Port Jeff village board updates public on ticks, golf, homecoming and Station Street
By Aidan Johnson
The Port Jefferson Village Board of Trustees held its monthly meeting Tuesday, Sept. 6, to discuss current plans and issues throughout the village.
The meeting started with a reminder from code enforcement chief Fred Leute to drive carefully down the streets. Now that school is back in session, more wet weather and leaves will likely be on the ground.
Trustee Rebecca Kassay announced that she and Deputy Mayor Kathianne Snaden have been working together to make the village more walkable and bikeable. These efforts will make it easier to travel around Port Jefferson without using a vehicle.
Kassay also shared that she and Snaden have worked to replace dead street trees this fall with more aesthetically pleasing and ecologically friendly ones.
Kassay said they have been meeting to discuss issues regarding uptown parking. “We’ve been looking at hopefully partnering with some of the medical office space uptown so that we don’t have to pave any additional space uptown — and take it from there,” she said.
After concerns were brought up to the trustees about ticks a few months ago, Kassay has been discussing the issue with the Stony Brook University disease center. The village will be putting information on its website and working with local media to spread awareness about the issue, as well as reaching out to schools to see if they can give the items to nurses and coaches. The village has also been offered tick handbooks, tick identification cards and tick removal kits.
Next meeting, Kassay intends to discuss the timeline and action plan for the village to work on flood mitigation.
Kassay also announced that the Beach Street Community Garden program scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 7, has been rescheduled due to inclement weather. The new date is to be determined.
Trustee Stan Loucks announced that the drought Long Island has faced has started to impact the golf course, which has had 300,000 gallons of water put into it every night.
“Our conditions up there have gotten to the point where some of the fairways were turning brown, so this rain we’re getting today is kind of a godsend,” Loucks said. He added, “All of our water comes out of on-site wells. The wells up at the country club have reached the level where we’ve been put on restricted watering. We’ve only been able to water our greens and tee boxes for the last 10 days or so, so this rain is coming at a perfect time.”
The golf course will be closed this week on Thursday and possibly Friday while the aeration process takes place.
The country club’s early bird program starts on Saturday, Oct. 15. However, the membership rate fees are to be determined.
Loucks also asked that nobody walks down to East Beach, due to the Bluff Stabilization project. Still, he assured everyone that considerable progress had been made already. Snaden would later add that drone footage of the progress is available to view, provided by Charmaine Famularo.
Tennis courts 7 and 8 are still open and will stay open through September and possibly through October.
Loucks said there are plans to build a permanent barbecue on the patio behind the scoreboard on the golf course.
Finally, Loucks shared that the annual village golf outing will be taking place on Thursday, Sept. 22. The outing is open to all village residents, along with anyone who works in the school district, is a member of the fire department or a business owner in the village. The cost of the outing is $50.
Trustee Lauren Sheprow announced the first meeting of the Recreation and Parks Committee would take place on Thursday, Sept. 29.
The next meeting of the Country Club Social/Hospitality Task Force will take place Wednesday, Sept. 14, at Port Jefferson Country Club at 6:30 p.m.
Concluding her report, Sheprow shared that the village’s internal communication audit is still underway. She looks forward to meeting with the other trustees individually to discuss it.
Snaden reported that the Port Jefferson high school homecoming game has been moved to Saturday, Oct. 22, due to an issue regarding the number of football players on the team. The parade will now take place on Oct. 21 at night. Instead of floats, the students plan to decorate their vehicles with lights. Due to scheduling conflicts, there will not be the Caroline Field events that have been held in the past, but Snaden hopes to bring them back next year.
Snaden went on to report that code union negotiations are continuing. Also, the Architectural Review Committee is looking into an application for a new “Sea Creations” sign to be put on the front of the Harbor Square Mall on Main Street. Additionally, St. Charles Hospital wants to build a retaining wall in its parking lot for expansion.
Mayor Margot Garant reported that the trustees, with members of the planning and zoning boards, attended a walkthrough of the Port Jefferson Crossing Apartments at 1615 Main St., and were very happy with the amenities that they saw. There is also a 3,000-square-foot retail space.
Station Street is expected to be installed sometime in mid-September. Overall, Garant is happy with the direction Upper Port is taking.
