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The Port Jefferson Power Station. Photo by Raymond Janis

The Environmental Protection Agency’s new regulations concerning power plants could have dramatic consequences for communities across the North Shore.

The EPA is proposing emissions caps and further guidelines for fossil-fuel-burning power plants. 

The proposed guidelines aim to “set limits for new gas-fired combustion turbines, existing coal, oil and gas-fired steam generating units, and certain existing gas-fired combustion turbines,” according to an EPA statement.

While we certainly acknowledge the need for government to intervene in the spread of planet-warming carbon, we expect these regulations to have severe consequences for our local communities.

Generations ago, residents of Port Jefferson and Northport planned their communities around these power plant facilities. Power plants have represented a lucrative tax base for these communities, subsidizing several important community ends.

In exchange for the industrial activities taking place at these plants, residents saw opportunities — opportunities for better schools, better services and a better way of life. Now these opportunities may remain only aspirational.

Local governments and school districts are already struggling as it is. Between inflation and rising costs, further declines in public revenue will only compound the financial troubles of our public institutions. Yet, despite the challenges ahead, plans must start moving now.

At the local level, municipalities and school districts that rely upon LIPA subsidies should begin imagining a future in which those subsidies no longer exist. If plants start shuttering, public officials will be tasked with plugging enormous holes in their budgets. What are their plans to do that?

We are seeing warming temperatures and the changing climate affecting a wide array of local issues. From coastal erosion to prolonged droughts to intensifying flooding and countless other concerns, this global environmental phenomenon is already reshaping our local policies — and soon our bottom line.

Using fossil-fuel-powered plants to subsidize our way of life has become increasingly untenable. Municipal and school district officials may soon face some extremely uncomfortable discretionary choices.

For this reason, it is time for our leaders to adopt a policy of radical acceptance and realism. Relocating waterfront properties inland, conserving our scarce water supply and protecting open spaces are some ways to meet this moment. But the necessary conversations about taxes and budgets need to happen as well.

With a new frame of mind, we can rise to the challenges ahead. We can adapt our communities to the changing environment. 

With a clear focus and sober long-term thinking, let us cease denying the transformations happening before our eyes. Instead let us plan to deal with them.

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New proposed EPA regulations may affect the Northport Power Station, pictured above. File photo
By Aidan Johnson

The Biden administration and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced new proposed regulations on May 11 that would require most power plants fired by fossil fuels to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by 90 percent between 2035 and 2040. Plants that do not meet these requirements may have to close down entirely, according to the new plan.

Starting in 2030, the EPA guidelines would generally require more CO2 emissions controls for power plants that operate more frequently, phasing increasingly stringent CO2 requirements over time, an EPA statement said.

If passed, the new requirements would likely impact the Port Jefferson and Northport power stations, both fired by natural gas.

The EPA projects the carbon reductions under the new guidelines would help avoid over 600 million metric tons of CO2 released into the atmosphere from 2028 to 2042, “along with tens of thousands of tons of nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and fine particulate matter,” the statement reads.

This new proposal comes over four years after the Long Island Power Authority, which buys all of the Port Jefferson Power Station’s power, settled its tax lawsuit with the Town of Brookhaven and the Village of Port Jefferson. 

“The terms of settlement shelter us from having to pay back taxes (taxes collected during the 6-year-long court battle) while also providing a glide path moving forward over the next 8 years, during which the 50% reduction of tax revenue can be absorbed,” Village of Port Jefferson Mayor Margot Garant said in a 2019 statement.

The new EPA standards represent a step toward alleviating the climate crisis, according to the Biden administration. Their impact, however, will likely be felt locally given that a sizable portion of PJV’s budget is subsidized by the plant. This applies to other local institutions, such as the Port Jefferson Fire Department and school district.

Bruce Miller, former Port Jefferson Village trustee, said in an interview that it is technologically feasible to remove carbon dioxide and other polluting gasses from the smoke stacks. He also maintains that the possibility of using hydrogen, a clean fuel source, remains an option. 

“The thing that I’m talking to National Grid [the owner of the plant] about is hydrogen,” Miller said. “Will they be thinking in terms of possibly a combined cycle plant in Port Jefferson? That would be our hope.”

