CALM WATERS
While testing out his new SIGMA 10-18mm lens in picturesque Port Jefferson Village last week, Kevin Wood snapped this serene photo at Centennial Park looking through the Gazebo.
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The Village of Port Jefferson Board of Trustees was back before the public Monday night, Sept. 18, for a business meeting spanning roughly two hours and covering a range of local matters.
Parking pilot program
With Deputy Mayor Rebecca Kassay as the lone dissenter, the board passed an amended resolution 4-1 enabling the issuance of parking permits for Belle Terre residents to park in metered spaces.
In this pilot program, which will last for the remainder of the 2023 calendar year, parking passes for Belle Terre residents will be offered at a prorated expense of $25. This parking pass does not confer access to the PJV resident lot on Arden Place.
Mayor Lauren Sheprow read an email into the record from Village of Belle Terre Mayor Bob Sandak, who characterized the parking pass initiative as mutually beneficial to both municipalities.
“For many years, the residents of Belle Terre have said that they would spend much more time in the village of Port Jefferson if they could have a simple and inexpensive way to park,” the email read. “Any solution you choose to adopt would be much appreciated by the residents of Belle Terre and would, I am sure, prove to be a financial benefit to the businesses of Port Jefferson.”
Outlining reasons for the program, Sheprow said the Port Jefferson Business Improvement District unanimously supported the proposal.
Trustee Drew Biondo considered the parking pass program “cost-neutral and revenue-producing.”
In supporting the motion, trustee Bob Juliano suggested that the pilot program offers 11 weeks to test and evaluate the program: “It doesn’t mean I’m going to approve it going forward, but let’s try it for the 11 weeks and let’s see what it produces,” he said.
Explaining her “no” vote, Kassay indicated that parking accommodations for village employees remain unresolved.
“For years, I’ve heard consistent requests from Port Jefferson business owners asking the village to consider making parking passes available to their employees who are spending $1.50 per hour to go to work,” the deputy mayor said in a subsequent email. “A solution for this concept, as well as the concept of parking permits for nonresident visitors, deserves a great deal of time and discussion from the village board, staff and community at large.”
She added, “I hope the 2024 paid parking season in PJV will begin with a convenient, comprehensive parking permit program for recreational visitors and local employees alike.”
QR code scam
Parking and mobility administrator Kevin Wood updated the board of a recent scam targeting some of the village’s metered parking signs.
“Some group of people or person — most likely this weekend — placed perfectly square, fraudulent QR codes over the existing QR code on some of the signs,” Wood told the board.
Those who scanned the fraudulent code “were offered a flat fee parking rate of $20,” Wood said, adding, “We don’t know exactly how many people were defrauded, but I will tell you we caught it very early Saturday night.”
Wood estimated approximately 12-15 parking signs had been tampered with, maintaining that all fake QR codes had been removed. He added that a detailed report on the incident was sent to the Suffolk County Police Department.
Proposed schedule change
The board debated a proposal to move its regular meetings from Monday to Thursday.
Village clerk Sylvia Pirillo said the existing meeting schedule often conflicts with holidays, adding that there are other logistical challenges for village staff.
“We’re recommending instead the second and final Thursday of each month” for board of trustees meetings, Pirillo said. “We also feel that for staff and for work product that this would be a more consistent schedule. We now have warrants that are once a month, and this would help with the processing.”
Biondo supported the schedule change, saying, “It’s good to try something new. If it doesn’t work, we can caucus and decide to go back.”
Kassay referred to the logic for changing the schedule as “sound.” However, she asked the board to consider public feedback before adopting the change.
“I, as a trustee, have learned that making large, sweeping decisions like this without giving the public a chance to have their voices heard is often greeted quite negatively,” the deputy mayor said.
The board did not hold a vote on the change of schedule.
New treasurer
The village’s new treasurer, Stephen Gaffga, attended his first board meeting Monday night, delivering a brief report on his plans for the office.
Moving forward, Gaffga said he would present monthly financials, including fund balance information, expenses and revenues, also budget transfers. He proposed some changes to office procedures.
“I want to be able to tighten up the procurement procedures here a little bit to be able to allow for more transparency in how the money is being spent — taxpayer money, country club money, capital funds — and to also allow more clarity when it comes to the warrants,” he said. “I think the more information there is, the better.”
To watch the entire meeting, including trustee reports, please see the video above.
The Village of Port Jefferson Board of Trustees was back before the public Monday night, Aug. 7, with discussions centering around public safety, mobility and Port Jefferson Country Club.
Sergio Möller, community relations officer for the Suffolk County Police Department’s 6th Precinct, said motor vehicle accidents were up in July, attributing the spike to an increase in people during the downtown area’s busiest season.
