Smithtown Town Board Regular Meeting – October 23, 2025
Smithtown Town Board Regular Meeting – October 23, 2025
The Smithtown Town Board met on Thursday, October 23, 2025 at 2:00 PM in the Victor T. Liss Board Room. The meeting featured a public hearing on Proposed Local Law #13-2025 to override the 2026 state tax cap, approval of a consent agenda with 19 comptroller items, numerous resolutions (including SEQRA negative declarations, bid awards, and operational approvals), personnel actions, and a general public comment period. All votes were recorded as unanimous (5-0) except as noted in the minutes.
Public Hearings
- Tax Cap Override (Local Law #13-2025): The Town Board held a public hearing to consider a local law overriding the 2026 tax cap. Town Attorney Matthew Jakubowski explained that the tentative budget requires piercing the cap, but adoption of the law is a prerequisite, not a mandate. Seven residents spoke in opposition: Irwin Izen questioned budget deficits and line items; Hector Gavilla (Republican resident) asked for a Department of Government Efficiency and noted the Supervisor's salary increase from $112,000 to $161,000 (a 44% rise); Joanne Grove cited a healthy fund balance and poor road conditions; Maria Maguire opposed the tax levy, criticized long-standing tax breaks like the Tanzi Plaza project, and called for salary freezes; Andrew Greco (recently laid off) appreciated town services but urged fiscal due diligence; Barbara Kruger (55-year resident) raised concerns about Kings Park Bluff deterioration and highway delays, and urged a 0-2% increase. Supervisor Wehrheim responded that Smithtown operates on 11.5 cents of every tax dollar for 116,000 residents, noted the town has never pierced the cap (the only municipality to do so), but that 7 out of 10 towns will this year due to state-mandated health care (8-10% increases) and pension costs beyond the 2% cap. He invited the public to the November 4, 2025 preliminary budget hearing at 7:00 PM at the Senior Center. The hearing was closed unanimously (Resolution 2025-1052).
Consent Calendar
- Minutes: Approved minutes of October 2, 2025.
- Comptroller Items 1-19: Approved unanimously, including budget transfers (e.g., $940.19 for cyber security software, $249,343.62 for Senior Bus Federal Grant, $75,000 for litigation, $147,153.68 for roadway restoration, $40,000 for MSF plant maintenance, $49,732.00 for cyber security grant FY22), escrow deposits, bond release ($457,908.75 for Nottingham Acres), and donations ($500 from Smithtown Charitable Fund).
Resolutions (Selected)
- SEQRA Negative Declarations: Issued for McDonald's site plan (Commack 100 LLC) and for an amendment to Town Code Chapter 322 reducing parcels for mixed-use buildings.
- Bid Awards: Awarded contracts for commercial driver training (Sunny Truck Driving School), van conversion (Subzero Insulation), janitorial supplies (Amity Vacuum and WB Mason), road/landscape supplies (six vendors), and automotive parts (four vendors).
- Local Law Adoption: Adopted Local Law #8-2025 (Noise – officer observations) after a September 9, 2025 public hearing.
- Other Approvals: Authorized pedestrian bridge design at Given Park (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit), levy of unpaid Suffolk County Water Authority charges and solid waste fees on 2025/2026 tax bills, emergency demolition of an unsafe structure at 306 Third Avenue, St. James, rescheduling of November and December meetings, change orders for Charles P. Toner Park sports fields, grant applications (FTA Section 5310 for senior buses, Short Beach renovations, NYS Cyber Security Grant), and various agreements (e.g., Big Brothers Big Sisters, Long Island Bike, FPM Group groundwater monitoring, Snow & Ice contract supplement, etc.).
Personnel
- Approved appointments, promotions, and salary changes: Brittini Henslik (Youth Counselor, $30.53/hr), Michael Rubino (Mini Bus Driver, $20.20/hr, part-time), Brian Simmons (Maintenance Mechanic IV, $45.78/hr), salary adjustments for Assistant Group Leaders and Group Leaders in School Age Child Care (retroactive to Sept. 1, 2025), side letter with Smithtown Administrators Guild for Matthew Laux (Sanitation Supervisor), Paul Saladino (Maintenance Mechanic III, $37.62/hr), Kerry Moran and Laura Ten Brink (Group Leaders, $27.88/hr, part-time), Salvador Matos-Hernandez (Network & Systems Technician, $36.17/hr), Donna Vicari (Assistant Group Leader, $21.31/hr, part-time), Paul D. Colletti (Building Inspector, $29.11/hr), Joanne Overton (Principal Office Assistant, $32.43/hr).
