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Mallie Jane Kim

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Road repair after a burst sewage line in East Setauket poured an estimated 350,000 gallons of partially treated water into Setauket Harbor. Photo by George Hoffman

By Mallie Jane Kim

A river of water ran down the steep hill of Gnarled Hollow Road when Sotiria Everett arrived home from work June 4. The water appeared to be coming from under the street at the top of the slope, she said, adding she had to move cones and navigate around Suffolk County Water Authority trucks to reach her driveway.

“It was a disruption for us, obviously,” she said, noting the water to their house was off until about 10:30 p.m. that night. “The other concern is the damage it’s doing now in Setauket Harbor.”

A broken pipe spewed about 350,000 gallons of mostly treated wastewater over about 4.5 hours from the corner of Harbor Hill Road and Gnarled Hollow Road, according to a New York State sewage pollution alert. The water, which hadn’t yet gone through the final step of disinfection, followed surface streets to pour into Setauket Harbor, near Setauket Pond Park.

The place where the effluent entered the tidal harbor is the slowest to flush out and get diluted into the Long Island Sound because of its tucked-back location, according to George Hoffman of the Setauket Harbor Task Force.

The high-pressure pipe that burst originated from a sewer facility that processes wastewater from Stony Brook University and surrounding neighborhoods. It was mostly treated but lacked the final disinfection step, which takes place in Port Jefferson before the treated water is pumped out into Port Jefferson Harbor, a method water quality advocates say is outdated.

“If you were building it now, you wouldn’t be allowed to outfall sewage into the middle of the harbor,” Hoffman said. “We’ve learned so much since then about nitrogen in the harbor.”

Too much nitrogen in area waters leads to various issues, including dangerous bacteria and algae blooms.

But water quality isn’t the only concern with piping effluent into the harbor, according to County Legislator Steve Englebright, D-Setauket.

“There are two broad themes that emerge when we talk about groundwater on Long Island,” Englebright said. “One is quality of water, and the other is quantity of water—this is a little of both.”

Suffolk County draws water from a single-source aquifer, and if more water from that source is pumped into the harbors than is recharged by rain, the aquifer starts to drain.

Coincidentally, that same week, Suffolk County legislators met about modernizing area sewage lines, including the one in question that runs from Stony Brook University to Port Jefferson, according to Englebright.

The group heard a presentation about the possibility of using processed sewage to water athletic fields and other green spaces on Stony Brook University’s campus, as well as St. George’s Golf and Country Club next door. Englebright pointed to Riverhead’s Indian Island Golf Course, which has been watering with effluent since 2016, as a model for this method.

In addition to helping recharge the aquifer, this method obviates the need to buy nitrogen to fertilize the grass since the cleaned wastewater already contains it.

The county is currently working out its budget, according to Englebright, and though he said it’s unclear whether such updates will make it into the budget as a capital improvement this year, he’s glad it is at least on the table.

“The sewer break underlined the urgency and reinforced the timeliness of some of these conversations,” he said. “It is important for us to reassess.”

After the spill, the Suffolk County Department of Health Services warned residents to take precautions when recreating in Setauket or Port Jefferson harbors and closed several area beaches, including Little Bay, Grantland, Bayview, Indian Field, and Bayberry Cove. The county lifted its advisory June 10, after testing showed bacteria was within “acceptable limits” for all areas except Indian Field Beach, which remained closed.

Englebright said the high-pressure pipe may have burst at that point because it takes a turn to be nearly vertical, accommodating the steep grade of the street. “That’s where the pressure was concentrated,” he said.

Regardless of why it happened, area resident Everett hopes it won’t happen again. The bottom of the steep road, she said, is often flooded enough from rainy weather.

“The area is always prone to flooding, and you add that it’s not from Mother Nature, not from rain,” she said. “Any way that could be prevented would be ideal.”

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Sarah Lansdale updates the Three Village Civic Association on plans for the Lawrence Aviation superfund site. Photo by Mallie Jane Kim

By Mallie Jane Kim

A redevelopment plan for the Lawrence Aviation Superfund site in Port Jefferson Station is at risk due to a proposed rail yard intersecting a straight strip of property owned by the New York Department of Transportation, where the Setauket-Port Jefferson Station Greenway trail runs, according to Suffolk County Planning Commissioner Sarah Lansdale.

Lansdale, speaking at a Three Village Civic Association meeting on June 3, reviewed the existing plan to transform the former aviation factory into three parcels: a 5-megawatt solar array, space for a rail yard that the MTA will own and protected open space that is earmarked for the Town of Brookhaven.

