ISLAND COMMUNITY BOARD
P.O. Box 371, Fishers Island, NY 06390
Tel: 631-788-7990
Email: finy.southold@gmail.com
ICB December 2025 Monthly Meeting
Wednesday, December 10 , 2025, 5:00 pm
Zoom Meeting
Note: There was not a November 2025 Meeting
Total Participants: 52
ICB Representatives: John McGillian (President), George de Menil (Vice President), Staley Sednaoui (Vice President), April White (Year-Round), Richard Miller (Seasonal), Linda Mrowka (Year-Round).
Agenda for Wednesday, December 10, 2025
Louisa Evans – Southold Update
Beth Cashel- Community Housing Update
Dave Congdon & Linda Mrowka – Walsh Park Update
Written Summary
John McGillian opened the meeting and welcomed everyone. He reminded everyone that this is Louisa’s last meeting after 32 years of service as our Town Board member and Town Justice. He thanked her for her many years of service and asked her a few questions about how the job has changed over the years. Everyone gave a (silent) applause for Louisa in recognition of her many years of work for our community.
Updates on Town Projects – Louisa Evans
Louise thanked John for his kind words and mentioned that Kate is doing a great job working hard to get up to speed. Louisa reported that we will no longer have constables on Fishers because of the full time presence of the Southold police. She reported that the sidewalk construction on Equestrian Avenue is almost done and will be finished hopefully next week. She reminded us to not park on the new sidewalks as it will ruin them and, in fact, we will get ticketed for doing so. The Town Board is working on a code for wireless equipment, what kind to use and where it can be placed, so Louisa encouraged residents to pay attention to this when looking at zoning. Also, there’s a new law, that smoking or vaping (tobacco or marijuana) on Southold public recreational land (beaches) is now banned. Louisa said she is continuing to work with the Town and Kate to move forward the efforts to get the DVM here. Regarding the police barracks, the asbestos removal has been done and an RFP has gone out for the further work. She mentioned that Geb has given specs on the Ferry house to the Town, which has been helpful. Again, John thanked Louisa for her helpful years of dedication to the Island.
Update on Zoning – Beth Cashel
Beth reminded us that the Community Housing Fund Board has come out of the Community Housing Plan. This was created in September 2022 to serve in an advisory capacity to tackle the community housing shortages. The fund was voted upon in a voter referendum, in addition to the Community Preservation Fund, which is a 2% real estate transfer tax. CHF is an additional .5% tax funded by real estate sales (paid by buyers, first time buyers are exempt) for creation and maintenance of community housing. The first $200K of property is exempt. In 2023 the Town adopted the community housing plan as a way to tackle housing issues. Everyone can go online to the community housing plan to see more detail. The Town now has a housing department in Southold, reviewing applications and providing grants, subsidies, loans for first tie buyers or support for new construction. Approximately $1M is currently managed. The Town is establishing application criteria now. Residents of Fishers should be aware that this is happening and the net-net is we should get in line with any applications sooner rather than later, even if the Town isn’t fully organized with the applications or processes yet. It should be noted there’s not enough money to fund entire projects, but rather subsidiaries for projects. $50K per project might be the ballpark number for assistance. Applications will come to CHAD for review. Currently there is one project (the first) in Southold that has come to review. The application is for organizations as well as individuals.
Dave Congdon Update – Walsh Park
Dave Congdon gave a very detailed report on Walsh Park, including its original mission, goals, challenges, and needs moving forward. He introduced Linda Mrowka, who is the new manager and took over from Matt Edwards. He highlighted that WP is 37 years old and provides house for 85 islanders, which is about 30% of the year round population. 30 of these people work for essential Island organizations and 12 island children live in WP properties.
WP’s original development in 1990 was on Peters Way and that took six years to build out. The portfolio has 14 apartments, 9 single family homes and 2 commercial buildings. We have a land parcel between Whistler and Winthrop, which was acquired from the school and can accommodate 4 single family homes. WP rents are set as a discounted rate from the HUD index for the New London, 10-35% below the index, depending on the size and age of the unit. The range in rents is from $700-$800/studio to $1350 for a 3 bedroom unit.
Demand for housing remains robust and the properties are 100% occupied. Applicants on the waitlist range from as low as 2-3 to as high as 8. There has been lots of turnover over the last 18-months and filled by existing WP residents as well as 2 new residents.
There is no debt on the balance sheet. Because the rents are set below market, the revenue is less than operating expenses. Therefore, WP relies heavily on annual fundraising. The endowment is $200K and doesn’t contribute much to investment in the portfolio. Currently, 200 individuals and entities contribute and Dave thanked everyone for their support.
The strategic priority is to continue to improve existing properties. WP has spent $350K in each of the last two years improving the portfolio. WP worked to install heat pumps in one of its buildings along with new wiring and insulation. WP had help from NY SERTA and the Fishers Island Fund, which has been conceived for this purpose.
The short term goal is to move the WP office to the old Tidal Wave space. A major project on the horizon is to upgrade the heating and electrical on the parade grounds apartment building.
Increasing financial resources is a major priority, both through annual giving as well as increasing the endowment. Dave estimated that raising the endowment by 5x would be needed to support the operations. Developing the land parcels won’t be considered until beyond 2026.
Aleksandra Norton added to Dave’s summary by reiterating the importance of supporting WP in order to preserve the year round population on Fishers.
John McGillian thanked Dave and Linda for their update and, with no further questions, he wished everyone a happy holiday and adjourned the meeting.
