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Preble Post Gazette

Editorial

Is the Preble Town Board breaking the law?

For most of the summer rumors have been flying that the Preble Town Board was going to remove some of the ZBA (Zoning Board of Appeals) members. A few days ago I got a call from someone asking about the agenda of the special Town Board meeting held on August 21st. They wanted to know if the subject of reducing the ZBA had come up at that meeting. I was there before the meeting started until after it adjourned and nothing was said about it. I also checked with someone else who was at the regularly scheduled Town Board meeting the week before and it was not brought up then either. This rumor is looking like it has legs. The first sighting of this rumor was early this summer when someone noticed that the listing of Town officials posted at the Town Hall left off the name of Barb Frier. The rumor was bolstered when someone else noticed that her name was also missing from her drop box at the Town Hall. Both of these were explained as oversights. At the time I discounted the idea that the town board would try to remove ZBA members. Why, you ask?

  1. It would be obvious that removing them was for political reasons. i.e.: they wanted to control the ZBA. I went to the Town Board meeting on 3/13/2000 and complained about interference from the Town Board in matters before the ZBA. This was confirmed by the actions of Dan O'Shea at the 6/1/2000 ZBA meeting. See my article "Dan O'Shea had a chance to be a hero"
  2. Reducing the number of the ZBA now in the middle of the Flying J issue would be a terrible idea. They should wait till it is over before they consider doing it.
  3. When the Planning Board was reduced from 7 to 5 members it was for different reasons. They were at 5 due to attrition, so why not make it official. Peter Knapp, Town Supervisor at the time, said that the Planning Board had trouble getting a quorum with 7 members and because they were at 5 members at the time, they decided to leave it that way. This is not the case with the ZBA. I've been at most of the ZBA meetings for over 2 years and most of the members have always been in attendance. They have always had a quorum. In point of fact Barb Frier, Carl Grillo, Del Knapp, and Dan O'Shea attended the last meeting, even though they did not have any business to conduct.
  4. Cost. What cost? The members serve for free! Mailing costs, making copies… peanuts. Cost can not be used as a valid reason to reduce the board.
  5. If they had a legit reason to reduce the ZBA they would have discussed it with the ZBA members at an open town meeting and asked their opinion. There has been no such meeting.
  6. They would have asked if some of the members wanted to resign. No such request has been made.

A look at NYS Town Law 271 (9) will show that the Town Board has to have a public hearing when it changes the number of board members. They never did this when they changed the Planning Board and legally it is still a 7-member board. It would be interesting if all of the votes taken by the Planning Board were illegal for that reason. Check the Preble town laws. Use your browsers BACK button to return here.

One of the questions that comes up from time to time is where the Town Board stands on the Flying J issue. I've asked the Town Board this question and they claim to be neutral. However when they did not want the gravel pit or the Agway plant they were vocally against it, so their silence can only be explained as their support for Flying J. If they did try to kick certain members off the ZBA it would only be to influence the vote. Even if this were unsuccessful, it would be a message to the rest of the ZBA members to toe the Town Board 's line.

Who would be the most likely to be kicked off? Frier comes to mind because of the rumor and because of her vote against the Song Mountain well. Both Carl Grillo and Kathy Kinne voted against the well so they would be targets too. BUT, perhaps more importantly, both Frier and Kinne were targeted by Rich Shafer in the Flying J issue. Shafer wanted both removed from the ZBA on bogus charges. It appears that Shafer may have some power over the Town Board, so my guess is that Frier and Kinne are targets, with Grillo a possible third. If any two of them were off the ZBA, then the Song well vote would have been 4-1 instead of 4-3 and a more decisive win for the Town Board.

Another reason is the Flying J buffer vote coming up. Last time the buffer vote was a very decisive vote to uphold the town law. If the Town Board kicks off or even threatens to kick off two ZBA members, the next buffer vote will be interesting. Why you ask? Well if any ZBA members were to change their vote, then you would know they did so because of fear and pressure from the Town Board. I'll post the results of that vote here.

That aside the question remains… Is the Town Board breaking the law? If they are trying to remove ZBA members without proper procedure, then the answer is yes. We will have to wait to see if there is anything to the rumors. The next ZBA meeting on Thursday 9/7/2000 at 7:30 PM should be interesting to say the least. The rumors will either be dispelled or confirmed.

This is one meeting I am not going to miss.

Frank Hogg

8/31/2000