He alerted residents to an ongoing gift card fraud trend throughout the county, saying that any solicitation for money in the form of a gift card is a scam.
PJV code enforcement chief Andy Owen reported on recent findings from his department’s speeding survey on Brook Road.
“As far as I’m concerned, it was a positive survey with positive results,” the code chief said.
Owen reported that in an ongoing speed survey at Scraggy Hill Road, the department observed some residents driving around the speed table on the street. He said the department is exploring extending the speed table to prevent this trend from continuing.
Parking and mobility administrator, Kevin Wood, updated the public on PASSPort, a village-operated municipal rideshare service created earlier this year. [See story, “Port Jeff Village to pioneer PASSPort…” March 31, TBR News Media.]
“We’re seeing between two and 12 rides per weekend,” Wood said, a ride volume “below our expectations.”
“We’re seeing very low usage for residents at this point,” he added.
Village clerk Sylvia Pirillo reported that the village’s municipal website “is in the process of being completely revitalized.” She noted that the website overhaul includes updates to promote user friendliness and a section on the landing page for employment opportunities.
PJCC’s general manager, Tom Natola, said the golf course is at the apex of its season, with heightened activity posing operational challenges for the village-owned country club.
Natola said the volume of play is adding pressure on PJCC’s parking lots. With so many people playing on the course during this time of year, he noted that basic maintenance repairs are further complicated.
The general manager stated that PJCC is exploring designs for new racket sports amenities.
“Once the phase II [of the village’s East Beach Bluff Stabilization Project] is completed, we’re going to be redoing the paddle facility,” he said, with plans in the works for new tennis and pickleball courts.
However, he added, “The number of both we have not decided on yet because it depends on where the wall is going and how much space we actually have.”
The village board will reconvene Monday, Aug. 21, with a public hearing on proposed north- and south-facing stop signs on the west and east sides of Scraggy Hill Road.
To watch the entire meeting, including trustee reports, see video above.
As part of a villagewide sustainability initiative, the Village of Port Jefferson teamed up with Holtsville-based e-Green Recycling Management on Saturday, Aug. 5, for a recycling event at the Perry Street lot in Upper Port.
Deputy Mayor Rebecca Kassay, the village’s sustainability commissioner, said this first-of-its-kind recycling event represents an ongoing effort to keep the community clean and promote environmental conservation locally.
“People want to be part of something bigger,” she said. “As a board of trustees member, I look for opportunities like this to bring our community together and keep toxic waste out of our landfills.”
In attendance was Stella Cohen, who has worked for five years at e-Green Recycling. She described the company’s mission, noting that recycled electronic waste serves a beneficial function for the environment.
Through recycling, “you’re saving the planet,” Cohen said.
According to the New York City Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice, New Yorkers alone produce over 14 million tons of waste per year, the bulk of which ends up in landfills, polluting streets and water systems. E-waste is among the most voluminous and harmful household hazards, according to the NYC Department of Sanitation.
Since its launch in 2012, e-Green Recycling has worked to tackle the issue of electronic waste head-on.
Cohen added that recycling e-waste has the further benefit of promoting digital equity, which the National Digital Inclusion Alliance defines as “a condition in which all individuals and communities have the information technology capacity needed for full participation in our society, democracy, and economy.”
A New York State Education Department report states that nearly 27% of New Yorkers are not subscribed to wireline broadband services at home. Additionally, 22% of New York households do not have functioning laptops or desktops.
“Those recycled laptops and PCs can be refurbished and reused for people who cannot afford to buy them,” Cohen said. “There is a big economic factor as well.”
Kevin Wood, the village’s parking administrator and director of economic development, emphasized the value of these events in fostering a community identity and shared purpose.
“I like these events because they’re responsible,” he said, adding, “This is a great model for events in the future.”
Kassay expressed eagerness to repeat e-waste recycling activities soon.
“We will absolutely be organizing more events like this,” the deputy mayor said. “Whether it’s the village hosting or another municipality or organization, we want our residents to know that it is easy to do the right thing.”
By Julianne Mosher
With high humidity, torrential rainstorms and hot temperatures, the Village of Port Jefferson brought a new meaning to the dog days of summer last weekend.
The second annual Port Paws Dog Festival was initiated last year and is a friendly competition for dogs of all sizes, ages and breeds. Dogs from all over the East Coast — and even Canada — came downtown to participate in what was supposed to be a three-day event.
On Saturday, July 15, Kevin Wood, economic development director for the village and chair of the event, said the event brought in more than 160 registered people and their furry friends while the start of the festival on July 14, a day for noncommitted competitors, brought more than 70 dogs to try it out. However, severe flooding resulting from Sunday’s rainstorm caused the last day of the festival to be canceled.
