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Authors Posts by Rita J. Egan

Rita J. Egan

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Chin Young Lee retired from the florist business Feb. 28, closing the doors of the Three Village Flower Shoppe for the last time. Photo by Rita J. Egan

Floral arrangements and gifts are no longer blossoming from the Three Village Flower Shoppe.

After 34 years of running the Setauket florist, owner Chin Young Lee retired and closed the shop’s doors for the last time Feb. 28. The decision was a difficult one for the 71-year-old to make, but after suffering a heart attack in November, she decided retirement would be for the best.

Lee, a Rocky Point resident, was a computer programmer for Citicorp commuting to Melville when one day she said one of her children became sick at school. When she was unable to leave work, her husband, Jai, who worked for Brookhaven National Laboratory, took off from his job. Lee said she decided then she wanted a more flexible career.

She talked to her sister, a flower shop owner in California, who told her she could do the same. She began exploring different locations and ideas and eventually chose the already established 220 Main St. location in East Setauket.

The doors of the Three Village Flower Shoppe closed for good Feb. 28. Photo by Rita J. Egan

“I liked the location, the way the flower shop was set up,” Lee said. “It looked like it was mine.”

Lee began working with the proprietors, the Clark family, on weekends learning the business. She had some familiarity with arrangements, but she said she needed to learn about the more complex ones. After a few months, she bought the business and quit her job with Citicorp.

She was the longest-tenured owner of the florist shop, which had been at the same location for nearly 60 years. She said the Clark family owned it for five years, and before them a Reeves family ran the shop.

Lee grew up in Seoul, South Korea, and after studying Spanish language and literature in Madrid, Spain, she attended The University of Utah and received her master’s degree. During her time in Utah, she met her husband, who lived in Washington, D.C., and was visiting a friend. In 1974 the couple married in Maryland where her husband had a contractual job with
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, and they moved to Long Island in 1978 when he was offered the job at BNL.

After his retirement a few years ago, Lee’s husband worked with her in the shop. Before that, she would typically hire young people from the community to staff the store. While they worked, she would talk to them about what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of her former workers and their parents still come in to let her know how they are doing, and it makes her happy to hear they are doing well.

The florist said she will miss her fellow local business owners including Joanne Van Riper from Setauket Floral Design, who she has known since 2001, when Van Riper bought her flower shop at 1380 Route 25A.

“We could be competition, but she has her own way, and I have my own way,” Lee said.

“I tell her don’t look back. Just look at this wonderful life you’re going to have with your husband.”

Joanne Van Riper

Van Riper and Lee said whenever one of them would hear of a good buy on flowers they would call each other and then buy in bulk so they could pass the savings on to both their customers.

“If I ran out of something and she had it, she would let me use it, and I’d return it the next day,” Lee said. “I think we should all work like that.”

Van Riper is also going to miss Lee personally, and the two would regularly ask each other for advice and share ideas. She remembers going to the florist when she was younger with her father, even before Lee owned it.

“Every time I go over there I want to cry,” Van Riper said. “I’m just very upset but I get it. I tell her don’t look back. Just look at this wonderful life you’re going to have with your husband.”

Kathy Coen, a member of the Setauket Presbyterian Church flower committee, has relied on Lee many times. While members of the committee do their best to use their own flowers to save the church money, sometimes they would call Lee last minute for an arrangement — even calling on a Saturday afternoon for Sunday service flowers. The florist has even shared some tips on flowers and arrangements with the committee members.

“She’s just a very creative person who has a heart of gold, who has been willing to help many times,” Coen said.

Coen said she had Lee create the flower arrangements for her own children’s weddings and knows many friends and
acquaintances who have used her for special occasions, too.

Lee is entering retirement with a lot of wonderful memories of Setauket residents. About a year ago she handled the flower arrangements for a wedding in which the bride was the daughter of a longtime customer, who began shopping at the florist when she was pregnant with her daughter.

“There are a lot of customers I’m attached to and some customers are in tears, and so am I,” Lee said. “For 34 years I’ve been driving here, the same road, and meeting them regularly. So, it’s going to be difficult to adjust.”

