Fire cisterns become law for small subdivisions


Shelter Island Fire Commissioners got what they wanted from the Town Board on Friday — a new town rule addressing the need for fire-protection cisterns in small subdivisions. The board voted unanimously to approve the legislation after the commissioners urged its passage and addressed some of the arguments against it.

“We’d like to see it happen after three years of working on it,” chief Commissioner Bill Hallman said. “I know some people find it controversial but I think it’s the best way to go.”

Although not a hotly-debated issue, the cistern rule has drawn criticism. It would authorize the Planning Board to require the owner of a minor subdivision, one with four or fewer lots, to install a 10,000 gallon underground cistern with piping that is easily accessible to Fire Department trucks. Equipment and installation typically costs $40,000 or more, but maintenance would be the responsibility of the Fire Department. The cistern would be recommended after review by the commissioners and required if no other water supply is within 1,000 of a new lot.

Because most small subdivisions are located in neighborhoods that are already developed, the equity of requiring one property owner to pay for fire protection that could benefit others has been questioned, as has the need for and actual usage of the cisterns.

The department has only tapped a fire protection cistern one time; 10 cisterns are located throughout the Island, some installed by major subdivision developers (a long-standing town requirement) and some by the Fire District. The Fire Department also has thousands of feet of hose to draft bay water, which allows them to eventually reach any Island neighborhood with a virtually limitless water supply.

“It’s time that’s the issue,” Commissioner Larry Lechmanski said. At a pump rate of 900 gallons per minute, the 10,000 gallon cistern gives the department 10 minutes, 15 to 20 “if you play your cards right,” Mr. Lechmanski said. The cisterns “aren’t going to save the world. They give us more time” to position pumping trucks and hoses for a larger water supply.

Mr. Hallman emphasized that a cistern requirement can be appealed to the Planning Board and that the need for a cistern on a specific property is “a negotiation process.” He also addressed the equity issue: “It looks like it’s going to benefit the neighborhood but it’s really engineered to protect you own stuff.”

From the audience, John Hallman gave “credit to the Fire Department for trying to mitigate some problems in the future. We hope that there is never going to be a public water supply on the Island.” Fire departments in areas with Suffolk County Water can tap that pressurized supply. Shelter Island’s reliance on individual wells keeps public water off the Island but makes the Fire Department unique in its reliance on draft water.

In support of cisterns, John Hallman cited the time to lay out 1,000 feet of hose to a cistern versus 5,000 feet of hose to the bay.

“At the end of the day, the last thing you want is to pick up 5,000 feet of hose,” Bill Hallman, John’s son, commented.

The department has been known to tap swimming pools as a water supply when needed said John Hallman.

“We do what we have to do,” Mr. Lechmanski said. “We’re trying to make is so that it’s quicker, safer, easier to do.”

Suggesting an Island-wide approach to water supply issues, Councilman Glenn Waddington commented, “I don’t know how many situations will come up but I’m sure you guys are thinking down the road.” He added later, “Nobody can argue against fire safety.”

OTHER ACTIONS

During its October 22 meeting, the Town Board took the following actions:

• Set public hearings on four mooring permits, most in Coecles Harbor.

• Increased the fees for disposal of brush by 2.5 cents per pound and stumps by 3 cents per pound and limited the length to a 10 foot maximum.

• Set the fee for docking boats in slips at Congdon Dock to $250 per year; it had been $150. Changes in waiting list and usage rules for owners of the only public slips on the Island have been discussed but not finalized.

• Approved a wetlands permit for Toni and Lawrence Landry to build a pool, patio and retaining wall at their Clinton Avenue home in the regulated area of the tidal wetlands of Dering Harbor. After weeks of negotiation, the applicants submitted a revised plan to limit the patio’s encroachment into the vegetated buffer to 100 square feet and add drains to the patio. A request to allow an asphalt driveway was not approved.

• Approved a special exception permit that allows Lou Bevilacqua to build a 7,505 square foot house on two merged lots in Hay Beach, finding that the house “will not have an intrusive visual impact … The house is large but it is on a lot twice the size as the neighborhood average and should blend harmoniously.” The permit bars development of any habitable space in the detached garage and prohibits parking of vehicles along the street during construction.

• Invited “citizen views on local needs” that could be met by an anticipated $16,000 in annual Community Development Block Grant funds in 2011. A public hearing is set for November 12.

• Approved a permit for a 4-by-53-foot catwalk to the dock of Mark Vollmer of Fred’s Lane and a permit for a stake and pulley mooring off Shell Beach for Erica Zweifach.

• Approved a modified waterways application for the Shelter Island Yacht Club, which plans extensive replacement of bulkheads and boat ramps.

The ramp facing Greenport will be seasonal, not permanent; a bulkhead on the south side will not be built 18 inches seaward of its current position, but 8 inches landward, reducing their property and opening up the waterway; a pile will be added off the north pier. Councilman Peter Reich noted that he and three of the Waterways Management Advisory Council members that recommended approval of the permit are Yacht Club members. The board unanimously approved the permit.