‘Bumpy’ the beach truck banned by the Town Board
An idea to set up a coffee truck in the Sunset Beach parking lot was quickly dismissed Tuesday at the Town Board work session.
Erica Smitheman, representing Sag harbor–based Red Thread Good Coffee, presented a plan to sell iced coffee in glass bottles from a truck parked in the motel’s lot, along with Sunset Beach merchandise, such as T-Shirts.
The truck’s name is “Bumpy,” Ms. Smitheman told the board.
The idea was a nonstarter for several reasons, including a town ordinance banning glass from beaches, safety concerns for people crossing the road to reach the truck and adding more congestion to an already highly populated area.
“We don’t like to crush ideas out of hand,” Councilman Paul Shepherd said, “but that’s what we do here sometimes.”
Even Ms. Smitheman laughed.
In other business, the board decided to inform the applicants of a home at 4-D Peconic Avenue to go back to the drawing board for a new architectural design. The applicants have been seeking permission to replace an existing three-bedroom home with a larger one.
The issue has been before the board for weeks, with infringement on wetlands a concern, as well as objections raised by adjoining property owners on the basis of the fragile nature of the aquifer along that stretch of Peconic Avenue and the impact on adjacent wells.
Councilman Ed Brown said that the recent presence of PSEG personnel at the site of the old Highway Department barn near the Historical Society has sparked speculation that the power company is once again considering installing an electrical substation there.
Last summer, after a coordinated and vocal campaign of outrage by residents that a substation could be built in the residential neighborhood, PSEG backed off the plan. But now people believe the idea is back from the dead, Mr. Brown said. “This will be their third attempt,” he added, and “people want to be informed and have ample time of notice before a work session [on the issue] comes up.”
Supervisor Jim Dougherty said PSEG representatives originally were scheduled to meet with the board May 19 at the regularly scheduled work session, “but I haven’t’ heard a word from them.”
“My request is, “ Mr. Brown said, “is if they come back to us on May 18, let’s not do it on May 19.”
Mr. Dougherty announced that water levels in the 13 Island test wells were below their April averages.
At a recent meeting of the Water Advisory Committee there was a discussion on inviting a hydrologist from the United States Geological Survey to discuss testing wells for the quality of the water, and not just quantity, Mr. Dougherty said.
“There is an “extensive menu of recommendations” of materials to test for, he added, numbering as many as 200. The main concern here, however, is to test for nitrates and chlorides so budget considerations have to be weighed before pulling the trigger on the tests, Mr. Dougherty said.
The West Neck Water Authority has achieved a surplus, Mr. Dougherty reported. The small authority had budgeted for revenues of $68,000 but banked $81,700. “People used more water, good news, bad news, Mr. Dougherty said.
Expenses for the authority had been budgeted for $51,200, but only $44,100 was spent.
Money is coming from Albany to help fix roads, the supervisor said, but when it will arrive is anyone’s guess. Assemblyman Fred Thiele Jr. (I-Sag Harbor) has told Mr. Dougherty that $125,000 earmarked for Shelter Island is clogged up in a bureaucratic pipeline, but Mr. Dougherty was assured the money would be flowing this way.
