Mike Lawler brings $2M to Mahopac, gets thank you sign on town land in election year

In 2018, the town of Carmel spent $1.4 million to buy land at Swan Cove to expand its waterfront on Lake Mahopac and provide parking for downtown shoppers. Six years later, the town has yet to put up signage for the municipal parking lot or the town's lakefront park.

But after U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler, R-Pearl River, secured $2 million to jumpstart the project by curbing chronic flooding at the site, the Republican-controlled town government erected a 4-by-8 foot sign thanking Lawler for the grant, just as he seeks reelection on the GOP and Conservative party lines.

The red, white, and blue sign, which includes a rendering of the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, declares: “Thank you Congressman Mike Lawler. Proudly serving the Hudson Valley. $2 million dollars. Protecting clean water in downtown Carmel.”

Putnam County Democratic Chair Jennifer Colamonico, citing the waterfront parcel’s local nickname, Swamp Cove, questioned the erection of what she called a campaign sign on town property. She also wondered why town leaders in her hometown thought Swan Cove was located in downtown Carmel.

Downtown Carmel happens to be five miles east on Route 6.

Swan Cove is in downtown Mahopac, a hamlet within the town of Carmel, Putnam County’s largest muncipality and its county seat.

“As if ‘Swamp Cove’ hasn’t already been a black eye for our town, now our elected officials spent actual taxpayer money on what amounts to a campaign sign to spruce up their boondoggle,” said Colamonico. “The fact that they printed the wrong hamlet name underscores the level of ineptitude that has characterized the project all along.”

Sign called a thank you to Lawler

The sign thanking Lawler went up in a town known for strict enforcement of its sign ordinance, which only allows political signs to go up within a 15 days of an election, and six days after. The Congressional election looms six months away.

More: How Carmel taxpayers paid $1 million for a Lake Mahopac piece of property in record time

Town Supervisor Mike Cazzari said the town, which spent $250 on the tricolored sign, wanted to thank Lawler for securing funding for Swan Cove's first phase of construction. Projected to cost $3.5 million, this phase will address the site's chronic flooding, reseed the half-acre of grassland along the waterfront, mark out 82 parking spaces, plant trees on parking lot islands and install a mortared rumble-stone wall along the inlet that separates the site from the town’s Chamber Park.

Cazzari acknowledged the slip-up on the sign. He knew that Swan Cove was in downtown Mahopac, not in downtown Carmel.

"Yes, downtown Carmel may not be the preferred term,” wrote Cazzari. “Is it worth spending tax dollars for reprinting? I don’t think so.”

Lawler obtained the Swan Cove grant through the Congressional Community Projects program, among the 14 projects that received a total of $36 million through Lawler's office.

Lawler is no stranger at Carmel Town Hall. His Putnam County satellite office is in Town Hall, staffed by Putnam County Legislator Erin Crowley, R-Mahopac. Another Carmel resident, Francesca Kearns, the wife of Carmel Town Board member Robert Kearns, also works for Lawler's Congressional office on constituent issues.

Lawler spokesman Nate Soule said the town had the right to erect a sign to show its gratitude to his boss.

“The town of Carmel chose, as is their right, to design and erect a sign thanking the Congressman for delivering long-awaited federal funds for Swan Cove,” wrote Soule in an email. “The Congressman was proud to deliver these funds for the town of Carmel and looks forward to continuing to deliver federal funding for Putnam County residents in Mahopac, Carmel, and elsewhere for years to come.”

Price tag to develop Swan Cove up to $5.5 million

The first phase to develop the Swan Cove site, expected to begin in 2025, will be paid for with federal funding: $2 million from Lawler’s grant and $1.5 million from the town’s 2021 allocation from the American Rescue Plan, passed by Congress to aid municipalities during the pandemic.

The town has already spent at least $2 million in local taxpayer funds on land purchases, planning studies and environmental remediation, bringing total costs so far to $5.5 million when the federal funding gets used.

Cazzari said total costs could reach as high as $10 million for the lakefront project, according to earlier projections. The half-acre grassy area is to have picnic tables and a launch site for kayaks and canoe. Swimming is prohibited at Swan Cove. Earlier plans for a fishing pier were scrapped.

More: Lake Mahopac park project faces state environmental investigation, reveals local ties

The arrival of the Lawler grant came as the town of Carmel grappled with how to redevelop the lakefront site, which floods regularly during heavy rains.

From 1996 to 2016, the waterfront land with nine cottage apartments was owned by prominent Mahopac landlord Mike Barile and builder Tommy Boniello. After Barile failed to win permission to build 10 condominiums there, their partnership, which then included Barile’s daughter, Nicole, sold the property in 2016 to a North Castle developer for $725,000.

By late 2017, the developer had failed to obtain permits for water and sewer service. Barile urged the Town Board to purchase the property to stop the development, maintaining the developer was shovel-ready when he was not.

After Barile won election to the Town Board that November, the board moved with surprising speed, purchasing it for $1 million, without an independent appraisal, according to a 2019 Tax Watch investigation. The town relied on the property value set by town Assessor Glenn Droese, who said his value of $924,000 was based on the land having all its approvals for 10 condominiums, which it lacked.

Barile addressed the board on Nov. 1, 2017. The town signed the contract to buy the land on Dec. 8, county records show. At the time, Town Supervisor Ken Schmitt predicted it would cost an additional $1.5 million to make improvements.

Schmitt subsequently asked state Attorney General Letitia James to investigate the purchase of Swan Cove by his administration. A spokesman for the Attorney General's office said the matter was referred to state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli. His office could not be reached for comment as of Friday.

A win for Tompkins Community Bank

The improvements financed by Lawler’s grant for the Swam Cove parking lot will be a boon to Tompkins Community Bank, which is located on Route 6 at the Swan Cove site. The bank sold an estimated 1.2 acres to the town for the project, to provide road frontage to the landlocked waterfront parcel.

As part of the deal, the town agreed to maintain 18 parking spaces for the bank, a subsidiary of Tompkins Financial Corporation, a publicly traded company with $8 billion in assets. Tompkins is the successor bank to Mahopac National Bank, which was established in 1927 by the powerful Spain family, whose offspring have loomed large in the county and town Conservative Party in recent decades.

Michael Spain remains active at the bank, serving as a member of Tompkins Financial's board of directors, where he is the largest shareholder, according to the 2023 notice to shareholders. A year ago, he owned 176,949 shares, 1.2% of the company's stock, valued at $8 million.

The bank still turns to Spain & Spain, the Mahopac law firm on Route 6 a block from Swan Cove. In 2022, the bank paid the firm $173,9000 for legal work. Michael Spain’s brother, William Spain, Jr., is a 50% owner of the firm.

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David McKay Wilson writes about tax issues and government accountability. Follow him on Twitter @davidmckay415 or email him at dwilson3@lohud.com.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Carmel NY thanks Mike Lawler for $2M grant as Democrats object to sign