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Join the Cavi Gras March 4 at Setauket's Bates House. Photo from Cavalier Rescue USA

The tristate Cavalier King Charles Spaniels Facebook and Meetup groups invite the public to Cavi Gras, a fundraiser at The Bates House Sunday, March 4, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The event will support Cavalier Rescue USA, a nonprofit that is dedicated to finding loving families for Cavaliers who are in need of new homes. Attendees can enjoy the tastes of New Orleans at the Mardi Gras-themed party that will include music, live auction, Chinese auction and best mask contest.

Tickets are $20 at the door. To RSVP email [email protected]. For more information, call Erin at 516-246-4327, Dena at 631-796-3825 or Angela at 631-664-1211. The Bates House is located at 1 Bates Road in Setauket.

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The former cottage two buildings over from the ranger’s house on West Meadow Beach has been demolished after snow earlier in the season caused the roof to cave in further than it had been. Photo by Herb Mones

While taking a walk along West Meadow Beach, something he does on a regular basis, Paul Feinberg noticed something different — one of the cottages by the ranger’s house was missing.

The Setauket resident said one day the cottage two buildings over from the ranger’s home was there, and by Feb. 16, it was gone. It’s something he is happy about. 

The only evidence was a work truck in the nearby vicinity with a sign that read: “We make things disappear.”

“That one they removed, that was just an accident waiting to happen,” Feinberg said. “When the roof caved in, that’s one thing for someone to get in there, but then the whole side of it caved in. It was just a mess.”

Town of Brookhaven attorney Annette Eaderesto said the town demolished the cottage. Snow earlier in the season further collapsed the roof, according to Eaderesto.

Feinberg said he believed Brookhaven Town Councilwoman Valerie Cartright’s (D-Port Jefferson Station) office was instrumental in having the structure removed.

Two cottages formerly sat near the ranger’s station on West Meadow Beach. The cottage on the right was demolished Feb. 16. File photo

At a June 5 Three Village Civic Association Meeting, Cartright updated the civic association members about the town’s preliminary assessment of the four cottages at West Meadow Beach. The councilwoman said after an internal evaluation it appeared two of the cottages were dilapidated and structurally unsound, and possibly not salvageable. However, there was the potential to save a third structure and use another as an outdoor interpretive kiosk. Only four of the historic cottages that once lined the beach remained after 2004, when the town removed nearly 100 to make way for West Meadow Wetlands Reserve.

Cartright said she was following standard operating procedure and had asked for an independent engineer to assess the cottages, and the town had complied with her request.

“I wanted to make sure if these cottages are coming down that we have a report from someone outside of the town telling us that is necessary,” she said at the June 5 meeting.

At the meeting, Robert Reuter, a member of the town’s historic district advisory committee, asked that the committee be advised about any future plans regarding the cottages on the beach. Reuter said Feb. 20 he was saddened to learn about the demolition of the structure, and the committee was not notified about it.

Reuter said he wouldn’t recommend any remaining cottages be demolished, and he feels the beach structures can be preserved without spending a great deal of money. When the town renovated the ranger’s home, it cost approximately $500,000, according to Cartright. Reuter said the former summer homes were built with no basements or hard foundations, which allows water to easily wash through underneath. The structures were built to easily be closed up each year. To preserve such a home it has to be made as weather-tight as possible, according to Reuter, to keep rainwater from penetrating the structure. He would have suggested the roof be repaired and windows bordered up.

“It wouldn’t be hard if there was the commitment to do it, it wouldn’t be hard to keep them from falling down.” Reuter said. “It’s really demolition by neglect, pure and simple.”

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Elected officials, scientists and environmentalists filled the legislative auditorium of the William H. Rogers Building last year to provide testimony against offshore drilling in the Atlantic Ocean. Photo by Maria Hoffman

Long Islanders filled the legislative auditorium of the William H. Rogers Building in Hauppauge Feb. 14 to let the federal government know that the Atlantic Ocean is not the place for offshore drilling.

