This article appeared in the Townsman, April 28 edition
Pressure, but not necessarily prudence seems to be guiding a split Woodstock Town Board through the final processes required to execute the Comeau Easement (the “Easement”), the document that restricts the Comeau property to specific uses and regulates potential development for governmental purposes, with the Woodstock Land Conservancy (WLC) designated as the Easement enforcer,
Woodstock voters in 2003 overwhelmingly supported the Easement, but it has been tied up in court, and eventually decided once and for all by the New York State Court of Appeals late last year. Even without an executed document the Town Board has been careful to abide by its provisions scrupulously, even spending $10,000 last summer for a legal opinion to settle Councilman Chris Collins’ qualms before proceeding with a project to expand the Comeau upper parking lot to accommodate the traffic and safety concerns of soccer parents. (Red tape is now holding up that improvement.)
Among the first requirements was for the Town Board to make an environmental determination with regard to the Easement, which it did at its April 21 meeting with the votes of Councilpersons Collins, Liz Simonson and Jay Wenk by passing a resolution that declared the Easement would not have an adverse impact on the environment (a so-called “neg-dec”) Neither Supervisor Jeff Moran nor Councilwoman Terrie Rosenblum supported the resolution, each claiming the action to be “premature.”
Their position seemed to reflect the contents of a letter sent the Town Board members that same day from Kevin Smith, the WLC Director, which read in part with regard to the environmental determination; “If it is to review and discuss potential future decisions & schedule for an EAF process, declaring lead agency status, etc., on a potential Comeau conservation easement, WLC certainly supports such preparations by the Town Board.
“However,” Mr. Smith’s letter continued, “if the Board is considering making decisions or taking actions that would link to a specific conservation easement document, this would be premature in our opinion... We hope this facilitates constructive preparations on the Town’s part and helps avoid the inadvertent creation of obstacles in this complex process.”
Apparently the train began to leave the station as early as April 6, when Collins wrote to Smith, “The Comeau Easement is a significant issue that the town board has to address. It has been a couple of weeks since you and I last spoke and I would like to know when you plan on meeting with us. Jay mentioned a date of May 15th but I would like to set up a meeting sooner. Our last town board meeting for April is on the 21st. Can you meet with us by then? While I understand the preparation work you are doing is important we must address this as soon as possible. “
Smith wrote back to Collins the same day, “The WLC has a board meeting tonight. Comeau is on the agenda. I will forward your request to our board as part of those discussions. I anticipate sending a response the town board in the next day or two so everyone receives the same information from WLC.”
The issue next arose, according to FOILed documents, on April 16 when Collins wrote to Supervisor Moran and Cced the Town Board, asking that the Comeau Easement “PH [public hearing] & Neg Dec” be placed on the April 21 meeting’s agenda.
Later that day Councilwoman Rosenblum e-mailed the board and Supervisor, "Please wait until we heard from the [WLC] before putting anything on the agenda. I have expressed my concerns about this many times at our meetings and I see no reason why Chris’s concerns should take precedent over mine. I don not think that any action, prior to having the final document, is prudent”
Councilman Wenk’s weighed in shortly after with a message to the Board and Moran, “I will continue to support my reasons for this issue to be on the agenda now. It seems Terrie’s concern is outweighed.”
This was followed by a message from Simonson, “I would like to review the SEQR on the easement on Tuesday [April 21]. It would be out next step after declaring lead agency. Again, this is simply making a determination on environmental impact, not implementation. Just to set the record, the easement is the final document, it was approved by the voters and upheld in the courts.”
The following day, April 17, Moran wrote a message to the Board that agreed in part with Simonson’s e-mail from the day before, saying, “The easement is indeed the final document approved by the voters and upheld by the courts. The opening paragraph reads, ‘THIS DEED OF CONSERVATION EASEMENT… between the Town of Woodstock…and the Woodstock Land Conservancy, Inc…’”Moran went on to note, “If the WLC bails we have an invalid document. I don’t know that they will or won’t, which is why I believe it is only prudent to wait until we hear from them after May 15.”
Simonson disagreed, writing back, “I do not believe that the validity of the document is dependent on the grantee’s designation. But we need to ask a lawyer for an opinion.. From my conversations with the WLC any hesitation on their part comes from the potential to have to devote extra time to management of the property and overseeing any long drawn out legal challenges. I assume we can get legal advice on how to deal with this.” She added, “Perhaps it is time to hire Steve Barshov to act as our counsel on this project.”
Barshov, the New York City attorney, had provided the $10,000 legal opinion referred to above. It is not known what expenses might be incurred from his further involvement. Rod Futerfas, the attorney for the Town, has recused himself from any legal work on the Easement since his law partner Jerry Wapner provides counsel for the WLC.
The WLC had planned by May 15 to “be prepared to begin an informed dialogue with town board members regarding the conservation easement on Comeau,” wrote Smith in his April 21 letter to the Board. “We hope this facilitates constructive preparations on the Town’s part and helps avoid the inadvertent creation of obstacles in this complex process,” he added in reference to the proposed Town Board action to neg-dec the easement.
On Monday, April 27 Smith wrote to Collins, “Thanks for responding to our letter of Tuesday. I'm sorry it arrived just before your meeting and, unfortunately, apparently not in time to forestall [Town Board] action. We did the best we could, in our previous communications, to advise you and fellow board members of WLC's timeline and request patience prior to our joint discussions.
“Unfortunately,” Smith’s letter continued, “there hasn't been a clear, agreed upon means of communication between the two boards.”
Collins responded, “… I have been very tied up with issues, and personal work. I think the best way to handle things at this point is to bring everything to the table when both groups meet on the 15th [of May].”
Smith replied, “We will of course incorporate the TB's actions into our deliberations and preparation. Kindly forward any documents pertaining to formal TB actions to WLC (John Winter and myself) to assist us in this regard… And do advise us when the TB has retained Mr. Barshov's (or another attorney's) services. This would be very helpful for our attorneys, at this point.”
Smith’s message continued, “At some point in the next couple of weeks we'd like to discuss the appropriate meeting forum for our discussions with the Town Board... You may forward this email to your fellow board members. I did not cc them as you had not done so in your message.”
May 15 is a Friday, presumably the next step in the Easement process will be discussed at the Town Boards May 19 business meeting.
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