Wood said that the event, which has been in the planning since last year’s festival took place, won’t be rescheduled for 2023 as they are already preparing for next summer.
The Port Paws competition looks to see who can jump the highest, swim the farthest and retrieve a toy in the pool the fastest after jumping and diving off a dock, built on the field, and into the giant pool. All money raised goes to the Port Jefferson Harbor Education & Arts Conservancy.
“The conservancy brings something special to Port Jefferson village and I am proud to plan and manage it,” Wood said. “A big thank you to the village parks, DPW and code departments for making this event one of the highlights of the summer in Port Jefferson.”
Located at Joe Erland Field on Caroline Avenue, a 30,000-gallon pool was installed as well as tents, a misting station and games; animal lovers alike were able to find something to do. Some played cornhole while others visited the tables of several local businesses that helped sponsor the event.
Throughout the show, Dock Dogs presented the Big Air Wave competition accompanied by the Extreme Vertical and Speed Retrieve competition for both competitors and spectators to enjoy. The Big Air competition featured dogs running down a 40-foot dock and diving into a pool of water for an object, in which they were electronically judged for the length of their jump. Rounding out the action was the Speed Retrieve — where the dogs were put on the clock to see how fast they could run down the dock, jump into the water, swim to the end of the pool and retrieve an object that was held by a modified extender arm.
The Extreme Vertical competition is a “high jump” for the dogs as they each lunge to snag a “bumper” suspended in the air. With each grab, the height increases in 2-inch increments until only one dog is crowned king.
Wood had previously said he first saw the competition while visiting the East End of Long Island, and soon realized he needed to bring it Down Port.
“Port Jefferson is a dog-loving town,” he said.
The Wood family always had small, lap dogs — whom they loved — but when they adopted Brody, who adores the water, Wood thought it would be fun to see how he, and all the other local dogs, would do in a friendly competition.
“No municipality has done this before,” Wood said. “I wanted to bring it to the next level and bring it to the village.”
This year’s winners were Tonka Bean, from Millerton south of Albany, who won a basket donated by Fetch Boutique and was crowned Top Iron Dog. Another pup, Gilly, won second place for Big Air and received a Fedora Lounge Salon gift certificate.
Also in attendance were the Suffolk County Police Department Canine Unit which showed off some of their lifesaving methods.
The Village of Port Jefferson is undergoing its first mayoral transition in 14 years. Outgoing Mayor Margot Garant, who has held the village’s highest post since 2009, will officially leave the office early next week, handing the reins of power to trustee Lauren Sheprow.
Sheprow, a write-in candidate who campaigned as an agent of change, defeated Deputy Mayor Kathianne Snaden in last week’s village election [See story, “Write-in candidate Lauren Sheprow elected Port Jeff Village mayor,” The Port Times Record, June 22, also TBR News Media website]. Throughout her campaign, she proposed several initiatives, such as new staffing procedures, committees and communications channels.
In an exclusive interview, the mayor-elect opened up about the transition process, unveiling her expectations for the office and offering some reorganization plans.
“Fourteen years is a long time,” she told TBR News Media. “Mayor Garant did amazing things in Port Jefferson, and I never want to take anything away from her and what she’s done.”
“I’m just excited to start something new and fresh, and see what we can do to help bring Port Jefferson to the next chapter,” she added.
She offered that she is currently “working through sort of an organizational chart,” assessing where current staff members will fit within the organizational hierarchy and whether there are opportunities for change.
Through this chart, she is “trying to understand if everything makes sense the way it’s laid out,” she said. “Possibly it does, but that’s the evaluation process that I’m going through right now.”
With one year remaining in her unexpired term as trustee, one of Sheprow’s highest-profile vacancies is the one she will create by swearing in as mayor. New York Village Law empowers the mayor to “appoint individuals to fill vacancies in both elected and appointed offices when the vacancy occurs before the expiration of the official’s term of office,” with this type of mayoral appointment “not subject to board approval.”
Outside of village attorney Brian Egan, who announced his resignation this week, Sheprow declined to reveal any other major administrative changes or forecast upcoming mayoral appointments.
One of Sheprow’s central positions during her campaign was the formation of new resident task forces and committees to assist the board in local decision-making. Sheprow maintained her intent to move ahead with plans for committees on parking, budgets and the Port Jefferson Power Station, among others.
“I have three or four people that I can tap into immediately on the Audit and Budget Committee,” she said. “I’ve been talking to people about the Parking Committee, the LIPA Committee,” adding that the village government is exploring a portal for residents to enter their interests and alert the committee boards on which they would like to volunteer.
