I received an email this morning from a LIBI member who shall remain anonymous for obvious reasons. He shared with me that the "due to the 'slow down' the Town of Brookhaven has apparently cancelled their Nov. 17th Planning Board meeting and is not sure about the Dec. 15th."
The LIBI member has applications that could and should be heard but the Town can't be bothered. This is a town that is hurting financially because its tax revenues are down. And yet they can't be bothered to meet. The LIBI member writes, "the Supervisor, Town Board, and Department heads could not possibly be any more cavalier about their role in exacerbating an already difficult climate." THe LIBI member could not be more spot on.
The LIBI member also informed me that he has been given the run-around by the Town of Smithtown. He is concerned that his contracts may elapse due to bureaucratic malaise. Again, egregious behavior on the part of local government officials at a time when every dollar is crucial to both the local economy and local municipalities.
LIBI will step up its efforts to draw attention to this completely unacceptable treatment of the building community. This nonsense has got to stop.
Showing posts with label Town of Brookhaven. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Town of Brookhaven. Show all posts
Friday, October 17, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
A Call to Arms
The Long Island Business Institute plans to be an active participant in the Town of Brookhaven’s Brookhaven 2030 charettes this weekend. If your life and/or livelihood is tied in any way to the future of Brookhaven you need to participate, as well. LIBI will host a meeting on Tuesday afternoon (5:30 pm) in the LIBI office to discuss specific issues and questions that will need to be asked of the charrette organizers.
THE RECOMMENDATIONS MADE BY THE CHARETTE ORGANIZERS – IF ADOPTED BY THE BROOKHAVEN TOWN BOARD – WILL BE USED AS THE BASIS FOR ZONING CHANGES OVER THE NEXT SEVEN YEARS.
The concerns of the building community are the concerns of Long Island, quite frankly. Without more housing on the Island our companies will not be able to sustain themselves and be forced to leave. With them go the jobs that keep our economy working.
This issue is too important to leave to our elected officials to figure out on their own. Please be sure to attend the meeting at LIBI on Tuesday afternoon at 5:30 pm. Feel free to call me at the LIBI office if you have any questions – 631-232-2345.
THE RECOMMENDATIONS MADE BY THE CHARETTE ORGANIZERS – IF ADOPTED BY THE BROOKHAVEN TOWN BOARD – WILL BE USED AS THE BASIS FOR ZONING CHANGES OVER THE NEXT SEVEN YEARS.
The concerns of the building community are the concerns of Long Island, quite frankly. Without more housing on the Island our companies will not be able to sustain themselves and be forced to leave. With them go the jobs that keep our economy working.
This issue is too important to leave to our elected officials to figure out on their own. Please be sure to attend the meeting at LIBI on Tuesday afternoon at 5:30 pm. Feel free to call me at the LIBI office if you have any questions – 631-232-2345.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Builders to the rescue, face flak anyway
Amidst the reports this past week about the economic turmoil and financial chaos that looms on the horizon were two news stories about builders looking to develop significant housing projects on Long Island.
Given the Island's well-documented housing shortage - not to mention the utter lack of building activity of late that has idled every aspect of the industry as well as dried up several revenue streams for local municipalities - you would think that such announcements would be greeted with huzzahs, if not a parade down Main Street.
But no - this is Long Island. Both stories featured headlines highlighting the fact that local civic groups plan to fight the development.
The first, "Groups to fight planned development in Middle Island", appeared in Newsday on Wednesday. The following day saw this article, "Hicksville developer struggles to win over Islandia neighbors", appear in the Long Island Business News Flash Report.
There is hope, however. To her credit, Brookhaven Councilwoman Connie Kepert supports the project. She gets it, if you will, and is quoted in the article as saying, "the 39-acre project would be a boon for Brookhaven's tax base and fit into the town's development plan for Middle Island. She said the project includes about 18 acres of open space and would be a walkable, urban alternative to typical Long Island sprawl."
The article also mentions that the developer, Frank Weber of Sandy Hollow Estates, has the right to build 34 single-family homes on the property under the current zoning. Kepert smartly points out the sewage treatment plant planned for the development would release less nitrogen than 34 homes built without the plant.
The developer plans to leave 18 acres for open, walkable space at no cost to the local taxpayer. That fact is buried six paragraphs into the story, however, and is conveniently ignored by Dick Amper, the leader of the groups vowing to fight the effort.
The second article reports on Pinewood Development Corp.'s plans to build a condo community where a horse farm now stands. The neighbors say the "traffic will be a nightmare," even though the horse farm itself at one time accommodated hundreds of customers and tractor-trailers coming and going all week long. The owner of the horse farm, according to the article, can no longer keep his farm operating at a profit and is perfectly within his right to sell his property to Pinewood.
The Long Island Builders Institute will keep a close eye on both projects. We salute Councilwoman Kepert for her willingness to consider the big picture, although we fear in doing so we will make her a target of Amper's Army. Of course, her day job involves teaching teenagers in high school so we have no doubts about her ability to deal with the angst Amper plans to send her way.
