... AND NEITHER SHOULD HNGC'S FORMER COUNSEL, OUR CONFLICTED VILLAGE ATTORNEY! ... ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!
MEETING TONIGHT ... THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2023 @ 7pm VILLAGE HALL
ALL CROTON RESIDENTS ... YOUR VOICES NEED TO BE HEARD!!
HNGC and their former counsel Village Attorney Linda Whitehead are attempting to keep proper oversight and review by our Planning Board of HNGC’s new extensive Golf Course Restoration Project from being appropriately scrutinized under our Village Laws and NY State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) ... a more detailed description of this extensive, likely multi-million dollar restoration of their golf course with all the potential environmental risks attached to that, is below…
As we have seen over the last 2 yrs, our Village Attorney has a conflict (HNGC is her former client and these are directly related matters) and she has been giving blatantly compromised legal representation to our Village in HNGC matters, appearing to be biased toward HNGC's interests, and not in the best interests of Croton and our Residents to our Village. In fact, for many of those issues, her actions and statements on behalf of HNGC are to the detriment of the interests of Croton and its Residents!
In HNGC matters, including its Solar Project, and now HNGC's new extensive Golf Course Restoration Project which is now before the Village for approvals, she seems to be doing all that she can to deliver to HNGC want they want, i.e. NOT to have their extensive renovation project that has many potential significant adverse environmental impacts before our Village Planning Board where a project of that size, scope and nature should be… due to their unique experience, expertise and knowledge… for our protection… under our Village Laws and SEQRA!!!
At the last WCC meeting, the Village Attorney even downgraded HNGC’s Project to a level so that it would have NO review under SEQRA… unilaterally making it a Type 2 Action for those purposes… THAT WAS NOT WARRANTED BY THESE FACTS OR UNDER THE LAW AND SEQRA GUIDELINES!
When a Resident brought up that HNGC’s pending Applications for a Special Permit for their Solar Project would automatically trigger the Planning Board being the approving authority for this Restoration Project under our laws… our conflicted Village Attorney “looked into it” and there was then a RUSH by HNGC and its joint applicants to hurriedly withdraw those applications… appearing to do that, with that precarious timing, just to bypass Planning Board oversight!!!
Our Planning Board only found out about HNGC's new Restoration Project application from concerned residents, was concerned that it was being cut out of the process, contacted the Village Board through our VIllage Engineer voicing its concerns...about the fact that HNGC's application already contains misrepresentations, concerns about the Village Attorney's unilateral re-classification downgrading HNGC's Project to a Type 2 Action requiring NO review under SEQRA and requisting that it be before the PB, but, allegedly based on the sole determination of our conflicted Village Attorney, HNGC's Restoration Project was NOT sent to the Planning Board where our laws indicated it should be reviewed... but she again sent it back to the WCC!!!
Our VIllage Board has done NOTHING to address these issues!
That WCC Meeting is tonight! The WCC needs to hear that they should NOT be participating in this end-run around the Planning Board ploy, pretending that this is just a little repair project taking place within the wetland buffers, for an extensive, course-wide project they are NOT qualified to handle!
Letter to WCC fr Paula Chabrowe re HNGC Restoration Project
Part 2 Ltr to WCC, BoT fr D. Candido re HNGC Restoration and Vill Atty Issues
If those actions of our Village Attorney proactively advocating and acting in HNGC’s benefit to the detriment of Croton, its Residents, their properties and our environment, doesn’t wreak of conflict and bias … what would?!
The WCC does NOT have the requisite broad qualifications to address the full scope of this Restoration Project…
Our Village Laws state that if those permits are necessary within such a project, the Planning Board should be the Approving Authority… with good reason…
This Pugh Administration is trying to enable and facilitate HNGC’s wishes to the detriment of Croton and its Residents by segmenting this project…. All for the purposes of circumventing those laws in order to bypass Planning Board oversight!!!
That’s in direct contravention of the underlying intent of our Village Laws (which require there to be, not only Wetlands Permit, but also an Excavation and Filling, Steep Slopes, and Stormwater, Drainage, Erosion and Water Pollution Permits) AND SEQRA which states that Considering only a part or segment of an action is contrary to the intent of SEQR (§617.3(g)(1))
Come to Meeting … Contact the WCC, Planning Board, Board of Trustees, Mgr Healy, Mayor Pugh (contact info at end of Update) … Let them know that this is NOT ACCEPTABLE!