In a public hearing, state legislators, including Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket), listened to more than five hours of testimony provided by nearly 50 local elected officials, scientists and environmentalists. The hearing followed the Jan. 4 announcement made by the U.S. Department of the Interior proposing plans for expansion of natural gas and oil drilling along coastal waters. The plan includes the potential lease of acreage in federal offshore areas such as the Atlantic region.

In the Jan. 4 announcement, Ryan Zinke, secretary of the interior, said developing resources on the Outer Continental Shelf would provide billions of dollars to fund the conservation of coastlines, public lands and park. He noted that not all areas are appropriate for offshore drilling and laid out the plan for hearings across the country in the areas that may be affected.

“The important thing is we strike the right balance to protect our coasts and people while still powering America and achieving American Energy Dominance,” Zinke said in the statement.

Assemblyman Steve Englebright addresses the crowd before a Feb. 14 hearing in Hauppauge concerning the proposal of offshore drilling in the Atlantic Ocean. Photo by Maria Hoffman

“The Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf is not an appropriate area for offshore drilling, period,” Englebright said in the beginning of the Long Island hearing. “There are many reasons for that, and we’ll hear some of those reasons, I’m sure, today, but the risks associated with drilling, including oil spills, far outweigh any potential benefits. Especially since the state is currently working to advance renewable energy projects on our continental shelf area rather than climate change inducing, fossil fuel-oriented projects such as the drilling.”

While the federal government chose to hold a public hearing in Albany Feb. 15, Englebright said the location, as opposed to coastal areas in the state, was not the right spot for such a hearing as inland would not be impacted like coastal areas would be if offshore drilling would occur in the Atlantic. He also said many who live by and are worried about local waters may not have been able to travel to the federal hearing.

Speakers during the Long Island hearing touched on the ramifications drilling would have on the area in regard to water quality, marine life, coastal management and more.

Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine (R), who wrote two letters to Zinke, one opposing drilling in the Atlantic and Arctic oceans and another one requesting a hearing on Long Island, read from one of the letters.

“Brookhaven Town has the largest coastline of any town on Long Island with three distinct coastal waters; ocean, bay and sound,” Romaine said. “As supervisor, I do not support drilling in waters off our coastline.”

The supervisor said he supported forms of renewable energy such as wind, solar and geothermal because an oil spill anywhere along the Atlantic coast could decimate large portions of the town’s coastline and negatively affect the coastal economy.

“The 1970s called, and they want their energy plan back.”

— Adrienne Esposito

“The Long Island coastline supports nearly 350,000 jobs and generates millions of dollars through tourism, fishing and other industries,” Romaine said, adding he was also concerned about the potential environmental harm to Fire Island.

Romaine said he’s also concerned about the expiration of the 9-cent per oil barrel tax which funds emergency cleanups of spills. He said the lack of a congressional plan to extend the tax makes ocean drilling riskier than ever.

Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment, also suggested more modern energy solutions.

“The 1970s called, and they want their energy plan back,” she said.

Esposito cited a 1990 study that was conducted after the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska. She said the study showed a $19 million decrease in tourism dollars the summer of the oil spill in Alaska and 43 percent of businesses in the Gulf of Alaska significantly or completely shut down. Esposito said the ocean generates $24 billion into New York’s economy every year. She also raised health concerns, calling crude oil a toxin.

“It causes kidney liver and lung damage and can even kill people,” Esposito said. “It can cause neurological damage and endocrine disruption — things that are vastly overlooked.”

Speakers also highlighted the effects of seismic testing, which uses air gun blasting to locate underwater fossil fuels. Guy Jacob, conservation chair of the Nassau Hiking & Outdoor Club, said seismic booms are among the loudest underwater noises recorded and the proposed plan would give businesses permission “to fire seismic air guns every 10 seconds, 24 hours a day for months.” He said that a single vessel could deploy up to 96 air guns, which in turn is damaging to marine life and the fishing industry.

“Seismic blasts drive commercially-viable fish literally running for their lives. While the fossil fuel industry profits, our fishing industry suffers.”

— Guy Jacob

“Because water is such an excellent conduit for sound, seismic blasts become weapons of mass mutilation maiming and slaughtering organisms, from the largest whales to the most diminutive invertebrates throughout the web of marine life,” Jacob said. “Seismic blasts drive commercially-viable fish literally running for their lives. While the fossil fuel industry profits, our fishing industry suffers.”

