Town begins local waterfront revitalization

On Thursday, June 9, the Town of Brookhaven held an open house at the Henrietta Acampora Recreation Center in Blue Point for the new Local Waterfront Revitalization Program funded by the New York State Department of State. The program is in the early stages of production and the town hopes for community participation in determining issues surrounding the waterfront.

“This project will make the South Shore of the Town of Brookhaven a better place to live, work and play,” said Alan Duckworth, environmental analyst for the Town of Rockland and the project manager. “But it’s only going to achieve that through community engagement. We need ideas, we need to know the problems, we need to know the challenges and we need to know the solutions.”

At the open house, there were boards set up throughout the room showing information on the LWRP and giving people the opportunity to share problems they believe need be addressed during the year-long course of the project.

Post-its and markers were provided for people to contribute and some problems were added to the boards, included making sure everyone has access to public areas, safer bike connections, campground revitalization, and more fishing access.

“The main priorities of the LWRP are anticipated to include improving and promoting public access and connections to the waterfront, promoting coastal resiliency and mitigating future impacts from flooding and rising sea levels, enhancing water quality and addressing related water-quality issues, and reducing conflict between recreational and commercial users of the waterfront,” according to the Town of Brookhaven website.

Jason Borowski, president of the Blue Point Civic Association, was in attendance at the open house to learn more about the LWRP and relay the message to other community members. Borowski goes clamming frequently and has noticed issues with water quality and decreasing numbers of the shellfish population.

“This [project] is something that everybody who lives along the South Shore would get involved in,” Borowski said. “It’s an asset for all of us, and there’s great potential that comes with being by the water. So, we should all try to take advantage of it.”

Involved in the project are the Southshore Waterfront Advisory Committee, NYS DOS, Town of Brookhaven Department of Planning, Environment and Land Management, along with a consultant team composed of M.J. Engineering and Land Surveying, P.C., Bay Environmental, Andropogon and Captain Consulting.

To get involved, take this water survey: https://www.research.net/r/N99999R.