Sept. 7, 1978

The Long Island Lighting Company was studying the feasibility of placing a “floating nuclear station” on the Long Island Sound 40 years ago. The news made the front page of the Suffolk Times in 1978.

Sept. 13, 1968

A glitch gave students a reprieve from classes 50 years ago. The system that decided class schedules at Montclair High School in New Jersey went awry, giving many students three lunch periods and five history periods. Some were given no school at all for two or three days during the week. Miss Betsy Dinkel, of Shelter Island and Montclair, took advantage of the error and spent extra time on Shelter Island instead of in the classroom, the Suffolk Times reported in 1968.

Sept. 9, 1943

Seventy-five years ago, 786 students were enrolled at Greenport school for the first day of classes. It was nine more pupils than were enrolled at the opening of school the previous year.

Sept. 7, 1928

Tourists and a new potato sorter made the news 90 years ago.

All available rooms were taken at hotels and boarding houses in Greenport, Orient, Shelter Island and neighboring villages during the Labor Day weekend. Many private homes were utilized to accommodate the holiday guests and some local restaurants and ice cream parlors remained open until 2 a.m.

A new potato sorter was also put into operation on Hallock’s dock. It had a two-inch screen instead of one-and-three-quarters-inch, but failed to make a positive impression on potato growers at the time.

Photo caption: A rendering of a “floating nuclear station” that was published in the Suffolk Times in 1978. 

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Listings prepared for Times Review Media Group by Suffolk Research Service, dated July 16-22, 2018.

Brought to you by:

AQUEBOGUE (11931)

• Drozd, S & J to Oberwiler, Glen, 32 Caroline Ct (600-67-1-6.6), (R), $425,000

• Palamar, R to Peconic Bay Construction, Management Inc, 203 Overlook Dr (600-113-1-4), (R), $510,000

CUTCHOGUE (11935)

• November Living Trusts to Dircks, Paul, 1700 Wunneweta Rd (1000-111-4-24), (R), $752,000

FLANDERS (11901)

• Carobene, B & M to Bohling, Justanna, 53 Point Rd (900-122-3-1), (R), $294,500

• Pace, A by Referee to Citimortgage Inc, 820 Flanders Rd (900-143-3-48), (R), $445,036

• Tegtmeier, C by Admr to Delacruz, Alida, 1101 Flanders Rd (900-145-5-7), (R), $295,000

• Martin, D by Referee to Bank of NY Mellon, 24 Bay Ave (900-147-2-12), (R), $520,739

GREENPORT (11944)

• Griffing, E by Executor to 130 Bay Avenue Property, 130 Bay Ave (1001-5-2-19.1), (R), $950,000

JAMESPORT (11947)

• Balzarini, R to Carlucci, Antonio, 55 Dune Dr (600-2.1-2-55), (R), $625,000

LAUREL (11948)

• Pelchuck, A J Trust to Romano, Philip, 465 Delmar Dr (1000-128-3-5), (V), $215,000

MATTITUCK (11952)

• Solomon, G & E to Hawkins, Benjamin, 870 Horton Ave (1000-141-2-21.7), (R), $485,000

• Bouffard, A Trust to T. & C. Restorations Inc, 555 Westphalia Rd (1000-141-3-35), (C), $1,200,000

PECONIC (11958)

• Friedberg, M & A to Casatuta, Kenneth, 295 Shore Ln (1000-86-1-4.19), (R), $950,000

RIVERHEAD (11901)

• Brooks, L & Brophy, S to Pressler, Timothy & Marissa, 704 Sound Shore Rd (600-7-3-15), (R), $350,000

• Perez & Milian-Perez to Pervova, Valerie, 111 Bellflower Ct (600-43-5-11), (R), $455,000

• Zito, J to Ortiz-Sanchez, Silvestre, 293 Rabbit Run (600-65-1-29.50), (R), $369,000

• LaCombe, A & C by Referee to Valued Property Buyers Inc, 618 Corwin St (600-127-3-30), (R), $188,500

SHELTER ISLAND (11964)

• Waring, I & Orlando, T to Feuer Irrevocable Trust, 142 G N Ferry Rd (700-7-4-61.2), (R), $2,050,000

• Potter, C to Deieso, Marco, 20 Terry Dr (700-17-1-62), (R), $885,000

SOUTHOLD (11971)

• Cappabianca, D & L to McMahon, Eileen, 815 Park Ave (1000-56-1-2.4), (R), $555,000

• Harris, J Trust to Burke, Patrick, 345 Colonial Rd (1000-79-6-26), (R), $637,000

• Pagoda Management LLC to Defeis, Lydia, 1165 Cedar Point Dr W (1000-90-1-3), (R), $850,000

WADING RIVER (11792)

• Gleason, J & D to Corazzini, Anthony, 1 South Rd (600-31-2-11), (R), $725,000

• Finter, M & W to Lewis, James, 90 Leonard St (600-54-3-10), (R), $480,000

(Key: Tax map numbers = District-Section-Block-Lot; (A) = agriculture; (R) = residential; (V) = vacant property; (C) = commercial; (R&E) = recreation & entertainment; (CS) = community services; (I) = industrial; (PS) = public service; (P) = park land; as determined from assessed values in the current tax rolls.)

The post Real Estate Transfers: Sept. 13, 2018 appeared first on Suffolk Times.

A power washer malfunction in one of the town’s highway buildings about a month ago left a very large clean-up job.

Vincent Orlando, Southold Town Highway Superintendent, said that the power washer basically melted, spreading black soot all over the building. 

Nothing was physically damaged except for the power washer. Most of the cleaning that had to be done was on the walls, ceilings and floors. According to Director of Public Works Jeff Standish, the cost was about $136,000. Insurance paid a little over $131,000, but the town must pay a $5,000 deductible.

An unexpected cost of $13,900 was imposed on the town to completely clean the contents of the building because the insurance policy does not include “contents,” according to Mr. Standish.

The town board said that they must decide where the money to cover the costs will come from. Councilman Bill Ruland asked to defer any further comments until the town attorney has the chance to look more into the matter.

rsiford@timesreview.com 

Photo caption: The Southold Town Board met with members of the Department of Public Works at its Tuesday working session. (Rachel Siford photo) 

The post Power washer malfunction at highway building costs thousands in cleanup appeared first on Suffolk Times.

The hurricane that had no name — and made a terrible name for itself — came ashore in 1938.

Since then Long Island has felt the effects of other storms like superstorm Sandy (2012), Hurricane Bob (1991) and Hurricane Gloria (1985), but none has matched the 1938 hurricane, which will mark its 80th anniversary on Sept. 21.

Officially unnamed (hurricanes weren’t named back then), it has been known as the Great Hurricane of 1938, the Long Island Express and the Great New England Hurricane of 1938. By whatever name, it was a colossal hurricane of remarkable force. It made landfall with horrific fury, becoming the most destructive storm to strike the region in the 20th century, killing hundreds, wiping out homes, buildings and other properties and causing billions of dollars (in today’s money) worth of damage.

