TRANSPARENCY MEANS GOOD FAITH DEALING WITH RESIDENTS!

    IMPORTANT NEWS ALERT ------ UPCOMING MEETING

PLANNING BOARD MEETING • TUESDAY • JANUARY 17, 2023 at 8 PM  Village Hall, Croton-on-Hudson, NY

Please attend the meeting OR Email your strong opposition re attempts to bypass Planning Board... Contact Info at end of this Update

 

What has been going on in our Village Administration and with our Village Attorney is NOT Acceptable!

The last Water Control Commission (WCC) Meeting took place on 12/7/22 to review Hudson National Golf Club’s (HNGC) recent request for a Wetlands Permit.  A real review of what HNGC is planning did NOT happen, as it should, under our laws. What did occur, however, definitely confirmed the writing on the wall that has been there for some time now:

The Village of Croton-on-Hudson, under the Pugh Administration, has become Gaslight Village…

Where nothing is ever as it seems,

And no one can ever determine who is telling the truth,

Particularly if it is a project involving Hudson National Golf Club!! 

 

Solar Project Application Status at Time of HNGC Wetlands Permit Request 

HNGC’s Solar Project has been in a state of “unprecedented” suspense since 1/31/22 when the stiff Resident opposition against the ill-advised and ill-conceived terms of the project itself which violated many of our environmental laws, combined with outrage against the Pugh Administration’s tolerance of the intentional dishonesty (i.e., the false statements, misrepresentations and deception upon which the HNGC/Matrix Solar Application had been based), seemed to butt heads with a Village Board and Village Attorney seemingly immovable in their position NOT to issue an outright and well-deserved Denial of the Applications for that Project!  

Instead, our Village Board and Village Attorney (former counsel to HNGC) saw fit to come up with an apparent solution in their minds allowing resubmission (by those who should have been held accountable under SEQRA and other NY Laws for the dishonesty submitted during the 2+ yrs the first Application process was active).  This time, Applicants' information would just be submitted on a longer SEQRA form. Even our Village Planning Board went on record as calling that outcome “unprecedented” and how the whole vetting process had been handled in a manner that was not fully compliant with the Village Board's SEQRA responsibilities, with procedural decisions that could be determined to have been 'arbitrary and capricious' using flawed arguments and incorrect interpretations of SEQRA requirements, legal process and procedure.  In addition, they warned that the handling of the HNGC Solar Project was being closely scrutinized and “under a microscope.” 

Planning Board 2/7/22 Ltr to Village Board re Review Process

There had been no indications at any time signaling that HNGC or Matrix might withdraw their Applications for the Solar Project based on any lack of interest.   Instead, there had been rumblings that the longer form Environmental Assessment Form (EAF) for that project could soon be submitted.

 

There’s a Wetlands Permit Request… But, Will Anyone Divulge Exactly What The Project Is?

Then, at the end of November, 2022, notifications from the Village showed up in certain mailboxes with an announcement that HNGC had submitted a Request for a Wetlands Permit to be reviewed by the WCC.   On its face, it was made to look like something innocuous as the language on the initial application seemed minor in nature, talking of just “refurbishing” and “repairs to the existing irrigation system with some bunker repairs” affecting “<1 acre”.  Shortly, thereafter, that number was changed to “<10 acres” with a specific 9.5 acres indicated… a suspiciously convenient number, because any number 10 acres or greater would change this project to a Type 1 Action requiring much greater scrutiny under SEQRA guidelines!  

The fact that the information being provided was being submitted by Ralph Mastromonaco, the same HNGC Engineer who had submitted the HNGC/Matrix Solar Applications fraught with misrepresentations and false and misleading information was extremely concerning!  

For those who watched or who were in attendance, it was obvious from that 12/7/22 WCC Meeting that much had been pre-determined and pre-planned to achieve the objectives of HNGC!! It was remniscent of many of the Village Board Meetings over the past 2+ yrs addressing the HNGC/Matrix Solar Project that often seemed like staged theater intended to lead the Public into thinking that a process was being followed to vet the Solar Project when, in fact, much had already been determined behind the scenes without transparency in order to allow for its approval.

