Significant shake up at Town water committee: Chairman, long-time members replaced

The Town Board voted 3-2 Monday night to cut the Water Advisory Committee from seven members to five; not reappoint three long-serving members whose terms expired on April 2; and replace Peter Grand with Andrew Chapman as chairman. Mr. Grand’s term as a member is now set to expire at the end of April 2027.

In a frequently heard criticism, this vote was cited by some as one of several made strictly along political lines. Critics maintain this perception started at the beginning of Supervisor Amber Brach-Williams’ term last January, when the four members of the Town Board failed to reach a compromise on filling a Board seat with one of 11 qualified applicants for the job.

The 3-2 vote Monday was a straight party line decision, with all three Democrats, Councilman Gordon Gooding, Benjamin Dyett and Albert Dickson voting for the shake up, opposed by Republicans Ms. Brach-Williams and Councilwoman Meg Larsen.

The three members who were removed are long-time member Ken Pysher; Doug Sherrod, who has been a spokesman to get salt water intrusion testing in Silver Beach and the Menantic Peninsula; and Lisa Shaw, long-time chairwoman of the West Neck Water District Board and a leader on WAC in creating forums on the dangers of using fertilizers that affect groundwater and drinking water in various areas of the Island.

Sean Davy, the newest member of the WAC, has been a long-time observer of the Town Board and other committees’ actions and is a frequent participant in public discussions. He asked the Board if there has been an outreach to the members who were dropped to express gratitude for their work.

Mr. Davy thanked the Board for the confidence it’s placing in him as a relatively new member of the WAC, but said, “It’s not fun to be part of a contentious process.”

The contribution Mr. Grand has made as chairman of the committee has been significant, Mr. Davy added, and everyone owes the former chairman a debt for elevating discussions to another level.

Ms. Brach-Williams said she would be signing letters to them. Councilman Benjamin Dyett said he had called each of the three to thank them for their service.

The only non-controversial change in WAC membership was a decision to remove Town Engineer Joe Finora as a voting member. He will remain in an advisory role to

 the WAC, providing technical information to the members, but not to take a stand as a voting member.

Prior to party-line vote, Ms. Brach-Williams said she would vote against the resolution, while not disparaging any members who would be going forward on the committee. She said she believes the work the committee has needs seven members, and would not have eliminated the three members who were not re-appointed and whose contributions on the subject of water count for more than 15 years of knowledge.

As for the change in length of terms for remaining members, the supervisor has been reviewing all committees to ensure term lengths are staggered. Deputy Supervisor Meg Larsen supported Ms. Brach-Williams’ reasons for her vote against the resolution, saying the amount of work the WAC has on its plate requires seven members; dropping three members who have significant knowledge about water issues is a mistake.

Mr. Dyett said his vote in favor of the re-structuring of the committee was not political but based on his belief that five members chosen would be effective and, if newly-minted Chairman Chapman decides he needs more members, he can return to the Town Board and make that request.

“I don’t think this is any disrespect to anybody,” Councilman Gooding said about the three members being dropped and Mr. Grand being replaced as WAC chairman.

Mr. Gooding has been challenging his Board colleagues to stop pushing water and septic issues to the back burner and to move forward with decisions critical to cleaning up contamination in water.

Councilman Dickson joined his two Democratic colleagues in supporting the resolution, saying it’s not being done on political grounds, but rather he believes the new structure of the committee will make it more effective.

During his first term on the Board and since returning last year, he had been a strong proponent of the need to address water and septic issues. But he publicly criticized Mr. Grand at a previous meeting for speaking to the press about water issues without Town Board approval.

Following Monday’s meeting, Mr. Grand responded to a request for comment about his being removed as WAC chairman and other actions resulting from the Town Board vote.

“I am pleased to work with Andrew Chapman as the new chair,” Mr. Grand said. “However three Town Board members voted without real justification to reduce the size of the committee, sideline the town engineer and dismiss three highly qualified effective members. Ken, Lisa and Doug reviewed decades of research and were planning further studies and organizing community events and subcommittees on potable water, drug disposal, irrigation and fertilizer use — hands-on efforts needlessly lost.”

Mr. Sherrod opted not to comment on the actions. Ms. Shaw was traveling, but indicated she would do so and Mr. Pysher has not yet responded.