Questions Over Mahopac Property Lead to Shouting Match
With neither man willing to give an inch, Carmel Supervisor Kenny Schmitt and recreation and parks committee chairman Robert Buckley engaged in a screaming match for the ages during last week’s town board meeting.
Coming to verbal blows more than once, Schmitt and Buckley fought over whether the town should purchase two pieces of property in downtown Mahopac meant to create a waterfront park and expand parking in the business district off Route 6N. One of the properties is Swan Cove, where abandoned homes lay barren near the lake, and the other adjacent property, owned by Tompkins Mahopac Bank, includes the Mahopac Chamber of Commerce building and lot in front of Swan Cove.
Town officials would purchase Swan Cove for $1 million and the price for the adjacent land is not known yet.
But Buckley, a frequent speaker at meetings, voiced a healthy dose of skepticism over whether the possible deals were worth it.
“You’re buying a piece of property that you don’t even know if it’s going to meet the needs of what you want,” Buckley said. “And I’m very concerned about it.”
Buckley was upset that the recreation committee was not included in discussions prior to Schmitt speaking about the proposed land purchase in a Mahopac News article. In an interview, Buckley said he wants the town to conduct multiple studies before moving forward with the projects. The parcels the town would purchase also flood during heavy rainstorms, Buckley said.
“All this could have been simplified if they didn’t put the cart before the horse,” Buckley said in an interview.
During the meeting Schmitt said over the past few years the town has tried to make more municipal parking available in response to concerns from local merchants. He called the parcels viable options for parking and other uses.
The two men also argued over Buckley’s use of social media, where he called out Schmitt on Facebook and mentioned that he is up for reelection in two years. Schmitt insisted that Buckley should’ve called him directly rather than making his feelings known online, with Buckley shooting back Schmitt hasn’t returned his calls since he made the Facebook posts.
Schmitt also took exception to Buckley only aiming his comments to him and not the rest of the board.
“I’m one of five, why don’t you address the whole board,” Schmitt started shouting. “That’s nonsense,” as Buckley repeatedly told him to “take the heat.”
“I’m not done with you yet,” Buckley bellowed, with Schmitt angrily replying, “Why don’t you knock it off…this is an attack on the town supervisor.”
At times, Councilwoman Suzi McDonough tried to dial down the hysteria and even threatened to walk off the dais if cooler heads didn’t prevail. Councilman Michael Barile and Buckley also traded barbs with Barile telling Buckley he should show a little more respect to the town board as the parks and recreation chairman. At one point, like a cornerman during a boxing match, Barile advised Schmitt to ignore
Buckley if his critiques became personal. “This board is gonna allow the head of the recreation department to belittle the supervisor,” Barile questioned aloud. Buckley pointed out Barile never pulled punches when he was a private citizen challenging the board.
Schmitt and Buckley continued to clash for most of the meeting, with Barile chirping in, “Kenny you’d think you’re Italian, relax.”
Buckley even threatened to resign from the recreation committee and challenged the board to accept his resignation. Later in the week, Buckley said he was still deciding his future with the recreation committee and would talk with other committee members. (Cooler heads prevailed near the end of the meeting between Buckley and the board.)
Councilman Jonathan Schneider said the town has conceptual drafts of the proposed parking site. There are also plans to replace the traffic light at the intersection of Route 6 and Route 6N, Schneider said, to increase vehicular and pedestrian safety.
In an interview, Barile was enthusiastic about the projects and unfazed by the dustup with Buckley. Barile said the transformation would give clear visibly to the lake from Route 6, add parking and improve the overall area. He called it a “no-lose situation.”
During the meeting, he alluded to the town being able to alleviate the flooding on the parcels of land.
“It’s the greatest thing to ever happen to the hamlet of Mahopac,” Barile told The Putnam Examiner. “End of story.”
