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Putnam Valley Town Board Adopts Decorum Law
by Edward Paul Greiff
At the end of an almost four hour Putnam Valley Town Board meeting held on May 16, 2007, Kay Nathenson said "This has been a good meeting. There were disagreements but they were discussed civilly. I am grateful that a Decorum resolution was adopted and that the Board will appoint a member to act as a parliamentarian to make sure Roberts Rules of Order are followed."
The night's subject matter ranged from scholarship awards by the Rotary to Fire, Ambulance and department reports to arguments over controversial resolutions involving the Decorum resolution, Roberts Rules of order, Alternate Members Local law, Kasper / Cabot litigation, Davis /Powell Resolution, a Noise law Public Hearing date and Memorial Day schedule. Other issues like the Marsh Hill Resolution and POW'R Against Tobacco Resolution are covered as separate articles.
The Putnam Valley Rotary recognized college students for their academic excellence and community service. Rotarians John Mahoney and Robert Walker presented two $400 scholarships to former Putnam Valley High School graduates Melinda McLaughlin and Brandon Gembecki. Melinda McLaughlin is a business major at the University of Central Florida and a member of the Dean's List. Brandon Gembecki is an outstanding student at Pace University.
PV Fire Chief Bruce Johnson reported they had a busy month, having responded to forty-six calls for the month and 148 calls year-to-date. Giles Spoonhour of the PV Ambulance Corps. said by contrast they had a slow month, with only 37 calls for the month and 204 year-to-date.
Legislator Sam Oliverio reported that funding for the Peekskill Hollow Road project only permits work to be done between Adams Corners and Oregon Corners.
Residents surrounding Cimarron Ranch property spoke out against the increased truck traffic on the road going into and out of the Cabot property. There were many conflicting counts as to the number of trucks; they ranged from 16 to 23 and more. Alex Kaspar has a rock crushing operation on the property where he is selling crushed rock to defray his attorney fees, he says. The attorney fees he says are necessary to maintain a lawyer to defend against the Town's litigation against him. Kaspar told the Board that if they agreed to stop litigation he would stop his rock crushing operation immediately.
Councilman Dan Ricci suggested they all get together and hash this out and he was sure they could come up with a compromise. His idea was rejected by the Board and instead the Board voted to set aside funding to continue the litigation against the Kaspar / Cabot property.
When Kaspar asked how much the Town has spent in litigation fees against him so far attorney David Gordon said $7,000. Kaspar said that he learned that on the following day attorney Gordon submitted another bill of $5,000 for the Kaspar/Cabot litigation bringing the total so far up to $12,000. Attorney Gordon said the reason Kaspar continues to operate is that he is protected under the State Department of Agriculture since his property is in an Agricultural District. This litigation is headed for the State Appellate Court in Brooklyn.
On a four to one vote (Davis), the Town Board approved amending the Davis/Powell Resolution #07-147 by changing the amount Davis and Powell are to reimburse the Town for legal fees the Board incurred during the Boards defense of an Article 78 Proceeding brought against them by Davis and Powell. The amount sought was raised from $2,000 to $5,831. Supervisor Davis said he did not owe that money. Councilman Tendy said, "That's ok, each month we will ask you for it." Davis replied that each month he would refuse to pay it.
The question of following Roberts Rules of Order to the letter was addressed as a way of controlling outbursts, slanderous remarks and the general overall meeting decorum. The Board concluded that they liked the flexibility of semi following Roberts Rules but agreed something was needed. Supervisor Davis reintroduced (for the fourth time he says) his "Decorum Resolution." Councilman Ricci read it aloud and said it sounded good to him and the Board unanimously adopted it.
The Decorum Resolution resolves that, "Everyone shall be treated with courtesy and consideration when making public comment. Speakers will not be subjected to heckling, challenging or cross examination. If these occur, the meeting will be stopped until the offending behavior is stopped. The foregoing behavior or other kinds of personal attacks from the Board members or the public will not be tolerated. The public will be asked to wait to be recognized by the Supervisor or his designate. Written comments will be accepted."
At the meeting it was announced that the Annual Memorial Day Ceremony will take place at Town Hall on May 28, 2007 at 11am. A Public hearing on a proposed Noise Law will be held prior to the June work session on June 13, 2007 at 6pm.
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