FERRY SERVICE & FREIGHT SERVICE WILL BE DISCONTINUED TO SALTAIRE FROM
FEBRUARY 13, 2006 UNTIL
MARCH 15,  2006 DUE TO THE DOCK RECONSTRUCTION

THE FERRY WILL CONTINUE TO SERVE FAIR HARBOR. CALL FIRE ISLAND FERRIES
AT (631) 665-3600 IF YOU PLAN TO TRAVEL OR SEND FREIGHT TO SALTAIRE
DURING THAT TIME.

PLEASE CHECK VILLAGE WEBSITE FOR UPDATES
For photos of the recontruction go to http://www.saltaire.org/dockpictures.htm.

Litigation Update:

Rulings have now been made in the various lawsuits involving the Village and Noel Feustel and Victoria Petersen. These are summarized below.

In the initial case, the Village brought an action in the Supreme Court of Suffolk  County against the Feustel's for failing to obtain a permit for work being done on their houses. The Village obtained an injunction against further work pending the Court's decision. On December 8, 2005 the Court handed down its decision. It determined that the repairs being done by Feustel/Petersen were not "structural" in nature, and therefore no building permit was needed or could be required by the Village under the current language of the Village building and construction code. It had been the contention of the Village that the replacement of the roof, the siding, all of windows, doors, and the flooring taken together constituted repairs that required a building permit under §18 of the Village Code. The Court disagreed. Accordingly, the injunction that had been previously issued by the Court was lifted. The Village has filed a notice of appeal and
intends to pursue a review of this decision. A link to the full court decision can be found here.

Subsequent to the filing of this case, Noel Feustel brought three separate actions, two against the Village Officials and one challenging the operation of the Village Court.

In the first action against the officials before the Supreme Court in Suffolk County, Mr. Feustel sought to have the Mayor, Trustees, Justice and Assistant Justice removed from office and their offices declared vacant, based on allegations of misconduct in office and improper claims of residency in the Village.  The court, in its decision dated December 15, 2005 denied the petitioner's application in its entirety and granted the Village's motion to dismiss. A link to the full court decision can be found here.

In the second action against the Village Mayor, Trustees and Administrator, Mr. Feustel brought suit before Appellate  Division Court in Brooklyn seeking to have these officials removed from office on allegations of official misconduct. This case was also dismissed by the Appellate Division on December 12, 2005 because the Court found that the relief sought was substantially the same to that being litigated in Suffolk County. A link to the full court decision can be found here. Mr. Feustel just recently filed a motion to reargue the decision made by the Appellate Court decision in the aftermath of the dismissal of the Suffolk Supreme Court  case by Judge Jones.

In the action brought by Noel Feustel in the Supreme Court in Suffolk County, to have the Village Justice Court enjoined from holding court on Saturdays, the Supreme Court dismissed the case as the Court recognized that the issue had been rendered moot by virtue of the fact that the Village Court had accommodated Mr. Feustel by scheduling his court appearance on another day of the week that did not interfere with Mr. Feustel's religious convictions. A link to the full court decision can be found here.