HALESITE
Sewer Relief Coming For NY Avenue
Workers to complete 600-foot sewer extension to alleviate back-ups from ‘Lake Halesite’
By Danny Schrafel/ dschrafel@longislandernews.com

After years of seeking relief from an unsanitary sewage situation whenever “Lake Halesite” crests, Helen Keller Services for the Blind and its neighbors on New York Avenue will be able to hook up to the sewer system.

Workers began installing 600 feet of low-pressure sewer running from the edge of the King Kullen supermarket north to Coneys Marine last week to “basically close a gap in the sanitary sewer system,” said Matt Laux, the town’s deputy director of the Environmental Waste Management department.

The project was supposed to begin last spring, but was scrapped after a state project was bogged down in bidding controversies and lawsuits. The project would have raised New York Avenue by one foot, improved existing tide gates and inserted new culverts, storm drains and roundabouts to mitigate flooding on New York Avenue.
“We were ready to proceed last year, but the 110 project had some problem at the award at the state level. It snowballed and stopped the DOT from authorizing the work on this project,” Laux said.

The town will be using $188,000 in state grants and about $20,000 in town money to finance the project. The new sewer connection will assist business owners in the flood-plagued, low-lying stretch of New York Avenue where cesspools are rendered useless during heavy rainstorms.

“Whenever we get a lot of rain, it’s a risk,” Debbie Costa, the Suffolk County rehabilitation coordinator for Helen Keller Services for the Blind, said. “Toward the end of the day, the toilets just don’t flush anymore. And if you continue to try, it backs into the building, which is extremely unsanitary. We’ve learned how to deal with it very effectively at this point because we’re been dealing with it for years.”
Costa said she’s delighted by the expansion to the sewer system. But while the project will bring relief to their sewage predicament, it will create a new financial drain – as much as $35,000 to hook up to the sewer system.

One of the reason’s it’s so expensive is because of the organization’s low-lying address, which means they have to install a pump to force their refuse into the sewer system.
“In this economy, donations are way down for everybody. It’s absolutely a concern,” she said.

While the sewer hookup is welcome news, Costa said the agency is still looking for a new location. The agency serves clients who are legally blind, which is diagnosed at 20/200 vision or worse.

“We love being in Huntington, so that’s always what we’d prefer to do,” she said. “With the flooding situation, all the businesses on Route 110 are concerned about the program that hasn’t started yet. That’s also a concern.”