 It was also obvious that the non-transparent curtain was pulled back just enough for Residents to see how distastefully things are really being run here, how little regard our Village Officials have for our laws, and for the well-being of Residents and their properties, and how far off the rails things have gotten. 

 

They Came Prepared to Gaslight!   Where is the Transparency?  Is Everyone In On This Game Except Croton Residents? 

It has become a known fact in Croton these days that there is no real transparency in dealing with matters before the Village Board and throughout the entire Village Administration, particularly in matters involving HNGC.  In fact, at the 1/9/23 Board of Trustees Meeting, to her credit, our newest Trustee Nora Nicholson brought up that lack of transparency as being a big issue for Residents and one that needs to be addressed. 

On 12/7/22, there was no short supply of people at the WCC Meeting prepared and ready to help HNGC to obtain their requested Wetlands Permit, however that needed to be done.  Of course, there were HNGC’s two representatives, Brett Scales, its Course Superintendent, and Alan Milton, a name from the Solar Project days whose issues with credibility carried over here particularly when he started to state that all aspects of the Solar Project had been unequivocally proven to be unproblematic.  He went on to base such statements on less-than-reliable work of the outside engineering firm that had ultimately self-admitted that much went undone and that other submissions were basically rubber-stamped.

Most noticeable was that certain WCC Members were prepared in advance to assist in making HNGC's Project look good to the Public:

• Asking scripted questions helping to advance HNGC’s narrative about how advantageous it would be for this project to be done;
• Asking soft-ball questions, rather than conducting the requisite in-depth review of the specifics of the project itself;
• Obviously trying “Not to get into the weeds”… as one member put it… when, in fact, getting into the weeds is EXACTLY where the discussion needed to be, and should definitely be, when even the information contained in the initial Permit application documents filed by Mr. Mastromonaco is filled with misrepresentations and omissions in an attempt to deceive as to the exact nature and scope of the project itself (e.g. the question regarding steep slopes left blank as if irrelevant for a course known to be sited on steep slopes, and when the Wetlands Law specifically indicates that “indirect” activity which likely is taking place in those areas uphill from the wetlands is very relevant.  But no one focused on trying to get at the truth of the representations made even in the Wetlands Permit Application, let alone the actual project itself.

There seemed to be a goal of just treating this as a project that ONLY could be affecting the Wetlands by virtue of the activities occurring directly right near those wetlands within the 120’ buffer.  Despite the fact that the Wetlands Law, which the WCC and our Village Attorney should be aware specifically  encompasses protection against all activities that could “indirectly” affect the wetlands and then goes on to list some of the precise types of activities HNGC plans to conduct, i.e., excavation, removal of material, filling, depositing of material, alteration or modification of natural features and contours, removal or cutting of vegetation, dams, drainage pipes, bridges, activities that might impair natural functions of the wetlands, etc.  

Even though HNGC’s Mr. Scales has indicated that irrigation work referenced in the Application (i.e., refurbishing and the minor repair work to the existing irrigation system) would be immediately covered back up with turf within hours as it was being done…he also said that what was being done is a “Restoration Project” and that all the following different components of the HNGC course would be replaced because they are at the end of their useful lives (citing to GCSAA and USGA Golf Industry Standards and Practices):  

• Bringing in all the heavy machinery around the Steeply Sloped Course
• Tearing up all the grass
• Ripping out the old irrigation system 
• Replacing the entire irrigation system
• Restoring and Rebuilding 90+ Bunkers
• Restoring and Rebuilding 18 Greens                                                (including moving and enlarging one of the Greens)
• Restoring Tees
• Excavating the dirt
• Hauling out the old
• Hauling in the tons of sand, gravel, mixed greens mix and other materials
• Replanting all the grass and turf
• Constructing a 20,000 sq ft Supply Transfer Station using item 4 and            crushed concrete (that’s a ½ acre footprint, approx. like the HNGC              Clubhouse itself!)

This is what the industry shows that such restorations and other types of renovation projects typically look like:

What Golf Course Restoration/Renovation Entails

Yet, the WCC did not seem interested in that!

