Bob Matherson, owner of the Oak Beach Inn, hanging one...

Bob Matherson, owner of the Oak Beach Inn, hanging one of his banners on an overpass above the Long Island Expressway at Half Hollow Road on Aug. 4, 1993. Credit: Newsday / Ken Spencer

Ready to pull up stakes and leave Suffolk

I remember seeing the signs by the now shuttered Oak Beach Inn. They said, get out of New York before it’s too late.

After the latest money grabs by Suffolk Executive Steve Bellone and the lawmakers of the county, I find myself looking for a home down South.

I pay $9,000 a year in property taxes for my little quarter-acre slice of heaven in Manorville. But Suffolk County wants to squeeze more out of me. I recently received a bill for a permit for my security alarm system. They don’t call it a tax, but let’s face it, it’s a tax.

And, Bellone is proposing a water-use fee.

Now I understand what the sign by the Oak Beach Inn meant. I’m all for protecting our watershed and Long Island’s unique ecosystem, just not on the backs of taxpayers. Enough is enough.

Mike Panichi, Manorville

Pick up old electronics from the curb

Proper disposal of electronics is a good idea for the environment. So why does the Town of Brookhaven make it so difficult for citizens to properly dispose old electronic hardware?

Consumer electronics of any kind can be delivered to my house with but the click of a button. However, to get rid of a dead piece of electronics, I must haul it to the recycling center at the town landfill. Non-electronic waste — an old washing machine, refrigerator, furniture — will be picked up from the curb by town trucks. But an old cathode-ray TV could sit on the curb for months. Not providing a convenient method to dispose of these electronics could allow the hazardous materials in electronic devices to leach into the ground during rain and snow.

Certainly, I do not want heavy metals in devices to mix into the earth. Electronics should be recycled. But putting a burden on citizens to take electronics to the landfill makes it more likely people will not recycle.

A bulk pickup of electronics, just once a month, is probably all that is needed. The town trucks will be going that way anyway.

Barrett T. Clay, Coram

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