Since last August, there has been a(nother) controversy brewing in Lake Peekskill. Tompkins Landscaping has been fueling trucks at their business there. Last summer, I contacted the building department about the fueling. They said they would check into it.

I waited. I received no response.

Then I contacted them again. I was told that they were not fueling trucks. But they were fueling trucks. I had seen them.

So then, I emailed Councilwomen Whetsel and Keresey about the situation. I received no response.from either councilwoman.

I wrote a letter to the Code Enforcement Officer, Irv Sevelowitz, which I copied to both councilwomen. I received no response.

At that point, I posted photographs of the fueling. There is video also. The photos were posted on the lohud blog. I did not identify the business, because I did not want to make an accusation, in the event that the activity was not prohibited.

It would seem that the fueling of vehicles in the Town of Putnam Valley is prohibited. It would seem that the delivery of fuel to any business for the purpose of fueling vehicles is prohibited.

When I was in [...]]]> Tompkins Landscaping on Morrissey Drive in Putnam Valley

Since last August, there has been a(nother) controversy brewing in Lake Peekskill. Tompkins Landscaping has been fueling trucks at their business there. Last summer, I contacted the building department about the fueling. They said they would check into it.

I waited. I received no response.

Then I contacted them again. I was told that they were not fueling trucks. But they were fueling trucks. I had seen them.

So then, I emailed Councilwomen Whetsel and Keresey about the situation. I received no response.from either councilwoman.

I wrote a letter to the Code Enforcement Officer, Irv Sevelowitz, which I copied to both councilwomen. I received no response.

At that point, I posted photographs of the fueling. There is video also. The photos were posted on the lohud blog. I did not identify the business, because I did not want to make an accusation, in the event that the activity was not prohibited.

It would seem that the fueling of vehicles in the Town of Putnam Valley is prohibited. It would seem that the delivery of fuel to any business for the purpose of fueling vehicles is prohibited.

When I was in Town Hall, I asked again about the fueling of trucks at Tompkins. Mr. Sevelowitz told me that they were fueling one truck and then fueling the other trucks from that one truck. That seemed a peculiar activity, and a peculiar explanation for the activity that I had seen. Clearly in my observation of the fueling, and in the videos and the photos of the fueling, there is a tank at the back of the building and there is a hose with a nozzle from that tank. There have been deliveries of home heating oil from Eastern Oil Company to that tank, and then, subsequent fueling into trucks, from that tank.

So after months and months and months of this non-conversation with the building department, writing, blogging, being ignored, I attended the March Lake Peekskill Improvement District and I asked why nothing had been done. Mr. Tendy yelled at me. He told me that I should have sent the letter to him, that I should send the photos to him, that he is responsible for enforcement in this town. We know that Mr. Tendy reads the lohud blogs. We know that Mr. Tendy reads my blog posts. So this should not have been the first time Mr. Tendy had heard this discussion.

Shortly thereafter, I sent the photos to Mr. Tendy at his Town Hall email address. I was unable to send the videos.

Again, I heard nothing.

At some point (I cannot remember when), I was told that this was a mobile tank, and was unregulated. But it has always been a fixed tank, at a fixed site every time I have observed it.

Prior to the last LPCA meeting, Mr. Ted Muniak observed the fueling at Tompkins Landscaping. Then last week, Mr. Tendy sent me 2 emails, saying that this appeared to be a prohibited activity. Then, he sent me an email saying that he had been premature in that assessment. It has apparently taken 10 months to sort this out, and it is not yet sorted.

On Friday, Mr. Muniak again observed fueling. On Saturday, there was a Lake Peekskill Improvement District meeting. As I understand the explanation, the site plan for Tompkins Landscaping has a fueling station. I would have assumed that station was for the fueling of lawnmowers and other equipment of that sort, not for the fueling of large trucks, but I have not looked at it. The decision and order from the zoning board did not include fueling. The business owner openly acknowledges fueling, and believes that it is his right to do it. Considering that, why was I told initially by the building department, that they had denied fueling? And why was I told that they were fueling from one truck to another?

Why didn’t the building department know that there was a fueling station on the site plan? Wouldn’t they have had to inspect it when it was installed? Wouldn’t it have been part of the C.O? Why didn’t they check this out months ago? Are there any limitations on that fueling station and its use? Would this use need to go before the zoning board? How large is the tank? The DEC regulates standing tank by size, as I recall tanks of 1000 gallons or more require a DEC permit. I know that prior to this week, Tompkins Landscaping did not have a permit. I do not know if they require one.

And if this operation was permitted, are they permitted to pump home heating oil into their trucks. Isn’t home heating oil exempted from some taxes because it is used for heating? Doesn’t it burn less efficiently in trucks than diesel fuel? Doesn’t it produce black smoke (more air pollution) when burned in a truck engine?

Landscaping is not a permitted use in the Putnam Valley Town Code. The Tompkins Landscaping decision at the zoning board occurred in a short-lived sliver in the code that allowed the zoning board of appeals to legislate new uses in their decisions. According to state law, the zoning board is not a legislative body, and this section of the town code has since been rescinded.

I will have to go to Town Hall, look up the plans and the minutes to sort this out.

DP

I love meetings.

Thanks Patty for the acknowledgement of my posts. I haven’t mastered your art of rapid fire reportage. It still takes me a couple of days to get the reports out. I disagree with your comment about Priscilla’s clothes. She wears blue jeans with a blouse to meetings sometimes, as if she is like the rest of us, and I appreciate the connection. I remember when the Carmelo crew started the suit thing, and I have never cared for it. The flannel shirt/blue jean board seemed more diligent.

