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Letters to the Editor

By Reader Submission

 

COURTESY IMAGE | Merkel Basin, just northwest of Smith Cove, needs dredging, but the question of who will pay for it is unresolved.
COURTESY IMAGE | One reader questions town policy on Merkel Basin, just northwest of Smith Cove, which needs dredging.

Shame … if

To the Editor:
I cannot believe the Town of Shelter Island is contemplating letting the dredge permit expire at Merkel Basin.

Many years ago a fund was set up to pay for dredging and repair projects similar to this. The funds come from the mooring fees the town charges and not from the taxpayer. I have used this basin numerous times over the years to launch a small boat from the landing. This is the only town landing that I know of on the shore until the Wades Beach area. The town must have hundreds of thousands of dollars in this account and should use those funds to keep this basin open. It may be time for the town and South Ferry Hills to sit down and make a permanent fix for this.

Shame on the town if they let this happen.
JEFF SIMES, Former Shelter Island Town Supervisor
Margate, Florida

Execution style

To the Editor:
I have an idea about the over population of deer on Shelter Island. Convert the 4-posters into guillotines for six months, maybe eight. At the end of which there will be the possibility of naturally growing day lilies, local flowers of all types, more chipmunks, more birds, more foxes, more rabbits, more wild turkeys and a return to an environment that existed forty plus years ago.
MICHAEL J. SPAHN
Shelter Island

Ode to summer

To the Editor:
Last summer we had the ongoing fable of the cable.
That, of course, was in addition to our usual concerns
of ticks, drought and the level of the water table.
But each new spring is refreshing and bright.
This may be the year that it will be done right.

Beach stickers and ferry tickets all in place,
Friends and family busy checking calendars for a date —
Yes, it will be another hectic summer pace.
Bring it on — I can hardly wait.Perhaps our guests will invite us out to dine.
Where to go? Sweet Tomato’s or Vine.
You know, of course,
We like to go to either anytime.

Like the ospreys returning to their platforms
In the spring of the year, we also feel the urge to enjoy this place
Where the water is crisp and the air is clear.
It may be this, it may be that, but when
All is said, argued, and done,
We all find something to enjoy In this Island in the sun.
CONNIE POWER
Shelter Island

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