Public Comments (General)
- John Fontana (resident of 80+ years) presented a petition with 69 signatures requesting a four-way stop at Grandview Lane and Laurel Drive in Smithtown Pines, citing a dangerous intersection and frustration with the traffic safety department's inaction over a year. Supervisor Wehrheim stated the traffic safety director is studying the feasibility and will review the petition.
- Jane Lombardo (Sweetbriar Nature Center) thanked the board for support and reported that a viral video of a monarch butterfly wing reconstruction garnered over 30 million views and international media coverage. She invited the board to the Treats and Trails event on Saturday, 1-4 PM.
- Anita Castorina commented that board members should recuse themselves from votes on matters where they have a personal interest, referencing the Tanzi building. Supervisor Wehrheim confirmed that Mr. Tanzi had recused himself.
Key Outcomes
- Public hearing on tax cap override closed unanimously (5-0).
- All consent agenda items, resolutions, and personnel actions were adopted with 5-0 votes, with one discrepancy: The minutes for Resolution 2025-1046 (Kerry Moran appointment) list "Ayes: None" yet the result is marked "Adopted (UNANIMOUS)" and the transcript indicates unanimous approval. This appears to be a clerical error in the minutes.
- Meeting adjourned at approximately 2:40 PM.
Meeting Transcript
Here, Councilman McCarthy. Yeah. Councilwoman Mulligan. Councilwoman and Zarolo. Here. Councilman Lowman. Yeah. Okay, we'll begin this afternoon. We have one site plan. Mr. Trotter, you're up. Good afternoon, Supervisor. Members of the town board. I'm Liam Trotto with the planning department, and I have one site plan to present this afternoon to the board, acting as the board of site plan review. The applicant is McDonald's Comac 100 LLC. The subject site is located near the southwest corner of Road and the Long Island Expressway Service Road North. It's part of the subject site is part of the overall Lowe's shopping center. A couple years ago, Lowe's the site was um they separated in two out parcels, one near the uh the east side along Crooked Hill Road and the southeast corner. So this this area highlighted in red is the subject site for the new proposal, which is the construction of a new 4,310 square foot one-story food retail building with a drive-thru and associated site work. So you can see uh towards the north, the Shake Shack was approved in April this year. They haven't begun construction yet, but I think they anticipate on doing construction uh concurrently with both new buildings. This is an enlarged site plan, so the access to the site will maintain along Crooked Hill and the service road, so there won't be any changes to the existing curb cuts, but only thing changing is the internal access. So there'll be uh two curb cuts to access the McDonald's restaurant, and they'll align with the existing internal um uh curb cut so you can access into the low shopping center parking lot and then it'll line up to the Shake Shack uh parking lot as well. So everything aligns easy to access through the site. This is the proposed architecture of the building. We'll have a brick facade with some uh fiber cement board and some faux wood accents. The applicant has agreed to 11 conditions of site plan approval, uh, most of which are standard. The first condition is that the applicant obtain applicable permits from the town building department prior to construction. The second condition is that the applicant install a tree preservation fence around all trees to be preserved on site. The third condition is that the plans shall be reviewed and approved by the fire marshal. The fourth condition is that the applicant must obtain a highway work permit from a permit from the Suffolk County Department of Public Works for improvements along Crooked Hill Road. The fifth condition is that a fee for soil removal must be submitted to the town engineering department. The sixth condition is that the stormwater pollution prevention plan shall be maintained on site during the duration of construction. The seventh condition is that the facility owner, which is McDonald's, must file with the county clerk a deed covenant requiring that the ongoing operation and maintenance of the post-construction of stormwater practices. Um but except it's the Lowe's facility, must file with the county clerk and modify the covenant requiring the ongoing operation maintenance of the post-construction stormwater taxes. The ninth condition is that the applicant shall grant a permanent basement to the lows for the maintenance of the roadway and all drainage structures that will remain their responsibility. The tenth condition is that the dumpster enclosure shall be bricked to match the principal building. And the last condition is that all on-site lighting shall be directed straight downwards downward in conformance with the zoning ordinance, and that all polls from the McDonald's also match the Shake Shack and the Lowe's shopping center, so it's consistent throughout the site. Any questions by the board? No. No. Mr. Trotter, thank you. This uh site plan will be voted on at the end of the board meeting. Thank you. Okay, we'll be uh continue as sitting as board of water commissioners. Uh comments on that site plan? No comments? No problem. Minutes approval, September 18, 2025, 2025-2026, Smithtown and St.
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