Westhampton Beach Village Board Notes

Wednesday night's Westhampton Beach Village Board meeting kicked off with a discussion regarding a proposal by Village Trustee Toni-Jo Birk to charge a $100 processing fee and $500 refundable deposit for use of village properties for community and private events.

According to Birk, other nearby municipalities charge fees for use of their properties and Westhampton Beach should look to do the same.  She pointed to the Village of Southampton and the Village of Quogue, which both have fee schedules that run as high as $2,500 per event.

“We charge nothing,” said Birk.

Trustee Sue Farrell, agreed with Birk on her proposal to charge both an application fee and refundable deposit that would be held to ensure that village property would be left in the state it was found.

Farrell said the application fee could help defray the village’s budget.

Trustee Joan Levan, however, disagreed, saying that she could not see a good reason to charge a $100 fee to a non-profit organization using village property.

She did say that a $500 deposit is a good idea.

“Charging a non-profit one hundred dollar is just not right,” she said.

Mayor Conrad Teller agreed: “To charge a non-profit when they are trying to raise money for something good, I don’t see it. I don’t think our budget is that bad at this particular time, but that is my personal opinion.”

Trustee Hank Tucker, offered a compromise, asking if the village could simply charge non-residents an application fee, such as those using Rodgers Beach for a wedding.

As the discussion wound down, Teller suggested that three proposals with the various suggestions be drafted and brought up for a vote at the village’s next meeting.

Cell Tower Code Amendments

The village board once again discussed revamping the village’s cell tower code to bring it up to date.

Proposed changes to the code, include minimizing the visual aspects of cell towers by allowing for multiple cell companies to locate on existing structures, such as telephone poles.

Other changes included, adjusting the set-back for free-standing poles; adding in a definition for the term, “ordinary eminence;” additional landscaping requirements for support facilities for monopoles; and adding a Type 1 Negative Declaration requirement for cell companies looking to add an antenna to an existing pole. That change would allow for additional environmental review.

Before any changes are made to the code, a public hearing will be held.

Ethics Law

The village attorney reported that he is working to revamp the village’s Ethics Code to be more inline with nearby municipalities.

The current ethics code, he said is simplistic and needs some modification.  He expects to have a draft to the village’s board by next month.

Public Hearings Set

Trustees agreed that the board is set to hold two public hearings at it’s next meeting on March 3, among them is a public hearing on proposed changes to the village’s sign ordinance and another public hearing on proposed changes to the village’s coastal erosion hazard law.