Xavier Arline makes his way to the cage in a postseason game against Cold Spring Harbor last season. File photo by Desirée Keegan
By Jim Ferchland
Shoreham-Wading River can always count on the Xavier Arline’s attack.
The sophomore, fueled by a recent loss 10-5 loss at home to Mount Sinai, scored four goals and added four assists in a 13-8 win at Bayport-Blue Point April 6.
“My team goal, at the end of the day, is to just help the team win as much as possible,” said the University of North Carolina commit. “The team played as a unit today. I think everyone played their role — the producers produced.”
Zach Colucci moves the ball around the outside of the circle in a playoff game last year. File photo by Desirée Keegan
Arline and senior Zach Colucci alone were too much for the Phantoms to handle. Colucci capitalized on four of his own opportunities and assisted on another. Senior Kyle Boden tallied a hat trick and an assist and classmate Tim Cairo had a score and two helpers.
“Senior leadership stepped up big time,” assistant coach Brian Baker said. “We had some highs and lows but the boys responded well. We actually played lacrosse together as a team.”
The Wildcats jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in just over seven minutes of action. Arline scored once in that span and added two more unassisted goals to give Shoreham-Wading River a 5-1 lead heading into the second quarter.
Bayport-Blue Point cut the deficit to 6-4 with an assist and goal from senior midfielder Tim Sacca, but it would be the closest the Phantoms would come. The Wildcats retaliated with two goals to increase their deficit back to four, with Arline scoring his fourth after grabbing a ground ball to stop the Phantoms’ scoring streak.
Shoreham-Wading River scored three times in the third, with Cairo assisting on two, to Bayport-Blue Point’s one.
Arline assisted the Wildcats’ final two goals from Colucci and Boden to give his team a 13-6 edge, its largest lead of the game. Bayport-Blue responded with two unassisted goals by junior midfielder James Ringer and senior attacker Sal Locascio, but it was too little too late.
Shoreham-Wading River’s took on Eastport-South Manor at home April 11, but results were not available by press time. The Wildcats are back at it taking on West Babylon on the road April 13 at 4:30 p.m.
The gravestones of William and Martha Smith in St. George’s Manor cemetery, Strong’s Neck. Photo by Beverly C. Tyler
By Beverly C. Tyler
Part two of a two-part series
William “Tangier” Smith and his wife Martha who lived in St. George’s Manor in Strong’s Neck became known locally as the lord and lady of the manor in the late 1600s.
As detailed by historian Kate Strong in her Long Island Forum columns, “In 1675 [in Tangier, Morocco], Colonel William Smith … bought a great book, sometimes called ‘The Tangier Book’ and sometimes ‘The First Pigskin Book.’ The first entry was a statement of his marriage. After that he recorded the baptism [including minister and godparents], and some deaths, of his numerous children. As he only wrote on one side of the page, his wife, Martha, turned the book upside down and wrote in her recipes — in some cases telling the name of the person giving her the recipe.”
Local historian Kate Strong wrote extensively about William and Martha Smith in her Long Island Forum columns. Photo from the Three Village Historical Society
The recipes and notes Martha Smith made in the pigskin book were most likely all entered during her years on Long Island.
“She sometimes added a few bits of news,” Strong wrote. “As when she told that she felt that Colonel Williams’ sickness came from a strain he had incurred in lifting her off the horse … later she recorded that her dear Billy was better.”
Strong listed just a few of the recipes from the pigskin book, including “To make pancakes — take the yokes of six eggs, add ye one white and one pint of cream and half a pint of sacke & nutmeg and a little salt and some sugar. Make the batter of a reasonable thickness, work in some flower (sic) & fry them. Mrs. Osborn.”
Martha also included recipes for medicinal purposes, including one from her daughter. “For a sore throat or Quinsey — take Rue & pound it pretty fine & make a poultice & plaster, must be an inch thick & lay it on ye side of ye throat. It is a sure cure. You may sprinkle it with brandy. Mrs. Strod.”
