Town Board May Shuffle Environmental, Planning Departments

After discussing a potential personnel shuffle in town hall for months in executive session, the Town Board is expected to vote on a measure Thursday night which would reduce forces in the town's Planning Department and combine the town's Natural Resources, Aquaculture, and Community Preservation Departments.

With a "goal of increasing efficiency," according to the text of the resolution, the newly formed Environmental Protection Department - comprised of four separate groups - would be run by Kim Shaw, the town's  after Larry Penny retired.

The EPD would include an Environmental Protection Unit, a Natural Resource Reviews Group, an Aquaculture Department, and a Community Preservation Department.

The resolution states: "The Town Board believes that the proposed reorganization will allow environmental issues, one of the Town’s top priorities, to be addressed in a focused, cohesive and comprehensive manner."

Supervisor Bill Wilkinson said on Thursday afternoon that the resolution should not come as a surprise.

"Everybody knows this is expected. This is not a sneaky walk-on resolution," he said.

With the change in focus, he added, the town's Planning Department - run by Director Marguerite Wolffsohn - will keep its eyes on the horizon with long-term strategic planning, as opposed to the EPD's closer focus on day-to-day tasks.

"As they look forward to the future, that's what the Planning Department is supposed to do," he said.

Currently comprised of nine employees, Wolffsohn's department would be cut to seven under the proposal.

The supervisor said the town board started considering a reorganization of the departments around the time it hired Shaw.