Port Jefferson Village Center. Photo by Heidi Sutton
By Samantha Rutt
On the evening of May 29, a crime occurred near the village center, shedding light on gaps in the village hall’s communication protocols. The incident has raised questions and concerns among residents and officials about the effectiveness of current systems for public safety notifications.
Incident details
Between 6 and 6:30 p.m., a man who had been stabbed or slashed sought help at the Village Center near Harborfront Park. Covered in blood, the victim’s appearance alarmed bystanders. The assailants were reportedly still at large, fleeing in a white SUV. Suffolk County Police responded with several police cars and retrieved camera footage from the area to aid their investigation.
Compounding the situation, a senior awards ceremony and several sporting events were taking place at the nearby school. Despite the proximity of these events to the crime scene, school leadership was not informed about the incident, raising concerns about the safety and well-being of students and attendees.
Response timeline
Seeking clarity and answers, an email was sent to village officials on May 31. The email was addressed to Mayor Sheprow and trustees Loucks, Juliano, Kassay, and Biondo. All below events are reported from Traci Donnelly’s Facebook page.
May 31, 6:25 p.m.: Initial inquiry sent to village officials.
May 31, 8:26 p.m.: Trustee Loucks responded, indicating he was unaware of any official communication from the village. He learned about the incident from the manager of the village center and noted that more than 50 hours after the incident, trustees had still not been provided with any updates or information.
May 31, 9:11 p.m.: A follow-up email was sent, questioning the lack of community notification.
May 31, 9:32 p.m.: Trustee Biondo responded, suggesting that if the incident were serious enough, the Suffolk County Police Department would have notified the community.
June 1, 7:02 a.m.: A request was made for clear communication protocols and criteria for alert systems.
June 1, 1:51 p.m.: Trustee Biondo advised attending the next public meeting for discussions and deliberation with the trustees. It was reiterated that, according to the village attorney and mayor, public comments are not meant for deliberations.
Several concerns have emerged in the wake of this incident. No public alert was issued, despite the severity of the incident and its proximity to community events, no alert was sent to residents. A lack of real-time information as schools and trustees were not informed in real time. Trustee Loucks learned about the incident from the village center manager and other trustees were also uninformed prior to the email. Additionally, it was made evident there are communication gaps as the current strategy for notifying residents about serious incidents is unclear.
The incident has prompted several questions from concerned residents, in Donnelly’s post she asks “Why wasn’t the incident on May 29 considered a public safety issue warranting a Code Red alert? Who decides when these alerts are issued and who is on the village’s emergency response team? Were all trustees informed of the incident in real time?”
The community is calling for increased transparency and the development of a comprehensive communication plan with public input. Residents are encouraged to email trustees directly for accurate information and to avoid relying on social media for critical updates.
“It is important to have communication between village officials and residents. We are looking to wirk alongside residents to have an effective emergency response system in place,” village trustee Rebecca Kassay said.
The email exchange regarding this incident is available upon request for anyone interested in complete transparency.
Legislator Steve Englebright. Photo courtesy Office of Leg. Englebright
By Steve Englebright
The dust has barely settled from the demolition of 14 buildings at the long-blighted Lawrence Aviation Industries site. However, the promise the site holds as the only viable location for the rail yard needed to facilitate the modernization of the Long Island Rail Road’s Port Jefferson Branch is quickly fading.
For years, community organizations, business leaders and a united bipartisan coalition of elected officials — from County Executive Ed Romaine (R) to U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D) and virtually every elected office in between — have worked tirelessly to craft a community-supported plan to clean up and redevelop the site. In fact, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority/LIRR is currently in contract to purchase a portion of the Lawrence Aviation site for railroad use, including a rail yard, as part of the Port Jefferson Branch modernization project included in the MTA’s recently published 20-Year Needs Assessment. The purchase price from Suffolk County Landbank Corp. to the MTA for the site is only $10.
Now, with a hard-fought victory in sight, the remaining puzzle piece that could derail the community’s vision is a slow-motion negotiation between the New York State Department of Transportation and the MTA to finalize an easement over a state-owned right-of-way for an unbuilt highway that has been converted into the Setauket-Port Jefferson Station Greenway trail to make the entire site inclusive of a functioning, relocated rail yard terminus for the LIRR. For the plan to move forward, DOT and MTA must finalize an agreement before June 30.
