Village faces June 30 deadline to finish update
After nearly two months of discussion, the Cold Spring Village Board closed public comment on Wednesday (June 21) on updating chapters of the village code dealing with noise, signs and zoning. Written comments closed at noon the next day.
The Village Board and its attorney and planning consultant will meet at 4 p.m. on Monday (June 26) to review final public comments, working toward completion of the update by Friday, the deadline set by the New York State Energy Research and Development Agency, which funded the project.
Chapter 134 (Zoning) dominated the discussion during Wednesday’s protracted hearing, which grew contentious at times, especially regarding a proposed change to the 12-acre former Marathon Battery site on Kemble Avenue from industrial to planned mixed use.
Michael Reisman, who lives on Rock Street, alleged that “the board and the mayor, in particular, have been subject to influence by the Marathon site owner Sean Kearney, with whom the mayor has had a prior business relationship.”
The issue of Mayor Kathleen Foley’s business relationship with Kearney had been raised earlier in the hearing and is addressed on the village website. It states that Foley has “a casual, friendly relationship with the owner of the Marathon site,” and notes that such relationships are common in a small village.
It also states that in 2018, before being elected to the Village Board, Foley collaborated with the Kearney Group in an unsuccessful response to a request for proposals by the City of Hudson.
In an email on Thursday (June 22), Foley described her interactions with Kearney as “entirely appropriate between a mayor and a property owner in the process of zone change considerations,” adding that Kearney “did not participate in drafting the code, nor did he supply feedback on the draft.”
When Reisman commented on Wednesday that Kearney had contributed in 2021 to Foley’s campaign for mayor, she interrupted, asserting: “That is not true!”
Reisman said he would submit his concerns in writing. “You can send all the letters you want; that statement is not true,” Foley countered, adding that her campaign finances are a public record.
“Show us the check; who wrote the check?” Reisman persisted. According to the New York State Board of Elections website, a $250 donation to Foley’s campaign was given by Adriana Kearney, Sean Kearney’s wife. Reisman said the check had originally been recorded as coming from Sean Kearney.
In her email to The Current, Foley said the check was signed by Adriana Kearney but had been incorrectly recorded. The mistake was subsequently corrected with the Board of Elections, she said.
Reisman asked the mayor to recuse herself from discussions or voting on the Marathon site zoning. He further asked that the ad hoc working group, which includes Foley and has been advising the Village Board on the zoning update, “commit to not take future work related to the development of Marathon because of their involvement in this process.”
Foley didn’t comment at the time but said in her email that she will not recuse herself.
The mayor described the update now nearing completion as “a level-best attempt” to update zoning introduced in 1967 and under revision since 2006.
The new zoning, she said, will not be perfect, “but at some point, the process has to close; the village has reached a state of analysis paralysis.”
In other business….
- Trustee Eliza Starbuck presented data to be considered by the board in response to Seastreak’s proposal for 30 cruise boat dockings at Cold Spring between August and mid-November. Last year, the village anticipated $34,320 in revenue. But after six of 26 scheduled cruises were canceled due to bad weather or inadequate bookings, only $27,984 was received. The village budgeted $27,984 in revenue for 2023, but if Seastreak’s expanded schedule is approved using last year’s docking fees, that would increase to $37,488. If August dockings are eliminated, revenue would total $31,152. Starbuck pointed out that if fees are increased to reflect inflation, revenues will increase accordingly.
- The board approved hiring Debra Petrosky as deputy village clerk for $27 an hour. Petrosky has worked in municipal government for more than 20 years, including as clerk for the City of Peekskill, chief court clerk for the Town of Newburgh and senior court clerk for the Village of Monroe.
- The village, along with other local municipalities, will appoint two representatives to the Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail Data Committee, which will review studies completed as part of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the trail. The data committee will hire its own consultant to review the studies with a stipend provided by HHFT. Details on how residents can apply to serve on the committee will be posted on the village website.
- Burke Electric’s low bid of $5,992 was accepted for the installation of electric vehicle charging stations at Mayor’s Park.
It is ridiculous to suggest that a mere $250 donation would influence volunteers who clearly care so little for gain that they have chosen to spend hundreds of hours serving the public for a minimal salary.
Starbuck is a member of the Village Board.
It is quite sad that neither Trustee Starbuck nor Mayor Foley follow the extensive civility rules set forth by the Village Board. (At each session of the public hearing on the new zoning law, the mayor warned that violators of those rules would be removed, presumably with the assistance of the police officer sitting inside or just outside the room.)
Additionally, if Trustee Starbuck had taken the time to read the letter I submitted to the board, she would have learned that I requested that the mayor recuse herself from the vote regarding the Marathon Site rezoning due to the following facts:
* Mayor Foley has a prior business relationship with Sean Kearney, the owner of the Marathon site.
* A screenshot from the New York State Board of Elections website shows that on July 26, 2021, Mayor Foley received a $250 campaign contribution from Mr. Kearney. Apparently Mayor Foley amended the disclosure to state that the contribution was from Mr. Kearney’s wife, Adriana. Mayor Foley presumably still has the original check, which should confirm who wrote it. Either way, the influence exists.
* On Jan. 14, 2022, several weeks after taking office, Mayor Foley privately met with Mr. Kearney “to review the failure of the September 2021 zoning code draft proposal.”