These talks are still preliminary as the proposed regulations are still subject to a public comment period. “Whether National Grid and LIPA would want to make the investment to put some hydrogen-powered combined cycle plants — redo the Port Jefferson plant — is a huge question mark,” Miller indicated. “I don’t have an answer for that or even a projection.”

The former trustee added that the impact to local budgets could be “substantial,” noting, “It’s going to be a major adjustment if that plant goes offline.”

While the long-term plans for the plant remain unknown, Garant maintained that the village’s finances would not be hit all at once if the plant were to shutter.

“The community wouldn’t be on a cliff,” she said in a phone interview. “The norm is like another 10-year glide path to give you a chance to settle into another loss of revenue.”

While the potential loss of public revenue remains a critical policy concern for local officials, the impact that climate change has had on the village cannot be ignored either. The past few years have brought both droughts and flooding, likely the consequence of intensifying storms and rising tides due to climate change.

“Projections for sea-level rise over the coming decades are nothing short of staggering,” said trustee Rebecca Kassay, Port Jeff’s sustainability commissioner, in a statement. “If the global community does not work together — from individuals to villages to states to nations and every agency in between — and climate change is not slowed from its current projections, [the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] confidently forecasts that Port Jefferson Harbor will engulf Port Jefferson Village’s downtown Main Street within a century’s time.”

The EPA will host virtual trainings on June 6 and 7 to provide information about the proposed regulations.

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Slow down multifamily development in Port Jeff Station/Terryville

Certain multifamily housing project proposals are progressing too fast in the hamlets of Port Jefferson Station and Terryville.

In Port Jefferson Station, starting at the intersection of Terryville Road and Main Street (aka Route 112), traveling north there are proposals to build four multifamily housing communities.

Proposal 1 will be built at the shopping center where the post office is located. Proposal 2 will be built at the old Malkmes Florists on Oakland Avenue. Proposal 3 will be built on Cherub Lane. And Proposal 4 will be built adjacent to the railroad tracks on both the east and west side of Main Street. 

As a result of these proposed multifamily housing projects, our communities have requested an environmental impact statement and a comprehensive traffic study. Both requests have either been ignored or denied by the Town of Brookhaven.

This is not an anti-development letter. It is a shoutout to our Brookhaven elected officials to slow down the process of reviewing these proposed multifamily housing projects. 

It is time to perform the necessary studies to help us better understand how these proposed projects will affect the air we breathe, the water we drink and the current and future traffic patterns in our communities.

We have a right to breathe clean air, drink clean water and feel safe in our communities without worrying about increasing traffic on our neighborhood streets. It is time to complete the necessary studies so that we can better understand how these multifamily housing projects will affect our quality of life. 

Multifamily housing is not a cure all, and there are times when such projects cause detrimental quality-of-life issues that cannot be reversed.

Please slow down and complete the necessary studies.

Louis Antoniello

Terryville

Consider eminent domain for Maryhaven

In the United States, governmental bodies, at all levels from federal to a village, have an obligation to promote, and often provide, resources for the general welfare of their population. 

In Port Jefferson vacant land is becoming a precious resource for uses that could provide and promote our general welfare. To that purpose, governments have the authority to gain ownership of land through the process of eminent domain. 

Our village government held a public hearing on May 1 regarding a code change that would specifically allow a developer of the Maryhaven property to purchase the entire property, and construct as many as 192 condominium units. Special permission to do so is contingent on the builder’s willingness to maintain the outer walls of the existing historically important building known as the Maryhaven Center of Hope.

A building that was used for generations to help many in need — young children with severe disabilities, and later to house and aid those who required group living quarters, training for minimal paying jobs and other needs for their adult lives. 

Without dishonoring the building that served those with the greatest needs for survival, it is difficult to understand how the proposed code change aimed specifically at “saving” the Maryhaven building is achieved by gutting the structure for the creation of expensive condominiums, a clubhouse and a swimming pool within, all to serve a private luxury gated community.

How does the proposed code change honor those that spent their professional lives providing for those with the greatest needs for their survival?

The future of this land is of particular importance at a time when the effects of climate change, ushering in periods of rain beyond current capacity to mitigate the potential of severe flooding, threatens our fire department and, possibly in years to come, the accessibility of our current Village Hall. 

Now is the time to plan for a new Center of Hope with uses that promote and provide for the general welfare of those who follow us. The use of eminent domain to secure that property would honor the building and its grounds in service to the public, the fire department and village government operations.

