Greenport Trustee to Offer Live Webcast of Wednesday's ZBA Meeting, Despite Board Stalemate

NORTH FORK, NY-Despite a Greenport village board stalemate last month regarding webcasting various meetings to the public, Trustee Doug Roberts said this week that he’ll broadcast Wednesday’s zoning board of appeals meeting live.

“I will be webcasting Wednesday night’s ZBA meeting both as a demonstration of how easy and inexpensive it is to broadcast our meetings, and as a public service to Greenporters who can’t make this important meeting or won’t be able to fit in the schoolhouse,” Roberts said, adding that one public hearing, on a proposed hotel at Front and Third, has sparked much public debate.

To sign up for the webcast, those interested can click here.

The Greenport zoning board of appeals will hold a public hearing Wednesday at 5 p.m .at the Old Schoolhouse on Front Street, to discuss an application by SAKD Holdings, LLC, whose president is Daniel Pennessi, to construct a new, mixed use, three story building on the corner of Front and Third Streets, where there is currently a vacant lot.

The proposal is for an 80-seat restaurant and 715 square feet of retail use on the first floor, as well as a hotel with 16 units on the second and third floors, along with a roof deck. The property is located in the commercial retail district, and not within the village’s historic district. The proposed uses are conditional uses under Greenport village code, according to the ZBA. The applicant is seeking an interpretation regarding lot coverage to determine whether the proposed improvements require a variance from the bulk regulations in village code, since the application reflects lot coverage of 38.6 percent of the lot and village code requires a maximum lot coverage of 40 percent.

Variances are also requested for parking, setbacks and height, Roberts said.

Last month, the village board came to a stalemate on the issue of webcasting after a lengthy discussion.

Some, including Trustee Mary Bess Phillips, questioned the cost of the live broadcasts.

The system would cost $2,000 upfront to get started, he said.

This week’s session will be paid for with Roberts’ own funds, he said. “I chose to purchase a license to gotomeeting for $50/month.”

Up to 25 may tune in, Roberts said, adding he could upgrade the license to $70 per month for 100 simultaneous viewers.

Some questions involved whether the public at home could interact; Roberts said that was up to the chair of the meetings.

One resident asked what the benefit would be and said she felt the proposal was moving forward too quickly; she’d rather have the funds spent to enable residents to pay village utility bills online.

Village Mayor George Hubbard said all the boards’ meetings could be broadcast, including some that are not currently available on public access television.

Resident Chatty Allen said the proposal did seem to be moving forward quickly; she asked if only 25 residents would be able to tune in and asked what if a 26th wanted to watch. “This doesn’t seem like it’s going to benefit the entire village.” She also said someone would have to be present to set up the equipment.

Roberts reminded that that’s how it works currently, when meetings are taped for future broadcast.

Greenport resident Liz Smith, meanwhile, said she loved the idea because she travels a great deal for work and could watch meetings when on the road; it’s also a bonus for parents with small children who can’t get out at night, she said.

She added that she uses webcasts at work everyday.

Phillips asked if the board would stop paying someone to transcribe minutes of meetings verbatim. Roberts said no, and Phillips said the village would still have that cost.

She said the village currently has technology that would allow for a live stream broadcast.

Roberts said he’d proposed the webcasting as a way to accomplish the goal of having the public and any missing board members “stay abreast” of the issues without “wading into potentially uncharted waters of members participating from afar.”

Phillips said she thought the initial goal was to have missing board members participate.

Roberts said the new proposal was meant to “accomplish part of the goal”, as a “palatable” way to introduce webcasting, without raising the issue of having missing board member actively participate.

Phillips explained that the IQM2 meeting portal, currently used by the village, would allow for unlimited live broadcasts and streaming, with a free encoder, used to stream, available.

Several other municipalities including Southold use the system, Village Clerk Sylvia Pirillo said.

The village could negotiate a reduced cost since they are longtime clients, Pirillo said. Unlimited viewers could watch the meetings live and on demand, she added.

Roberts said that option would cost vs. $350 per month, which is also not available to be purchased instantly off their website.

Phillips said she believed the village should move forward with webcasting but she did not feel there was enough information yet to make a decision.

“We need to have a clear policy from the board before we start spending money,” she said.

Trustee Jack Martilotta said the goal was to have the public participate. “An incremental step would be to make these available so people could watch,” with an eye toward transparency, he said.

Phillips said the process thus far had been “piecemeal.”

Roberts said the resolution was only to authorize the proposal; the board could work on a more detailed plan and not deploy until it was in place.

Mayor George Hubbard said with such a sizable investment, he’d like to know if the equipment would be reusable and have questions answered about both systems.

“More information would be the prudent way to go,” the mayor said.

Roberts and Martilotta voted yes, Phillips and Hubbard voted no, and Trustee Julia Robins was not present. The motion was defeated.