Islanders to Greenport: We’ll fight $1 ferry fee

Greenport and its relationship to the Island was on the Town Board’s work session agenda Tuesday. While neither has signed an agreement with PSEG-LI on a proposed power pipeline, both have allowed test borings and if their individual requirements can be met, to work toward allowing cables to be run between Greenport and Shelter Island Heights.

But on the issue of a surcharge on North Ferry — it was a case of night and day.

Supervisor Jim Dougherty and Heights Property Owners Corporation (HPOC) General Manager Stella Lagudis announced there would be resistance if Greenport persists in trying to tack a $1 fee onto Island-bound vehicles using North Ferry.

Greenport Village officials, Ms. Lagudis reported, are blaming North Ferry traffic for wear and tear on village roads and want money for repairs and maintenance. But Ms. Lagudis called any effort by Greenport to impose a fee “unconstitutional.”

It would be “a tough legal hurdle for them to be able to levy that,” Mr. Dougherty said. “We’re taking a very active interest in this,” he added, noting that the town’s Ferry Study Committee is resisting the proposal.

At least one Greenport official, Village Attorney Joseph Prokop, agrees with the Town Board’s position that a levy on ferry use won’t hold water if it ever wound up in court.

One area of agreement between the two municipalities on ferry issues, however, is HPOC and Greenport working together to develop solutions to lengthy ferry lines. North Ferry has stationed an employee at the intersection of Wiggins and Third streets during peak traffic times and blocked southbound traffic on Third Street from entering the ferry line.

North Ferry is open to finding long term solutions to relieve long lines and congestion, Ms. Lagudis said.

She credited Greenport officials and the Southold Transportation Commission for being active partners in the effort.

As for cooperation on the proposed PSEG project, Mr. Dougherty said he’s had conversations with Greenport Mayor George Hubbard — who owns and manages Hubbard’s Repair Shop in the Center — about the importance of the project for the Island.
Greenport has nothing to gain, except whatever PSEG might pay for the right to run the cable from their shore, Mr. Dougherty said.

HPOC has not agreed to anything, Ms. Lagudis said. But given the need for the rest of the Island to have a reliable power source, she thought the organization would be willing to bear the disruption providing PSEG meets specific stipulations.

Among them is that the project doesn’t take place during the summer season and that all wiring be placed underground. If HPOC does approve the project, Ms. Lagudis foresees disruptions during construction not only to the parking are, but to roadways in the Heights. HPOC also needs assurance that nothing PSEG does would interfere with the Heights sewer system.

In a response to a question from Councilman Jim Colligan, Ms. Lagudis said it’s possible the project could begin this autumn.