Town still waiting O.K. on Volunteer Park bathroom

Shelter Island has moved a step closer to installation of a new bathroom at Volunteer Park.

Public Works Commissioner Jay Card Jr. and Town Engineer John Cronin attended a hearing April 19 in Yaphank with Suffolk County Department of Health Services officials to appeal an earlier decision that has been blocking installation because the unit, partially paid for with Suffolk County money, is not linked to a septic system.

Instead, the unit operates like Port-A-Potty that has to be pumped out. What the Health Department wanted was installation of a full septic system that would have resulted in waste being leached into Dering Harbor and Chase Creek.

Mr. Card said he was told a decision would be given within six weeks. But he asked if he could get a verbal indication sooner since he has to order a tank that would receive wastes until they are pumped out.

The Island officials left the meeting without a certain commitment, but a feeling that one would be forthcoming prior to receiving a written approval.

Town officials have been struggling for months to gain approval for the unit that, unlike a Port-A-Potty, would be a permanent bathroom in Volunteer Park.

County Legislator Bridget Fleming (D-Noyac) has been pushing the request forward after reading that the county had invested $67,000 in a unit that has been sitting idle at the Recycling Center. Ms. Fleming wasn’t at the April 19 hearing, but sent a representative.

Assuming the town receives approval, installation would be rapid and the unit would be operational for the summer season,” Mr. Card said.

Still pending is a lawsuit filed by Jack Kiffer, owner of the Dory, who blames the town for failing to move faster to put a public bathroom on Bridge Street where he, like other merchants, have had peole, especially in the summer months, asking to use their facilities.