician. They went over and band aided the situation so that we have power for the season. The solar panels are 30 years old. We are working closely with PSE&G and have signed an agreement giving us $150,000 toward putting new solar panels in. I thank our Village Attorney and DHC for working closely with PSE&G to facilitate the funding. g. Tax Revenue Collected The tax revenue collected to date is 93.6% of the tax base or $3,718,591.97. We keep collecting taxes until March of 2025, and then we have a firm that buys out the liens. h. Historian Milan Hughston – Appraisal of Documents I want to thank Milan Hughston for his continued work on the documents in the basement of Village Hall. He was appointed by the Board on a volunteer basis as our historian. Mr. Hughston is appraising all the documents, so that we can begin to understand what we have here. Ultimately, we will think about digitizing items for study. Again, I want to thank Mr. Hughston for his help in the Village. Page | 3  FINAL MINUTES JULY 22, 2024 i. Review of Codes Mayor Veitch stated that Chapter 12 Motor Vehicles and Traffic is the first chapter that will be totally reviewed and updated. I know Trustee Young is looking at the codes that impact Zoning Board of Appeals and Architectural Review Board and will provide the Board with a summary of his findings. Trustee Updates a. Deputy Mayor Steve Mackin – DPW, Bellport Fire Department, South Country Ambulance, Suffolk County Police Department, Road Safety • Kids Camp enrollment – 171 to date • Bellport Day is July 27th and a lot of activities are planned. South Country Ambulance and the Fire Department will be on call and involved in the activities. The Pollice Department will be involved for the road closures. b. Trustee Nathan Rohrmeier – Code Enforcement, Waterfront Management Board, Golf Commission, Tennis Commission, Vouchers • Update on Code Enforcement Trustee Rohrmeier reported that this past weekend was a pretty light weekend. He spoke with Don Mullins for an up-to-date report. The only issue that Don had was that someone parked their boat on the bulkhead on Friday night to listen to the band concert. Just a reminder you can’t park your boats on the bulkhead south of the Yacht Club. • 5K Race – July 14th The 5K race was held this past weekend and it was a great success. I think over 500 registered and pretty close to that number actually ran. I want to thank the South County Ambulance Company, Bellport Fire Department, as well as Hagerman and Brookhaven Fire Departments, the Suffolk County Police and our own code. • The Waterfront Management Board is meeting this week and that should be exciting. • The golf course was complimented this weekend for how great the course looks by guests of members. We had great exposure for the course to people around the island and the country. There will be a 9 and dine next week on August 29th and it’s filling up. This event has been in demand and everyone has enjoyed it. • Tennis is going well and the enrollment on the tennis clinic has been steady. There are three new members on the Tennis Commission and this should stir up some energy and enthusiasm. c. Trustee Lorraine Kuehn – Communication/Website, Business District, Senior Program, Vouchers, Kids Camp Page | 4  FINAL MINUTES JULY 22, 2024 • Audio Visual Technology – Microphones Trustee Kuehn thanked Michael Chiaramonte for arranging and purchasing the new equipment and Joe Varcelona for assisting the Board with the Zoom meetings. • Trustee Kuehn stated that the senior exercise groups are returning to the Community Center by the 1st week of August. • We now have an AED here in the Community Center to make some of our seniors a little bit more comfortable when they’re here. • With exercising I am proud to be the liaison to the Kids Camps. So now I have both generations. • Lastly, I again will be reviewing all the vouchers. I’m very detail oriented and I cross reference vouchers that we have to sign with the register. Mayor Veith thanked Trustee Kuehn for her excellent work. It’s as if we have an internal audit every month. I don’t think we’ve ever had someone who puts that level of attention to the numbers, and I’m very grateful to her for that. d. Trustee Michael Young – Zoning Board of Appeals, Architectural Review Board, Beautification Committee, Planning Board, Historical Preservation, Yacht Club/Sailing Foundation • Yacht Club/Sailing Foundation The sailing program is prospering and we’ve got over 100 kids of various ages learning to sail opti-420s mercuries. The program is divided into two sessions. We’re about to finish up the 1st session and move into the second. We’ve brought in experts from outside the village to teach people the fine point of how to sail and that’s going very well. There’s actually an adult program so if your sailing skills have gotten rusty you can go down to the sailing program and take special lessons. • Something that came up in our last Work Session-seaweed. We had a lot of seaweed on the beach and I’m