Protecting Suffolk’s water supply took another step forward as $1 million in county funds were pledged to defray the cost of businesses connecting to the $223.9 million Forge River Watershed Sewer Project currently under construction.
“This new pilot program will reduce the financial burden on our small businesses along Montauk Highway in Shirley and Mastic who are planning to hook up to the new sewer district,” said Legislator James Mazzarella, sponsor of the funds. “Wastewater infrastructure is expensive. If we are serious about sewering Suffolk County, government must assist in subsidizing these programs, not only for our residents, but for our businesses as well.”
“Just as we have worked to make the replacement of outdated septic systems and cesspools with the latest technologies affordable to homeowners, we need to ensure it is affordable for our small business owners who are still recovering from the pandemic to be able to hook up to local sewer systems,” said County Executive Steve Bellone at a Mastic press conference announcing the county commitment. “Not only will this pilot program cover at least half of the cost of hookup, but it also affords business owners with competitive interest rates to finance the rest.”
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A $1 million grant for local businesses to hook up to the Forge River Watershed Sewer
Project was announced by local officials along with civic and chamber of commerce leaders at a press conference in front of Mama Lisa’s Restaurant in Mastic last week. Seated, from left, are county Legislator Bridget Fleming, Suffolk Executive Steve Bellone, Legislator James Mazzarella, and Brookhaven Councilman Dan Panico. Robert Chartuk
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With about 70 percent of Suffolk relying on cesspools, bringing sewer service to homes and commercial establishments has long been the goal of local officials and environmentalists. Bellone has been on a tear lately announcing funds for sewer initiatives in Mastic Beach, Smithtown, Kings Park and other areas that have been clamoring for sewers for more than a half-century. Wastewater from out-dated septic systems has had a dramatic impact on Long Island’s water resources. Forge River has been deemed the most polluted river in the state due to contamination from nitrogen, which is also blamed for the brown tides and other algae blooms local waterways suffer on almost an annual basis.
The Forge River project, expected to be completed in 2025, will bring sewer services to nearly 1,900 homes and businesses in the Mastic-Shirley area. Officials are also looking to bring sewer service to the Neighborhood Road Business District in Mastic Beach where a massive project by the Beechwood Organization has been proposed to rebuild the entire downtown area.
“We’re racking up a number of successes when it comes to water quality and protecting our environment. I’m thrilled at the progress that’s being made,” said Pattersquash Civic Association President Frank Fugarino, who stressed that the local creeks, the Great South Bay, and ultimately the ocean, are impacted by what happens on the land.
Funds for the hook ups will come from the county's Water Quality Protection and Restoration Program Fund, monies that are derived from a quarter-percent sales tax approved by voters in a special referendum. The county has received state approval to go before the voters for an eighth of a cent sales tax increase to fund water quality efforts, but the legislature has not yet acted on the measure. (A previous South Shore Press article indicated that the existing quarter percent sales tax was devoted to sewers, when in fact it is for environmental purposes.)
According to the county officials, the pilot program is expected to help 65 businesses with 25 or fewer employees. Applicants must meet various requirements, including not having any open property tax liens. Applications for the grants can be made beginning this fall.
The initial $1 million will allow the County to gauge the need for additional funding, identify other potential funding sources, and evaluate what other factors may be relevant in determining how best to allocate future funding for the connection of commercial and business properties, according to Bellone.
“Our main goal is to advocate for all of our small businesses in the community and this pilot program is a huge step forward in helping out our local businesses obtain some sort of financial assistance for the hookups to the coming sewer project,” said Frank Montanez Jr., president of the Chamber of Commerce of the Mastics & Shirley. “We look forward to this financial help and to the finalization of the sewer project to bring much needed economic development to our area."
Bellone also recently announced a commitment of $28 million to expand the Forge River Sewer project.
Joining Mazzarella and the county executive in making the announcement at Mama Lisa’s Restaurant were county Legislator Bridget Fleming, Brookhaven Councilman Dan Panico and town Superintendent of Highways Dan Losquadro.