Dried grasses at sunrise

It was labeled as a Special Meeting on the Town's website calendar and as a Public Hearing on Zoning on the paper notices.   In attendance were five people - the three Town Board members, and Mark and I (both of us are on the town planning commission that created the zoning ordinance.)  So in essence - no one in the town was interested in zoning enough to attend.  The chairman opened the meeting saying this meeting would be only to discuss the draft Zoning Ordinance and immediately asked for comments from the audience.    I'm convinced no one had actually read through the ordinance.  Plus the copy distributed for people to read was an early draft.    Still I could use this opportunity to clarify what the Board was thinking on a couple of points.  I asked if a person wasn't granted a building permit/variance by the Board, what else could the petitioner do?  "Litigation" was the Board's answer.  Well that's easier to put in the ordinance than setting up an Arbitration Board for grievances as the county currently does.  I made a note to make that change.   I knew the Board was considering a paid position for a Zoning Administrator.  What exactly would be the extent of his/her duties?  They said the Zoning Administrator could issue citations and would be a point person for all zoning questions/information.  I was asked if I would consider the position if it was offered?  Gave me an opportunity to get in a last vehement statement that "the Town taking over zoning from the county is a stupid idea."  After that the meeting dissolved into a gossip session.  Word is the café in the village hasn't reopened because the new owner had a heart attack.