Wright Sub-division Public Hearing. 7:30 PM

This went along smoothly. The Wrights and Mr. Beck was there along with some other citizens. One thing was cleared up, that of the actual size of the lot being sold to Mr. Beck. We have seen sizes of 17, 22 and 32 acres. The lot being split is about 32 acres and it is being split into a 22+ and a 9+ acre lots. The larger 22+ acre lot is what is being sold to Beck. Mr. Beck stated that he planned to use it for parking large heavy equipment. Barb Frier, ZBA member pointed out that once the 22+ acres was rezoned light industrial anything could be put there. At some point in the future Becks may move and Preble could end up with just about anything. She wanted the Town board to consider that when they make their decision. It appeared to me that they were going to allow this without any more consideration. After all, they did this public hearing before the planning board did theirs, a fast track approach and one you don't use unless the end is known.

The regular meeting followed at 8 PM.

The first part of the meeting was run of the mill. In two weeks I'll put up the minutes and that will cover it. The public hearing was interesting for me. I put up the audio of that yesterday for you to hear. Some things need to be enlarged on.

The first three minutes was a short discussion between Peter Knapp, Anne Brennan and myself. Peter was not at the last meeting so I couldn't ask him if he agreed with Anne when she considered all 29 citizens from Song Lake as one vote. You may recall that the other board members did not agree with Anne. Peter pretended he did not understand my question and danced around it for several minutes. I thought he was being childish about it and did not pursue it very far. I guess you could conclude he didn't agree with Anne but he wanted to support her. Listen to the first few minutes of the audio and decide for yourself.

Then the discussion moved to the fact that the Town Board at Don Armstrong's direction erred again in it's desire to change the ZBA from 7 to 5. The part of the discussion goes on for 8 minutes and partially describes the problem the Town Board has because of the Public Officers Law. It appears Don may not have been aware of that in January. It is an involved issue that I will cover at a later time. Listen to the audio for background.

The last part was about the zoning change to Peter Knapp's brother Paul's land. I wanted the board's opinion of this idea. As soon as I asked for that they all spoke at once saying they couldn't give an opinion, couldn't talk about it, yada yada. They were all very hyper about this issue. I know that in the past they have indicated in advance of a vote where they were thinking but somehow this issue did not warrant that. It is my opinion that Paul and Maureen Knapp would not have started the process if they were not positive they had the votes on the town board to get it through. I then asked Peter Knapp if he would remove himself from voting because the issue was his brother's land. (And $1.1 million is at stake) He refused to commit which told me he wanted to leave that option open just in case he didn't have 3 other board members to vote for it. Remember that it was Peter who signed the permit for the cell tower  for this same brother. And that only generates 20 grand or so per year. If he would sell out the town for a mere 20K per year for his brother, then he certainly would for 1.1 million.

Now we know what will happen at the town board when this comes to a vote. Now it is up to the planning board. It is on their shoulders whether this happens or not. It is not the simple issue of a sub-division they would like it to be, it is the whole ball of wax. How the planning board votes determines if our buffer zone laws are upheld, if our town ends up half commercial and whether Flying J come in. It is all determined by their one vote. I feel sorry for the 5 members of the planning board. I am sure they did not expect to have this to bear when they volunteered for the job. It only takes three to pass this and those three, if they pass it, will be held responsible for whatever happens from here on. A terrible burden to bear.

Vote wisely my friends... everything depends on you.

 

Update: Near the end of the tape, you will hear John Stager state that when he was on the town board and worked for Saulsbury, he recused himself from a vote on a zoning issue about his employer. This couldn't have given Peter Knapp much comfort and sets the standard that he will be hard pressed not to follow.