READER OF THE WEEK IS JENNIFER MCBRIAN OF TUCSON ARIZONA
Pets, Pets, Pets... by Joanne Anderson
Babylon Town diver heads to Rome Page 3 Vol. 120, No. 30
WEDNESDAY, July 24, 2024
Weekly pet column Page 12
www.amityvillerecord.com
Obituary: Valerie Gill Page 6 50 CENTS
County lawmakers pass wastewater infrastructure bill Measure to be funded by sales tax hike A proposition to give voters a voice on an initiative to provide funding critical wastewater infrastructure and projects in Suffolk County will be on the ballot this November. The bill seeks to provide “perpetuating” funding for both sewer projects and Innovative and Alternative OnSite Wastewater Treatment Systems (I/A Systems). “County officials realize that we could not rely solely upon federal funds to get these vital projects done,” said one county source. If approved, the county’s sales tax will increase by oneeighth of a percent with those additional monies ear-
IN THE NEWS Local company hires new CFO
S.C. Exec. Ed Romaine signs wastewater infrastructure bill as countylawmakers and local leaders applaud.
Amityville-based electrical contractor L.E.B. Electric announced that it has named Michael Stewart as Chief Financial Officer. Stewart has almost 10-years experience in management level finance positions within the contracting industry. “We are thrilled to have Michael join our team. L.E.B. has seen unprecedented growth across all the industries we serve,” said L.E.B Electric’s President Bill Parker. “It has been a hallmark of ours to recruit top talent and create a positive workplace culture based on safety, training and customer service.” “L.E.B. is a first-class organization that has a sterling reputation. I am proud to take on the CFO role,” said Stewart.
marked for the work outlined in the measure. The county sales tax is currently at 4.25 percent. Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine announced passage of the measure with S.C. Legislature Presiding Officer Kevin McCaffrey, members of the legislature, and environmental and labor leaders as he signed the historic Water Protection Bill. “The success of this bill is the result of years of partnership and a unified mission to protect Suffolk County now, and into the future,” said Romaine. “I thank Presiding Officer McCaffrey and the legislature, Assemblyman Thiele, Senator Monica Martinez, the state delegation who supported this significant measure and all of the people who never gave up hope, worked together, and made this dream a reality.” “It was an arduous journey to get us here today. I am proud of my colleagues who stuck it out and believed we could reach a compromise on the right funding formula to protect Suffolk’s water quality for decades to come,” said Presiding Officer Kevin J. McCaffrey. “After many months of hard work by stakeholders including Assemblyman Fred Thiele, the voters will now be able to add their approval. Voters have consistently supported clean water initiatives and open space preservation and we expect they will overwhelmingly see this as a small price to pay for generations of water quality.” Kevin McDonald, Long Island Policy Advisor for The Nature Conservancy commended Romaine for his swift approval of the Water Quality Restoration Act, the final step in putting a landmark clean water measure before voters this November.
“If approved, the Water Quality Restoration Act will drastically reduce pollution and restore our bays and harbors by making critical infrastructure improvements not only possible, but affordable to residents and businesses,” he said. Adrienne Esposito, Executive Director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment recognized Romaine and McCaffrey for their work and support of the measure. “The public must know this referendum is a bipartisan clean water plan based on over ten years of scientific study, collaboration, and effort,” she said. “We are now on the path to a cleaner, safer, healthier future!” Support for the measure also came from labor including John R. Durso, President of the Long Island Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, and Ryan Stanton, Executive Director of the Long Island Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO. “With the signing of this bill, Long Island is one step closer to guaranteeing the availability of clean drinking water and maintaining the viability of our coastlines while creating thousands of union jobs with family-sustaining wages in the process.”