The Huntington Town Board held its October 20, 2020 meeting remotely and broadcast meeting audio and video live, where they renamed Dix Hills Park to recognize the Town’s first woman Town Supervisor, renamed Gateway Plaza for prominent African American resident, and ceremoniously renamed the Town “Hauntington” for the third year.
On what would have been the 76th birthday of Huntington's first woman Town Supervisor, Supervisor Chad A. Lupinacci introduced a resolution renaming Dix Hills Park in memory of Antonia “Toni” P. Rettaliata-Tepe, and her husband Philip H. Tepe, who served on the Veterans Advisory Board and was Commissioner of the Dix Hills Fire Department; the couple passed away less than three weeks apart this past spring.
“Supervisor Rettaliata’s election, first to the State Assembly in 1979 and then to the Town Supervisor’s office at the age of 43 in 1987, broke a glass ceiling decades ago for all women who aspire to achieve great things in public service,” said Supervisor Chad A. Lupinacci. “Antonia ‘Toni’ Rettaliata-Tepe and Philip H. Tepe are deserving of recognition matching their decades-long devotion and dedication to the greater Huntington community and our country. It is only fitting that a place in Dix Hills, where they called home, is reserved for their legacies to thrive and grow in the years to come.”
“At the October 20th Town Board meeting I was honored to support the resolution to rename Dix Hills Park in the memory of first female Huntington Town Supervisor and former Assemblywoman Antonia Rettaliata-Tepe and Dix Hills Fire District Commissioner Philip Tepe, who was a Vietnam Veteran.”, stated Councilman Eugene Cook. “Phil and Toni have both dedicated their lives to public service to the betterment to the Town of Huntington. This dedication will allow not only their family, friends and members of the Dix Hills Fire District to have a place to remember and honor Phil and Toni, but for other families to enjoy the beautiful park and learn about how they can serve their community.”
Councilman Ed Smyth stated, “It is appropriate to name this very high-profile park after Supervisor Rettaliata because she was Huntington's first woman Town Supervisor, which I believe was certainly a major accomplishment for her and a major step forward for this Town and Toni Rettaliata-Tepe's significance to our Town's history deserves that recognition.”
Toni Rettaliata-Tepe was a trailblazing public servant, first elected under her married name, Rettaliata, to represent the 10th Assembly District in the New York State Assembly from 1979-1987, and she was only the third woman to hold that seat in the tradition of Huntington suffragette Ida Bunce Sammis, who was the first woman elected to serve in the State Legislature.
Assemblywoman Toni Rettaliata notably secured the first $31,000 in funding that allowed former Town Clerk Jo-Ann Raia to build the award-winning and history-making Huntington Town Clerk’s Archives and Records Center.
Elected as Toni Rettaliata in 1987 as the first woman to hold the office of Supervisor of the Town of Huntington when the term of office was only two years, Toni’s noteworthy accomplishments included establishing the Town of Huntington Veterans Advisory Board, on which her beloved Phil later served, and the Huntington Area Rapid Transit “HART” bus system.
Philip H. Tepe was an American patriot with decades of service to his country and community as a Vietnam Veteran, Commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Nathan Hale Post 1469, and a member of the Town of Huntington Veterans Advisory Board. Phil Tepe was Commissioner of the Dix Hills Fire District, of which he was an ex-Chief, Badge #207 and 52-year member of Engine Company 2 and served as a Suffolk County Deputy Fire Coordinator and a Town of Huntington Fire Marshal.
At the recommendation of the Town of Huntington African American Historic Designation Council and the NAACP Huntington Branch, the Town Board renamed Gateway Plaza in Huntington Station after lifelong resident and active community leader Paul H. Johnson, Sr., a Huntington High School Class of 1948 track star, Korean War U.S. Army paratrooper and lifelong member and leader of the Evergreen Missionary Baptist Church.
The Town Board scheduled public hearings for the Wednesday, November 4, 2020 Town Board meeting at 7:00 PM to consider:
- Re: Preliminary Annual Operating Budget.
- Re: Preliminary Capital Budget.
- Adopting the Assessment Roll for the Huntington Sewer District.
- Adopting the Assessment Roll for the Centerport Sewer District.
- Amending the Code of the Town of Huntington, Chapter 8 (Beautification Council); to update and clarify language to reflect current duties and protocols of the Beautification Advisory Council.
