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Neighbors to meet on LIPA substation in Dix Hills

BY DEBORAH S. MORRIS | deborah.morris@newsday.com

6:13 AM EDT, March 27, 2008

Construction equipment and a makeshift protest sign on Bagatelle Road. (Newsday Photo / Bill Davis)

Residents who live near a defunct Long Island Power Authority substation on Bagatelle Road in Dix Hills that is being put back into service are meeting tonight to discuss the project.

Debra Giaime, organizer of the event, said she met with officials from LIPA at a March 14 meeting hosted by Legis. Steve Stern [D-Dix Hills] and Lou D'Amaro [D-North Babylon] and wants to report back to her neighbors.

"I just want to inform the community about the substation," said Giaime, who collected over 400 signatures from residents in Dix Hills, Melville and Wheatley Heights opposing the substation. "It's important for people to be aware of what's going on and I thought I should help get the word out."

The meeting is at 7:30 p.m. at the Half Hollow Hills Community Library at 55 Vanderbilt Parkway.

According to LIPA spokeswoman Elizabeth Flagler, construction on the substation, which is one mile south of the Long Island Expressway on the west side of the street, began March 20. She said the substation is an existing but out-of-service site. She said no new transmission lines need to be built.

Giaime said among several issues she discussed with LIPA officials were safety, drainage problems along Bagatelle Road, and a driveway that Giaime said is located in an unsafe bend in the road.

She said LIPA addressed most of the issues to her satisfaction including announcing the utility made a $250,000 contribution to the town to address the drainage problems, and explaining that the driveway in question would only be for use during an emergency and at that time would be regulated by a traffic monitor.

"But safety is still an issue," Giaime said. "They said to keep them posted."

Ed Dumas, Vice President of Communications for LIPA said the meeting. "We believe we were able to address the apprehensions of the community," he said.

Giaime agreed.

"You can't [completely] placate residents," Giaime said. "However involving the community has been beneficial."

In January the Town of Huntington zoning board granted variances on the property to re-establish the utility facility, said Fran Evans, Town of Huntington spokeswoman.

Evans said LIPA has conditional approval to work on the site, but town officials are still checking to see if the state-run agency needs a town building permit to work on the project, something it does not possess.

The variances granted by the town will allow structures to be built 26 feet from Bagatelle Road and 20 feet from the rear property line, as well as a height variance to accommodate two, 47-and-a-half-foot-tall towers. The proposal encompasses a total of 1.2 acres of property, involving the clearing and grading of approximately 9000 square feet of existing on-site woodland, the installation of a retaining wall towards the northwest portion of the property, and construction of an 8-foot-tall chain link fence with barbed wire surrounding the perimeter.