Expanding upon this initiative, Sheprow said she had contacted Kevin Wood, the village’s communications committee head, about overhauling the village’s municipal website, suggesting a website revamp would likely be a multimonth endeavor.
Sheprow also said she has been scrutinizing the village’s existing Code of Ethics, noting this “probably hasn’t been touched in all the years since it’s been established,” adding that a similar approach is underway for procurement and investment policies.
The mayor-elect described the transition process as “exciting,” noting a personal lack of anxiety in preparing for the mayor’s office.
“It’s just energizing, and I’m looking forward to it,” she said. “We have a great operating institution in the Village of Port Jefferson. The people in place are doing their jobs, and I hope to empower them to do their jobs even more.”
Sheprow will be sworn in as mayor outside Village Hall this Tuesday, July 4.
Seven-term incumbent Port Jefferson Mayor Margot Garant is leaving the village government, instead making a run for Town of Brookhaven supervisor under the Democratic ticket.
In a contest to fill Garant’s seat, Deputy Mayor Kathianne Snaden is running against trustee Lauren Sheprow, who is now a write-in candidate. In an exclusive interview, Snaden opened up about her plans for economic development, East Beach, recreation, parking and more.
What would be your top priority for the coming term, if elected?
Using my institutional knowledge and experience in every aspect of the village.
One of the things I had just started working on and want to take to the next level when I become mayor is economic development. Over the last year or so, Kevin Wood — our parking and mobility [administrator] — has been in charge of economic development.
I’d like to start a task force to bring together business and restaurant owners, the chamber of commerce and the Business Improvement District. I want to reach out to developers and real estate brokers and have a committee or task force that will be able to connect with other businesses — national businesses, restaurants and retail establishments — to see what they need to come into our village to continue to make our downtown a thriving district.
Doing that task force will be beneficial to take our village to the next level, where it needs to go. We’re very lucky to have a vibrant downtown, and we must keep that going. It benefits the residents and the entire village as a whole.
If elected, how do you intend to help guide East Beach bluff stabilization efforts and maximize the use of the village-owned Port Jefferson Country Club?
Fortunately, we have a map forward with that.
We’ve been working with our coastal engineers, and the Board of Trustees voted unanimously on their plan, which includes finalizing the bluff stabilization with the FEMA grant — the $3.75 million.
Once the bluff is stabilized, we will move to the redevelopment of the property at the top of the bluff. Our coastal engineers, the experts in this field, were able to give us a plan for pickleball and tennis courts, which is key to bringing back that membership.
We were very sad to lose that membership when we had to shut the courts down for reconstruction, but I’m hoping this new racket sports complex will bring back that membership.
The best part about that is all of that project will be self-sustaining, paid for by the membership. This will not be on the backs of the taxpayers, which is very important to me. I support that whole plan.
What is the role of the village board in overseeing new developments and redevelopment projects?
Working very closely with our planning and building departments and our Zoning Board of Appeals if that’s one of the routes a developer takes. Careful and responsible development, always looking at traffic studies and environmental impacts. Always talking to the surrounding residents and the residents as a whole.
Keep in mind that development will help to increase our tax base. At this point, with the LIPA glide path continuing and going into its final stages, we must be very mindful of our tax base, making sure that it’s solid.
How can the village alleviate its parking capacity challenges, balancing the competing interests of residents, businesses and tourists?
As we know, parking is a big issue in Port Jefferson because we’re not getting any more property.
One of the things I did when I started as parking liaison was work with our Parking Department head to build our Barnum parking lot. That was key.
When I found out that we have about 640 spaces in the village and over 300 were used by employees, I said, “We have to do something.” Employees need to park, but that’s a large portion of our parking capacity.
For an employee — let’s say a waitress, for example — that doesn’t make a huge salary, it would be a huge hit to pay for parking every shift they have. But if we incentivized them to park in the Barnum lot free of charge, I felt that that would be very helpful. That parking lot has 43 spaces, I believe, and it has been very successful.
I continue to work with the Business Improvement District and the chamber of commerce, adapting to their changing needs. As times changed — and during COVID, the needs changed — we were able to pivot on the fly, changing the parking for the needs of the businesses.
One of the other things I’ve done and continue to work on is the PASSPort rideshare service. The idea behind PASSPort was that even though we do have resident parking, it’s limited. To alleviate residents’ parking in the other spaces that visitors can park in, they can take the PASSPort rideshare service.
One of the other things I started about four years ago was working with an engineer and our head of parking for a potential parking structure. That’s been in the works for a few years. Initially, there was an issue with the location and cost of the structure, as well as whether it would yield enough spaces to pay for itself.
One of the things I pride myself on is never saying “no.” There’s always a path to solve a problem. When I hear, “We can’t,” I say, “How can we?” And I gather the best minds in the room to figure out the best path forward that benefits the entire community.