Nor did our Village Attorney Whitehead (former counsel for HNGC)

 

Village Attorney Whitehead appeared to come to the WCC Meeting prepared to proactively advocate for HNGC

It was also painfully obvious that our Village Attorney came prepared to proactively assist and advocate for HNGC at that WCC Meeting, as if being HNGC’s own counsel, by defending and arguing on their behalf. Notwithstanding the actual scope of the entire project and the oversight that actually would be required under our land use laws, she just unilaterally stated that she had already looked into this and that she “recognized” that “this” (i.e. all that is listed above) is just routine “maintenance and repairs.”  

As a result, when a pre-submitted question from a Resident was posed to her as to why HNGC’s Project is not considered to be a more stringently reviewed Type 1 Action (rather then the “Unlisted Action”, as submitted”, our Village Attorney unilaterally justified downgrading the classification of her former client’s project to a Type 2 Action, which assumes NO adverse impacts, and thereby now requires NO further SEQRA review!!  

Our Village Attorney also argued on HNGC’s behalf and defense with another Resident who brought up that a Wetlands Law provision, clearly printed directly on the Wetlands Permit Application, itself states that Planning Board  oversight and review are required for this HNGC Project due to the existence of pending Special Permit Applications on HNGC’s Property, a legal requirement that our Village Attorney finally said she needed to subsequently “look into.” Then, one might assume that as a result of such “looking into”, the precarious timing of the sudden rush to remove those Solar Project Special Permit Applications.  

The Wetlands Law (as well as other of the land use laws) that posed the newfound “obstacle” for HNGC, one that Mgr. Healy alleges that he, Village Attorney Whitehead and Village Engineer O’Connor knew nothing about, surprisingly seemed to be facilitated by withdrawal letters received from Matrix and, eventually, by HNGC.  The third joint applicant, Prickly Pear Solar LLC, has yet to withdraw its Application, despite inquiries and requests by a Resident, and is still pending… and, hence would still seem to provide a basis for the Planning Board’s oversight of the Restoration Project!

 

HNGC’s “Preference” as to Who Oversees Its Project Should Be Irrelevant To This Administration!

The understanding is that HNGC doesn’t want the Planning Board to be the Approving Authority for its extensive Golf Course Restoration Project.  Instead, HNGC’s “preference” is to be before the WCC or our Village Engineer Dan O’Connor.  The precarious timing and actions of our Village Attorney at the WCC Meeting looks like HNGC and Matrix might have sent out Solar Farm withdrawal letters to get around it!!!

Those withdrawals do not foreclose or preclude reapplication for that Solar Project by HNGC, Matrix, Prickly Pear LLC and/or other parties going forward because no restrictions were imposed by the Village Board. Given past history, this Pugh Administration, Village Board, and Village Attorney would likely welcome and push for approval as they had attempted to do in the past despite the fact that other municipalities, including the Town of Cortlandt, would have denied the Applications outright based on their similar laws protecting steep slopes, etc.

As later admitted by Village Mgr. Healy, the current HNGC Course Restoration Project will require Wetlands, Steep Slopes, Excavation and Fill, and Stormwater, Drainage, Erosion and Water Pollution Permits and Approvals.

Croton’s Wetlands, Steep Slopes, Excavation and Fill, and Stormwater, Drainage, Erosion and Water Pollution Laws all provide that when a project involves any Applications for Special Permits or for Subdivision or certain other of these Permits and Approvals, the Planning Board should be the Approving Authority… not the WCC or the Village Engineer.

That’s because such projects involve activities that would pose adverse impacts and risks that need the specialized input, expertise and knowledge of the Village Planning Board.

HNGC has a right to be able to maintain its golf course ...even to do a restoration, if it does so in compliance with all of our laws and in a manner that does not cause adverse impacts, damage and destruction to neighboring properties.  BUT… HNGC has a history of causing such damage and destruction…. and our Village Administrations have a history of insufficient oversight of HNGC activities and enforcement of our laws against HNGC when it violates our laws, or imposition of penalties when such damage and destruction has occurred.

