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Yearly Archives: 2018

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Brookhaven’s single-stream recycling facility in Yaphank. File photo by Clayton Collier

By Alex Petroski & Sara-Megan Walsh

Recyclable materials have been building up at the Brookhaven Town recycling plant in Yaphank ever since China stopped accepting imports from American facilities in January, but the future of the facility is even more up in the air now.

Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) said contractor Green Stream Recycling terminated its 25-year contract to operate the Yaphank facility effective Oct. 29 citing financial woes due to market changes. The company signed the agreement with the town in 2013.

“We’re a regional facility — for them to do that it certainly isn’t going to speak well of the future of their waste management business on Long Island,” Romaine said.

The town plans to pursue legal action against the contractor for breach of contract, according to the supervisor.

Green Stream Recycling, owned by principals Joe Winters and Anthony Core, also of Hudson Baylor Brookhaven LLC, did not return a phone call requesting comment.

An aerial view of Town of Brookhaven’s Green Stream Recycling plant in Yaphank is surrounded by recyclables in August. Photo from Town of Smithtown

Romaine said the town will be putting the contract out for an emergency bid Nov. 1 for a new facility operator, and the town board will select a replacement at a Nov. 2 special meeting.

“They had three years of very good profits, and then as you know more recently there have been changes obviously in the recycling market where most of our recycling goods went,” Romaine said. 

The terms of contract with Green Stream Recycling yielded $20 per ton of processed recyclables, a quarter of which went back to Brookhaven with the remaining 75 percent
redistributed to neighboring municipalities that had agreements with Brookhaven to send their recyclables to the Yaphank facility, Romaine said. The supervisor said the town hadn’t received any money from Green Stream since May, though Brookhaven has continued making payments to other municipalities.

“The Town of Brookhaven believes very strongly in the benefits that a municipal recycling program brings to our respective communities and hence the reason we continued acceptance and payment for the material received from the Town of Huntington,” Romaine wrote in an Oct. 23 letter to Huntington Supervisor Chad
Lupinacci (R).

Similar letters were also sent to Smithtown Supervisor Ed Wehrheim (R) and the other municipalities that have single-stream recycling agreements with Brookhaven.

John Clark, director of Environmental Waste Management for the Town of Huntington, said the town was previously informed Aug. 23 Brookhaven would not renew the intermunicipal agreement to accept Huntington’s collected recyclables set to expire at the end of this year. Under the terms of the agreement, Huntington received up to $15 per ton of recyclable material delivered to the Yaphank facility.

In 2017, Huntington collected and delivered more than 14,000 tons of material to the single-stream recycling plant that was processed through the intermunicipal agreement. This resulted in more than $152,000 in net revenue, according to town spokeswoman Lauren Lembo.

The town had already issued a request for proposals Oct. 18 in an attempt to find an alternative solution to start Jan. 1, 2019, which may include converting back to dual-stream recycling where residents may be held responsible for sorting their trash again.

The news of Green Stream Recycling ending its contract with Brookhaven will pose only a temporary issue for Huntington, Lembo noted.

“The Town of Brookhaven believes very strongly in the benefits that a municipal recycling program brings to our respective communities and hence the reason we continued acceptance and payment for the material received from the Town of Huntington.”

— Ed Romaine

“We are already in the process of reaching out to potential recycling vendors and other municipalities to execute a two-month agreement that would get us through the end of the year under our single-stream recycling mode,” Lembo said.

Russ Barnett, Smithtown’s environmental protection director, said the town had received a telephone call from Brookhaven Oct. 19 to immediately cease sending recyclables to Brookhaven’s Yaphank facility. Smithtown’s town board plans to issue an emergency request for proposals at its Oct. 25 meeting seeking a new contractor to cart and process its residents’ recyclables, according to spokeswoman Nicole Garguilo. It’s unclear what if any impact this may have on Smithtown’s tentative 2019 budget.

“Residents should continue doing what they are doing right now,” Barnett said. “We’re not asking residents to make any changes.”

Smithtown Town plans to temporarily store all collected materials at its Municipal Services Facility on Old Northport Road in Kings Park until a new carter is found. A new recyclable operator could mean a move back to dual-stream recycling.

