Updates on the Inc. Village of Port Jefferson Board of Trustee Nov. 20, 2023 Meeting

What to know:

  • Board agrees to change meeting dates to Wednesdays
  • Board approves 7-year look back into Capital Fund
  • Village holds Public Hearing on Ethics Code revision
  • Mayor introduces Andrew Freleng Director of Building & Planning Department

 

Port Jefferson, NY; November 29, 2023 — At the November 20, 2023 meeting of the Village Board of Trustees, the Board approved changing its public meetings schedule from the first and third Monday of every month to the second and final Wednesday, effective January 10, 2024. The meeting that takes place on the second Wednesday will be a business meeting and the meeting set for the last Wednesday of the month will be the meeting in which public comment is invited. In 2023, five Monday meeting dates had to be scheduled to take place on alternate dates due to publicly celebrated holidays. The new schedule was proposed so meeting dates would not need to be adjusted; change was unanimously agreed upon by the Board (4-0; Trustee Loucks was not present) to make the adjustment.

Village Treasurer Stephen Gaffga described to the board the need to enlist PKF O’Connor Davies LLP, an independent auditing firm, to help examine the Capital Fund’s financial records, describing the “information gap” he found in the recordkeeping. “The trail is very, very difficult to follow,” Gaffga said. “We needed an expert to come in and analyze each year, going back at least seven years; PKF is the best in the business.”  Trustee Drew Biondo called it “a smart move, because it will affect our bond rating [which affects] our interest rates when we borrow money.” Deputy Mayor Kassay concurred, adding “If there’s the potential to better our bond rating, that’s a huge savings in the long term for the Village.”

The issue of integrity was front and center at the Public Hearing portion of the meeting, as the Board sought to update and amend Chapter 41 (Ethics, Code Of) of the Village of Port Jefferson.

Ethics Attorney Steven Leventhal outlined the proposed Code amendments and stressed the importance of having an updated Code of Ethics.

“The primary purpose of an ethics program is not enforcement,” Leventhal said, “but to offer guidance;” to help avoid “unintended” ethics violations. He added that whatever Code we adopt should be considered a “work in progress” and reviewed on a regular basis to ensure that it is “meeting the needs of the Village.”

Mayor Sheprow inquired about the qualifications the Board of Trustees should look for in appointing members to the Board of Ethics. “You want people of integrity, people with good judgment, and people who the public will feel confident in,” Leventhal advised.

The Public Comment period will remain open until December 7, and a subsequent public Work Session of the Board of Trustees (live streamed on the PJV YouTube channel) has been scheduled for Tuesday, December 5 beginning at 5:30 pm Port Jefferson Village Hall, 121 West Broadway, Port Jefferson, New York, 11777. The purpose of the Work Session meeting is for the Board of Trustees to further discuss the proposed code revision to Chapter 41. Anyone with questions or comments about the proposed amendments can write to the Village Clerk, spirillo@portjeff.com).

Mayor Sheprow introduced Andrew Freleng, the new Director of the Building and Planning Department and welcomed the former Trustee and Planning Board member back to the Village.

“I’m excited to be here,” Freleng said. “This is a very dynamic village, and this is a great administration, in my opinion. You have some good people who have come on board and I’m excited to work with them.” He told the Mayor that he’s already started to make changes and the department would be moving forward “aggressively” to implement the administration’s agenda.

The next Board of Trustees meeting (and only meeting scheduled for December) is Monday, December 11; 5PM work session and 6PM public meeting.

Editor’s note: For more information contact spirillo@portjeff.com