Board to discuss Carmans River watershed

A modified version of Brookhaven Supervisor Mark Lesko's controversial plan to protect the Carmans River watershed will be considered at Tuesday's board meeting, according to council members at a work session last week.

The modified plan eliminates the most-debated element of the original version -- specific "receiving areas," i.e., sites designated for denser housing by transferring development credits away from vulnerable areas of the Carmans River.

"The key amendment" to the plan, Lesko said at Thursday's work session, "is taking out all of those sites" for later discussion, so the board can first consider the other elements of the watershed protection plan.

Lesko and a study group crafted the original plan to protect the ecologically delicate Carmans River, stretching from Middle Island to Bellport, by recommending the town transfer development rights away from sensitive areas of the watershed. He withdrew the plan in March after facing opposition from residents and council members who feared his plan would create overdevelopment. Some community groups also complained about being left out of the process.

Lesko said the modified plan is "creating a process for the community to have input."

The board Tuesday will consider a resolution, to be introduced by Councilwoman Jane Bonner, to accept the modified plan for a public hearing at the Sept. 13 board meeting.

Pine Barrens Society executive director Richard Amper, who supported Lesko's original plan for the Carmans River, said some proposed housing developments in the watershed made it necessary to act quickly.

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"Everybody recognizes that we have to do the preservation now," he said before the work session Thursday.

But a chief opponent of Lesko's original plan, MaryAnn Johnston of the Affiliated Brookhaven Civic Organization, said the board was being "very stubborn" in bringing back a version of the original plan.

"This plan is just an amendment to the same thing," she said after the work session. She pledged to "rally the troops" to speak against the plan at Tuesday's meeting.

Also, Lesko has withdrawn his proposals to combine the Highway Department and other departments into a new Department of Public Works.

"For reasons that should be obvious to everyone, the timing is not right," Lesko said.

On Aug. 15, he announced his resignation to become executive director of the Accelerate Long Island initiative to create a high-tech hub in the region.

Lesko has said he will leave in mid-September after delivering a 2013 budget to the board, which will have to grapple with curtailing spending and possibly eliminating some jobs. Deputy Supervisor Kathy Walsh is expected to act as supervisor until a special election, which Lesko hopes will fall on the general Election Day.