Now that the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) has been decimated and a private utility from New Jersey, Public Service Electric and Gas (PSEG) has been imposed on Long Island, both in a scheme by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, it’s time Suffolk County returned to a vision of a democratically-run “public power” utility. (more…)
Tag: Suffolk County
This Riverhead house in foreclosure was scheduled to be sold on the steps of Town Hall in 2010. (Credit: Barbaraellen Koch, file)
To the Editor:
Swaying in the wind, their presence hides an escalating problem that virtually affects us all.
Once the symbol of upward mobility and a promising future, real estate signs on front lawns in many cases signify another casualty inflicted by the high cost of living on Long Island. (more…)
Roanoke Avenue in Riverhead. (Credit: Tim Gannon)
Suffolk County’s plan to resurface 1.3 miles of Roanoke Avenue, from Main Street to the Route 58 traffic circle, will be the subject of a public meeting Thursday night in Riverhead.
Steve Bellone speaking with area farmers last Wednesday in Calverton. (Credit: Carrie Miller)
County Executive Steve Bellone is in the process of forming a working group that will be tasked with pushing a vision for a skilled agricultural work force that’s trained and educated right here in Suffolk County.
The idea arose during a meeting Mr. Bellone had with farmers last week at Ivy Acres nurseries in Calverton under the notion that high school and college students shouldn’t have to travel far to study for jobs that are available in an industry already well-established in the county. (more…)
The Reeve Farm’s farmstand on Sound Avenue in Riverhead. (Credit: Barbaraellen Koch, file)
Imagine a working farm on or near the campus of a college or university, where students of agriculture and natural resources daily apply their growing knowledge of science and technology. Imagine, on this same property, adjoining labs and classrooms where students and professors conduct soil research and engineering tests or study the habits of local insects and wildlife. Perhaps the owners and employees of nearby farms also serve as mentors through student internship programs.
Now imagine such a facility right here in Suffolk County. (more…)
BARBARAELLEN KOCH FILE PHOTO
Saying a lawsuit against the Suffolk County isn’t quite enough, environmentalists have taken to parking lots from Southold to Huntington to get a referendum on this fall’s ballot to halt a county effort to use $33 million in reserved Drinking Water Protection funds.
Dollars are raised for the Drinking Water Protection Fund through a 1/4 percent sales tax, and several dedicated programs exist within the fund. One of those, the sewer stabilization fund is meant to offset large spikes in sewer rates for residents, and the last fall the county decided to budget $32.8 million from that fund to help balance the 2014 spending plan.
While the Pine Barrens Society of Long Island, along with the Long Island Environmental Voters Forum, filed suit last week against the decision, Group for the East End has joined the Pine Barrens Society in gathering 10,000 signatures before the end of April. The hope is to get a measure to overturn the decision to use the funds this year.
“We’ve been arguing against it pretty vociferously,” said Bob DeLuca, president of GFEE. “But you hit that point when you realize nobody’s listening.”
Suffolk voters last agreed to renew the tax in 2007 — approving a ballot measure to maintain the tax through 2030.
The PBS sued Suffolk after it decided in 2011 to use close to $20 million to balance its budget previously. That litigation is still making its way through the justice system, though is expected to be heard later this year.
In order to qualify to get on the ballot, according to PBS president Dick Amper, the groups have to gather 2.5 percent of the population in each town who voted in the last gubernatorial election.
That equates to about 10,500 signatures, or a town-by-town breakdown as follows:
- Shelter Island: 39
- Southold: 237
- Riverhead: 268
- East Hampton: 205
- Southampton: 475
- Brookhaven: 3,137
- Smithtown: 974
- Huntington: 1,623
- Islip: 1,917
- Babylon: 1,623
Mr. Amper said on Monday morning that he’s been “amazed at the number of people who know about” the issue as PBS and GFEE petitioners have approached citizens in public places such as parking lots at supermarkets or post offices.
County Executive Steve Bellone’s original budget last year had not called for dipping into the sewer stabilization fund at all, but rather closing the budget gap in the $2.7 billion budget through borrowing from the New York State Dormitory Authority, a path that would have required legislation approved at the state level. A report from the County’s Budget Review Office identified that plan as a risk because of the necessary legislation.
Justin Meyers, communications director for Mr. Bellone, said last week that the county exec plans on replenishing the fund.
“The fact of the matter is that there are two overarching concerns,” he said. “First, if the money is being taken and used for something other than drinking water, it must be repaid. The county executive completely supports that.”
He added that also, the county “needs to engage the public and voters on the issue if it moves forward.”
Mr. Meyers added that once the county decides to spend the money from the sewer stabilization fund, the county legislature would have to pass a measure approving the spending. Within the language of that approval would be a repayment structure outlining when the county would pay the fund back.
Mr. Amper said a ballot referendum would be the only way to ensure that the funds are paid back, noting that a similar use of Drinking Water Protection Program money in 2011 did not require county legislation.
“We want to guarantee” that the money is paid back, he said. “And we’re going to do that through courts, or the court of public opinion.”
The plan laid out by the county last fall intends to start paying back into the sewer stabilization fund in 2017, though the county would still have to formally adopt a repayment schedule. Last fall, the balance in the sewer stabilization fund hovered around $140 million, leaving over $100 million left, should the $33 million be allocated this year.
However Mr. DeLuca noted that part of the Drinking Water Protection Fund already reserves a portion of revenues raised for balancing the budget. According to the county charter, about 32 percent of the proceeds raised by the tax go toward reducing county property taxes.
“You got money for the purpose of reducing taxes,” Mr. DeLuca said. “Stay away from the other part.”
This week marked the third anniversary of the start of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.
Long Island anti-nuclear activists are still taking a deep breath and expressing thanks a similar catastrophe didn’t happen here. “Fukushima shows how we dodged a bullet,” said Jane Alcorn of Wading River, former coordinator of Citizens Lobby Opposing Shoreham.
It’s hard to believe the harebrained scheme now, but the Shoreham nuclear plant was to be the first of seven to 11 nuclear power plants the Long Island Lighting Company (LILCO) wanted to construct. LILCO sought three nuclear plants at its Shoreham site — “Shoreham 1” was fully built when stopped — four at Jamesport and several plants in between, some on Long Island Sound. LILCO also considered building a nuclear plant in Bridgehampton.
The East End of Long Island would have had a nuclear complex similar to that in Fukushima. Daiichi is the Japanese word for “one,” thus Fukushima Daiichi involves one set of six nuclear plants. Four miles south is Fukushima Daini with four nuclear plants.
Steve Bellone delivering his State of the County speech on March 5. (Credit: Courtesy)
Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone delivered his annual State of the County address last W in the Legislature’s meeting room in Hauppauge.
Below is a transcript of the address in its entirety, as provided by Mr .Bellone’s office.
