Last Thursday, Greenport trustees passed a series of emergency resolutions to address the deteriorating Mitchell Park bulkhead, and closed the latest public hearing on long-debated updates to the village’s short-term rental codes.
At the meeting, trustees wrestled with how best to advance the Mitchell Park bulkhead repair project in the absence of Mayor Kevin Stuessi, who has been the point person on the stalled initiative and was absent from last week’s meeting for unspecified reasons.
In an 80-minute session — brief for a board known for meetings that can stretch beyond four hours — trustees took steps to address the long-delayed Mitchell Park bulkhead repairs, particularly the badly-battered area behind the East End Seaport Museum.
‘Really scary’
The board unanimously passed a resolution declaring an emergency, to speed up the relocation of an electrical service panel that is leaning over a failing section of bulkhead near the railroad dock. The resolution directs the village clerk and treasurer to “immediately solicit” proposals for the work without the usual bidding process, and calls for the electric panel to be relocated next to the transformer on the southeast corner of the museum.
“It’s in terrible condition,” said Deputy Mayor Patrick Brennan. “It looks like it could fall over at any moment.”
Phillips warned that if the service panel collapses, “we’re going to not only have issues with business owners, but we’re going to have vessels down there that are going to be majorly damaged with electrolysis or with blowing out their electronic equipment.”
She said a collapse could knock out power to the North Ferry.
The board also authorized design work and an application to the state Department of Environmental Conservation for emergency permits to repair the bulkhead that runs behind the museum, between the North Ferry and the railroad dock.
“It’s really scary,” trustee Julia Robins said. “It is totally undermined. There are huge sections of the pavement that literally collapsed.”
Finally, trustees moved to advance the larger Mitchell Park bulkhead repair project, which has been stalled for months. The village has access to a $3 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded in the spring of 2025, but the paperwork has not been completed.
“It needs to get done or we’re going to lose it,” Phillips said bluntly.
Brennan voiced concern that acting without the mayor might look like “a maneuver to run around a project that the mayor, I guess, was managing or running.”
He went on to say that “I agree with the urgency and the initiative to get this going. I’m just concerned because the mayor’s not here … but I agree with the urgency.”
Trustee Julia Robins noted that the “project predates the mayor.”
A 2018 engineering report warned the bulkhead was already failing and that inaction could lead to collapse, public safety threats, property damage and contamination of Greenport Harbor.
Nearly a year and a half after the grant money was announced — and despite repeated assurances from Stuessi that action was imminent — the project has not advanced beyond engineering studies and talks with state and federal officials.
Phillips has been pushing for the bulkhead repair project to move forward for more than a year, and said the village can’t wait any longer.
“At this point, I have been bringing it up for months, and I keep getting told it’s going to move forward … and it’s not any disrespect to him. He has a lot on his plate, but this needs to get done,” she said.
“I cannot, in good conscience not say something where we could possibly lose that amount of money to repair a very important village asset. And if I hurt somebody’s feelings, I’m sorry, but that’s how I feel. It’s got to get done.”
Trustee Lily Dougherty-Johnson addressed Brennan and Phillips.
“I hear both of you. I think the thing is [that] … we as a whole group, including the mayor, are ultimately responsible. I think it is a project we all want to see done. And I think this is just a way, an effort to try to move it along and have a little … more oversight or more active participation. It does seem to be … maybe is a departure. But I’m not sure that’s a bad thing.”
In the end, trustees agreed to amend the resolution to explicitly include the mayor alongside staff and consultants. The final motion authorized the mayor, together with the village treasurer, grant writer, the engineering firm and the marina manager, to “coordinate the preparation, completion and submission” of the grant application.
Phillips said that the resolution “will give us the opportunity, as the board, to ask the mayor to report every month as to what the status is on that particular project with the group of people that he has helping him.”
Acting village attorney Brian Stolar responded, “you can ask him, even if you don’t adopt this resolution.”
Short term rentals
Also last week, the board closed its latest public hearing on proposed amendments to the village’s short term rental code, after another round of testimony.
Carpenter Street resident Karen Rivara urged the board to act, saying the draft law provides “clarity” but only if it is enforced. “I would ask that the code be enforced, and I think you need to have a full time building inspector and code enforcement officer,” she said, adding that current rules are widely ignored.
Sixth Street resident John Saladino, who served on the village’s code committee, said studies show that limiting short-term rentals increases year-round housing. “If this board is serious about creating year round housing,” he said, “at some point you guys have got to do the job that you are elected to do.”
On the other side, Shawn Buchanan of Second Street said he occasionally rents his home while between jobs. “I don’t want to be lumped in with these bad actors,” he told the board, warning that a proposed $5,000 fine felt excessive, “more than DUI.
“I would say me renting for more than or less than 30 days is less harmful than driving under the influence. I don’t know where else in the code you have these sort of rates … is there anything [else] that gets a $5,000 fine in this village?”
John Kramer of Central Avenue argued that eliminating short-term rentals would not guarantee more full-time residents. “Greenport is now a very desirable destination,” he said. “If you want full time housing, subsidize the construction or subsidize the rent, then you’ll get full time rentals.”