Page 30 October 12, 2012
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Sag Police (Continued from page 23) approve such an agreement. The Board voted 3-1 to have Village Attorney Fred Thiele draft an inter-municipal agreement, and the retirement incentives, last month. Gilbride and Trustees Ed Gregory and Robert Stein voted in favor of the draft, Kevin Duchemin voted against it. Gilbride said he’d prefer not to be part of this fight with his own police department, “but it happened on my watch and I’m going to do the best for the village.” He acknowledged tough times are ahead and people could lose their jobs, but his motivations are not personal. On Monday, Sag Harbor Village Police Chief Tom Fabiano called Gilbride’s plan “the most ridiculous thing that could ever happen to Sag Harbor.” He noted that Sag Harbor PD already has oneman shifts, and cutting back the force would hurt its efficiency. “What are you going to do in the summertime? I just shake my head in disbelief.” Fabiano said the officers from the Sheriff’s Department are good police and would likely do a fine job in Sag Harbor, but his force is already working hard for the village. He said members of the force are already considering resigning and moving on to other departments because they currently have no job security. “This is not a joking matter,” Fabiano said, explaining that he’d feel better about any change if it were the will of the people of Sag Harbor and not just a few members of the Board. After 35 years on the Village PD, Fabiano said he’s dumbfounded by what’s happening. “Do I take it personal? You better believe I do.”
a way the Village can help out,” he said. “We don’t know yet.” Epley said he is no expert when it comes to the nuances of the ARB’s purview, but he sees the greatest issue to be the historic, 141-year-old clock, which overlooks the corner of Meeting House Lane and Main Street in Southampton. “My concern has always been about clock operations,” he said, explaining that the manual-wind clock has been wound by the Corwin family, of Corwin Jewelers, since the 1800s. If the cell tower is installed, the Corwins will no longer be permitted to access the clock, which is a problem, according to Epley. “They’d have to automate the clock,” he said, adding that he also thinks about potential security issues and electrical demands, among other concerns. “To me, it’s about history, and that [clock] is history,” Epley said, though he was uncertain whether or not the clock falls under ARB purview. Other supporters of protecting the clock and the ARB’s decision started a website, www.savetheclock.org, where they have a petition and post updates about the case. Twomey, Latham, Shea attorney Lisa Kombrink was unavailable for comment, and the attorney for the church and MetroPCS, Keith Brown, of Brown & Altman, LLP did not return calls. What do you think about the cell tower controversy? Share your opinions and ideas at www.danshamptons.com.
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extra cars and officers during parades and other community events when necessary. “They realize we do community policing,” he said, noting that they would have a presence at schools and other key locations. The Sheriff’s Department would operate out of Sag Harbor police headquarters and use its lockup facility, and they would write tickets on village pads. If the responsibilities were shared, as Gilbride hopes, he said the Sag Harbor Police Department would likely be reduced from 12 to 6 officers and they would split patrol shifts with the Sheriff’s Department. “The force of 12 with the chief is definitely a summertime force,” the mayor said, noting that he’d like to look at a winter force to cut costs. He also pointed out that because the Sheriff’s Department would use its own cars, the number of Village PD vehicles could be reduced, lowering insurance costs and adding revenue from the sales. He said current Sag Harbor PD Chief Tom Fabiano would remain in place, but the Board planned to offer him and three other senior officers retirement incentives at the Village Board meeting on October 9. (Information from the meeting and details about the incentives were not available at press time.) The Sheriff’s Department already does some work with evictions, foreclosures and transporting prisoners on the East End, and Gilbride pointed out that Village residents pay into those county operations, so the Sheriff might have jurisdiction to operate in Sag Harbor without an inter-municipal agreement. If not, he said the County Legislature would have to
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