What is your preferred method for public engagement?
That’s the reason I ran for trustee in the first place — I ran to be the voice of residents of the village of Port Jefferson.
I enjoy speaking to people, hearing their concerns. Having the ability as deputy mayor to take their problems to Village Hall and get that problem addressed immediately has always been very important to me.
When I see the back-and-forth on a platform like Facebook, being able to answer resident questions in real time with factual information has always been something I’m happy to do. I would continue to always be available to people on social media.
Another thing I brought to the village and would continue to expand on is technology changes. We started live-streaming board meetings during COVID, and I was a strong advocate for continuing that once COVID ended.
The other thing I started was our [Port] eReport, our newsletter. I got people on board to help write the newsletter and gather the information. It expanded and expanded, and it is what it is today because of that initiative.
I’m a “my door is always open” kind of person. I’ve always been very proud of my openness and ability to communicate with folks on many levels.
What is your professional background, and how does it apply to the role of a village mayor?
I worked as a paralegal for almost 20 years in the Buffalo area of upstate New York and on Long Island.
In litigation, I worked on the insurance defense side for Ford and Hyundai motor companies. I did insurance defense cases for them and did a lot of work as a family law paralegal for attorneys here on Long Island.
I have been deputy mayor for the last two years and trustee for four years. I have been commissioner of building and planning, commissioner of public safety, liaison to parking and mobility, the Zoning Board of Appeals, the planning department, beautification, the Business Improvement District and have worked closely with the chamber of commerce.
My vast experience in the village and my institutional knowledge of all of the workings of the village have all come into play to get me where I am today.
Village of Port Jefferson officials are currently rolling out PASSPort, a first-of-its-kind rideshare service tailored for within-the-village transit.
Kevin Wood, the parking and mobility administrator in PJV, worked closely with the village Board of Trustees to develop the software and systems to accommodate PASSPort. Now the service is undergoing beta testing, with plans for public use along the horizon.
PASSPort functions similarly to other popular platforms in the private sector, tapping into the same technologies used by services such as Uber but repurposing them for local municipal oversight and administration.
Under the current plan, Wood said the program remains flexible, subject to villagers’ evolving needs. “There is no parallel to this on Long Island,” he said.
While the village has attempted to administer similar transit services in the past, Wood held that PASSPort represents a significant departure from any past or current offerings. “The closest you came to this were crosstown electric car methods that, in Port Jefferson, have proven to not work for various reasons,” he said.
He added that through PASSPort, the village government hopes to move away from the public perception surrounding those previous models, which he said were ill suited for winter weather and unable to traverse the area’s steep hills.
Wood noted the various opportunities for residents to make use of PASSPort. According to him, the platform could potentially enhance mobility for those traveling to village beaches, elderly residents unable to operate a car and residents traveling downtown.
Although some apps, such as Uber, bar minors from accessing their service, Wood kept open the possibility in Port Jeff, saying that the village is working through legal parameters of creating a parental authorization process to enable the pickup and drop-off of local students.
The parking and mobility administrator also touched upon the subject of PASSPort vehicle operators. For him, the vehicles would ideally be operated by professional, third-party drivers who would be “exclusive to us for that night” during a designated period.
“We want them to have a certain amount of professional aspect to what they’re doing,” he said. “That’s an important part of this — to monitor not only the integrity of the service itself and timeliness but the courtesy of the driver.” Given the program’s flexibility, he said he could foresee accommodating multiple drivers a night if needed.
Pricing is also variable, with Wood hoping to learn more about this facet of the program as the program rolls out for public use. Measuring PASSPort against taxicabs and other rideshare methods, he foresees clear advantages to the village program.
“We know that if you took a taxi, that would be … one, a different experience; two, they’d have to be available; and three, that price, I understand, is between $7 and $10,” he said. “We think we’re coming out with a more efficient service, much better technology and we’re still pricing it at the $5 to $8 per person level.”
While PASSPort unleashes private sector technologies for municipal administration, Wood suggested the program is not necessarily intended to outcompete rival services. Instead, he viewed the platform as a village service.
“We’re not in the business of competing with mobility — we’re in the business of serving our residents,” he said. “If someone chooses us over [other rideshare service providers], it’s because of safety, efficiency, pricing and you’re going to see a whole lot of promotion.”
Moreover, Wood said he believes the broader trends are gradually shifting away from individually operated motor vehicles, accelerated by myriad factors, such as congestion pricing and rising costs associated with vehicle maintenance.
“Owning a car today is almost becoming a liability because of insurance costs, gas and all the things associated with it,” he said. “I think ‘mobility’ is the keyword you want to use here — getting to where you have to go in the most efficient way possible.”