Given the Island's well-documented housing shortage - not to mention the utter lack of building activity of late that has idled every aspect of the industry as well as dried up several revenue streams for local municipalities - you would think that such announcements would be greeted with huzzahs, if not a parade down Main Street.
But no - this is Long Island. Both stories featured headlines highlighting the fact that local civic groups plan to fight the development.
The first, "Groups to fight planned development in Middle Island", appeared in Newsday on Wednesday. The following day saw this article, "Hicksville developer struggles to win over Islandia neighbors", appear in the Long Island Business News Flash Report.
There is hope, however. To her credit, Brookhaven Councilwoman Connie Kepert supports the project. She gets it, if you will, and is quoted in the article as saying, "the 39-acre project would be a boon for Brookhaven's tax base and fit into the town's development plan for Middle Island. She said the project includes about 18 acres of open space and would be a walkable, urban alternative to typical Long Island sprawl."
The article also mentions that the developer, Frank Weber of Sandy Hollow Estates, has the right to build 34 single-family homes on the property under the current zoning. Kepert smartly points out the sewage treatment plant planned for the development would release less nitrogen than 34 homes built without the plant.
The developer plans to leave 18 acres for open, walkable space at no cost to the local taxpayer. That fact is buried six paragraphs into the story, however, and is conveniently ignored by Dick Amper, the leader of the groups vowing to fight the effort.
The second article reports on Pinewood Development Corp.'s plans to build a condo community where a horse farm now stands. The neighbors say the "traffic will be a nightmare," even though the horse farm itself at one time accommodated hundreds of customers and tractor-trailers coming and going all week long. The owner of the horse farm, according to the article, can no longer keep his farm operating at a profit and is perfectly within his right to sell his property to Pinewood.
The Long Island Builders Institute will keep a close eye on both projects. We salute Councilwoman Kepert for her willingness to consider the big picture, although we fear in doing so we will make her a target of Amper's Army. Of course, her day job involves teaching teenagers in high school so we have no doubts about her ability to deal with the angst Amper plans to send her way.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Where's the Accountability?
If LIBI members ran their businesses the way the government goes about its daily operations, the world would be in a lot more trouble than it is in right now.
Take these news items, for instance.
This morning's New York Daily reports that "despite enacting a state hiring freeze, the Paterson administration created a $140,000-a-year job for a recently retired Queens assemblyman. Ivan Lafayette, 78, was named deputy superintendent for community affairs at the state Insurance Department...The higher pay will also help him boost his pension, which is based on the combined average of the last three years of a person's salary."
Closer to home, the North Shore Sun has a cover story this week detailing how the Suffolk County Deparment of Public Works changed the speed limit signs on the William Floyd Parkway to 45 miles per hour from 55 mph. What's newsworthy about that? Funny you should ask.
Turns out the Brookhaven Town Board voted to lower the speed limit in 1992! It took 16 years but SC DPW finally got around to posting the new limits!
Or how about this one from the Sunday New York Times: "Virtually every career employee — as many as 97 percent in one recent year — applies for and gets disability payments soon after retirement, a computer analysis of federal records by The New York Times has found. Since 2000, those records show, about a quarter of a billion dollars in federal disability money has gone to former L.I.R.R. employees, including about 2,000 who retired during that time.
"The L.I.R.R.’s disability rate suggests it is one of the nation’s most dangerous places to work. Yet in four of the last five years, the railroad has won national awards for improving worker safety."
Now, I don't know Ivan Lafayette from Marquis de Lafayette, I rarely drive on the William Floyd and I know my brother in-law works real hard at his job at the LIRR. I mention these items because they epitomize why Long Islanders get socked with some of the highest taxes in the region. Inefficiencies and government officials "taking care of each other" have been the norm for way too long. Long Islanders have to start holding our elected officials more accountable because we can no longer afford business as usual.
Years ago I attended an LIA breakfast featuring the two county executives reporting on the state of their respective economies. One of them went on and on about how he had reduced the number of "non-essential" employees on the county payroll. One of the business owners at my table looked around at his table mates and wondered aloud, "How many 'non-essential' employees do you have on your payroll?"
LIBI members have all taken measures to stay "lean and mean," and more often than not these measures required painful decisions involving valued employees. It's time we started demanding the same painful decisions - and lean and mean results - from our elected officials.
Take these news items, for instance.
This morning's New York Daily reports that "despite enacting a state hiring freeze, the Paterson administration created a $140,000-a-year job for a recently retired Queens assemblyman. Ivan Lafayette, 78, was named deputy superintendent for community affairs at the state Insurance Department...The higher pay will also help him boost his pension, which is based on the combined average of the last three years of a person's salary."
Closer to home, the North Shore Sun has a cover story this week detailing how the Suffolk County Deparment of Public Works changed the speed limit signs on the William Floyd Parkway to 45 miles per hour from 55 mph. What's newsworthy about that? Funny you should ask.
Turns out the Brookhaven Town Board voted to lower the speed limit in 1992! It took 16 years but SC DPW finally got around to posting the new limits!
