Town Board: No To Shenorock Park District

The Town Board for Somers, NY has heard enough.  At the meeting on April 14, Supervisor Mary Beth Murphy said the Town would no longer facilitate efforts to create a park district -- a special tax district -- to clean up Lake Shenorock.  This is a turnabout from early March when the Town Board established procedures for the Town Clerk to oversee the signing of the petition.  [See March 17 post, Town Board Meeting Recap: Shenorock, Dog Park and Heritage Hills Water District.] There was no formal vote and the statement came during public comment, but the Supervisor expressed what is in all likelihood the unanimous view of the Town Board.
Town Board meetings in each of March and April featured two hours of rancorous debate by residents who favored and opposed the idea of cleaning Lake Shenorock and building a swimming beach at a cost of over $1.4 million, with the funds coming from an additional tax on those living in Shenorock district.  But the parties could not even agree on the geographic area of Shenorock, as some with pedestrian access to or views of the Lake were excluded but homes a half-mile away were included.
For several months, Supervisor Murphy and others on the Town Board encouraged compromise and "baby steps", including volunteer efforts to clean up the Lake.  Proponents of the Park District said over 400 owners out of about 800 owners in the hamlet were solid supporters of the idea and that the petition deserved an opportunity to be presented to the entire community.   The first petition submitted by the proponents was deemed flawed by the Town Board.  [see December 22 post, Back To Square One For Shenorock Lake.]  Opponents questioned the level of support, saying modest support had eroded amidst concerns about costs and benefits. Both sides accused the other of spreading misinformation.  Even if enough owners signed the petition, the Town Board had discretion to reject it, if the owners were not all benefited. To meet that subjective standard probably required overwhelming support by land owners in Shenorock.  In an email Supervisor Murphy said: "Given all the comments we have received I cannot envision a proposed district where, at least I, could make the requisite finding that everyone who is benefited is in the district and that everyone in the district is benefited."


The Town cannot prevent the submission of a petition.  But the Town Board is no longer interested in spending time on the issue and has no interest in owning the Lake and shoreline, even though taxes are four years in arrears.  Proponents say they have no immediate plans to submit a petition.  What seemed like a good idea with broad support when the engineers were retained by the Town in 2008, has dissolved into a civil war, nay an uncivil war among the residents.  Lake Shenorock was the center of the comnmunity up through the mid-70s.  Without collective community action, it may become a swampy eye sore.

Links
http://somersspectator.blogspot.com/2011/03/town-board-meeting-recap-shenorock-dog.html
http://somersspectator.blogspot.com/2010/12/back-to-square-one-for-shenorock-lake.html