Board Engages Special Counsel, Considers Litigation

During a Special Meeting of the Board of Trustees held Thursday, October 22, 2020, at St. Paul’s Cluett Hall, Trustees engaged the law firm of Berkman, Henoch, Peterson, Peddy & Fenchel, P.C. (Joseph E. Macy, partner) as Special Counsel to the Board for the purpose of preparing a written legal opinion and proposal which reviews the major relevant facts; outlines possible causes of action against the MTA/LIRR (and/or other appropriate defendants); assesses the likelihood of success of such causes of action; and estimates the timeline and costs for litigating such causes of action all in relation to the goal of the Village to have the utility poles recently installed on the north and south sides of the LIRR tracks (between the New Hyde Park station and Garden City High School) removed, re-located, and/or reduced in height. The Board agreed that such legal opinion be prepared at a cost not to exceed $10,000.

“It’s not really just an Estates issue, it’s a Village issue,” Mayor Theresa Trouvé said. “This is a delicate issue. We are all inclined to be concerned about it. It is a difficult thing for the residents in the Estates area to live with this realization. I think, as a Village, we owe it to the people in the Estates area to litigate.”

The motion passed by a 5-2 vote. Mayor Trouvé and Trustees Louis Minuto, Robert Bolebruch, Mark Hyer and Colleen Foley voted in favor of the motion while Trustees John Delany and Stephen Makrinos voted against it. Trustee Brian Daughney was absent.

Trustee Makrinos, a member of the Village’s Third Track Committee, said he’s sympathetic to the residents who live along Main and Merillon Avenues. “If there was reasonable certainty that the lines could be buried would my stance be different? Yes. But now I feel sympathy for the rest of the residents of the Village who will have to pay the price if we are to proceed with litigation,” he said in reference to the likelihood that the landscaping will not include any of the additional enhancements that were being discussed with 3TC and will only be limited to just what was agreed to as part of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

The Village also retained the nationally recognized environmental law firm of Beveridge and Diamond, PC as its Special Counsel to advise it in connection with the same issue. Efforts have also been made by representatives of the Village to persuade the MTA/LIRR to remove and/or re-locate the poles. Unfortunately, efforts to date have been unsuccessful.

In April, the Village’s Third Track Committee of the Board of Trustees sent a letter to the MTA/LIRR raising several grievances with respect to many project-related issues, including the fact that the Village was “never asked or consulted with respect to the placement of the 4-5 metal 120-foot high utility poles between the bridge at Nassau Boulevard and Weyford Terrace” and its understanding based on prior MTA/LIRR representations that “all poles west of Nassau Boulevard to New Hyde Park Road would be on the north side of the Main Line.” The Village asserted that the installation of the poles is in direct conflict with prior discussions and the EIS for the Third Track Project.

Earlier this month, the Board of Trustees met with REVAMP (Resident Voters Against Monster Poles), a group of concerned residents speaking out against the poles, during a public meeting at Cluett Hall. On October 19, the Board met with Supervisor Clavin and several attorneys, including Mr. Macy, during an executive session at Town Hall. “It was a lively meeting. We received a wealth of information,” Mayor Trouvé said.