On royal day, focusing on sewers in Hauppauge

With the televised images of the royal wedding still dancing before their eyes, it was difficult for many at Friday's Hauppauge Industrial Association meeting to focus on, of all things, well, sewers.

Speaker after speaker took note of the time that they, or their spouses, rose to watch the ceremony live from London, broadcast in early hours for New York area viewers.

But sewers it was, because upgraded sewer systems and improved roads are vital to the future of the Hauppauge Industrial Park, one of the largest such facilities in the country, according to Hauppauge developer Jack Kulka, who worked on the initial construction of the park in the 1960s.

Plans are to build new sewage treatment plants, widen major and minor roads in and out of the park and upgrade traffic signals. Kulka said the improvements will cost at least $300 million over the next decade.

The improvements are on schedule, a panel of experts said. In early April the Posillico Group started initial work on construction of a treatment plant.

The upgrade -- the largest in the park's history -- is mandatory for the facility to continue to attract new tenants, Kulka said. "We're competing against [industrial] parks in the South and the West," Kulka said.