On May 12, the Suffolk County Legislature voted and supported several pieces of Legislation sponsored by Deputy Presiding Officer Jay Schneiderman (I-Hampton Bays). Legislator Schneiderman was able to secure additional East End mental health funding, appointed Stephen H Long to the Citizens Advisory Board for the Arts, and directed Fire, Rescue, and Emergency Services (FRES) to develop a county-wide extreme weather plan.
Legislator Schneiderman successfully secured an additional $17,500 to the East Hampton Family Service League for mental health services. This is the second consecutive year Legislator Schneiderman secured $35,000 for a South Fork teen suicide prevention program in Suffolk County's 2015 adopted operating budget. This program has many elements, including improved psychiatric evaluations and counseling services. The additional money brings the total of $52,500 for South Fork teen suicide prevention.
The Suffolk County Legislature on May 12 voted and unanimously supported a resolution which directs the department of Fire, Rescue, and Emergency Services (FRES) to develop an extreme weather plan in the county. Under this plan, FRES will study and determine the services available to residents during extreme heat and cold weather events. They will determine how many cooling and heating centers are operated by town and village governments, community groups, churches, and other organizations, their hours of operation, and their proximity to public transportation. The was sparked by two recent deaths in the East End due to extreme weather conditions.
Legislator Schneiderman co-sponsored legislation introduced by Legislator Kara Hahn directing the Suffolk County Police Department to conduct a Domestic Violence Monitoring Pilot Program in which 30 electronic monitoring devices will be used solely to monitor domestic violence offenders. The Department of Probation will now be able to provide a recommendation to Family Court to electronically monitor respondents who are subject to a stay away order of protection for a convicted family offense upon sentencing as a condition of supervision or release.
Legislator Schneiderman secured and transferred $89,000 from Suffolk County's Water Quality Fund 477 for a pilot alternative wastewater treatment system at the Sylvester Manor Educational Farm in Shelter Island. Sylvester Manor will provide matching funds and will relocate staff to a temporary housing and restroom complex during the restoration of the 1737 Georgian Manor house on the farm's property.
Legislator Schniderman co-sponsored which sold 2 parcels of county owned real estate under the 72-H program to the Town of Southampton for open space purposes. Preserving these parcels will help protect Tiana Bay and the larger South Shore Estuary Reserve. The Town of Southampton will pay the County $73,101.75, which makes the county whole on unpaid taxes.
One of the parcels which are approximately 1.6 acres, was completely flooded during Hurricane Sandy. The second parcel, 1.2 acres, includes both tidal and freshwater wetlands mapped by NYSDEC. The sale and development of this parcel would cause major adverse impacts to the natural systems, contributing additional nitrogen pollution to ground and surface waters, making an existing water quality problem in the South Shore bays even worse and place people and property in the path of future storms.