“She was not too busy to enjoy riding with her husband,” Strong wrote. “I imagine they had fine horses. I know their saddles were covered with velvet. (Hers a side saddle of course). They went to the South Shore not only to enjoy the ocean breezes in the summer but on business.”
When Martha’s husband died in 1705, the Smith children included Henry, later second lord of the manor, age 26; Mrs. Martha Heathcote, age 23; Jeane, age 17; William Henry, later to inherit the South Shore manor house and estate, age 15; Gloryana, later to marry the Rev. George Muirson, age 14; and Charles Jeffery, who would die of smallpox in 1715, age 11. Martha was now faced with raising her young family and running her late husband’s vast holdings and business interest.
Entries in the pigskin book had been started by Smith in 1697 as an estate account book of farm transactions and also referred to the Native American whaling crews, as detailed by historian John Strong in “The Unkechaug Indians of Eastern Long Island: A History.” “From 1696 until 1721, the Smiths used the book to keep the accounts of Native Americans working for their whaling company,” Strong wrote. … “Lady Martha Smith, for the 1706-07 whaling season made a net profit of 120 barrels of whale oil out of 180 barrels, a sizable profit.”
“She sometimes added a few bits of news. As when she told that she felt that Colonel Williams’ sickness came from a strain he had incurred in lifting her off the horse.”
— Kate Strong
“Offshore whaling was a fine business in those days, and Madam Martha had her own whaleboat,” Strong added. “The crew was mostly Indians. She kept her records in a second pigskin book, which was almost lost in the San Francisco fire. A member of the family had taken it West. During the fire, a gentleman saw a trunk which had fallen from a truck and examined the contents. Finding the pigskin book he restored it to its owner.”
As detailed in “Bellport and Brookhaven: A Saga of the Sibling Hamlets at Old Purchase South” by Stephanie Bigelow, published in 1968, “The Lady Martha was a remarkable woman … managing not only the vast estate, but carrying on the whaling business successfully.”
Also as noted by Kate Strong, “Fifteen Indians, the whaling crew, are listed by name; their wages, and the charges made against them, for shot, powder, rum, ‘cotes,’ ‘britches,’ etc. … She must have had trouble controlling them, for there are quite a few complaints. ‘He [Will Bene] got nothing this season, stayed away 10 days at a time, when he went to see his Shua. Was a great loss to me.’ But there were more cheerful entries too. ‘I thanks God, my company killed a yearling whale. Maid 27 barrels ogle.’ Listed was the weight in pounds of whalebone from each whale, as well as the number of barrels of oil.”
In addition to being successful, Martha Smith was well respected in the area.
“As to what the early settlers thought of Martha in their plans for the meeting house church, they wrote that at the table was to sit no woman of any kind except Madam Martha Smith,” wrote Kate Strong. “She died five years after her husband on September 1, 1709, and was buried beside him on the spot he had chosen overlooking the little bay on the neck, now called Strong’s Neck, but we old-timers think of it by its real name: St. George’s Manor, part of the Manor of St. George.”
Beverly C. Tyler is Three Village Historical Society historian and author of books available from the society at 93 North Country Road, Setauket. For more information, call 631-751-3730 or visit www.tvhs.org.
Gerard Romano of Port Jefferson Station took this photo on March 25 using a Nikon D3300 with a Nikon 18-200mm lens. He writes, ‘I took a walk down by the Brookhaven boat ramp at Port Jefferson Harbor. The little skiffs pictured have been readied to be sailed by the young students of Stony Brook School this spring. For this photo I propped up a nearby life preserver and framed the picture.’
Like driving a car, there are rules and regulations that boaters need to follow. Stock photo
By Herb Herman
Insurance companies recognize that a defensive driving course will make for better automobile drivers. So why not a defensive boating course for the New York State boating community? Perhaps marine insurance companies will give boaters a break in the same way that they discount premiums for drivers who take defensive automobile driving courses. The states of Florida and Kentucky already have such courses, which give the same benefits as defensive driving courses.