“We’re in contract with all three parcels right now,” Lansdale said, adding that contract terms require an agreement between DOT and MTA by the end of June. “In order to get to closing, there are conditions that need to be met.”

DOT would need to agree to divert a small section of the Greenway path to make way for the planned rail yard, which would help accommodate future modernization of the Port Jefferson Branch of the Long Island Rail Road. However, this change would interrupt DOT’s solid straight line of property, which they reserve in case the need for a highway arises in the future.

“From what I understand, that would serve as a bypass for Route 25A should sea level rise or climate change impact the navigability of 25A,” Lansdale explained.

The Greenway is not currently protected parkland, though Suffolk County Legislator Steve Englebright (D-Setauket) spoke up at the meeting to announce that he had been working with state Assemblyman Fred Thiele (D-Sag Harbor) to fast-track last minute legislation designating the Greenway as parkland. 

“The session has the potential to resolve this question,” Englebright said, though as of press time, no related bills had been yet introduced and the 2024 legislative session in Albany is scheduled to end June 6.

Civic association leaders expressed frustration at DOT even considering the possibility of tearing up the Greenway sometime in the future.

“They shouldn’t be going down that road — that’s insulting to our community,” said Herb Mones, who also heads the Three Village Community Trust which oversees the nonprofit that maintains the trail.

Mones added that the DOT had always been a vital partner in building and maintaining the Greenway. “It would be very disappointing if the DOT as an agency isn’t the most cooperative, most helpful in making sure the future of the Greenway continues without nonsense talk of putting in a highway,” he said.

The Lawrence Aviation plan has been in the works since 2022, though discussions between officials and concerned community members about what to do with the site have been going on much longer.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has already led the demolition of buildings on the site, according to Lansdale, who added that the DEC also completed an environmental investigation to remove the site from the Superfund list, which will clear the way for the solar development.

Lansdale expressed hope that the contract requirements will be ironed out on time, as she said the plan has had the benefit of community involvement and support.

“This is a federal Superfund site,” she explained. “The way that these sites are usually sold is on the auction block, with zero community input, to the highest bidder.”

Advocating for modern train technology

Though the Lawrence Aviation site plan reserves space for a rail yard, the MTA has given no indication it has imminent plans to modernize the Port Jefferson Branch of the LIRR, according to clean-train-energy advocate Bruce Miller, who said he has been talking with MTA officials and keeping tabs on the agency’s plans.

At the civic meeting, Miller urged local civic associations to lobby Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) to force the MTA to follow state environmental laws by looking into new train technologies to replace the diesel trains running along Long Island’s North Shore.

“It would be very helpful to be somewhere on the [MTA’s] 20-year plan,” said Miller, who indicated one of his catchphrases when dealing with a New York City-focused MTA is, “We pay taxes, too.”

Miller, who favors hydrogen-powered or separate-car battery trains, said he’d like to get civic leaders and elected officials from both sides of the political aisle to put their heads together and figure out how to get the MTA to explore cleaner train technologies.

Englebright agreed with Miller’s assessment that the MTA is essentially a “rogue agency” not following state directives toward cleaner energy, and suggested lawsuits as a good way to rein it in. He pointed to both the 2021 state constitutional amendment that gives residents the right to clean air and water, and the State Environmental Quality Review Act as bases for lawsuits from the community to force the MTA to look into newer, cleaner trains.

“There should be a lawsuit considered by the civic community to challenge whether the actions or inactions of the MTA and the LIRR are consistent with the Constitution of the State of New York,” Englebright said, adding, “No agency of the state is immune to SEQRA.”

Civic association board member George Hoffman, who said he had listened to LIRR President Rob Free speak earlier in the year, expressed frustration that North Shore trains seem to be an afterthought with the MTA.

“We want to get a solution for the Port Jefferson line,” Hoffman said. “I don’t know if it’s electric, I don’t know if it’s hydrogen — we certainly know it shouldn’t be diesel, it’s one of the dirtiest forms of air pollution.”

Hoffman praised Miller for his leadership on the issue and indicated the civic association hoped to support his advocacy efforts. “The squeaky wheel gets the grease,” he said

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Shaorui Li and Stanley Bak congratulate each other after winning seats on the Three Village board of education. Photo by Mallie Kim

By Mallie Jane Kim

Three Village voters reelected the two incumbent board of education members and, in a close race for third, selected Stanley Bak to finish out a one-year term that was up for grabs.

The 3,280 residents who voted also accepted the district’s $236.1 million budget for 2024-25, with 65% approval (2,140-1,140).

As district officials tabulated results from each area of town on screen during the May 21 board meeting, it was a nail-biter for Bak and fellow candidate Amitava Das, who were neck and neck. In the end, Bak won the seat by just 5 votes — 1,688 to 1,683.

