Woodbury Town Board wrestles with public complaints at recent meeting

At times, it was hard to tell if there was a Woodbury Town Board meeting taking place on November 2, or if it was a scene out of some amped up reality show. To its credit, the town board did its best to conduct business while dealing with numerous objections. But between happier announcements, such as the Polar Plunge event raising $28,000 for the Special Olympics; past and potentially future board members sparred with the sitting board over several issues.

The first confrontation was over what’s been dubbed “The 5 Minute Rule.” This rule apparently limits each speaker that appears for public comment to no more than five minutes at a time when they approach the podium. The Woodbury Town Board voted 3-1 to keep the 5 Minute Rule in place, with two members missing or otherwise abstaining from that specific vote: Timothy Finnegan and Brandon Calore. One citizen said the 5 Minute Rule was “censoring the public,” while a board member shot back that it wasn’t.

Overshadowing the village mayor’s appearance to announce that passing cars on Route 32 would soon be prohibited — not to mention exchanging words of praise between the village board and town board on recent cooperative efforts — were public comments featuring threats of releasing emails and arrest records. The emails in question were allegedly sent between the town board, specifically Woodbury Town Councilmember Kathryn Luciani, and a local group known as We Are Woodbury. The emails are alleged to contain disparaging remarks about a former village and town planning board member, Maria Hunter. The Photo News has reached out to Kathryn Luciani about these emails but did not hear back from her as of press time.

We Are Woodbury’s Teresa Luongo countered Maria Hunter’s comments about the emails with threats of releasing “arrest records” that could “blow a lot of people out of the room.” The latter statement drew sharp condemnation from Town Councilmember Finnegan for abuse of the public comment period, stating he found Luongo’s behavior “very inappropriate.”

Other Business

The village mayor, Andrew Giacomazza, also during his brief appearance, mentioned an upcoming examination of local cannabis rules and restrictions. According to the SUNY Rockefeller Institute of Government, both the town and village of Woodbury have not opted out of hosting cannabis dispensaries and consumption sites. They are joined by Kiryas Joel, Newburgh (city and town), Tuxedo (town), Warwick (town), Palm Tree, and Port Jervis for allowing dispensaries within their boundaries.

Finally, a discussion took place between members of the public and the town board concerning ownership of the Walmart and Taco Bell parking lots, and who would be responsible for taking care of the increasing unhoused population using those lots. This is a follow-up to the discussion that took place recently at the Woodbury Village Board meeting. Town Councilmember Tyler Etzel Jr. — incorrectly as it turns out — stated that the parking lots in question fall under the jurisdiction of the town of Monroe. The Photo News reached out to Monroe Town Supervisor Tony Cardone, who replied that the parking lots for Walmart and Taco Bell belong to Woodbury. To get some clarification on the issue, The Photo News reached out to Orange County Tax Map coordinator Michael Breitenfeld. According to Breitenfeld, most of the parking lots in question belong to the town of Woodbury. That means the issues concerning the unhoused population and providing them with assistance falls squarely under the jurisdiction of the town of Woodbury and Orange County. The Photo News has reached out to Woodbury town attorney, Joseph G. McKay for a response on this issue but did not hear back at the time of this writing.