The Blue Point Civic Association held its first meeting for 2021 (with the last meeting in February 2020) on Thursday, Feb. 11 via Zoom with guest speaker, councilman Neil Foley (R-District 5).
The robust civic group has had to come up with inventive ways to remain on the community radar during the pandemic, as many events and meetups were not possible with social-distancing rules.
Indicative of a bygone era, one of the last meetings they held before the pandemic took place in a tiny room at the Bayport-Blue Library, where over 30 attendees were crammed in a 10-by-10 space.
President Jason Borowski stressed online routes to communication with the group, such as the civic’s popular Facebook page, and that the group has made an effort to attend virtual meetings with the local library and Suffolk County Police Department’s 5th Precinct.
Borowski led the Zoom attendees in the group’s standard call to order, the Pledge of Allegiance, with members standing in various rooms in their own homes.
Among the items discussed were:
McGill Pond
-After continued discussion with the town, it was determined that Suffolk County’s Vector Control is responsible for maintenance of the pond discharge.
-The civic association contacted Legis. Rob Calarco’s office in December to inquire about maintenance of the discharge (which was creating a mosquito habitat).
-The area is scheduled for winter work with Vector Control, inclusive of brushing back overgrown vegetation and confirming the outfall is functioning.
Main Street grant
The civic association will once again be submitting an application this year for a grant for Main Street areas in Suffolk County based on a three-stage plan. Vice president Alex Wellems took the lead for creating this plan which includes: 1) Lights to line Montauk Highway from the abandoned gas station near Purgatory Creek to its Junction with Nichols Road; 2) Creation of a pathway on north side of Montauk Highway to connect downtown sections from the Greek Orthodox church to Atlantic; and 3) Once areas are connected, the abandoned gas station, set to be purchased by town/county, will be converted into park space for the community.
The civic association is working with the BBP Chamber of Commerce, which is providing additional support for the application.
Five-Mile Look restoration
-Civic association is working on a project in conjunction with BBP Heritage Association.
-After meeting with BP Nature Conservancy, the project was scaled back to restoration of concrete fence on Blue Point Avenue.
-Based on this scope, the civic association will be submitting an application to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for a permit for the project by the second quarter of 2021.
Library construction update
-The project is proceeding on time and budget.
-Virtually all rough-in work for electrical, HVAC, plumbing and more has been completed.
-Insulation and drywall are 50 percent complete.
-The library is in the process of completing the purchase ofthe bonds for the project. The bonds are being purchased at an interest rate of 1.26 percent. The original referendum calculation was based on a bond rate of 3.5 percent.
Blue Point Creek Defender Day
-Scheduled for April 18, 9 a.m.-noon. Location is TBD.
-Community service hours available for students (such as for National Honor Society)
Foley, who was delayed with a town board meeting, spoke about the old gas station on Montauk and Atlantic and said that “we’re pretty close to a deal” in terms of the finances for the town to take over the property, which has been plagued with unfulfilled sales to private real estate and commercial development plans.
A house on Grandview, which has been in dismal disrepair after sustaining considerable damage during Superstorm Sandy and was scheduled to be demolished until the homeowner sued the town, is now back on schedule to be demolished.
Foley said he was “sympathetic to homeowners in the area as this affects their property value,” but pressed, “we don’t want to knock down houses” and emphasized the advanced state of decay of this property for demolition to be imminent.
Foley also lamented that the Blue Point Dock project will take over a year to commence, as it is likely to cost between $600,000 to $700,000.
The next Zoom meeting for the civic association is scheduled for March 11 at 7p.m.
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