Shelter Island Reporter editorials
Fred Thiele delivers
At Monday’s press conference in front of the American Legion Hall announcing that $500,000 would be flowing from state coffers to the town and the Shelter Island School District, Assemblyman Fred Thiele Jr. (I-Sag Harbor) noted that he knows where Shelter Island is.
We’re often paranoid (often with good reason) about how the smallest town in Suffolk County is given shortest shrift at best, or ignored, at worst.
But Mr. Thiele, when he was the county legislator representing the Island, said, “I lobbied to get Shelter Island in my district.”
We were happy to have him then. We’re more than happy to have him now as our voice in the state assembly.
It’s fitting that part of the $500,000 he has secured from the state will go for a new septic system serving the Legion Hall and the school, since Mr. Thiele has been out in front of efforts to improve the perilous condition of our ground and surface waters.
It was Mr. Thiele’s initiative that put a proposition on the ballot this Election Day to allow each East End town to take up to 20 percent of money collected for their Community Preservation Fund — a 2 percent real estate transfer tax for land preservation — for clean water projects. In addition, the proposition will extend the 2 percent tax until 2050.
We encourage everyone to vote “Yes” on the proposition, which our assemblyman has patiently shepherded from just an idea to a law that, if passed, will benefit Shelter Island now and far into the future.
And they’re off! Stand up paddleboarders begin their race around Shelter Island from Wades Beach Saturday morning.
The great race
Last Saturday, an event that is becoming — only after its third appearance — a delightful late summer institution for Islanders and visitors alike, graced our community once again. The third annual Great Peconic Race went off without a hitch, even though bumpy waves and inconsiderate currents made for some rough circumnavigations for many crafts.
The day wound down with a welcoming beach party, but it wasn’t only an event for competition and fun. The day’s activities were for a good cause, with proceeds benefitting the Cornell Cooperative Extension’s “Back to the Bays” initiative, which will contribute to habitat and shellfish restoration work being conducted by CCE and the paddle community.
The race was the brainchild of Sag Harbor’s Billy Baldwin, to honor his late brother, Ted. “We try to honor him by saving these waters,” Mr. Baldwin said.
That effort is under way because of Saturday’s race and the CCE’s work. Thanks to Mr. Baldwin, Cornell Cooperative Extension, and everyone who turned out to ensure the Great Peconic Race was, once again, truly great.