Bak said he is relieved, but also grateful the campaign was so civil. The two-week campaign saw a collegial rapport between the four candidates, all of whom spoke highly of the slate of people willing to volunteer to serve the community.

“I think that reflects very strongly on Three Village,” Bak said, adding that he’s ready to start working on the goals he stated during the campaign, including fiscal sustainability, later secondary school start times and enforcement of the district’s cell phone policy. 

“We’ve done the campaign part, and now the hard part comes because we have to do the work,” he said.

And Bak may get a chance sooner than he anticipated. At the meeting, district officials realized that since he is filling a currently vacant seat left empty by a board member who had to resign for personal reasons, his term may begin immediately. They planned to consult the district’s lawyer to seek out an answer, though one was not available by press time.

Shaorui Li, with 1,976 votes, and Susan Rosenzweig, with 1,970 votes, easily recaptured their seats for another term. 

“If I can serve and be useful to the community, I’m more than happy to continue,” Rosenzweig said after the results were certified. “I think it’s a really productive board, and we’ve done really good work.”

For her part, Li, who spoke during the campaign about protecting the extracurriculars the district provides, was excited to be reelected but already looking to the difficult job the board has ahead of it. 

“We still want to support extra programs, but with the budget, it’s always a balance,” she said. “It’s going to be tough, but with support from the community, we’re confident with it.”

2024 school budgets, propositions and candidates results:

Three Village Central School District:

Budget Vote:

Yes: 2,140

No: 1,140

Board of education election: elect three, third highest gets one-year term.

Shaorui Li – 1,976 

Susan Rosenzweig – 1,970

Stanley Bak – 1,688

Amitava Das – 1,683

 

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Horseshoe crabs spawn at West Meadow Beach. Photo by Toby Stime

By Mallie Jane Kim

New York’s horseshoe crabs may see new and permanent protections, if a bill in Albany is successful — something local environmental groups are rooting for.

“Horseshoe crabs were once abundant in our local harbors and lined the shores of Port Jefferson and Setauket Harbors during the May breeding season,” said George Hoffman, co-founder of the Setauket Harbor Task Force. “They are a big deal with harbor lovers.”

Horseshoe crabs, which are more closely related to arachnids like spiders and scorpions than crustaceans, are considered “living fossils” because they’ve existed, unchanged, for an estimated 450 million years, surviving through multiple mass extinctions. 

But the species has faced a steady decline in the past few decades due to harvesting and habitat loss, which in turn affects species of birds that rely on horseshoe crab eggs as mid-migration sustenance. The crabs are commercially harvested for use as bait by eel and conch fishing operations, and their blue blood is used in biomedical research and for improving vaccine safety.

The new bill, introduced by Assemblymember Deborah Glick (D-Manhattan), would amend state law to prohibit the taking of horseshoe crabs for commercial or biomedical purposes from state waters, but would allow for approved scientific or educational uses, like for zoos or aquariums.

The Assembly’s Committee on Environmental Conservation approved the bill on May 14, and it now sits with the codes committee. If the bill passes there, it would face a vote by the whole Assembly. 

On May 21, state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal (D-Manhattan) introduced a “same as” bill in the state Senate, and because it counts as a revamped version of a previous horseshoe crab bill that already passed through relevant committees, this bill is ready for a floor vote.

Adrienne Esposito, executive director of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment, warned that because Connecticut and Massachusetts recently enacted stronger protections for horseshoe crabs and neighboring states are also eying changes, New York’s population could be at greater risk.

“We’re very concerned that’s going to draw more eyes on New York’s horseshoe crab population,” she said.

According to New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation, a permit holder can currently harvest up to 200 horseshoe crabs per day in New York. The state has an annual harvest limit of 150,000 each year.

A report by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission indicated coastwide harvesting of horseshoe crabs for bait peaked in the 1990s at about 2.75 million crabs, but was down to about half a million in 2022, partly due to more efficient equipment that allows fishermen to use much less bait. 

Still, Esposito said harvesting horseshoe crabs to chop them up as bait is “archaic,” and said commercial fishing enterprises have been talking about finding alternative bait sources for decades. “This will incentivize finding alternative baits for fishermen to use to successfully catch conch and eel,” she said.

For Hoffman, stopping the “rapacious takings” that have lowered horseshoe crab populations is essential.

“We must do all we can to save them,” Hoffman said. “We can’t let them be hunted to extinction.” 

