Sag Harbor Hires New Attorneys

Tuesday night might as well have been Sag Harbor Village’s annual reorganizational meeting, what with all the resignations and hiring, even though the end of the village’s fiscal year is still a few weeks away and the village election is more than a month out.

After nearly a month without a village attorney, the board appointed David J. Gilmartin Jr., a partner at Farrell Fritz, to the position. He will fill the vacancy left by the sudden resignation of Fred W. Thiele Jr. on April 11. Denise Schoen has been acting as the board’s attorney since his departure, and she will remain the counsel to the village zoning and planning boards, as well as the village’s prosecutor in justice court.

Mr. Gilmartin, a lifelong resident of Southampton, works out of the firm’s Water Mill office. A Southampton Town attorney from 1996 to 2003, he maintained a focus on land use, municipal law, and related litigation when he went into private practice. With Eric Bregman, a former East Hampton Town attorney, he formed Gilmartin & Bregman in Southampton in 2003. In 2012, the firm merged with Farrell Fritz, which has more than 85 attorneys in offices across Long Island and Manhattan.

Like Mr. Thiele, a state assemblyman, Mr. Gilmartin has strong political ties. He is a former chairman of the Southampton Town Republican Committee. 

Also on Tuesday, the board appointed Robert M. Connelly, also from Farrell Fritz’s Water Mill office, as the attorney to the village board of historic preservation and architectural review. Mr. Connelly specializes in land use and municipal law. Before joining Farrell Fritz, he served as an assistant town attorney for the Town of East Hampton, where he worked with the zoning board of appeals and the architectural review board. He was also the town’s prosecutor. He began his career with the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. The village will pay Mr. Connelly $250 per hour.

Mr. Gilmartin’s salary will be the same as Mr. Thiele’s, $52,500 annually. Earlier in the evening, the board officially approved Mr. Thiele’s resignation, despite the fact that it had met two times since receiving his letter. Mr. Thiele had cited other professional and personal obligations as his reason for leaving his village post after seven years.

Mayor Sandra Schroeder said Tuesday night that picking new attorneys had been difficult, with several qualified candidates stepping forward. She hoped that hiring attorneys that work for a firm would make it easier for the village to find alternate counsel should Mr. Gilmartin or Mr. Connelly not be available for a meeting.

Another attorney was also retained for the village’s board of ethics. Steven G. Leventhal of Leventhal, Mullaney & Blinkoff will be paid $225 per hour on an as-needed basis.

The board also voted Tuesday night to hire Nelson, Pope & Voorhis, a Melville firm for planning and environmental consulting services, as the village looks to find a replacement for Rich Warren and Inter-Science Research Associates. Mr. Warren also announced his departure last month. Citing health concerns, he opted not to have his contract renewed at the end of the fiscal year later this month. The mayor said Mr. Warren would work with the village on some special projects in the future.

The village will be looking for a new member of its zoning board following the resignation of Anthony Hagen, a longtime member, effective May 1. “It has always been my great pleasure to have the honor to serve as a volunteer to this community I love so much,” Mr. Hagen wrote the mayor in a letter dated Friday. “I look forward to resuming my services to Sag Harbor sometime in the future, when my circumstances allow it.”

Also of note, Austin J. McGuire officially has the title of Sag Harbor Village police chief. While he has been leading the department — and has even been referred to as chief — under Civil Service rules, he was considered the police lieutenant during a 12-week probationary period, Mayor Schroeder said. He took over when Thomas Fabiano retired in January. Having transferred over from the East Hampton Town Police Department as a lieutenant, he technically retained his rank until Tuesday, when the board was finally able to appoint him chief on a provisional basis. His salary was bumped up to $151,825. He still has to pass the Civil Service exam, which he is eligible to take in March 2017.