Public hearing set for Friday on irrigation proposal
Thom Milton chaired the Irrigation Committee that spent 11 months studying water quantity and quality before making recommendations for action to the Town Board.
The Town Board has scheduled a public hearing Friday at 4:50 p.m. on revisions to the proposed irrigation resolution.This will be the second public hearing since the Irrigation Committee completed its work and made its recommendations to the Town Board in July 2014. In October, speakers at the first public hearing voiced enough criticisms of the draft to convince the Town Board that it had to review the proposed resolution and make additional changes.
Most comments at the October public hearing suggested changes, but John Hallman, an Irrigation Committee member and chairman of the town’s Water Advisory Committee warned the Town Board that the proposal had “a lot of questions, a lot of problems” and “looked like it was put together by a bunch of Philadelphia lawyers.”
He has consistently insisted that the original resolution written in 2003 that called for banning use of irrigation systems as of September 2013 should have been allowed to take effect at that time.
The other dissenting voice on the Irrigation Committee has been Building Permits Coordinator Mary Wilson, insisting the Building Department and Police have no time to enforce the limitations the revised proposal recommends.
Town Board members have made it clear the proposal is a living document that could undergo further changes even after it’s implemented if circumstances dictate.
The complete proposal is available on the town’s website at shelterislandtown.us by selecting the “Town Topics” tab and then clicking on “Upcoming Hearings and Laws.”