It was one of the worst natural disasters in American history, said to surpass the Chicago fire of 1871 and the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 in terms of death, destruction and injury.

“It was an unrivaled disaster from which some communities would never recover physically, economically, or spiritually,” Cherie Burns wrote in her book, “The Great Hurricane: 1938.”

It all started in warm waters near the Cape Verde Islands, off the African coast of Senegal, a breeding ground for many Atlantic Ocean hurricanes. While a tempest was brewing thousands of miles away, Americans had other things on their minds at the time, like trying to pull themselves out of the Great Depression and worrying about the threat of war in Europe.

What they didn’t know was the threat posed by a cluster of thunderstorms that picked up strength while tracking across the Atlantic. A Brazilian merchant ship, the S.S. Alegrete, is credited with first spotting the storm 300 miles north of Puerto Rico on Sept. 18. By then it was probably a Category 5 hurricane as it traveled north, but it was growing stronger off the coast of Cape Hatteras, N.C., accelerating to a forward motion of 60 to 70 mph, the fastest forward-moving speed ever recorded for a hurricane, according to Ms. Burns.

Weather forecasting in 1938 wasn’t nearly what it is today. It was an inexact science. No radar. No satellite imagery. No computers. No TV. No Weather Channel. Weather forecasters were largely reliant on data they received from ships at sea. When ships were warned about the approaching storm, they headed out of the way, leaving observational blind spots. In those instances, no updates were available on the storm’s progress.

“You go back to 1938, there was really minimal resources that they had to detect and forecast these types of storms,” said Nelson Vaz, a warning coordination meteorologist for the National Hurricane Center.

(Coincidentally, The New York Times ran an editorial on the morning of the hurricane, hailing the U.S. Weather Bureau’s “unparalleled warning system” for alerting the public.)

Also, communication back then was slow — painfully slow by modern standards.

No word of an approaching hurricane was in the forecast for Long Islanders, some of whom didn’t even know what a hurricane was, and some would later say they didn’t think it was possible for a hurricane to reach Long Island. Only two hurricanes had been recorded in the New England region in the previous 300 years (in 1635 and 1815), according to Ms. Burns.

Charlie Pierce, a junior forecaster at the United States Weather Bureau in 1938, had predicted that the storm was headed for the Northeast, but he was overruled by the chief forecaster, according to a History channel documentary about the hurricane.

With no warnings, no cause for alarm was seen. Most forecasters expected the storm to weaken as it reached cooler ocean waters off the Northeast coast, veer farther into the ocean and peter out as other storms had done before.

This one didn’t.

Instead, the storm, running parallel to the East Coast, picked up energy from the jet stream and other conditions, grew larger and more powerful, transforming into an extratropical cyclone. Eastern Long Island was in the path of a natural disaster and no one knew it.

It had been a rainy summer. What the forecast called for on Sept. 21 was rain, heavy at times.

Oppressive heat and heavy rain in the Long Island area had created the perfect conditions for the hurricane, which had been preceded by a deluge of rain that started on the afternoon of Sept. 17 and continued until after midnight on Sept. 19, causing almost continuous flooding. At least five men lost their lives in what The Riverhead News referred to at the time as the Noah’s Ark flood.

By the time that the Weather Bureau had learned that a Category 3 hurricane, with winds from 111 to 129 mph, was bearing down on Long Island, it was too late. With no warning of the hurricane’s approach, Long Islanders began Sept. 21, 1938, as they did any other. Little did they know they were about to experience a destructive force they could not have imagined.

Some fishermen suspected something was up when on the morning of Sept. 21 they saw a yellow-orange sky.

What some remembered beginning as a beautiful, warm, fall day, turned into a real-life horror. High winds, a tidal surge and high tide spelled the perfect storm.

“No one knew that a monster was headed their way,” Ms. Burns wrote.

Everett Allen’s first day on the job as a reporter for the New Bedford Standard-Times in Massachusetts was on Sept. 21, 1938. It was a day he would never forget. In his book “A Wind to Shake the World: The Story of the 1938 Hurricane,” Mr. Allen described the approaching hurricane about to unleash its fury on the unsuspecting victims in its path.

He wrote, “Their world would never be the same again.”

bliepa@timesreview.com

In two weeks, Part II: The storm comes ashore

Photo caption: The 1938 hurricane battered Greenport’s docks, with the massive storm surge overwhelming cars, boats and buildings. (Southold Historical Society courtesy photo)

Part I: Before anything else, there was ice

Part II: Long before the ‘first families’

Part III: When English arrive, Indians disperse?

Part IV: So, who was really here first?

Part V: Slavery, an ignored part of our history

Part VI: Slavery on Shelter Island, a story not hidden away

Part VII: When was Cutchogue’s Old House built?

Part VIII: The Revolution ‘tore families apart’

Part IX: For one loyalist, all would be lost

Part X: From growing divisions within Southold, River Head town is born

Part XI: An epic saga of East End whaling

Part XII: Murders in 1854 shattered a hamlet

Part XIII: The Wickham murders part two

Part XIV: A Civil War on the North Fork

Part XVI: Shelter Island’s place in Quaker history

The post North Fork History Project: 80 years ago, no one saw the Hurricane of 1938 coming appeared first on Suffolk Times.

Incumbent Republican Assemblyman Anthony Palumbo won a landslide victory in Thursday’s primary against challenger Mike Yacubich.

With all 89 districts reporting, Mr. Palumbo had secured 80 percent of the votes, according to unofficial results from the Suffolk County Board of Elections. The total vote was 2,740-641.

Mr. Palumbo, of New Suffolk, will be challenged by Democratic nominee Rona Smith of Greenport in November’s election. Mr. Palumbo was first elected to the Assembly seat in a special election in 2013.

“This was a bit of a roller coaster with the primary being on, then off and so many different layers to it,” Mr. Palumbo said. “We basically campaigned for the general election from the beginning anyway. I’ve been campaigning all summer and I made some slight adjustments for the primary.”

Mr. Palumbo was going to be on November’s ballot on the Conservative and Independence lines regardless of Thursday’s GOP primary.

“Fortunately this was a nice comfortable win, so it’s off we go to the general election,” said Mr. Palumbo, who declined to declare victory Thursday night until it was mathematically locked up.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo won the Democratic primary against challenger Cynthia Nixon. The Associated Press called the race at 9:30 p.m. Mr. Cuomo will face Republican Marc Molinaro in November’s election. There was no GOP primary for governor.

Mr. Cuomo secured 65 percent of the votes.

In the Democratic race for Suffolk County Surrogate Court Judge, Theresa Whelan of Wading River defeated Tara Scully of Setauket. Ms. Whelan secured nearly 65 percent of the votes.