Wood, who worked in the technology and marketing sectors before entering the administration, said he discovered a natural blend of his professional experiences while creating the rideshare service.
Through PASSPort, he said village leaders could effectively boost mobility by integrating new tech and municipal administration. He indicated that rideshare programs such as PASSPort represent the future of municipal servicing.
“I love to see the world of technology and entrepreneurial thinking coming to the government,” he said. “Why not adapt and engage with technology?”
Deputy Mayor Kathianne Snaden, trustee liaison for parking and mobility, has closely coordinated with Wood in launching the service, expressing optimism for its implementation.
“We’re thrilled for this program,” she said. “We saw a need for residents to be able to visit their downtown. Downtown is not just about the tourists, it’s about the residents.”
The deputy mayor also noted that PASSPort could ease the burden of transit on residents and parking congestion on businesses, saying, “They don’t have to worry about bringing their cars down or about parking. They can get to and from in a safe manner, and it will additionally help the businesses in opening up parking spaces for the people coming in from outside the village.”
Wood said more information regarding PASSPort would be made public in the coming weeks.
The managed parking system in the Village of Port Jefferson has undergone considerable changes this season, prompting debate among some within the community.
Beginning March 15, the village government has incorporated various technologies into its managed parking apparatus, such as automated license plate reading, which village officials say expedites and standardizes parking enforcement.
“We’re looking to make sure that enforcement is more equitable, that there’s less room for a mistake or discretion,” Mayor Margot Garant said in an exclusive interview. “The license plate reader is in at least one of the code vehicles, and when it drives through the parking lot, it scans everything very quickly.” She added, “I think it’s going to be a much more blanketed, equitable process and easier for all parties.”
Kevin Wood, the village’s parking administrator, outlined how the new tech would operate. He said pay-by-plate metering allows for more efficient enforcement of overtime parking and eliminates the need for double payment caused by temporarily leaving and losing a parking space, among other potential benefits.
Wood said digital payment also simplifies parking during future visits as the system remembers one’s plate number. “The next time you come back into town, your plate number is already filled in,” he said. “You can’t say that about a space number because you park in a different space every time.”
The village has also digitized its residential permitting process, supplanting the previous method which was performed by hand. So far, Wood said his office has received nearly 2,000 permits.
Responsiveness questions
The changes to parking procedure have met some opposition, particularly from the business community. James Luciano, owner of PJ Lobster House, has been among the opponents to the changes.
In an interview, Luciano indicated that many of his older customers prefer the preexisting method of paying at a meter.
The new system “is a hassle for the older clientele,” he said, suggesting older customers often make multiple trips to and from their cars to pay for parking.
“I know it doesn’t seem like a lot, but when you have clientele that are in their 60s, 70s and 80s, it is a lot for them to do that,” he added.
He said he receives daily complaints over digital payment, estimating complications using the system “probably happen 25 times a day — it’s a big problem that people are complaining about.”
Luciano attributes much of the village’s parking adversity to a lack of responsiveness from the village government, suggesting his recommendations to the village have fallen on deaf ears.
“We’ve sat down in meetings, we’ve sent letters over the last two years,” he said. “They say, ‘Thank you for the input,’ and then they do what they want. They don’t want to take any recommendations from anybody.”
Wood suggested his office is actively coordinating with the business community and that no significant changes have been made to the system other than entering a plate number instead of a space number.
“There are no changes to navigate,” Wood said. “The parker himself only enters a plate number instead of a space number, and that’s self-evident. But that being said, my office is always available to answer questions on a one-by-one basis and/or my assistant, Rita.”
Garant said her administration remains committed to working with merchants over any concerns with the system. Nonetheless, she expressed confidence that the new system would prevail over time.
“There are some recommendations that they have and questions, and we’re answering them as we can,” the mayor said. “Obviously, with anything, you’re going to get mixed concerns. I think once everybody settles into this new system, they’ll find that it’s an easier system to use.”
Capacity: an age-old problem‘The number one challenge is capacity. It accounts for just about everything we are challenged with.’
— Kevin Wood
Parking is a decades-old quandary in Port Jeff, confounding generations of local officials who have struggled to solve the parking puzzle.
Richard Murdocco, adjunct professor in the Department of Political Science at Stony Brook University, summarized the issue in a word.
“Capacity — hands down, capacity,” he said. “It’s what all the villages on Long Island struggle with. How do you shoehorn in more parking without compromising the very character that people are seeking out?”
Wood concurred with this assessment. “The number one challenge is capacity,” he said. “It accounts for just about everything we are challenged with.”
Former village trustee Bruce Miller regarded the capacity constraints as all-pervasive, compounding other problems, such as traffic congestion. “It creates a lot of traffic that’s needless,” he said. “People are circling and circling and circling to find a parking place.”