We all know that pleasure boating can be great fun, as well as dangerous. In many ways, boating is comparable to driving. Both boats and cars require that the driver pay keen attention and have a strong sense of “situational awareness.” In both cases, we should be cognizant of our surroundings, and to other cars or other boats.
Boating Courses
U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary: Local flotillas offer a variety of safety classes, including basic/introductory boating courses and safety courses, navigation, sailing and personal watercraft safety, among others. The Port Jefferson flotilla offers a range of boating safety courses
U.S. Power Squadron: Offers a wide range of boating courses.
American Boat Operators’ Course: Offers online boating safety courses with online certification tests for a number of states.
Boat/U.S. Foundation Courseline: The Courseline is a searchable database of current boating safety courses around the nation.
BoaterExam.com: Offers online boating safety courses with online certification tests for a number of states.
Boatsafe: Offers an online Basic Boating Certification Course approved by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators, and a Coastal Navigation Course.
PWC Safety School: Offers online courses and certification for PWC operators in several states
State Courses: Many states offer boating safety courses. The National Association of State Boating Law Administrators’ online Directory provides contact information for state boating agencies.
To contact the Port Jefferson Flotilla about boating courses, use the following for a prompt reply: [email protected]. Our voicemail number is 631-938-1705.
In fact, it can be argued that pedestrians for cars are analogous to paddle boaters for powerboat drivers. In boating as in driving there are “rules of the road,” the breaking of which can lead to vehicle damage and in the worst cases loss of life. We have air bags and personal floatation devices. There are Very High Frequency radios for boats and cars have horns. Driving under the influence clearly applies to both driving cars and piloting boats: the practice is dangerous and the penalties can be severe. It is becoming more common to read about high speed boats crashing into other boats or breakwaters, where a driver is “boating under the influence.” Texting while driving is particularly dangerous, whether in a car going 30 mph or in a speed boat flying through the water at 30 mph.
But the analogy fails when we compare road maps to nautical charts. While road maps restrict us to clearly narrow paths of driving, charts for boats allow “freedom of expression” on the part of the boat driver. On the other hand, there are limits for boaters as well, being greeted with signs indicating “no wake,” and on charts indicating rocks, wrecks, buoys, marked swim areas, etc. In fog, one drives cars slower and puts on fog lights, where-as, on the water radar is used together with a bell or horn while carefully listening for other boats.
Defensive boaters generally adhere to “rules of the road” and International Maritime Organization’s COLREGS, or Conventions on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, established in 1972. These rules are very real regulations promulgated by the United States Coast Guard, which must be observed by both pleasure boaters and professional captains. These rules refer to collision avoidance regulations, which are considered to have legal basis just as automobile traffic laws determine right and wrong in courts of law. To obtain a captain’s license you must know these regulations by heart; they are the traffic laws on the water, whether on a river, lake or at sea.
Boating accidents occur too commonly, making one wonder why licensing is not required of boaters. More recently, in fact, minimum operational documentation is required for boaters, whether using a stand-up paddle or piloting a 60-foot yacht. Courses do exist, and most states demand some knowledge of the nautical rules. A variety of organizations offer certified courses. For example, the USCG Auxiliary Port Jefferson Flotilla offers a range of study programs, including “America’s Boating Course” and “Suddenly in Command,” aimed at a passenger should the vessel operator become disabled.
Herb Herman is the Flotilla Staff Public Affairs Officer for the 1st Southern District of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxillary.
The boating regulations for New York State include the following:
Effective May 1, 2014: All individuals born on or after May 1, 1996, are now required to successfully complete an approved course in boater education in order to operate a motorboat. Approved courses include those offered by NYS Parks, the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary or the U.S. Power Squadron. Individuals less than 10 years of age may not take this course of instruction. Certain allowances to this law have been made for visitors to New York, persons renting a boat from a livery and persons purchasing a new boat for the first time.
Life Jacket Law for Children Under 12: Any youth under the age of 12 on boats 65 feet or less in length must wear securely fastened U.S. Coast Guard approved personal floatation device of appropriate size. It does not apply if the youth is in a fully-enclosed cabin.