There are two candidates running for Family Court Judge, but the primary only involves the Women’s Equality party line. Karen Kerr led the voting 14-3 against Richard Hoffmann.

In the race for lieutenant governor, incumbent Democrat Kathy Hochul has 53 percent of the vote against Jumaane Williams with 97 percent of districts reporting.

Four candidates were running in a primary for attorney general. Letitia James emerged victorious with 40 percent of the votes. She defeated Sean Patrick Maloney (31 percent), Zephyr Teachout (25 percent) and Leecia Eve (4 percent).

*This post will be updated with more results*

Photo caption: Anthony Palumbo, right, celebrates the victory with Brookhaven Town GOP leader Jesse Garcia. (Credit: Tim Gannon)

Anthony Palumbo on the phone Thursday night as results came in. (Credit: Tim Gannon)

The post Election 2018: Palumbo wins big in GOP primary for Assembly appeared first on Suffolk Times.

Ten years later, almost to the day, the New York State boys and girls cross-country championships will return to Sunken Meadow State Park. On Nov. 10, the eyes of New York’s cross-country community will be focused on the hilly 3.1-mile course in Kings Park.

Christian Demchak, Mattituck’s All-County senior, hopes to be among the Long Islanders running on their home turf, so to speak.

Last year Demchak competed in his second straight state meet. He qualified for that meet on his 16th birthday when he came in seventh in the Class C race in the Section XI Championships at Sunken Meadow. His time of 19 minutes, 17.74 seconds was reflective of the unseasonably warm, humid weather that day that made a demanding race on a demanding course even more demanding. He had run the same course a week earlier in the division championships 65 seconds faster in cooler conditions.

“The hot weather just sucks the life out of him,” said coach Mike Jablonski.

Heat and humidity wasn’t a problem, though, for Demchak in the state meet. In the cold, muddy conditions at Wayne Central School in Ontario Center, he finished 31st in Class C in 17:52.0.

“Last year was horrible,” Jablonski said of the conditions in Ontario Center.“I think the race temp was 28 degrees, snow on the ground, ice.”

It’s not likely to be that way this year at Sunken Meadow. “I think the weather will be a little more conducive to running,” said Jablonski.

As it is, Demchak doesn’t need added motivation. Motivation isn’t a problem for him.

“Christian is just motivated,” said Jablonski, whose team went 2-3 last year. “He runs sub-five-minute miles at times. He’ll run till he [gets sick]. You don’t need to push him too hard. He’s definitely intrinsically motivated.”

Should Demchak make a return to the state meet, he wouldn’t mind having some Mattituck company like teammates Chris Dinizio and Eric Palencia. Dinizio, a senior, and Palencia, a junior, are pushing Demchak in training. “Chris Dinizio and Eric Palencia are right on Christian’s tail,” said Jablonski.

Freshman Luke Woods and senior Antonio Marine may also be among the team’s top five runners.

If things go according to plan, Demchak will close out his high school career with a third straight state meet.

Said Jablonski, “Christian is … looking to make some noise.”

Southold/Greenport (2-4) returns its entire team from last year, has seniors Michael Daddona and Michael Chacon leading the pack, and expects stiff intra-team competition.

That’s good for the First Settlers because their league appears to have gotten stronger. While Stony Brook and Bishop McGann-Mercy (which closed) are no longer part of League VIII, the league has seen the addition of Mattituck, Port Jefferson and Shelter Island.

The keen competition in the league will be mirrored by that among the 15 runners on Southold’s team. Seniors Patrick Connolly and Anakin Mignone have been scorers in the past.

“There’s a lot of opportunities for the younger runners on the team like Isaiah Mraz, Chris Weschler and Jacob Boivin,” said coach Karl Himmelmann.

What has changed since last year?

“I think the biggest change is that it was pretty cut and dry last year in terms of knowing who my top six boys and girls were,” said Himmelmann, who coaches both Southold cross-country teams. “This year it’s anybody’s game. It’s honestly who works the hardest, who stays the most committed and who stays the most healthy.”

Daddona, in his third year in the sport, has reached the state meet twice. Last year he was 93rd in Class D in 20:31.5. In the Section XI Championships at Sunken Meadow, he was ninth in the class in 19:54.00.

Chacon could be looking at a big season as well.

“Michael has always been a perennially strong runner, a dedicated runner, and he looks the same this year,” Himmelmann said. “I also see a tremendous amount of growth in Michael Chacon. They’re going to be my one-two punch.”

All of Southold’s seniors are four-year runners.

“I would like to see them be competitive in every meet that we do,” Himmelmann said. “I think there’s a good opportunity to get two and maybe three boys qualify for the state meet.”

bliepa@timesreview.com

Photo caption: Mattituck’s All-County senior, Christian Demchak, has run in the last two state meets. (Credit: Robert O’Rourk, file)

The post Boys Cross-Country Preview: Demchak aims for third state meet appeared first on Suffolk Times.

The Mattituck High School girls cross-country team has enjoyed astounding success the past six years, each of those times winning a Suffolk County championship and competing in the state meet as a team.

Do the Tuckers have it in them for a seventh straight time?

“I guess my answer to that is that is the goal,” said Chris Robinson, who succeeds Julie Milliman as coach. “We’re not settling for anything less. They’ve had success in the past. They know what it takes to get there.”

That success manifested itself last year in a League VII championship, a third straight Suffolk Division IV title and, yes, a sixth straight appearance in the state meet for the Tuckers (5-0).

Since 2012, Mattituck has a 28-4 record in league meets. During Milliman’s five years as coach, the team went 24-3.

“They’ve been tremendously successful,” Robinson said. “It has just continued and continued, and that’s just a credit to Julie Milliman and what she has down for the program. That’s big shoes to fill but I’m excited about the challenge and I’m excited about the team that we have.”

It’s a lot to be excited about.

Mattituck has junior Payton Maddaloni at the head of the pack. Maddaloni, a four-year team member, turned in a time of 22 minutes, 19.5 seconds on a muddy 3.1-mile course at Wayne Central School in Ontario Center to finish 42nd in the Class C race. As a team, Mattituck finished ninth among state Class C teams.

Maddaloni led the charge in the Section XI Championships at Sunken Meadow State Park’s 3.1-mile course, clocking a winning time of 21:36.26. That was the headline performance as three Tuckers were among the first five Class C finishers.

“She’s been around for a long time,” Robinson said of Maddaloni. “She continues to get bigger and stronger and she continues to lead this team … She’s learned from a lot of great runners from the past. She knows what it takes. She’s a smart girl, a smart runner.”

Maddaloni (21:18.61) and Kylie Conroy (21:21.69), a sophomore, placed second and third, respectively, in the division meet at Sunken Meadow. Mattituck won the Suffolk Division IV crown, beating out runner-up Shelter Island by 14 points.