“We’ve got a broad solicitation out there to identify what our options might be,” Barnett said. “Whether we will be offered services as an unsorted single-stream recyclables for sorting and purification elsewhere, or whether or not people might propose that prior sorting [by residents] needs to be done.”

A spokesperson for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation said in a statement the agency is working with Brookhaven and the other towns impacted to develop solutions that will allow for processing of existing materials at the site and long-term solutions to continue recycling in the region, as well as working with industry stakeholders to solve the problem of drying up markets for the recycled material.

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Mount Sinai’s administration and board — including Superintendent Gordon Brosdal and BOE President Robert Sweeney — will ask taxpayers to weigh in on a capital bond proposal Dec. 11. File photo by Erika Karp

The Mount Sinai School District board of education has announced a $25 million price tag for its upcoming capital bond proposal, which would make major repairs to school roofs as well as add new teaching spaces.

At its Oct. 11 meeting Mount Sinai’s board voted to move ahead with the $25,331,498 bond proposal and set a date for a community vote on Dec. 11.

The board showcased the final bond proposal at its Oct. 17 meeting for the community, which proposes an average $240 tax increase on a home assessed at $3,700, or $370 on a home with an assessed value of $5,700.

The bond has changed somewhat since its initial presentation Sept. 26. The sticker price has gone from $24.6 million to $25.3 million and new projects have been added, including upgrades to the boys and girls bathrooms in both the middle and high school. Other additions included creating a girls varsity softball synthetic turf field for $327,750 and a boys varsity baseball synthetic turf infield for $393,300.

The original bond proposal included new additions to the high school orchestra room and a 12,000 square foot fitness center, but those were not included in the final proposal. The September proposal also included a new music lab, but board President Robert Sweeney said the school did not have the space for it, and that additions to the bond were made based on student enrollment, which is expected to decrease in the next several years.

“In four years, there will be 200 less kids in the high school than we’ve ever had,” Sweeney said. “This [bond] is driven by student need and it’s student centered.”

The bond would also fund additional security improvements, including adding security cameras to all school buildings as well as replacing exterior doors and adding non-ballistic security film to windows.

In terms of repairs, the bond would use $2.1 million to complete 54,000 square feet of roofing replacement for the high school, and would also fund projects to repave the high school’s main parking lot, replace flooring in the middle school and replace the public address and master time clock system in all school buildings.

Superintendent Gordon Brosdal said the most important inclusions were those that repaired some of the campus’ aging buildings.

“I think the board did a great job to weigh everything out and keep the community in mind, especially repairing our 40-year-old, 50-year-old, 60-year-old buildings,” Brosdal said.

The bond also includes funds for one synthetic turf multi-purpose field and 1,400 square foot locker room renovations and expansions at the high school.

Sweeney said the board took out multiple items from the original proposal, including repairs to masonry, painting lintels and for the inclusion of natural gas emergency generators for the elementary and middle school because several of those projects can be included in either future capital projects using the district’s unassigned fund balance or with normal district budgets.

“Those items were perfectly fine, but we have money in the budget to do it,” Sweeney said.

Some community members, like Mount Sinai resident Michael McGuire, have questioned the need for a bond if it also leads to tax increases.

“The kids we are investing in cannot afford to live here,” McGuire said.

Voters can weigh in on the referendum Dec. 11. Residents in the school district must be registered in order to vote. Residents can register at the District Office during school hours from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Dec. 5.

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Voting booths at Rocky Point High School. File photo by Kyle Barr

On Nov. 6, voters will be lining up across Suffolk County at polling places, though if some school officials in the county could have it their way, by Election Day 2019 votes will be cast elsewhere.

Despite the fact schools are used as polling places near-universally, recent pushes for additional school security from communities have made several North Shore superintendents question why they should be forced to allow strangers into their buildings.

“You have to admit anybody onto school campus who comes to vote, so those actions and best practices for security that we observe every day, we can’t observe on Election Day,” said Elwood school district Superintendent Kenneth Bossert. “Schools are allowed to make their own rules for every school day, but on Election Day we have to defer to the [Suffolk County] Board of Elections, and in effect our facilities become their facilities.”