Here are some quick facts:
More detailed accounts are in links containing letters to the WCC, Village Board and Planning Board outlining both factual and legal issues.
HNGC filed what looked like an innocent application for a Wetlands Permit… but as we have found in the past, nothing with HNGC ever seems to be THAT innocent, straightforward ... and often purposefully presented and intended to be hard to decipher!
They submitted official applications saying, their project was just to do some minor “refurbishing” and “repair of the existing irrigation system”, but, from the start, that was NOT TRUE!
Their Course Superintendent, Brett Scales, signed the Wetlands Application certifying that his statements were “accurate”… but they were not!
They said that only <1 acre would be disturbed and that the turf would be replaced immediately, the same day, upon doing any digging to access affected parts of that irrigation system … NOT TRUE!
Then they said that some “bunkers and greens” might also be involved as part of this minor “repair of existing irrigation system” … FALSE!
Then they said that <10 acres would be disturbed … 10 acres is the threshold that would require a more intensive review be done under NY State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) … so they said, it would be 9.5 acres … of course giving NO PROOF… this number if VERY SUSPICIOUS… when looking at photos of actual Restoration below, you be the judge!!!
Brett Scales, then within just 48 hrs of signing his original “accuracy certification”, signed another document part of the same application stating that many of HNGC’s Course components were NOW “at the end of their useful life”! WHAT A COINCIDENCE!
Mr. Scales then said that this is a Course Restoration Project (he is now even referring to it as a “Renovation”) and that the following work, taking nearly 1 year, would need to be done, citing to GCSAA and USGA materials for support … THIS SOUNDS VERY DIFFERENT THAN HIS ORIGINAL STATEMENT!!!:
- Rebuild/Restore 90+ Bunkers, 80 Greens
- Replace the existing irrigation system with a new irrigation system
- Install all new turf and sod
- HNGC is now saying that they will need to construct a 20,000 sqft transfer station for all that they pull up and extract while doing work
This is what is entailed when a Golf Course Restoration/Renovation is done:
Heavy machinery and equipment; Exacavation; Filling; Grading; Trenching; Digging; Ripping up and Removal of Ground Cover and Vegetation; Tons of sand, gravel, greens mix, etc. hauled in, stored and installed, Constructing a 20,000 Sq ft (~1/2 acre) Transfer Station for just all of the excavated materials to be stored and hauled off, some trees might be cut (see indication on some plans, but they are not yet admitting and no tree permits have been even suggested!), in addition to the actual ripping out of all of the turf, grass, sod, existing irrigation system, existing bunker materials, etc., etc., etc….
Such extensive Golf Course Restorations/Renovations likely cost in the multi-millions of dollars!
That is also likely true for HNGC, because HNGC has now identified their contractor… LaBar Golf Renovations, a reknown contractor well-known in the business for having done similar extensive restoration and renovation work for many of the top Golf Courses in the world, and currently lists HNGC's upcoming Project for 2023. Labar’s website indicates that they did the Restoration/Renovation for many famous golf courses, including Jack Nicklaus' Muirfield, and Oak Hill C.C. shown below.
In fact most all of the course restoration and renovations found, done by LaBar or others, all look similar in nature, as they are what is also found on official instruction sites of USGA re Golf Club Facility Managemen. Yet, HNGC and our VIllage Attorney are still trying to make it seem like HNGC's Project is merely minor "repair" and "maintenance" with absolutely NO possible potential for any significant adverse environmental impacts!
This is what is entailed and what it looks like when a Golf Course Restoration/Renovation is done:
Oak Hill Golf Course Restoration done by LaBar
(the above YouTube video was edited for length. Full version can be found on YouTube)
Heavy machinery and equipment; Exacavation; Filling; Grading; Trenching; Digging; Tons of sand, gravel, greens mix, etc. hauled in, stored and installed, Constructing a 20,000 Sq ft (~1/2 acre) Transfer Station for just all of the excavated materials to be stored and hauled off, some trees might be cut (see indication on some plans, but they are not yet admitting and no tree permits have been even suggested!), in addition to the actual ripping out of all of the turf, grass, sod, existing irrigation system, existing bunker materials, etc., etc., etc….