Among those Tuckers who ran at last year’s state meet were sophomore Bella Masotti (44th in 22:19.6), Conroy (74th in 23:05.5), sophomore Abby Rosato (11th in 24:56.6) and sophomore Emma Reidy (121st in 26:01.0).

The majority of the team consists of returning runners like senior Julie Seifert and sophomore Lauren Onufrak. New to the squad are Kate Schuch, Miranda Annunziata, Courtney Trzcinsky, Ava Vacarrella and Anna Falco, a former runner for Bishop McGann-Mercy, which has closed.

“I think we look good,” Robinson said. “I think we got a strong core group of girls. I think we range from veterans down to young girls ready to make an impact early.”

The state meet will return to Sunken Meadow on Nov. 10 for the first time in 10 years.

Southold/Greenport junior Olivia Lynch reached the state meet last year in her first varsity season and looks like a good bet to get back there this year.

“She’s a very talented runner,” coach Karl Himmelmann said. “When we do workouts on the track, she’ll pace with my top boys. I think she has a very good shot at going back to the state meet. I’d like to see her be very competitive in every meet that we do. If she stays healthy, she’ll be setting some new [personal records] for herself this year.”

Lynch was 53rd in the state Class D race in 22:54.1. She qualified for the state meet by taking second in the class in the sectional championships in 22:04.48.

Emiliann Palermo and Kelli McHugh also return from last year’s 1-5 team. “They’re wonderful, committed members of the team, and they’re always trying to challenge themselves and get better every year,” said Himmelmann.

Annie Antonucci and Evelyn Helsinski, who ran for the junior high school team last year, are new additions.

Closing out the season in a rare state meet at Sunken Meadow is the carrot at the end of the stick for Long Island’s runners and others.

Said Himmelmann, “Everybody wants the opportunity to go to the state meet this year and run on that course.”

bliepa@timesreview.com

Photo caption: Mattituck junior Payton Maddaloni is the top runner for a team seeking a seventh straight county championship. (Credit: Robert O’Rourk)

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Federal funds have been allocated for a restoration project at Cedar Beach, Congressman Lee Zeldin announced last Friday.

According to a Habitat Restoration Plan prepared by the Peconic Estuary Program last year, the project will restore ecosystem features in a “degraded” marsh area that has faced erosion challenges.

Their plan, which will be implemented by Cornell Cooperative Extension, will create 19.5 acres of salt marsh through reusing clean dredging materials, creating new oyster reefs, 1.7 acres of new seagrass meadow and improving the open water habitat in the 65-acre area.

Mr. Zeldin announced $480,000 in federal funding to back the project and said it would enhance critical marine habitats in the Peconic Estuary, designated by the EPA as an Estuary of National Significance.

“In a district nearly completely surrounded by water, we have a unique responsibility to safeguard our local environment,” Mr. Zeldin said in a press release. “An important component of our community’s ecosystem is our area’s wetlands and salt marshes which protect our shores from erosion, reduce the impact of flooding, absorb pollutants and protect water quality.”

Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell said the project would restore an ecosystem important to the East End. “It will also serve as a model that can be applied to other areas,” Mr. Russell said Friday, thanking Mr. Zeldin for the environmental support. “[Mr. Zeldin] has been a vehement opponent to proposals that threaten our environment,” Mr. Russell said. “He really talks the talk and the East End’s environment is better for it.”

The announcement comes on the heels of a New York State Department of Environmental Conservation announcement that it will hold its inaugural Long Island Estuary Day on Saturday, Sept. 15 to celebrate the environment. It will be hosted by the Peconic Estuary Program, South Shore Estuary Reserve and Long Island Sound Study at the Seatuck Environmental Association in Islip.

The event will kick off National Estuaries Week, meant to celebrate local bays and estuaries and the benefits for local communities.

“Continual coordination between the three Long Island programs to communicate the major water quality issues facing Long Island coastal waters and the on-going development of solutions to these issues is of the utmost importance to the future of these water bodies and Long Island communities,” said PEP Executive Director Joyce Novak in a separate release Friday.

The theme of this year’s event is nitrogen pollution, which contributes to harmful algal blooms, fish kills, beach closures and shellfishing restrictions. You can preregister for the event online or contact Seatuck Environmental Association for more information.

tsmith@timesreview.com

The post Federal funds to restore habitat at Cedar Beach Creek appeared first on Suffolk Times.

Five people spoke in support of Eastern Front Brewing Co. at a public hearing before the Southold Planning Board Monday evening. The Mattituck brewery is seeking site plan approval to reopen its Main Road tasting room.

“I own property here in Mattituck and I’m totally in favor of this application, so I hope you guys will take it into consideration,” said resident Mike Hughes.

Those who spoke at the hearing said they supported local businesses in the area and praised Eastern Front owner Douglas Pearsall, citing improvements he’s made to the building, such as renovating the interior.

The brewery opened in March but closed less than two weeks later for what it described as “unforeseen problems with permits.”

The proposed 1,900-square-foot tasting space is on the ground level in the front of a building where two apartments already exist. No footprint changes are proposed. Twelve parking stalls are proposed, although only eight are required by town code.

The retail space was previously occupied by a fence company and a florist, but no site plan has ever been approved for this parcel, according to a planning staff report.

Mr. Pearsall first came before the Planning Board in July to get the site plan approval it hadn’t received before opening in March.

Paige Catalano of Mattituck said she appreciates this business because it could provide jobs for young people in the community.

“I personally am a young professional who lives out here and I think that this business would be a good opportunity, not only for their family, but also for young people who are looking for jobs and experience in the community,” she said.

The public hearing was closed and Mr. Pearsall declined to comment afterward. The next step is site plan approval from the board. 

At a Planning Board meeting in July, Mr. Pearsall had said he does not want limos or buses at his establishment and that business hours would align with those of wineries in the area.

rsiford@timesreview.com

Photo caption: Paige Catalano of Mattituck spoke in favor of the brewery during Monday’s hearing. (Rachel Siford photo)

The post Residents speak in support of Eastern Front Brewing Co. appeared first on Suffolk Times.

Kerriann Otaño and her fiancé, Dane Suarez, spent two years planning every detail of their perfect wedding. Ms. Otaño would walk down a long walkway from the house they rented for their bridal party onto North Topsail Beach on the North Carolina coast.

The opera-singing couple would exchange vows in a small, personalized ceremony this weekend.

By Monday, it became apparent those plans would be washed away. Hurricane Florence had taken dead aim at the North Carolina coast. Mandatory evacuations for Topsail residents were ordered earlier this week and the storm made landfall early Friday morning, dumping devastating rain.

“When I think back to it, I was just numb for hours,” said Mr. Suarez, 31. “You spend two years picturing what the day is going to be, and we designed a super personal ceremony and I couldn’t even picture it being anywhere else.”

