Heights is again considering Greenport sewer plant link

Greenport Village Mayor David Nyce told the Board of Trustees Monday night that the Shelter Island Heights Property Owners Corporation (HPOC) wants to hook up to the village’s sewage treatment plant.

During the Village Board work session, Mr. Nyce said the private corporation that manages the infrastructure of the private Heights community on Shelter Island had asked him to schedule a roundtable discussion with the village trustees to begin preliminary feasibility talks.

The connection fee to handle an estimated 60,000 gallons of sewage per day from the Heights could cost HPOC about $2.75 million, Mr. Nyce said.

“Whether or not it’s going to happen, who knows?” the mayor said of the possibility of running a pipe beneath the channel from Shelter Island to Greenport. A feasibility study done about a decade ago, when the Heights was facing the cost of major capital improvements at its sewage plant, concluded that underwater connection would be “wildly expensive.” The Heights opted to upgrade its plant instead.

Another concern, raised by Village Trustee Mary Bess Phillips, was how construction of a pipe would affect the Peconic Estuary.

“The proposed location of the pipe would come under a great deal of discussion,” the mayor said. “It’s not going to be a simple, clean, easy process. That’s why [the Heights Corporation] wants to start this with a general discussion.”

Julie Ben-Susan, general manager of HPOC, confirmed that informal discussions to explore the feasibility of directing waste water from the  Heights treatment plant to the much larger, recently upgraded plant in Greenport are underway. She noted that in 2003-4 the Heights commissioned an engineering feasibility study that indicated that the project was possible.

“In light of possible regulations and environmental responsibilities surrounding the Peconic Bay Estuary,” Ms. Ben-Susan wrote in an email, “the Heights also commissioned a study to explore the possibility of routing the effluent up the hill to a leaching field in the woods at Shelter Island Country Club (Goat Hill) where it could recharge the aquifer. Both of these options are long term in nature, quite costly and would require an alliance with the Town of Shelter island and/or the Village of Greenport.”

“We are in the early days but believe that it is healthy to plan for the future and understand all aspects of the options that are or might be available to us,” she added.

TALL SHIPS PLANNING UPDATE

Mr. Nyce said the village is drafting a contract with a marketing firm that will organize and raise funds for the Tall Ships of America tour set for Memorial Day weekend.

Mr. Nyce said the marketing firm’s work will have a net-zero cost to the village because its fee will be taken from the total amount raised. The village’s goal to pay for ships’ appearances and other costs involved with the event is $150,000, he said.

The village is also drafting contracts with the owners of some class A vessels, which are the largest of the tall ships. Those include the Bounty, based in Greenport, and the Pride of Baltimore and the Picton-Castle, home ported in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.

The mayor added that the village is negotiating contracts with smaller ships, including the Lynx, a replica of an 1812 warship, and the Unicorn from New Jersey, which has an all-female crew.

Mr. Nyce said the Village Board will create a steering committee comprised of representatives from the Businesses Improvement District, the fire department, the Greenport School District and other community groups to assist in preparing for the event.

“It should be really exciting,” Mr. Nyce said of the planning effort. “These ships are awesome.”