So I went to the Village Board Meeting on Tuesday night to talk about 527 Deer Park Ave. This was a first for me and I was interested to see what would happen.

I didn’t take any notes, so I’m not going to go into any specifics of what was said, but rather give my general impression of the events and the resolution. I’m not that familiar with the various events in this situation or the various people involved, so please forgive me if I misstate or gloss over something.

There were about a dozen or so residents there for the meeting. Having never been to one, I’m not sure whether that qualifies as lightly or well attended.

It started off with some general village business and then three village residents spoke about the ongoing situation with 527 Park Ave.

First, none of the Babylon Village officials were either willing or able to comment substantively about the current state of affairs with respect to 527 Deer Park. The Mayor cited pending litigation and so refused comment. The Village Counsel offered that was a matter that would be properly be handled by the Zoning Board of Appeals(ZBA) and his knowledge of the matter was limited.

The board seemed none too pleased to have this matter in front of them again. There were several suggestions from board members that Village residents concerned with the fate of 527 Deer Park Ave should contact the owners or their representative directly first and negotiate with them. Not to put too fine a point on it, but that’s not my understanding or how government should work.

There was no request for a demolition permit at the meeting, which had been noted on Facebook shortly before. The was a concerted attempt to get some kind of assurance from the Mayor and the board that there would be notice given and a chance to object provided should a demolition permit for the historic house be requested. The Mayor spoke about the process required to obtain such a permit, going before the ZBA and such, and that process should be open for action by Village residents, but no concrete assurances were given.

So, not a lot of progress at this meeting. The house still stands…for now.