Commissioners urge town to adopt new cistern rules


Property owners wanting to split a couple of lots off their land will soon face a legal requirement to put in a fire protection cistern if no other water source lies within 1,000 feet of the subdivision.

A public hearing is set for Friday, October 22 at Town Hall for a law that would authorize the Planning Board to require cisterns for small subdivisions, at the board’s discretion and with the recommendation of the Shelter Island Fire District. Several property owners of minor subdivisions (those with four lots or less) already have been asked by the district fire commissioners to install cisterns.

The fire commissioners, who review fire protection in subdivisions, have recommended that where more houses are built, more cisterns are needed if no other water source is nearby. But the town code has not required the devices in small subdivisions; the law has required cisterns (or fire wells) in larger, major subdivisions since 1988.

The fundamental justification for the new law is fire protection, Commissioner Larry Lechmanski and Second Assistant Fire Chief John D’Amato, who is also a member of the town Planning Board that approves subdivisions, told the Town Board last month. The commissioners have been working with the Planning Board for three years to iron out a cistern rule for minor subdivisions.

The law is needed for smaller subdivisions, Commissioner Billy Hallman told the Reporter, because few undeveloped properties are large enough to be developed as major subdivisions.

The Fire District currently maintains 10 cisterns, some as part of major subdivisions and others installed and paid for by the district through taxes. The commissioners have been budgeting for one cistern per year at about $40,000 each, which includes the cost of the tank, delivery, installation and off-Island water, and is paid for through the district’s tax levy.

Cisterns are needed for initial water at the scene, Commissioner Hallman said. It takes time to run hundreds, possibly thousands of feet of 4-inch supply line hose to an Island water body. Fire tanker trucks hold almost 5,000 gallons but that doesn’t buy much time for a serious structure fire, he said. The 10,000 to 20,000 gallons in the cisterns will buy more time to establish the full water supply from the nearest bay access point.

But so far, cisterns have only been tapped for firefighting one time. Mr. Hallman said that firefighters opened a cistern on Ram Island during a residential blaze almost one mile from an accessible water supply.

A cistern would have provided a more convenient water source during the 2002 fire at the Anderson residence on Midway Road, according to Mr. Hallman. The department reeled out about a half-mile of hose down the road, past Smith Street to Menantic Creek via Joy Drive. The department’s tanker trucks brought the first water to the scene while supply hoses and pumps were connected and while off-Island tankers responded to the mutual aid call, according to Mr. Hallman.

The water supply was questioned at the time of that fire, according to Reporter archives. As published in the August 8, 2002 Reporter: “Addressing rumors that the department ran out of water, Chief Jared Gibbs said, ‘Running out of tank water isn’t the issue. You always run out of the water you bring to a fire. It’s the time it takes to complete the draft procedure of getting water out of the bay. There aren’t any hydrants there. But within 10 minutes of the truck on the scene we had draft water.”

While Mr. Hallman advocates for more cisterns, he acknowledged that “We’ve never really had an issue with supply.”

But having a cistern where an existing water supply is more than 1,000 feet away has advantages to everyone, he said. It expands the district’s water supply coverage, an issue that is considered by insurance companies in assessing risk.

Shelter Island is different from most other fire districts. “We’re pretty much the only ones that rely on drafting” from surrounding water, Mr. Hallman said. Other departments rely on pressurized water systems. “Help us out,” Mr. Hallman urged. “If you’re going to put in three or more houses, put in some type of fire protection device.”

Both Mr. Hallman and Mr. D’Amato acknowledged that there is no master plan for having a cistern or water source within 1,000 feet of every residential lot. Instead, the commissioners are targeting the most vulnerable areas when deciding each year where to install a taxpayer-funded cistern.

Will the district ever fill every gap in coverage with a cistern? Probably not, Mr. Hallman said. “As trucks get better, technology gets better,” the department may find other, more efficient ways to bring water to Island fires.