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The next monthly meeting takes place Tuesday, May 22, 2012 at the Comsewogue Public Library at 7PM
Please join us as we welcome C.O.P.E. officers from the Sixth Precinct to discuss community concerns and a Town of Brookhaven Waste Management representative.
Please check the sign in sheet at the next meeting for your dues expiration date and if you are not already receiving the monthly agenda card via email and would like to do so in lieu of a mailed copy, please email nocelltower1@aol.com and provide your contact information.
CUMSEWOGUE
HISTORICAL SOCIETY
NEWSLETTER
May 17, 2012
Hello everyone,
The next meeting of the Cumsewogue Historical Society will take place on Wednesday, May 23, 2012 at 7:30 pm at the Terryville Union Hall.
Our 2012 Membership Drive is now underway. I would like to thank all the members for your past support and would ask that you renew your membership for 2012 by completing the membership form and sending it with your check to:
Cumsewogue Historical Society
P.O. Box 585
Port Jefferson Station, NY 11776
Thank you for your continued support of the Cumsewogue Historical Society.
Remember that our 3rd Annual Heritage Day with the Comsewogue School District will be held on Tuesday, June 12 from 8:30 am to 2:30 pm. Plans are under way for this special day. We will be needing volunteers to act as assistants for our presenters. Lunch will be provided by the school district. If you would like to participate, please contact me at 928-7622.
The 501c (3) form for tax exempt status for the society has been mailed to the IRS. We should have a response in a month or so. Gaining tax exempt status will enable us to apply for grants and other sources of funding for the many future projects that we have planned. Many thanks to Mike Eiermann and Janet Fenstermacher for all their hard work in completing this complicated form.
The Union Hall now has new solar filtering window shades. The purchase of the shades was made possible by a very generous donation from the Port Jefferson Station/Terryville Civic Association. We thank the Civic Association for their continued support of our historical society. These new shades, which were installed by Mike Eiermann and me, will provide a certain level of security for the Union Hall as well as protection for our many photos on display from the harmful effect of the sun’s rays.
I hope to see you all at our next meeting. Thank you for your support of the Cumsewogue Historical Society.
Jack Smith
President
Cumsewogue Historical Society
Message From MaryAnn Johnston, ABCO (Affiliated Brookhaven Civic Organization)
Without the consent of fellow board members or even any notice to the other members of the Town Board, Supervisor Mark Lesko pushed forward a resolution at the Long Island Central Pine Barrens Commission on Wednesday to advance his clearly rejected Carmans River plan to expand the Core of the LI Pine Barrens. Lesko acted fully apart from and despite the lack of majority or board support for his plan. Additionally, Supervisor Lesko now also appears to have acted contrary to his own vote on April 24th in favor of advancing Resolution 380. Reso 380 provides for a completely new roadmap and process by which the town would act to preserve and protect the Carmans River Watershed without linking those efforts to expansion of the Pine Barrens or TDR's for MF housing. Both residents and Board members also objected strongly to handing over zoning within the Town to Albany.
ABCO has learned that all the members of the Pine Barrens Commission, including Southampton Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst and Riverhead Supervisor Sean Walter as well as the Suffolk County reps and Dec Director Scully, voted unanimously to move forward a 'metes and bounds survey' to detail with specificity which Brookhaven lands would be placed into an expanded Core. The cost of such a survey or the source of funding was not discussed by Lesko or the Commission members. All this despite the fact that the State enabling legislation passed last June required Town Board approval of the plan within six months of its enactment; and signature by the Governor last September 23rd. In fact, the Legislation provided that absent such approval by the Town Board the Legislation would expire or sunset six months later or on March 23rd, 2012. ABCO, and Town Board members believe that the legislation indeed expired on march 23rd, even before the stormy meeting on 3/29 during which the Supervisor withdrew his Plan.
Furthermore, sources in the State Senate indicate that political support necessary to extend or consider a new bill are and will not be forthcoming under these circumstances. Lesko's action seeks to 'pre-empts' local zoning control allowing NYS to intervene and compel passage of his controversial plan. Thus, allowing NYS to directly interfere with the basic right of Brookhaven's citizens and duly elected town council officials to reject the plan designed by special interests as assembled by Supervisor Lesko in the fall of 2010. ABCO has also learned that yesterday the original Study Group Chairman, Dr. Lee Koppelman, (who actually works for the town board), has now scheduled another closed door meeting of the Supervisor's Study group (Amper, Macdonald, Tripp, Pally and other LIBI members) for next Thursday.