 

Our Village Officials Don't Seem To Care About Our Village Or Residents!  

But as became so very clear and apparent during the tainted vetting process of the HNGC Solar Project over the past 2+ yrs, the Pugh Administration, Village Manager, Village Attorney, Village Mayor and Village Board Liaisons to the PB and WCC do not seem very interested in avoiding significant adverse impacts to Croton Residents, their properties, our natural resources or even following our environmental and land use laws or Comprehensive Plan when HNGC is involved.

This Administration and these Village Officials, including our Village Attorney, showed us that they don’t even seem to care to hold HNGC responsible for agreements it made with our Village, such as its still valid and enforceable Limited Activities Restrictive Covenants, including the No Disturbance Covenants, that were a condition to issuance of HNGC’s original and existing Special Permits.  That is particularly curious since our Village Attorney and her law firm were involved in those directly related matters as former counsel to HNGC. 

As our Village Officials continuously pushed for approval of HNGC’s ill-advised and ill-conceived Solar Project, they didn’t appear to care about all the significant adverse environmental impacts and potential serious risks involved to the fragile Steep Slopes, Wetlands, Clearcutting of 600 trees, Fragmentation of forested land, Wildlife habitat, destruction of bio and ecosystems, possible damage and risk to residents properties, the spreading and fighting of fires on those slopes, Scenic Blight, erosion and possible mudslides. 

And, true to form, that seems also to be the case for issues relating to preventing any unnecessary adverse impacts of this HNGC extensive Course Renovation Project of this size, taking place on those fragile slopes…that will lay bare for stretches of time in the elements… where lack of precautions could result in the type of flooding, drainage, erosion and other issues Croton has experienced in the past on neighboring properties, and in one instance all the way down to the Hudson River prompting the Army Corps of Engineers to issue a Stop Work Order!  Impacts that prompted the Planning Board to recently comment that HNGC has had a pattern of causing the damage first, then coming before the Village to try to make amends!! Impacts that the Wetlands Law indicates could directly or indirectly impact important functions of those wetlands if not appropriately handled throughout this extended project… the one that HNGC prefers to keep away from the Planning Board’s input and this Administration and Village Attorney appear to be assisting HNGC in doing at this time! (A scroll through the following video shows some of the drastic changes in elevation throughout the Course, much that may be rebuilt and restore with vegetation and turf removed for long periods of time.)

Steep Slopes of Hudson National Golf Course

 

It is HNGC’s “preference” to be before the WCC and our Village Engineer.  It is HNGC’s “preference” NOT to be before our Village Planning Board… The Law pays no heed to what Applicants’ “preferences” are.  The legal determination of Approving Authority should be made based on the facts of the matter as set forth in the Laws ...NOT based on some behind the scenes, non-transparent reasons that the Pugh Administration, Village Manager, Village Mayor and Village Board, or an obviously conflicted and compromised Village Attorney seem to be doing whatever they can to assist HNGC in doing that, including:

Breaking up the project in an artificially piecemeal fashion so it artificially looks like just a minor project ...artificially related just to the wetlands... and artificially NOT related to the excavation and fill work… just so that the Village Board will not review the rest of the whole Project per our laws??  That illogical approach, pieced together for the primarily purpose of satisfying HNGC’s “preference” of avoiding the Planning Board  is not transparent, the perception is that it looks complicit and is not in good faith.  And there is no argument that can be made that it is in the best interests of Croton or its Residents! 

 

To Meet, or Not To Meet?  Should Not Include A Clever Legal Workaround For Former Client!

It was publicly announced at the 1/9/23 Board of Trustees Meeting that a follow up WCC Meeting was to be held on 1/18/23 for purposes of next steps in the review of the HNGC Wetlands Permit.  That seemed odd given that at the last meeting the Village Attorney had proclaimed it a Type 2 action and it appeared to have been left with the Village Engineer being responsible for the review. However, in the interim, Mgr. Healy had indicated his vision of the project was that the WCC would oversee just the 120’ foot wetlands buffer and the Village Engineer would oversee the rest, with seemingly no role at all for the Planning Board.  