Kevin McAllister, founder and president of the nonprofit Defend H2O, spoke of the ecological impacts from oil spills at the hearing. He said after the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill, 36,000 birds and hundreds of marine mammals died. McAllister said only 10 percent of the oil was effectively cleaned up after the Exxon Valdez spill, and as of 2007, more than 26,000 gallons of oil remain in shoreline sentiments. According to McAllister, the 2010 Deep Water Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico impacted 68,000 square miles of ocean, the size of Oklahoma, and washed up on 1,074 miles of coastline.

During a phone interview after the hearing, McAllister said he felt the hearing was productive. He said he hopes other Atlantic states will join in a lawsuit against the federal government if New York state moves forward in filing one. During the hearing, Peter Washburn, policy adviser in the attorney general’s environmental protection bureau, said the New York State Attorney General is prepared to sue the interior department.

Englebright said a transcript of the hearing will be submitted to the federal government prior to March 9, the end of the comment period.

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Demolition of the eastern section of the Setauket Fire Department headquarters. Photo by Rita J. Egan

By Rita J. Egan

The headquarters of the Setauket Fire Department continues to transition into a rescue center for the 21st century with its construction project dubbed by the department as “new era.”

David Sterne, district manager, said a new apparatus bay on Old Town Road is now completed and ready to use. The structure connected to the original firehouse on Route 25A can fit modern day trucks, something the 1930s building couldn’t do. The closed cabs of current fire trucks make them much wider than emergency vehicles used in earlier decades. Trucks will also now exit and enter on the Old Town Road side instead of Route 25A. Sterne said the new entranceway has a bigger driveway apron, which provides safer entering and exiting than the old entrance.

“It is a good example of how things can be accomplished when we are all willing to work together.”

— David Sterne

After waiting nearly a decade for a bond approval, a $14.9 million bond was approved in April 2014, and renovations began on the Main Street firehouse June 4, 2016. Sterne said the approval of the bond in 2014 was due to a collaboration of the fire district, fire department, community members and the Three Village Civic Association discussing the needs of both the district and its residents.

“It was a community effort to get this passed,” Sterne said. “It is a good example of how things can be accomplished when we are all willing to work together.”

Robert Reuter, president of the Frank Melville Memorial Foundation, was part of a community advisory committee that included Stony Brook architect John Cunniffe and the late civic leader Bob de Zafra. Reuter said the planning for the new firehouse was “an excellent example of the value in involving the public.” He credited Sterne’s organized process and the cooperation of H2M architectural firm and the fire commissioners for making the committee members input meaningful.

Reuter said the committee advocated for reuse of the existing firehouse on Route 25A, the continuation of brick as the primary building material and landscaping the southeast corner, which will include trees and other plantings.

“It will be good to see that work take shape now that the firehouse is operating with a new garage and work is underway on the original building,” Reuter said.

The apparatus bay also includes a bail-out window for volunteers to practice mandated drills with life rescue ropes. The structure has a break room and a gear room that is separate from the apparatus bay, making it safer for firefighters to dress for a fire. Sterne said previously volunteers would put on their gear in the bay, which posed potential hazards with trucks in the vicinity.

“I think everyone understands the importance of building for the future in a responsible manner.”

— David Sterne

South of the building a spillover parking lot will be available for when a large number of volunteers respond to an emergency, attend a meeting or community members use the facilities.

When the new bay was completed, work began on the 25A side. Sterne said the facade of the western portion of the Main Street building, the original 1935 structure, will remain the same, and there will be bunkrooms for both male and female firefighters. The eastern section of the old building will be replaced with a two-story structure that includes offices, meeting and training rooms.

With the future in mind, Sterne said the construction fits the needs of the fire district while being environmentally friendly. Solar panels will be used for hot water, a white high-efficiency roof is included in the apparatus bay, and there will a high-efficiency cooling system.