Michael Mart

Port Jefferson

Local crime exposes bail reform dangers

In an effort to champion the successes of cashless bail, letter writer David Friedman cited a study done by the Data Collaborative for Justice [“Eliminating bail reduces recidivism,” TBR News Media, April 27]. Along the way he took the opportunity to make inaccurate personal assumptions about me, while criticizing respected Albany District Attorney David Soares [D]. In a clumsy effort to paint me as insincere, Friedman applies the term “crocodile tears.”

I’ve spent over three decades working with special needs and at-risk children ranging in age from preschool to high school. Responsibilities included teaching, meeting with parents and working with multidisciplinary teams that included probation officers, child protection specialists, social workers and psychologists. We had uplifting successes and heartbreaking disappointments. Tears, whether for joy or sorrow, were genuine.

Soares, shamefully silenced by his own party for condemning cashless bail, had a different take on much of the Collaborative Justice “data.” But an area where he could agree was the study’s very own “Summary and Conclusions.” Here were highlighted the dangers of “increased recidivism for people with substantial recent criminal histories.”

That terrifying scenario became reality in Suffolk County.

On April 24, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney [R] announced the recent seizure of guns and narcotics: “Law enforcement was able to recover … approximately 268 grams of fentanyl, which could kill 134,000 people.’’

Tierney blamed bail reform laws: “Out of the 21 individuals arrested, we only got to seek bail on 11.” Consider that fact, knowing 350 of our neighbors died of fentanyl overdoses last year.

On May 11, Michael Lafauci, a six-year veteran assigned to the 6th Precinct’s Anti-Crime Unit, barely survived a gunshot wound. The alleged shooter was Janell Funderburke. Last August, he and three others were arrested after fleeing police, then crashing a 2018 BMW. Suffolk cops pulled them from that burning vehicle and, in the process, found a handgun and drugs.

Suffolk County Police Benevolent Association President Noel DiGerolamo linked Lafauci’s horrific wounding to what he considers New York’s failed bail reform law, saying this suspected gang member “should never been out on the street.” He continued, “An individual who one day is rescued by Suffolk County police officers … only … for him to attempt to kill one. This is what our leaders in Albany have created.”

Counting on those 10 enjoying a cashless bail release, as described by Tierney, after their drug bust to “reform”? Ask DiGerolamo, the two DAs and, most importantly, Officer LaFauci.

Jim Soviero

East Setauket

WRITE TO US … AND KEEP IT LOCAL

We welcome your letters, especially those responding to our local coverage, replying to other letter writers’ comments and speaking mainly to local themes. Letters should be no longer than 400 words and may be edited for length, libel, style, good taste and uncivil language. They will also be published on our website. We do not publish anonymous letters. Please include an address and phone number for confirmation.

Email letters to: [email protected]

or mail them to TBR News Media, P.O. Box 707, Setauket, NY 11733

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Shoreham-Wading River midfielder Liam Gregorek gets checked. Photo by Bill Landon
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Shoreham-Wading River attackman Liam Kershis looks toward the cage. Photo by Bill Landon
Shoreham-Wading River attackman Liam Kershis drives past a Kings Park defender. Photo by Bill Landon
Kings Park midfielder Tommy Cassar fires at the cage. Photo by Bill Landon
Shoreham-Wading River attackman Alec Gregorek pushes past a Kings Park defender. Photo by Bill Landon
Shoreham-Wading River attackman Liam Kershis fires at the cage. Photo by Bill Landon
Wildcat Nation. Photo by Bill Landon
Shoreham-Wading River midfielder Ryan Herr on the move. Photo by Bill Landon
Shoreham-Wading River’s Will Miller with a shot on goal. Photo by Bill Landon
Shoreham-Wading River attackman Alec Gregorek shoots. Photo by Bill Landon
Shoreham-Wading River midfielder Liam Gregorek gets checked. Photo by Bill Landon
Shoreham-Wading River’s Will Miller wins the faceoff. Photo by Bill Landon
Shoreham-Wading River goalie Jaden Galfano with the save. Photo by Bill Landon
Kings Park midfielder Tommy Cassar pushes past a defender. Photo by Bill Landon
Kings Park senior attack Thomas Hnis finds the cutter. Photo by Bill Landon
Kings Park attackman Jack Salva looks toward the cage. Photo by Bill Landon
Kings Park midfielder John Flynn advances upfield. Photo by Bill Landon
Kings Park midfielder John Flynn rifles a shot on goal. Photo by Bill Landon
Kings Park midfielder Tommy Cassar finds the cutter. Photo by Bill Landon
Kings Park scores. Photo by Bill Landon
Kings Park attackman Thomas Hnis looks to get rid of the ball. Photo by Bill Landon
Kings Park midfielder John Flynn rips a shot. Photo by Bill Landon
Wildcats score. Photo by Bill Landon
Battle at “X” during the opening round of the Suffolk County playoffs May 18. Photo by Bill Landon
Loose ball. Photo by Bill Landon

