LIPA works on snagged underwater power line
A team of LIPA technicians at midweek were working to repair a power cable from Southold that comes ashore on Shelter Island at Crescent Beach. During the summer, it appears to have been snagged at least once by boat anchors.
Police Chief Jim Read, in his capacity as the town’s emergency preparedness coordinator, told the Town Board on Tuesday that he had gotten word from LIPA that the cable had failed late at night on Friday, August 19. The cause was under investigation, he said.
He told the board there were “eight to 10 guys down there” trying to determine why the line had failed. Meanwhile, the Island’s power needs were being met by another cable from the North Fork as well as a line that crosses from the South Fork at South Ferry.
Board members briefly discussed the situation, with Chief Read assuring them there was no danger from the apparently damaged line because LIPA had shut off power to it.
Chief Read told the board it was up to LIPA to mark the site as a “no anchoring” area, if necessary, and that the town should not spend extra time and money dealing with the situation. He said the town’s bay constables were monitoring the situation.
Councilman Glenn Waddington asked if the functioning line to Southold was one laid in 1964 and Councilman Peter Reich, holding up an anchor, showed how a dragging anchor could snag a line that was not properly buried in the bottom of the channel.
Chief Read declined to discuss with board members any specifics about LIPA’s infrastructure, saying those topics were strictly for LIPA officials to comment on.
Calls to LIPA’s spokesperson Wednesday morning were not answered.
According to an account provided to the Reporter earlier by Town Police, a commercial salvage diver received a call from a boat captain in July asking him to retrieve a boat anchor and chain the captain’s boat had lost off Crescent Beach between the Island and the North Fork. The diver found the anchor and chain in 60 feet of water but decided not to retrieve it because it was on top of a LIPA power line.
A month later, the same diver was called by another boat captain who told him he’d hooked something with his anchor and couldn’t retrieve it. His crew put a buoy in the water to mark the errant anchor and chain, police said.
When the diver saw that the buoy was in the same location where the earlier skipper had lost his anchor, the diver declined the assignment because he knew from his previous experience the anchor was resting on top of a power line, police said.
LIPA’s infrastructure here was a major topic in 2008, when the company’s officials told Shelter Islanders they intended to build a substation on South Ferry Road, saying it was necessary because its service to the Island was nearing capacity.
The plan was dropped, according to Supervisor Dougherty, because the slowdown in the economy had eliminated the need to boost local capacity any time soon. Also, neighbors of the substation site fiercely opposed it.
TESTA FENCE MOVED
Councilman Peter Reich reported at the work session that Vincent Testa had moved a fence that had been a bone of contention for neighbors on and near Grace’s Lane on West Neck Harbor for years. The fence blocked their access to the beach, as well as access to the water for Fire Department pumpers.
Because of the access issue, the town recently threatened to ask the Zoning Board of Appeals to revoke the approval it granted many years ago ago that allowed Mr. Testa to build the pool and poolhouse that the fence served.
The issue of access was one that neighbor Bill Dickerson has been raising for years. GOP candidate for town supervisor Bob DeStefano at a work session this summer has been asking the town to press the issue.
In other business, the Town Board:
• Heard Councilman Glenn Waddington report that no meeting had yet been held by Long Island towns concerned about the state’s fishing registration program.
The towns won a lawsuit against the state over its attempt to require residents to obtain a saltwater fishing license. Now they need to plan a joint response to the state’s call for saltwater fishermen to register with the state, Mr. Waddington has said.
He said Tuesday the town of Huntington — which, like Shelter Island, has a colonial patent giving it sole jurisdiction over local water — was resisting the registration request.
• Heard Councilwoman Chris Lewis report on efforts to revive SIHOP, the non-profit organization that promotes affordable housing on Shelter Island.
