Fabbro & Freiband Push To End Woodbury's Building Moratorium ASAP
In other local news, there's a norovirus on the loose, and guess who got it!
After being chewed out at the last village board meeting — for seemingly wanting to obstruct and derail Village of Woodbury business — Councilman Freiband was on his best behavior at last night’s meeting.
I wanted to be there in attendance; however, I got hit with the norovirus making the rounds in the North East. More on protecting yourself from the norovirus at the end of this post. For now, let’s get to the meeting!
Builders Vs. Preservationists
There are two groups of people that dominate the Southern Orange County area: Builders and Preservationists.
A preservationist isn’t necessarily anti-building. And builders aren’t necessarily anti-preservation; however, more often than not their goals & interests are not aligned.
For example, I’m a preservationist. I think there should be an emergency order issued for any new development or construction on Lakes Road in Monroe because the road now regularly floods, presenting a danger to current and future residents.
Previously, the road only went under water once every five years or so. Now it’s happening multiple times in just one year because of climate change.
This emergency order would stop any development, including ones that may have already been approved, like Henry Farms.
That does not mean I’m anti-development though. I just think we’re not at all taking seriously the impact of climate change and what to do about it.
Unfortunately, two members of the Woodbury Village Board fall into the camp of most builders, who don’t care at all about the climate. They just care about the money the builders they represent can make through real estate development.
That was obvious at last night’s meeting when the building moratorium came up for renewal.
The Water Superintendent, Michael Phillips, spoke first.
According to him, Well #12 is still undergoing maintenance. Well #8 is also being worked on.
The Superintendent reminded the Village Board that they lost two wells, which Well #12 is meant to replace.
“We’re in the same boat that we were in for the last five or six years,” said Phillips.
“And we’re going to be in that until we get one more well put online.”
Mayor Giacomazza asked about well rehabs that are also currently happening.
Well #3 is being rehabbed. Well #5 and Well #6 also need regular maintenance, which will require more funding in next year’s budget to complete. Well #5 and #6 require semi-regular maintenance because of how they’re built.
Phillips also highlighted that, when the well rehabs are finished, that’s not the end of it. The Department of Health has to come in and inspect the wells before they are activated or re-activated (depending on which well we’re talking about, since the wells are in various states of construction and repair right now.)
Here’s where it got interesting.
Superintendent Phillips was unsure of what the timeline looks like for the well rehabs to be completed, although he’s hoping it’ll be by April because of the annual water restrictions in Woodbury, which this would help alleviate. “Everyone likes a green lawn” he said twice during the meeting.
But Councilman Freiband seemed much more interested in ending the building moratorium.
“If this comes online by let’s say the end of April,” said the councilman, “then we can actually end the [building] moratorium at that point.”
The Village Attorney agreed, but then The Water Superintendent interjected to say:
“No. We Can’t End The Moratorium.”
The current rehabilitation work only replaces the wells that Woodbury lost.
Well #11 needs to also still be brought online according to Phillips. Well #12 also. And other work needs to be completed still, like potentially finding and creating a new well.
Councilman Fabbro — also representing the interests of the builders — then asked if the residential moratorium could end once this work was completed. Phillips agreed with Fabbro that, once all the work is done, the moratorium could be re-examined. But he also stated to Fabbro, “You can only take so much water out of the ground where you find it."
Freiband again asked if there would be more water with the completion of this work, and again was told that the current work would just put Woodbury back to where it was.
Councilman Fabbro asked for the hydraulic report. Apparently he hasn’t been provided with it despite requesting it multiple times.
Fabbro’s reasoning for the request was to figure out the timeline for when the wells would be activated and how much water they’re producing.
That stuck out to me like a serious red flag.
What’s the rush?
Unless of course, you were elected by builders and other real estate business interests.
For now, the Village Board unanimously approved continuing the building moratorium.
But … Yeah. This is not the end.
There’s 100 acres over at ACE Farms that’s about to become available for preservation or building.
You better believe Fabbro and Freiband are aware of this, and that’s why they’re pushing to end the moratorium.
If I were a Woodbury resident, I’d make sure I’m at every Village and Town Board meeting going forward to see who’s side your elected representatives are on.
Protect Yourself From Norovirus
Early this week, my entire family came down with this year’s norovirus.
It sucks.
And there’s not much you can really do about it once you have it.
Reducing the potential for norovirus comes down to washing your hands thoroughly, washing your clothes in warm water but …
If you eat out a lot, you’ll want to cut that way back until the virus subsides. Usually winter is when it peaks.
We’re big on frequenting all the local restaurants whenever possible, but the odds are high that someone working there isn’t washing their hands properly, and that’s how this thing spreads.
So, be safe out there.
No one wants to see you re-enact scenes from “The Exorcist,” which is what having norovirus is like.