Cold Weather Boaters – Personal Flotation Device Laws: Anyone underway in a boat less than 21 feet in length anytime between November 1 and May 1 must wear a securely fastened life jacket. This includes paddle boats and motorboats.
USCG vessels. File Photo
Personal Watercraft operators must:
Wear a U.S. Coast Guard PFD
Carry a U.S. Coast Guard approved visual distress signal
Carry a sound signaling device capable of a two second blast, audible at least 1/2 mile
Engine Cutoff if so equipped must be functional and attached to the rider.
Personal Watercraft operators may not:
Operate a PWC under the age of 14
Operate in excess of 5 mph within 100 feet of shore, a dock, float or anchored boat
Operate within 500 feet of a marked swim area
Operate between sunset and sunrise
Operate in a reckless manner and carrying more passengers than is recommend by the manufacturer
Mandatory Education Requirements for PWC operators: New York requires that anyone operating a personal watercraft complete an approved course in boating safety or otherwise be accompanied, on board, by someone 18 years of age or older who is the holder of an approved boating safety certificate. Certificates are required to be carried at all times when operating the personal watercraft.
Water Skiing: On the navigable waters of NYS, any vessel towing a water skier, parasail, or other similar device must have on board, in addition to the operator, an observer who is specifically charged with watching out for the person towed. The observer must be at least 10 years of age. Waterskiing and similar towed activities are limited to the hours between sunrise and sunset, provided that visibility is not reduced. Anyone towed by a vessel must wear a securely fastened U.S. Coast Guard approved PFD. This includes those on water skis, inner tubes, parasails, inflatable devices, to name a few. The preferred PFD for these activities is the type III special purpose device as it is impact rated, form fitting, and generally affords better visibility for the skier. Remember the skier is considered a passenger and is to be counted against the maximum passengers allowed. Exceeding that number can be considered reckless operation.
Rocky Point eighth-grader Quentin Palifka shaves his head to raise money for childhood cancer during his school’s St. Baldrick’s event, at which he’s raised $10,437 in the last two years. Photo from Alicia Palifka
By Kevin Redding
Less than 3 years old, Quentin Palifka stopped in his tracks, looked up at his grandma and asked a question that “floored” her.
“I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up,” the young boy said, according to family members.
Quentin Palifka with middle school Principal Scott O’Brien as he’s handed his 2018 Prudential Spirit of Community Certificate of Excellence award. Photo from Alicia Palifka
But it didn’t take Quentin long before he figured it out. Less than two years later, at 4, he approached his mother and told her that he was going to become president of the United States.
“It was a bit shocking at the time,” his mother Alicia Palifka said, laughing. “But that’s just who he is. He’s always been an extremely compassionate, thoughtful, responsible child with integrity.”
And nine years later, the Rocky Point middle schooler has held onto those traits, and that dream. In fact, Quentin has his future clearly mapped out.
“I have a list of things,” Quentin, 13, said of his future aspirations. “So, after high school, I want to join either the Marines or the Army. Then after that, I want to go to law school to become a lawyer. After I’m a lawyer, I want to run for Congress in New York’s 1st Congressional District. And after that, I would love to run
for president.”
The eighth-grader is certainly on track for public office by upholding a reputation as a go-getter in and out of the classroom — in the third grade, he joined the student council, where he got his first real taste of student government and community service, continuing his involvement in the club throughout elementary and middle school. For the past two years, he has served as president of the Community Service Club; he goes out of his way to greet and thank every veteran he meets; is a fifth-level junior black belt in Kempo jiu-jitsu and currently training to become a sensei at United Studios Progressive Martial Arts; has once a month volunteered his time with those at Bellhaven Center for Rehabilitation & Nursing Care in Brookhaven; and, in the last two years, has raised a total $10,437 for his school’s St. Baldrick’s event that raises money for childhood cancer research — $4,270 last year and $6,167 this year.
“There are a lot of other kids like me that do wonderful and exceptional things.”
