At the August 18 Marbletown town board meeting, board member Tim Hunt voted ‘no’ on approving the minutes for the July 21 and August 4 meetings. What this means is that he’s disputing the official record kept by the town about their own meetings.

Hunt said that he wants the minutes to include more detail specifically on a statement made by Gary Tinterow during the public comment portion at the August 4 meeting.

The notes read: “Resident Gary Tinterow spoke on the proposed zoning issues. He expressed concern about affordable housing being built in the historic hamlet in the Town of Marbletown.”

At the August 4 meeting, Tinterow expressed concern about the hamlet overlay, a proposed zoning code update designed to create more affordable housing. Tinterow’s concerns were about preserving Marbletown’s historic character and the scarce water supply.

“I just had one suggested amendment,” Hunt said. “I just want to make sure to characterize [Tinterow’s statement] even if it's one sentence.”

Board member Lisa Giannico, however, said that her previous board experience makes her “a little leery” about changing meeting minutes. Giannico said the board should defer to the town clerk, Heather Moody, about the procedure. Rich Parete, the town supervisor, told the Shawangunk Journal that it is “not our job, trying to influence the minutes.”

“This can be a slippery slope when boards either choose to record their minutes in broad sweeping statements or very detailed,” Giannico said. “And you have to be consistent. And to change and insert details occasionally when it suits you for some reason can be a slippery slope.”

Hunt said that his objection was not about length, but about “even this one sentence just to make sure it's capturing what's being said the most appropriately.” Parete said the only legal requirement for board minutes is to capture official actions by the board and are not meant to be “verbatim” of what was said in the board meeting.

“The comments and stuff are great when they're in there, but there's no need. and especially nowadays when everything is recorded and it's available in perpetuity on our YouTube page,” Parete said. “I looked at them. I'm comfortable.”