By Hank Russell
Vision Long Island held its 23rd Annual Smart Growth Summit at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury on December 6. The event started off with its 2024 State of the Towns & Villages roundtable discussion. This year, Long Island’s town and village leaders mostly focused on the need for federal funding for crucial projects and the need for more housing.
Huntington Town Supervisor Ed Smyth started off by saying he would like to get federal funding “with as few strings attached as possible” for the town’s roads, sewers and sea walls.
Oyster Bay Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino said he would use the federal monies for its sewage treatment plant. “The budgets are smaller so we need that federal funding,” he said, adding that he has reached out to former U.S. Congresman Lee Zeldin — who President-elect Donald Trump has tapped to lead the Environmental Protection Agency — for financial assistance to get the Bethpage plume cleaned up and to move municipal solid waste moved off Long Island.
Farmingdale Mayor Ralph Eckstrand said his village spent $20 million on water filtration systems to remove pollutants from its drinking water. “We need federal money to subsidize [this project] as we go forward,” he said.
Both Valley Stream Mayor Ed Fare and Glen Cove Mayor Pamela Panzenbeck addressed the need to fund infrastructure improvements. Fare said the village’s infrastructure is “aging,” while Panzenbeck noted the city’s “antiquated” water mains “break every time the temperature changes. It doesn’t work.”
Brookhaven Town Supervisor Dan Panico said he “[finds] it much harder” to get development projects done without federal funding. He said it would be easier to ask the state for money than the federal government.
“We need help from the state government and from the federal government,” added North Hempstead Town Supervisor Jennifer DeSena.
The reason why infrastructure needs to be improved, the panelists said, was to bring in more housing, namely affordable and multifamily housing. During his keynote speech, Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine tried to introduce new housing in Brookhaven when he was town supervisor, “but we lacked sewers.”
“We need more housing, particularly more affordable housing, or else we will lose out on future generations [of Long Islanders],” Romaine added.
Smithtown Town Supervisor Ed Wehrheim has introduced multifamily projects in downtown Smithtown and Kings Park, but has received pushback from the local school districts.
Panico recalled his struggle to buy a house when he was younger, but said today’s younger prospective homebuyers are having a harder time than he did in finding an affordable place to live. “Class sizes [in schools] are smaller, yet [school] taxes are higher than they have ever been,” he said. “The cost of living is through the roof.”
Riverhead Town Supervisor Tim Hubbard agreed. “Everything on Long Island is expensive,” he said. “Nobody knows that more than the younger people who are saddled with student loan debt.”
There is currently a condominium in the town with some of the units available for sale as well as for rent. “We can sell [the units to younger homebuyers] so they can build up equity,” Hubbard said. The idea, he said, is to encourage the idea of homeownership as opposed to the “cyclical” fashion of renting.
But it’s more than just affordability. Fare said the village’s character will attract a younger generation of residents. “They will see we have a small-town feel and feel like they are a part of the community,” Fare said. “It’s very encouraging. “
Smyth said the town has plans to create a walkable downtown, which would draw in younger residents. “They want that downtown experience,” he said.
However, “we need the infrastructure solutions to make it all come together,” Saladino said.
Romaine put the emphasis on sewers that will result in more housing and a stronger economy, “We need sewers now more than ever,” he said. “We need to grow Long Island … so it can become an economic engine.”
DeSena called for “a collaborative effort” to make the solutions come to fruition. “We can’t take a cookie-cutter approach to a problem.”