LTE: The Time Is Now For Sewers In Kings Park

Dear Editor:

The time is now for sewers in Kings Park!

Back in 2009, as part of the county’s ongoing efforts to protect our ground and surface waters and facilitate economic growth, Suffolk County expanded the Kings Park sewage treatment plant and shortly thereafter spent four million dollars on the engineering and design of the Kings Park Sewer District extension.

With a plan firmly in place, a treatment plant operating at half capacity and a sewer pipe already running across Main Street, the extension of the sewer district appeared to be well on its way, yet seemingly, little progress was being made in funding and advancing the expansion efforts. Then, in 2017, the State of New York made $20 million available for the project. Finally, it appeared the largest hurdles had been cleared, yet, four-plus years later, still no sewers.

I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised, since as part of the process, it took state lawmakers two years to approve the alienation of a piece of town park maintenance property the size of a two-car garage (that wasn’t even being used as park land) for a pump station critical to the sewer extension. However, even with all required legislative actions in place, the Bellone administration still failed to reach the finish line. During this time, the Town of Smithtown was able to put a sewer pipe in St. James and that community doesn’t even have a sewage treatment plant yet.

However, now, at long last, there is an opportunity to make sewers in Kings Park a reality through a vote by district residents. Only current sewer district residents will take part in the vote; property and business owners who will also be impacted by the expansion will not be able to participate in the voting. While the circumstance is far from ideal, it still represents a chance for this project to finally be realized.

This vote on December 14 has nothing to do with politics, it is a vote for the future of Kings Park and our environment and I will continue to work diligently to try to ensure the proposition’s passage. Then I will do the same for both Smithtown and St. James to ensure these downtowns get hooked into sewer systems as well. This investment in our downtowns is vitally important for our businesses as well as our home values.

Sincerely,
Rob Trotta, Suffolk County Legislator, 13thLD