Stone Harbor Garden Club, Police Stand up at Meeting

STONE HARBOR — Fifteen members of the Garden Club of Stone Harbor and 13 members of Stone Harbor Police Department stood at Borough Council’s meeting Tue., Feb. 15 to show support for their own.
Karen Lane, president of the Garden Club, and her “non-confrontational group,” whose members donned white sweatshirts and rose as their leader addressed mayor and council in a show of solidarity, felt like wallflowers.
The group, which lovingly plants the Second Avenue traffic islands in a profusion of pastel flowers, at no expense to the borough, felt spurned when they learned the borough’s Sail into Summer festival, slated for Mother’s Day Weekend, would effectively shut out their long-established plant sale.
Shifted to the firehouse, as planned, would clip sales of plants, said Lane, because many shoppers are used to driving up to the water tower lot to load their purchases. She said the club had $9,000 in its treasury, and without the all-important plant sale on Mother’s Day Weekend, she feared the treasury would wither to nothing.
Lane cited a borough official’s e-mail, which indicated last year’s Sail Into Summer “was flat. and from personal observation, I believe it has been flat in prior years. Why then, would you ask the Garden Club to change a successful activity for a less than successful one?” asked Lane.
Lane said she spoke with local Chamber of Commerce President Phil Barber, who “advised me he would support the move to May 14.”
“If you move it to May 14 when the Garden Club holds their yard sale, we already bring several hundred people into town for that, plus the vendors,” Lane said. “The vendors are always asking us to provide food which we can’t do. With Sail they would have access to food,” she added.
“There won’t be a decision tonight,” responded Mayor Suzanne Walters after listening to Lane’s plea.
“I don’t think anyone disputes the good and wonderful work the Garden Club does,” said Walters. “We are working on a compromise that will work for you and Sail Into Summer,” she added. The matter will go before the Beach and Recreation Committee, Walters said, in an “attempt to find a solution that will make you all happy.”
Sail Into Summer, which started as largely a boat show on 96th Street took a different tack last year, Walters said. That event has always been the first weekend in May, and the Garden Club always set its sale on Mother’s Day Weekend. This was the first year in quite a while since both events coincided, she said.
“It wasn’t that the borough changed it, it is still the first weekend in May,” said Walters. “We don’t want you to lose money. We hope there is a compromise,” said the mayor.
Lane said a sale at the firehouse would not work, primarily because 96th Street, the main access to the firehouse, would be blocked to vehicular traffic, and many would not want to take a route around the main street.
“I wish someone would have talked to us long ago,’ said Lane.
Police Chief William Toland, who has announced his retirement on May 1, told mayor and council he supports Capt. Paul Reynolds as his replacement. Reynolds has 26 years with the department, said Toland. He rose through the ranks serving seven and a half years as sergeant and the last five as captain.
No other officer spoke, yet all remained silent as they stood along the rear wall of meeting room.
They were there to listen as council mulled a new method to select the next chief and captain.
Council, two weeks ago, offered a revamped way to select the captain and chief. After debate, and a 3-2 vote on the resolution, with Councilmembers Joanne Vaul and Judith Davies-Dunhour voting no,
Councilman Thomas Cope, who chairs the Public Safety Committee, offered a resolution that made the selections of captain and chief separate. Cope, after listening to objections to wording, offered to strike offensive wording in order to move the resolution ahead.
The shift won unanimous approval of council.