Carmel’s Swan Cove Debate Leads to Verbal Brawl
If not for the purchase of Swan Cove off Route 6, Carmel would’ve been a sleepy town the last few months.
Instead another scorched earth debate ensued at Carmel’s town board meeting last Wednesday about the waterfront property that led to shouting, name calling, hurt feelings, and the apparent resignation of the parks and recreation committee chairman. The town bought the property in downtown Mahopac earlier this year for $1 million, in hopes of enhancing the area and attracting more people.
Advocates for the project say the property would add much needed parking to the business district and has the potential for a new park near Lake
Mahopac. But detractors question if it’s worth pouring millions into the property that currently has several decrepit bungalows that need to be torn down.
Those two sides collided last week. Loudly.
Mahopac resident Norman Marino questioned why the purchase of Swan Cove wasn’t put up for a voter referendum, which town attorney Greg Folcheltti replied wasn’t required to buy the property. Marino, who is a former Carmel town councilman, argued now that the property is town-owned, it’s off the tax rolls and would cause other residents’ taxes to increase.
“This shouldn’t have been done this way,” he said. “It’s wrong.”
Marino also brought up that Councilman Michael Barile bought the property for $413,000 in 1996 and owned it for 20 years. Barile then sold it three years ago to another developer for $725,000, Marino said. He questioned why the town purchased the property soon after Barile joined the board this year.
Barile revealed that he offered the property to the town three years ago, but nothing ever materialized. He is confident everything with the sale of Swan Cove property was done properly.
Supervisor Kenny Schmitt said he didn’t pursue the property a few years back because the town was still recovering from the Great Recession and couldn’t afford it. During the meeting, it seemed other town board members were unaware that Barile and Schmitt had discussed Swan Cove three years prior.
When asked about the past offer to purchase Swan Cove by Mahopac resident Robert Buckley, Schmitt said it was never a formal offer, but he took responsibility for not informing the rest of the board at the time about it.
From there, the fireworks began. Once Buckley told Schmitt he cost the town $275,000 by not buying the property earlier, Schmitt called the criticism a political attack.
“Now (residents) know, now they know, can we end this now,” Schmitt said, threatening to leave the meeting while Buckley was speaking.
“You don’t particularly like me and that’s fine and I particularly don’t like you anymore,” Schmitt told Buckley. “You’ve been doing nothing but throwing shots at me the past couple of months and the property.”
Buckley suggested not buying the Mahopac-Tompkins bank property just yet because of possible hidden costs. He said the town should do a pilot program where 45 parking spots are opened up to see if residents and visitors to the town will actually use those spaces for a year.
He added possible asbestos within the bungalows could balloon costs for tearing down the homes.
The two men continued to quarrel for several minutes.
“The public overwhelmingly supports me,” Schmitt said later to Buckley. “I’m not sure they support you anymore the way you behave.”
Buckley shot back, “You need to grow a set.”
Near the end of the meeting, Schmitt said he was upset with the tone of the meeting and took some responsibility for the heavy tension.
“This is not the norm, this is not how we operate,” Schmitt said.
Buckley and Barile also got into a fight, with Buckley calling Barile a “bully” in town. He said other residents feel intimidated by board members.
Buckley said Barile might have a conflict of interest because he has several projects in town and is making decisions about certain boards and departments in town, including appointments and hiring. At one point Buckley mentioned Barile’s daughter, who also has business in front of the town, which Barile took unkindly to.“
The next time you bring up my daughter or my family, you’ll be gone before the next election,” Barile said, in reference to booting Buckley from the recreation committee. (Buckley told The Putnam Examiner he plans on resigning as chairman of the recreation committee.)
Buckley then repeated “your daughter” a couple times after that.
At one point, Nicole Stern, who frequently attends town board meetings and is Barile’s daughter, stepped up to speak, but Barile asked her to sit back down.
“It’s not worth it,” Barile said. “Please do not.”
Later in the meeting, Barile argued a lot of political people don’t want him office because he isn’t playing by their game and revealed he sent a report to the state attorney general’s office about town practices for a review. He said his door is always open and town board meetings are open to everyone.
“No one’s going to bite,” Barile said.
Other residents that spoke were more supportive of the Swan Cove project.
Mahopac resident Jean Hopper said she supported the Swan Cove purchase because it could be a place in town enjoyed by everyone. Another resident said the park has potential to become many different things and Buckley should resign from parks committee because of his comments. Resident Donna Massaro, who owns the Freight House Café, said while she wishes the property didn’t cost $1 million, she excited to work with town officials to open up more parking in town.
“People are passionate and I think that’s important,” Hopper said. “I think that’s why people are here. We’re interested and we’re invested and that’s a good thing.”
“Passion is good,” Barile quickly interjected.
