Shelter Island Preservation Fund to honor Jim Dougherty
The Community Preservation Fund Advisory Board (CPFAB) will honor former supervisor Jim Dougherty by naming a trail on one of the existing preserves.
Mr. Dougherty died Aug. 19. He fostered preservation of sites on the Island before becoming supervisor and continued to support acquisitions that would forever remain undeveloped, providing hiking trails, passive recreation and quiet meditation.
Properties purchased in conjunction with Suffolk County money can’t be renamed, nor can existing preserves be renamed, CPF Chairman Gordon Gooding said at a meeting last week. However, naming a trail within a preserve can be done, and there are several preserves with which Mr. Dougherty was involved, and one will be chosen and a date set for a dedication.
On another issue, Mr. Gooding said he received a letter from an unidentified woman asking that members look at activity at the Dickerson Creek Preserve, a site meant to protect the environment that the writer said is not meeting its intended purpose.
Among her concerns is the placement of tables, chairs and garbage cans brought to the site for a retirement party, Mr. Gooding said in a telephone interview after the meeting. He said he has reached out to the woman but has not heard back.
CPFAB members and Conservation Advisory Council Co-Chairman Howard Johansen will meet at the White Preserve to discuss a proposal for plantings at the parking area for visitors to the site.
White family members are working with the Planning Board to discuss planting of trees to create a buffer between property that is still privately owned and occupied by family members and the public areas sold to the town and Suffolk County.
CPF member Tim Purtell suggested that bayberries may be the best choice for the parking area. Mr. Purtell also outlined some needs for plantings at the West Neck Preserve that could be planted this fall.