The modernization of the Port Jefferson railroad line is imperative to address climate change issues and prepare our regional transportation system for the future. The stakes are high — communities along the Port Jefferson Branch comprise 30% of Suffolk County’s population. The branch also serves faculty and students at Stony Brook University, the largest single-site employer on Long Island.
Stations along the Port Jefferson Branch are among the most reliant on outdated and polluting diesel technology in the LIRR system. Further, inferior service on the branch contributes to roadway congestion and additional air pollution as Suffolk residents along the Port Jefferson Branch opt to drive to Ronkonkoma and other stations to access single-seat service to their destinations.
Modernization of the Port Jefferson line has been promised for decades. An internal MTA study determined that double-tracking and electrifying the line is feasible. There is overwhelming support among residents and businesses, and long memories of broken promises for change.
If DOT and MTA — two state-controlled agencies — can’t agree to easement language quickly, communities from Huntington to Port Jefferson will lose out on the opportunity to include funding for the early planning and preliminary construction phases of modernization in the upcoming 2025-2029 MTA Capital Program, delaying the planning process for this long overdue and transformative project for at least another five years.
If this hard-fought plan, built on a solid foundation of community and bipartisan political support, is allowed to fall by the wayside, electrification may never happen — to the lasting detriment of the entire region.
State agencies must work together in the weeks ahead to ensure that this unique opportunity to modernize the Port Jefferson Branch can, finally, leave the station.
Steve Englebright (D-Setauket) is the Suffolk County legislator for the 5th Legislative District, and was formerly a New York State assemblyman.
Port Jefferson village trustee candidate Kyle Hill. Photo courtesy Kyle Hill
By Aidan Johnson
Port Jefferson resident Kyle Hill has entered the race for village trustee.
Hill, who announced his bid on June 16, was originally a Democratic candidate for the 1st Congressional District, but suspended his campaign on Feb. 28, stating, “I will never be able to fully put into words my sincere gratitude and appreciation for the warm reception and excitement I received all across the district.”
After attending graduate school at Stony Brook University, he worked for Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY 2/3) on Capitol Hill. Hill has a background in public policy, with many of his projects extending across the aisle. He is also a volunteer EMT with the Port Jefferson EMS.
He decided to run for trustee after being encouraged to do so by Deputy Mayor Rebecca Kassay in order to “carry on her environmental legacy,” he said.
He stressed flooding as one of his major issues, describing how it is more than just an inconvenience.
“The fire department floods a lot … and it’s wild that we are just letting this happen without a solution coming to the forefront, because if the firehouse is flooded out how can they respond to emergencies, ” Hill said in an interview.
While Hill was open to considering moving the firehouse, he noted that since the fire station has special district status the village could not tell them to move, and he also stated the importance of acknowledging what the firehouse members wanted.
However, he said that it was important to focus on alleviating the flooding itself, including by preserving open space in the village.
“I think it would be really great if we had a true census on what’s left of open space because if you hardscape everything, the water can’t seep back into the soil — and that’s what causes flooding because the water has no place to go,” Hill said.
Hill is joined by two other candidates, Xena Ugrinsky and Marie Parziale, for the two trustee seats, meaning that two out of the three candidates will be elected. He did not offer an opinion on Parziale as he had not yet met her, but said that he and Ugrinsky had a good working history together as they both worked on the elections task force.
He also advocates for keeping the school district open, adding that it is important for everyone to focus on solutions instead of arguments.
Hill believes that he could give a “young voice perspective” on the board of trustees.
“I think me being on there would be an important perspective for the future of the village, and just being able to bring folks together and focus on the problems,” he said.
During the April 24 Village of Port Jefferson Board of Trustees meeting, discussions surrounding the Port Jefferson school district budget for the year 2024-25 and the new village parking initiative took center stage.
School budget
Deputy Superintendent Sean Leister provided a detailed overview of the school district’s financial landscape, emphasizing ongoing challenges. These challenges include an uncertain timeline for resolving the Child Victims Act litigation and decreases in revenue due to the LIPA glide path agreement.