On Tuesday, the bride and groom drove back to New York and floated an idea on Facebook to reschedule the wedding this weekend on Long Island. They were worried no one would be able to rearrange their plans. Ms. Otaño, 31, a Wading River native, was soon inundated with hundreds of comments and messages, with offers of extra bedrooms for their guests to sleep in, backyards to have the ceremony in and tents to borrow.

“We thought we had lost it completely and that we were going to have to get married in my parents’ living room on Long Island,” she said.

Instead, thanks to the generosity of a high school friend, many different collaborators and several North Fork businesses, the couple will be wed Sunday afternoon at a waterfront restaurant in Southold.

The forecast: Mostly sunny and a high of 77 degrees.

“I think it’s even better than the wedding we would’ve had in North Carolina because I feel like it’s not just the 100 people that were coming to our wedding,” she said. “It feels like the hundreds and hundreds of people who helped make this happen.”

Kerriann Otaño and her mother Karen at A Lure Friday. (Credit: Rachel Siford)

The wedding reception and ceremony will be held at A Lure Chowder House and Oyster-ia. Ms. Otaño and Lauren Lovett, whose husband Adam is an owner of the restaurant, have been friends since their days at Riverhead High School. Ms. Lovett reached out to Ms. Otaño and offered the restaurant as a wedding space.

During Ms. Otaño’s 12-hour drive Tuesday, she mapped out the menu with Liz Werkmeister, a manager at A Lure. By the next day, the couple had a head count confirmed.

The guest list originally featured 100 people; about 50 managed to alter their plans to travel to the North Fork. Adding in extra guests from Long Island, the list rounded out at about 75.

“The owner is very community minded,” Ms. Werkmeister said. “He’d be happy to help anyone if he can make it work.”

One hiccup still remained for the couple. To acquire a marriage license in New York, they needed their birth certificates. Mr. Suarez is from Illinois. So his parents and siblings left at 4 p.m. Thursday and drove straight to the restaurant Friday where the couple was preparing for their big day. They arrived at noon, just in time for the couple to beat the 4 p.m. deadline for their New York marriage license.

More surprises awaited the couple Friday.

“One of the things we were going to have at our wedding was this donut wall,” Ms. Otaño said. “We were so excited about it.”

Her mother, Karen, surprised her on Friday with news that there would still be a donut wall thank to a donation by North Fork Doughnut Co. in Mattituck.

Dane Suarez and his sister Victoria at A Lure Friday. (Credit: Rachel Siford)

“It’s a beautiful story and it’s so beautiful how the entire community came together and pieced this wedding together in two days, when it took them two years to plan the destination wedding,” North Fork Doughnut Co. owner Kelly Briguccia said. “It’s really great to see a community do that, and we want to be a part of that, without a doubt.”

Zilnicki Farms in Riverhead will be donating the flowers for Sunday’s festivities.

The pair met during their senior years of college when Mr. Suarez’s a cappella group had a mixer with Ms. Otaño’s group, while they were both studying at different colleges in Indiana. They didn’t start dating until they met again at a three-month opera program in Sarasota, Fla. in 2013.

The couple, who currently live in California, is planning to spend all of next week on the North Fork, enjoying the area during their rare vacation time; their careers keep them traveling often.

“Through it all, nothing can stop us. We’re doing it,” Mr. Suarez said. “We’re so lucky.”

“I’m more grateful and more blown away than I think I’ve ever been in my entire life,” Ms. Otaño said. “To go from what was the saddest news, to thinking that we wouldn’t have any wedding at all, to getting all of this support and finding out that it was going to be better and bigger than we ever hoped.”

Top photo caption: Kerriann Otaño and her fiancé, Dane Suarez, at A Lure in Southold Friday morning. (Credit: Rachel Siford)

rsiford@timesreview.com

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Victory was at hand.

Or so it seemed.

Perhaps the high school football gods are toying with the Greenport/Southold/Mattituck Porters, teasing them. Because for a little over a half of Friday night’s Suffolk County Division IV game, it looked as if Greenport was on the way to its first win in two years.

Greenport seemed to have found its passing game and was moving the ball. The Porters’ defense was looking good. Finally, it seemed, fate was smiling on the Porters.

And then that smile turned into a frown.

Before the Porters could do a victory dance, it all came tumbling apart. It wasn’t that they choked. It was more like they cramped up.

Literally.

A series of leg cramps put a crimp in Greenport’s plans. Some of Greenport’s best players — Ahkee Anderson, Tyrus Smiley, Brandon Clark, Jude Swann — struggled with cramping issues and that took a toll. The Porters, who for the most part had played well enough to win, succumbed to Center Moriches, 27-18, at Dorrie Jackson Memorial Field in Greenport. It was Greenport’s 10th consecutive loss, an unenviable string that began with last year’s season opener.

Losing isn’t an easy habit to break.

Greenport (0-2) blew leads of 12-0 and 18-7 as Brett Fuhrmann and Brad Sakellarides turned in touchdown runs within 2 minutes and 34 seconds of each other in the third quarter to swing the game in Center Moriches’ favor. (In between those TDs was a fumble, caused by Center Moriches’ Robert Waller and recovered by teammate John Donohue). Following Sakellarides’ 10-yard scoring run, Hunter Hassett hit David Carroll for a two-point pass, making it 21-18.

Fuhrmann’s second TD run of the game, an 11-yarder that capped a 10-play, 69-yard drive, sealed things with 2:39 left to play.

The Porters must have been stunned by the turn of events that had seen a game going so well for them suddenly swing against them with no warning.

Before he was hit with a right calf muscle tightening up midway through the third quarter, Anderson was having a splendid game. The Greenport quarterback/defensive back shook off defenders on the way to a 43-yard dash to the end zone in the first quarter. In the second quarter, the junior intercepted a pass and returned the ball 36 yards. On the next play, he dropped a pass into the arms of Smiley, who had separated himself from the secondary, for a 39-yard TD pass, making it 12-0.

Before the first half ended, though, Carroll carried the ball on a reverse, untouched, around the left side for Center Moriches’ first points with 1:16 to go.

Anderson’s passing and rushing yard totals were virtually identical. He passed 5-for-12 for 125 yards — all of those yards coming in the first half — and ran 24 times for 124 yards. He threw one interception and lost one fumble.

Greenport had stretched its lead to 18-7 with 4:37 remaining in the third quarter thanks to a 12-play, 62-yard drive. The last four of those yards came on a Smiley run. After heading left, Smiley found no openings, reversed field and had nothing but Greenport blockers and daylight in front of him.

Hassett, who split time at quarterback with Emond Frazier for Center Moriches (1-1), went 6-for-12 for 108 yards and an interception. Carroll caught four passes for 87 yards. The Red Devils also received 82 yards on eight carries by Frazier.

bliepa@timesreview.com

Photo caption: Greenport/Southold/Mattituck quarterback Ahkee Anderson passed 5-for-12 for 125 yards, with one touchdown and one interception against Center Moriches. (Credit: Daniel De Mato)

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The giant elephant in the room during every Catholic Mass is not going away anytime soon.

