Government

Board discusses home rule resolutions and Herrmann’s Castle

REPORTER FILE PHOTO | The Town Board’s work session this week had real estate and home rule resolutions under discussion.

Two proposed home rule resolutions were under discussion at the Town Board’s work session this week, on deer management and a state plan for a regional transportation authority.

A bill in the state Legislature to create the authority requires a resolution from municipalities to buy into the idea. Such a proposal has been around for years in Albany, or as Mr. Dougherty said, “ It has whiskers.”

No one on the board was in favor of passing a home resolution on creating, as, Councilwoman Lewis put it, “another layer of government.”

The board did agree to the state’s request to pass a resolution giving municipalities more power to control its deer population, mainly through writing their own bow and arrow and firearm hunting restrictions and defining length of seasons.

The board moved into a discussion to decide if a special permit and wetland’s application on property owned by Zach Vela on Shore Road was complete.

The former so-called Herrmann’s Castle is slated to be  a home and recreation area for Mr. Vella and his family if the board first deems the application to be in order and then approves the project.

Mr. Vella wants to modernize the main house structure, create a two-bedroom second-story over an existing garage and add a tennis center on the more than 3-acre property .

Mr. Dougherty had reservations about the size, scope and complexity of the project, especially pointing out the two-story “tennis pavilion,” which has an elevated gallery for spectators.

Councilman Paul Shepherd said the agenda item was only for the board to decide if the plans were complete, not whether they were acceptable to the board.

After further back and forth, Mr. Brown asked, with a smile, “Is the discussion of completeness complete?”

Mr. Dougherty said he wasn’t sure and the board agreed to table the agenda item for further research and discussion.