Politics & Government

Westhampton Beach Village Budget Adopted; Calls for 1.45 Percent Increase

Various code changes also adopted at meeting.

The Westhampton Village Board of Trustees voted on Thursday night to approve Mayor Conrad Teller’s $9.3 million dollar budget, which calls for a 1.45 percent spending increase.

The budget was adopted with just one comment from the public. That comment came from Dean Speir, who is running for village board in the upcoming election.

Speir commended the mayor for presenting a budget that carries “no fat.”  He did, however, recommend that the board look to tighten up the public dispatcher line.

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Thanking Speir for his comments, the mayor moved to approve the budget that he said, "keeps the village’s infrastructure safe and stable.”

For taxpayers, the budget, which is up $133,094, will carry with it a 5.40 percent tax rate increase. In dollars, the average taxpayer will be asked to pay an additional $2.67 per thousand assessed value on their home.

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The budget increase, said Teller accounts for increases in contracts and health insurance. It also makes up for a decrease in the village’s revenue stream, said the mayor.

Code Changes Approved

Also at its meeting, the village board approved several code amendments that have been on the table for the past several months. Among them are changes to the village’s sign, telecommunications and coastal erosion codes.

All three codes changes were adopted with little to no comment from the public.

According to Richard Haeffeli, village attorney, changes to the telecommunications code are minimal and simply “bring the code into the twenty-first century as opposed to the twentieth."

The last time the telecommunications code was revised was ten years ago, he said.

Changes to the coastal erosion code, said Haeffeli, clear up language that relates to valuing a home’s assessed in the village's coastal erosion zone, which sits on the south side of Dune Road.

According to Haeffeli, before the change was made, the code was unclear as to how the village was to obtain a value of a home in the coastal erosion zone.

A value is necessary if the homeowner is seeking permission to renovate the home under the village’s code.

Clean-up Main Street

Simon Jorna, owner of the Beach Bakery, rose to the podium to ask village board members to clean-up Main Street before the summer tourist season is in full swing.

Holding up photo evidence, Jorna said many of the sidewalks on Main Street are in disrepair and poles holding up signs are “ugly” and should be replaced.  Jorna also implored the board to do something about Main Street, which he said needs work.

Mayor Teller responded to Jorna, saying much of the work he mentioned is in the works. He also said that a project to repair Main Street carries a cost that is too much for taxpayers to bear at this time.

With that, Jorna recommended coming up with a five-to-ten-year plan to replace Main Street. 

Board members invited Jorna to an upcoming village board work session to discuss the idea.

 

 

 

 


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