Shelter Island Highway Superintendent, Town Board draw fire over closing of area at Recycling Center

“Unapproachable” is a word Highway Superintendent Ken Lewis Jr. never thought would be used to describe him.

But it has come his way in recent weeks and he said he’s determined to shed it, promising people at Tuesday’s Town Board work session his door has always been open and always will be.

“You can talk to me anytime,” Mr. Lewis said.

It has been a rough couple of months for Mr. Lewis since an incident at the Recycling Center prompted him to close the construction and demolition areas. It’s a spot long visited by residents to acquire materials for their own projects and items they have taken for use in their own homes.

For the second time this month, critics showed up at Town Hall to protest closing off the area. This week their anger toward Mr. Lewis spilled over to the Town Board.

While they balked at petitioning for a referendum on the issue, the mention of the possibility could be enough to plant the idea if there is no action to reverse the decision on closing the areas to the public.

Board members were told by a number of speakers it’s their responsibility to reverse the decision Mr. Lewis made, and accused them of failing to even pay attention to comments made at meetings during public comment periods.

There were accusations that Mr. Lewis sought election as highway superintendent to push his own agenda to close the construction and demolition areas to the public. Others said barring people from claiming materials discriminates against those who can’t afford to purchase all the materials they need.

While holding fast to his decision to block so-called “pickers” from retrieving metals and other items from those work areas out of concern for the liability the Town could face if anyone was injured, Mr. Lewis outlined his plans to provide more space and better access to the Goody Pile, where some bring items in good condition to be retrieved by others.

His plans for the Goody Pile include:

• Expanding hours of operation.

• Enlarging the area to accommodate more materials that can be claimed by residents.

• Appointing an employee to oversee the area, ensuring it is orderly.

• Categorizing items and providing shelving to make them more accessible.

There are materials the Recycling Center can’t take and make available such as mattresses, large furniture, cribs and car seats for babies, Mr. Lewis said.

What he wants from the public is for people to be respectful to one another.

Councilman Albert Dickson said he’s looking for a compromise and questioned how many accidents have occurred that call for closing the construction and demolition areas to the public.

Several people asked for a group to be brought together to seek a system that can work without a total ban on the area. Mr. Lewis didn’t reject the idea, but repeated that he remains opposed to reopening areas where there are metals, glass and other materials that could cause injuries.

At the same time, he told Mr. Dickson there was only one case of someone injured who sued the Town and a second injury case, but no legal action.

When he cited a letter received from the company insuring the town he was reminded by resident Kelci McIntosh insurance companies are in business to make money and naturally would advise against anything that could find them having to pay money resulting from an injury or a lawsuit.