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Ward Melville High School. File photo by Greg Catalano

By Mallie Jane Kim

Three Village Central School District is attempting more advanced budget planning, but that may be easier said than done. Discussions at the May 8 Board of Education budget hearing highlighted the complications and uncertainties districts face in trying to look ahead.

After a presentation of the $236.1 million district budget for 2024-25, which is up for vote on May 21, the board returned to the recent hot topic of building out a five-year budget plan. Superintendent of Schools Kevin Scanlon indicated that he gave trustees a document looking forward to upcoming district needs considering state mandates likely coming down the pike, including electrification of school buses, mandatory universal pre-K and 3-year-old pre-K.

But projecting finances is another matter.

“There’s factors that, like this year, it’s a gamble,” Scanlon said, referring to the threat earlier in the spring of losing $9 million in state aid funds that did not happen. 

Other uncertainties include fluctuating costs in vital areas like health insurance, security and transportation, changes in salaries negotiated every few years and the new unreliability of state aid.

Trustee Karen Roughley, one of the board members who has pushed for advanced planning, noted that any such plan would be something of a guess.

“We need to understand what the financial impact is, but we also need to understand that that’s going to be generalizations,” Roughley said. “You’re never going to get down to the dollar on what our budget is going to look like, but we can have an idea of what we want to do.”

Even planning year to year has challenges, for instance, special education or English language learning services could arise at any time, as Deputy Superintendent Jeffrey Carlson noted.

“We always know there’s going to be additional needs that we don’t even know yet,” Carlson said, noting that if a family moves into the district with needs, those services are mandated. “We can’t say, ‘Well, sorry we don’t have the money budgeted.’ We have to find the money in the budget for that.”

Scanlon added that for 2024-25 school year, the district already knows of 37 students, which he said is more than 10% of the incoming kindergarten class, who will be in self-contained special education classes this fall.

Extrapolating all of that out to plan five years ahead brings in even more unknowns. Trustee Shaorui Li pointed to the fact that the tax cap changes each year, based on a state formula that doesn’t always reflect inflation accurately.

“Whenever we have high inflation, I’m sure something is being sacrificed,” she said.

Budget facts

The $236.1 million budget facing voters stays within the state’s mandated 2.84% tax levy increase and therefore requires a simple majority vote to pass. 

Carlson noted the budget includes $3 million in capital improvement projects, which will fund adjustments to the high school to accommodate adding ninth grade in 2025. Other capital projects on the docket include bathroom renovations and ongoing asbestos abatement. New York State reimburses the district for 66% of these capital improvement costs over time, according to Carlson.

He added that he expects a large number of retirements over the next few years, something that, brain drain aside, saves the district money. According to district data, this year’s number of retirements is up to 75, including 33 teachers and five administrators, and about 131 employees are coming up on their first retirement eligibility. 

“It would create tremendous financial opportunities for the district,” Carlson said of future retirements. “Whether that be to add programs, or to simply fund more reserves, start putting money in capital reserves or maybe not increase the tax levy as much, all of those are the opportunities that will be coming.”

Three open board of education seats

Voters will also select three trustees for next year’s school board. At a PTA Meet the Candidates night, May 9, candidates were asked to share something they wished the budget had accomplished.

Stanley Bak indicated he wished some slice of any extra money found through budget adjustments would go toward decreasing the tax levy, rather than getting absorbed by other areas of the budget. “I would have liked to see some acknowledgement that taxpayers exist within the district,” he said. “Our enrollment has been going down for some time, and our taxes keep going up.”

For Amitava Das, secondary school start times would’ve been his priority. “All the evidence points that school should start later,” he said. “If the budget was the only thing that stopped late start to school being implemented, I wish that weren’t the case, and that we had found the funds to do so.”

Current board member Shaorui Li acknowledged that she, too, is concerned about the budget but pointed out that Three Village is on par or better in per-student spending when compared to Syosset and Jericho school districts, which she called out as other “very good” school districts in the area. Elsewhere in the evening, she emphasized the importance of the variety of programs available for students. “If we keep under the cap, that is OK for us,” she said. “Making it lower will just lose our advantage and standing as a very good school district.”  

Susan Rosenzweig, also an incumbent, said she would have preferred rebuilding funds in accounts set aside for a rainy day. “I wish we could have repaid the money we borrowed from ourselves to stay open during COVID, and begun to really build up those reserves,” she said, adding that she believes the state should change regulations to allow districts to build reserves even higher than current limits. “If the state’s allowed to, we should be allowed to, as well.”

The two top candidates will each win three-year full terms, and the candidate who receives the third-most votes will fill the one year remaining on a term left open last year by a board member who had to resign for personal reasons. 