Leister reported that the Board of Education deliberated extensively on budget allocations for the upcoming year, focusing on necessary construction projects. Due to budget constraints, the school board approved four projects totaling $1 million. These projects relate to demolishing a no-longer-habitable high school portable classroom, renovating the high school orchestra room, renovating the elementary school pool and continuing a roofing project.
Reduced enrollment prompted reductions in staff positions, amounting to 3.6 full-time equivalent positions.
“I don’t say this lightheartedly for any reduction for a staff member is tough, but someone may be reduced from 100% to 80% meaning going from five classes to four,” Leister said.
The budget breakdown highlighted that 77% of the district’s funding goes to salaries and benefits.
“Once you take into account collective bargaining agreements, state regulations and state mandates, of this whole budget probably only about 4% is controllable,” he said.
Leister noted increases for the coming year in medical insurance (10%), liability insurance (4%), teacher retirement insurance (9.76%-10.25%) and utilities (4%).
Mayor Lauren Sheprow sought clarity on the reserve funds in the budget presentation. Leister indicated that the presentation did not explicitly state the details of the reserve funds. However, residents can find information about the funds on the district’s website. Leister summarized for the mayor a general breakdown of the reserve into six parts that comprise a fund for workers compensation, unemployment insurance, spikes in the retirement system, the teachers and civil service unions, and capital projects.
“Right now, our capital reserve fund is $3.1 million. We use that to do different capital projects. The way we fund it is when we have a surplus at the end of a given year — the board will pass a motion to fund that reserve up to no more than $1.5 million each year,” Leister said.
Trustee Drew Biondo asked, “Is there any working group going on to bring the community in and talk about what we are doing as a district as our enrollment drops and how we maintain our services?”
Sheprow responded, “In fact, the village created a school district interactive working group in response to taxpayer feedback about this issue. My perspective is that it is about building trust with community members to show that you are listening to them and being fiscally responsible.”
The 2024-25 second draft budget is projected at $48,018,335 ($47,066,099 in 2023-24), an increase of 2.02%.
The total amount of taxes levied by the school district for the 2024-25 academic year is estimated at $39.8 million ($39.3 million), a 1.24% increase.
The vote for or against the 2024-25 budget will be held at the Earl L. Vandermeulen High School cafeteria on Tuesday, May 21.
Managed parking
Andrew Freleng, director of the Building & Planning Department, reported on the progress of the newly-implemented parking management system. His presentation reviewed the village’s recent effort to streamline its parking infrastructure and improve user experience. The new system departs from previous practices, informed by operational recommendations from the parking committee.
The initiative kicked off with the removal of redundant signage and simplified messaging. The new system also retooled pay stations to emphasize functionality and user experience.
Freleng emphasized the use of empirical data to inform operational decision-making. The overall approach is to refine the parking management strategy over time in response to data-driven outcomes such as revenue generated and community feedback.
Managed parking in the village began April 15. Homeowners must each renew their virtual permit to park for free in village lots every two years. Renters renew every year.
Miller Place senior Zoe Weissman battles at the draw. Photo by Bill Landon
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Miller Place sophomore Giulia Francese fires at the cage. Photo by Bill Landon
Miller Place senior Zoe Weissman battles at the draw. Photo by Bill Landon
Port Jeff goalie Emma Batter with one of her 11 saves. Photo by Bill Landon
Port Jefferson junior Anna Matvya looks for a cutter. Photo by Bill Landon
Port Jeff sophomore Marley York eludes a defender. Photo by Bill Landon
Miller Place attack Hayden Young breaks up-field. Photo by Bill Landon
Miller Place midfielder Angie Efstathiou splits a pair of defenders. Photo by Bill Landon
Port Jeff junior Savanna Florio drives towards the crease. Photo by Bill Landon
By Bill Landon
The Royals of Port Jefferson had their hands full when they hosted the Panthers of Miller Place Friday afternoon, April 26, in a home game in a girls lacrosse matchup. The Royals hoped to use the home field — which is grass, not turf — to their advantage. But the game didn’t play out that way in the Division II matchup.
