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Democratic challenger files immediate appeal, keeps eyes on November's general election

Michael Marcantonio. Photo by Kyle Barr

A judge has ordered Democratic challenger Michael Marcantonio’s name be removed from the ballot for the 12th Assembly District.

New York State Supreme Court Judge Richard Horowitz issued a decision Aug. 17 that Marcantonio, 31, does not meet the minimum residency requirements to run for state Assembly.

His campaign has already filed an appeal of the decision, a staff member of Suffolk County Board of Elections confirmed Aug. 20.

“We will be proceeding with an appeal not just for our campaign, but for young people across our state that would be disenfranchised if this decision was allowed to stand,” Marcantonio said in a statement. “Long Island is facing a loss of our young people as they obtain education and are forced to seek opportunities elsewhere. This decision would place further barriers between young people and their ability to serve our communities.”

“We will be proceeding with an appeal not just for our campaign, but for young people across our state that would be disenfranchised if this decision was allowed to stand.”

— Michael Marcantonio

In July, 12th District residents Ralph Notaristefano, Paul D’Alessio and Kathleen Barnhart filed a lawsuit contending Marcantonio did not meet New York’s residency requirements to run. Under state law, any candidate for state office must show he or she has resided within the state for a minimum of five years and in the assembly district for one year.

The judge ruled that because Marcantonio registered to vote in the 2012 presidential election in North Carolina, where he attended law school at Duke University from 2012 to 2015, he did not meet the five-year New York State residency requirement, according to a statement issued by Marcantonio’s campaign.
Marcantonio could not immediately be reached for further comment. His campaign did not immediately provide a copy of the judge’s decision upon request.

At a July 30 press conference at Cow Harbor Park in Northport, Marcantonio said he believes his right to run for office is protected under the U.S. Supreme Court decision Symm v. United States (1979), which he said allows for students’ right to vote without losing their residency.’

“Merely registering to vote as a student out of state is not enough to eviscerate your residency in this state as a New Yorker,” Marcantonio said July 30.

The Democratic challenger remained on North Carolina’s voter lists until he graduated with his legal degree in 2015. He changed his registration to New York for the 2016 presidential primary, and cast a ballot in the last Northport school board election.

Marcantonio had previously said if he lost the lawsuit, he feared it could bar young people from voting while attending out-of-state school and then coming back to run for office.

Incumbent state Assemblyman Andrew Raia (R-East Northport), whose seat Marcantonio was vying to grab, previously weighed in on the issue stating anyone who may want to run for office after attending school in another state should use absentee ballots.

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Suffolk County police car. File photo

Suffolk County Police Homicide Squad detectives are investigating the death of an East Northport man who was found unresponsive in his home’s swimming pool on Saturday.

Second Precinct officers responded to a Franconia Road house Aug. 18 at approximately 4:30 p.m. after a 911 caller reported finding one of the residents, Lewis Conte, unresponsive in the backyard swimming pool. Conte, 63, was pronounced dead at the scene by a physician assistant from the Office of the Suffolk County Medical Examiner. The exact cause of death will be determined by the medical examiner.

Detectives are asking anyone with information on this incident to call the Homicide Squad at 631-852-6392.

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The New York State Armory is slated to become the James D. Conte Community Center. File photo

Town of Huntington officials went back to the drawing board by hiring a new architect to take over designing what promises to be a future Huntington Station landmark.

Huntington town board unanimously approved a resolution to hire Patchogue-based BBS Architects, Landscape Architects and Engineers, P.C. to take over the engineering and design of the James D. Conte Community Center in attempts to keep the project’s budget under control.

In December 2016, the town selected DCAK-MSA Architectural and Engineering P.C. out of 14 proposed bids received to create plans to renovate the former New York State National Guard Armory on East 5th Avenue into a community center. The costs of the firm’s engineering services were not to exceed $603,000 over the length of the four-year contract.

On May 22, 2018, DCAK-MSA submitted a supplemental fee request asking for an additional $850,000 to raise their total design fee to $1.453 million, more than double the initial price agreed upon, according to the town.

“We do expect to receive a modified plan from BBS after contracts are signed, scaling construction costs back down within the $9 million range.”

— Chad Lupinacci

Supervisor Chad Lupinacci (R) also indicated there were issues with the conceptual plans that were unveiled in November 2017 as the renderings included features that brought the project’s total cost up to $14.2 million, far exceeding the anticipated budget of $10 million.

