Monroe confirms top-down access to grant consultants

Following the prior town board meeting’s debate on who should have access to grant consultants, the board passed a resolution establishing Supervisor Anthony Cardone as the coordinator and primary point of contact for consultants to the town. The resolution asks consultants to refrain from contacting individual board members unless authorized by the town supervisor or previously authorized to do so by the town board.

Councilwoman Mary Bingham asked to table the motion, as COuncilwoman Maureen Richardson was not present, and spoke out against the resolution.

Commenting on the policy, Councilwoman Dorey Houle said, “Richardson is developing a reputation and that reputation is extending to the town board and the town of Monroe, and it is not a good one, and we need to be able to provide these consultants with the knowledge that they can get their work done just by streamlining everything through one person, as is done in every other municipality throughout the county.”

Short-term rentals

The town board heard from residents of Round Lake Park who were against an application for a short-term rental property on Keith Lane.

Among those to speak out were Julio Cotto, who identified himself as the president of the Round Lake Park Association and representing the community. According to Cotto, while Keith Lane lies outside the legal boundary of Round Lake Park, it functions as a shared driveway perpendicular to Round Lake Park Road. He added that residents of Keith Lane depend on Round Lake Park for such essential services, noting that, unlike the short-term rental property, these properties respect and abide by community norms.

Alleging that the property has continued to operate as short-term rental despite being barred from doing so, Cotto said, “We are not confident that the owners and operators of 8 Keith Lane will follow codes and procedures as they have shown to ignore limitations involving the property. Therefore, we urge the denial of the short-term rental permit for 8 Keith Lane.”

The attorney for the applicant acknowledged the objections of the public and responded to claims made by certain residents that notifications about the application weren’t received. The attorney said he wasn’t involved in the process, telling the board that the notices were sent out by the client.

Citing a number of issues, the board denied the application for the short-term rental property at 8 Keith Lane.

In other short-term rental news, the board denied the short-term rental application for 649 Lakes Road claiming that certain conditions were not met. The board did approve the application for 13 Ruby Road.