The
Huntington Town Board held its January 12, 2021 meeting remotely and
broadcast meeting audio and video live, establishing the automatic
renewal of
the Senior/Disability Low Income Exemptions for 2021 and applying for
$25 billion in grant funding from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s
Emergency Rental Assistance Program.
The
Town Board established procedures allowing the automatic renewal of the
Senior/Disability Low Income Exemptions for applicants who received these real
property tax
exemptions in 2020; those who received the exemption in 2020 will
receive the same exemption in 2021 automatically without an application,
as long as their eligibility for these exemptions is maintained.
“We are thankful the State heard our pleas to allow the Town to create this automatic renewal process for the Senior/Disability Low Income Exemptions
in 2021, eliminating the burdensome, in-person renewal process for
our most vulnerable residents,” said Supervisor Chad A. Lupinacci.
In
early December 2020, Supervisor Chad A. Lupinacci joined with his
fellow Suffolk County Supervisor colleagues in urging Governor Cuomo to
intervene
on behalf of municipalities across the State to assist those most in
need allowing for the creation of an automatic renewal process for
Senior/Disability Low Income Exemptions for 2021. The
New York State
COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2020,
enacted on December 28, 2020, provided for the renewal of such
exemptions.
If
the applicant believes their income has changed, making them eligible
for a greater benefit, they can request a new application from the
Assessor, which
will not be required to be filed in person. Applicants may call the
Assessor’s Office at (631) 351-3226 or email AssessorInfo@huntingtonny.gov
to request a new application, which can also be downloaded on the Town website at huntingtonny.gov/tax-exemptions.
The
Assessor may require a renewal application to be filed if she has
reason to believe that an owner who qualified in 2020 may have since
changed his
or her primary residence, added another owner to the deed, transferred
the property to a new owner, or died.
The
Town Board also authorized the Supervisor to apply for and receive
grant funding from the recently announced Emergency Rental Assistance
Program from
the United States Department of the Treasury; the Town of Huntington is
eligible, as a government with a population over 200,000, to apply for
$25 billion in available grant funding from the U.S. Department of the
Treasury to assist those who are unable to
pay their rent or utilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Town Board scheduled public hearings for the Tuesday, February 23, 2021 Town Board meeting at 7:00 PM
to consider:
- Authorizing various
actions be taken upon certain properties designated as blighted in
accordance with Chapter 156, Article VII, §156-60 (Blighted Property).
- Authorizing
the Supervisor to execute license agreements with various sports
related organizations for the use of Town facilities.
- The
increase and improvement of facilities of the Dix Hills Water District,
in the Town of Huntington, in the County of Suffolk, New York, pursuant
to Section 202-b of the Town Law, consisting of construction
and implementation of wellhead treatment improvements for Well No. 5-1,
at the estimated maximum cost of $6,000,000.
In other action, the Town Board:
- Authorized the Town to
apply for grant funding from the National Trust for Historic
Preservation’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund to
hire
an architect qualified in historic preservation to prepare a plan to
guide a historically sensitive restoration of the Peter Crippen House on
a new site.
- Authorized
the installation of four art panels on the Heckscher Park fence, by
Michael Bartalos who was selected by the Public Arts Advisory Committee,
for a project funded last January (2020) with $30,000 in
EOSPA Park Improvement funds and an additional $3,600 to be secured from
the privately-funded Huntington Cultural Affairs Institute, Inc.
- Amended
the Affordable Housing code to prohibit Town of Huntington Community
Development Agency (CDA) employees and certain Town Employees involved
in any decisions related to developments for which Affordable
Housing Lotteries are conducted, from participating in the Affordable
Housing Lotteries administered by the CDA.
- Enacted
parking restrictions and prohibited turns to ensure traffic safety for
students, drivers and pedestrians on Laurel Hill Road in Northport as a
result of lengthy work in coordination with Northport High
School officials.
- Authorized
the Supervisor to team with Ecogy Energy (Prime Applicant), Brookhaven
National Lab, Stony Brook University and Pacific Northwest National Lab
to apply for Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy
Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Connected Communities (CC)
Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) committing the Town of Huntington
Community Microgrid Facilities to be used as a Connected Communities
Demonstration Project.
- Approved
the issuance of a Certificate of Approval in a Historic District for
400 Park Avenue, Huntington in the Old Huntington Green Historic
District: the application involves a large vacant parcel of land
on the corner of intersecting thoroughfares, Main Street and Park
Avenue, and the proposed building and use of the land are legally
permitted in the district; the proposed building, with proposed features
such as gable roofs, separated (non-single paned) windows,
brick chimneys being the tallest points, and aspects with different
heights and setbacks from the street reducing the appearance of size, is
compatible with the special character and the architectural,
engineering, cultural, historic and aesthetic interest
and value of the property and the surrounding historic district; the
proposed building is appropriate to the property, surrounding properties
and neighborhood in terms of design, character and scale, and is
visually compatible with the other buildings in the
immediate neighborhood, utilizing textures, materials and colors of the
facade and roof as to be in proportion and harmonious with other
buildings in the vicinity; the architecture is compatible with that of
the historical period, and the current plans meet
the condition contained in Town Board Resolution 2018-424, that the
architecture of any proposed buildings appear residential in nature.
- Appointed
Michelle K. McCarthy, Esq. of Huntington Station, as a member of the
Board of Ethics; McCarthy is a Senior Staff Attorney for the Suffolk
County Legal Aid Society's Children's Law Bureau, prior to
that she served as a Staff Attorney for the Legal Aid Society's District
Court Bureau; McCarthy's community involvement includes her service on
the Cohalan Cares Advisory Board, Secretary of the Ladies Ancient Order
of Hibernians, Division 4, Huntington, and
as a Trustee of the Huntington Lawyers Club.
- Reappointed
John Posillico as Chairperson and appointed Richard McGrath as Vice
Chairperson of the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) through December 31,
2021.
- Reappointed
Paul Ehrlich as Chairperson and Robert J. Bontempi, Jr. as Vice
Chairperson of the Planning Board through December 31, 2021.
- Reappointed
Ken Christensen and Lourdes Pena (terms exp. 2023) and appointed David
Pinkowitz (term exp. 2022) as members of the Affordable Housing Advisory
Board.
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