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According to Romaine, the agreement splits funding evenly between sewer construction and private septic upgrades. It will create a countywide sewer district and apply the same funding split for sewer monies coming in through the existing quarter-percent sales tax dedicated to clean water. More than $2 billion is expected to be generated over the 35-year life of the funding mechanisms, Romaine noted.
The county executive-elect, who will leave his current position as Brookhaven Town supervisor January 1, said he will work with the county legislature to create a Home Rule Message to send to Albany for state approval to hold the public vote. The previous measure, which dedicated only 25% of the environmental funds to new sewers, was passed as part of the state budget without being signed off on by Suffolk lawmakers. “We’re going to do it this time with a Home Rule Message supported by the county legislature,” Romaine stressed, adding that the stakeholders meeting was attended by state Assemblyman Fred Thiele and William Duffy, counsel to the legislature.
Others attending the meeting where the sewer plan was worked out were representatives of the League of Conservation Voters, Citizens Campaign for the Environment, Group for the East End, Nature Conservancy, Long Island Federation of Labor, and the Long Island Contractors’ Association. “Everyone agreed that we should get our environmental agenda moving forward by putting this issue before the voters,” Romaine said.
Suffolk Legislator James Mazzarella expressed confidence that a package brokered by Romaine will garner the necessary support from county lawmakers. “By pursuing a Home Rule Message, the new county executive can win a consensus among the legislators and put us in a good position to take the bill to Albany,” Mazzarella said, adding that the legislature’s presiding officer, Kevin McCaffrey, played a key role in holding off on a public vote last November so that the allocations could be reworked. “The presiding officer deserves a lot of credit for getting us to this point where we can solidify support and get this right.”
The referendum became a political hot potato after the legislature bucked the environmental groups and other referendum supporters and declined to put the matter before the voters during the November election. Romaine, who was in favor of putting the 75-25 cesspool/sewer split on the ballot during his election for county executive, made getting a sewer deal done a major plank in his campaign platform.
Outgoing executive Steve Bellone has initiated studies to bring sewers to various Suffolk communities and business districts, with officials hoping to have shovel-ready projects eligible for the $1 trillion federal infrastructure fund and the state’s $4.2 billion Clean Water Bond Act. In addition to extending the Forge River Watershed Sewer Project deeper into the Mastics and Shirley, particularly to serve the massive Beechwood redevelopment of Neighborhood Road, the county is looking to bring sewer service to Centereach-Selden, Coram, Deer Park, Farmingville, Holbrook, Oakdale, Port Jefferson Station, Saint James, Smithtown, West Babylon, and Wyandanch, projects that will cost billions of dollars.
“Keeping Long Island’s water clean is one of my top priorities,” Romaine said. “Suffolk voters have been supportive of raising funds for environmental purposes, and we are hopeful that they will approve these measures when they are asked to decide in the referendum.”