Port Jeff junior Anna Matvya split the pipes midway through the second quarter to break the ice for her team, but it was little consolation as the Royals trailed 11-1 at the half. Miller Place peppered the scoreboard with seven more goals in the second half with Matvya finding the back of the net thrice more for an impressive four goals as the Royals fell to the Panthers 18-4.
Miller Place attack Mirabella Altebrando had three goals and eight assists with teammate Lyla Coffey netting three times.
Sophia Ingenito and Casey Gilbert both had two goals and an assist for the Panthers and Angie Efstathiou and Hayden Young had two goals apiece.
Port Jefferson Board of Education convened on Tuesday, April 9, to kick off the start to the final quarter of the school year. The meeting highlighted achievements and initiatives, such as academic recognition and community engagement discussions. Updates on student activities were shared alongside discussions on budget and curriculum enhancements, reflecting the district’s focus on educational advancement.
John Ruggero, principal of Earl L. Vandermeulen High School, announced the valedictorian, Eric Chen, and salutatorian, Michelle Wu, for the Class of 2024. Both students were congratulated on their exceptional academic achievements.
Capital projects
Following a few other brief presentations, Sean Leister, deputy superintendent, provided a comprehensive overview of the current status and future plans for capital projects. Leister began by addressing the delays encountered at the state level regarding project approvals, which contributed to the district falling slightly behind schedule.
For the 2022-23 period, Leister highlighted ongoing projects such as the middle school retaining wall and drainage, the high school bleacher project, the elementary pool repair and the completion of a segment of the high school roofing project. He noted that despite initial budget estimates, actual project costs varied with some coming in under budget while others exceeded projections.
Transitioning to the 2023-24 period, Leister outlined projects still under review, including the ADA bathroom and phase one of the windows replacement at the high school, while also mentioning completed projects such as the rear boundary fence at the elementary school and the cancellation of the stop-arm booth project.
Looking ahead to 2024-25, Leister proposed additional projects, including the renovation of the high school orchestra room, further pool maintenance and additional roofing work. He emphasized the importance of maintaining a contingency budget to address unforeseen circumstances, detailing the restrictions and limitations associated with such a budget.
Public comment
During the presentation, community member concerns regarding declining enrollment and long-term planning were raised. Leister acknowledged the importance of addressing these concerns and assured attendees that discussions regarding future plans were ongoing.
However, concerns raised by Port Jefferson residents during the public comment period shed light on broader community apprehensions.
Village resident Suzette Smookler expressed worries about declining enrollment and long-term planning, emphasizing the need for transparency and proactive measures. She urged the board to consider contingency plans and engage in open dialogue with stakeholders to address these concerns effectively.
“Whether I look at BOCES reports, your reports, Newsday’s reports, we definitely have a significant declining enrollment,” Smookler said of the district’s current enrollment figures.
Smookler asked the board how they plan to address the current enrollment numbers. “What is the plan B?” she asked. Smookler continued advocating for a more inviting conversation from residents. “Openness and communication go a long way,” she said. “I would appreciate it if maybe you [the board] can get a committee, a group together, some people from in town, some who have never had children, some who have put six through the distinct. I think by doing that you will foster less divisiveness and distrust.”
Another resident, Gail Sternberg echoed similar sentiments, posing questions before the board with regard to the district’s current reserve fund status. Sternberg noted the current amount of reserves the district has, at approximately $23 million, though only $1.8 million can be used on an unrestricted basis, as Leister explained.
Board President Ellen Boehm reassured attendees that discussions regarding long-term planning and enrollment were ongoing. Boehm noted the board’s intention to consider the formation of a committee to facilitate dialogue and collaboration among various stakeholders.
Port Jefferson Village trustees meeting. File photo
By Lynn Hallarman
During the April 10 Village of Port Jefferson Board of Trustees workgroup meeting, Treasurer Stephen Gaffga presented the modified tentative budget for fiscal year 2024-25, highlighting the steps the new administration is taking to stay within the New York State 2% tax cap.
Gaffga divided the presentation into four sections:
• Overview of operational challenges and strategic initiatives
• Breakdown of the village’s funding sources
• Allocation of taxpayer dollars across services and obligations
• Explanation of the impact on resident taxes.