Liam Kershis led the way for Shoreham Wading River in the opening round of the Suffolk County Class C playoffs as the Wildcats eliminated Kings Park.

Kings Park had struggled against the Wildcats’ defensive pressure, unable to gain traction in the 17-7 loss at Cutinella Memorial Field Thursday night, May 18.

Kershis tallied an assist with five goals for the Wildcats, while teammate Alec Gregorek netted three assists and three goals. Gregorek’s brother, Liam, notched three goals of his own and tacked on an assist in the SWR victory. Goalie Jaden Galfano had eight saves in net, and Jon Gordon stopped two.

Kings Park senior attack Thomas Hnis recorded three goals and a pair of assists for the Kingsmen. Nick Papa, John Flynn and Tommy Cassar rounded out the scoring for Kings Park.

The win propels the third-seeded Wildcats to the semifinal round of the county playoffs. The team will travel to Bayport-Blue Point — the second seed — on Tuesday, May 23. The game will start at 4 p.m.

— Photos by Bill Landon

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Melinda Cantor Designs ribbon cutting 05/02/23
Melinda Cantor Designs
Melinda Cantor Designs
Melinda Cantor Designs
Melinda Cantor Designs
Melinda Cantor Designs ribbon cutting 05/02/23

The Port Jefferson Chamber of Comerce hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony for Melinda Cantor Designs on May 2. Located at 903 Main Street, Suite 101, in Port Jefferson Village, the boutique stationery showroom/studio specializes in the design and printing of high quality wedding invitations. The occassion also marked the company’s 25th year in business.

“Thank you Port Jefferson Chamber of Commerce for welcoming Melinda Cantor Designs into your beautiful town. We hope to make it sparkle even more,” said Cantor after the event.

Pictured at the ribbon cutting, from left, PJ Chamber Director & Past President Mary Joy Pipe, Owner of The East End Shirt Co.; 1st V.P. PJ Chamber Steve Munoz, Owner of The Amazing Olive; Secretary PJ Chamber Nancy Bradley, M&T Bank; owner Melinda Cantor; PJ Chamber President Stuart Vincent, Senior Community Relations Project Manager-Mather Hospital;  Michael Casey, Amanda Branch and Doreen Horn. 

For more information, call 631-277-2444 or visit www.melindacantordesigns.com.

Photos courtesy of PJCC

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Many participants at last year's walk wore pink for breast cancer awareness. Photo from Mather Hospital

The fight against breast cancer in our community continues on Sunday, May 21 with the Northwell Health Walk at Mather Hospital located at 75 North Country Road in Port Jefferson. 

Presented by Bethpage Federal Credit Union, the Walk brings together family, friends and team members for a five-mile walk through the scenic villages of Port Jefferson and Belle Terre. The day includes a light breakfast, live music by Damaged Goods, raffles, photo props, a walker warm up session, and the popular Pink Your Pooch contest for the best “pinked” pup!

Sponsored by New York Cancer & Blood Specialists and King Quality Construction, the Northwell Health Walk at Port Jefferson benefits the Fortunato Breast Health Center and serves to raise awareness of the need for regular breast cancer screenings starting at age 40. 

Nearly 300,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year, and early detection through mammograms and other screenings can help find cancer at an early stage, before symptoms appear. In 2019, only 65 percent of women ages 45 and older were up to date with breast cancer screening, according to the American Cancer Society.

The hundreds of participants at this annual event walk for a family member or friend fighting breast cancer, a survivor who conquered breast cancer, or in memory of someone whose life was cut short by this disease.

The event will be held simultaneously with other walks in Riverhead, Jones Beach, Staten Island and Yorktown Heights. Last year’s Northwell Health Walk raised a total of nearly $1 million.