“We do expect to receive a modified plan from BBS after contracts are signed, scaling construction costs back down within the $9 million range,” Lupinacci said. “Their experience provides knowledge and skills necessary as we move into the important cost management and design phase.”

BBS has completed more than $3 billion of municipal and school construction projects, according to the town, and is familiar with municipal bidding costs and industry trends. Its contractual costs with the town are not to exceed $711,000 over a four-year span. 

The town first acquired the former armory from New York State in 2013 in the hopes of creating a space that could be used for community-based public programs in education, fitness, health and wellness and veterans’ activities.

The center will be named after James Conte, a former state assemblyman who represented the 10th district including Huntington Station for 24 years and played an instrumental role in getting the state to transfer ownership of the decommissioned building over to the town. Conte died in October 2012 of T-cell lymphoma.

The initial conceptual plans for rehabilitating the 22,500-square-foot building unveiled in November 2017 suggest space could be repurposed for such uses as arts and crafts, a computer lab, a recording studio, an all-purpose gymnasium, a strength training facility, CrossFit center, rock climbing arena, a community meeting space, a multipurpose room, classrooms, office space and an elevated indoor running and walking track. The town has also promised the American Legion Greenlawn Post 1244 a designated area to run as a veterans canteen.

“A couple of months ago my mother and I went down to Town Hall to view the plans that are going to be on display today, and we were just blown away,” said Conte’s daughter Sarah at the time of the unveiling. “This is exaI amctly what my father would have wanted for this community. Myself and my family are so honored to be here and to have this named after him. We know he would be honored as well.”

The first set of architects had suggested possible outdoor uses for the 3.6-acre site could include an amphitheater, meditation gardens, a spiritual walkway and bench seating.

It’s unclear which of these features may be eliminated or reduced in an effort to keep the project costs within its remaining $9 million budget, but BBS is expected to present its revised plans to the town board in the future.

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Town of Huntington will host a Organ Donor Enrollment Day Oct. 10. File photo by Rohma Abbas

The Town of Huntington’s new administration made a second wave of staffing changes at its Aug. 7 meeting, reinstating some positions, while abolishing others.

Huntington Supervisor Chad Lupinacci (R) sponsored a resolution last week that reinstated nine job titles with a total annual salary of $284,921 while also creating 14 new positions for a total of $272,413. The bill also cut nine staffing positions, which is estimated to save more than $268,000 annually.

“We look at the different departments, I’ve been in office seven months now to see what has been working and what isn’t working.”

– Chad Lupinacci

“We look at the different departments, I’ve been in office seven months now to see what has been working and what isn’t working,” Lupinacci said.

A second bill put forth by the supervisor appointed nine individuals to the newly created positions, many of which are exempt from taking civil service tests. Both pieces of legislation passed by a narrow 3-2 vote, split on party lines with Councilman Mark Cuthbertson (D) and Councilwoman Joan Cergol (D) voting against. They accused the board’s hiring process for these position of lacking in transparency and reeking of political nepotism.

“We are seeing chapter two of the Republican patronage playbook at work,” Cuthbertson said, denouncing the legislation. “A slew of positions are being created that require no civil service test. These are patronage jobs — plain and simple.”

The councilman reported he and Cergol weren’t included in the hiring process, stating he had seen only one candidate’s résumé prior to the town board meeting and questioned if those appointments had proper qualifications.

“We are seeing chapter two of the Republican patronage playbook at work.”

— Mark Cuthbertson

Councilman Gene Cook (R) voiced support for Lupinacci’s appointments, stating the changes were needed in order for town government to run efficiently.

“In the past month or two, I’ve had nothing but complaints against the people in the building department,” he said. “I’ve had the same thing with the planning department. There’s been a number of issues and people deserve better.”

As part of the staffing changes, Joseph Cline, who has served as Huntington’s director of engineering services, was demoted to deputy while maintaining his $138,375 salary. Cline will be replaced by Daniel Martin, who will make more than $146,500 a year. He was appointed to serve as a Suffolk County Supreme Court judge since 2010 before becoming a deputy town attorney.

Lupinacci said he stood by the newly hired and appointed employees based on their skills and merit. Of the nine appointments made Aug. 7, five are new hires and four individuals were already employed by the town but are taking on new roles for which they will receive an additional stipend.

“There’s been a number of issues and people deserve better.

