The Huntington Town Board, at its July 15 meeting, approved an amendment to Town code to require places of public assembly to install carbon monoxide detectors.
The requirement applies to all buildings in which 50 or more people gather for purposes such as civic, social or religious functions, recreation, food or drink consumption or awaiting transportation. The installed detectors must meet a National Fire Protection Association standard.
The change comes in the wake of a February 25 incident at the Legal Sea Food branch at the Shops at Walt Whitman in which the restaurant manager died and more than two dozen persons, mostly restaurant workers and first responders, were treated for carbon monoxide poisoning caused by a leaky flue pipe in a basement water heater. As was noted after the incident, the restaurant did not have a carbon monoxide detector, and none was required by the state code.
In other action, the Town Board:
-- authorized the expenditure of up to $800,000 from the Environmental Open Space and Park Improvement Neighborhood Enhancement Fund for the necessary environmental remediation as part of the transformation of the former New York State Armory into the James D. Conte Memorial Community Center.
-- approved a pilot program allowing holders of commercial shellfishing permits to harvest up to 1,000 oysters a day between May 15 and August 31, 2014. Cornell Cooperative Extension, in cooperation with the Town’s Maritime Services Department, will undertake a oyster population survey in March 2015 to help determine the limit for 2015. In a separate measure, the Board approved the use of pot haulers to help retrieve clam rakes.
-- authorized an agreement with Huntington Hospital to allow construction workers and hospital employees to park at an area of Mill Dam Park as part of the hospital’s emergency room expansion.
-- set new fees for winter wet storage of boats at Town marinas, accepting the recommendation of the Town’s Harbors and Boating Advisory Council. Residents who sign up prior to September 1 will pay $19. After September 1, the fee is $20 a foot and applies to residents and non-residents (who cannot sign up before then).
-- scheduled an Aug. 19 public hearing on a proposal to ban smoking at Town beaches. Currently, smoking is only prohibited at Town playgrounds.