Anyway, the LPID meeting was Saturday at Town Hall, not at our community center. Bob Tendy was dressed “casually” but sat in his chair above us, like the king. He was not as mean as he had been at the board meetings, but he was dismissive nonetheless.

There were a few people there – five residents. Priscilla was there. He didn’t invite her onto the dais with him. Skip, and another non-resident.

He talked about the $15,000 pork (earmark) that Vinnie Leibell got for the Singers Beach monument. Times are tough right now, and I [...]]]> You don’t bring us bagels……. anymore.
Lake Peekskill Improvement District Meeting
March 21, 2009

I love meetings.

Thanks Patty for the acknowledgement of my posts. I haven’t mastered your art of rapid fire reportage. It still takes me a couple of days to get the reports out. I disagree with your comment about Priscilla’s clothes. She wears blue jeans with a blouse to meetings sometimes, as if she is like the rest of us, and I appreciate the connection. I remember when the Carmelo crew started the suit thing, and I have never cared for it. The flannel shirt/blue jean board seemed more diligent.

Anyway, the LPID meeting was Saturday at Town Hall, not at our community center. Bob Tendy was dressed “casually” but sat in his chair above us, like the king. He was not as mean as he had been at the board meetings, but he was dismissive nonetheless.

There were a few people there – five residents. Priscilla was there. He didn’t invite her onto the dais with him. Skip, and another non-resident.

He talked about the $15,000 pork (earmark) that Vinnie Leibell got for the Singers Beach monument. Times are tough right now, and I really can’t see spending that much money when there are so many important concerns. To make matters worse, at several LPCA meetings, no one knew what the monument had said. So let’s give the money back, so it can be used for nurses or schoolbooks or food banks or how about veterans’ benefits. Mr. Tendy was talking about high taxes, yet he is always unwilling to make cuts. Is this the time for this expense?

He talked about garbage cans again. Can we please give it a rest?

He talked about garbage. I think he should call Mr. Hilyer, and ask him for his advertised litter cleanup on Morrissey Drive. There were some complaints about people bringing their garbage into LP because they don’t want to pay to have garbage pick-up. Back at the Comprehensive Plan hearings, I asked that we have a town and county solution to garbage, instead of just building more houses without services. It has been a problem for a long time. I requested that we have tv and computer pickup, perhaps once a month since the county is providing a dumpster. That will probably go nowhere.

I noted, as I went to the meeting, that the dumpster in front of Hugo’s was gone. I had blogged its presence in my last post, and then, it was removed. They say they don’t read the blogs. Bob said he had no idea that the dumpster was there. He seems to think that there was some building without a permit there. He has just discovered that. When the construction began, and the first dumpster was there, Ted Muniak asked him in a public meeting what was happening. Bob wouldn’t answer. Now he says he didn’t know about it. Since he has stated that these are friends of his, wouldn’t it have been friendlier to let them know what the rules were, instead of letting them spend all that money, and maybe have a problem later with their septic and lack of a well?

We talked about the salt storage, but he can’t figure that one out.

I asked about the alleged truck fueling at the alleged Tompkins, and he didn’t know anything about it. How is that possible? What kind of tanks? What is it made of? Where is the tank? Where is my letter? Why hasn’t he seen it? A barrage of questions. Why didn’t I send my letter to him? I finally stopped him and told him that I had done nothing wrong. I had reported it to the building department, and followed up on it. It is not my fault that there is fueling at that location. His aggressive questioning makes it difficult to report problems. I emailed the photos to him. The video wouldn’t go through to his email.

I remember now that Mr. Tendy said at a previous meeting that he knew about the rumors about truck fueling. Did he forget, or was he lying? Wouldn’t you think that a complaint about truck fueling would be notable? The photos were posted on the lohud blog months ago. He says he doesn’t read the blog, but there was a time when he did.

Geese, addling eggs. Is it too late? SOME PEOPLE don’t like the other methods of goose control. I assume that means he favors the BB method, and doesn’t appreciate my objections to it. We had tried to deal with egg addling at budget time, but Bob didn’t want to. He asked how much money is in the LP fund balance. He would like to spend it all the same way he spent Roaring Brook’s.

Someone brought up the site plan violation in front of the gym. There was no approval for that perpendicular parking, or for the removal of the sidewalk. Mr. Tendy seemed not to understand what a site plan violation is.

And Mr. Tendy wants our parking lot again. After all these years, he still can’t seem to figure out how to park there, so he will have Skip paint lines. He wants the town to take it over. He says there is no difference between town and district property. I’m waiting for him to pay my district taxes. He wants to spiff up the lot, and that will make all the difference. He said that he will bring his buds to the next district meeting to pack the room for his plan. (I am paraphrasing.) Why waste their time? The board will do what he tells them to do.

He disapproves of the civic association’s decision not to provide any financial support for his party on our property. He has decided how the civic association should be run, and what they should do. It hasn’t occurred to him that attendance and dues paid are way down since he’s been coming to the meetings and sending out his newsletter at our expense. He knows what civic minded means and he told us. It means volunteering for his party. We should be more like Roaring Brook. He advises some self-examination. The issue of insurance was again raised, and again, he said there is no issue, and would not explain or answer questions. The Lake Peekskill district did not receive any revenue from what was raised for his party, and expenses for using our property were not reimbursed.

He has put a lot of time into calls to the owner of the property next to Belotti’s. He told us that Tompkins and McKinney would maintain the property. He said that right after we discussed complaints about both of those properties. Why doesn’t this make any sense? I’m probably missing something.

As I left, I was looking at the Town Hall parking lot which has needed re-engineering and repair for years. I wonder why Mr. Tendy is so fixated on the Lake Peekskill lot.

DP