Beach cleanup stations criticized: Resident challenges use of  advertising at sites

With Acting Town Attorney Steven Leventhal attempting to calm the waters over the placement of beach cleanup stations on the Island, the Town Board opted Monday to leave the units in place.

The Board did, however, decide to investigate whether stations represent a company doing business on Town-owned land and pose an issue of what kinds of advertisements might violate Town policies.

Resident Bert Waife told the Town Board at its Tuesday work session that selling advertising on the stations is clearly doing business on Town-owned beach properties. He added that he spoke with Aiden Kravitz, one of the owners of RELIC, the company that pays for construction, placement and maintenance of the beach cleanup stations with advertisements that cost companies $500 each for the year. Mr. Waife said Mr. Kravitz told him RELIC has been in negotiations with an unnamed major branding company interested in doing a deal for all units.

That troubled Mr. Waife, who said there would be no control over what those advertisements might say.

Earlier this year, Public Works Commissioner Ken Lewis Jr. was approached by Mr. Kravitz about putting units on Shelter Island, as the company has done in other Long Island communities, and the Town Board approved the suggestion, cutting the ribbon on the first station last month.

Realizing RELIC isn’t operating as a nonprofit entity, Supervisor Amber Brach-Williams said she looked at the information again and saw no reason to reverse her stand on keeping the units just as neighboring municipalities have.

“The litmus test shouldn’t be what other towns do,” Mr. Waife said, adding that the Island should hold to its own policies and not what other areas have decided.

Attorney Leventhal told the Town Board that he doesn’t think the company is using beaches as a business site, but providing a service to the Town. Although RELIC operates its for-profit T-shirt company, it is putting money that comes in through the advertisements to fund the cleanup efforts and oyster beds restoration.

Mr. Leventhal called the advertising signs “a benign statement” to which he ascribed no legal impediment.

No one was rushing to take down the stations, but Councilman Benjamin Dyett said he had a concern about whether the Town was getting involved with a partner it didn’t fully know. Councilman Albert Dickson agreed. Mr. Dyett said he wants to look at the PowerPoint presentation RELIC brought to the Town that prompted Mr. Lewis to ask whether the Town Board wanted to have the stations deployed on the Island. But he also said there is no money being paid by the Town for the cleanup stations, no labor required of Town workers, and said he wasn’t calling for the stations to be removed immediately.

“We are getting a service,” Mr. Dyett said.

Councilman Gordon Gooding took a stronger stand, saying he takes the blame for allowing the stations to be deployed when there was insufficient information known to the Town Board.

The Town Board will take a second look and make a final decision on whether or not the station remain.