— Gene Cook

Cuthbertson previously criticized Lupinacci’s February appointments for going to “11 white Republican males” many of whom had previously campaigned on the party line for various government positions. The councilman argued this second wave of appointments will also have a negative fiscal impact on the town.

“This is gravely wrong from a fiscal and budget standpoint,” Cuthbertson said.

He estimated many of the newly created positions would cost the town approximately $40,000 a year in benefits including health care insurance and retirement benefits.

The town will pull roughly $265,000 from its contingency funds in order to fill the new positions.

““Where is the transparency you promised?”

— Joan Cergol

Cergol voted against the move, calling it a “dizzying array of personnel maneuvers that mystify even those of us used to looking at these resolutions, let alone the public.” She also questioned the hiring process used.

“Where is the transparency you promised?” Cergol said.

She said the resolution Lupinacci presented to board members on the Friday before their meeting had dramatically changed by Tuesday afternoon without explanation.

Among those who will be leaving Town Hall include: John Coraor, director of cultural affairs; Rob Reichert, deputy director of planning; and Jake Turner, the deputy director of engineering services.

The town will be looking to fill three openings that have resulted due to these promotions or being newly created, according to town spokeswoman Lauren Lembo, including an entry-level auto mechanic, an audio-visual production specialist and a plumbing inspector position by civil service candidates.

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The doors leading to the K-wing of Northport Middle School. Photo by Anthony Petriello
A look down the K-wing during renovations at Northport Middle School. Photo by Anthony Petriello
A look inside a K-wing classroom at Northport Middle School. Photo by Anthony Petriello
A look down the K-wing during renovations at Northport Middle School. Photo by Anthony Petriello

Following air quality concerns, Northport school officials said the district plans to reopen the K-wing of Northport Middle School to students for the 2018-19 school year.

Over the summer recess, Northport Superintendent Robert Banzer confirmed the district has undertaken extensive renovations of the K-wing classrooms, including its ventilation systems. The building’s indoor air quality has raised concerns from district residents since the smell of gas fumes was reported in April 2017.

“Prior to the reopening of the school, the district plans to follow [New York State Department of Health’s] recommendation to retest the K-wing to ensure that there are no indoor air quality issues,” Banzer said.

The K-wing’s indoor air quality was last tested in March by the district’s environmental consulting firm, Hauppauge-based J.C. Broderick & Associates, according to the superintendent. The study’s results, which were shared with district residents in a letter dated March 19, stated the consultants had no concerns about mold growth, volatile organic compounds or carbon monoxide in any of the priority areas it reviewed. The consultants did raise medium, or moderate, concerns that some of the district’s ventilation systems were imbalanced in areas and in need of either repair or replacement.

Banzer said the district will continue to utilize the Tools for School program in the K-wing and throughout the district, which shows schools how to carry out a practical plan to resolve indoor air problems such as volatile organic compounds and mold “at little to no cost using straightforward
activities and in-house staff,” according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency website.

The district’s issues with indoor air quality in the K-wing first came to light when an earth science teacher reported smelling fumes in the classroom, and an investigation found the source to be a petroleum-based warehouse beneath the K-wing.

An initial July 2017 study by J.C. Broderick & Associates showed no hazardous concentration of chemicals in any of the air samples. However, four chemicals commonly linked to perfumes, natural rubber products, air conditioners and refrigerators, thermoplastics and latex paints were found in high concentrations — above the 95th percentile of allowable levels determined by the state — in the K-wing corridor, rooms 74 and 75. The consultant’s study was reported to the New York State Department of Health.

Facing widespread community concerns, a forum was held in August 2017, where the superintendent said the district officials had decided to close the Northport Middle School wing for the 2017-18 school year. The closure did not affect previously scheduled classes other than changing their locations, as students were readily accommodated by reallocating use of existing classrooms.

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Town of Huntington, Northport-East Northport and Port Jeff school districts lose third-party lawsuits

Port Jefferson Superintendent Paul Casciano and Northport-East Northport Superintendent Robert Banzer. The two districts had legal challenges shot down by a judge Aug. 16 pertaining to property tax assessment claims made by LIPA. File photos

By Sara-Megan Walsh & Alex Petroski

A New York State Supreme Court judge has ruled Long Island Power Authority “made no promises” to the Town of Huntington, Northport-East Northport school district and Port Jefferson School District not to challenge the taxes levied on its power stations.

