Let’s
say you rent a hotel room in Phoenix Arizona for the month of
February (75 to 80 degrees) as a “get away” from the winter cold in
Bellport. When you arrive in Phoenix, the hotel tells you that they
are doing work on your room so your vacation will have to be cut
short by a week. Their good news is that, without discussing it with
you, the hotel has decided to give you back your missing week, but
it will be in August (115 degrees in the shade) to compensate you
for the lost week in February, Would that be fair? Would you accept
it? That’s what seems to be proposed by the Village Board to Village
resident slip holders in the Village Marina.
Bellport.com’s
sources have provided us with the
text of a letter that supposedly
has been circulating by email amongst Village Board members. We only
received this information on Sunday, January 24, 2021, so there
hasn’t been time to vet this information as extensively as we would
normally have, but being that this information will probably be
discussed, possibly in Executive Session, at the Village Board
Meeting Monday evening, January 25, 2021, we thought it was
important for us to bring it to your attention as soon as possible
so that the issues involved could be openly and fairly discussed
rather than behind closed doors at the Village Board Meeting.
A little history... First, Village Hall was late in getting
their act together so the work on the Main Village Dock, that was
supposed to start in the fall of 2018 and be completed for the 2019
boating season, was going to start, so late, that it was finally
decided to push the work off to the 2020 boating season.
In
the fall of 2019, the work finally began, but again, late and seemed
to be in no particular hurry to be completed. We all saw days and
sometimes weeks of almost nothing happening down at the Marina and
as a result the completion of the work seemed to be slipping off
later and later in the season. The bottom line was that Village
residents, who were Village Marina slip holders, had their boating
season cut short by 45 days, even though they had paid for the full
2020 season.
Our understanding is, that without consulting
with the slip holders, as compensation, Village Hall decided to
extend the boating season by an extra 15 days in April, April 15,
2021 to April 30, 2021 and an additional 30 days in November,
November 1, 2021 to November 30, 2021. Additional days as
compensation when the weather is freezing and everyone is back to
work and the kids are back in school? Is Village Hall kidding?
Here is the irritating part that prompted this editorial. Again
if this letter is true, Village Hall is giving the slip holders two
options.
Option One: A refund of approximately $400 for the
delayed opening of the Village Marina in 2020, BUT THE SLIP HOLDER
WILL HAVE TO FORFEIT THEIR RIGHT TO THEIR SLIP FOR THE 2021 BOATING
SEASON! What about the 2022 Boating Season and beyond???
Option Two: As compensation for the lost boating time that had been
paid for, accept an extended boating season for 2021 from April 15,
2021 to November 30, 2021 without any financial compensation.
I’d like to suggest a third Option:
1. Give the slip holders
a refund for the time they paid for, but weren’t given.
2. Let
the slip holders keep their slips
3. Don’t extend the season for
slip holders.
4. Have slip holders remove their boats from the
slip by the usual due date.
5. If a slip is so valuable in
November, let the Village rent the slip to someone else for the
extended part of the season. If the Village’s offer is so fair and
equitable, the Village shouldn’t have a problem renting it in
November.
Why is Village Hall thinking about punishing
Village residents for simply asking for what’s fair and equitable?
If you’ve been harmed by someone, you have the right to complain and
sue if necessary. The Village shouldn’t be thinking about punishing
residents for simply asking a court to decide what the fair and
legal remedy should be.
If you have a comment and would like to
respond to any of the above, we'd be glad to consider printing your
response. Please send your comments to
larry@bellport.com. You can
read the comments we receive on our Letters
To The Editor page.
Sincerely,
Larry Sribnick
Editor/Publisher,
Bellport.com