The Town Board of Tuxedo: What a mistake they made!
For the past year and a half Jim Hays has served on the Town Planning Board as that group grappled with the enormous development of approximately 1200 housing units called Tuxedo Reserve. Jim’s scientific background has been an asset as the Planning Board determined the impact of this development on the water supply and infrastructure of our town. Jim predicted that Tuxedo Reserve would have difficulty finding enough water and they did. Only after drilling more than 30 wells did they recover sufficient water. Yet he warns that the fact that the wells passed the test required by the DEC does not mean that these wells will be trouble free. It is important that the water company, that will be established to manage the water supply for Tuxedo Reserve, be structured so sufficient financial reserves are maintained to handle the cost of reworking wells or drilling more wells. This is important to protect the town’s taxpayers from having to shoulder these expenses.
Now that the Tuxedo Reserve development is in the middle of seeking final approval for the first phase of the development, the Town Board has decided not to reappoint Jim to the Planning Board and replaced him with Village resident Bob Thompson. After months of service, Jim was not even notified of the Town Board’s action until he showed up for a recent Technical Advisory Committee meeting! Not only is this decision a rude treatment of a dedicated volunteer but, as a local realtor, Bob’s appointment raises serious questions of conflict of interest. Furthermore the Town and the Village will suffer from the loss of Jim Hays’ scientific background that is useful in evaluating a variety of infrastructure issues.
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