At Wednesday night’s Harbor Management Commission there was a discussion about how the group would conduct business going forward. At their April meeting Frank Mazza was re-elected chairman, but said, “I’m not overly happy with a lot of what happened in terms of how meetings ran. They were raucous at times and not always under control. This year I’d like to start off on a new leaf.”
After a year of bickering and occasional shouting during monthly meetings, a change was needed. On Wednesday night there was discussion about the importance of using email gingerly and not to conduct business via email.
Also, there was a motion to formally adopt Roberts Rules of Order. During discussion, HMC member Peter Quigley said that usually, there’s an “understanding” all commissions and boards follow Roberts Rules, and he would hesitate to “lock it in.”
“I don’t think there’s anything under town government that says we have to use Roberts Rules of Order,” Mr. Mazza said. He suggested the HMC use Roberts Rules on a limited basis, for example, “If we have a parliamentary question…” Nonetheless he said he did not object to the idea.
Bruce Angiolillo said he supported the motion to follow Roberts Rules of Order, pointing out that on one or two prior occasions, “proposed actions by the committee did not proceed because someone said that under Roberts Rules of Order, to proceed would be improper.”
“I think we can not have Roberts Rules of Order to pursue individual convenience,” Mr. Angiolillo said. “We’re either in or out.”
Mr. Armstrong said he thought the motion was a good idea.
The HMC members present — Mr. Quigley, Mr. Silberberg, Mr. von Oss, Mr. Mazza and Mr. Angiolillo voted to adopt Roberts Rules of Order. Mr. Quigley abstained. Absent were Mr. Kinner, Mr. Bonney, Ms. Gibbons.
Mr. Mazza said he’d like to appoint one member of the HMC to attend some of the meetings of the Port Chester Waterfront Commission and vice versa.
“I’d like to appoint a liaison to work with them, to go to some of their meetings. And I’d like to invite them to have somebody come to some of our meetings,” Mazza said, of the commission over the state line that is equivalent to Greenwich’s Harbor Management Commission.
“I know a lot of people have complained to me — and they’re right — they’ve put in gazebos and benches along the water. If you look across to Greenwich, it’s atrocious,” Mazza said.
Mr. Mazza said he’d heard complaints about the view of Greenwich from the spruced-up waterfront park on the Byram River in Port Chester, where, in addition to gazebos and benches, there is outdoor dining at Bar Taco. The foreclosed Greenwich Landing condominiums have sat empty for several year and are also an eyesore.
Mr. Mazza said it would be helpful for the two waterfront communities to talk to one another. “They realize they have some problems too. They have a bulkhead that has partially collapsed and fallen into the river.”
Mr. Mazza asked the group to think about who might be the right person to visit the Port Chester Waterfront Commission’s meetings.
See also:
UPDATE: First Selectman Reflects on Reappointment of Greenwich Harbor Master
The Current State of Planning for Greenwich Harbor and the Mianus River
Mazza Re-Elected Chair of Harbor Commission. Public Feedback Sought on Harbor Plan Draft Chapters
View toward Port Chester from Oak Street in Byram. Costco in background, Wahba Brothers abandoned condo project in foreground. Credit: Leslie Yager
View toward Costco in Port Chesterfrom Byram. Credit: Leslie Yager