Judge Elizabeth Emerson dismissed the lawsuits brought forth by the Town of Huntington and the two school districts Aug. 16 which alleged LIPA broke a promise by seeking to reduce the power plant’s taxes by 90 percent.

“The court’s decision affirms our customers’ right to pay reasonable taxes on the power plants,” LIPA said in a statement from spokesman Sid Nathan. “We remain committed to reaching a fair settlement for both the local communities and our 1.1 million customers to put an unsustainable situation back on a sustainable path.”

Port Jefferson Power Station. File photo by Alex Petroski

The judge’s ruling is a big victory for LIPA as it allows tax certiorari cases to continue to trial, rather than being dismissed, and could have a widespread impact across Long Island for other municipalities with similar disputes against the utility.

“Obviously, we disagree with this decision and plan to appeal,” Northport Superintendent Robert Banzer wrote in a letter to district residents. “Please understand that Justice Emerson’s decision is not the end of our fight in this case.”

Port Jeff school district also responded to the development.

“While this decision is not the outcome the district was hoping for, we vow to continue to explore our options as we work to protect our school district’s financial future and the needs of our community,” the district said in part in a statement. “The district will work to keep the community apprised of any updates on the matter.”

In her 24-page decision, Emerson denied any notion that chapter 21, section 16 of the 1997 Power Supply Agreement signed by LIPA when it took over Long Island Lighting Company — which has been referred to as the 1997 Promise – was intended to benefit the school districts by preventing LIPA from challenging the tax-assessed value of its power plants.

Rather, she found it was to ensure other parties, including LILCO and GENCO, which owned the plants at the time, could not start initiating tax claims during the takeover process.

She also dismisses all claims that town governments or school districts were intended third-party beneficiaries of the contract.

“The Power Supply Agreement is clear and unambiguous and that it does not bestow any enforceable third-party-beneficiary rights on the plaintiff,” Emerson wrote.

The judge pointed to the PSA saying it “does not expressly name” either the town or school districts as a third-party beneficiaries.

“She applied contract law, not third-party beneficiary law,” said John Gross, the attorney representing Northport-East Northport school district. “That’s what we think she the mistake on.”

Gross said New York State law allows entities, like the school districts, to be recognized as third-party beneficiaries based on third-party conversations, letters, and promises. The school districts have filed thousands of pages of documents with the courts, according to Gross, that include official correspondence and records of conversations former LIPA chairman Richard Kessel had with school administrators and Huntington Town officials allegedly promising not to challenge the tax assessment of its power plants.

The judge ruled these “extra-contractual promises” made largely by Kessel “were gratuitious promises for which there was no consideration.” As such, the former chairman’s words “did not contractually bind LIPA.”

Gross said the school’s status as a third-party beneficiary “was wrongly decided.”

This recent decision could have large and profound impact not only on Huntington, Northport-East Northport and Port Jeff schools, but for all other municipal government and school districts that are LIPA’s power plants.

On Page 18 of her decision, Emerson wrote not only did the PSA contract not protect the Town of Huntington, Northport or Port Jeff school district taxpayers but “other similar situated school districts and municipalities.”

“This result was to a very large extent expected by the village, and that’s why the mayor and the board of trustees very early, initiated and drove settlement discussions with LIPA to resolve the issue,” Port Jefferson Village Attorney Brian Egan said.

The village board of trustees and Mayor Margot Garant in April passed a resolution approving “settlement concepts,” and the two sides are exchanging details of terms, expected to reach conclusion “at any time,” Egan said.

“When we’re a taxing jurisdiction and we’re going to subject ourselves to the back taxes on a longshot, that is not what we do with taxpayer dollars,” Garant said. “We have an obligation to not gamble, so to speak.”

“Please understand that Justice Emerson’s decision is not the end of our fight in this case.”

— Robert Banzer

Huntington town attorney Nick Ciappetta said the town plans to file an appeal of the judge’s decision.

“We believe there’s only one logical and legal way to interpret that provision,” he said. “That provision was there for the benefit of the taxpayers of Huntington.”

The town, Northport and Port Jefferson school districts will have 30 days to file an appeal once the decision is officially entered into court records, according to Ciappetta. He estimated an appeal of the decision could take 18 to 24 months.

