NOV. 5 ELECTION LOOMS
Richfield OKs
Zoning, Maybe
Not For Long
After two hours of often personal exchanges, Richfield Town Board member Kane Seamon, right, makes a motion a half-hour ago to approve the proposed – and much-debated – zoning law that grew out of comprehensive plan approved last year. Board member Rex Seamon, left in top photo, seconded the motion, and the plan was enacted, 3-2, with Board member Larry Frigault, second from left, joining the majority. Town Board member Fred Eckler, next to Frigault, and Town Supervisor Paul Palumbo, voted nay. Earlier in the evening, Town Attorney Michelle Kennedy, who at Frigault’s request reviewed a petition from Nick Palevsky, inset, the Republican supervisor candidate, disqualified enough signatures so a 4-1 super-majority vote was not required. However, if the Nov. 5 town elections put Palevsky and Ed Bello Jr. on the town board, and remove Kane Seamon, who lost the Republican primary in June to Ed Bello Jr. and is running as an independent, the 3-2 majority will shift. Palevsky said the new board will then revisit the comp plan and zoning law, which has been criticized as a creation of Protect Richfield, a citizens group that formed five years ago to fight plans for the Monticello Hills Wind Farm. (Jim Kevlin/www.AllOTSEGO.com)