Mayor raises ethics concerns about Hunter Tier RFP; trustees authorize outside counsel review

Mayor Torres told attendees she had reviewed emails and drafts tracing back to 2021 that, in her view, indicate West Hab and village staff engaged early with one developer on the Hunter Tier Lot selection and that some RFP language changed between drafts in ways that could advantage an applicant. The mayor said she would share copies with trustees and residents and asked the village to examine the process for ethics and transparency concerns.

"In the last meeting, the board unanimously agreed to allow the village attorney to start negotiating with both developers," the mayor said, but she added that material that recently came to light would have affected her earlier vote. She described email language that suggested maintaining "momentum" and asked whether a particular developer was being favored because of internal relationships and earlier involvement in drafting RFP language.

A motion was made and approved to instruct the village attorney to seek outside counsel to review the materials for potential legal or ethical issues. The board conducted a roll call as the clerk read names; the motion passed and trustees directed staff to circulate the documents and return recommendations to the full board.

The mayor emphasized she was not accusing any current board member of wrongdoing but said the appearance of impropriety required an independent review. Trustees asked staff to compile the relevant correspondence and to make copies available to residents who requested them.