The Board of Trustees and Mgr. Healy discussed various aspects of that soon-to-occur 1/18/23 WCC meeting…. The 4:30 pm time, and possible time change… availability on Live Stream and in-person in that particular Village Hall room… that residents could sign up to be on the WCC list for updated notifications, and that the agenda would be uploaded on the Village Site on Friday 13, 2023, … in other words, it definitely was a meeting that was planned and was going to be happening etc.

Two letters from Residents stating very serious concerns about the attempts to bypass Planning Board review and the ultimate status of those suspicious Solar Project withdrawals had been submitted to the Board of Trustees and Village Attorney with copies to the PB and WCC.  One was received by the Board and Village Attorney after the BoT meeting had started …  Mgr. Healy did not read the other shorter letter into the record, as requested, and then merely inadequately “summarized.”  It is assumed that it was not until after the BoT Meeting that those two Residents’ letters were fully reviewed by the Board of Trustees, Mgr. Healy or Vill. Attorney.

Varvaro Letter to Mayor Pugh and Board of Trustees

Candido Letter to Village Mgr. Healy and Board of Trustees

 

Two additional letters had already been sent to the Planning Board from two other Residents.

Pardee Letter to the Planning Board

Chabrowe Letter to the Planning Board

Three of those letters have been put on the Agenda for the Planning Board’s upcoming 1/17/23 this Tuesday, but for Informational purposes only, since this matter is NOT currently before the Planning Board as it should be. (FYI - the PB Agenda Link is posted at the end of the Pardee Letter above.)

Then, without notice or explanation, any mention of the 1/18/23 WCC Meeting disappeared from the the Village Site… no agenda, no notice of cancellation!!!

After following up personally with a Trustee over the weekend, who then had to follow up with the Administration over the weekend to find out the "whereabouts" of the 1/18/23 WCC Meeting, it was then made known that, after all of that discussion at the Village Board meeting, the WCC Meeting had been “cancelled/postponed!”  Why?   The Administration’s reason now seems to be “as issues are being reviewed” and the even more curious one "the Village Attorney is still reviewing next steps for the Wetland Permit Application.” 

 

Rule No.1:   Whatever the Law is for Everyone… Just Follow It!!!

It would appear that if our laws were actually being followed, instead of this Administration and this Village Attorney trying to find ways around them, it would be clear, as is usually the case when HNGC is NOT involved, what the “steps” are for review for a project of the scope of the HNGC Golf Course Restoration Project... one that is set on Steep Slopes, involving excavation and fill needing a 20,000 sq ft transfer station, and with a Wetlands Permit component and stormwater, drainage, erosion and water pollution plans and approvals… because the laws were written for just these sorts of projects in mind and this is not the first of its kind!

It would appear that Mayor Pugh, who is also an attorney should know that!

It would appear that Deputy Mayor Trustee Gallelli who has been involved in many SEQRA Applications and EAFs, who boasts about her past hands-on involvement with our environmental protection laws and who had at one time chaired the Planning Board, and who had been on the Board of Trustees and been involved at the time HNGC originally applied for its permits and should also be aware!

It would appear that our Village Attorney Whitehead who purports to specialize in land use law and to have knowledge of SEQRA but seems not to know much about key provisions when questions are posed relating to issues that HNGC seems not willing to follow should also be aware! The conflict, compromised representation and overwhelming perception of bias cannot be defended when none of those questionable instances can be argued to be in the best interests of Croton or its Residents! Recusal has been warranted for several years now... this Pugh Administration has not acted!  Instead, it has defended the indefensible and is not showing itself to be complicit! 

For 2 yrs, this Pugh Administration has ignored this Village Attorney's blatant  steering, the apparent and strongly perceived bias, in favor of HNGC, obvious to all, even to the extent of misrepresenting and falsely stating known SEQRA rules and guidelines to Village Trustees, detrimental to our Village, dissuading and hindering her own clients, the Trustees,  when even attempting to carry our their responsibilities to adequately vet adverse impacts in the HNGC Solar Project. Yet this Mayor, Administration and Board did nothing but ignore or defend those actions.  For our Village Attorney to now be proactively seen to be coming to WCC meetings and advocating on behalf of HNGC with prepared research to reduce its SEQRA responsibilities and to interact, in any way, with this Administration to devise a plan in which Special Permits are removed in order to clear the way so that Planning Board review is made more difficult in the oversight of HNGC current Course Restoration Project is detrimental to our Village and its Residents and is totally UNACCEPTABLE!!!