“The decision does not affect the pending tax certiorari case between the Town of Huntington and LIPA scheduled for trial in December, nor do we expect it will impact the parties’ willingness to proceed with mediation,” Banzer wrote to the community.

Gross confirmed that Northport school district is still looking forward to sitting down for the first mediation session with the Town of Huntington, LIPA, National Grid  and third-party neutral attorney Marty Scheinman slated for Sept. 26.

Officials in Brookhaven’s Town Attorney’s office could not be immediately reached for comment, though the town has also said it is nearing a settlement in its case. Egan speculated settlements for municipalities attempting to resolve cases out of court might be held up by mediation in Northport and Huntington Town’s case.

This post was updated Aug. 17 to include a statement from Port Jefferson School District, and to attribute LIPA’s statement to Sid Nathan.

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Photo by Jay Gao

We have a winner!

Congratulations to Jaimie Lane of Selden for being the winner of our latest Caption This! photo contest. Jaimie’s creative caption, “No, you ask him to refill the bird feeder …,” beat out the competition to win a family four-pack to see “Shrek The Musical” at the John W. Engeman Theater. Congratulations and thanks to all who participated in our contest. Special thanks to the John W. Engeman Theater, 250 Main St., Northport for being our sponsor. Be sure to look out for our next Caption This! photo contest in the near future.

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'Untitled' by Bill Shillalies

By Heidi Sutton

“Conjoined” by Elizabeth Heaton of Amityville

The Long Island Biennial returns to The Heckscher Museum of Art with fervor this year as the fifth edition of the exhibition offers Long Island’s top artists the opportunity to share their artwork with the Huntington community and beyond. The juried exhibit opened on Aug. 4 and will run through Nov. 11. 

Contemporary artists who live in Suffolk and Nassau counties and who have specialized training in art were invited to submit artwork created within the past two years. The result is twofold: providing artists the opportunity to showcase their work to a broad audience in a unique and exciting space and allowing art lovers to see snapshots of what is happening artistically on Long Island.

The brainchild of former curator Kenneth Wayne, the first biennial opened in 2010 in conjunction with the museum’s 90th anniversary. Now, eight years later, the juried exhibit has grown in popularity, receiving a record 351 submissions this year, with 52 works representing communities from New Hyde Park to Montauk selected for the show. Of those selections, 38 of the artists were first-time exhibitors.

‘Wafting Bubinga; by John Dino

This year’s judges — Christine Berry of Berry Campbell Gallery in New York City; Robert Carter, professor of art at Nassau Community College in Garden City; and Bobbi Coller, an independent art historian and curator — were tasked with selecting six winners, which were announced on Aug. 8. 

“The art world needs as many venues as possible for new artists; this is so important and very much appreciated,” said Carter, who was impressed with this year’s submissions. “The artist entries were surprising in how they varied in media use and subject matter — touching on nature, social issues and more.”

Mediums included oil, acrylic, pastel, woodcut, watercolor, sculpture, mixed media, ceramic, bronze, embroidery, tempura, sculptures, photographs, prints and more.

“Buttermilk Falls,” woodcut on paper, by Beth Atkinson of Northport; “Abrasha in Port-au-Prince,” oil on canvas, by Peter Beston of East Quogue; “Wafting Bubinga #2,” carved wood, by John Cino of Patchogue; “Conjoined,” pastel and water on paper, by Elizabeth Heaton of Amityville; ‘Untitled,” ceramic/bronze, by Bill Shillalies of Massapequa; and “Slight Disturbance,” acrylic on clay surface, by Frank Wimberley of Sag Harbor rose above the competition to receive Awards of Merit.

According to museum’s curator, Lisa Chalif, the Long Island Biennial “is about the creativity that surrounds us on Long Island. The show is extremely diverse in terms of medium and subject and style. It is just very appealing — there is something for everyone here.”

‘Abrasha in Port au Prince’ by Peter Beston

The exhibit spans two of the four galleries at the museum. The adjoining exhibits include The Tile Club: Camaraderie and American Plein-Air Painting (through Nov. 4) and Surface Tension: Pictorial Space in 20th Century Art (through May 5, 2019).

“Long Island is teaming with talented artists and the museum is pleased to bring this fact to the public’s attention,” said Executive Director and CEO at The Heckscher Michael W. Schantz in a recent email, adding, “A high quality juried exhibition, such as the Heckscher Museum’s Biennial, remains one of the best ways of doing so.”

