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CAC Members are Powerless Beyond Offering an Opinion
To the Editor:
In response to last week's letter titled "Pay Attention Philipstown"
I would like to say that I have served on the Wetlands Committee, as well as the CAC and that you are right. The CAC members are powerless; the only two people with authority at this meeting are Deputy Supervisor Richard Shea, CAC liaison to the Town Board; and the wetlands inspector, whose immediate supervisor is Tom Monroe.
Three persons at this meeting get paid, Deputy Supervisor Richard Shea, the Wetlands Inspector and the Recording Secretary. I would also like to point out that the Town Board, Deputy Supervisor Richard Shea, and the other elected Board members can grant wetlands permits without coming before the CAC. The Planning Board and the Zoning Board of Appeals can grant wetlands permits as well.
Just about the only people who can't grant a wetlands permit are the CAC members. One other thing, everyone I mentioned, ZBA members, PB members, and Town Board members get paid; the only ones who do not get paid are the CAC members, they are strictly appointed volunteers.
The PB and the ZBA will often ask for a referral, an opinion, from the CAC but they often do what they would like anyhow. It is my opinion that none of the Boards work together very well. As a matter of fact I think there is undue animosity, as in the case where Planning Board member Andy Merante publicly bad-mouthed and demeaned former CAC chair Suzie Gilbert as well as implied he as a life-long resident had more rights than somebody that hadn't been born here. Anywhere else he would have been removed from the Planning Board for his actions, not in Philipstown, where he has been promoted from member to chairperson.
I hope that more people would get involved with the responsible governing of our town and remind everyone that thanks to our Town Clerk we can review almost all of the minutes of these meetings, as well as the town codes online in the comfort of our own home, at our own convenience.
Matthew Mastrantone
Philipstown
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