ISLAND COMMUNITY BOARD
P.O. Box 464, Fishers Island, NY 06390
Tel: 631-788-7990
Email: ficommunityboard@gmail.com
ICB Meeting Monthly Minutes
November 13, 2017, 5:30pm
Community Center
Directors Present: Meg Atkin (Year-Round Rep), Candy Whitman (Year-Round Rep), Tim Patterson (Waste Management), Christian Arsenault (School), Chris Finan (Utility Company), Matt Edwards (Walsh Park), Tom Sargent (Conservancy)
On Call: Tom O’ Neil (President), Willard Soper (Treasurer), Dicky Reigel (Seasonal Rep), Marc Rubinstein (IHP), Elizabeth McCance (Museum)
Directors Absent: Nate Malinowski (Year-Round Rep), John McGillian (FIDCO), Geb Cook (Ferry District)
Staff Present: Zack Hoch (Administrator/Secretary)
Approve October Minutes
Tom O’ Neil motioned to approve the October minutes. The ICB seconded.
FIDCO
The ICB welcomes John McGillian as the new FIDCO director. John hopes to resolve issues regarding the recreation path. John could not attend the meeting.
Treasurer’s Report
Willard Soper stated there is $3,087 in the ICB checking account and would like to remind people to continue contributing and suggested making monthly administrative payments rather than quarterly to help future budgeting strategies. Tom motioned to approve Zack’s 89 hours during the past quarter and the ICB seconded.
Tom is to write a cover letter for the annual report and in the letter will ask for donations to the ICB. Tom suggested sending a quarterly letter to the community stating the ICB needs ongoing solicitation. Dicky suggested our outreach to the community should be in a variety of forms including letters, emails, online postings, etc, and that every director should contribute to the fund drive to kick off the new year.
Utility Company
Housing Efforts
Chris Finan stated the Utility Company is not having success moving people from house to house seasonally and the best solution is to apply for a zoning change to the 1.6 acre Hamlet Density, specifically the Briar Patch. The Utility Company is trying a pilot program with this first property to determine if this strategy could enable the town to have a model to work from to continue the expansion of island housing. If granted, the Utility Company would use the land to build a duplex to house employees. Single-family houses do not make financial sense. Chris stated this is the only solution he can identify that allows the Utility Company to attract and keep key employees while at the same time employing economics of scale to solve the housing crisis. The Utility Company is looking at other properties on the island and has a long-term goal of obtaining 13-15 units. Currently, the Utility Company owns 3 houses (1 on-call house), has 15 current employees and 10 of those employees must reside on Fishers Island. Chris stated he has been informed by the Town Board that any change in zoning does have to be approved by the community. A public hearing must take place likely on Fishers Island on a date to be determined. Chris is unsure about the timing on all of this. The design of the duplex would likely be similar to the style or the Doctor’s Office.
Dicky Riegel and the ICB thank Chris Finan for the open dialogue around the Utility Company’s housing needs and would like continuous updates alerting the community of every step.
Waste Management
Tim Patterson stated reports for the costs and savings on the upcoming project are now available on the Waste Management website. The town could be the lead agent. In an effort to reduce visibility and loud noise from the work site, Evergreen trees are to be planted.
There are concerns about an increase in traffic and truck traffic after this move is complete. Louisa Evans stated a study was done in September to monitor changes in traffic and is confused as to why the study did not occur during the peak season (July & August) for more accurate results. Sarah Porter suggested using cameras to monitor traffic and large trucks.
Annual Report
Nate Malinowski has assembled the 2017 Fishers Island Annual Report. Nate will print and bind 20 copies for the Turkey Trot and disperse to the board and work with Jane Ahrens to post on fishersisland.net.
Infrastructure
Louisa Evans stated not much has changed with the sidewalks. There is $250,000 in the 2018 budget which is expected to be passed on Wednesday. Work likely will not begin until the Spring. Louisa encourages members of the community to email her pictures of road sections in need of repair. The trucks from the Big Club project took a toll on the roads. The $100,000 committed from Senator Scott LaValle for road repairs has not been seen yet.
Louisa stated she has not given Scott Russell the Administrative Assistant job description prepared by the ICB because the description is currently a rough draft. Once the final draft is prepared Scott Russell will review it and then he will send it to Civil Service. There is money in the budget. As for the recreation path, there is some consensus that because Scott Russell already committed money to the sidewalks, it is unlikely he will also commit money to the rec path. Louisa added that Town Board members feel it is a bad idea to add more infrastructure that will require a lot of maintenance. Sidewalks are first, then likely roads. Money for the rec path most probably must be privately funded.
Adjourned 7:10
