By JOSEPH KELLARD
The $153,000 matching grant for the village will fund upgrades in its drainage system to reduce the amount of pollutants in storm water and urban runoff water that reach Hempstead Bay. Last month, the village began work on a $173,000 project that includes replacing collapsing drain boxes and tied-flex valves. The village will use the grant to offset the bulk of the cost for this work.
³As a small community our financial resources are limited, so [this grant] gives us the opportunity to protect our waterways without really socking it to the taxpayers,² said Mayor Jackie Papaptsos at a press conference held at Island Park Beach. ³Because we are a waterfront community, we know the importance of protecting our surrounding waterways, and without this grant, we probably would not have payment to proceed with these projects.²
³It may seem like a small project,² said Denise Sheehan, acting commissioner of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, ³but these small projects really add up and make a difference...Storm water is really one of the big issues that we face in getting these water bodies to achieve their full potential.²
The $153,000 matching grant Island Park received is part of the Albany¹s total $6.6 million in grants for the South Shore Estuary, extending from the Queens and Nassau County borderline eastward approximately 75 miles to the Village of Southampton in Suffolk County, and includes interconnected bays and tidal tributaries that support the largest concentration of water-dependent business in the state. In 2002, the state completed a management plan for the South Shore Estuary, and will included improving and maintaining water quality, sustain and expand the estuary-related economy, and increase educational and outreach programs for waterfront communities.
The village will also use some grant money for mailings to residents on pollution awareness and for decals posted outside storm drains to warn people not to put pollutants down the drains.
Among the nearby recipients of grant money are Freeport, which received $129,628 to install remove debris from a waterway and install structures to protect from erosion and flooding, and Lawrence received $1,164,496 to upgrade a waste water treatment plant. Communities on the Peconic Estuary on the north shore will receive a total of $2.5 in grants.
Commenting that it is always ³a pleasure to get back from Albany² and that the grant is ³a step in the right direction,² Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg said, ³From the mayor to the administrators, the work that was done by the local government was so efficient that it impressed the people in Albany to make the decision that we reap the benefits of the funding we are receiving today.²
