Photo credit – Matt Meduri
To increase connectivity with the local media, County Executive Ed Romaine (R-Center Moriches) and his office have started what they hope to be a series of virtual roundtables with reporters from local outlets.
Last week saw the maiden voyage of the new series, where Romaine invited local outlets to ask questions on quality-of-life issues and prerogatives of the County for the next three-and-a-half years.
Romaine opened by summarizing some of the largest projects of the year, such as putting the Suffolk County Water Quality Restoration Act on the November ballot, a referendum in which voters can approve an eighth-cent sales tax increase to fund sewer and Innovative Alternative Wastewater (I/A) Systems throughout the county; coastal resiliency initiatives with FEMA funds for the Scully Estate in Islip, the East Islip Preserve, and Cupsogue Beach in Westhampton; and the restrooms at Cedar Beach West in Mount Sinai that are slated to receive an I/A system through funding from the County and the Town of Brookhaven.
Romaine said that his biggest “complaint” is that Suffolk County does not receive its “fair share of funding” from Albany and Washington.
“We seem to be shortchanged,” Romaine told the media. “Suffolk gets $40 million in bus transport funding, while Westchester County, less than a third the size of Suffolk, receives $108 million. We need to push for more funding.”
Romaine also stated his opposition to the MTA payroll tax, which was just reinstituted. He called the now-indefinitely-shelved congestion pricing plan “another money grab in which Long Island does not get its fair share.”
“What happened to the infrastructure money that President Biden signed that I supported? What happened to the tax dollars we sent to Albany?” asked Romaine. “We expect our elected officials to treat us fairly in terms of funding distribution whether or not they carried Suffolk or Nassau counties in the last election.”
Romaine said that his capital budget was one of the largest in Suffolk’s history, as County buildings are in “horrible shape,” along with infrastructure having not been maintained over the previous years.
Regarding infrastructure and mass transit, Romaine mentioned he planned to be at the Greenport LIRR station the following day to greet the train from Ronkonkoma on the 180th birthday of the LIRR.
“I come from a county where electrification stops at Babylon, Huntington, and Ronkonkoma. Everything east is diesel,” said Romaine. “Why aren’t we getting electric trains, why do we have to put up with dirty diesel?” Romaine called the duality “absolutely incredible,” and that while the LIRR has been in operation for 180 years, he says that the County still has trains as if 180 years have not passed.
Romaine also called for State remediations to Nicolls Road (CR-97) and the Smithtown Bypass (State Route 347), including an overpass at the intersection of two of the county’s busiest roadways in Stony Brook.
Traffic solutions on Romaine’s agenda also include CR-39 and Montauk Highway on the South Fork, with the Executive calling it “one of the worst traffic jams in Suffolk County.”
“Many of the people working in East Hampton and Southampton can’t afford to live there. They take Sunrise Highway and hit CR-39,” said Romaine, adding that prior administration doubled the lanes and reduced speed limits and shoulder space, which did not fix the problem.
“We might have to put in a traffic circle, we might have to push for the LIRR to take in South Fork commuters, or connect the LIRR stations with buses,” said Romaine. He said there is a committee working on remediating the traffic at this particular junction, adding that other alternatives are being considered, such as burying the power lines and building a service road.
Romaine is also monitoring the road work slated for CR-93, Ocean Avenue-Rosevale Avenue in Ronkonkoma, home of the notorious “curve” that has plagued the community for decades. Road work has been scheduled for the end of June, but nothing more than the initial simulation of the road diet with traffic cones has been done. Romaine said he’d consult with the Department of Public Works to check in on the progress of plan.
Romaine also touted that public safety and taxpayers suffered alike from fiscal irresponsibilities courtesy of the previous administration.
“The last administration put in a bunch of jobs that were not funded; it was not an honest budget,” said Romaine, adding that public safety jobs were added to the budget, but not filled, still costing the taxpayers money. “So far, we’ve filled vacancies, we’ve purchased new police vehicles, we have improved mental health services, and we are reforming Social Services with new leadership, especially in light of the Thomas Valva case.”
Thomas Valva tragically died last winter in the custody of his stepmother and father after it was revealed Social Services did not take proper actions in ensuring his safety, including stonewalling parts of the investigation from Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney (R).
Additionally, Romaine discussed backlogs that have been solved regarding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), in which call times were reduced from “hours to minutes.” DSS wait times were also reported down from “two hours to just six minutes.”
“It’s making government work for the people of Suffolk County,” added Romaine.
Romaine discussed the sewers that he is proposing county-wide, stating that due to 70% of the county’s reliance on septic systems and cesspools, it has caused ground and surface water problems.
“We’re looking to put the densely-populated areas of the county on sewers where possible, and the less-populated areas on I/A systems,” said Romaine. “The sewers I’m proposing are tertiary sewers. Many sewers now treat the effluent and discharge them into the waterways. Sewage treatment plants can do tertiary recharges to replenish the aquifer.”
Romaine also said he wants to upgrade existing sewage treatment plants to not only handle waste, but also road runoff.
“I have a drain right in front of my house; the runoff flows right into Moriches Bay. When we have heavy rain and high tide, my driveway backs up,” said Romaine.
Romaine then took questions from the press, which included a wide array of issues.
In answering one question, Romaine said that people with felony indictments for embezzlement would not be able to receive County contracts or bids. Such a practice was also not permissible during his time as Brookhaven Town Supervisor.
Romaine praised the new voting machines in an answer to a question on the topic. $34.8 million is allocated in the capital budget for voting machines that actively record votes as ballots are cast.
“We have an extremely bipartisan Board of Elections that does a great job. I’m confident in them and I don’t fear their numbers. We haven’t had any serious complaints, even in a close election,” said Romaine.
In terms of waste management, Romaine said that while municipal solid waste remains a prerogative of the Towns and Villages, the County, nonetheless, can monitor the issue and suggest solutions.
“I’ve already had two meetings with all ten Suffolk town supervisors and the three town supervisors from Nassau. We talked about drafting a regional solid waste plan because we’ve given up on the State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). They should be doing this, but they are not,” said Romaine. “They’re more interested in being regulators instead of innovators.”
Romaine said that the supervisors favor legislation that would allow glass and ash as an aggregate in concrete.
“We have to create new markets for old glass. Recycling glass is more expensive than making new glass,” said Romaine. “Ash can be used for construction purposes. In 1989, Stony Brook University built a two-story boat house out of ash blocks from the Brookhaven landfill. It’s stronger today than the day it was built.”
Romaine also endorses a plan that would ship ash and construction debris from the Brookhaven landfill, slated to be closed this year, off Long Island by train, rather than by a fleet of trucks.
“It should be done by train. It would be faster, cheaper, and would not tax our roads,” said Romaine.
Romaine also said that the situation can turn precarious, as Covanta has four waste-to-energy plants that sell energy to LIPA. If LIPA threatens not to buy from Covanta, it would mean an alternative route – and a possible higher price tag – for energy, as well as one less receptacle for solid waste.
“It’s not a county responsibility, but I won’t leave the towns out like the State has.”
Finally, Romaine addressed home ownership, discussing neighborhood stabilization, downtown revitalization, and incentivizing first-time home ownership so residents can have stake in their communities. He referenced the collaborative efforts between nonprofits and local governments, taking in properties on which back taxes are owed and converting them into affordable housing for low-to-moderate income families.
“We’ve done that in North Bellport; this has to be done on a much more frequent basis,” closed Romaine.