Former New York State Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket) commented on the generations of anguished parkers pressed to find a space. He regarded Port Jefferson as distinctive for its blend of bustling downtown activity and limited capacity.
“The oversubscription of use is inevitable for a place that is as attractive, and that faces the water, which is such a magnet for this whole sector of the Island,” he said. “You want to go to Port Jefferson because there are businesses, and a vibrant walk along the harbor is exciting.”
But, he added, “It means you’re always going to have a traffic jam.”
Meanwhile, the Town of Brookhaven, which operates the marina parking lot near the ferry terminal, has set its 2023 parking rates at five times the rate of Port Jefferson’s managed lots. Wood said this could further strain the village’s already cramped lots.
“My common sense tells me that if something is $5 an hour, and they can get that same service for $1 an hour, that tells me they’re going to put more pressure on us,” he said.
Possible solutions
Murdocco said a natural tension exists between preserving the historic character of an area and expanding parking capacity. He added, however, that the capacity issue would eventually cap the village’s growth potential for its residential and commercial districts.‘Policymakers should begin exploring some more modern, viable options.’
— Richard Murdocco
“Policymakers should begin exploring some more modern, viable options,” the SBU adjunct professor said. The most obvious option, he indicated, would be to construct a parking garage.
This proposal would come with its own set of challenges, according to Englebright. “I don’t think there’s an easy answer to this because even if you add a parking garage, I think it will be oversubscribed on the first day,” he said.
Wood noted that he gives “daily thought” to this idea, which is also proposed in the village’s 2030 Comprehensive Plan. However, given the natural topography and existing built environment, the municipality remains hamstrung in specific ways.
“Now is the time where I think we would have a serious look at building multidecks [above-ground parking garages], but it’s not so easy because of the landscape of Port Jeff, the depth of the water and things like that,” he said.
Asked whether he foresees the village accommodating a garage in the coming decades, the parking administrator responded affirmatively.
“I’d like to hope that we can come to the point where that possibility could happen,” he said, adding, “If it were in the best interest of the community and residents, I’d like to think we could come to an agreement on that.”
Miller advised the village government to explore underground parking, an option he said would boost capacity without disrupting the area’s historic character.
“A lot of the residents and public do not want an above-ground parking garage — we’re not rural here, but we just don’t see ourselves as urban,” he said. “The advantage of underground parking is that it doesn’t make your town look urban. You don’t have underground structures protruding from the ground.”
Another alternative the village is actively seeking is shared parking, that is, entering into agreements with nearby businesses to facilitate access to their lots during nonbusiness hours.
Wood said he and trustee Rebecca Kassay are working to enter into shared-use parking agreements, particularly with hospitals and medical offices in Upper Port.
“There’s not a lot of commercial activity happening uptown, but that will change,” Wood said, adding that shared parking would offer “immediate parking to people frequenting uptown.”
Kassay, who also serves as the village’s environmental commissioner, said the shared parking proposal would help minimize the need for building new parking lots uptown, as well as the clearings and heightened flooding characteristic of such construction.
Shared parking “would prevent more square footage uptown from being hardscaped, which is a contributor to the flooding because water is not being collected, recharged and filtered in the way it naturally would,” she said.
The trustee added, “The issue of parking is very real, but the creative solutions, like shared parking, are a way that we as a village can solve parking issues, be environmentally conscious and save taxpayers money by not building and maintaining additional lots.”
Parking committee
Garant, who had coordinated with a parking committee composed of residents and merchants earlier in her tenure, recounted the history and role of that body.
“We had a committee for upward of eight or nine years,” she said. “I think that they brought great concerns, and we heard from them.”
Asked whether the village should reinstitute the parking committee, she responded, “I’m on my way out, so I’ll leave that to the next administration,” adding, “I think Kevin is doing a great job, so I’m going to let the next elected mayor make those decisions going forward.”
Wood emphasized that a committee would not resolve the core issue permeating all parking woes villagewide. “The one thing we all end up talking about is the lack of capacity,” the parking administrator said. “All the committees in the world won’t fix the immediate need for more capacity.”
He added, “We get feedback all the time. We take it under advisement. But again, it usually leads back, after everything is said and done, to lack of capacity.”
Wood, instead, encouraged concerned parties to take their concerns to the village board. For him, public comments during village board meetings provide community members the proper forum to be heard.‘It would seem to me that some democratization would be logical.’
— Steve Englebright
Public comment “is the best way to communicate what you are trying to say about any subject,” Wood said.
Luciano, on the other hand, advocated for the reinstatement of the parking committee as a means to properly filter concerns from the greater community.