We respectfully ask that the Town Board act on Tuesday to put an end to the Supervisor's latest actions to advance a failed plan. We ask that they take affirmative action to restrict the Supervisor from continuing to take any steps to further advance his plan. We demand respect for and action to regain democratic control over this process. Once again, we ask that the Town Council take steps to formally disband the Supervisor's study group and expeditiously enact a community based process. ABCO has suggested and provided a detailed plan to create a Steering Committee Study Group, nominated and staffed by town wide civic and community members along with experts, scientists and planning professionals as requited by NYS Town Law. Perhaps finally this process can move forward in a democratic, tranparent, above board and legal manner.
We ask your help once again, please plan to attend Tuesday's Town Board to voice your concerns regarding the Supervisor's unilateral actions.
Brookhaven Town Councilman
Steve Fiore-Rosenfeld
hosts local
Public Participation Meetings
for input on:
• Establishing a road map for significant public input into the creation
of an extensively revised Carmans River Protection Plan
• Creating a separate plan concerning a new Zoning Category to
assist our township with creating responsibly located and reasonably
priced next generation housing
• Creating a separate plan to preserve the integrity of the NYS
Long Island Pine Barrens Protection Act of 1993
local meeting dates:
Tuesday, May 15 • 7-9 pm ~ Comsewogue High School
Wednesday, May 16 • 7-9 pm ~ Ward Melville High School
townwide meeting dates:
Wednesday, May 30 • 6-10 pm • Saturday, June 2 • 1-4 pm
Brookhaven Town Hall, One Independence Hill, Farmingville
Questions ~ Please contact 631-451-6963
fiore-rosenfeld@brookhaven.org
The Friends of the Greenway, together with The Three Village Community Trust proudly invites all to a Ceremony to celebrate the Ground breaking for Phase Two of the Setauket to Port Jefferson Station Greenway Trail! When completed the Greenway Trail will link the communities of the Three Villages and Port Jefferson Station through a paved thirteen-foot wide path that will be nearly four miles long.
This special event will take place, on Saturday May 26th, 2012 from 11am to noon at the NYS Department of Transportation parking lot at the corner of Route112 and Hallock Avenue in Port Jefferson Station. (This is the large parking lot next to the 7-11 store).
The event will feature our Congressman Bishop, State Senator LaValle, Assemblymen Englebright, County Legislator Hahn, Town Officials Lesko and Fiore-Rosenfeld as well as civic groups, scouts, school groups and members of the Friends of the Greenway. This will be a community celebration of the existing one & a half miles of the Greenway and the exciting New York State Department of Transportation Phase Two expansion.
When completed, the path will allow bicyclists, walkers, joggers, roller bladders, dog walkers, birdwatchers, and parents with strollers to safely enjoy a recreational trail that will take them from Limroy Lane in Setauket (near the Setauket Post Office and Stony Brook University) to the parking lot where the groundbreaking ceremony will take place in Port Jefferson Station.
For further information on the celebration please contact Charlie McAteer, chair, Friends of the Greenway at 631-632-6445.
Presidents Message
On behalf of the officers and myself, who were recently voted onto the board, I thank you. Your unanimous vote was a vote of confidence and I am deeply humbled by it.
When I first came to the civic I was impressed by the fact that my voice meant something but felt concern for our future membership as I looked around the room and saw approximately 20 people at that meeting. I got up and spoke about the importance of increasing membership, and the power of numbers. We can be proud that in the past three and a half years we have more than doubled our membership. This was accomplished with little effort. I am confident that with direct focus on increasing membership, the result will be even greater.
The fight, however, is not over. My presidency has just begun. Going forward we must stand united in our beliefs. As I have said in the past, united we stand... Together we can make Port Jefferson Station and Terryville a community that everyone wants to live in. To that end, we must increase our membership and continue to grow, for there is great power in numbers.
At a recent Brookhaven Town Board meeting we heard the word vision used, let me tell you of my vision. I will continue on the path that Laurie embraced, to always have the greater good of our community as our #1 goal. Membership, fundraising and scholarships have been put on the back burner, well it’s time to move them up. We need your ideas and help on the various committees. We need to develop and use the park that Lou has worked hard to obtain for our community, at the corner of Route 347 and Canal Road. We need your continued help and support in going forward. This IS your civic. We cannot do all that needs to be done, without you.