“I think everyone understands the importance of building for the future in a responsible manner,” Sterne said. “We felt that it is important to have an efficient building … efficient in the sense of being environmentally responsible, as well as a more cost-effective, fiscally efficient building to operate. Building a building that will be kinder to the environment for years to come and costs less tax dollars to operate was imperative to us … the whole community.”

Sterne said the goal is for the firehouse to be completed by November 2018, and the fire district plans to commemorate the completion of the project with a ribbon cutting ceremony and community celebration.

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One of the concerns Old Field Mayor Michael Levine and two trustees will face in the near future is whether or not to install a cellphone pole in Kaltenborn Commons. Photo by Rita J. Egan

By Rita J. Egan

Residents of the Village of Old Field are asking the mayor and trustees, “Can you hear me now?”

The Keeper’s Cottage was filled to capacity Feb. 13 with residents and bordering neighbors expressing concerns over the proposed installation of a cellphone tower at Kaltenborn Commons, a small park located at the intersection of Old Field Road and Quaker Path and surrounded by homes. This is the second time both residents and nonresidents had the opportunity to speak and ask questions about the tower; the first opportunity being at a Jan. 9 public meeting.

A board vote to approve signing a lease with telecommunications tower site developer Elite Towers was not held during the meeting. Mayor Michael Levine said with the upcoming March 20 village elections, two new trustees would be starting in April, and the board agreed the new members should weigh in on the decision.

Former board member John Von Lintig, who lives directly across from the park, presented a petition signed by 100 residents who are against the installation of the cell tower.

“The opposition of the cellphone tower, or pole as you call it, is primarily based on aesthetic reasons, which tie very closely to the impact on real estate immediately in the vicinity of the tower,” Von Lintig said.

“The opposition of the cellphone tower, or pole as you call it, is primarily based on aesthetic reasons, which tie very closely to the impact on real estate immediately in the vicinity of the tower.”

— John Von Lintig

He cited the National Institute for Science, Law & Public Policy’s survey of 1,000 respondents on the impact of cell towers and antennas on real estate properties. He said according to the survey, 94 percent responded that cellphone towers or antennas in a neighborhood would impact their interest in a property and the price they would pay. Von Lintig said 79 percent answering the survey said under no circumstances would they buy a home within a few blocks from a tower or antenna. He said the decline of real estate prices can be anywhere between 2 and 20 percent.

John Damianos said when the land was granted to the village by Hans V. Kaltenborn in 1950 it was meant to be used for recreational purposes. He said the addition of the pole would turn it into a commercial facility.

“When I moved here there were many naturalists and environmentalists,” Damianos said. “A lot of people talked about Flax Pond and other places. They were strongly in favor of preserving natural spaces, open spaces, including this one.”

Jeff Schnee, who recently attended a board of trustees work session to discuss the technologic alternatives to a tower, said a better solution would be using distributed antenna systems. He said there is one in front of Ward Melville High School, and it consists of a 14- to 15-foot microwave antenna and a controlling box.

“[The phone companies] can put that in our neighborhood about every 20 poles in the areas that need it and that’s not intrusive,” Schnee said. “You don’t have to look at it, it doesn’t put out much power.”

Schnee asked if a cellphone tower was necessary with 5G technology, which uses millimeter waves and not microwaves, on the horizon. He said the technology uses receivers and transmitters, which would be every cellphone, Wi-Fi-enabled car and cable box. He said an area such as Old Field, where people buy the latest technology, would be perfect for 5G, and it’s possible it might be available in 2020.

Deputy Mayor Stephen Shybunko said after further research the board found that 5G would not replace 4G entirely as 5G does not penetrate walls and windows and therefore would not work well for voice transmission. Schnee said he believes more research needs to be done and said the debate on the potential of 5G could lead to the formation of a committee of residents who could research the topic before a decision is made about the tower.

Residents and nonresidents of Old Field attend the Feb. 13 public village meeting to express their concerns over the proposed installation of a cellphone tower in Kaltenborn Commons.

