Sewer system issues, ethics complaints discussed

Orange County Legislator Peter Tuohy told the Monroe Town Board at the Aug. 4 meeting that he had learned last month that the Village of South Blooming Grove failed to perform the necessary treatment to mitigate the release of hydrogen sulfide from their sewage system for a time because they ran out of the necessary materials.

The county’s Environmental Facilities and Services, he said, were able to connect with the Village of South Blooming Grove and were able to secure the necessary products ahead of the Village of Monroe Carnival held late last month. He added that the county will be monitoring the inventory of treatment materials to ensure this doesn’t happen again.

Councilmember Maureen Richardson said she and Councilmember Mary Bingham learned the administrator of the Orange County Sewer District Number One has the authority to act against South Blooming Grove for failing to properly treat their sewage to address the odor caused by the release of hydrogen sulfide.

Tuohy said that they have issued violations, but South Blooming Grove has refused to address the matter and now the county is looking into possible legal action. He said that he would research Richardson’s information about the sewer district’s administrator’s enforcement capabilities.

Maria May of Southfields questioned the lack of a systematic way to address the issues with the Orange County Sewer District One. She called for more clarity claiming this same issue will repeat five and 10 years from now.

Monroe resident B.J. Mendelson also spoke about the sewer issues, claiming Tuohy repeatedly lied about the issue at public meetings. Mendelson said that despite Tuohy’s and the county’s claim to contrary, South Blooming Grove, not Chester, is the primary contributor to the hydrogen sulfide gas in the Village of Monroe. He also said that Tuohy, Councilperson Dorey Houle and Supervisor Anthony Cardone knew of this issue since 2021.

During the meeting, Cardone referenced a letter sent to him from the Town’s Board of Ethics (BOE) that claimed Richardson filed retaliatory complaints against their members, shortly after the July 14 Town Board meeting, because she disagreed with their determination that she had violated town code for attempting to silence a resident during public comment at the May 19 Monroe Town Board meeting. The BOE also questioned whether candidates for office should be able to file ethics complaints during election season and whether they should be able to reject certain complaints until after Election Day.

Richardson said recommending elected officials refrain from filing ethics complaints is unlawful. Referring to her April 9 filing concerning accusations that then Highway Superintendent James Patterson was simultaneously employed by a firm contracted with the town, Richardson said her intent was for the matter to be investigated properly. The BOE determined that these claims were unsubstantiated.

“These complaints are not meant to be a bullying tactic or a political tactic,” Richardson said. “A negative determination often helps with the perception of the public that we can say, look, they did an investigation. There was no ill will. And those are what disclosures are for.”

Monroe resident Liam Wisehart questioned the motivation of the BOE, claiming that they respond to complaints differently depending on the political affiliation of the filer and didn’t properly follow through on Richardson’s filing concerning Patterson because he is a Republican. He and resident Daniel Burke also questioned the BOE’s decision regarding Richardson’s actions during the July 14 meeting. Burke said that the comments Richardson attempted to stop were political and inappropriate for the forum and called out Cardone for not supporting her.

Responding to Wisehart’s comments, Cardone asked how he would know what the BOE did to verify the information and said he was making assumptions. In response to Burke’s comment, Cardone said he did not stop the speaker out of concerns for her free speech rights and that she was interrupted before finishing her thought.

Bingham agreed with Burke that these comments were political and Cardone should have intervened. She claimed under prior administrations the Supervisors did stop the political speech during public comment.

Houle and Councilmember Sal Scancarello defended the Board of Ethics and highlighted their status as volunteers for the town. Cardone agreed, saying that the board is supposed to respect those it appoints to these positions.