delighted to report that DPW cleaned it up right away. Although I’m sure that it will be temporary. • Trustee Young stated that we all owe a significant measure of gratitude to J.D. Lury and Fiona Bassett for lowering their hedges on the corner of Browns Lane and Shore Road. This has improved visibility and even looks nicer. • DPW is juggling all sorts of stuff and Jason when it comes to execution is second to none. Shore road is completed and nicely paved. • The area around the kayaks could probably be filled in and the split rail fence needs to be put in place. Lastly, the trailer park and the area around it are going to be seeded in the fall. • The Yacht club has a lot of boats and some level of disarray comes with boating. Some cosmetic things that might be undertaken at the marina are the drainage ditch between the parking lot and the pad has been filled in with weeds. I questioned who is supposed to take care of it and I hope to have it clarified that we can make it look better. Page | 5  FINAL MINUTES JULY 22, 2024 • A special thanks to the Garden Club and Mary Butler. They again have done a magnificent job of planting the boxes outside the various businesses. We have learned that not all businesses have made their contribution. So, we encourage all of our excellent businesses to please go head and donate. • We are in dialogue with Suffolk County and in particular Legislator Dominick Thorne, who is looking into the possibility of a four-way stop sign at the intersection of South Howells Point Road and South Country Road. Everybody knows that we have a problem with cars speeding. The concern is bicyclists, pedestrians, and residents who attend the Episcopal Church. • The Village is going into the thick of party season here in Bellport. On July 27th the annual gala to support the Boys and Girls Cub will be hosted by Bob Rosenberg at his home. August 10th is the annual gala to support Bellport Village Program Fund. The main money for the Bellport Village Program Fund is raised that the gala. A most recent donation from the Bellport Village Program Fund is providing bicycle racks that have been placed throughout the Village. • Architectural Review Board Lastly, I have been working on the process of enhancing the Architectural Review. This is an effort update the code, update our practices, make the process less costly, less time consuming, and less delay before construction can start. We are halfway through the project but it’s not too late to make a contribution. Please let me know I’m more than happy to take them into consideration. Mayor Veitch commented on the discussion with Legislator Thorne. The county is going to pay to redo all the sidewalks in the downtown area. We don’t know exactly when that project will start. If you have noticed some of the pieces of concrete are lifting and they’re going to take on replacing them. Mary Pontieri and I met with Nick Fasano from the MTA at the train station. Mayor Veitch had concerns from Village residents about the debris and condition of the train station. After the meeting with Mr. Fasano the train station fence was repaired so that all the debris that was stored there is behind the fence. Also, they mowed and cleaned up the area. The MTA has committed to paint the railing next year and continue to keep the train station kept up. Mayor Veitch opened the meeting to the public and requested that they state their name and address. Open to Public Charlie McGill, 22 New Jersey Avenue. Mr. McGill stated that he loves Bellport Village and thanked everybody on the dais. Mr. McGill works in New York City as a teacher during the week and weekends he spends in Bellport Village. Sometimes all we have is Page | 6  FINAL MINUTES JULY 22, 2024 the weekends to enjoy Bellport, and Sunday is very important to have quiet and enjoy our homes. That is why it’s important to us to have the highway yard closed on Sundays. I understand about giving to the greater good of the community. We know that Jason works hard and we’re just asking for a day or two of quiet. The DPW is located in the center of our village within a stone’s throw of our neighborhood. I just think that we should have our garbage go to an area that is not in the heart of a residential community and I think that we could revisit this. Mr. McGill sighted that other townships have recycling centers and they drop off their garbage. Edward Baker, 15 New Jersey Avenue, wanted to second what Mr. McGill said. Mr. Baker appreciates the efforts from the Board to try to minimize the impact of this program on our neighborhood but obviously, we’re concerned about potential noise traffic. Mr. Baker continued suggesting an option of using bins behind the band shell for drop offs. There are two ways to solve this problem. One is enforcing the current rule about garbage and trash. I’m wondering how stringently you are currently enforcing the code and how will the plan be judged to be a success? Lastly, there are people in Bellport that take care of people’s houses