Town budget reviews set for October
The Town Board Tuesday announced dates for its hearings on a proposed 2017 budget with an eye to adopting a spending plan by the end of October.
Town Board members will begin meeting with department chiefs to review requests and negotiate proposed spending on Thursday, October 6 between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m.
They will continue the following day, Friday, October 7, between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m.
The board has set Friday,October 14 between 9 and noon for a session.
A full day of budget reviews set for Wednesday, October 12, has been cancelled because of the Yom Kippur holiday, but likely will be rescheduled, Supervisor Jim Dougherty said.
If talks go smoothly, members hope to conclude the meetings on Friday, October 14, between 9 a.m. and noon.
Once all budgets have been reviewed, the board will work to finalize the 2017 budget, with an anticipated conclusion by October 28.
TRAFFIC
St. Mary’s Road residents were back at the work session Tuesday, pleased that with the help of Police Chief Jim Read, there was an improvement to traffic speeds in their neighborhood this summer.
But they’re concerned about the future and asked that the 35 mph speed limit be lowered to 30 mph and that no trucks, except those making deliveries in the neighborhood, be allowed to use the roadway. Instead, truck traffic should be routed along Route 114, said Karla Friedlich.
It’s great when police are there, said Dee Clark Morehead, another St. Mary’s Road resident. But she fears that with the end of summer, police will get busy elsewhere and the request for steps to be taken to make the neighborhood safe will be forgotten.
“We live there and it’s very scary,” she said, referring to the traffic that goes speeding through the neighborhood where there are a large number of small children.
Don’t wait until a child is injured or killed, she told the board.
REIMBURSEMENT
A number of years ago, former Highway Superintendent Mark Ketcham secured a grant for work done on the Ram Island Causeway, but the town never received reimbursement, according to Supervisor Jim Dougherty.
He announced Tuesday that thanks to help from Senator Kenneth LaValle (R-Port Jefferson) reimbursement has been secured in the amount of $82,150. It was expected to be $112,000, Mr. Dougherty said, but nonetheless, he expressed his gratitude for Mr. LaValle’s efforts in securing the money.
FILMING
The Town Board expects to act Friday on an application from GV Productions in Huntsville, Alabama to film still shots of women’s fashions on the Island at the end of September. Plans call for the crew to visit the Island on September 26 to scout out possible beach locations for the shoot and then to return on either September 28 or 29 for the photo shoot.
