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Schmidt meets officials at Town Hall

JULIE LANE PHOTO Dennis Schmidt, owner of the popular grocery store and deli, had a "constructive meeting" at Town Hall Friday.
JULIE LANE PHOTO
Dennis Schmidt, owner of the popular grocery store and deli, had a “constructive meeting” at Town Hall Friday.

The owner of Schmidt’s met with town officials last week to discuss the popular grocery store and deli operating for nearly two years without a certificate of occupancy.

At Tuesday’s Town Board work session, Supervisor Jim Dougherty said the meeting had been at Dennis Schmidt’s request and the supervisor, along with Town Attorney Laury Dowd and Police Chief Jim Read also attended.

When the South Fork deli expanded to the Island, taking over Fedi’s old location on North Ferry Road, the town’s Building Department required a septic upgrade since the deli was preparing food on the premises.

The store, which opened in June 2013, has been on notice about completing the upgrade since the owners moved in and began renovations that April.

Last week, Mr. Dougherty said Schmidt’s has until April 15 to upgrade its septic system before some action is taken. He added that the store owner could get a reprieve from the town on the deadline since the process of gaining county approval of systems are lengthy, but “we want to see some good faith.”

Mr. Dougherty characterized Friday’s’ meeting as “constructive” and “we’re all on the same page.”

The supervisor added that “it looks like they may not have everything in place by April 15 but will be close to it.”