Village of Woodbury’s lead agency status on annexation bid draws criticism

Following the decision to declare the Village of Woodbury as lead agency on the review of Kiryas Joel’s petition to annex Ace Farm, which includes land located within the town and village of Woodbury, the Woodbury Village Board agreed to obtain the legal services of Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner at the April 24 meeting.

During the meeting, village residents spoke about the proposed annexation’s potential impact on the community.

Gregory Macleod of Highland Mills urged the village to consider the rapid development in the area and its impact on future residents of the area. He asked the village to consider the impact on water, sewer and traffic needs for a growing community and to engage in smart growth strategies.

“We need to plan for the future, not just five years, ten years,” MacLeod said. “We need to start thinking generationally. “What’s this area going to look like in 60 years for our kids or in a hundred years for our kids?”

James Ng of Highland Mills questioned why Trustees Matthew Fabbro and James Freiband, during the prior meeting, voted against the rest of the board, who agreed that the Woodbury Village Board should be the lead agency on the annexation review.

He asked the two trustees whom they thought should serve as lead agency and said the village should be united in this matter.

“You know for me the optics are terrible,” said Ng, who also claimed KJ would take advantage of the perceived lack of unity amongst village officials.

Fabbro said he voted no on declaring the village as lead agency for procedural reasons and to avoid any issues before the review began. He said this may have been a mistake and acknowledged residents were upset by the vote.

Fabbro also claimed his vote may have been due to lack of experience and part of the reason he voted no was because he wanted the town and village to agree. He added that because the town and village were now in agreement and legal counsel was approved, everyone was now on the same page and ready to move forward.

Freiband defended his actions, saying, as he stated earlier, that he felt it was premature to declare the village the lead agency. He said he wanted to be sure certain prerequisites were met in terms of notifications and coordination letters so that the decision can hold up to legal scrutiny.

According to Freiband, optics don’t win court cases if you don’t follow proper procedure. He said that if the village fails to handle the matter correctly, the court will tell another party to serve as lead agency and noted KJ is very interested in serving in this role.

Garbage complaints

Thomas Powell of Central Valley commented on the conditions of communities within and around Woodbury that aren’t properly handling garbage disposals, running illegal businesses and overcrowding single-family homes. He also questioned why the village can’t enforce existing laws, such as requiring residents to bring up their garbage bins after pickup.

Powell also expressed his frustration with the process of filing complaints and handling violations.

Tara Burek, the confidential advisor the mayor, agreed it was a slow procedure and shared that while she was on the village board this was one of her biggest complaints. She said the number of outstanding violations is unbelievably high, and it’s a very slow and drawn-out process.

Fish dying in Cromwell Lake

During the meeting, Mayor Andrew Giacomazza said he is hoping to address why so many fish were dying in Cromwell Lake.

He said he is proposing cleaning the lake in a manner that won’t impact the fish and is reaching out to the DEC and other consultants on how to investigate what is contaminating this body of water.

The mayor agreed with Fabbro that the fish dying could be due to the presence of algae and other invasive species.