And, with recent developments in New York State and around the country related to the sexual abuse scandal, it is fair to say the Roman Catholic Church is at a critical point in its long history. It needs to make a choice: Tell the truth or keep on lying.

The hierarchy has made awful decisions in the past about this outrageous part of its history. Even as churches in places like Ireland have emptied, its focus has been to suppress it and keep practicing Catholics from learning its full extent. It seems the hierarchy would prefer the church to die its own death rather than confess the cold truth to parishioners and try to save it.

The decisions church leaders make now will determine what Catholicism will be moving forward, as parishioners come to terms with the reality of decades of abuse and cover-ups. If John Paul II knew about allegations of abuse, and did little about them, did he deserve sainthood? How much does Pope Francis know — and when did he know it?

Last week, New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood’s office issued subpoenas against every Catholic diocese in the state — including the Diocese of Rockville Centre — as part of an investigation into the sexual abuse of minors by the clergy. There is no doubt that a trove of files will come back. In Suffolk County alone, a 2003 grand jury report by former district attorney Thomas Spota unearthed scores of reports of priests abusing boys, their crimes covered up by the diocese and hidden away in secret files. That’s just one diocese.

Ms. Underwood’s investigation comes on the heels of the Pennsylvania grand jury report presenting evidence that 300 “predator” priests had raped and sodomized more than 1,000 victims in the previous seven decades. It’s not hard to imagine scores of Catholics giving up on their church after reading those horrifying accounts.

“The Pennsylvania grand jury report shined a light on incredibly disturbing and depraved acts by Catholic clergy, assisted by a culture of secrecy and cover-ups in the dioceses,” Ms. Underwood said in a statement. “Victims in New York deserve to be heard as well.”

Since Pennsylvania’s action, some 10 states have launched similar investigations. Hotlines set up for abuse victims have lit up nationwide. New Jersey has created a task force headed by an experienced criminal prosecutor to subpoena records and seek testimony. If what was discovered next door in Pennsylvania is also true in New Jersey — and in parishes across New York State — this scandal will live for years to come.

After reading the Pennsylvania report, many Catholic families are now asking how any responsible parent could ever allow his or her child to go off on a weekend retreat with a Catholic priest.

Where is all this going? How will it end? Will Catholic churches in America empty out as they have in Ireland, where historians will one day ask which was worse for that country: the British or the Catholic church?

It is hard to imagine a scenario in which Pope Francis is not dragged further into this morass. Which American prosecutor will want to put him under oath before a grand jury, and ask him what he knew and when he knew it? Sound far-fetched? Perhaps.

Last month, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, former Vatican ambassador to the United States, accused Pope Francis of knowing that Cardinal Theodore McCarrick had abused young seminarians and, instead of acting on it, lifting penalties that had been imposed on the cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI.

Along with accusing Pope Francis of complicity in the cover-up — which, if true, should mean he must resign — Archbishop Vigano has wildly suggested that homosexuality in the priesthood may be the root cause of this scandal. To many observers, the Catholic civil war is in full battle mode.

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The plan to convert a five-bedroom home at 870 Love Lane into a 1,430-square-foot professional office with an 830-square-foot one-bedroom apartment on the second floor is moving forward. 

The .75-acre property is zoned Residential Office. Changes to the exterior have not been proposed, except for enclosing an 8-by-12 porch and installing a new gravel driveway.

At a public hearing last October several Love Lane residents expressed their concerns about traffic safety. They felt the curb cut was too close to the intersection with Route 48.

Other additions will include a new sanitary system, stormwater drainage and public water connection. 

The main missing piece of information is a covenant and restriction related to sidewalks. If a sidewalk is placed on the adjacent parcel to the south, or if a change of use generates increased pedestrian traffic to Love Lane, a sidewalk would also need to be placed on the property.

JAKUBIUK AGRICULTURAL BUILDING

Jakubiuk Farm & Nursery has proposed a one-story, 12,000-square-foot building for agricultural storage at 5455 Youngs Ave. in Southold.

It would sit on approximately 22.5 acres of farmland with development rights held by Southold Town in the AC zoning district. Also on the table is a 320-foot gravel driveway for access from Youngs Avenue. A basement has not been proposed.

There are no parking stalls on the site plan as of now, although 12 stalls are required, according to town code. Also, there is no exterior lighting planned.

The site plan is classified as a Type II action under the State Environmental Quality Review Act and requires no further review. 

A public hearing on the proposal is set for Monday, Oct. 15.

rsiford@timesreview.com 

Photo caption: The proposed site on Love Lane. (Rachel Siford file photo)

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An East Moriches man was arrested for felony driving while intoxicated in Mattituck Saturday.

According to a police report, an officer on foot observed William Sinclair, 31, driving a 1997 Dodge westbound in the village of Cutchogue at a high rate of speed with a headlight out at approximately 12:15 a.m.

While attempting to perform a traffic stop, an officer paced the vehicle at 75 mph in a 40 mph zone, officials said.

After failing a field sobriety test, Mr. Sinclair was arrested and transported to the Southold Town Police Department for processing.

• A Southold woman reported that a blue stand-up paddleboard was stolen from her residence on Paradise Shores Road Sunday around 4 p.m., police said. An investigation is ongoing.

• A man called Southold police Sunday to report that an intoxicated female left Osprey’s Dominion Vineyards in Peconic just before 4 p.m. The complainant stated to police that he tried to get her a ride home but she left.

Police said multiple units checked the area but were unable to locate the vehicle, a 2014 Mercedes-Benz.

• Firefighters from the Orient Fire Department extinguished flames Sunday at a structure on Halyoake Avenue in Orient, police said. 

An Orchard Street resident called to report flames coming out of the front doors, police said.

Firefighters determined that fire originated at the door sill and was possibly started by a cigarette, officials said. No injuries were reported.

• A woman called Southold police Sunday to file a complaint about noise and possible trespassing at the Oyster Factory in East Marion.

An officer responded around 9:11 a.m. to check the Shipyard Lane location and found the noise was due to wind moving the structure, officials said.

• Mattituck Fire Department and Southold police responded Saturday to extinguish a tractor fire on Oregon Road in Mattituck.

A Mattituck man told police he was attempting to start a Ford tractor around 11 a.m. when he heard a popping noise. The tractor had a fuel leak that was ignited as he attempted to start it, police said.

• A sign and signpost were stolen from Grand Avenue in Mattituck last Tuesday.

A Woodcliff Drive resident’s security cameras showed a white Jeep Cherokee with a black top that stopped on Woodcliff Drive around 9:54 p.m. Two subjects exited the vehicle, ran to Grand Avenue and picked up the sign and post, police said.

