Brookhaven to vote on power plant review

BROOKHAVEN TOWN

Board to vote on power plant review

The Brookhaven Town Board plans to vote Tuesday on an environmental review of the planned Caithness II power plant in Yaphank.

The $1.09 billion, 752-megawatt plant would be located next to an existing 350-megawatt Caithness plant that generates electricity for the Long Island Power Authority.

The town board expects to vote tonight on accepting a final version of a review studying the proposed plant¹s potential environmental impact.

Acceptance of the document is required before the town can issue a special permit for the plant to operate.

The meeting is at 5 p.m. at Brookhaven Town Hall, 1 Independence Hill, Farmingville.

LIPA officials have said the new plant is needed to fill a projected need for as much as 1,200 megawatts of additional power by 2023 and to fill in for power gaps when older plants are taken offline for overhauls.

Opponents have expressed concern that the new plant could cause older plants such as one in Port Jefferson to be permanently shuttered. Critics also have said a new plant is not needed because of flat or declining power use by Long Island residents in recent years, as well as LIPA's excess capacity at existing plants. --  CARL MACGOWAN

ISLIP TOWN

Art from the autistic shown at MacArthur

A new exhibit of art created by people with autism debuted at Long Island MacArthur Airport's atrium Monday.

The artwork was created under the auspices of Family Residences and Essential Enterprises, an Old Bethpage-based nonprofit known as FREE that provides vocational training, creative opportunities and jobs for people with intellectual disabilities, mental illness and traumatic brain injury.

"We are so pleased to have individuals who participate in our art therapy programs featured in MacArthur airport, one of the largest travel hubs in the Long Island and New York region," Robert S. Budd, chief executive for the group, said in a news release. "Everyone who visits the airport, whether they are departing or arriving, will have the opportunity to experience an exhibit unlike any they've seen before."

For more information about the agency, call 516-870-7000 or visit familyres.org. -- SOPHIA CHANG

SETAUKET

Vote set for June 17 on firehouse fixes

A referendum on a $14.9 million plan to renovate and expand an aging East Setauket firehouse will be held on June 17. The Setauket Fire District board of commissioners set the date at its meeting Thursday.

Voting will take place from noon to 9 p.m. at the firehouse, 190 Main St., East Setauket. All registered voters in the fire district are eligible to vote.

If approved, the 12,030-square-foot firehouse would be expanded to nearly 23,000 square feet.

Taxes on the average home would go up by 2.45 percent, or $93.83, to pay off a 25-year bond, district officials have said.

The project is needed because the firehouse, which dates to 1935 and was expanded twice before, is not large enough for modern firetrucks and equipment, district officials said. The original firehouse is expected to remain, but portions that were added in the 1950s and 1970s will be torn down.

Voters rejected two previous expansion plans in 2005 and 2008.

The 28-square-mile fire district serves about a dozen communities, including part of Stony Brook University. -- CARL MACGOWAN

HEMPSTEAD TOWN

Students requesting stop signs for safety

Hempstead Town officials Tuesday are to welcome a group of 24 Sewanhaka High School students who will propose legislation to enhance safety in Elmont.

The Sewanhaka SAIL (Students Active in Law) class meets on a regular basis on issues affecting the community before and after the start of school, and safety concerns at three intersections in Elmont recently caught their attention.

"This group of young adults is proving how citizens can directly influence change in their communities," Town Supervisor Kate Murray said in a news release. "Through their grassroots efforts, these young men and women are taking action."

Councilman Ed Ambrosino (R-North Valley Stream), who has worked with the students, said they will propose the installation of stop signs at both the northbound and southbound lanes of the three Elmont intersections: Madison Street at Landau Avenue, Marshall Street at Raff Avenue and Webster Street at Crest Avenue -- SID CASSESE