This Mayor and Administration have been derelict in their duties... they are aware and they do know better and it would appear to all that if they, too, were not complicit, they would have done something about this long ago, instead of trying to gaslight residents with bogus, unsubstantiated "opinions."

RECUSAL OF VILLAGE ATTORNEY WHITEHEAD AND THE MCCULLOUGH GOLDBERGER & STAUDT FIRM SHOULD BE DEMANDED NOW... EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY... IT IS ALREADY 2 YEARS LATE!!!

It would appear that this Pugh Administration would recognize that when HNGC's Engineer Ralph Mastromonaco repeatedly keeps submitting SEQRA Applications and documents to our Village replete with false and misleading information, misrepresentations, deceptive view studies, half-truths and the like, which ultimately could be putting Croton, its Residents and their properties at risk, particularly when NY State Regulations mandate that the duty of licensed engineers when submitting to municipalities is to the health and safety of the Public, that the Pugh Administration would take its responsibility to protect its constituents seriously and ban Mr. Mastromonaco from making further submissions to our Village... and it would appear that it shouldn't take a Petition of Residents for Mayor Pugh and his Administration to understand that! 

It would appear that Village Manager Healy who blatantly stated that he, the Village Attorney and Village Engineer do not and should not be expected to know the Village Code relating to these very important matters, even when such key provisions are printed directly on the Village’s own Applications for Permits should know better!

It would appear that Village Manager Healy and the Pugh Administration should not be in the business of catering to the “preferences” of HNGC as to which Board or Village body reviews or grants its requests for permits, and the level of scrutiny those requests receive!   As with the whole Solar Project, the handling of HNGC’s Golf Course Restoration Project should be determined by our laws… without favor…in the best interests of the Public!

They all should know!!! If they don’t, something is very wrong!  

From this picture, our Village Officials appear to be either Inept OR Complicit?  Which is it?     There is no in between!! 

We need transparency  … not double talking or gaslighting about what exactly is this project?... is it a refurbishing, a minor repair, a course restoration?... will double talking about all digging being covered by turf immediately suffice, when large parts are really likely to be left bare as shown in the restoration videos that are the standard in the “industry”?… are the 9.5 acres the amount of disturbance for just the irrigation work or for the whole project?…or do we need to figure out if we need to ask the question a myriad of different ways to even get close to the right answer?! 

What is it that Residents of this Village need to do in order to be assured that relevant facts are being revealed by our own Village Attorney, Manager and Board?  Or,to be sure that a Project is reviewed and vetted by the most capable body for a Project of this scope (and from what we understand that would be the Village Planning Board) even if the Applicant IS Hudson National, so that no one will need to be coming before the Village trying to get HNGC begrudgingly to remedy yet another one of the disastrous results that happens when the proper process and review is not followed… yet again… in Gaslight Village! 

DON'T LET THEM DESTROY CROTON! 

Thank you for your support! Please contact the Croton Village Administration Officials listed above to let them know your strong opposition to how both of these HNGC Projects have been handled. They would be hard pressed to demonstrate how any of their actions in these matters have been in the best interests of our Village and Residents!! 

Board of Trustees  boardoftrustees@crotononhudson-ny.gov

Vill. Mgr. Healy            bhealy@crotononhudson-ny.gov

Mayor Brian Pugh        bpugh@crotononhudson-ny.gov

Planning Board      kstapleton@crotononhudson-ny.gov

WCC                       sdemattia@crotononhudson-ny.gov

 

Please Share this Update and Petition with your Friends and Family and encourage them to sign.   If we hit over 1,000 names, a stronger message will be sent that we do not support this lack of transparency and representation! 

Many Thanks and Much Appreciation!!