Hub-airport sewer plan gaining momentum

Plans for a new sewer treatment plant -- seen as crucial for a large-scale development linking Long Island MacArthur Airport to a proposed hub at the Ronkonkoma train station -- are gaining momentum, officials say.

Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy has written a letter of support of the application for as much as $35 million in state funding for the project.

In the letter, Levy said the plant would be located on a 9-acre parcel of county-owned land in Islip, adjacent to the LIRR Ronkonkoma parking lot.

And it would support the proposed mixed-use hub project, which would not happen without a regional sewage treatment plant that would serve the north side of the train tracks, spur business growth around MacArthur and could attract a new major air carrier. The hub proposal is for housing, retail and office space next to the LIRR station.

In an interview Monday, Levy said the project was in line with other transit-oriented, county-supported developments in Patchogue, Bay Shore and Wyandanch.

"The county is making this [the airport-hub] project one of its priorities in the presentation we make to the state, and I think we'll carry a lot of clout" when state officials make funding decisions in the coming weeks, Levy said.

The hub-airport project also has an application for funding before the county's sewer infrastructure committee, which is set to approve millions of dollars for new projects. "This project is competing for approval, and it is very high on the list of priorities," he said.

County Legis. Wayne Horsley (D-Babylon), who sits on the committee, said while the decision is not his alone, he sees the project as "vital" for Long Island and is optimistic. "It would be great if the state could see early on that the county is prepared to put up, say $10 million, to show we have real skin in the game. We need to contribute so the state and federal government sees we're serious."

As part of its application for state money, Brookhaven Town Supervisor Mark Lesko and his Islip counterpart Phil Nolan noted the overall project would create almost 4,000 "direct jobs" and 1,950 "full-time-equivalent construction jobs."

Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Reps. Steve Israel (D-Dix Hills) and Tim Bishop (D-Southampton), are seeking federal grants for infrastructure improvements. Bishop, Israel, Suffolk legislature Presiding Officer William Lindsay (D-Holbrook), Legis. Tom Muratore (R-Ronkonkoma) and John Kennedy (R-Nesconset) also support the bid for state funds.

With Sophia Chang