The post was dropped in a neighbor’s yard before the subjects placed the sign in the vehicle and fled, officials said.

• A Southampton woman reported to police that a decorative log was stolen from her Front Street business in Greenport last Wednesday.

Security footage shows an unknown white female taking the property Aug. 20 at approximately 10:42 p.m., officials said

• A Jamesport man reported a Honda motorcycle stolen from Natural Image Landscaping in Southold last Wednesday, police said.

An officer was able to locate a trail leaving a barn on the property across the railroad tracks and into Osprey Dominion Vineyard, police said, but a search of the area was conducted with negative results, officials said.

• A Greenport man called police last Wednesday to report hearing gunshots near a pond on Bayview Avenue in Southold.

An officer responded around 7:13 a.m. and did not see or hear anyone shooting. The man was advised that the shots could have been goose hunters, as goose season is currently open, police said.

• A Greenport woman reported to police last Tuesday that she saw two white females, possibly intoxicated, one of them removing her clothes, on First Street in Greenport around 6 p.m.

After a search, officers could not locate the women, police said.

• Southold Town police arrested a Rutherford, N.J., man last Tuesday for driving drunk.

Daniel Papa, 48 was stopped on Boisseau Avenue in Southold while operating a 1977 Chevrolet Nova, police said.

Mr. Papa was arrested and transported to police headquarters for arraignment the next day. He was charged with aggravated DWI, a misdemeanor.

• An anonymous caller reported ATVs riding in a Cutchogue vineyard last Monday around 5:33 p.m.

Police spoke to a Riverhead man, an employee of the vineyard, who stated that he did have permission to ride the ATV on the property.

• A Southold man reported last Monday that five fishing rods valued at approximately $900 were stolen from his 2006 Sea Ray located at the Peconic Bay Yacht Club.

The items were resting in outside pole holders on the back deck area, police said.

• A family was asked to leave Truman’s Beach in East Marion on Labor Day after an officer observed them camping, police said.

They told officers they were not aware that the DEC area was off-limits to camping, tents and fires and left the area, the report states.

Those who are named in police reports have not been convicted of any crime or violation. The charges against them may later be reduced or withdrawn, or they may be found innocent.

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A Riverhead woman who caused a crash that shut down Main Road in Jamesport Friday morning, was arrested and charged with DWI and leaving the scene of an accident. 

Southold Town police said Laurie Cullen was heading westbound on Main Road at a high rate of speed in a black 2016 Ford Escape shortly after 7:30 a.m., when she struck another vehicle headed in the same direction. She fled the scene and headed into Jamesport, where she struck a telephone pole and a parked vehicle.

Ms. Cullen, 57, was found to be intoxicated and arrested. She suffered injuries that required treatment at Peconic Bay Medical Center.

She was released on her own recognizance due the nature of her injuries and is due back in Southold Town Justice Court at a later date.

The accident shut down Main Road between Herricks and Laurel Lanes during morning rush hour Friday. A utility pole also had to be repaired and brief power outages were reported in the area.

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For two decades, landscapes found on the East End have inspired plein air impressionist painter Max Moran.

Mr. Moran, a North Forker by way of Ohio and Martha’s Vineyard, found solace in the open fields and atmosphere he found when he moved to Baiting Hollow in 1996. “The North Fork had a New England feel about it. It was an agrarian culture. There was so much to mine,” he said during a recent interview at his Jamesport studio.

There, Mr. Moran was putting the finishing touches on a series of never-before-seen paintings for “Illuminations,” a solo exhibit that opened at the William Ris Gallery on Saturday.

The approximately twenty paintings featured in the month-long show are a dreamlike amalgamation of cloudscapes seen at different times of day. “As a kid, I always had my nose up against the window looking out at the clouds,” Mr. Moran said. “I’m tapping back into that nostalgia, and still have the same feeling and awe.”

Clouds, to Mr. Moran, are a “visual opera.” People look skyward for many reasons: to pass time, to pray, to contemplate, he said. “We get great cloud formations out here. By now, I can almost see a good one coming,” Mr. Moran said, adding that painting in plein air adds a sense of adrenaline.

After all, clouds are fleeting. “That’s life, though. It doesn’t sit still, does it?” he mused.

Mr. Moran says his knowledge of the terrain — what’s planted in which farm fields, how the light moves across them at certain times throughout the day — gives him an intuitive advantage when location scouting. Despite the romanticization of plein air painting, Mr. Moran says it isn’t all about straw hats and sunshine. “It’s not as easy as people think. There’s bugs, there’s wind, the occasional lightning strike.”

While painting in a field on Sound Avenue, for example, a gust of wind moved across and swept his canvas across the roadway. “It picked up some grass and gravel,” he said, that now add texture to the image.

Other impressionists could attest to this. Last year, a small grasshopper was found embedded in the paint of van Gogh’s “Olive Trees” at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City.

Landscapes, Mr. Moran said, are universal. “I think we all have the ability to see and appreciate landscape artwork,” he said. “It’s ageless.”

“Illuminations,” Mr. Moran’s 16th solo exhibition on the North Fork, runs through Sunday, Oct. 14, and Mr. Moran will give an artist talk Saturday, Sept. 29, from 2 to 4 p.m.

tsmith@timesreview.com

Photo caption: Impressionist painter Max Moran’s solo exhibition, ‘Illuminations,’ kicks off the fall season at the William Ris Gallery in Jamesport. It opened Sept. 15. (Tara Smith photo) 

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The federal government decided in 2009 to sell Plum Island to the highest bidder, presumably a private owner. In 2013 Donald Trump announced his desire to purchase Plum Island to create a golf resort. Southold Town had no interest in that plan, which quickly fizzled.

Leading conservation organizations, including Save our Sound and Group for the East End, are suing to block the sale. A federal judge denied a motion to dismiss the lawsuit in January. Congress can and should act to permanently block the sale. It has failed to do so.

Congressman Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) takes credit for passing a bill in the House that would provide a one-year period to study alternative disposition strategies for Plum Island and prohibit pre-marketing of the Island until 180 days after the submission of the report to Congress. But this bill has not become law because the Senate won’t pass it. 

Note that the bill does not actually stop a sale, only potentially reopen the question as to whether to sell it. Senators from New York and Connecticut have introduced an alternative bill that would formally and unconditionally repeal any plan to sell Plum Island. Unfortunately, Republican leaders have refused to let that bill advance.

Plum Island has recently been closed to visitors, prohibiting scientific research by groups such as Audubon New York. New York and Connecticut senators have objected, while Mr. Zeldin remains silent.

Where is Mr. Zeldin on truly defending Plum Island? His short-term delay plan can’t even pass the Senate, which his own party controls. Perhaps Mr. Zeldin is content letting the clock run out so that his friend Mr. Trump can profit from making the island another Trump golf course? 

