John Hallman leaves Water Advisory Committee

John Hallman has never been shy about speaking his mind.

Just ask him about not taking Shelter Island water quality seriously and he’ll tell you that’s an invitation to the Suffolk County Water Authority to run the show here.

It may not be a reality in the next few years, but within 25 years he believes it could happen and it’s not something he relishes.

For close to 30 years, Mr. Hallman has been the main guardian of water quantity and quality as chairman of the Water Advisory Committee, a job he gave up in April, to devote time to his business, John’s Gas Service. But he’s also leaving out of frustration that a lack of money will result in insufficient action to forestall SCWA becoming the Island’s water supplier.

His final year as WAC chairman was marked by membership on the town’s Irrigation Committee where he often found himself at odds with conclusions held by the majority of his colleagues.

With his own company, John’s Gas Service, becoming increasingly busy and his need to cut back on some of the water analysis work he has long done for private homeowners and his work with the West Neck Water District, he needed to back away from his public responsibilities, he said about his reasons for leaving the committee. But don’t think that will silence him if he sees problems he believes will hasten the demise of local well water.

“I hope [SCWA] doesn’t come on to the Island because that’s a political organization,” Mr. Hallman said. “My big concern is salt water intrusion and how it relates to the shore line,” a situation he observes checking wells of some of his private customers.“It’s the town’s responsibility to regulate water use.”

And that’s something he credits the Water Advisory Committee with helping to achieve by monitoring well water levels on a monthly basis at 13 sites around the Island.

Mr. Hallman cites positive results achieved by the WAC over the years, including swimming pool regulations that require water trucked in from off-Island and implementation of the original irrigation law establishing limits to lawn watering. That law would have eliminated use of automatic irrigation systems completely. But that part of the law was delayed for 10 years to give those who had them time to amortize their investments.

What the decision to require upgrading and registration of systems will mean to the Island’s water supply is a determination for the future, Mr. Hallman said. “We’ll always have water,’ he said. But the quality of that water throughout the Island is what’s in question.

He was outspoken during Irrigation Committee meetings, telling his colleagues if it were his decision, no automatic irrigation systems would be allowed to operate on the Island. He emphasized his opinion after the final committee report had been submitted to the Town Board.

He shares Town Engineer John Cronin’s view that aged cesspools and septic systems need upgrading, but he also knows that at costs as high as $30,000, most homeowners can’t bear the expense.

If his worst concerns come to pass, what will be his response? “I’m not going to say, ‘I told you so,’” Mr. Hallman said. “I’m just trying to make everybody aware of the problems. This is your drinking water. Treat it carefully.”

He has no names for a successor to replace him on the WAC. “I just don’t have the time to think about it,” he said.

If he finds more time, he wants to spend it with his wife Carol, traveling more and riding his motorcycle.
What he hopes residents and visitors always keep in mind is that Shelter Island is unique.

“It’s a special place,” he said.