“Schools are allowed to make their own rules for every school day, but on Election Day we have to defer to the [Suffolk County] Board of Elections, and in effect our facilities become their facilities.”

— Kenneth Bossert

The Suffolk County School Superintendents Association, of which Bossert is president, released a blueprint for action to enhance school safety in which it specifically requests legislation that might let schools appeal their designation as polling locations. New York State law says all public buildings are in line to be declared polling places, yet all municipalities except schools have the right to appeal that designation.

Board of Elections Commissioner Nick LaLota said approximately 30 percent of polling in the county was held at nonschool municipal buildings. He added if the Board of Elections tried to move its voting apparatus to other places like fire departments or town halls that parking would be inadequate and wait times would increase more than an hour because of space issues.

Many schools close their buildings on November polling days to allow the community into a school without the potential for any danger to students. However, during smaller elections like primaries and school budget votes in June, many schools remain open and wall off the students from the public. Huntington school district Superintendent Jim Polansky said while his district does not stay open during major elections, they do stay open for students during primaries.

“While I understand that it is a challenge to find alternative sites than can accommodate a vote, using schools as polling places when classes are in session [such as for primary elections] is a significant issue,” Polansky said.

Across the North Shore superintendents lamented the Suffolk Board of Elections requirements. Superintendent James Grossane of Smithtown school district agreed with SCSSA’s proposal, and Paul Casciano of the Port Jefferson School District said he agreed with it even though polling in Port Jeff is held at Village Hall.

“When our buildings are used for public polling sites, the Board of Elections has the authority to designate the final location in the building for polling to occur, which in most cases requires voters to travel through our schools, passing classrooms and common student areas along the way all while not having to go through our strict visitor approval process,” Cheryl Pedisich, superintendent of the Three Village Central School District said.

LaLota said some local districts were being dishonest in their push to take polling out of schools.

“The school officials who choose to keep their May budget and board elections in their schools but demand that the November elections be moved out of their schools have a sincerity problem and are using recent tragedies to satisfy their political agenda, which predates school shootings,” LaLota said.

“The school officials who choose to keep their May budget and board elections in their schools but demand that the November elections be moved out of their schools have a sincerity problem and are using recent tragedies to satisfy their political agenda, which predates school shootings.”

— Nick LaLota

Since the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, more and more schools have been drastically updating security measures. Schools from Northport to Shoreham-Wading River have been adding additional security cameras, installing security doors, building security vestibules and hiring additional security guards. Some schools, like Miller Place and Mount Sinai, have taken it one step further and added armed guards to their current suite of school protection earlier this year.

Mount Sinai School District superintendent Gordon Brosdal said he agreed with the SCSSA’s call for the ability to appeal. Currently the Mount Sinai campus contains four armed guards, with one manning a booth at the entrance to the grounds who asks for an ID from all who wish to drive in. He added that he was concerned that with those procedures, voters may take it as a sign of disenfranchisement to request identification. Current New York State election law says polling places cannot ask for voter ID, though LaLota said he was unaware of any statute which prevented districts from seeking identification from those who come onto their campuses.

Marianne Cartisano, the superintendent of the Miller Place school district, has been fighting the specifics for her district’s polling designation since 2013, she said. In years past, the district has had to separate students and the public with the use of cafeteria tables, for a lack of more appropriate space. Since then the district has decided to close all schools on every election day, even for primaries.

Currently Andrew Muller Primary School, North Country Road Middle School and Miller Place High School are all polling locations. Cartisano has long requested the Suffolk County Board of Elections move all polling operations to the high school.

“We requested that let’s just move everything to the high school, where we could accommodate anywhere between 1,000 to 1,500 at a time, we’ll give you the entire building,” Cartisano said. “I know that in other districts accommodations have been made. … I want to do the right thing for our residents, but our residents also include 4-year-olds.”

In April this year the William Floyd school district reported that all polling locations would be moved to the high school, away from the elementary school. LaLota said he would be willing to work with school districts toward that end.

