Shelter Island Town Board Weighs Water Options

Shelter Island officials are weighing a proposal to connect the school, town hall, library and other municipal buildings to a singular chlorine filtered water well and phasing out their private wells.

Town Engineer Joseph Finora brought up an application for a New York State grant to fund a brand new water district that would link the town’s government buildings under the West Neck Water District Extension. The plan reveals an ulterior disinfectant option to installing multiple private treatment systems to each building. Although building the collective water district for municipal buildings is more costly, it is the most sustainable choice in the long run to address town water issues.

“This becomes a very attractive financial opportunity for the town to lay a key piece of infrastructure that can serve multiple purposes and help us address the immediate water quality issues that we have at these town buildings,” said Finora.

According to Finora, the current system and the variety of water quality issues represent liabilities for the town in terms of managing their costs for filtration and monitoring their operation.

The Presbyterian Church in Shelter Island has had an ongoing nitrogen problem requiring a $100,000 treatment system to remedy, and has been a $10,000-$15,000 per year expense of the town to maintain, Finora said at a recent town board meeting. Although the church is not owned by the town itself, since the town rents the area of the location of the church, they were obligated to implement a costly treatment system to the area.

Nitrogen is not the extent of water quality issues facing the town of Shelter Island, said Finora. Residual MTBE, a chemical associated with petroleum or gasoline, was found in the water at the town’s senior center. In this emergency situation, a treatment system paid for by the state was promptly put into place and is currently functioning to combat the problem at the center.

If the application is approved, the town would receive a grant from the state that would pay for 60% of the cost to implement the extension plan, according to Finora. Additionally, the state’s partnership with Suffolk County Water Authority would provide the cost of the water supply that is needed to bolster the instantaneous water output via the wells to the extended system, said Finora.

According to Gregory Nissen, a water technician who runs a purification company Mermaid Water Solutions in Southold, the bigger picture of the deal is how it fits into the identity of the island.

Implementing these larger-scale systems means acknowledging the growing population and resources needed on the island. The concern over water control is prevalent in town. In Shelter Island Heights, their water systems are run locally.

“If you do it locally, you are employing local people and you remain in ultimate control,” said Nisson.

Board members expressed support for the application while continuing to look into budgeting and what management would entail. Ultimately the application to extend water services and connect the town’s buildings to a collective disinfectant solution would be just a “piece to the puzzle” and possibly, a “no-brainer” deal, according to the town board.