Operational challenges and strategic initiatives
Gaffga provided a detailed breakdown of a $541,000 rise in nondiscretionary spending for fiscal year 2024-25. This increase in spending is mostly due to contractual obligations, including employee health insurance, dental insurance, retirement and workers compensation. Notably, there is a large uptick in municipal insurance costs amounting to $131,000, signifying a 50% increase over the previous year.
Another challenge area is the gradual reduction over time in taxes collected from the Long Island Power Authority under the “glide path” agreement. This year, the village saw a decrease in LIPA’s tax contribution to the property tax base by $135,990. Gaffga noted a roughly $570,000 decline in the assessed valuation of LIPA properties, reflecting their reduced worth. “That decrease has an effect on the tax rate ultimately down the road,” he said.
Gaffga indicated that the village exceeded the state tax cap eight times in the last nine years. However, he asserted that will not be the case this year.
According to him, “spending under our control” — or discretionary spending — will decrease in the 2024-25 budget “by more than $260,000.” This decrease is due mainly to eliminating the managerial parking position and redistributing those duties over several departments.
“This operational change will result in a $190,000 decrease in spending, which will be passed on to the taxpayer,” he said.
Gaffga reported that the “deep dive” into the capital fund audit by specialized CPA firm PKF O’Connor Davies of Hauppauge continues. “They’re getting far along in that process. By the end of the fiscal year, we’ll have some idea of the results of that deep dive,” he said.
The treasurer stressed, “It is important that any changes made to this budget are made by the board and they’re done in full view of the public so that everybody understands that the board controls this budget.”
Funding sources
Property taxes account for 60% of the total revenues collected for the village’s general fund, which supports the operational aspects of the village’s budget. Other significant funding comes from managed parking, tax agreements with utilities and recreation fees.
Expenses
Employee benefits are the most significant expenditure at 23%, or $2.6 million, of the general fund. General governmental support, which includes funding the treasurer’s office, attorney support, the clerk’s office and the justice court, amounts to roughly $2.4 million.
Other village services funded by the general fund include public safety — fire marshals, building inspectors and code enforcement; culture, parks and recreation, including the Village Center programs; transportation, including sidewalk repaving; and home community services such as the building and planning department and street cleaning.
“The large majority of our spending [nondiscretionary] we do not have control over,” Gaffga said. There is a total village spending increase of 5%.
Tax impacts
The general fund appropriations in the modified tentative 2024-25 budget are projected at $11,458,475 ($11,371,826), an increase of 0.76%. In addition, the Port Jefferson Country Club budget is shown at $3,550,000 ($2,904,882), an increase of 22.21% that is paid for by raising dues and fees according to Gaffga.
Total amount of taxes levied by the village for the fiscal year are shown at roughly $6.8 million, about a 2% increase from last year. “New York State establishes the 2% tax cap to ensure local governments don’t grow their tax base beyond what is necessary. The village is coming under what the New York State allows,” Gaffga confirmed.
Residential individual taxpayers could see a tax increase of $1.45 per $100 of assessed valuation.
Residents can view the modified tentative budget on the village website. Public comments are open until 5 p.m. April 20. Comments should be directed to Sylvia Pirillo, the village clerk, at [email protected].
The Board of Trustees will meet again on Wednesday, April 24, at 6 p.m.
Further destruction of terracing and plantings on the East Beach bluff after recent rainstorms. Photo by Lynn Hallarman
Recent setbacks in East Beach bluff stabilization project have officials and residents on edge
By Lynn Hallarman
East Beach is a village-owned strip of sandy shoreline situated between the northern front of the Long Island Sound and the base — or toe — of a steeply set bluff, roughly 100 feet high.
A jetty opens into Mount Sinai Harbor eastward of the bluff. To the west, the shore stretches past a series of private properties, then past the village of Belle Terre, and finally curves inward, reconfiguring as Port Jefferson Harbor.
For decades, the village-owned Port Jefferson Country Club, perched near the crest of the bluff, was invisible to beachgoers below, shielded by a thick tangle of greenery clinging to the bluff’s north front.