Residents can vote Tuesday, May 21, at Ward Melville High School from 6 a.m. through 9 p.m. Early and absentee ballots are also available through the district.

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Ward Melville High School. File photo by Greg Catalano

By Mallie Jane Kim

Four candidates are vying to serve on next year’s school board in Three Village Central School District. Terms are up for incumbents Shaorui Li and Susan Rosenzweig, who are both running to stay on the board. Newcomers Stanley Bak and Amitava Das have also thrown their hats in the ring.

In addition to the two full terms up for grabs, a third partial-term seat was left open by former board member Jennifer Solomon, after she resigned last summer for personal reasons. At the time, the board opted to wait until this election to fill her seat for the term’s final year, rather than spending additional money on a special election last fall. 

Whoever earns the third highest number of votes will fill this one-year term.

The candidates, profiled below in alphabetical order, opened the two-week campaign season by introducing themselves at a May 6 Three Village Civic Association meeting.

Stanley Bak

Stanley Bak

Bak teaches computer science at Stony Brook University and runs a research lab investigating the safety of artificial intelligence, which he said involves budgeting and managing millions of dollars in funds. 

He suggested the main issue facing the district today is financial.

“We need a long-term financial plan,” he said. “One that acknowledges that taxpayers exist and one that can sustainably provide excellent programs and services for our students.”

Bak, who was a member of the district’s cellphone committee last fall, praised the district’s recently strengthened policy, but added that its success hinges on enforcement.

He also pointed out that, though elementary schools comprise more than half the grade levels in the district, the board does not currently have representation from elementary families. His oldest child has started elementary school, with two others following.

“As a parent with three young children, I have a vested interest in the long-term health of all of our schools,” he said. “Representation matters. I will help bring this perspective to our board.”

Bak published information on his priorities at the website bakforboard.com and emphasizes that he is running independently and will not accept any funding from outside groups. He has received public support from the Residents for Responsible Spending Facebook group, and is a participant in the Three Village Parents Alliance.

Amitava Das

Amitava Das

Das, a parent of a junior high student in the district, said his experience in technology management has given him a firm foundation in communication, collaboration and compromise toward a shared goal of serving clients while being fiscally responsible. 

“These are things from a business perspective that I hope I’m able to bring to this role,” said Das, who is an engineering manager at a major global technology firm. He indicated he hopes to “work with the staff, the teachers, the taxpayers, the parents — I hope to gain your input and your support and understand what your needs are.” 

Das served on this year’s Budget Advisory Committee and volunteers as a computer science teacher for sixth through ninth grades with SchoolNova. He said by email that he previously served on the technical advisory board for Per Scholas, an organization that trains a diverse workforce in technology and helps connect newly-skilled talent to businesses.

He recognized the “tireless effort” of the teachers, administration and staff, but added that he’s also a taxpayer. “There’s a need to balance that aspect of it,” he said. “Are the dollars going toward the right programs, being spent in the right way to deliver the best product for our shareholders — which is us, the taxpayers in the district?”

Das, along with Li and Rosenzweig, is endorsed by the Three Village Teachers Association. He said in a phone call that he hopes to reimburse his portion of any campaign costs — typically, TVTA pays for advertising, including lawn signs and a postcard to each union member, past and present.

TVTA president Brian Pickford confirmed to TBR that this option is open to any candidate.

Shaorui Li

Shaorui Li

Li, also a district parent, has served on the school board since her election in 2021. She is an electrical engineer with 17 years of experience, including at Brookhaven National Laboratory, and is currently heading a microchip-development startup to advance the field of quantum computing. 

She shared that she has given lectures in the elementary schools regarding NASA projects she was involved in, and has served as a mentor for Science Olympiad.

These STEM skills, she indicated, along with the leadership and management experience she’s gained throughout her career, are what she brings to the table. “I just want to contribute my analytical skills and my love of solving problems and engineering to the board,” she said.

Li praised the board’s efforts in gaining input from all stakeholders for the new cellphone policy as well as in fine tuning the Budget Advisory Committee based on feedback. “The intention is to have input from the community,” she said. “We actually keep changing how [the BAC] will be and probably going forward it will keep changing — the goal is to make it more effective.”

Li invited residents to reach out with questions about district policy to her or any board member, as she said she values understanding community concerns. “The role of the board member is not simply voting ‘yes’ or ‘no’ based on personal preference,” she said. “As a board member, I would actively research … listen to our community and make decisions based on inputs from a broad range of resources.”

Susan Rosenzweig

Susan Rosenzweig

Rosenzweig, the current board president, was also elected in 2021. She said her background in radio and television news have served her well as a leader on the board. She pointed to her ability to approach situations with a neutral position — focusing on facts and data in decision making — as well as her ability to communicate thoughtfully and clearly. 

