Carmel Town Councilman Faces Charges, Questions

MAHOPAC, NY — Michael Barile, who owns the popular restaurant Blu, is facing criminal charges after a tussle with newspaper columnist David McKay Wilson. He's also facing more questions about the sewage from the restaurant on Lake Mahopac, The Putnam Examiner reports.

Wilson had written a series of columns about Blu's septic issues, about whether the eatery was hooked up to the New York Department of Environmental Protection's system, for which it was not paying fees, or whether it was using a septic system (the longtime eatery originally there had problems with sewage bubbling up through the gravel lakeside parking lot).

At a September town board meeting, Barile is alleged to have thrown a water bottle at Wilson, who was taking photos of him, grabbed the journalist's phone and thrown it out an open door. For that he is due in town court Oct. 22, according to The Putnam Examiner. Two weeks ago, the town board voted to hire an outside law firm to investigate the alleged unauthorized sewer connection, the Examiner reported. In addition, the Putnam County Department of Health issued a violation.

All this stuff — conditions in a 1993 county permit, who capped a sewer line from Blu to the city's main line and when, sewer taxes, applications and fees — is in flux.

Read all the articles on theexaminernews.com here.