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This week in Shelter Island history

REPORTER FILE PHOTO The Manhanset Firehouse is likely to be the site of a second Shelter Island cell phone tower.
REPORTER FILE PHOTO
The Manhanset Firehouse is likely to be the site of a second Shelter Island cell phone tower.

50 YEARS AGO
No outside solicitors

The Town Board enacted a law in July 1964 prohibiting outsiders from door-to-door selling of magazines or soliciting money for any reason or cause on Shelter Island. The law passed easily without opposition from either the public or Town Board members.

POSTSCRIPT: The law remains on the books today and continues to apply to non-residents. It puts no restrictions on locals or those who have businesses here.

30 YEARS AGO
Report to LILCO customers

It was in July 1984 that Long Island Lighting Company workers conducted a work stoppage that prompted company officials to place a full page ad in the Reporter advising customers on how to handle various services.

If you were moving or had a problem with existing service, the company promised it could respond to your needs. But one interesting note was an inability to handle in-person payments if you lived on the Island and didn’t want to travel any distance. The only LILCO offices that would be open for payments were in Babylon, Port Jefferson and Huntington.

POSTSCRIPT: LILCO was replaced by Long Island Power Authority that was supposed to provide improved service, but in January, PSEG took the reins with mixed results. Shelter Island officials insist the company is being responsive to their needs, while other Long Island towns, East Hampton included, are complaining about a company that turns a deaf ear to customer needs.

20 YEARS AGO
Board of Ed receives consolidation report

In July 1994, the State Education Department provided a $12,000 grant for a study about the possibility of consolidating business office operations among the Shelter Island, Greenport and Southold school districts.

The report outlined three options: a single business office to handle matters for all three districts; a shared business official who would keep an office in each district, but enable a single highly experienced and state-certified business manager to oversee all three offices; or a joint cooperative purchasing effort among the three districts aimed at lowering costs through bulk buying.

POSTSCRIPT: While there is increased interactivity among the districts and Greenport and Southold are to begin sharing a superintendent, each district essentially maintains its own business operations today. There is bulk purchasing both through Eastern Suffolk BOCES and by buying some items through a state negotiated contract.

10 YEARS AGO
Verizon still mum on tower

It was July 2004 when Verizon was exploring putting an antenna on the existing cell tower at the town Recycling Center where other providers already had their equipment. Ed Mooney of Highlander had either already installed or had agreements to install antennae for AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, but Verizon was stalled in its efforts to place an antenna on Shelter Island.

POSTSCRIPT: It was Mr. Mooney last January who approached Shelter Island Fire Commissioners about  erecting a second tower — this one at the Manhanset Firehouse on Cobbett’s Lane. But he never followed through on his initial contact and it now appears Elite Towers will be the company that wins approval for a new tower at the firehouse.

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