— Quentin Palifka
He received a special medal for donating the most money during the fundraiser events, and just last month, earned the 2018 Prudential Spirit of Community Certificate of Excellence honor. The national program honors youth volunteers for outstanding volunteer service, and the certificate is recommendation-based, being presented to the top 10 percent of all applicants from the state.
“It was just a huge honor to be chosen,” Quentin said. “I’m truly humbled and, you know, there are a lot of other kids like me that do wonderful and exceptional things — I’m happy to say that I’m one of them.”
Despite their pride, those who know him well said they aren’t the least bit surprised by the recent recognition.
“Quentin is just such a genuine, sweet and very well-mannered kid with a really good set of morals,” said Michelle Anzaldi, whose son Frankie, a special needs student at Rocky Point, has looked up to Quentin since he initiated a friendship with Frankie in fifth grade. “My son was put into an inclusion class then, and he didn’t have any friends in that class, but on the first day of school, Quentin went over to him, introduced himself, and [since then has] really watched out for him,” Anzaldi said. “He accepted Frankie for who he is, and their friendship is amazing.”
Quentin’s elderly neighbor John Taranto said that, for the past two years, Quentin has taken it upon himself to shovel out his driveway when it snows and helps to mow his lawn in the summer.
Quentin Pilafka with his grandfather Todd Freund. Photo from Alicia Palifka
“He’ll do anything for neighbors,” Taranto said. “He loves to do it, and he will not take anything in return. He tells me, ‘That’s what neighbors are for.’ You don’t find many kids like that. I always say that he was born in the wrong time.”
Perhaps nobody has been as impacted by Quentin’s generosity as much as his own grandfather, Todd Freund, a Korean War veteran and former self-employed salesman. Freund said he spent more than 35 years on the road — traveling across the country — and believes he missed a large chunk of his children’s upbringing.
“Now I have Quentin, and it’s been a blessing to me,” Freund said. “We’re extremely close and definite kindred spirits. I consider myself so fortunate because he taught me patience — something I’ve never really had. He and I will talk for two hours when I come over to visit, about everything. I know I sound like I’m talking about somebody who’s 60 years old, but Quentin has always lived a self-directed life and has always had
integrity and honesty. I believe it’s nurtured by his mother. She’s quite some girl.”
As much as Alicia Palifka said she’d love to take the credit, her son’s altruism is all him, she said.
“The reason he wanted to be so involved with St. Baldrick’s is because our neighbor had a child before Quentin was born who passed away from cancer,” she said. “He’s been raising money in honor of this boy he never met. This is just who he is — he always wants to do the right thing by people.”
We were among those excited to hear the long-discussed 10-mile bike trail from Mount Sinai to Wading River Rails to Trails project finally seems to be getting off the ground.
With work expected to begin in spring 2019, the LIPA-owned property will be put to great community use with countless benefits for both locals and visitors to the area. We have heard complaints from residents whose properties abut the trail, and we’ve also heard of issues at other comparable trails on Long Island. It is
incumbent on the organizers of this project — Suffolk County Legislator Sarah Anker (D-Mount Sinai), engineering firm NV5 and the county’s Department of Public Works — to not only hear but also act on resident concerns all along the way.
While we understand having a trail suddenly run through your backyard can be a disruptive new addition to a home with the potential to attract strangers, we would argue unused woods can also attract undesirable behaviors. This is not to say that steps shouldn’t be taken to buffer the trail from property lines. We are confident that an amicable compromise can be reached as long as residents’ concerns are truly taken into account.
The popular Long Island Greenbelt Trail, which is overseen by the nonprofit Long Island Greenbelt Trail Conference, is regularly in need of volunteers to help maintain and clean up the massive trail. To its credit, the group has a tab on its website where hikers can submit reports about issues or problems along the trail. Something like this would be great when the Mount Sinai-to-Wading River project is complete. Building a bike trail for residents and tourists alike to enjoy and utilize is great in theory, but maintaining it and keeping it vibrant is another project entirely. We would even propose the newly created chambers of commerce in each of the hamlets through which the trail runs divide the 10 miles and host quarterly cleanups.
