Southampton Town says Riverside can expect new sewer district to be active by late 2029 cover art

Southampton Town says Riverside can expect new sewer district to be active by late 2029

Southampton Town says Riverside can expect new sewer district to be active by late 2029

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 Long Island business leaders yesterday expressed concern of the potential economic impacts from an LIRR union strike, while also warning that unprecedented raises for railroad workers could be "unsustainable." Alfonso A. Castillo reports in NEWSDAY that leaders from seven Long Island business advocacy and economic development groups, in a letter to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, expressed their "deep concern regarding the negative economic impact of a potential strike" by five Long Island Rail Road unions.The leaders noted that the strike, which could begin May 16, would come a week before Memorial Day as Long Island enters its peak tourism season."The railroad takes tens of thousands of New Yorkers each week to Long Island beaches, golf courses, and wineries," they wrote. "Thousands of small businesses rely on summer tourism to survive."The business groups also expressed concern that "unprecedented raises to the minority of the LIRR workforce will be economically unsustainable for a mass transit system with chronic fiscal woes." The labor organizations represent about half the LIRR’s union workforce.The letter was authored by representatives from the Association for a Better Long Island, the Long Island Association, the Hauppauge Industrial Association of LI, the Long Island Builders Institute, the Long Island Contractors' Association, the Commercial Industrial Brokers Society of Long Island and Discover Long Island.Hochul spokesman Sean Butler said the governor's position is that "a strike would hurt LIRR workers and riders alike. It is critical that both sides come to the table and negotiate in good faith."Asked to comment on the letter, MTA officials pointed to remarks made Wednesday by the agency's chief financial officer, Jai Patel. In the event of a strike, Patel said, "Riders will be frustrated, the local economy will struggle and trust in our service will erode."***Just in time for summer, East Quogue got a new Christmas tree last week.Michael Wright reports on 27east.com that the blue spruce tree that has served as East Quogue’s public Christmas tree for many years was getting bare and suffering from needlecast and residents had recently begun talking about a replacement after the winter, resident Christine Grant said.The Town of Southampton created a hamlet park district last fall, which directs funds from development project fees to a kitty for beautification projects. But buying a new Christmas tree would have tapped the bulk of the fledgling park district’s funding.Two residents, Cathy Zambetti, and her husband, John Picone, stepped in and instead offered to cover the cost of purchasing a new tree. Grant and her husband, Chris Connolly, who own Aspatuck Gardens, were able to source a 20-foot Norway spruce from a North Fork tree farm and got Southampton Town Parks & Recreation staff to remove the old tree and excavate a hole for the root ball of the new one.That’s when the small town stuff really kicked in.The tree arrived on a rainy morning last week and proved to be so heavy that the equipment the town brought to move it into place couldn’t lift it.“So we did the classic Mayberry, small-town thing: We texted our friend Michelle Meduski, who knows everybody in town,” Connolly said. “She knew a company who had an excavator and they came right over and it turned out that they were East Quogue people, so it was pretty cool how it all worked out.”***The Town of Southold is holding an Environmental Expo and Repair Café with the North Fork Environmental Council (NFEC) tomorrow from 12 noon to 4 p.m. at the town’s Peconic Lane Recreation Center.The public can bring their household items — including small appliances, clothing, toys and bicycles to be repaired, and their knives to be sharpened. “It’s a great community event, with neighbors helping neighbors to make things work again, with the added bonus of keeping those things out of the waste stream,” said Margaret deCruz, the NFEC Repair Café chair.Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that numerous environmental organizations will also have tables at tomorrow’s event. Compost coaches from the Long Island Organics council will give demonstrations and offer tips on how best to compost at home, and organizations ranging from Group for the East End to the Peconic Baykeeper, Peconic Estuary Partnership, ReWild North Fork and UpSculpt will also offere information and inspiration on how to preserve our local natural resources.Tomorrow’s Environmental Expo and Repair Café is from 12 noon to 4 p.m. at Peconic Recreation Center, 920 Peconic Lane, Peconic, NY 11958.***Southampton Town gave residents of Riverside a look at some of the practical aspects of its new $44 million sewer district this week. The town’s consultants say they anticipate the system coming online in late 2029 or early 2030.Funding the Riverside Wastewater Recovery System has been a project in the works for more than a decade, and it has been seen as a...
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