“I believe these qualities have helped usher in a new era of openness with our community,” she said, adding the board has “a renewed rigor in thoroughly analyzing all of our decisions for their impacts not only on our staff and our students, but on the district’s fiscal health and our overall well-being.”

Rosenzweig has made a full-time job of volunteer opportunities related to her children’s education, including on the board of trustees at Play Groups preschool and as PTA president at all levels. She has also been a leader for Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts.

She called the district’s new cellphone policy “a good start,” but indicated the whole community needs to chip in to help kids — especially since students involved in advising the new policy recognized the distraction and pressure that comes with the current cellphone culture. “We’ve only got them for seven hours a day,” Rosenzweig said. “The rest of the 17 hours, we need help.”

Voting details 

Voting will take place on May 21 at Ward Melville High School between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. Early voting is also available this year, and information can be found on the district’s website on the Budget Information page under the Board of Education menu. A PTA-sponsored Meet the Candidates event at the high school is scheduled for May 9, at 7 p.m., and will be livestreamed.

Link to view Meet the Candidates event: https://www.youtube.com/live/o1Tos3A4wSQ?si=nmflK9MHH57onXJs.

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Northville Industries posters offers two visions for development of their South Setauket property on March 28. Photo by Mallie Jane Kim

The company wants to hear whether neighbors prefer warehouses or rental housing

By Mallie Jane Kim

Northville Industries is ready to try again to discuss with community members the planned development of its East Setauket property, this time at Ward Melville High School’s auditorium, which can seat about 900 people — significantly more than the hotel meeting room rented for the attempted March 25 meeting, which had to be canceled when so many residents showed up they surpassed capacity, forming a fire hazard.

In a letter to residents about the new meeting, which will be Monday, April 29, at 7 p.m., Northville is clear in its determination toward development — whether warehouses, which would be within current zoning designations, or residential rental units, which would require rezoning.

“It is the intention of Northville to move forward with the development of the property,” Northville president, Peter St. Germaine, wrote in the letter. “Prior to pressing ahead for the approval of the industrial development, Northville is seeking community feedback to determine whether the residential option would be preferred by those who would be most impacted by the future development of the site.”

Any site plan for the East Setauket property, bordered by Belle Mead and Upper Sheep Pasture roads, will have to go through a planning approval process with Brookhaven Town Board. 

The current Northville plan includes addition of 220,000 square feet of industrial warehouses, 77 loading docks for tractor trailers and trucks, also 593 employee parking spaces. The alternative plan includes 140 residential rental units with a club house and pool, plus 335 parking spaces for residents and guests.

Town Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich (D-Stony Brook) has been clear in his opposition to rezoning the property to allow town house-style rentals, due to the proximity of the proposed residences to large fuel storage tanks, and the lack of proximity to the kinds of infrastructure that makes higher-density housing appealing: public transportation, retail and major roadways. 

“I don’t think that wrapping a rental community around the gas tanks is appropriate land use,” he said, adding that though the Three Village area needs more housing, any extra units need to go in places that make more sense logistically. “I don’t think that area over there — that intersection especially — is looking for that kind of intensification of traffic.”

Kornreich said he also does not think the kind of mega-warehouses proposed are appropriate for the area either, pointing to nearby properties on Belle Mead Road that have integrated lighter industrial uses into the community successfully.

“I would encourage Northville to explore something that is going to be a less intensive use,” he said. “I am hoping they’ll find their way to a third option.”

St. Germaine’s letter also gave residents the option of emailing written comments to: [email protected].

 

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Three Village Academy, above, is tucked behind a quiet Stony Brook neighborhood. Photo by Mallie Jane Kim
Trustees praise the budget but urge better advanced financial planning

By Mallie Jane Kim

Three Village Central School District will ask voters to decide on a $236.1 million school budget, a 2.27% increase, May 21. The 2024-25 budget, which was adopted at an April 17 school board meeting with five “yes” votes and one abstention, stays within the district’s 2.84% tax levy cap and therefore would pass with a simple majority of the vote.

Support for the budget at the meeting came alongside calls for continued improvements in planning for years ahead. 

According to Deputy Superintendent Jeffrey Carlson, the district was able to cut 15 positions through attrition, thanks to 67 staff retirements, and save $250,000 by restructuring administrative positions.

The district planned the budget as though aid from the state would remain flat — a strategy that worked out well since New York State’s budget, which passed over the weekend, walked back Gov. Kathy Hochul’s (D) proposal to cut funding to certain districts, including Three Village, which would have lost about $9 million in state aid. Under the finalized budget, state funding to Three Village remains essentially the same, less some expected changes in building aid the district notified residents it had already accounted for. 