We were also glad to hear mile markers will be included on the trail to make it easier for people in need of emergency assistance to let authorities know where on the trail they are located. We’d like to see something similar to what Cold Spring Harbor State Park implemented a few years ago to ensure safety for users of the trail. Suffolk County police officer James Garside helped develop and implement innovative GPS-enabled trail markers there, and since installation in 2017, a man who suffered a heart attack on the trail was saved thanks to the availability of his precise location.
We also hope this new trail is like the Setauket-Port Jefferson Greenway Trail in one specific way.
“From the 6th Precinct’s standpoint there haven’t been any spikes in burglaries or home invasions on the [Setauket-Port Jefferson Greenway Trail],” Community Oriented Police Enforcement unit Sgt. Walter Langdon said during a discussion about safety on the new trail. “With the right-of-ways, people can already access the rear of these houses. With more people on the trail, there’s more people to call 911. In a way, it’s safer.”
Projects for public good are always great by us, but keeping a neighbor-friendly status will require attention and work.
Smithtown West's Reed Greco moves the ball across the field while Middle Country's Tom Stock chases after him. Photo by Jim Ferchland
By Jim Ferchland
In the rainy and windy conditions, junior attacker Marc Cottage and the Smithtown West Bulls dismantled
Middle Country Mad Dogs on its home turf.
Scoring the first four goals for boys lacrosse team April 3, Cottage sparked the Bulls offense with a team-high eight points in a 15-3 victory at Newfield High School. He helps keep their season perfect so far at 4-0 and gave Middle Country its third loss of the year (1-3).
Smithtown West’s Marc Cottage shoots past a Middle Country defender. Photo by Jim Ferchland
“It felt good,” Cottage said about his performance. “I thought our offense played great in the first quarter. It was a good team win.”
The Bulls got an early first quarter advantage leading 5-1 after a Danny Caddigan goal with 3:15 left. The game was tied at one point after Cottage’s first goal in the first minute. Then, Middle Country’s Tom Stock found the back of the net 43 seconds later to tie at up at 1-1.
Not much scoring happened in the second quarter, but it was Kyle Zawadzki who scored all two of Smithtown West’s goal in the 12 minutes. His first goal gave the Bulls a 6-1 lead, assisted by Christian Lowd with 10:46 left. Middle Country’s Jacob Hyman had an unassisted goal 1 minute, 13 seconds later to cut the deficit back to four, but Zawadzki’s shot in final minute hit its mark to make it 7-2 Bulls at the half.
There was a combined 28 points scored between 12 different players for Smithtown West. The Bulls had 13 assists on 15 goals.
“Everyone was contributing,” Zawadzki said. “It wasn’t just one person, even though Cottage did have seven goals. He was just capitalizing on all the opportunities he had.”
The Bulls put the game away in the third quarter, outscoring the Mad Dogs 5-1, giving the Bulls a nine-point advantage at 12-3. Matt Caddigan scored 48 seconds into the quarter and was assisted by John Hoffman, who had four assists on the afternoon. Andrew Arce also had a goal and an assist for the Bulls. Three of Cottage’s seven goals came in the third, with one of them finding the back of the net in the final four seconds of the quarter.
Hoffman, Cole Vencak and Troy Riley all had good, unanswered goals in the fourth for the Bulls to win 15-3.
Even though he’s a junior, Cottage sees himself as a captain of the team.
“I always have seen myself as a leader,” Cottage said. “I’m pretty sure all the starters feel that way — to teach the younger kids — just to be the best and play well.”
Smithtown West’s Christian Lowd races up the field. Photo by Jim Ferchland
Stock found the net twice for the Mad Dogs and going up against Smithtown West, he wanted to do exactly just that.
“They’re a pretty good team,” Stock said oft Smithtown West. “They’re ranked pretty high. I was just trying to score some goals.”
Smithtown West played with three different goaltenders in Cameron Young, Kyle Walker and Mike Simone. Adam Hyman stayed in the entire game as the only goalkeeper for Middle Country. He had nine saves on the afternoon. He said the team will bounce back from the loss.