on the weekend. This seems to be a booming occupation and I’m wondering if the Village can collect names of people who do this job. The last person that spoke was Nina Stewart, 8 Second Street, a 49-year resident to Bellport Village. Ms. Stewart lives right behind the garage or DPW. The dumpster is right behind my backyard, so on Sundays I can smell when the garbage comes in. We feel that this issue has come up in past administrations and we they would sit down and talk to us. We feel like we’re being pushed aside for the interest of the summer people which, granted bring a lot of economic benefit to this community. Neighbors would like to sit down and talk about options. Mayor Veitch thanked the residents for their comments. Our office makes ourselves available to people, and I think a good time to do that would be after the program ends. Mayor Veitch wanted to make a correction. The garbage does not go into a dumpster behind Ms. Stewart’s house. It goes into a garbage truck and that garbage truck which has done a pickup following the Friday night concerts. There’s a pickup on Saturday at the marina so that the garbage doesn’t stay there. It does not go into a dumpster. It goes into a garbage truck. I have observed the whole operation before we started, it goes into a garbage truck and then the garbage truck is closed with what’s called a crusher. Mayor Veitch closed the public to be heard section. Open Discussion: Page | 7  FINAL MINUTES JULY 22, 2024 Motion: Trustee Young – Second: Trustee Rohrmeier and unanimously carried the Board approved the following: Resolution: 145 Approved the Board Meeting Minutes of June 24, 2024. Motion: Trustee Kuehn – Second: Trustee Young and unanimously carried the Board approved the following: Resolution: 146 Abstracts Report #1, #2, #3 Approved the General Fund Checking Abstract Report #1, dated July 22, 2024 consisting of 77 vendors totaling $212,888.13 as presented. Approved the Enterprise Fund Check Abstract Report #2, dated July 22, 2024 consisting of 25 vendors totaling $104,778.50 as presented. Approved the Capital Browns & Dock Checking Abstract Report #3, dated July 22, 2024 consisting of 2 vendors totaling $318,199.13 as presented. Motion: Trustee Young – Second: Trustee Rohrmeier and unanimously carried the Board approved the following: Resolution: 147 Abstracts Report #1, #2, #3 Approved the General Fund Checking Abstract Report #1, dated May 31, 2024 consisting of 13 vendors totaling $31,355.79 as presented. Approved the Enterprise Fund Check Abstract Report #2, dated May 31, 2024 consisting of 3 vendors totaling $9,996.79 as presented. Approved the Capital Browns & Dock Checking Abstract Report #3, dated May 31, 2024 consisting of 1 vendor totaling $42,097.58 as presented. Motion: Trustee Kuehn – Second: Trustee Rohrmeier and unanimously carried the Board approved the following: Resolution: 148 1) Approved the request from Mack Rossoff for parking on October 5th & October 6th for a private wedding and brunch to be held at 77 South Howells Point Road as presented. Motion: Deputy Mayor Mackin – Second: Trustee Young and unanimously carried the Board approved the following: Page | 8  FINAL MINUTES JULY 22, 2024 Resolution: 149 2) Approved the request of Good Morning Bellport to hold a kick-off dance at sunset on August 3rd from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at the end of Academy Lane as presented. Motion: Deputy Mayor Mackin – Second: Trustee Young and unanimously carried the Board approved the following: Resolution: 150 3) Approved the obsoleted equipment from DPW as presented. 1. 2006 Sterling Sanitation truck 2. 2000 F550 Dump truck 3. 2003 2500 Chevy Suburban 4. 1993 K3500 Rally Van 5. 1998 Swenson Spreader 6. 4” Submersible pump 7. Various Caterpillar Hooks 8. Dump Body 9. One (1) Caterpillar bucket 10. One (1) John Deere bucket 11. One (1) Lincoln Welder Motion: Trustee Young – Second: Trustee Rohrmeier and unanimously carried the Board approved the following: Resolution: 151 4) The Board set a Public Hearing for August 26, 2024 at 7:00 pm in the Community Center to review, edit, and delete sections of the Code of Ordinances Chapter 12 - Motor Vehicles and Traffic. Motion: Trustee Young – Second: Deputy Mayor Mackin and unanimously carried the Board approved the following: Resolution: 152 5) Approved the request by South Country Peace Group, Inc. (SCPG) to use the bandshell/benches on August 6, 2024, from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm for the gathering of SCPG and other local organization for community dedication to peace. Executive Session (if needed) . On a motion by Trustee Young, seconded by Trustee Rohrmeier and unanimously carried the Board moved into Executive Session to discuss personnel and litigation at 8:02 pm. Page | 9  FINAL MINUTES JULY 22, 2024 On a motion by Trustee Kuehn, seconded by Trustee Rohrmeier and unanimously carried the Board closed the meeting at 8:53 pm Respectfully submitted, Mary Pontieri Village Clerk Page | 10