Islip launches bike giveaway program

Islip Town Councilman John Edwards looked at the pint-size bicycles gathering dust in his garage and hatched an idea: a bike adoption program at the town's recycling center.

The town board last night unanimously approved his idea in a meeting in West Islip, and accepted a $400 donation from a local electronic waste collection company to buy 50 helmets, in children's and youth sizes, to be distributed with the wheels.

In other business last night, the board, convening as directors of the Islip Resource Recovery Agency, approved a $608,000 contract for a 50 kilowatt solar panel installation at the Blydenburgh Road Landfill in Hauppauge. Federal stimulus funding will cover half the project's cost.

The board also approved a draft environmental impact statement for a 36-acre, $20-million sports complex proposed for a town-owned parcel in Central Islip.

Councilwoman Trish Bergin Weichbrodt was not present.

Under the new bicycle adoption program, town residents can now drop off used bikes - or stop by to pick one up for free - at the town's recycling center on Lincoln Avenue in Holbrook. The town will give donated bicycles "a once over" to make sure they are in working order, he said.

"If it's obvious junk, well, you're in the right place for that, too," said Edwards, who heads the town's energy committee.

Recipients will sign a waiver releasing the town of liability in case they are injured.

Edwards conceived of the program after his two daughters - ages 12 and 16 - had grown into bigger bicycles, and he discovered his nephews, usually the recipients of family hand-me-downs, already had bikes.

He said he hopes the new program will help families in need of bicycles, and get more cyclists on the road.

The recycling center is open Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Residents are eligible to receive one per person. A few town workers, in anticipation of the program's launch, have already delivered unwanted bikes, Edwards said.

Donated bicycles will be kept at the recycling center under a shelter, he said. The on-duty manager of the recycling center will help residents looking for a bike, Edwards said.

"We want to keep it as simple as possible," he said.

The helmet donation was made by E-Green Management LLC, a contractor that collects electronic waste for the town.

For more information, residents can call the town's Department of Environmental Control at 631-224-5640.