By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
A disagreement on who should be on the Sanitary District Commission for Country Estates in Lyons led to a tense meeting of minds Feb. 8 at the monthly Lyons Town Board meeting.
With two different sides pushing for control of the commission that serves Country Estates – a 206-unit mobile home park in Lyons – tensions were aired before the board finally decided to leave the commission as it was prior to the meeting.
Lyons Town Board member Bill Henningfield made the suggestion of waiting until next year to make any changes – which seemed to draw the least amount of ire.
That would leave Doug Day, one of the two commissioners originally on the list to be ousted at the meeting, in place to complete his term. Day clarified he would not seek another term.
But the suggestion was not an official motion, and it was clear judging by the number of side conversations taking place after the meeting that emotions were still running high.
On the agenda was the potential removal of Doug Day and Jim Miller. That item had been on the agenda in December, but in the end, the board chose only to replace one member, Wayne Pestor, who no longer lived full-time at Country Estates.
The board chose to appoint Cindy Kimura – the head of the Country Estates Association – to replace Pestor. Kimura’s appointment was met by objections from Country Estates residents who said the sanitary district commission and the association should remain separate.
The arguments at the meeting often overlapped, with several people in the audience talking while someone else had the floor.
Town Chairman Bill Mangold started by saying he’d attended meetings of the sanitary district, and simply wanted to restore “some calm” at its meetings.
“Jim is fine,” he explained. “Doug, we have a little problem with.”
From there, various supporters – and opponents – for Day spoke up, mentioning everything from Day being “short” and “rude” to being just the opposite.
“I was not rude,” said Day, adding that he was a man of few words. “My answers are not long-winded. I try to get to the center of any and all issues.”
The discussion then devolved into complaints about the meeting time of the sanitary district – 7:30 a.m. on Monday once a month – as well as who was present at the meetings and who had the right to be speaking at the meeting.
Kimura was presented, and said that she wanted a recorder at the sanitary district meetings. Currently, Day is writing up the minutes. Norma Miller, Jim’s wife, then called Kimura a “problem for the sanitary district and for the association.”
Several exchanges back and forth – including an assortment of accusations and insults – led Mangold to finally say, “This is just going nowhere.”
At that point, Henningfield made his suggestion, which appeared to be accepted, and Mangold cut off the rest of the conversation.
“Bill stated what he thought we should do, and we’re moving on,” he said.
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