Check-in/registration starts at 8:30 a.m. with an opening ceremony at 9:45 a.m. followed by the walk at 10 a.m. To register, pleasevisit www.northwellhealthwalk.com.

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By Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

Most of us engage in group movements that don’t make our day. We get in a car, sit in traffic as we wait for other cars to pass or for lights to turn green, all the while surrounded by other people doing the same thing.

Group movements start at a young age, which we witness when we stop for school buses that pick up students. A line of buses then brings those students into the parking lot.

Our entertainment and discretionary decisions follow some of the same patterns as we travel by car, bus, or train to sporting events or, in our case, recently, concerts.

And yet, the experience and the excitement we share in our interactions are markedly different.

My wife and I attended a recent performance by Janet Jackson as a part of her Together Again tour.

Unlike 15 years ago when we last saw Janet Jackson at Madison Square Garden, we asked our son to take us to and from the concert. That’s one advantage of the passage of time.

We left the car about four-tenths of a mile from the arena. Walking more rapidly than the cars inching along next to us, we followed the line of people trekking along the shoulder to the entrance.

A woman leaned out of her window and asked us if we knew if the place would sell refreshments. We said we hoped so, but weren’t sure. She gave us an appreciative and friendly wave, despite the fact that we were completely unhelpful.

People wore a wide range of outfits, with some clad in T-shirts showing a younger version of Janet from earlier concerts and others adorned in dresses and high-heeled shoes.

While waiting to get inside the arena, we spoke with a couple behind us, who were celebrating their 5th wedding anniversary and her graduation from nursing school.

Once Ludacris took the stage, the crowd, which included every age group from young children to gray-haired seniors, shouted, swayed and responded to his songs.

Cooled by a light and intermittent breeze, the crowd roared its appreciation with the left side screaming at full throat to outdo the right.

A father, mother and daughter two rows ahead of us had clearly come to see Janet, sitting and eating popcorn despite Ludacris’ exhortations for everyone to stand and shout.

Before Janet took the stage, the arena displayed a photo montage from 50 years of Janet, showing the many faces of her public life.

I wasn’t tall enough to see over a man two rows in front of me. I looked around him to see the stage and the numerous screens with images of Janet and her dancers.

As I listened and watched a show in which Janet changed her wardrobe several times, I appreciated the energy such a concert must take to put on at the age of 56. She isn’t sprinting around the stage, but she still breaks into some of her iconic moves, with sweat gleaming on her forehead.

She urged the audience to turn on their phone flashlights, which created a wave of swaying bright lights along the lawn and in the seats.

While I reveled in familiar songs, I wished the heavy and loud bass and drums didn’t overwhelm Janet’s voice. I also second-hand smoked a high dose of marijuana, as the smokestack attached to the person two seats away from me must have felt as lit up as the stage by the finale.

The experience, which I shared with thousands of thrilled audience members, brought me back to the times and places where I heard these same songs decades ago. As we followed the crowd back to our cars (or, in our case, to meet our son), I could feel the glow the concert created for an appreciative audience. For a few hours, the strangers we might otherwise see as obstacles on the way to something else came together during a joyful concert.

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Facebook photo

By Leah S. Dunaief

Leah Dunaief

“When are you going to retire?” is a question that makes me smile. Of course, it is closely related to another word: age. Put the two words together, and I start to become defiant, which is probably why Martha Stewart decided to pose in a swimsuit for the cover of Sports Illustrated’s annual issue.

Now I know about Martha Stewart, who was not called by that name when she was a year behind me at Barnard College. That means she is only one year younger than I, and she, too, was feeling defiant. She wanted to show the world that she was not invisible just because she is older. And indeed, she is showing the whole world because she is an international personality, a businesswoman, writer and television personality, who has written books, publishes a magazine, hosted two syndicated television programs and personifies contemporary graceful living with her Martha Stewart Living ventures.

My guess is that many women in the latter years of their lives are cheering Martha Stewart’s swimsuit photos and her defiance.

Ageism is definitely an unwelcome bigoted “ism” in this century, when people are often living into their 80s, 90s and beyond. One of my personal heroes is Warren Buffett, American business investor and philanthropist. Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, known as the “Oracle of Omaha” and worth over 100 billion dollars, making him the fifth richest person in the world, he will be celebrating his 93rd birthday in August. Even more impressive is his business partner, Charlie Munger, who is 99. Together they still run the fabulously successful company.

