Shelter Island bids farewell to Chrissy

At the final Town Board meeting of the 2014on Tuesday, Supervisor Jim Dougherty said he and his colleagues had a “bittersweet chore” to perform.

The town was officially saying farewell to Christine Gross — known to generations of children and their parents as Chrissy — who was retiring as the Shelter Island School’s crossing guard.

Mr. Dougherty characterized Ms. Gross as “one of the most stalwart citizens of Shelter Island.”

He read a proclamation from the town thanking Ms. Gross for her decades of service, beginning in 1983 when she was appointed a special beach officer by the Police Department. She also took up her duties as crossing guard the same year. In 1994 she was appointed jail matron and served until 2013.

Typical of her modesty and wish to stay out of the spotlight, when Mr. Dougherty asked her to say a few words after the proclamation was read, Ms. Gross replied, “I just wanted to go out the back door quietly.”

A resolution was passed appointing Catherine Rasmusen  as school crossing guard for 2015 at a $23 an hour.

In other business, Mr. Dougherty’s financial report for November had a $1.3 million balance in the town’s checking balance and the Community Preservation Fund was at $2.4 million.

The town passed a resolution extending the irrigation law moratorium until  February 20.

A public hearing on passing a new local law on irrigation has been scheduled for Friday, January 23.