“This is an example of a win-win and I have encouraged my staff to explore more opportunities that increase child safety without disenfranchising voters,” he said.

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2-year- old Madison of Smithtown enjoys the day
A 'haunted' cemetery on the farm
Shrek the pig
Bob Benner explains the apple cider making paking
Nicholas, 8 and Lucas, 6 of Coram pick a pumpkin.
Cocoa Puff the pony says hello
The Magalhaes family of Coram visits with a goat
A 'haunted' cemetery

Benner’s Farm in East Setauket celebrated its annual Harvest Festival on Oct. 20 and 21 with pumpkin picking, apple cider demonstrations, a haunted hayride, music, vendors and visits with the farm animals. The two-day event attracted over 1500 visitors.

Photos by Elyse Benavides

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Reviewed by Melissa Arnold

Roy Schwartz

Roy Schwartz has had a deep passion for storytelling since he was a young boy growing up in Israel. While he’s written for a variety of audiences since arriving in America, the 38-year-old particularly enjoys writing for children because of their incredible imaginations and willingness to learn. 

His first published novel, “The Darkness in Lee’s Closet and the Others Waiting There,” tells the story of a 10-year-old girl seeking to bring her father back to life following a fatal heart attack. The horror-fantasy story is geared toward school-age readers, but Schwartz hopes people of all ages will connect with its message of courage, friendship, love and perseverance.

What was your upbringing like? Did you always want to be a writer?

I was born and raised in Tel Aviv, and then in 2004 I came to New York City as an unapologetic believer in the American Dream. I got a BA in English with a concentration in writing for children and young adults from the New School.

I used to want to be a comic book artist, but I didn’t have the artistic talent. I used to fill whole notebooks with stories during classes, to the endless frustration of my teachers. So it made sense to go on and study it in college. It seemed like something I couldn’t help but do. I got through college without having to work very hard just because I was naturally good at it.

After college, I was a freelance writer, but I was hit very hard by the economic collapse that began around 2008. I then went to grad school at NYU, taught for three years at CUNY, and eventually found myself in legal marketing. I found that I really enjoyed it. I’m now the communications director for a regional law firm.

What drew you to children’s literature?

I felt that to really make a difference in the world, I needed to write for children. The best children’s lit isn’t just for children — adults can also enjoy them, and they have merit and value for any age. But there’s no comparison to having a child come up to me and say a book of mine inspired them and gave them new ideas.

Is there a target audience for the book?

It’s for 8- to 12-year-olds, but a 6-year-old might enjoy it, and an adult can also appreciate it. I worked very hard to add those layers so that anyone can enjoy it.

What inspires you?

I’ve always been interested in classic fairy tales like “Aesop’s Fables” or “Grimm’s Fairy Tales.” I wanted to give that wheel a new spin. The things we experience are sometimes scary or unfair, and there aren’t always happy endings at every turn in life, but everything can be endured with friends, family and having faith in yourself. There are always good people to go through life with, and at the end of the day it’s all about love. Those are the ideas I hoped to capture in this book.

Can you tell us about the book? Was it based on a personal experience?

This story is about a 10-year-old girl who loses her father to a heart attack. She learns that at night, she can travel to the afterlife, so she decides to try to bring him back. But traveling to the afterlife can be very scary and even dangerous. Along the way, she encounters people in the afterlife from a variety of different backgrounds and points in history that support her. I don’t have a dramatic personal story that inspired the book. If you look at a lot of children’s literature, the main character is either alone or has lost one parent, and that sets them off on an adventure.

What do you like about the main character, Lee?

Lee is an artist. She’s very much a “real person” — she’s not a perfect 10-year-old. She’s thrown into a very surreal situation and has to develop the courage to navi- gate that. I wanted to have a protagonist that was fully realized. Lee doesn’t start out wise beyond her years or have perfect knowledge of what she needs to do.

What message do you hope  readers will come away with?

I hope the book isn’t preachy but I hope that it can help create empathy for different experiences and perspectives. Lee could not have succeeded in her journey without the support of the people she meets along the way

Did you self-publish this book or pursue traditional publishing?

