Woodbury Village Trustees express frustration with town board

It was obvious from the beginning of the October 26 Woodbury Village Board meeting that an election was right around the corner.

After approving a $215,000 bid for the Country Crossing Comminutor Project — The lowest bid received for the project — the bulk of this week’s meeting was spent discussing past and present bad blood between the Woodbury town and village boards. As explained during the meeting, the town and village boards have long had an acrimonious relationship. During this week’s meeting, current village board members expressed their disappointment that the town board recently used their own board comments to criticize them.

Each member of the Woodbury Village Board spoke about the need for better cooperation between the two governing bodies, as well as their individual efforts to make peace with the town board. As Village Trustee Christopher Graziano pointed out, “People have to understand that once you leave the other side of the table, and sit on this part of the table [representing the village], it’s no longer about you. It’s about the people. It doesn’t matter where your feelings are, doesn’t matter where your ego is, it doesn’t matter what you want, it’s what everyone wants. And what’s right and good for everyone. That’s what is important when sitting up at this table. It’s not about you.”

Also discussed at the village board meeting was who’s responsibility it is for taking care of the growing unhoused population in the Walmart parking lot. A member of the public used their time during public comment to discuss the “weird feeling” they had when recently visiting the Taco Bell and Walmart area. He stated it felt like a “city problem” and asked if the village had any plans to provide services to aid those unhoused people.

Kelly Naughton, village attorney, stated that she has checked and found the vast majority of the Walmart property falls under the jurisdiction of the town of Monroe, with only a “tiny” portion crossing into the village. The Woodbury Village Board pointed out that there was very little they could do about this unfortunate situation. At this time, they do not have information concerning what the Monroe Town Board plans to do, if anything, to aid the unhoused. Also, according to the Woodbury village attorney, the town of Monroe has stated there are presently no restrictions on the use of the Walmart parking lot that would prevent people from gathering there.

On a happier note, the mayor and fellow board members celebrated planting trees at Smith Clove Elementary School as part of the village’s ongoing Climate Resilience project. Mayor Andrew Giacomazza said that the tree planting was a good day, a good moment, and one of the highlights of being mayor. He added that those good days are often few and far between for people who serve in this role. Giacomazza said that those seeking the office of mayor need to recognize the amount of work that’s involved with the position. “Anyone who thinks it’ll be a walk in the park is sadly mistaken.” Giacomazza then thanked everyone for the opportunity to serve as mayor, and hoped he would have the opportunity to do so again.