Brookhaven Supervisor Romaine lays out environmental goals

Brookhaven Town Supervisor Edward P. Romaine said Tuesday he will propose stricter sewage standards that would apply to new construction within 500 feet of a body of water with the goal of reducing nitrogen discharge.

In his fourth State of the Town address, Romaine outlined a number of environmental initiatives he hopes to accomplish in the year ahead.

He also announced that Brookhaven is helping the China-based WHTB Glass Company build an $18.9 million, 44,000-square-foot manufacturing and distribution facility in Shirley. It would be the company’s first U.S. operation and would add 140 new jobs.

“This is a game changer,” Romaine said of the facility.

Speaking in Town Hall before more than 260 town employees, residents and officials, Romaine said he wants to propose what he characterized as a nitrogen protection zone that would apply to new construction within 500 feet of a body of water.

In that zone, he said discharges would have to meet stricter standards to reduce nitrogen. He did not say just what those new standards would be, or how they would be implemented.

He said he also wants the town to deliver services more efficiently, offer training to staff, and improve technology. He said he would like to hire a chief information officer in the coming months.

On the issue of the environment, the supervisor said the town is working on land use plans to prevent additional commercial development in Farmingville and the Moriches.

“We are working to prevent overdevelopment and helping redesign many of our communities to avoid strip shopping centers and too much retail development,” he said.

Brookhaven plans to partner with the group Friends of Bellport to put 100,000 oysters in Bellport Bay, and wants 10,000 trees planted by 2020.

Town board members said they supported Romaine’s plans.

“It’s a big plan for a big town,” Republican Town Councilman Neil Foley said.

“It’s an ambitious plan the supervisor is putting together and a lot of work we have to do,” Republican Town Councilman Kevin LaValle said.

“The address provided a solid blueprint for the direction we need to take,” Democratic Town Councilwoman Valerie Cartright said.

Romaine re-emphasized his 2015 goal of replacing aging town-owned cars with energy-efficient vehicles, and he said officials will continue cracking down on vacant and abandoned homes.

He also said that more than a dozen private companies spent a total of $187 million on construction and purchasing of land and equipment in Brookhaven in 2015, and that those numbers should more than double this year.