* On Jan. 3, Mayor Foley sent a text to Mr. Kearney. The same day, she directed Ted Fink of Greenplan, the village’s planning consultant, to draft a rezoning proposal for the Marathon site.
-On Feb. 3, Mayor Foley met privately with Mr. Kearney to discuss the zoning proposal she was considering, and Mr. Kearney expressed no reservations with it.
The draft of the zoning proposal was not made public until months later, in mid-April 2023.
Ms. Starbuck should also be aware that the village’s Code of Ethics states (at 9-10(c)) that village officers, employees, and board members may not “render services to a private person or organization in connection with any particular transaction in which he or she personally and substantially participated while serving.”
Speaking as a private citizen and resident of the village, what I find ridiculous is a trustee dismissing a resident’s valid ethics concern on the basis that, in her opinion, $250 isn’t enough to buy influence. But it’s even less than that, as this donation was made to Starbuck’s and Trustee Tweep Phillips Woods’ combined fundraising effort with then-candidate Foley: “Forge Ahead with Foley.” So I guess it’s just one third for each of the $250?
For me, it isn’t the dollar amount. It is the decision to solicit this donation from developer Sean Kearney and amend the filing four days later to change the donor name (same check, date, etc.) to his wife. (It was the team’s “error” in filing, not the state Board of Elections, as was floated by Mayor Foley.) Remember that then-Trustees Foley and Phillips Woods had been participating on the Village Board in the Zoning Chapter 134 edits. The adoption of this chapter was set aside at the last minute to be completed under Foley’s incoming administration. This was done solely due to disagreement over the Marathon rezoning. So the conflict here was current and quite clear and it should have been avoided to eliminate even the appearance of impropriety.
Even more troubling is the fact that in campaigning, the three candidates differentiated themselves from their opponents by pledging not to take money from developers. They did this on their website and in stump speeches, as well as in a paid ad in this paper on Oct. 29, 2021 — “Unlike their opponents, they have pledged not to take money from developers, LLCs, unions, political parties, or anyone outside of Philipstown” — nearly three months after they reported to the Board of Elections that they took a donation from Sean Kearney on July 26.
So, this is for Foley, Starbuck and Phillips Woods to answer to the satisfaction of residents. Simply dismissing this based upon the dollars involved serves to only further erode the public trust.
Francisco is a member of the Cold Spring Planning Board.
I served as the campaign treasurer for the Forge Ahead team in 2021 and submitted all campaign finance reports, including amendments, to the New York State Board of Elections. There was no impropriety in this campaign. All three candidates made a pledge in statements and on their websites:
“I appreciate the support of my neighbors! I am committed to local issues, local accountability and a resilient future for Cold Spring. As such, I am not accepting campaign contributions from outside of Philipstown, or from political parties, LLCs, developers or unions. If you don’t live in Philipstown but would like to help the campaign, please contact my team for volunteer opportunities or consider making a donation to a nonprofit that serves the people of our village.”
Forge Ahead received $2,155 from donors who were in the categories above. All $2,155 were returned. This is documented on the New York State Board of Elections website at elections.ny.gov/NYSBOE/campaign finance.
A check for $250 was received at a neighborhood “Meet the Candidates” event from the family account of Sean and Adriana Kearney, dated July 21, 2021. I deposited it in the bank on July 26, 2021, as the contribution met Forge Ahead’s criteria for accepting donations: Philipstown resident, under $1,000, not an LLC, not a political party, not a developer, not a union. I recorded the contributor’s name on the 32-day pre-General Election report on Oct. 1, 2021, as Sean Kearney, as his name was at the top of the check. While reviewing copies of checks, cash receipts and online donations, I discovered that Adriana Kearney had signed the check so I corrected the error on Oct. 7, 2021, and submitted an amended report. The state Board of Elections encourages treasurers to make amendments to reports to ensure accuracy and transparency. It was often necessary for me to confer with NYSBOE staff since the 2021 NYSBOE reports were web-based for the first time that year. I made six amendments to that 32-day pre-General Election report between Oct. 1, 2021, and Jan. 3, 2022. The original report and all amendments are available on the website.
If the Kearney Group’s officers had wanted to influence outcomes in the village, and if the Forge Ahead team were open to that influence, they could have given, under any of their LLCs, up to a limit of $5,000 set by New York State election law. They did not. And if they had, that amount would have been returned by me, as well.
A PDF of all campaign materials must be submitted to the NYSBOE and is available for viewing at the NYSBOE website. There are no solicitations of any kind on these campaign materials. There may be a link to the Forge Ahead website, but no direct solicitations from contributors. This requirement was met, as were all New York State campaign finance laws.
By definition, a paid village trustee is not a volunteer.
Did you miss “serving the public for a minimal salary”?
No, I didn’t. I choose my words carefully and I read them carefully. As an unpaid volunteer on the Historic District Review Board, it’s insulting for a paid village trustee, no matter the amount, to say they’re a volunteer. They might volunteer extra hours, but that isn’t what was written. As for the Village Board’s civility admonishment before every public comment session: Don’t throw stones if you live in a glass house.
Mr. Francisco raises good points. To those I add: (1) The issue was never the $250 alone. Mr. Reisman also raised past business dealings between Foley, the mayor, and Kearney, the developer. The mayor and trustees focusing on just the $250 donation seems to be an attempt to hide bigger issue. And (2) an above-board process would not ram the final vote through at an atypical meeting time of 4 p.m. on a Monday.