District officials and board members have indicated they took the governor’s initial proposal as a warning: Cuts to state aid are likely down the pike, so budget planning should take that likelihood into account.

Budget Advisory Committee representative Shari Fontana praised the administration for making strides toward fiscal stability and prioritizing the educational, social and emotional needs of students.  

“We realize that no budget will ever be perfect,” Fontana read, in a statement from the BAC, a committee of board-appointed community members and district stakeholders. “Our district is truly doing the very best they can under the circumstances.”

Fontana added that the committee recommends the BAC convene earlier in the school year and receive an advance copy of the budget with time to ask questions. She also said the committee would prefer to have a multiyear outlook on budget planning rather than advise for a single year. 

Trustee David McKinnon abstained from the budget adoption vote, voicing similar concerns. “I remain concerned that without a clear and strict financial plan to represent everybody’s interest, we’re just kicking the can down the road,” McKinnon said. “We know our costs are increasing faster than our revenue. That’s going to be a recipe for a problem, if it’s not already here.”

 McKinnon also lamented the fact that the board has not yet committed to making secondary start times later in conjunction with the plan to restructure schools in fall 2025. If a time change is not solidified, sixth and ninth graders that year would have to start school even earlier than they would have done if those grades had not moved up to the junior high and high school, respectively.

Yet he acknowledged the 2024-25 budget plan, which increases district spending just over $5 million from the current year, is an improvement. “I agree that we’re headed in the right direction,” he said. “I know how hard everybody works here.”

Trustee Karen Roughley, who has also pushed for more advanced planning, praised the district for the budget effort, especially in light of increasing expenses that are outside of district control, such as staff contracts and vendor agreements. “To be able to present a balanced budget that takes all that into account while not excessing any staff or cutting any programs is pretty impressive to me,” she said. “Do I think things can be tweaked over the next couple years? Absolutely. But this is a great start.”

Voting takes place at Ward Melville High School on May 21 from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., and this is the first year voters can opt to vote early by mail. Information on early and absentee voting is located on the district’s website by clicking on the Board of Education drop-down menu and selecting Budget Information. 

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East Setauket Pond Park. Photo by Mallie Jane Kim

By Mallie Jane Kim

East Setauket Pond Park is due for a facelift next year, and Brookhaven Town Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich (D-Stony Brook) is assembling a diverse set of voices to help make plans for the landmark property, which sits next to Se-Port Deli on Route 25A.

Kornreich said the people he invited to join the committee include descendants of the Setalcott Nation and parents of young children — in addition to residents who are often involved in Three Village area community service, leadership and decision-making.

The park sits on a likely landing point of the first European settlers of Brookhaven, an event commemorated by a 1955 mural housed in Town Hall. The mural depicts a busy Setalcott village with European ships approaching in the distance, and some believe the perspective of the painting is East Setauket Pond Park.

Kornreich said he wants to be sure he is considering the history as well as the future of the property.

“When you’re doing something as important as creating a park that’s going to be there for the next 100 years, I think we have to be thoughtful and include some other voices that maybe we don’t always listen to,” Kornreich explained of his effort to broaden his advisory group to include more than the usual suspects. “A diverse set of voices generally yields better decision-making.”

Some of those usual suspects include members of the Setauket Harbor Task Force, whose advocacy started the process of the park rehabilitation in the first place. The tidal pond water drains into the harbor itself, and when the task force formed in 2014, the pond was filled with sand, sediment and pollutants from Route 25A road runoff. 

Task force co-founder George Hoffman remembers working to bring the park onto Brookhaven’s radar. The town’s parks department began mowing and clearing some invasive plants, he explained, as the task force worked with former state Sen. John Flanagan (R-East Northport) to secure a $1 million clean water grant in 2016. After various delays, the money went toward dredging the pond in 2022 and building an appropriate drainage system for the highway in 2023.

Hoffman said he understands the need to include a variety of voices in developing the park, but he acknowledges it is hard to adjust after advocating for it for so long. “We’ve always seen ourselves as unofficial stewards of Setauket Pond Park,” he said. “It’s been our baby, but now it’s kind of everyone’s baby.”

He added that he hopes the environment will remain an important aspect of any development. “The pond is tied into water quality as the headwaters of the harbor,” he said. “It’s important we don’t do anything to jeopardize that.”

Hoffman and Kornreich both said they hope a redeveloped park will serve as an anchor for revitalization of downtown East Setauket as well as provide an economic boost to the area, giving residents a clear view of the harbor and providing an enjoyable outdoor space near local businesses.