Regardless, as your future congressman, I will fight to make sure Plum Island is not sold and to facilitate passage of appropriate legislation in both houses of Congress. Few members of either chamber are speaking up in favor of a sale, so why can’t our current elected representative put a stop to this ridiculous proposal that would sell off a precious natural asset? First District residents deserve better.

Perry Gershon

The author is the Democratic candidate for Congress from New York’s 1st District.

The post Featured Letter: Future of Plum Island appeared first on Suffolk Times.

There are far too many deer in Southold Town, something dramatic has to be done to reduce their numbers, and many residents are tired of talking about the problem and attending meetings where the issue is discussed.

That was the major takeaway at a deer forum held Wednesday evening in Southold Town Hall.

“People are concerned about the numbers, and we are doing what we can to address this problem,” said Craig Jobes, wildlife manager for Southold Town who hosted the forum. “In some areas we don’t feel it’s getting any worse, but we have to bring the numbers down.”

The forum brought together three experts: Susan Booth-Binczik, a wildlife biologist with the State Department of Environmental Conservation; Allen Gosser, the state director of wildlife services for the U.S. Department of Agriculture; and Thomas Rawinski, a botanist with the U.S. Forest Service.

Mr. Jobes began the presentation by saying the forum was about deer and not ticks. “We understand the deer and tick problem are related,” he said, adding that the speakers were there to talk about deer numbers and the impact on the environment.

Ms. Booth-Binczik addressed some basic truths about white-tailed deer: they breed early and often, and the deer population doubles every two to three years. To gain a foothold on that increase, the population would have to drop approximately 40 percent every year just to keep the numbers stable.

The deer have no natural predators here, so hunting — and collisions with cars — are the only checks on their numbers. To control the tick problem, she said, deer numbers would have been sharply lowered. Their overabundance means they are killing off woodlands and plant life and destroying crops. 

She said access by hunters to private land will reduce their numbers, since the amount of pubic land is limited.

Mr. Gosser summed up the problem this way: “The level of deer damage here on the East End is the greatest I have seen anywhere in New York.”

Mr. Rawinski explained that large numbers of deer have denuded forests, destroyed native plant life, with young trees barely having a chance to mature before they are eaten by the deer. 

“Forests can’t regenerate,” he said. “We will look like the moors of Scotland if we don’t control this problem.”

He went on to say birds that were once common here have been sharply reduced because of habitat loss. At one point he referred to deer herds as a pestilence and said “people who protest hunting are siding with the pestilence.”

Mr. Jobes pointed out that the overwhelming amount of land in the town where the deer live is private, and thus hunters would need permission to hunt there. He said a goal for a healthy herd is about eight to 10 deer per square mile; he said there are estimates today of approximately 64 deer per square mile.

During a question and answer period, Mr. Jobes said that recreational hunting won’t reduce the herd enough and said that culling by professional hunters is needed.

One speaker said, “We keep having these meetings and experts come and things keep getting worse. There is no improvement — it’s getting worse. If you don’t have culls, it won’t happen. We will have another meeting three or four years from now and it will be worse.”

Legislator Al Krupski (D-Cutchogue), who attended the meeting and introduced the speakers, and who knows the problem first hand on his Peconic farm, said in an email: “Today’s deer population management isn’t coming close to being effective. The current damage to our natural resources and health is unsustainable.  There needs to be wholesale changes to the way New York State manages the herd.”

Southold Supervisor Scott Russell, whose government has worked hard to open up hunting and also to help hunters donate tons of venison from animals they harvest, said in an email: “There is still a large group of people who oppose hunting, although that number is getting smaller.

“This is especially important as we look to expand our hunting efforts,” he wrote. “We think the number of deer we are taking from the preserves is a good start. That said, we also think we’ve reached our potential there. We plan to undertake an effort to reach out to private landowners to get their permission to allow hunting on their properties.

“We already have a registration on our website for interested owners, but now it’s time to really focus on getting them engaged … The debate for some time is whether or not recreational hunting is enough to address the crisis. Probably not, but even professional hunting organizations can’t address it if they have no places to hunt. Our next challenge is to identify those places.”

swick@timesreview.com

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The Mattituck-Cutchogue School Board of Education is down one trustee after Barbara Talbot resigned in August.

The board accepted her letter of resignation during a special board of education meeting held Aug. 29.

Ms. Talbot, who was elected to a three-year term in 2016, cited personal reasons for her resignation.

She would have been up for re-election in May.

“My role in my professional career has increased and is requiring additional time,” Ms. Talbot wrote in a letter to the board dated Aug. 17. 

“I have greatly enjoyed the cooperative experience of serving on the school board during my term and I am thankful for your help and kindness along the way. I am proud of all we accomplished and wish you all continued success,” Ms. Talbot continued in her letter.

In an email, Board of Education President Charles Anderson said the board would like to say “thank you to Mrs. Talbot for her community service.”

The board has three options to fill the seat, which include holding a special election, appointing a member or leaving the seat vacant.

“All agreed not to go that route,” said Superintendent Jill Gierasch on holding an election, adding that it would be quite costly. “[The board] is very much interested in filling the seat should they all agree on a viable candidate.”

According to Ms. Gierasch, interested candidates were asked to send their requests to the board last week. The board may appoint a new member at the next meeting, scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 20 at 6:30 p.m. in the high school library. 

tsmith@timesreview.com

Photo caption: Barbara Tallot (far right) resigned in August. (Suffolk Times file photo)

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The Southold Town Board discussed the possibility of acquiring Cedar Beach County Park — an idea that gained little traction.

If that were to occur, according to director of public works Jeff Standish, the parking lot would need repaving and a bath house would be needed.

Mr. Standish, who pitched the idea at Tuesday’s Town Board work session, said he would need to know the cost to taxpayers before the town embarks on such a large endeavor.

Supervisor Scott Russell said he needs a concrete reason why the town should assume responsibility for the Southold beach, and would also need to decide whether to maintain it as a county beach or make it a town beach. Right now, anyone from Suffolk County can enjoy Cedar Beach for free.

“It needs a substantial amount of money,” Mr. Russell said. “If we accept our current beach stickers down there, we’re not creating revenue because the stickers have already been issued.”

No board members expressed interest in sharing responsibilities with the county, as they fear the financial burden would fall on them.

“I think it’s definitely worth exploring because the town doesn’t have very much property at all,” Councilwoman Jill Doherty said. “We all know our beaches are totally overcrowded and they’re only going to get worse, and this would be an excellent asset.”

Mr. Russell, responding to the original story published in Thursday’s Suffolk Times, reiterated that there would need to be a more specific reason as to why the town should consider it. He outlined several concerns he had about the prospect of the town acquiring the county park, such as the costs involved and legal hurdles. While he remained open to the possibility, he was skeptical it was a worthwhile endeavor.

Photo credit: Krysten Massa

rsiford@timesreview.com

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