The Heckscher Museum of Art, located at 2 Prime Ave., Huntington is open Wednesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call 631-351-3250 or visit www.heckscher.org.

In conjunction with the Long Island Biennial, several related programs are scheduled at the museum:
‘Slight Disturbance’ by Frank Kimberly

Exploring Art … Making Memories

A guided tour and activity for those living with dementia and their care partners will be held on Monday, Aug. 20 from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Members pay $8; nonmembers $10; care partners are free.

Gallery Talk

Meet Long Island Biennial artists John Cino, Rachelle Krieger and Alisa Shea at a gallery talk on Sunday, Sept.16 from 1 to 3 p.m. Members are free, nonmembers pay $5.

DRAW OUT! With Biennial Artists

Join The Heckscher Museum and its 2018 Cultural Partners for this free Community Arts event on Sunday, Sept. 23 from noon to 4 p.m.  (rain date Sept. 30). See demonstrations and meet Biennial artists Mario Bakalov, E. Craig Marcin and Inna Pashina. Hear live music, sketch a model, paint en plein air and much more.  

The Heckscher Museum of Art was founded in 1920 by philanthropist August Heckscher and is listed on the National and New York State Register of Historic Places. The museum’s permanent collection comprises more than 2,500 works from the 16th to the 21st centuries. 

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Northport power plant. File photo

Long Island Power Authority has won the latest battle against the Town of Huntington in the lengthy legal war over Northport Power Station’s value.

New York State Supreme Court’s Appellate Division has reinstated LIPA’s right to pursue a lawsuit against the Town of Huntington regarding the amount of taxes levied against the Northport power plant, reversing a September 2015 decision made by a lower court. A panel of judges ruled Aug. 8 LIPA does have legal standing to be a plaintiff in the 2010 lawsuit it filed jointly with National Grid.

“We believe the appellate court’s decision is correct.”

— Sid Nathan

“We believe the appellate court’s decision is correct,” LIPA spokesman Sid Nathan said. “We remain committed to reaching a fair settlement for both the local communities and our 1.1 million customers to put an unsustainable tax situation back on a sustainable path.”

In September 2015, state Supreme Court Justice John Bivona issued a decision dismissing LIPA’s standing as an initiating plaintiff in the tax certiorari case, since National Grid — and not LIPA — is the owner of the plant. Bivona had written that while LIPA believed its financial interests are adversely impacted by a wrongly overstated assessment of the power plant, “the result is still remote and consequential and certainly does not constitute a direct loss because the property taxes levied upon the Northport Power Station are actually and directly paid by National Grid Generation LLC.”

LIPA filed an appeal of Bivona’s decision in 2015. The utility has asserted while National Grid does own the power plant, the station is under contract with LIPA. Under the contract, LIPA is required to pay all costs to run the power plant — including the $80 million in annual property taxes to the Town of Huntington — and provide necessary fuel, for which in return it receives all electricity generated for its customers.

The utility company claims that its costs to operate the Northport Power Station including the taxes on it exceed the total revenue, resulting in LIPA referring to it as a “significant burden to LIPA’s customers.”

“We’re reviewing the order from the appellate division and we’re considering an appeal.”

— Nicholas Ciappetta

With LIPA’s legal status reinstated as a party of interest on the tax certiorari case, the issue of the property tax-assessed value of the power plant could proceed to trial.

However, Huntington Town Attorney Nicholas Ciappetta has said he plans to carefully review the appellate court’s decision.

“We believe this has been wrongly decisioned,” Ciappetta said in a statement. “We’re reviewing the order from the appellate division and we’re considering an appeal.”

This latest legal decision comes less than a month after Huntington voted July 17 to hire a neutral third-party mediator, Marty Scheinman, in an attempt to reach a resolution with LIPA, National Grid and Northport-East Northport school district. The town agreed to pay Scheinman $1,150 an hour in addition to covering all out-of-pocket expenses, such as transportation and a one-time administrative fee, the total bill will be split among all parties in the mediation. 

Mediation has not yet started, but the first session is slated for Sept. 26, according to Chiappetta.

Update: Additional information was added to further clarify that the town will be splitting the costs of the third-party mediator. 

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Michael Schatz. Photo courtesy of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

By Daniel Dunaief

What if an enormous collection of Scrabble letters were spread out across the floor? What if several letters came together to form the word “victory”? Would that mean something? On its own, the word might be encouraging, depending on the context.