Another such story is about Milton Esterow, 94, profiled in The New York Times last Sunday. A publisher at the age of 10 in Brooklyn where he grew up, he made 18 copies of his first publication, each consisting of one handwritten page, and sold them to friends for 2 cents apiece. You can see why he has already stolen my heart. Today he still writes articles for The New York Times about culture and art. In between, he has traveled around the world, met famous artists, owned the country’s oldest art magazine, ARTimes, and won many distinguished prizes. His culture stories had an edge. In 1964 he wrote a front page story for The NYT on treasures stolen by the Nazis during WWII, one of rare culture stories to run on page one. 

His investigative approach made his stories and magazine successes. In the early 1980s, as a result of a rumor he had heard, he and his wife flew to Vienna and visited a monastery that might house thousands of works looted by Nazi soldiers. He met with head of the Federal Monuments Office in Austria and sensed that the man was defensive. He assigned a reporter to dig around and by 1984, the article appeared attesting to the hidden collection. At that point, “All hell broke loose,“ according to Esterow.

“In 1985, the Austrian government announced a plan to return stolen works to their owners or heirs,” according to The NYT. “In 2016, the general consul of Austria presented Mr. Esterow with a Cross of Honor for Science and Art, saying that his work helped to make Austria ‘a better country.’”

Esterow continues to follow the trail of Nazi looting. He does not plan to retire. I particularly like what he had to say about that.

“Work is more fun than fun.”

For all these people and so many more octogenarians and older — Martha Stewart, Warren Buffett, Milton Esterow — retirement is a strange idea. Old age is another.

My sentiments, too.

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Earl L. Vandermeulen High School, above. File photo by Elana Glowatz

Residents of the Port Jefferson School District narrowly rejected yet another proposed capital bond during the Tuesday, May 16, school elections. Just 34 votes decided the outcome as the community voted down the district’s proposed $15.9 million capital bond by a 708 to 674 margin. 

The “no” vote comes just over six months after the community rejected a pair of capital bonds totaling nearly $25 million. The deferred investments in school infrastructure now raise questions about the school district’s long-term future.

“It’s disappointing that a small bond with critical updates failed by a small margin,” PJSD Superintendent Jessica Schmettan said in a statement. “Our community is clearly divided on how to move forward.”

Village of Port Jefferson Mayor Margot Garant has been an ardent supporter of these proposed school infrastructure improvements. In an exclusive interview, she expressed her displeasure with the outcome.

“I would have hoped that the members of the community would have a little bit more vision and understanding of the consequences of not investing in our district and our facilities,” she said. “Nevertheless, the schools remain a major selling point in this community.”

The mayor added, “We want to remain positive, support our district and all the programs, making sure the facilities remain safe for our kids. I’m sure the Board of Ed will continue to do that, although they are working with less and less resources every year.”

In preparing this year’s capital bond proposal, the school board had scaled down its financial request to the voters by about a third, eliminating the proposed artificial turf field at the high school that was part of the December proposal. 

Given the challenges of getting these bond projects approved, Garant expressed uncertainty about how the voters can ultimately pass these infrastructure projects.

“I’m not real sure,” she said. “Maybe they put it up with each budget in the years to come, one small bond initiative at a time. But then you’re not doing a long-term project plan.” 

She added, “I’m not really sure if it’s the messaging or just the community’s misunderstanding of the impacts. People [are] making large, generic statements instead of looking at this very carefully.”

The bond’s rejection resurrects long-standing questions over declining student enrollment and public revenue, with some community members beginning to advocate for a possible merger with a neighboring school district.

Garant rejected this thinking, noting the substantial costs associated with such a plan. “I think that would be this community’s gravest mistake,” the mayor said. “Their school tax dollars would immediately almost double.”

She added that there are other unsettled questions over a potential merge, including what to do with the PJSD’s existing properties and whether a neighboring district would even accept its students. “It’s a very long process, and it’s not a solution when you have the opportunity to make a long-term investment to making things better.”

Despite the outcome, Garant said the community should closely assess its priorities and begin to chart a path forward. 

“I think the [school] board is resilient, and the community is resilient,” she concluded. “We’re going to encourage them because they were very, very close, and we just have to keep trying.”

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