Long-time Southold Town Planning Board member Bill Cremers has resigned his position, Supervisor Scott Russell announced at a town board meeting last night.
Cremers joined the planning board in 1996 after retiring from the telephone company in Manhattan. A part-time resident of Mattituck since 1972, he moved from his home in Merrick to the North Fork permanently after his retirement in 1986.
Cremers, 86, joined the planning board after noticing the changing landscape of the North Fork.
“I started thinking about what Southold was going to look like in the future,” he said. “I wanted to help preserve whatever we could out here.”
Looking back over his 22 years on the planning board, Cremers said that for the most part he’s happy with the work they’ve done.
“There’s some good and some bad,” he said. “You can’t stop development; you can’t put a toll gate in Laurel and tell people they can’t come in anymore.”
Cremers is particularly pleased with the work Southold Town has done with land preservation and said that he hopes that continues.
The next big problem the town has to address is traffic, he said.
Cremers, who was forced to resign due to health problems, said that he enjoyed his time on the planning board very much.
“I was very sorry that I had to resign,” he said. “I definitely would have stayed on if I could have.”
Planning Board chairman Donald Wilcenski issued a statement regarding Cremers resignation:
“Bill has been an invaluable member of the Planning Board with his dedication, hard work and vast knowledge.The contributions and decisions that Bill made while serving on the Board over the many years will resonate well into in the future and benefit generations. It was a privilege to serve with him on the Board and he will be missed. We all wish him well in the future.”
Scott Russell issued the following statement:
“I have had the honor of working along side of Bill for 22 years. His hard work in service to the residents sets an example for us all. His tireless efforts and his expert knowledge simply cannot be replaced. He’s been quietly and diplomatically providing guidance to everyone in town government for years. I know he thinks he’s retiring but I can guarantee that we will be calling regularly for advice. He wants to retire; we don’t plan on letting him get away with it.”
