Smyth Plans to Get More “Cheeks in the Seats” on HART Buses
The Huntington Town Board held its July 12 meeting, where they accepted the Crab Meadow Watershed Hydrology Study and Stewardship Plan, renamed Crab Meadow Beach after former Supervisor Frank Petrone, accepted federal funds and invested in cybersecurity infrastructure.
The Town Board accepted $2,451 in Federal Transit Administration (FTA) grant funds for the Huntington Area Rapid Transit, or HART, Bus System.
“We want to get more cheeks in the seats! There is no need to wait at a bus station – you can hail or depart a HART bus anywhere along its route,” said Supervisor Ed Smyth. “Huntington is the only Town in Suffolk County with our own bus system. I recently took a ride on a HART bus and I encourage everyone to try this inexpensive and sustainable mode of transportation, which helps reduce the number of vehicles on our roads.”
More information on HART bus fixed routes can be found at https://www.huntingtonny.gov/hart.
The Town Board accepted the final draft of the Crab Meadow Watershed Hydrology Study and Stewardship Plan, a community-driven best practices guide that will help the Town protect local environmental resources and water quality.
The Town Board renamed Crab Meadow Beach after former Supervisor Frank P. Petrone, who spent significant time during his 24-year tenure on renovating Crab Meadow Beach and the conservation of the Crab Meadow Watershed area. In 1996, the Supervisor Petrone and the Town Board approved a master plan for Crab Meadow Beach and the Jerome A. Ambro Memorial Wetlands Preserve to maintain the integrity of the coastal wetland system while enabling public recreational access. In 2010, Supervisor Petrone established the Northport Water Quality Protection Committee to develop an action plan to restore water quality in the Northport Harbor and Bay Complex. The Petrone Administration also created the Crab Meadow Watershed Advisory Committee to invite community input on a local stewardship plan intent on maintaining and enhancing the Crab Meadow Watershed, a 680-acre public land assemblage comprised of the Jerome A. Ambro Memorial Wetlands Preserve, Fuchs Pond Preserve, Henry Ingraham Nature Preserve, Makamah Nature Preserve, Geisslers Beach, and Crab Meadow Beach and Golf Course.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
The Town Board scheduled public hearings for the Tuesday, August 16, 2022 Town Board meeting at 7:00 PM to consider:
- Authorizing various actions be taken upon certain properties designated as blighted in accordance with Chapter 156 of the Huntington Town Code (Property Maintenance; Nuisances).
- Adding a Yield sign on the channelization lane recently added to Park Avenue at the intersection of Sabbath Day Path to aid in directing southbound traffic from Park Avenue to Sabbath Day Path.
- Entering into a license agreement with Sagamore Rowing Association for the use of a portion of Town property at Fleets Cove Beach for boat and equipment storage and to conduct its rowing program for $600/month for a period of 3 years.
INFRASTRUCTURE & OTHER NEWS
In other action, the Town Board:
- Invested in professional cybersecurity services with Software House International to protect the Town and its residents against data breaches.
- Approved an agreement with NYSDOT to complete a long-delayed sewer-relocation project to allow for road drainage improvements in the area surrounding New York Avenue, Creek Road and Hill Place in Halesite.
- Approved an appraisal and negotiation to acquire 1 Hill Place, Huntington as an addition to Mill Dam Park.
- Approved an application for grant funding under the 2022 Regional Economic Development Councils Consolidated Funding Application Process for renovations to Otsego Park and the construction of a Huntington Maritime Welcome Center.
- Approved an application for $100,000 in grant funding from New York State for decorative streetlighting to be installed in the Huntington Station Business Improvement District.
- Approved an application for up to $1,000 in New York State Urban Forestry Council Tree City USA Reward Grant funds to plant trees at the Town of Huntington Senior Center.
- Approved up to $15,000 in Open Space Park Improvement funds to install a pea gravel surface to the Robert M. Kubecka Memorial Organic Garden driveway.
- Appointed Lloyd Harbor resident Susan J. Coleman as Acting Interim Deputy Town Attorney. Coleman, an Assistant Town Attorney since 2019, provides legal counsel to the Town Board and other boards and agencies of the Town, represents the Town in litigation in United States District Court and New York State courts, and previously prosecuted violations of the Town Code in district court as well as the Town's history-making Bureau of Administrative Adjudication. Prior to joining the Town, Coleman served for eight years as a staff attorney with the Suffolk County Legal Aid Society Children's Law Bureau, previously as an attorney with the New York State Office of the Attorney General Charities Bureau, and as an associate attorney with The Coye Law Firm in Florida.
- Appointed Assistant Town Attorney Laurie Gatto-Argiriou to serve as the Town's Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Liaison Officer; Title VI Civil Rights Coordinator; Federal Americans with Disabilities Act Coordinator; and Minority and Women’s Business Enterprise Officer.
- Reappointed members to the Advisory Committee on Energy Efficiency, Renewables & Sustainability (ACEERS) (terms exp. 12/31/2023): Dan Audette; Ufei Chan; Peter J. Hellermann; Peter Kelly; Ronald Lanner, Chairperson; Helen M. “Billii” Roberti, Recording Secretary; Peter Smith; Gene Stern; Eve Tenzler.
- Appointed Chief Dom Spada of the Halesite Fire Department, an EMT and founder of the "Be Smart, Don't Start" drug prevention and education program, as a member of the Opioid and Addiction Task Force.
- Appointed Craig Hamer to the Audit Committee (term exp. 12/31/2024).
- Amended, at the recommendation of Task Force members, the number of members comprising the Town of Huntington African-American Task Force from 10 members to 5.
- Accepted donations from various merchants, businesses and individuals for the National Night Out Against Crime Event co-sponsored by the Town on August 2, 2022 at Manor Field Park from 5:00pm-8:00pm.
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