Southold Supervisor Scott Russell gave his annual “State of the Town” speech Thursday night at Southold Town Hall.
Speaking to a small audience and members of the town board gathered in the meeting hall,Russell reviewed the accomplishments of his administration in 2015, his 10th year as supervisor, and laid out goals for the year ahead. See video below.
Among the highlights of 2015, the year Southold celebrated its 275th anniversary, Russell noted:
- an upgrade of the town’s credit rating by Moody’s to Aa1, the highest in town history
- a bond refinance that will save the town $730,000 from 2016 to 2030
- the implementation of short-term rental regulations
- the preservation of 20.9 acres of farmland and 10.28 acres of open space
- a deer cull resulting in the harvesting of 250 deer, part of a program begun in 2008 that to date, he said, has resulted in the harvesting of 1,390 deer in Southold Town and the donation of 35,000 pounds of venison to local food banks
- completion of the first full year of a comingled recycling program, that has increased participation and streamlined operations, resulting in a net savings of about $30,000
- completion of the first draft of the land use chapter of the comprehensive plan with hamlet community meetings
- implementation of an online permit portal, allowing the public to purchase certain permits online, and
- addition of eight police officers to the town police department.
At the top of the supervisor’s list of goals is the creation of a minimum of 50 new affordable apartments over the next three years, in small scale projects “scattered” throughout the hamlets. Russell called for amending the zoning code to allow the development of up to six apartments as a principal use in commercial zones.
Russell also listed as a goal the “complete restoration of town roads,” which he said is a “substantial and costly project” that may require the town to pierce the 2-percent tax levy cap.
“We need to put all of our options on the table, including bonding if necessary,” Russell said. Southold resurfaced 19 miles of town roadways in 2015, he said. Russell also called on the state to end the “tax-free” status of the wages paid to officers on disability leave, which he said “appears to be nothing more than a contrivance…to foster good will with the police unions.”
The supervisor called for the imposition of a time limit of two years on police disability leave.
Russell again called for the East End towns to come together in an alliance to address nitrogen reduction. He said the East End towns have needs that are different from the towns in western Suffolk. “I have a very real fear that our needs will be eclipsed by the larger towns to the west,” he said.
He called on state lawmakers to support the environmental fund bond that would raise $5 billion for environmental protection and to support a state matching funds program that would provide a dollar-for-dollar match of funds spent locally on nitrogen reduction. The allocation of 20 percent of Peconic Bay Community Preservation Fund revenues — approved by the state legislature and up for a vote this November — will not produce sufficient revenue to deal with nitrogen issues on the East End, Russell said.
Russell has held the office of town supervisor for 10 years. In November, he was elected to his third four-year term as supervisor. (He was first elected to the post in 2005, and served one two-year term before the term was changed to four years.) Prior to being elected town supervisor, Russell was an elected assessor in Southold for 15 years.
Scott Russell: 2016 State of the Town