One woman tapped for the new committee, East Setauket resident Stephanie Alwais, said she is excited to be a part of the process. In her five years on the board of North Shore Montessori School in Stony Brook, she has had a lot of exposure to the needs and desires of area families with young children. 

“North Shore is such an embedded school within the community, and the park is also right in the center of the community,” Alwais said. “As a mom in Setauket, I’d love for the park to be a place where families can go.”

Kornreich said his advisory committee will work with the parks department to figure out the best use of the land, which will expand to include the parcel that currently houses Setauket Automotive, next door to the current park. Brookhaven purchased that land late in 2022 with plans to tear down the auto-shop building once the business-owner tenant’s lease expires at the end of July 2025. 

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Ward Melville High School. File photo

By Mallie Jane Kim

Three Village Central School District will see at least 67 retirements across instructional and noninstructional staff this year, according to Deputy Superintendent Jeffrey Carlson. Those retirements, along with a restructuring of district administration, will allow Three Village to cut about 15 full-time positions through attrition and save an estimated $2.9 million. 

Carlson explained at an April 3 school board meeting that staff adjustments will include three additional elementary teachers to help balance class sizes as well as the restoration of an administrative-level director of curriculum and instruction, though he pointed out the number of administrators will stay the same. 

“Because of the retirements, that gives us a chance to look at different positions, and maybe there would be a different structure that would fit us better,” Carlson said.

The staff adjustments are part of budget plans to stay within this year’s 2.84% tax levy increase cap for the district, against the background of uncertainty in the state budget negotiations in Albany. New York’s budget dictates how much state funding goes to each district, and though it was supposed to land April 1, the process is still ongoing.

Carlson maintained his optimism that the $9 million in cuts to the district proposed by Gov. Kathy Hochul’s budget plan in January would not come to fruition, yet indicated the district administration has planned the 2024-25 school year budget with caution. 

“We feel we’ve put a solid budget together,” Carlson told the board. “If we do wind up with a reduction in aid, then we will be prepared to make the recommendation for what gets cut.”

The district is proceeding with its budget planning as though state funding will come through. According to Carlson, that makes more sense than planning for hypothetical state aid cuts since what voters will choose whether to adopt on May 21 is a maximum budget amount.

“It doesn’t mean we have to spend that much money — it just means we can’t spend more than that,” he said.

Two board members push for advanced planning, taxpayer relief

Trustee Karen Roughley again pushed administrators for more advanced planning, suggesting a sort of vision board to help steer Three Village toward its goals, and account for probable mandates coming down the pike from New York State, like potential financial literacy requirements for graduation. 

“If I had some sort of plan to say, ‘In the next one to two to three years, we want to increase the business department by three teachers because we want to add XYZ courses,’” she said, posing a hypothetical example. “Then we could see as we’re working through the budget with you guys that, ‘OK, maybe this is the year to add one of those in, and then next year maybe we can add the two more in.’”

Her colleague David McKinnon went further, suggesting the district halt any budget growth for 2024-25 over the current $230.9 million budget. 

“I’m afraid it’s really now or never for local tax relief,” McKinnon said, pointing to this year’s state aid uncertainty and the likelihood that changes to future state aid would probably mean less money over time flowing from the state to the district, due to lower enrollment.

He added that though enrollment has been declining for more than a decade, residents have not seen any decline in their taxes. “Taxpayers have not had very effective representation in the budget process,” he said, indicating that’s why he ran for the board in the first place. “The result is obviously some pent-up frustration with the budgets.”

Superintendent of Schools Kevin Scanlon pointed out enrollment has leveled in the lower grades, indicating a move toward stabilization in student numbers. He added that the cost of educating students has gone up, and many of those rising costs are due to inflation or otherwise out of the administration’s control, like employee contracts, which are negotiated by the school board in conjunction with the relevant unions.

“Going from the 2.84% in tax levy [increase] now to a zero would definitely have a tremendous impact on our budget,” he said, suggesting class sizes would soar and the district would have to cut programs and close an elementary school by September. “While the taxpayers would have the relief, the students would suffer in my opinion in many ways.”

Board member Jeffrey Kerman took issue with the suggestion of further cuts, and with McKinnon’s assertion he is on the board to negotiate for taxpayers.

“We all represent the taxpayers — we also represent the students,” Kerman told McKinnon. “We try to negotiate with our unions and everything else, but we’re here for the students — to make sure our district remains the district that it is now, a wonderful district.”

The board is scheduled to adopt a budget at an April 17 meeting, and the budget will face voters on May 21.

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