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Thursday, June 27, 2024 ~ Volume 69 ~ Issue Number 36 ~ $1.00
Legislature Votes to Put Water Quality Act on November Ballot By Matt Meduri
In what has been a years-long process, temporarily halted by deliberations last summer, the Suffolk County Legislature has finally moved to put the Suffolk County Water Quality Restoration Act on the November ballot as a proposition. Studies have been conducted on Suffolk County’s precarious wastewater system and natural environment. Nitrogen levels, algal blooms, brown and red tides, agriculture and aquaculture, and landmark tourist attractions delicately coalesce around reaching sound wastewater solutions, with a dangerous cocktail on deck if not properly addressed. Wastewater infrastructures are currently funded by a quarter-percent sales tax in Suffolk County, colloquially known as the “quarter-percent fund.” Last summer, the Legislature was presented with a plan to institute a one-eighth-percent sales tax on top of the existing quarter-percent fund to guarantee wastewater funding through 2060. Since the County Legislature cannot levy sales taxes, the initiative had to be passed in the state legislature and signed by Governor Kathy Hochul (D). The Governor made the trip to Captree Island last month to sign the bill, allowing the Legislature to vote to put the referendum in front of voters this fall. Continued on page 10
The County Seal in Riverhead
Nina Cooley Way: East Islip Corner Named After Community Legend By Matt Meduri
Family and Friends of Nina Cooley gather under the new street sign for Nina Cooley Way (Credit - Matt Meduri)
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Murray Renews Push Patchogue’s Prom For ‘Nick’s Law’ on Main Street Page 5
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While small businesses and grassroots organizations are often considered backbones of any community, and rightfully so, the people who live in, serve, and bring the community together truly dictate its value. Such a position was taken on Thursday afternoon, when the corner of Fawn Drive and Grenadier Lane in East Islip was renamed in posthumous recognition of a true community devotee: Nina Cooley. Born in Brooklyn, Cooley married her husband Harold after he returned home from serving the U.S. in World War II and began their family in Levittown. She began her auxiliary membership with the AMVETS Post #44 in Hicksville. While married with three children in 1954, Cooley ran for AMVETS Ladies Auxiliary New York State Historian. After just one year in office, she then became the President of the New York State AMVETS Auxiliary Department, the youngest president in state history.
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