Maria Moore Sworn In as Town Supervisor; BESS Critics Speak Out

At Southampton Town Hall this week, it was a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire — the BESS fires, that is.

Following a morning swearing-in ceremony on Wednesday, January 3, that saw three new members join the Southampton Town Board, the board got right to business at an early-afternoon organizational meeting that was highlighted by public comments about the upcoming expiration of a six-month moratorium on battery energy storage systems that was enacted in early August.

That moratorium came about following intense community pushback into the siting of one of those facilities in Hampton Bays. The facilities are designed to store and deploy energy that comes from renewable sources such as solar and wind power.

A small handful of Hampton Bays residents showed up to both wish the new board members well and remind them that the moratorium would be expiring in February.

Town Supervisor Maria Moore kicked off the meeting with a brief statement in which she said she was honored to be on the board and said she expected the board would make “great strides” on behalf of the town’s residents.

In her inaugural address, Moore emphasized some of the themes that she focused on during the campaign, pledging to “build upon the positive momentum created by those who came before me and their accomplishments that have shaped the community,” as she name-checked some top-tier issues: infrastructure improvements, environmental and sustainability plans, and housing and traffic initiatives.

Moore went on to stress her view that “the strength of any community lies in its ability to adapt and grow in response to the concerns and aspirations of the people,” as she pledged an open-door policy at Town Hall and declared, “I’m ready to listen.”

Then it was on to the business of the day.

“First, we’re going to take attendance,” said Moore, the former mayor of Westhampton Beach who defeated Republican Councilwoman Cyndi McNamara in November to earn the seat.

The public portion then gave Moore her first opportunity to make good on her pledge to listen.

First up to the dais was Kristin Mielenhausen, a nurse practitioner and Hampton Bays resident who said she believed that the moment at hand reflected the “beginnings of a rebirth of the Southampton Town Board,” before explaining that the BESS matter had drawn her into local government machinations and their shortcomings following the town’s greenlighting of a facility in residential Hampton Bays, followed by an abrupt reversal that was the result of intense community pushback.

Mielenhausen said she expected the BESS developer, Canal Southampton Battery Storage, would try to “galvanize support” in 2024 to move ahead with the facility and called on the new board members to follow the example of Town Council members Tommy John Schiavoni and McNamara and extend the moratorium when it ends in February.

According to the town’s website, “The moratorium will allow the Town Board to study the current code, and make sure it is sufficient to address public safety concerns. It will allow changes to the code that may force changes to the current project and could render it noncode compliant. The moratorium will prevent any processing by the Planning Board and will prevent the building inspector from issuing any permits to construct a BESS facility. It will also prevent Zoning Board of Appeals action.”

Moore noted that the board would have a work session later this month to talk about BESS legislation and said that “it seems like we will have to extend the moratorium since it’s coming up soon.”

Another Hampton Bays resident, Brigid Maher, echoed Mielenhausen in welcoming the new board and calling for an extension of the moratorium. Moore then noted that she and the board would “work regionally with other town supervisors on the East End to see what they are doing, so we can include that in the work session,” and that she would follow up with Southampton Town Planning and Development Administrator Janice Scherer on that front.

Moore, as Westhampton Beach mayor, was a member of the East End Supervisors and Mayors Association and was elevated to be the chair of that organization in the run-up to her swearing-in. She was preceded in that role by now-former Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman.

Freshman Councilman Michael Iasilli also pledged to the BESS-focused speakers that “we’ll be present at the civics and the CACs,” referencing local civic organizations and community advisory committees, while Bill Pell, the other new council member, said it was important that the town not wait on recommendations from the state when it comes to controversial BESS facilities, which had fires in three incidents in the state last year, including one in the Town of East Hampton.

Gayle Lombardi, a frequent critic of Schneiderman, then stepped up with another issue of concern. She expressed that she “hopes to work with the board,” as she used her three minutes to focus on the new Community Housing Fund Advisory Committee that was created to assist the Town Board in making decisions about how to deploy funds from that new program, which puts a half-percent transfer tax on home purchases, paid by the buyer, to help pay for affordable housing initiatives in the town.

Lombardi said she had hoped to be a part of that advisory committee and criticized it for having a member who is an elected member of the town Zoning Board of Appeals, in contravention, she charged, of the state law that enabled the local CHF program.

Moore thanked Lombardi for her research and said she “valued her input,” noting that she hadn’t had the opportunity to fully review the CHF plan in the works but was looking forward to scheduling a work session that would include Director of Community Development Kara Bak, the point person on the CHF program.

Earlier on Wednesday, Moore, Iasilli and Pell had all been sworn in at a ceremony that included newly elected Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine and Father Alexander Karloutsos of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church of the Hamptons, who, like Moore, is of Greek heritage.

“The meeting went well,” Iasilli said after it ended. “We were able to see that Supervisor Moore was more than willing to take a collaborative approach with the speakers.”

Schiavoni said he was also impressed. “Supervisor Moore is going to scale up well from being mayor and will do a wonderful job,” he said, adding that he wasn’t surprised the BESS issue was first out the gate for the new board’s consideration.

“The community is engaged,” he said, “and they are eager to work with the Town Board on this issue.”