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WAC seeks Town Board changes on pool construction

JULIE LANE PHOTO Water Advisory Committee member Ken Pysher wins approval from his colleagues to seek a change in  the town code on requirements for building swimming pools in the Near Shore and Peninsula Overlay District.
JULIE LANE PHOTO Water Advisory Committee member Ken Pysher wins approval from his colleagues to seek a change in the town code on requirements for building swimming pools in the Near Shore and Peninsula Overlay District.

While continuing to explore alternatives to ensuring all Shelter Island residents have potable water, the Water Advisory Committee (WAC) will ask the Town Board to tweak its general code affecting swimming pool installations in the “Near Shore” and “Peninsula Overlay District.”

These districts include parts of the Rams, Hay Beach, the Village of Dering Harbor, along Route 114, Coecles Harbor, parts of Shelter Island Heights and West Neck. They are considered sensitive to salt water intrusion and pollution problems from aged or potentially inadequate septic systems.

The Town Board in the 1990s established some restrictions on building in these sensitive areas.

At issue now, WAC member Ken Pysher said at Monday night’s meeting, is protection for neighbors from excavations for pools in areas of ecological sensitivity.

Mr. Pysher, a Silver Beach resident, said his well was salted last year when a pool was dug on a neighboring property. While he was away for a few months this year, the water quality resolved itself, but since returning, he has seen salt levels rise in his well and has been forced to take remediation measures to provide potable water at his house.

Mr. Pysher said he’s planning to employ a reverse osmosis discharge system to filter enough water for drinking, estimating that he would be spending between $200 to $400 to solve his immediate problem.

The problem was discussed when it surfaced last year, but there’s still nothing on the books, Mr. Pysher said. The WAC agreed to ask the Town Board to consider requiring that excavations for swimming pools in the Near Shore Overlay District be allowed only above the water table.

Current requirements contained in Chapter 113.5 relate to permits issued by the Building Department to identify locations for septic systems and wells. But the restrictions on water table levels refer to installation of dry wells for discharge of effluent from freshwater swimming pools and those must be installed at least two feet above the water table levels.

While member Albert Dickson suggested that all excavations in the Near Shore Overlay District be required to be done above the water table, others on the committee believed they should try, initially to limit regulations to pools only.

“It’s a start,” Mr. Dickson said. “It’s something,”

At the same time, members discussed a number of options to meet the needs of those residents who don’t have potable water on a regular basis.

In addition to Mr. Pysher’s plans for the reverse osmosis discharge system, other options could be:
• Hook up with the Suffolk County Water Authority (SCWA), an idea last considered and rejected back in 2005, according to M. Pysher. He said a number of Silver Beach residents favor the idea, but he doesn’t think SCWA would be interested in any hookup that didn’t involve the whole town.
• Using bottled water or installation of cisterns for storing potable water.
• Installing small, shared systems that could provide potable water for up to three properties.
• Creating a system modeled after the West Neck Water District to service areas where access to potable water is a problem.