Physicist Oleg Gang said a committee would be ideal to also research potential health risks. The scientist handed out a sheet with a list of studies regarding the effects of cell towers on health. Gang showed a meter he used recently when near a comparable tower in Belle Terre. He said the measurements of radio frequency power near the tower — 100 feet to 0.3 mile — indicate RF radiation levels a few times higher than holding a cellphone to one’s ear 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Board members said they would be open to a committee comprised of Old Field residents. Levine reiterated what was covered at the last board meeting, that the lighthouse is not an option for the Village of Old Field to install a cellphone tower as the U.S. Coast Guard has not given approval. Also, if the village decides not to install a pole, there is still a chance that Stony Brook University will do so on its Sunwood Estate property as the university has filed a request for proposals to install a cellphone tower. If this occurs, the village would not have a say as to where the university installs it on the property and would not generate any revenue from the SBU pole.

Many residents in attendance said they would rather not have better cellphone service, or any service at all, if it negatively affects them and their neighbors in Setauket.

“I would rather pay higher taxes than shaft my neighbors down the road a mile and a half,” one resident said.

After the meeting, Von Lintig said he was optimistic and believed it makes sense to involve new board members in the process.

“As a former village trustee knowing most of the current members well, I believe they will take these concerns under serious consideration and do the right thing to preserve the bucolic nature of our village,” Von Lintig said.

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The Long Island Chinese Dance Group performs at WMHO's Chinese New Year Celebration. Photo by Rita J. Egan
The Long Island Chinese Dance Group performs The Joy of Apple Picking at WMHO's Chinese New Year Celebration. Photo by Rita J. Egan
The Long Island Chinese Dance Group performs The Joy of Apple Picking at WMHO's Chinese New Year Celebration. Photo by Rita J. Egan
The Long Island Chinese Dance Group performs at WMHO's Chinese New Year Celebration. Photo by Rita J. Egan
The Long Island Chinese Dance Group performs at WMHO's Chinese New Year Celebration. Photo by Rita J. Egan
Jojo performs traditional Chinese songs at the WMHO's Chinese New Year Celebration. Photo by Rita J. Egan
Manhattan Taiko combines ancient Japanese drumming with modern moves. Photo by Rita J. Egan
Manhattan Taiko combines ancient Japanese drumming with modern moves. Photo by Rita J. Egan
Manhattan Taiko combines ancient Japanese drumming with modern moves. Photo by Rita J. Egan
Manhattan Taiko combines ancient Japanese drumming with modern moves. Photo by Rita J. Egan
Manhattan Taiko combines ancient Japanese drumming with modern moves. Photo by Rita J. Egan

The Ward Melville Heritage Organization’s Educational and Cultural Center hosted an event to usher in the Year of the Dog Feb. 11 with performances honoring the traditions and rituals observed around the world during Chinese New Year.

The event began with a Lion Dance, which is believed to bring good luck and fortune, and a martial arts demonstration by Authentic Shaolin Kung Fu. The day featured Manhattan Taiko blending ancient Japanese drums with modern movement and traditional dances by the Long Island Chinese Dance Group and Vivian Ye. Vocalists Terry Zhang and Jojo also sang Chinese songs.

Chinese New Year begins Feb. 16.

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Children enjoy last year’s Take Your Child to the Library Day at Emma S. Clark Memorial Library. Photo from Emma S. Clark Memorial Library

For the third consecutive year, Emma S. Clark Memorial Library is participating in an international movement to raise awareness for libraries. On Thursday, Feb. 22, from 2 to 4 p.m., the library will be celebrating Take Your Child to the Library Day.

According to the American Library Association, there are more public libraries than Starbucks in the United States. The event highlights how libraries are vital to the community as sources of education, entertainment and enrichment. It encourages parents to take full advantage of their local library and pass along that knowledge to their young ones.

At Emma Clark, the day’s festivities include carnival games, face painting, temporary tattoos, balloon sculpting, crafts and more. It also will have everything else that the library offers on a daily basis: books, audio books, computers, tablets, movies, music, toys, puzzles, and so much more. Last year close to 350 people took part in the celebration in Setauket.

Additionally, in keeping with the festivities of the special day, each new library card sign-up on Feb. 22 will be entered in a raffle. You’re never too young for a library card. Parents can get a card for their child as soon as they are born and immediately start enjoying the library’s resources, such as the Time for Baby program.