I went with the traditional publishing. The publisher for this book, Aelurus Publishing, is a UK-based, independent company.  An author friend of my wife’s went on to become an editor and sent it to her publisher. That’s how they found me.

What are you working on next?

I have a nonfiction book for adults about the superhero industry called “Is Superman Circumcised? How Jewish Culture Informed the World’s Greatest Hero” (working title) coming out in the spring of 2019 through McFarland Publishing.

Where can we learn more about you?

My website is www.royschwartz.com, and you can find me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram as RealRoySchwartz. 

“The Darkness in Lee’s Closet and the Others Waiting There” may be purchased online at www.aeluruspublishing.com, Amazon.com and the Google Play Store. 

Meet Roy Schwartz at the following reading and book-signing events: Turn of the Corkscrew Books and Wine, 110 N. Park Ave., Rockville Centre on Oct. 27 at 3 p.m.; The Dolphin Bookshop, 299 Main St., Port Washington (multiauthor event) on Nov. 10 at noon; and the Suffok Y JCC, 74 Hauppauge Road, Commack on Nov. 13 at 6 p.m.

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On Saturday, Oct. 27 from 9:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The Long Island Museum, 1200 Route 25A, Stony Brook will present Elias Pelletreau: Long Island Silversmith & Entrepreneur, an all-day symposium exploring this early American silversmith’s life and work, as well as the Long Island Colonial and Revolutionary War-era in which he lived. Scholars and historians will examine Pelletreau’s fine craftsmanship and his essential role in the complex trade and social worlds in conjunction with the museum’s current Pelletreau exhibit.

Topics of discussion include Pelletreau’s Life and Legacy, Pelletreau’s Larger World, American Craftsmen of the 18th Century and Pelletreau’s work in general from an artist’s point of view. There will be a Q&A session after the program, giving audience members the opportunity to ask specific questions of the presenters.

Presenters for the symposium include Joshua Ruff, director of Collections & Interpretation at The Long Island Museum; Deborah Dependahl Waters, independent historian and decorative arts specialist, and guest curator, Elias Pelletreau: Long Island Silversmith & Entrepreneur; Jennifer Anderson, associate professor of history, Stony Brook University; David Barquist, curator of American Decorative Arts, Philadelphia Museum of Art; and Eric Messin, silversmith and jeweler, Pelletreau Silver Shop, Southampton.

Fee is $12 adults, $10 students, seniors and museum members which includes symposium and admission to the museum. Optional $10 additional for lunch. Lunch also available off-site at area restaurants. To register for this event, call 631-751-0066, ext. 212 or email [email protected].

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Flo Kemp
Doug Reina
Mary Jane van Zeijts
Christine Mannone Carolan
Karen Kemp

AN ARTSY WEEKEND:

The North Shore Artist Coalition held its 3rd annual Open Studio Tour on Oct. 13 and 14. Fifteen local artists in Port Jefferson, Stony Brook, Setauket and St. James opened their studios to the public who were able to ask questions about their artistic process, enjoy demonstrations and purchase artwork.

Photos by Heidi Sutton

 

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By Matthew Kearns, DVM

I thought it a good time to recycle an article that is appropriate for this time of year. Here are a few tips to make sure this and every Halloween is a safe and happy one.

Candy and chocolate poisoning

Chocolate is dangerous for two reasons. The first is that it contains two chemicals — caffeine and theobromine, which are stimulants in the methylxanthine class. White chocolate contains almost none of these compounds and baking chocolate has the highest concentrations. 

Symptoms begin within 6 to 12 hours after ingestion and include panting, hyperactivity, increased thirst and urination. High concentrations lead to irregular heart rhythms, seizures, coma and death. There are specific toxic levels for all pets but, just like people, some dogs and cats can be very sensitive to chocolate and show signs of poisoning from much lesser amounts.  

Chocolate is also very high in sugar and fat. Minimally this could cause some mild diarrhea, but I have personally seen a few cases of serious gastroenteritis, pancreatitis and liver disease from ingestion of large amounts of chocolate and other candy.