HNGC Restoration Project will be Going on FOR MONTHS… through changes of weather, heavy storms, deluges, etc… on steeply, famously sloped, HNGC! EQUALS possibility of erosion, silting, flooding, drainage issues, run off to neighboring properties, could even be run off all the way to Hudson River if not handled in the proper manner (as HNGC had done in the past when flooding from its activities made its way to the Hudson and the Army Corps of Engineers had to issue a Stop Work Order, from what we understand!) HNGC HAS A LONG History of this…
As per usual, HNGC, its Engineer and reps have been very evasive and have provided very little detail... some are STILL referring to this as repair of the existing irrigation system... the same one that will be ripped out an totally replaced! Village Attorney Whitehead liked the words "repair" and "maintenance" she found in an irrelevant section of SEQRA referring to minor activities that everyone could assume would have no significant adverse environmental impacts... she did this in her arbitrary and capricious way without doing the required legal analysis... so now HNGC reps are referring to their extensive project as "repair" and "maintenance" ... in addition to a bunch of other words, depending on the day, mood and necessity: refurbishing, repair, maintenance, restore, rebuild, renovate!!! WHAT IS THE TRUTH!!
Mr. Robert Davis, Esq., who in the past has publicly heatedly reminded Village Attorney Whitehead that she definitely has a conflict of interest due to her prior representation of HNGC on directly related matters of HNGC before the VIllage and had admonished her to "watch what she says" relating to standing up for positions of the VIllage that are contrary to HNGC's interests!!! Despite that, Mr. Davis obviously understands that by Village Attorney Whitehead having advocated in so many ways for his client HNGC in this Restoration Project matter, including by unilaterally downgrading HNGC's Project to a Type 2 Action thereby eliminating the need for SEQRA review, that the interests of his client, HNGC are aligned, so he now sent a letter to the WCC wholeheartedly supporting and confirming her misclassification as a Type 2 and even her faulty, arbitrary and capricious determination, and woefully deficient explanation... which was NOT a true "reasoned elaboration" or honestly valid analysis.
As we found out with the HNGC Solar Project... it's all evasive, equivocal, gaslighting, ambiguouty, misrepresentations... whatever is necessary to get what they want...
As per usual, that has been just fine with this Pugh Administration, our Village Manager, Village Engineer, who all seem to take their lead from our Village Attorney (HNGC’s former attorney)... They need to hear from Croton Residents that HNGC DOES NOT RUN CROTON, NOR DOES THEIR FORMER COUNSEL, VILLAGE ATTORNEY WHITEHEAD!
ALSO AN UPDATE ON THE STATUS OF SOLAR PROJECT APPLICATIONS:
For 2 years, HNGC pushed its Solar Project on Steep Slopes violating many of our environmental laws … all supported by its Application, documents, “experts”, Engineer and our own conflicted Village Attorney (HNGC’s former atty) feeding false statements and misrepresentations ... that violated many laws... this Village Board and Village Attorney did NOTHING about that! Let it linger for over 18+ months, kept threatening to vote to approve based on the inaccurate, false misrepresentations in that application... and only stepped back for a breather due to the pressure of Residents... Even our Planning Board voiced its great concern regarding the misrepresentations and how this had been handled in its 2/7/22 letter to the Village Board.
BUT...The Board of Trustees NEVER DENIED that Solar Project as it should have been based on the fact that it violates our environmental laws AND on all of those misrepresentation and deceptive submissions
The Board of Trustees, with advice of our conflicted Village Attorney allowed HNGC another chance… to submit again… just on a longer form!!! ... a very unprecedented move given the circumstances...
Now HNGC’s Solar Project Applications have been “withdrawn” but could still be refiled… because our Board of Trustees has NOT banned refiling of those Applications… appearing to have been withdrawn in a rush to get around Planning Board oversight of current Restoration Project… and could just be waiting to refile at some point in the future!!!
What you can do:
Come to the Meeting. Let WCC and Village Board Liaisons hear your voices, see your support in opposition to how terribly this is being handled not in Croton’s best interest!
WCC sdemattia@crotononhudson-ny.gov
Planning Board kstapleton@crotononhudson-ny.gov
Board of Trustees boardoftrustees@crotononhudson-ny.gov
Mgr Bryan Healy bhealy@crotononhudson-ny.gov
Please share this Update and the Petition with your Friends and Family and ask them also to sign our Petition... more names bring more presure! and, as always...
THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!!