Shelter Island Reporter Letters to the Editor: Aug. 27, 2026

FOLLOWING RULES

To the Editor:

Something to add to the Rules of the Road box on page 4: Bicycles continuously go through without ever slowing down at the four-way stop signs at Smith/Midway and New York Avenue/West Neck/North Menantic. Maybe that will help slow some of them then and they won’t end up dead in the police blotter.

According to ChatGPT, in New York State bicycles are considered vehicles for most traffic laws, so cyclists are generally required to obey stop signs and come to a complete stop, just like cars. New York does not have an “Idaho Stop” law, which in some states allows cyclists to treat stop signs as yield signs.

That said, in the real world many cyclists perform what is sometimes called a “rolling stop,” a small daily ritual in humanity’s long-running experiment with selective rule-following. Legally, though, a cyclist who fails to stop at a stop sign in New York can be ticketed.

There is one practical exception: If a police officer is directing traffic or a temporary traffic control device overrides the sign, you follow those instructions instead.

PETER S. REICH, Shelter Island

DEFECTING QUESTIONS

To the Editor:

Island voters and especially taxpayers urgently need to pay attention to the Town’s ongoing behind-the-scenes negotiation of a multi-decade contract with Community Development Long Island (CDLI) related to the construction and management of the first 10 affordable housing units.

The Town Board should make sure that it has the benefit of an independent financial adviser with experience and expertise comparable to that of CDLI and its advisers.  Otherwise, the Town, which has no experience with such a contract, risks being out-negotiated big-time and assuming unlimited obligations for literally generations to come.

This is a particularly acute concern because the Community Housing Board (CHB) appears unsatisfied with the income it receives from the tax on property transfers (roughly $2 million accumulated so far). The CHB apparently wants the Town’s general funds to pay and/or borrow to pay for the roughly $800,000 purchase of 2 School Street and possible other properties for affordable housing. If the seven-figure housing fund and the rental income from the affordable units do not cover the costs involved, Island taxpayers should not be burdened with increased property taxes.

Separately, a new contract with CDLI should give the Town stronger oversight rights than it currently has over CDLI’s administration of the state-funded ADU program. The CHB and Town Board recently deflected questions about whether CDLI is properly administering that program, brushing aside evidence suggesting that CDLI has not done so. The CHB suggested engaging directly with CDLI. When CDLI did not respond to an attempt to do so, concerns were submitted to the New York State Office of the Inspector General (OIG).  Time will tell whether, unlike the local boards, the OIG investigates whether CDLI has been acting properly and, if the OIG investigates, whether or not it finds anything amiss.

STEPHEN JACOBS, Shelter Island

MEANINGFUL CONTRIBUTIONS

To the Editor:

Thank you for last week’s front-page article encouraging all Shelter Island property owners to consider installing an IA septic system.

Menantic Creek Keepers Conservancy (MCKC) has collected water-quality data in Menantic Creek for several years and has worked with the Peconic Estuary Partnership and Stony Brook University’s Dr. Christopher Gobler, whose team has also studied the creek. Our findings confirm eutrophic conditions: excessive nutrients, particularly nitrogen, contribute to oxygen depletion and degradation of the creek’s ecosystem.

MCKC was formed to better understand and address deteriorating water quality in Menantic Creek. The most important thing we can do is reduce the nitrogen entering the creek and other Island waters. Approximately 70% of that nitrogen comes from septic systems. Even if you do not own waterfront property, a traditional septic system can affect groundwater, well water and surface-water quality.

One of the most significant steps a property owner can take is to install an IA septic system. Effluent from a traditional septic system contains, on average, about four times as much nitrogen as that from an IA system. We strongly encourage property owners to consider making this improvement. In addition to benefiting water quality, an IA system can add value to your property.

Significant grants and rebates from New York State, Suffolk County and the Town of Shelter Island can cover most if not all, installation costs.

If you would like more information, please contact us  — menanticcreekkeepers.org. We will be happy to connect you with people who can explain the process, available funding and next steps.

Improving our water quality will take all of us, and upgrading septic systems is one of the most meaningful contributions property owners can make.

Alice Deupree, David Shanker & George Huhn for Menantic Creek Keepers Board of Directors

JUST SAY NO

To the Editor:

Our Shelter Island government discussed spending $50,000 on cameras on Crescent Beach. It is not in this year’s approved budget, and localities are not permitted to print money. So where is the $50,000 supposed to come from?

Budgets have several purposes, and the foremost one is resource control. During budget season, the Shelter Island community weighs in on priorities on the way we spend our resources. The Town Board debates and then votes to allocate the resources in specific ways for the next fiscal year. This process allows taxpayers to express their views and Town Board members to hear them before deciding how to allocate resources. At no point did we ever discuss cameras on Crescent Beach, which, by introducing it after the budget has been decided, circumvents community input.

What seems to be missing at the Town Board is control. When someone comes up with an idea after the budget has been passed, the response should be — “That’s interesting, we will discuss it for next year’s budget; it isn’t in the budget for this year.” But that is not what happens. This Town Board doesn’t seem to be able to say no. Try “no.”

If our Town Board has an extra $50,000, return it to us, the taxpayers.

LYNNE WEIKART, Shelter Island