Unfortunately, dogs and cats (especially young ones) will be more interested in eating their costume than wearing it. I have both experienced, as well as heard from colleagues, stories of pulling out portions of a witch’s nose, small scarecrow teddy bears, etc. The wrappers from candy can sometimes get wadded up in the stomach or small intestines and either cause intense pain or unavoidable (and expensive) surgery. Corn cobs used as decorations should also be out of reach of curious (and hungry pets). As much as you want the house to look festival, make sure to keep all holiday items out of reach of pets. 

Fears and phobias

Talk to your veterinarian if your pet is afraid of loud noises or large numbers of people coming to the door. Many times a calming supplement or mild tranquilizer sedative is all that is needed to get through Halloween, but always have your pet examined by the veterinarian (especially older pets) before administering these medications. Tranquilizers will cause a drop in blood pressure, which in healthy pets is not a problem but in older or diseased pets can be dangerous (even life-threatening in some cases).  

Malicious injuries

Be aware (especially with cats that go outside) that they are in for the night early. Unfortunately, we do see malicious acts toward animals increase on this particular holiday.  

I hope this information is helpful in providing a safe Halloween environment for our pets.  

Dr. Kearns practices veterinary medicine from his Port Jefferson office and is pictured with his son Matthew and his dog Jasmine.

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By Linda M. Toga, Esq. 

Linda Toga, Esq.

THE FACTS: My father executed a will many years ago in which he disinherited my older brother, Joe, and named me as executor of his estate. Joe had been estranged from the family for years. My father recently passed away. I have looked through all of my father’s papers and cannot find the will. I vaguely remember my father telling me that he put his will in his safe deposit box so that it would not get lost, but the bank manager will not allow me to access the box. 

THE QUESTIONS: How can I gain access to my father’s safe deposit box? If my father’s will is in the box, how should I proceed? 

THE ANSWER: Many people mistakenly believe that their safe deposit box is the best place to keep their will. While the will may be safe locked in the safe deposit box in the bank, it will not necessarily be accessible when needed. 

When the holder of a safe deposit box dies, the box is supposed to be sealed. This means the box is not to be opened unless the person seeking access to the contents of the box provides the bank with either a court order directing the bank to open the box or evidence that the person has been granted authority from the court to handle the decedent’s estate. 

If you cannot find your father’s will and believe it is in his safe deposit box, you must obtain an order from the Surrogate’s Court directing the bank to open the box. To do that, your attorney will need to file an application with the court in the county where your father lived in which he or she provides your father’s name and address, his date of death, your relationship to your father and the location of the bank where the safe deposit box is located. 

A small fee is required by the court for filing the application and providing to you a certified copy of the order when it is issued. 

Once the court issues the order, you should arrange with the bank for a bank officer to open your father’s safe deposit box in your presence. The officer is required to take an inventory of the contents of the box and, if your father’s will is there, to send the will to the Surrogate’s Court that issued the order. All other items that are in the box must be returned to the box. You will not be able to remove the other items until your attorney files a petition for letters testamentary and the court issues those letters to you.

 If it ends up that your father’s will is not in his safe deposit box, and you cannot locate it elsewhere, rather than petitioning for letters testamentary, your attorney will need to petition for letters of administration. Once you have obtained either letters testamentary or letters of administration, you will have full authority to access your father’s safe deposit box and to remove the contents.

 As an aside, if you cannot provide the original will to the court as part of the probate process and are issued letters of administration, you will be required to distribute to your estranged brother a share of your father’s estate pursuant to the NYS intestacy statute, regardless of what you believe your father may have wanted.

Although you will eventually gain access to the contents of your father’s safe deposit box, the administration of your father’s estate will clearly be delayed and additional estate expenses will be incurred in order to determine if, in fact, he put his will in his safe deposit box. To avoid the delay and expense I recommend that clients keep their wills and other important papers at home in a water/fire resistant safe or storage box. 

Linda M. Toga provides personalized service and peace of mind to her clients in the areas of estate planning, wills and trusts, Medicaid planning, marital agreements, estate administration, small business services, real estate and litigation. Visit her website at www.lmtogalaw.com or call 631-444-5605 to schedule a free consultation.

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