There is no need to register for the event and all families are welcome. Meet up with friends — or make new ones — and share your love of libraries with the future generation.

For more information, email [email protected], call 631-941-4080 ext. 123 or visit www.emmaclark.org.

The Emma S. Clark Memorial Library, is located at 120 Main St., Setauket.

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Developer decides not to proceed with low-nitrogen septic systems for Stony Brook Square shopping center

Construction will soon begin on the Stony Brook Square shopping center, rendering above. Photo from the Stony Brook Square website

By Rita J. Egan

After three years of planning and changes, things are gearing up for the Stony Brook Square shopping center, which will be located near the Long Island Rail Road Station in Stony Brook on Route 25A. However, local environmentalists and legislators are disappointed the developer will not be installing low-nitrogen septic systems.

While the developer, Parviz Farahzad, a former scientist with Brookhaven National Laboratory, was encouraged by Brookhaven Town and the Suffolk County Department of Health Services to install a low-nitrogen septic system, and said he originally hoped to, he has now opted to use a traditional waste system.

“It’s in the area that if you flush the toilet there, under two years that water ends up in the harbor loaded with nitrogen.”

— George Hoffman

In a letter dated Jan. 4, 2017, to Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine (R), SCDHS Commissioner James Tomarken said the Stony Brook Square property was proposed to be served by public water and on-site sewage, and advanced wastewater treatment was not required under the current Suffolk County Sanitary Code. However, he wrote that the systems were encouraged by the county for both new development and retrofits to existing development.

“Although nitrogen reduction from advanced wastewater treatment is not required for this project, Suffolk County would be committed to working with the town and the applicant in reviewing the potential use of alternative, advanced wastewater treatment technology,” Tomarken wrote.

George Hoffman, co-founder of the Setauket  Harbor Task Force and vice president of the Three Village Civic Association, said he and other environmentalists were disappointed to hear Farahzad was not installing the low-nitrogen systems. Hoffman calls the septic systems the “wave of the future” and said he believes most commercial properties will install them in the next year or so.

“Everybody at some point, when it comes time to redevelopment, they should be putting in low-nitrogen systems,” he said. “It’s crazy to put in the old system that we know really doesn’t work and could cause problems.”

Hoffman said the shopping center site, which is a mile from Stony Brook Harbor, is within the watershed of the waterway.

“It’s in the area that if you flush the toilet there, under two years that water ends up in the harbor loaded with nitrogen,” Hoffman said. “It really is a missed opportunity. He knows our concerns. He can be a real leader here in the community. I think people would think very highly that he was doing the right thing.”

The land parcel was recently fenced off to prepare for construction. Photo by Rita J. Egan

Brookhaven Town Councilwoman Valerie Cartright (D-Port Jefferson Station), who spearheaded community visioning meetings for Route 25A, said the town encourages project applicants to follow environmentally friendly practices when possible.

“In this case, both the town planning board and the 25A Citizens Advisory Commission strongly encouraged the applicant to utilize a low-nitrogen septic system,” Cartright said. “As of earlier last year, it was the town’s understanding that the applicant would be applying for the low-nitrogen system. This recent development is very disappointing and a missed opportunity to benefit our environment.”

According to the SCDHS website, three systems have been approved for commercial properties that process between 1,000 and 15,000 gallons of water per day. According to Tomarken’s letter to Romaine, the calculation for the proposed density flow of the shopping center was 1,800 gpd.

County Legislator Kara Hahn (D-Setauket) said Farahzad met with SCHDS staff members who were eager to assist him, and other Suffolk County developers have used the systems.

“As the county health department works to update county requirements for on-site wastewater treatment, this project could have led the way and shown our community that our drinking and surface waters are a priority to protect,” Hahn said.

Farahzad said he was hesitant to use technology that he feels is fairly new, and he said he feared if it failed it could let off obnoxious odors in an area surrounded by homes.

“If you want true elimination [of nitrogen] — basically what we want for it not to get into the groundwater — you have to have a sewer system.”