But in recent years, a series of intense rainstorms, combined with sea rise and pressures from human-made alterations in the landscape above the bluff, have set in motion deforestation and scouring, denuding the bluff of vegetation and accelerating erosion in the direction of the country club’s foundation. The club has become precariously close to the bluff’s edge. Without a plan, there was no doubt it would slide down the bluff onto the shoreline below within a few years.
To make matters worse, the bluff stabilization project, whose aim is to stabilize the position of the club, has been beset with complications in the wake of a series of recent storms unraveling costly work completed just last summer as part of Phase I of the project.
As communities across Long Island are confronting relentless coastal erosion, TBR News Media focuses on the obstacles facing the bluff stabilization project at East Beach, exploring the complexities, costs and alternative solutions to rescuing the country club.
The big picture
Bluffs change naturally over time, feeding sand to the beach and replenishing the shoreline. They respond to the force of winds, waves and tides, creating new states of equilibrium with the beach below and the landscapes above. The Long Island shoreline has been reshaping for thousands of years, sometimes imperceptibly and sometimes in dramatic fits of landslip — that is, chunks of shoreline abruptly falling into the sea.
East Beach and its bluff are inseparable from the adjacent coastline — they move as the coastline moves. When humans make changes in the shorelines by adding bulkheads, jetties and other rigid structures, the effects resonate laterally, affecting the movement of sand and ocean from beach to beach along the shoreline.
“Port Jefferson’s experience with bluff restoration is a microcosm of what has been happening all over Long Island,” said Chuck Hamilton, a marine biologist and former regional natural resource supervisor for the state Department of Environmental Conservation for some 33 years.
“For a long time, farmers on Long Island had their farms right on top of the bluff, and shoreline erosion happened naturally,” he said. But now those same areas are being subdivided and developed, adding weight and impermeable surfaces abutting the shoreline. “And guess what? Now we need to stabilize.”
For decades, Port Jefferson Country Club was invisible to the beachgoers, shielded by a thick tangle of greenery clinging to the bluff. Undated photo courtesy Port Jeff historian Chris Ryon
The project
When Port Jefferson’s mayor, Lauren Sheprow, took office in July 2023, the bluff stabilization project was already in motion. Sheprow, a former public relations professional, had campaigned on a platform of two core values: financial transparency and safeguarding of village assets. However, the realities of rescuing the country club — purchased in 1978 when her father, Harold Sheprow, was village mayor — while keeping project costs under control have proven to be complex and demanding.
Most of Phase I of the project happened before the current mayor took office. This work included the installation of a 454-foot rigid wall at the base, terracing and native grass plantings on the bluff face. With Phase II now under her purview, Sheprow believes it is her responsibility to see the project to completion: the installation of a wall system along the bluff’s crest, directly seaward of the imperiled country club.
“I swore to protect and preserve the property owned by the Village of Port Jefferson, and therefore the residents. Preserving and protecting is not ignoring an erosion issue,” the mayor said.
Phase I, costing approximately $5 million, relied on local taxpayer dollars financed through a bond repayable over time. Phase II, estimated at $4.8 million, will be financed mostly by federal taxpayer dollars by a FEMA grant of $3.75 million.
Financing the endeavor has been rife with holdups and stymied by a six-year-long permitting process. It has been almost a year since Phase I was completed. Final signoffs related to the FEMA funding for Phase II are still pending, preventing the village from seeking bids for construction of the upper wall. However, the village treasurer, Stephen Gaffga, said he hopes to see the signoffs come through this month.
By many accounts, questions about the project’s funding have rankled residents for years. The prevailing sentiment is that the village pushed through a $10 million bond for the stabilization project (phases I and II combined) without a community vote through a bond resolution.
“When I am asked about my position about the bluff restoration, I never saw the arguments on all sides of the project flushed out,” said Ana Hozyainova, president of Port Jefferson Civic Association. “Village officials took the position from the beginning that the building must be saved, no matter what. That imperative has limited the discussions about options.”
Complications
The uncertainty surrounding the cost and timing of needed repairs because of winter storm damage to the bluff faces further complications in Phase II. “Negotiations are ongoing” between the village and the contractor about who is responsible for absorbing these additional expenses, Gaffga said.