“We just need to work hard in practice and take this loss as a ‘W,’” Hyman said. “We just have to keep on working hard. This loss motivates the whole team to get better because no one likes to lose.”
Middle Country head coach Chris Siragusa said that Smithtown West is the best team they will face all year. Middle Country finished 5-9 in Division I last year, and lost 16 seniors from that squad, boasting a majority
of freshmen and sophomore this year.
“I think it’s just [about gaining] experience for our guys, because of the youth,” Siragusa said. “Stock and [Jacob] Hyman are both sophomores and they’re going to be part of the future. They were part of the team last year when their heads were spinning. I think it’s just about getting older and maturing.”
Smithtown West will look to stay undefeated when it hits the road to face Northport April 5 at 10 a.m. Middle
Country wants to retaliate after the loss with an at-home contest against Sachem North at 4 p.m.
Anthony Frasca of Old Field recently snapped this photo of a well-camouflauged great horned owl, one of a nesting pair, in his backyard using a Nikon D40 with a Nikon telephoto lens. He writes, ‘The owls have a nest in a pine tree in my backyard and I frequently see one or the other flying off at dusk to hunt.’
The last decade has taken a toll on Suffolk County’s economy. Stock photo
By Peggy Olness
Note: This article builds on the information contained in the TBR newspapers on March 2. www.tbrnewsmedia.com/making-democracy-work-suffolk-county-government-revenue/.
The $3.06 billion 2018 Suffolk County Adopted Operating Budget is an action plan to fund the county to provide services for its 1.5 million residents and to detail how revenue will be spent by the various departments and agencies during the fiscal year.
The County Executive’s Recommended Operating Budget is submitted to the Suffolk County Legislature whose Budget Review Office (BRO) reviews the budget to ensure that the projections for revenues and expenses are reasonable.MIt is the BRO’s job to look for possible problems and help develop a budget that the Legislature can adopt. Given the possibility of unforeseen events, the county government (the executive and Legislature) has over the years built up reserve funds to handle unexpected events that impact revenues such as the Great Recession of 2008-09 or impact expenses such as major hurricanes or nor’easters. Unfortunately, these funds do not completely cover major disruptions.
The last decade has taken its toll on the county’s economy. Since the Great Recession, the county sales tax revenue has not recovered enough to cover its previous percentage share of the county’s operating expenses, and current sales tax projections do not indicate a sufficient increase in future years to reach that percentage share of the county’s revenue total.
The annual property tax increase is restricted to a 2 percent maximum for some of the factors used in the complex calculation of the total property tax. However, the actual calculation brings the total property tax to slightly more than 3 percent above the previous year countywide.
During this last decade, county government has made a number of changes to cut costs. The county now contributes reduced funding to the nine health centers through community benefit grants, most of which will expire within two or three years, and the county nursing home has been closed and the building sold for less than expected.
The county executive’s recommended budgets for the 2017 and 2018 fiscal years eliminated the Public Health Nursing Program (budget cost less than $1 million). This would negatively impact prenatal and postpartum care services as well as Child Protective Services to Suffolk County residents in need. There are no other certified home health agencies in Suffolk County qualified to provide such services to high-risk mothers and children.
The Health Education and Tobacco Control Program (budget cost about $50,000) was also recommended for elimination. That would impact the tobacco cessation and education courses, sexually transmitted disease prevention programs, anti-bullying programs, diabetes prevention programs and reduces the support for 3,000 teachers trained in the HealthSmart curriculum.
There is concern that while cutting further programs saves money, the negative impact on a large number of residents’ health and welfare is not worth the savings. Both the Public Health Nursing program and the Health Education and Tobacco Control Program have been put back into the budget by the Legislature each year. Removing these programs would also lose approximately $400,000 in New York State Public Health Aid to Municipalities.
In the past decade our county government has used short-term borrowing to close the budget gap, expecting that the sales tax and property tax would rebound with enough surplus to cover the loans. This has not happened; since 2014, the county has borrowed $166.3 million and in 2018 the county must begin paying back this loan.
