Dan's Papers - October 12, 2007 - Countdown to Election '07

The Questions:
1) What is your position on Helicopter noise?
2) If you are re-elected as Town Supervisor of East Hampton, which local issue do you feel is the most important to address first?

William J. Wilkinson - Republican Party Candidate

1) On August 20, 2007, I submitted my support for the Airport as comments to the Town Board. I have spent time at the airport, chatted with pilots and walked the runways. These pilots, as well as I, clearly recognize that helicopter noise continues to be an issue that needs to be addressed. In those comments I stated "I encourage cooperation between the Town, the pilots, the FAA, the community, our congressional representatives and helicopter services to work on regulation and programs to mitigate and resolve this issue". I was happy to read this week that both Congressman Bishop and Senator Charles Schumer have become actively engaged in the recent drafting of legislation that would fast track an FAA study on this issue. I would only hope that the engagement of Federal, State, Regional and County authorities to assist in the special issues of the Town would be the norm rather than exception.

2) The most important issue for immediate address is the fiscal condition of our Town. Fiscal control and personal accountability will be the foundation of my administration. The 2005 audit that was to be delivered in September 2006 is still missing. The 2006 audit, that was to be delivered in September 2007, is missing. There has not been an independent accounting of the McGintee administration since 2004. The $11 million surplus left by the Schneiderman administration is gone. We have overspent revenues every year of this administration. The numbers that the Townspeople have a right to see are being hidden. In addition, in order to raise revenues, increases in taxes and fees are driving more and more people out of town. This is not about politics but professional competence and personal accountability for the taxpayers' dollars.

Supervisor Bill McGintee - Democratic Party Candidate

1)Helicopter noise has become a problem for East Hampton Town residents as well as residents in surrounding communities. The Town has sought to control helicopter noise through a multi-faceted approach. Before explaining our approach, it needs to be made clear to the community that the FAA controls airspace. The airspace around East Hampton is uncontrolled airspace. Additionally, prior Republican administrations have accepted FAA funding which places a number of grant assurances on our airport. Those assurances have handcuffed the Town in exercising certain controls at our airport.
In May 2005, the Town installed an Airscene System to track the flight path and altitude of approaching helicopters. The Town pushed for voluntary compliance from helicopter companies to follow set routes at pre-established heights. A Jepson Instructional insert was developed for helicopter pilots and a noise hotline was created.
As a Master Plan is developed, a seasonal tower to control aircraft approach routes and heights is being considered. The Town is also researching legal avenues to control helicopter traffic which range from a Part 161 study to federal legislation to a ban in the year 2014 when certain FAA assurances run out.

2) If re-elected Town Supervisor, there are many issues that need to be addressed. The issue I would tackle first would be overcrowded housing and the diminishment of quality of life in our residential neighborhoods. This issue, if not the most important, is the most frequent complaint received in my office and code enforcement. The Town is in the process of rewriting our housing codes which will give code enforcement the tools needed to address this problem more efficiently. The code changes will be mostly directed at landlords who have little regard for the people of the neighborhood or the health and wellbeing of the occupants of these residences. Coupled with this, we well continue to aggressively pursue new and creative ways of housing our young families, seniors and working poor.

The Question:
1) What more do you think the Town of Southold can do to preserve its scenic vistas and open land?

Daniel Ross - Democratic Party Candidate

1) Southold Town can preserve more open space and farmland by continuing and expanding the methods presently in use. The methods include the purchase of open space and Development Rights, using 2% preservation funds and state and federal funds; the creation of legislative tools that aid preservation; the strengthening of the agricultural sector of our local economy: and, the completion of a transfer of development rights program that will shift the cost of preservation to developers who seek higher density in appropriate areas. 1,023 acres have been preserved in the four years that I have been a member of the town board. We need to continue our aggressive pursuit of state, county and federal preservation funds, and continue the intelligent use of the 2% land preservation fund. Second, we need to continue developing legislative tools that will aid preservation, such as the Conservation Subdivision Law that we adopted. A conservation subdivision results in a 60% reduction of the number of permitted residential units and requires the preservation of 80% of the land. The town board also recently adopted AgPDD legislation which provides for the incremental sale of development rights. This is for the working farmer who does not want to sell all the development rights at once. Both the Conservation Subdivision Law and the AgPDD legislation were designed to encourage the continued agricultural use of the land which is a third key to preservation, i.e., to keep the land in agriculture.

Bill Edwards - Democratic Party Candidate

Southold's critical challenge remains the development threat which could wipe out our agricultural industry, raise our taxes, and destroy the quality of life which brought or keeps most of us living here.
In the 3?_ years since I joined the board we have preserved forever 1023 acres, including 823 acres of farmland. We have preserved 13 acres for every new building lot created. We must maintain this progress for the 6,000 acres still at risk.
If farming ceases to be profitable, farmers will have no choice but to sell their land to developers. We must work with the agricultural community to eliminate unnecessary governmental burdens on farming and adopt a simplified Agricultural Site Plan for farm retail operations. Moreover, we must resolve the conflicts between town code and the state Ag & Markets law.
I spearheaded the new Ag PDD program, which allows farmers to sell their development rights one at a time in exchange fora contract to preserve their farmland in perpetuity. I will work on the Board to use this new program to benefit both landowners and the Town. I will continue to push for state and federal grants to assist us in the preservation challenge that remains before us.

Vincent Orlando - Republican Party Candidate
Was not received before press time.

William Ruland - Republican Party Candidate
Was not received before press time.