Brockport trustees voice concerns
with court proceedings in carbon monoxide case

An ACD (adjournment contemplating dismissal) was handed down to landlord Arden Campbell as a result of deadly carbon monoxide levels that were released into a home he owned on 82 Holley Street in the Village of Brockport. As a result of the October 20 incident, six SUNY Brockport students were evacuated after being exposed to the carbon monoxide. Levels of carbon monoxide are considered deadly when they reach 250 parts per million. The levels inside the rental house were registered at 900 parts per million in parts of the house.

The court case against Campbell was handled by village attorney Keith O'Toole, but according to Trustee Mort Wexler, the board had a great deal of concern regarding the propriety of the case.

"We're not making any allegations against anyone but we felt there may have been things that were handled improperly," he said. "The entire village board, to a person, agreed on this course of action."

The mayor voted against the motion.

Trustees said they should have been involved in the decisions - which were made by Mayor Josephine Matela and O'Toole without their knowledge or consent. The case was settled and it resulted in Campbell giving the village a check for $2,000 to go toward the purchase of carbon monoxide detectors for residents. Matela said the check was returned.

Wexler said all four trustees were involved with the wording of the motion which was presented at the December 6 regular board meeting.

"The trustees have concerns with what transpired prior to, during and after the court proceeding in the case," Wexler said, quoting part of the motion. "As I said, we aren't making allegations against anyone."

The trustees have filed a complaint with the district attorney and Wexler said they will wait and see if anything comes of it. "The trustees felt they had an obligation to check into the way this was handled and we want to have an impartial third party come in and look at it."

Regarding the meeting and the motion, Matela said she is going to continue to do the people's business. "At the meeting our insurance consultant informed us that the rates for Blue Cross and Blue Shield coverage will be going up 35 percent so I'm going to be concentrating my efforts on finding ways to make sure we have the necessary funds to continue to supply quality health care to our current employees and our retirees."