Besides the unveiling of a new town flag, a little political scrapping was the only thing that veered from a well-worn agenda at Tuesday’s Town Board work session.

Councilman Glenn Waddington and Supervisor Jim Dougherty sparred over the process Mr. Dougherty has been using to develop revisions for the board’s Ram Island causeways legislation, which it tabled after a June 10 hearing.

Mr. Waddington, running as a Conservative and an independent, is seeking to oust Mr. Dougherty, a Democrat in his second term as supervisor, in this fall’s elections.

The Republican candidate, Bob DeStefano, was in the audience and later raised another issue but he was a spectator as the two board members clashed.

“I’m concerned you’re holding your cards too close to your chest or you’ve not been doing anything” about revising the causeways proposal, Mr. Waddington said after asking Mr. Dougherty about a two-person causeway environmental task force the supervisor had announced in June to “vet the wetlands” on the two causeways connecting the mainland with Big Ram and Little Ram islands.

The contretemps came after Mr. Dougherty had reported that key officials of the Ram Island Association would be “back” this week and would be working with the Group for the East End on “some very good suggestions” for revising the proposed regulations, which are intended to limit the impact of any development on the low-lying causeways. He said the revision process was “moving along nicely.”

Mr. Waddington asked if Linda Holmes and Richard Kelly — the two people Mr. Dougherty said in June he had named to investigate the extent of wetlands on the causeways — knew about that.

Mr. Dougherty said they did.

“That’s amazing,” Mr. Waddington said, because he’d spoken with Mr. Kelly and he hadn’t mentioned it.

Mr. Dougherty countered that Mr. Kelly, who
argued at the board’s June hearing that the town didn’t need a new law to protect wetlands that were already covered by federal law, and “one of the Ram Island folks have had a difference of opinion and I’m not sure Richard and this Ram Island person are having a dialogue.”

“So essentially this two-person task force you formed,” asked Mr. Waddington, is “now not functioning?”

“Boy, you’re really on a roll today,” Mr. Dougherty said.

Mr. Waddington protested that Mr. Dougherty had announced the committee’s existence “four weeks ago and I’ve asked you three times” at three board work sessions to explain what it was up to.

Mr. Dougherty said he didn’t remember “three times” and Mr. Waddington replied “it’s on the tape,” which prompted Mr. Dougherty to counter, “Let’s look at the tape.” Talking over each other at times, Mr. Waddington asked if the task force was “working diligently” and Mr. Dougherty said it was.

“Who are we talking about?” Mr. Waddington asked. “The two-person committee you formed or the whole group?”

“The whole group,” Mr. Dougherty said. “They’re working very closely together and I hope you don’t disrupt it. You seem kind of angry about it.”

Mr. Waddington said he was not angry but “concerned” that either Mr. Dougherty wasn’t revealing enough about the process or he wasn’t getting anything done “because I keep getting these calls from Richard.”

“We all know Richard,” Mr. Doughtery said of Mr. Kelly, saying he “adored the guy” but adding, “I’m amazed you’d credit anything Richard says.” He said Mr. Kelly was “excitable” and someone who thinks “World War Four” is looming. “It’s not World War Four,” Mr. Dougherty said.

Councilman Chris Lewis stopped the sparring by referring back to a conference call Mr. Waddington had announced that he, Councilman Peter Reich and Town Attorney Laury Dowd would be having with an environmental specialist, Steve Gross, from Hudson Highlands Environmental Consultants. Mr. Gross was referred to them by Richard Kelly, who told the Town Board at a previous work session that Mr. Gross could properly delineate all the wetlands on the causeways for a nominal fee. “So you and Peter are going to talk to this man?” Ms. Lewis asked.

“Good government in action,” Mr. Dougherty quipped.

“Somebody’s got to act,” Mr. Waddington countered.

Councilman Ed Brown joked that the contretemps could be seen all over the world because Town Board meetings are now streamed online and can be viewed any place with internet access.

To view the exchange, go to townhallstreams.com, select Shelter Island from the town list, select the July 26 meeting, and move the scrubber button to just before 40 minutes into the meeting.

Meant to limit development on the Ram Island causeways after a house was constructed there last year, the proposed regulations were withdrawn by the Town Board for review after many speakers at the pubic hearing on June 8 opposed them, calling instead for the preservation of causeway open space.

The board will hold a public hearing tomorrow, Friday, July 29, at its 4:30 p.m. meeting on a proposal to extend a 17-month-old moratorium on causeway construction until the end of 2011 to give the town time to revise the proposal. The moratorium was to expire July 31 but the board is expected to extend it to allow for a new proposal to be developed and adopted.

Also at Tuesday’s work session, the board:

• Heard Republican candidate Bob DeStefano thank the town Highway Department for clearing out the disputed right of way off Grace’s Lane, which he’d raised as an issue last week. Resident Bill Dickerson has complained for years that waterfront property owner Vincent Testa has blocked the neighborhood right of way to West Neck Harbor with a pool fence and bulkhead. Town Attorney Laury Dowd reported Tuesday that the town had given Mr. Testa’s attorney a deadline of July 31 to remove the fence or the town would apply to the Zoning Board of Appeals to revoke variances granted in 1990 that allowed Mr. Testa to build a pool house.

• Heard Supervisor Dougherty report that Highway Superintendent Mark Ketcham was under the weather and so would not be at the session as planned to present final estimates for the work to upgrade the kitchen at the town’s Senior Activity Center or go over the Highway Department’s budget.

• Heard Councilwoman Lewis report she’d be attending the Zoning Board of Appeals meeting the following night to review with board members the issue of non-conforming uses. The Town Board recently withdrew a proposal to clarify the town code’s rules for expanding, and the discontinuance of pre-existing non-conforming uses, which ZBA members had requested after a case came up last year involving the Olde Country Inn, now La Maison Blanche.