The search for additional revenue has led the county to impose other forms of “taxation” in the form of fees and charges; the county has increased the motor vehicle surcharge, and the tax map certification fee, and in 2017 a new mortgage administrative tax was added.
Suffolk County is facing a serious financial problem. Make your voice heard by doing research and educating yourself further, talking to your Suffolk County elected officials, and thinking deeply about the balance between community needs and community willingness to pay.
Peggy Olness is a board member of the League of Women Voters of Suffolk County, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government and influences public policy through education and advocacy. For more information, visit www.lwv-suffolkcounty.org, email [email protected] or call 631-862-6860.
The new team room at Rocky Point High School is meant to give student-athletes a sense of collaboration and camaraderie. Photo from Dan Spallina
By Kevin Redding
For years, Rocky Point High School physical education teacher Dan Spallina had a blank canvas in the form of an old weight room-turned-football storage space. But this past February, with the help of volunteers and supporters — including parents, students and faculty members — he completed and unveiled a state-of-the-art sports team room in the space’s footprint to be used for video breakdowns of players’ performances, halftime meetings, team gatherings and other school events.
Parents and students help Rocky Point coach Dan Spallina, on right, turn high school storage space into a sports team room. Photo from Rocky Point school district
As head coach of the girls lacrosse program, Spallina, a Rocky Point graduate, recalled visiting the room to pick up his players’ uniforms in 2015 and envisioned something better for the school’s athletes in the cramped and underutilized area. As the student-athletes were often relegated to unused classrooms, the hallways or the athletic field for meetings and team-building exercises, Spallina thought a more suitable space could be built in the spot — a plac for “collaboration and camaraderie.”
“I just thought, what if?” Spallina said.
So, in fall 2016, after receiving approval from the board of education, he rounded up a small, determined band of parent volunteers, with the help of the district’s athletic director Charles Delargy, to help configure, spackle and paint the space. Spallina said the volunteers regularly pitched in at night, after their full-time jobs and daughters’ lacrosse games, to help bring the roughly $4,700 project to light. Even a couple of players helped with painting.
What is now the Rocky Point team room used to be storage space after it was an old weight room. Photo from Dan Spallina
“When I say dedication, I mean dedication,” Spallina said. “The volunteers just wanted to help out and be a part in it. In my eyes, it was simply amazing.”
Together, they transformed a room previously used by teams to watch gameplay videos on a small television or an old projector against a white wall into a clean, open facility equipped with a full HD 4K projector, video screen, stadium seating and strip lights on step-down levels. The new complex has also been decorated with 3-D wood objects, framed inspirational quotes and artwork of the Eagles emblem and American flag.
“To have an idea, then see it being brought to life is incredible,” said Spallina, who presented the new room during a special celebration event in late February alongside Delargy. “My hope is that every athlete that steps into the room feels the sense of pride that it took to build. This is a truly special community and togive the student-athletes a room like this can only be positive.”
The construction phase of the Rocky Point team room was made possible the the help of parents and students. Photo from Dan Spallina
Delargy said when he came to the district a year and a half ago, he and Spallina quickly saw eye to eye about the room’s potential.
“One of the first things I did was stress with the teams and coaches about how helpful video is to prepare for games and for general improvement — and the storage area was the perfect place to do something like that,” Delargy said. “It turned out to be such a nice community project and the coaches and students are all extremely happy, because now they have a place to go. And with the 4K projector — it’s night and day.”
John Bellissimo, the parent of senior lacrosse player Christina Bellissimo and one of the lead volunteers who helped design the room, also noted the importance of the new facility, stating he feels every school district should have a dedicated space like the one at Rocky Point for its student-athletes.
“Of course, our job as parents is to provide our kids with every opportunity to be the best they can be, and help bring the goodness out of them,” Bellissimo said. “So, by having this team room, it’s going to foster the team spirit, togetherness and confidence, and really push these kids to understand what it means to work as a team. The feedback from the kids is that they love it. Because it’s new, nobody else has had it — it’s theirs. This is the room they needed.”
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