Genetic researchers are constantly looking at letters for the nucleotides adenine, guanine, cytosine and tyrosine, searching for combinations that might lead to health problems or, eventually, diseases like cancer.

For many of these diseases, seeing the equivalent of words like “cancer,” “victory” and “predisposition” are helpful, but they are missing a key element: context.

W. Richard McCombie

Michael Schatz, an adjunct associate professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory who is also the Bloomberg distinguished associate professor at Johns Hopkins, and W. Richard McCombie, a professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, use long-read sequencing technology developed by Pacific Biosciences to find genetic variants that short-read sequencing missed.

The two scientists recently teamed up to publish their work on the cover of the August issue of the journal Genome Research. They provided a highly detailed map of the structural variations in the genes of a breast cancer cell.

“This is one of many covers [of scientific journals] that we are pleased and proud of,” said Jonas Korlach, the chief scientific officer at Menlo Park, California-based Pacific Biosciences. 

“This is another example of how long-read sequencing can give you a more complete picture of the genome and allow researchers to get a more complete understanding of the underlying biology and here, specifically, that underlies the transition from a health to a cancer disease state,” he said.

Schatz and McCombie were able to see fine detail and the context for those specific sequences. They were able to see about 20,000 structural variations in the cancer genome. “It’s like using Google maps,” explained Schatz in a recent interview. “You can see the overall picture of the country and then you can see roads and zoom out.”

In the context of their genetics work, this means they could see large and small changes in the genome. Only about a quarter of the variants they found could be detected without long-read technology.

In breast cancer, scientists currently know about a family of genes that could be involved in the disease. At this point, however, they may be unaware of other variants that are in those genes. Schatz is hoping to develop more sensitive diagnostics to identify more women at risk.

People like actress and advocate Angelina Jolie have used their genetic screens to make informed decisions about their health care even before signs of any problems arise. Jolie had a double mastectomy after she learned she had the mutation in the BRCA1 gene that put her at an 87 percent risk of developing breast cancer.

By studying the sequence of genes involved in breast cancer, researchers may be able to identify other people that are “at high risk based on their genetics,” Schatz said.

Knowing what’s in your genome can help people decide on potentially prophylactic treatments. 

When people discover that they have breast cancer, they typically choose a specific type of treatment, depending on the subtype of cancer.

“There’s a lot of interest to divide [the genetic subtypes] down into even finer detail,” said Schatz, adding, “There’s also interest in transferring those categories into other types of cancer, to give [patients] better treatments if and when the disease occurs.”

The reduced cost of sequencing has made these kinds of studies more feasible. In 2012, this study of the breast cancer genome would have cost about $100,000. To do this kind of research today costs closer to $10,000 and there’s even newer sequencing technology that promises to be even less expensive, he said.

Pacific Biosciences continues to see a reduction in the cost of its technology. The company plans to introduce a new chip next year that has an eightfold higher capacity, Korlach said.

Schatz said the long-term goal is to apply this technique to thousands of patients, which could help detect and understand genetic patterns. He and McCombie are following up on this research by looking at patients at Northwell Health.

In this work, Schatz’s group wrote software that helped decipher the code and the context for the genetic sequence.

“The instrument doesn’t know anything about genes or cancer,” he said. “It produces raw data. We write software that can take those sequences and compare them to the genome and look for patterns to evaluate what this raw data tells us.”

Schatz described McCombie, with whom he speaks every day or so, as his “perfect complement.” He suggested that McCombie was one of the world’s leaders on the experimental side, adding, “There’s a lot of artwork that goes into running the instruments. My lab doesn’t have that, but his lab does.”

Working with his team at CSHL and Johns Hopkins has presented Schatz with numerous opportunities for growth and advancement.

“Cold Spring Harbor is an internationally recognized institute for basic science, while Johns Hopkins is also an internationally recognized research hospital and university,” he explained. He’s living in the “best of both worlds,” which allows him to “tap into amazing people and resources and capacities.”

Korlach has known Schatz for at least a decade. He said he’s been “really impressed with his approach,” and that Schatz is “highly regarded by his peers and in the community.”

Schatz is also a “terrific mentor” who has helped guide the development of the careers of several of his former students, Korlach said.

Down the road, Schatz also hopes to explore the genetic signature that might lead to specific changes in a cancer, transforming it from an organ-specific disease into a metastatic condition.

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