Complaints about social media highlight Woodbury Village Board meeting

Elected officials from the town and village of Woodbury shared their concerns over municipal matters being exchanged over social media before the boards have time to review and share information with the public.

Prior to the April 10 Woodbury Village Board meeting, an anonymous member of a private Facebook group posted information about the village of Kiryas Joel’s desire to annex Ace Farms, village Treasurer Desiree Potvin claimed.

During the village meeting, Potvin questioned how this post was shared when the only people aware of the annexation petition were people who work for the town and the village. She said she believed the post was shared to a Facebook Group called Welcome to Woodbury (Hudson Valley, NY), for which she thinks one of the town council members serves as an admin.

“It’d be interesting to know who actually posted the information and how they were made aware of it before the attorney was able to speak to this board, and I don’t know whether the town board attorney had an opportunity to speak to their board,” said Potvin.

Village Mayor Andrew Giacomazza said he and Town Supervisor Kathryn Luciani received the petition for an annexation from Kiryas Joel earlier that day. He said he, Luciani and the town and village attorneys were meeting on April 11 to discuss the matter.

Luciani said the town and village are taking the request seriously. But she also spoke on the issue being shared on Facebook.

“You know social media stinks sometimes,” she said. “People put things out there and unfortunately it gets out there before we even get to be able to grab a hold of it and actually read through everything and all the documents. So, I just want the community to know that we are paying attention to it, and you know we won’t be answering on social media especially since you know we don’t have everything right now but we will be getting together to discuss this.”

While Luciani claimed she and the town would not be discussing the matter on social media, on April 11, Giacomazza posted on the village of Woodbury Facebook page, reiterating that the town and village had received a petition for annexation for lands at Ace Farms.

“At this moment, we are working through the facts. The Village’s attorney is reviewing the petition with our consultants. This promises to be a long and arduous road ahead and one that will need the community’s involvement,” Giacomazza posted.

He said a public hearing would be held for residents to share their views and that he is available to answer questions.

Village as lead agency

During the meeting, the village board declared its intent to serve as lead agency on the environmental review of the proposed annexation.

Trustee James Freiband said he felt it was too early for the village to declare itself as lead agency, claiming that there were protocols to follow to notify other potential agencies. Village

Attorney Kelly Naughton disagreed, saying she believed this was the right time for this action.

Village budget

The village adopted its budget for the fiscal 2025-26 fiscal year. Giacomazza said that the salaries for himself and each of the trustees would remain at 42,000 and 8,000, respectively. The mayor also reported that the budget came under the state tax cap levy and thanked Potvin and the department heads for their hard work.