During yesterday's Southampton Town Board meeting, Councilwoman Linda Kabot postponed a vote on adopting the town's draft transportation element report to the Comprehensive Plan, allowing board members a few extra days to add any amendments. The vote has been scheduled for Friday, during the board's morning work session.
Subject to some controversy, the report, prepared by Ron Hill, P.E. of Dunn Engineering Associates, P.C. suggests options to improve the safety and accessibility of Southampton's transportation system, no longer sufficient in accommodating the volume of traffic flowing in and out of the North and South Forks.
An article reporting opposition to a suggestion in the report to expand County Road 39 can be seen elsewhere in this paper.
Kabot also sponsored a resolution to create a transportation commission, which will act as an advisory board to oversee the implementation of various initiatives within the Southampton Intermodal Transportation Study and Comp Plan update. The committee's 11 members will be appointed by the town board and will meet no less than nine times a year. A full-time executive director will be chosen by members.
Casino Expenses
Supervisor Skip Heaney sponsored a resolution to appropriate funds in the amount of $150,000 to "cover expenses" for the town's outside council Nixon Peabody LLP. It was expected to be voted on yesterday. The law firm is handling the case of the proposed Shinnecock casino.
Federal Justice Thomas C. Platt has been reviewing the records and genealogy of the Shinnecock Indian Nation to determine whether it is eligible to become a federally recognized tribe. Such recognition could entitle members to build and operate a casino on their 79-acre Hampton Bays property known as West Woods.
Traditionally, the review process is conducted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. But to the chagrin of the BIA, Platt decided to speed up the process by reviewing the records himself after discovering it could take the bureau up to 10 years to process the tribe's federal application.
Attorney Michael Cohen, of Nixon Peabody, said that the town and New York State, which also filed suit against the tribe, are acting as co-plaintiffs in this case. Attorney Christopher Lunding is representing the Shinnecock Indians.
It has been eight months since the last hearing on the matter, and all parties are waiting for the next court date to be set.
In other news, the board was expected to approve a resolution that will help reduce outdoor light pollution from all town-owned or town-leased properties and roadways. Sponsored by Councilwoman Nancy Graboski, the law requires the use of fully shielded luminaries that diminish light glare. The initiative will come at virtually no cost to taxpayers, according to Graboski. The expense of the new fixtures will be totally recouped in energy savings in three to five years because the town will be using less energy, she said.
The dark skies-friendly lighting plan has two phases. The first addresses lighting on town facilities. "We're taking responsibility for our own lighting," said Graboski. The second, still in its drafting phase, applies to the private sector and is to be introduced to the board in about six months.
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