Or how about this one from the Sunday New York Times: "Virtually every career employee — as many as 97 percent in one recent year — applies for and gets disability payments soon after retirement, a computer analysis of federal records by The New York Times has found. Since 2000, those records show, about a quarter of a billion dollars in federal disability money has gone to former L.I.R.R. employees, including about 2,000 who retired during that time.
"The L.I.R.R.’s disability rate suggests it is one of the nation’s most dangerous places to work. Yet in four of the last five years, the railroad has won national awards for improving worker safety."
Now, I don't know Ivan Lafayette from Marquis de Lafayette, I rarely drive on the William Floyd and I know my brother in-law works real hard at his job at the LIRR. I mention these items because they epitomize why Long Islanders get socked with some of the highest taxes in the region. Inefficiencies and government officials "taking care of each other" have been the norm for way too long. Long Islanders have to start holding our elected officials more accountable because we can no longer afford business as usual.
Years ago I attended an LIA breakfast featuring the two county executives reporting on the state of their respective economies. One of them went on and on about how he had reduced the number of "non-essential" employees on the county payroll. One of the business owners at my table looked around at his table mates and wondered aloud, "How many 'non-essential' employees do you have on your payroll?"
LIBI members have all taken measures to stay "lean and mean," and more often than not these measures required painful decisions involving valued employees. It's time we started demanding the same painful decisions - and lean and mean results - from our elected officials.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Fantasy Land
Newly re-minted LIBI member Michael Dubb (http://www.beechwoodhomes.com/news-whoswho-mdubb-augsep-05.htm) spoke about a fantasy of his during a panel yesterday at Building Long Island (http://www.buildinglongisland.com/) magazine's annual "Cutting Through The Red Tape" breakfast symposium at the The Milleridge Cottage in Jericho.
He shared with the 200-strong audience that he has enough property to build 700 houses in the Town of Brookhaven but that he is holding off from doing so for the time being. He said his fantasy is that the Town of Brookhaven comes to him and says, "What can we do to get you to build those 700 homes?"
Given the financial hardships the Town is going through right now, as well as the region's well-documented shortage of affordable housing you would think Mr. Dubb's fantasy would be a no-brainer reality. But no, we live on Long Island where there is an unfortunate disconnect amongst our elected officials in that they do not understand the relationship between home construction and remodeling and a healthy economy. Instead of encouragement, our members get roadblocks and delays by way of onerous paperwork, expensive and inexplicable fees and seemingly endless placating of civic associations.
The elected officials on the panel - Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi (http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/CountyExecutive/Biography.html), Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy (http://www.co.suffolk.ny.us/departments/CountyExec.aspx) and Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor John Venditto (http://www.oysterbaytown.com/) all talked a good game. Suozzi pushed his "Cool Downtowns" concept - and multi-residential dwellings in downtown areas near train stations are key to Long Island's future. Levy discussed his on-going efforts to bring fiscal sanity to Suffolk County - including his efforts to have light-duty officers run the Suffolk County Police Athletic League, a move that will save County taxpayers $400,000 according to the County Executive. And Venditto suggested that Oyster Bay is doing "quite well." Tell that to the LIBI member who has a significant amount of business stuck in the limbo of the building moratorium in Massapequa.
Oh well. LIBI will use this space to monitor the local municipalities and draw attention to situations and government policies that are detrimental to the building community and, by extenstion, the Long Island economy. Stay tuned.
He shared with the 200-strong audience that he has enough property to build 700 houses in the Town of Brookhaven but that he is holding off from doing so for the time being. He said his fantasy is that the Town of Brookhaven comes to him and says, "What can we do to get you to build those 700 homes?"
Given the financial hardships the Town is going through right now, as well as the region's well-documented shortage of affordable housing you would think Mr. Dubb's fantasy would be a no-brainer reality. But no, we live on Long Island where there is an unfortunate disconnect amongst our elected officials in that they do not understand the relationship between home construction and remodeling and a healthy economy. Instead of encouragement, our members get roadblocks and delays by way of onerous paperwork, expensive and inexplicable fees and seemingly endless placating of civic associations.
The elected officials on the panel - Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi (http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/CountyExecutive/Biography.html), Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy (http://www.co.suffolk.ny.us/departments/CountyExec.aspx) and Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor John Venditto (http://www.oysterbaytown.com/) all talked a good game. Suozzi pushed his "Cool Downtowns" concept - and multi-residential dwellings in downtown areas near train stations are key to Long Island's future. Levy discussed his on-going efforts to bring fiscal sanity to Suffolk County - including his efforts to have light-duty officers run the Suffolk County Police Athletic League, a move that will save County taxpayers $400,000 according to the County Executive. And Venditto suggested that Oyster Bay is doing "quite well." Tell that to the LIBI member who has a significant amount of business stuck in the limbo of the building moratorium in Massapequa.
Oh well. LIBI will use this space to monitor the local municipalities and draw attention to situations and government policies that are detrimental to the building community and, by extenstion, the Long Island economy. Stay tuned.
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