Sincerely,
Ed Garboski
On a recent CNBC Business News program it was revealed that water is in such short supply globally, it will be the catalyst of future wars.
Long Island is a unique area that must reduce the contamination of "run off" water, which overwhelms our water treatment facilities. The inability of our facilities to purify water, leads to polluted drinking water. To this end, a recent ban on pesticide and herbicide use for most of the year has been enacted in our Township.
Erratic national weather patterns and the pollution of drinking water by hydro-fracking, has put a spotlight on water. While there is marginally adequate water today in our area, the recent up-tic of drought periods, community environmental concerns, and a visionary roadmap for land and river management, it is imperative that our community consider sustainability in all landscape designs, especially commercial.
The desire for lush green turf and the "go-to" use of black, non-porous parking fields need to be mitigated. Maintaining turf gobbles up water, a great deal of money and labor costs. Planting drought tolerant, native bushes and trees is a good way to modify green space bordering at banks, apartment buildings, restaurants, etc. Using paving stones, pea gravel, and permeable pavement is a great way to do away with polluted parking lot run-off. There is new technology for parking areas that are impressive. I suggest that such be investigated as an alternative to petroleum based parking lots.
Certainly any new business construction would be beautified by these innovations; convey to its community an intention for sustained commitment. It would glean a great amount of public support. What and how a new building presents itself, through its landscape environment and construction tells a great deal about how it wishes to interact with its patrons. Conservation is key.
Long Island currently gets 42 inches of rainfall a year - the same as the Pacific Northwest United States. Gardens planted with native species require only managed regular watering for a short period: one year for perennial plants and bushes and two years for trees. After this, watering only during drought periods would be necessary - once every seven to ten days when no rain falls. Moderate watering of drought tolerant bushes and trees means no need for expensive sprinkler systems! We’ve all cringed, I’m sure, at seeing sprinklers in use - watering walkways, or the street, and at times these systems run a day after a heavy rain! Or during!
Trees provide a cooling affect for buildings, reducing the need for air conditioning. Trees provide cooling for passers-by, when planted near the sidewalk and cools patrons when situated near an apartment or business. A cool customer is always welcome. Trees provide a calming effect. We all want calm neighbors, especially if we live in a complex. I’d heard of a study which highlighted reduced crime rates in treed cities.
Trees shade the understory plants in a garden or land bank reducing the need for watering. They also protect our property from the wind; wind which brings with it trash from local fast food and open trash cans. Trees also attenuate the cacophony of traffic noise and yet they support songbirds! And used to beautify a bank, particularly, trees remind us all of growth. Trees change with each season, reminding us that with every month, comes a welcome development in the seedlings and the coin, we plant.
I strongly suggest that all local government enact a pro-vision of the future, requiring sustainable landscapes for all new commercial construction. Meeting with civic and taxpayer associations is a good way for developers to gauge the community’s tolerance for environmental abuse vs. the enthusiasm for visionary design, and the power therein.
Joan Nickeson, Chairperson
Beautification Committee
For the last 12 years, The Scott Hession Scholarship Golf Tournament has been an annual gathering to raise scholarship money for deserving Comsewogue athletes. This year, the Comsewogue Football program and the Hession family are once again joining forces to help keep Scott’s memory alive and to continue to support the Comsewogue athletic community.
Scott was a graduate of Comsewogue High School where he later became a teacher, coach, and athletic director. Scott lost his battle with cancer on April 9, 2000. This golf outing serves as a tribute to Scott’s life and the contributions he has made to our community. Comsewogue Football and the Hession Family have come together in order to increase the impact of this great charitable event. The proceeds from the outing will continue to support the Scott Hession Scholarship Fund and the Hession family will continue to award scholarships to deserving Comsewogue senior-athletes. In addition, part of the proceeds will be used to help support the Comsewogue Football program. Over the years the outing has been a great place for old friends to catch up and help keep Scott’s memory alive, while raising money for Comsewogue’s youth. Hopefully, with your support, we will be able to continue the tradition this year.
This great event would not be possible without the support and contributions of the Comsewogue community. Please show your Warrior Pride by joining us and contributing to this wonderful cause. Contributions to the outing can be made in the form of a monetary donation, raffle prize, tee sign, etc. Anything you can donate will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your time and generosity in helping make this event another success!
Sean Tremblay
Head Coach
Comsewogue Football
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PO BOX 371
Port Jefferson Station, NY 11776
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