After a long period without a functional Environmental Conservation Commission available to advise the planning board, Gardiner’s town board voted 3-2 at its December 1 to begin interviewing potential new members. The dissenters were supervisor Marybeth Majestic and Warren Wiegand.
The split decision followed a move in September to put the ECC on pause, followed by a reversal of that vote in October. The cessation of the commission’s activities had come after it being unable for many months to achieve a quorum. Several members had quit in frustration over their recommendations about proposed development projects being repeatedly ignored by the planning board. The resigned members felt that the countless hours of volunteer work they were expected to put in compiling and analyzing environmental data and producing reports were having no effect on decisionmaking.
According to the town code, the ECC’s official function appears to be purely advisory. The town board has been taking steps toward tightening vague legal language about the group’s charge and powers. Following state guidelines, it is now in the process of drafting a new local law establishing a Conservation Advisory Council to replace the ECC.
The draft is currently under review by Gardiner’s recently reconstituted Open Space Commission. “There are some important questions arising. It’s in our best interests to wait until the OSC does this analysis,” said councilwoman Laura Walls, who called the ECC’s disputed role in planning decisions “the unspoken problem in the room.”
“I don’t think the only issue is the ECC wanting power over development. I think we’re trying to solve a problem that we don’t know what it is,” responded councilman David Dukler. “Jean [McGrane of the OSC] talked about having a wider conversation. Are the tools aligned to work together?”
“We’re not trying to take control or have oversight; we’re trying to support the Planning Board,” replied ECC chair Roberta Clements. “But [Planning Board chair] Paul Colucci told applicants to ignore our comments.”
“We’ve never seen ourselves as oppositional,” agreed her colleague Janet Kern. “ECC members should be included in the discussion. We’re neutral players whose only agenda is making sure the environment is protected and respected.”
Noting that the town was been “holding off on any changes to the law” while awaiting the OSC analysis of the draft, councilman Franco Carucci suggested keeping the ECC alive for at least the next few months and appointing new members. “We have no timeline. The commission is charged by law to perform a specific function. They need the support. We don’t know how long it’s going to take, so we should provide it,” he argued.
Clements, who had expressed a wish to step down from the chairmanship of the ECC, agreed to stay on in that capacity until sufficient new members could be appointed. The Town Board voted to conduct interviews with a view toward fully staffing the ECC until such time as a CAC is created and takes over its responsibilities.
Join the family! 