- Amending the Code of the Town of Huntington, Chapter 21 (Environmental Open Space and Park Funds); requiring all applications for EOSPA funds to be circulated to the Town Board and signed by the Supervisor or a Town Board member no less than 10 days prior to being submitted to the EOSPA Committee for consideration to ensure the application has the support of at least one Town Board member before proceeding with the EOSPA review process.
- Amending the Code of the Town of Huntington, Chapter 117 Solid Waste Management: Collection, Recycling and Disposal; to promote collection efficiency and safety, to clarify terminology and reflect changing conditions and new mandates from State regulators with which the Town must comply.
- Amending the Code of the Town of Huntington, Chapter 159 (Recreational Facilities), Article II (Use Regulations and Restrictions); to make the temporary pilot program allowing on-leash dogs at Heckscher Park permanent.
- Amending the Code of the Town of Huntington Chapter 160 Registration and Permitting of Property, Article III Residential Rental Permits; to clarify the definition of "rental property;" to reflect that any certifications submitted by property owners must be prepared by an independent professional engineer or registered architect; and to allow the Director of the Department of Public Safety the discretion to issue a short extension to property owners to rectify minor conditions.
- Amending the Uniform Traffic Code of the Town of Huntington, Article II of Chapter TC6 (Miscellaneous Provisions); reducing the time to respond/pay immobilization notice from 60 days to 10 days to deter the worst parking violators from continuing to ignore the Traffic Code (by the time a vehicle is immobilized, multiple attempts by the Town to resolve the issue have gone unanswered).
- Executing a license agreement with the Huntington Fire District to install a PTP Panel on the tower in Boxer Court to upgrade the District’s Radio Communications System.
- Awarding a license agreement to operate a townwide food and beverage service and mechanical vending operation license and concession at various town facilities with D& J Refreshments, Inc.
The Town Board scheduled a public hearing for the Thursday, November 19, 2020 Town Board meeting at 2:00 PM to consider authorizing various actions be taken upon certain properties designated as Blighted in accordance with Chapter 156, Article VII, §156-60 (Blighted Property).
In other action, the Town Board:
- The Town ceremoniously renamed the Town of Huntington, the “Town of Hauntington” in recognition of Halloween, Saturday, October 31, 2020.
- Waived operational permit fees (for permits that will continued to be required) for portable propane outdoor heating appliances in connection with outdoor dining through the expiration of the State's Emergency Declaration or March 31, 2021, whichever occurs first.
- Approved an indoor Winter Farmers Market operated by Long Island Farmers Market at the Town of Huntington John J. Flanagan Center Gymnasium, 423 Park Avenue, Huntington, from 7:30 AM to 2:00 PM on Saturdays starting December 5th and ending March 27, 2021.
- Approved up to $410,000 in Environmental Open Space and Park Improvement Funds for the recommended Depot Road Sidewalk Project in Huntington Station.
- Approved up to 240,000 in Environmental Open Space Park Improvement Funds for recommended improvements to the playing court complex at Veterans Park in East Northport.
- Appointed lifelong Huntington resident, Walt Whitman High School graduate, professional musician and public school music teacher Loretta N. Ehrlich as member of the Huntington Beautification Council to a term expiring December 31, 2024.
- Reappointed Trudy Exelbert, Marianne Iannacone, and Thomas Mangan as members of the Town of Huntington Citizens Advisory Committee for Persons with Disabilities to terms expiring August 31, 2024.
- Approved the acceptance of $144,796 in match-free grant funding from the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) for the Huntington Area Rapid Transit (HART) System to purchase bus auxiliary and shop equipment.
- Approved the application for and acceptance of grant funds under New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (DHSES) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) Project Grant to support the Town of Huntington Community Microgrid project, which would provide cost-efficient power for critical Town facilities, including Huntington Town Hall, the Senior Center, the wastewater treatment plant, and the Heckscher Museum, as well as Huntington Hospital and the Huntington YMCA, in light of NYSERDA no longer pursuing the NY Prize program and no longer providing Stage 3 funding to support the development of microgrid projects.
- Accepted donations of cookies from King Kullen in Halesite and Hummel Hummel Bakery in East Northport for the Town of Huntington Senior Center's Drive-Through Italian Pasta Party.
- Accepted a donation from Clif Bar & Company for a donation of Clif Bars to the Town of Huntington essential employees during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
- Accepted a donation of three steel benches from the Huntington Township Chamber of Commerce for installation in the Huntington Village Hamlet Center.
- As members of the Community Development Agency (CDA), adopted a policy prohibiting participation by employees of the CDA in CDA-run Affordable Housing Programs.
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