Drainage issues at the bluff’s crest are also hampering progress, and likely contributed to the recent collapse of the newly-installed terracing along the western part of the bluff, below the tennis courts. “There are huge puddles sitting at the crest, after heavy [recent] rainstorms,” Sheprow said. The strategy and cost related to addressing the drainage issues have not yet been determined, she added.
Although the project was divided into two phases because of funding constraints, “its ultimate success,” according to Laura Schwanof, senior ecologist at GEI Consultants of Huntington Station, “hinges on both walls working together to curtail erosion and prevent the club slipping down the slope.”
GEI has been involved with village erosion mitigation projects since 2009. The two-wall system for the bluff stabilization was their design. “The problem with this project is protection number two — the upper wall — has not been installed,” Schwanof said. When asked how long the wall system might hold up, she couldn’t say.
“What does happen, and has been seen across the Northeast, is that as we get more frequent storms, higher wave energy, higher rainfall events, rigid wall structures may work in the short term. But if you look 50 years down the road, they may not be as effective,” she said.
“Hard erosion protection structures such as revetments or bulkheads can be costly, only partially effective over time and may even deflect wave energy onto adjacent properties.” Jeff Wernick, a DEC representative, wrote in an email.The DEC, he said, permitted the East Beach project based solely on “the immediate threat to significant infrastructure.”
Completion of Phase I in spring 2023, before winter storms unravel work on the bluff face. Photo from the PJ Village website
Retreat?
When Steve Englebright, 5th District county legislator (D-Setauket) and geologist, was asked about the stabilization project, he started with a lesson about glacial formations dating back 17,000 years. Englebright scrutinized photographs of the bluff during an interview with TBR News conducted after the recent storms.
“When the bluff, which is partially made of clay, is overweighted it behaves like squeezed toothpaste,” he said. “You can see toothpaste-like extrusions on the beach.”
Missing from the conversation, according to Englebright, is a reckoning of what is happening along the entire Long Island coast. “People don’t understand the overall dynamics,” he said. “That’s why I’m trying to give you the big picture — that the entire North Shore is unstable.”
“Trying to defend a single property is human folly,” he added. “You can buy some time, but how much are we paying? I don’t believe it’s realistic because you can’t stop the overall dynamic. The village should celebrate the fact that they have the ability to retreat and use that ability. Right? The bind is if you don’t have land, but they have the land. Strategically retreat, rebuild the building.”
Stan Loucks, a village trustee and a former country club liaison, was asked to put together a retreat plan by former Mayor Margot Garant — confirmed by her to TBR News. “I did a plan A — proceed with the restoration project — or plan B, retreat —about three years ago,” Loucks said. “I got prices for the demolition of the country club, moving the tennis courts and an architectural rendering of a new club further inland.”
“The drawings had a huge deck on this side overlooking the Sound, and the huge deck on this side overlooking the golf course. I would have loved to take that plan to the end,” he added.
Loucks’s retreat plan was never vetted publicly. Sheprow told TBR she never saw a retreat plan.
Loucks remembers when tennis court No. 5 went in a landslide a few years ago. “It was massive and happened overnight,” he said. “And the slide took the gazebo, too.”
The Port Jefferson Civic Association meets inside the Port Jefferson Free Library on April 8. Photo by Samantha Rutt
By Samantha Rutt
At the Monday, April 8, Port Jefferson civic meeting, residents congregated to tackle one of the community’s most pressing issues: the fate of the Port Jefferson power plant. As the world pivots toward renewable energy and sustainable practices, the discussion revolved around embracing new energy sources while addressing the environmental and financial concerns associated with the current plant.
Xena Ugrinsky, a member of the Village of Port Jefferson Budget and Finance Committee, urged the need for a collective community conversation stating, “Everything is in motion. All we can do is ensure that we’re a part of the conversation and do our best to guide them to the right decisions.”
The conversation highlighted two essential work streams: Exploring new energy possibilities and navigating the political landscape in order to best incorporate the voice of the civic and community more broadly. Residents recognized the political sensitivity surrounding the issue and emphasized the importance of engaging local leaders to facilitate meaningful dialogue and action.
