Southold Town Supervisor Al Krupski delivered his first State of the Town address July 18 to roughly 30 Southold residents in person and via Zoom.
In his 16-minute remarks, Mr. Krupski moved quickly through short- and long-term issues the town is currently tackling.
He began by thanking staff who were in attendance, including his confidential secretary Lauren Standish and Michelle Tomaszewski, secretarial assistant to the Town Board. Board members Brian Mealy, Anne Smith and Greg Doroski were also present.
The first item of discussion was the town budget. Mr. Krupski said work on the 2025 budget was already underway.
“The past few budgets for all municipalities [were] propped up with federal funds, which was helpful for those years, but it will not be in 2025,” Mr. Krupski shared.
Mr. Krupski touted the hard work of town staff who deal with everything from beach permits to building permits. He congratulated the public works department, town engineer Michael Collins and staff for their efforts in keeping town beaches healthy and open despite the county’s closure of at least 15 beaches this season due to elevated bacteria levels.
“Our beaches are open for swimming because of all of the efforts we put into it,” he said.
Southold Town’s land preservation program is “well run and successful,” the supervisor said, in a nod to recent data showing that 10,000 acres have been protected through the Community Preservation Fund.
He noted that “at or near the top of the list” of quality-of-life complaints he receives relate to noise from leaf blowers, construction, traffic, helicopters, livestock and music at both residences and commercial facilities.
“I take all these complaints seriously and will listen to anyone whose life is being interrupted,” Mr Krupski said. “The challenge is how to legislate and address these issues in an even-handed and comprehensive manner.”
Noise was also a top agenda item, he said, at a meeting last week of Suffolk County Supervisor last week.
“We are learning how other towns are controlling noise for both the residential and business situations.”
Regarding traffic and short-term rentals, Mr. Krupski reiterated his commitment to safety improvements and best practices.
“We currently have a work group to sort out the facts and make recommendations to the Town Board [on short-term rentals] and how to regulate this business model,” he said. “There are many other communities trying to address this, including the Village of Greenport.”
Flooding and road-raising projects came up close to the end of Mr. Krupski’s address. He said the town plans to lean on county and state partners, as well as focus land preservation efforts, to combat it.
“The zoning update should include an overlay on the maps for depicting flood zones during storms, so residents have information [and are] prepared for the future. Most road-raising projects will impact flood water flow, so adjacent property elevations will have to be considered. We will have to work with our partners — Suffolk County Department of Public Works and New York State Department of Transportation and the Village of Greenport — to keep roads open and elevated for the future,” the supervisor said. “These will be complicated, expensive projects. Our successful land preservation efforts of the past decades will have a very positive effect on mitigating both sea level rise impacts and flooding during storm events. The less infrastructure exposed, the less that needs repair.”
Mr. Krupski ended his address with comments on affordable housing, emphasizing the challenge of providing meaningful housing while maintaining community character. He presented accessory dwelling units or accessory apartments as one solution, while recognizing it’s not perfect, as it could present challenges for traffic and infrastructure.
“All of our solutions, which will never accommodate all needs realistically, have to be consistent with a recently adopted comprehensive plan to retain our community’s character, and needs to be driven by actual needs, not a developer’s convenience,” he said.
Mr. Krupski highlighted the success of The Cottages development in Mattituck, which has provided home ownership and affordability in perpetuity, suggesting it as a model that could easily be repeated.
“The town is well positioned by past actions, both having active committees working on this and adopting the half-percent CPF funding, to take some action to help address the housing need.”
In closing, Mr. Krupski acknowledged town staff once again.
“The heart and soul of this town government is 232 full time, 61 part-time and 79 seasonal employees,” he said. “These are dedicated, hardworking people. We are also fortunate to have many committees that our residents volunteer for, from battery storage to zoning updates. They are a great resource.”