“The parking committee needs to exist, and the village needs to take the recommendations from the parking committee,” he said.
Detailing why he believed the committee had disbanded, Luciano again suggested a lack of responsiveness from the village. “They got rid of it because they didn’t want to hear input anymore and because they were going to do what they wanted to do.”
Ana Hozyainova, president of the Port Jefferson Civic Association, has joined the call for resurrecting the parking committee. In an email statement, she said a parking committee would reintroduce debate to the parking decision-making process.
“The Port Jeff Civic Association fully supports the reestablishment of a parking committee composed of representatives from all stakeholders,” she said. “Reinstituting the parking committee would provide a transparent forum for discussion and decision-making.”
The civic president added, “It would also help ensure that we face our parking challenges in a manner that addresses the needs and concerns of all our residents and still preserves the character and appearance of our beautiful village.”
Englebright regarded the proposal for a parking committee as necessary for promoting public participation.
“If you live in the village, there has to be some sense of being able to participate,” he said. “There needs to be some reasonable balance between the commercialism that dominates parts of the downtown and the needs of the residents, which should not take second place.”
He added, “I don’t know how you do that without some sort of forum other than the regular meetings of the village board. It would seem to me that some democratization would be logical.”
The Village of Port Jefferson Board of Trustees met on Tuesday, Feb. 21, to discuss parking, youth services at the Village Center and emergency repairs at Port Jefferson Country Club.
Parking
At the request of parking administrator Kevin Wood, the board passed a resolution to set the same managed parking rates and daily times as last season, effective March 15. The board also approved 24/7 metering of the Perry Street resident lot at $0.50 per hour, effective April 1, with payment exceptions for village residents and Perry Street permits.
Country club
Mayor Margot Garant reported on a wellhead at the country club in need of replacement, saying that a recommendation was submitted last year to remove the turbine from the well for inspection.
“Apparently, if some basic maintenance had been done on the wellhead last year, it would have prevented the complete failure,” she said. “There’s a rubber gasket that sits on top of the pump, and the rubber gasket was completely blown, so it burned out the steel shaft below it,” adding “the whole wellhead has to be replaced.”
The mayor reported that the Farmingdale-based American Well & Pump Co. has “the significant component on their shelf available for us.” At a cost of $47,130, the board voted to approve the request, with the money taken from the PJCC fund.
Trustee Stan Loucks said that the cost to repair the wellhead “went from $10,000 to this number [$47,130] because of the lack of attention last year.”
Reports
Garant reported on an ongoing negotiation between the village and the village-based nonprofit Long Island Foundation for Education & Sports. This organization offers youth programs and rents a room in the Village Center.
Garant said LIFFES currently requests a continued rental rate of $35 per hour, reduced from the $42 per hour pre-pandemic rate. Village treasurer Denise Mordente said the village receives roughly $31,000 in annual rent from the nonprofit.
“If they were to leave because they could not afford it, there’s not another vendor looking to come in there, to my understanding,” Deputy Mayor Kathianne Snaden said. “Additionally, it’s a service to our residents and our families that is absolutely necessary for some.”
Garant added that the partnership with the foundation was not motivated by profit but rather by providing a needed service for residents.
“It’s a win-win because the building is dormant during these shoulder hours — there’s nothing happening,” Garant said. “We’re servicing our residents. It’s a great program for the kids. And it’s a solid revenue line that we didn’t have before.”
Contemplating whether to comply with the request, board members agreed to schedule a meeting with LIFFES executives to work toward agreeable terms for both parties.
Snaden reported on a recent meeting with the Port Jefferson Business Improvement District. The BID agreed to contribute to spring season flowers and beautification and up to 50% on discounted LED lights for next winter.
The deputy mayor concluded her report by discussing progress with the planning board, as “Conifer II is ready to submit plans for the upcoming March meeting,” she said. “We should hopefully start seeing movement there.”
Loucks gave an update on the upcoming season at PJCC. “Today, we have 396 members, and we broke $1.3 million today,” he said. “A soft opening is going to be March 24. The hard opening is March 31.”
Trustee Rebecca Kassay reported on a recent meeting with Town of Brookhaven officials regarding the draft plans for a redesigned marina parking lot near the harbor.
“We pointed out the entrance across from Barnum, where we’ve had multiple deaths in the village,” she said, adding, “The conversation came around to, ‘Do we really need that to be open at all?’”
Responding to this suggestion, Kassay said the town would consult with the Melville-based Nelson+Pope engineering firm to determine whether the lot could be reconfigured without an entrance or exit at Barnum.
The board voted to schedule a budget work session for March 20 at 3 p.m. The next meeting of the village board will take place Monday, March 6, at 5 p.m.