— Parviz Farahzad

The developer said such systems only reduce a percentage of nitrogen, and he believes sewers are more appropriate for commercial use. If a sewer district was established in the area, he said he would immediately connect the shopping center to it.

“If you want true elimination [of nitrogen] — basically what we want for it not to get into the groundwater — you have to have a sewer system,” Farahzad said.

Development of the shopping center was approved at the March 6, 2017, Town of Brookhaven Planning Board meeting. Farahzad agreed to add more trees to the final site than originally planned and will require tenants to use signage that consists of wood-base signs with gooseneck lighting, among other concessions after receiving community feedback. He said originally there were plans to add a clock tower; however, residents at a town board meeting objected to permitting a 60-foot height to raise a clock tower in the middle building at the rear of the center.

“It’s going to be something that is good for the community, good for the university, good for The Stony Brook School,” Farahzad said. “These are the people that are going to basically need it.”

In December, the vacant nursery that stood on the land designated for revisioning was demolished, and the parcel is currently fenced off and ready for construction once the weather warms up. Farahzad said it will take a year before the shopping center is completed, and owners of a bank, restaurants, a neighborhood pharmacy and a coffeehouse have already shown interest in leasing.

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Search begins for a new swim and diving coach at university, SBU says unrelated to abuse allegations

Stony Brook University women’s swimming and diving team’s head coach faces allegations of mental and emotional abuse. Photo from Stony Brook University

Stony Brook University’s athletics department is in search of a new women’s swimming and diving coaching staff, as the former head coach faces allegations of mental and emotional abuse made by former members of the team.

After a five-year hiatus due to renovations of the school’s pool, the Division 1 team returned to competition in 2017 with two-time Jamaican Olympian Janelle Atkinson as head coach. In a Jan. 26 article on the website www.swimswam.com, a list of allegations of emotional and mental abuse at the hands of Atkinson was attributed to former team member Arianna Rodriguez. According to the site, the allegations were corroborated by at least one other teammate, even though no other swimmer was named in the article, and shortly after posting, multiple members of the Fairfield University swim team, which Atkinson coached in the past, reached out to the website saying they had similar experiences with the coach.

Tess Stepakoff, a former team member and managing editor of SBU’s student newspaper, The Statesman, published an editorial Jan. 28 on the paper’s website
alleging emotional and mental abuse while a team member.

She said despite the initial excitement of the team’s return, as the 2017 season drew to a close, the roster dropped from 13 swimmers to six. In Stepakoff’s editorial she wrote that it was a dream for her to join the Division 1 swim team, but her experience soon turned into a nightmare when she said Atkinson broke the team members’ trust and spirits.

“We were told that we were weak, that we were not enough, and we were not trying,” Stepakoff wrote. “We were cursed at and screamed at during every practice for months. As our physical and mental health declined, we were told to get over it.”

In the editorial, Stepakoff said if a team member missed practice for injuries or illnesses there was the potential of losing their spot on the swimming and diving team. She said the teammates and their families filed complaints, made phone calls and had meetings with the athletics department to discuss the alleged abuses.

According to the Stony Brook Athletics website, compliance with NCAA, America East Conference and university rules and regulations is a part of its mission. As a member of the NCAA, SBU is responsible for the actions of its coaches, student-athletes, faculty and staff, alumni and friends of the program.

Atkinson and assistant coach Jordan Bowen are no longer listed on the SBU athletics website as part of the coaching staff. No allegations have been made against Bowen.

Lauren Sheprow, a spokeswoman for the university, said SBU could not comment on the allegations as it does not discuss personnel issues but confirmed the athletics department is looking for new coaches.

“Athletics decided to make a change in the leadership of the swimming and diving program and will initiate a national search to identify a new coach to lead and grow the program,” she said in an email.

In her editorial, Stepakoff said that Atkinson’s past employers, Fairfield University and University of Connecticut athletics departments, did not provide reasons as to why the coach’s contracts were not renewed.

“These colleges were able to get away without any bad press, but now Stony Brook does not have that option because we, past and present Stony Brook swimmers, decided to fight back publicly,” Stepakoff wrote.

Atkinson, Rodriguez, Stepakoff and other members of the team did not return messages for comments.

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