Brookhaven awarded $500,000 for land purchase along Swan River

Brookhaven Town will receive $500,000 in state funding to purchase more than 8 acres of vacant land along the tidal portion of the Swan River, which drains into Patchogue Bay, according to state and town officials.

The 8.6-acre parcel is south of the Swan Lake preserve and includes vacant marshland and woodlands, of which approximately 2.5 acres are tidal wetlands, said Luke Ormand, Brookhaven's principal environmental analyst of the town's land management division, in an email on Monday. The funding was announced by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

Over the weekend, the property's owner accepted Brookhaven's offer to acquire the land, Ormand said. Ormand declined to provide the price or name the property owner, noting it's not yet in contract and still must be presented to the town board for approval.

But he said the owner, a local developer, "has agreed to sell their property for preservation purposes, with the awarded grant covering a substantial portion of the acquisition cost”

The property is adjacent to dozens of acres of existing preserved open space owned by the town and Suffolk County, he said. 

“This land will forever be preserved as open space for the enjoyment of wildlife and protection and improvement of water quality in the Swan River and Patchogue Bay,” Ormand said Friday. 

The grant was awarded under the state's Climate Smart Communities Grant program, which provides 50% to 80% matching funds for projects that aim to mitigate the effects of climate change, improve water infrastructure and preserve open space. The program is funded under the state's $4.2 billion Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act.

On Friday, the DEC announced 43 grant awardees across New York, totaling $22.7 million for this funding round.

Other Long Island awardees include the Town of East Hampton, which will receive $200,000 to develop an inventory of natural resources. Garden City was awarded $40,000 for a project related to managing greenhouse gas emissions from its fleet of village-owned vehicles. 

The East Hampton inventory will centralize existing data and identify information gaps about coastal areas and different habitats, according to the presentation.

Officials will develop a townwide inventory that policymakers will be able to use to address environmental threats such as climate change, invasive species, wetland migration and shoreline change, according to a town presentation made last year. The town will provide in-kind matching through staff work on the project, according to the town's presentation.