Ugrinsky and other affiliates have organized a committee to gather thoughts, concerns and invite further conversation on this issue.
“This is kind of a second run at this problem,” Ugrinsky remarked about the formation of the committee. “We’re going to do a bunch of research and we’re going to engage all the stakeholders. We’re not solutioning — we’re trying to gather the data, create a common conversation about what’s going to happen to the power plant and ensure that Port Jeff village has a voice in that conversation.”
“We’ve got the right people on board and we’re gathering more people. If you know of anybody who has either the background or the willingness to roll up their sleeves and participate let me know and we’ll get them engaged,” Ugrinsky said of the committee. “Our charter is to explore forward-looking and innovative possibilities for the future of the power plant, be a catalyst for positive change, while fostering a transparent and inclusive decision-making process.”
During the previous civic meeting, on March 11, Bob Nicols, a resident, shed light on the financial implications, emphasizing the need for strategic decision-making. With potential tax increases looming, residents expressed concerns about the economic impact on the community and the desirability of living in Port Jefferson.
As discussions delved deeper, the focus shifted toward finding productive solutions that align with the community’s values. In conversation, residents explored the possibility of repurposing the existing infrastructure to support new energy endeavors, such as hydrogen or battery storage, thereby maintaining the plant’s value to the community.
The urgency of the matter was brought to light by the recognition that delaying action could lead to missed opportunities and increased financial burdens. As Ugrinsky remarked, “If we don’t do this now, 20 years from now, tons of places will have done it, and we’ll think, ‘You should have done something about that when you had the opportunity.’”
The meeting also served as a platform to address broader community concerns, such as waste collection costs and upcoming events like the village’s first Arbor Day celebration.
The Arbor Day event will take place on Wednesday, April 24, at 5 p.m. in the parking lot behind Old Fields, Billie’s and The Pie where county Legislator Steve Englebright (D-Setauket) and Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine (R) will hold ceremonial plantings of two trees.
Looking ahead, the path forward for Port Jefferson’s power plant remains uncertain, but the commitment to engagement and collaboration remains. At the next meeting, the civic plans to invite candidates for the Port Jefferson school board.
“The next meeting will be May 13 and we hope that we will be able to invite the school board candidates to come and present their platforms, and have a discussion about their vision for their role,” said civic President Ana Hozyainova.
Port Jefferson resident Xena Ugrinsky has announced her bid for the village board of trustees.
Ugrinsky served as the head of financial reporting, budgeting and planning at Young & Rubicam, a New York advertising agency/public relations firm. After becoming involved in the software and technology fields, she worked with clients in the utility industry. She moved into management consulting with national companies including Arizona Power, PG&E, Con Edison and National Grid.
She described her background in a letter to The Port Times Record editor on June 29 last year: “The proudest day of my life was when my parents and I took the oath to become citizens of the United States. I was 8 years old. As a Russian emigrant, my father applied for and received a Tolstoy grant, which sponsored our family’s journey to America. They arrived on these shores with a baby, a box of books and dreams for a brighter future.”
In an interview, Ugrinsky, who currently sits on the village’s Budget and Finance Committee, said that she was running for trustee because “I’ve reached a point in my career where I want to give back to the community I live in.”
One of her major issues is figuring out the future of the Port Jefferson power plant.
“My goal was to figure out a way that I could help the village be involved in the broader conversation, and I believe we have a moment in time where we have the opportunity to be in the forefront of what is happening in energy,” said Ugrinsky, who also sits on the village’s Power Plant Working Group. She suggested the plant could be used to start producing “green hydrogen.”
Ugrinsky said that while she may not have the solution for how to handle the power plant’s future, she is trying to “create a collective conversation among all of the stakeholders so that Port Jeff has a voice, has visibility into what’s happening and, in a best case scenario, can become a beacon to the rest of the United States for innovative power.”
“Let’s collectively figure out what we need to build so that Port Jefferson has a future with this power plant,” she said.
Ugrinsky’s other key issues include fiscal responsibility and transparency. She believes that Mayor Lauren Sheprow has increased transparency, including establishing an ethics board, along with other volunteer committees.
The election for the trustees is on Tuesday, June 18.
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