Village Notes: Board Extends Farmer's Market Hours Despite Business Protest

Parking was on the minds of village residents at Monday evening’s meeting.

Before the village passed a resolution to extend the hours of the on Saturday, Oct. 15, Greenport business owners expressed their grievances over the loss of parking on Saturdays.

Claudia Helinski, owner of , while not specifically mentioning the Greenport Farmer’s Market by name, said the parking situation in the village was not improving and she said she urged the village to return its largest municipal lot back to public use on Saturday mornings.

“Businesses like mine need to rely on municipal lots to do well,” Helinski said.

Arleen Jaquillard owns the and said her business is down 50 percent and while she has no objection to the farmer’s market, she said the main parking lot is not the place for it. She said if people cannot park nearby her business they will not go there to do their laundry.

“I urge you to think about another location. Our year-round businesses are hurting,” Jaquillard said.

After the village passed the resolution, Greenport Mayor David Nyce said after the farmer’s market closes for the season they will evaluate the good and bad of having the market and look for areas of improvement.

Library Neighbors Want Input on New Parking Regulations

Resident Karen Clark said she was aware that the lack of parking at was going to be addressed by the code committee and she questioned the board as to how much input neighbors would have on any adjustments to parking.

Nyce said once the code committee was reviewing library parking and if they made any recommendations it would be passed onto the Village Board to set a date for a public hearing before any vote would take place.

Many of the library’s neighbors are not year-round residents, said Clark, and she urged the village to ensure they were all notified.

“Rumors do get out of hand. If we’re all on the same page that’s great,” Clark said.

Moore’s Drain Cleanup

The mayor said he wanted residents to know there will be a volunteer cleanup effort on Oct. 22 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the drain in Moore’s Woods. Nyce asked volunteers to bring their own rakes and gloves. The purpose of this preliminary cleanup is to ascertain how the drain is functioning, according to Nyce.

Village Sets Date for Hydrant Testing

The will conduct hydrant testing on Sunday, Oct. 30 from 9 a.m. until 12 p.m. The mayor recommended against doing laundry during the testing to prevent rust stains.