POENB Minutes for Friday, July 7, 2023

The meeting was held in person from 7:15 pm to 8:15 pm at Price’s Bend beach.  The meeting was followed by a “Friday Night Grillin” event where members used POENB charcoal grills to cook food they bought while enjoying their BYO drinks.

The Pledge of Allegiance was recited followed by a roll call of officers.

Officer Roll Call

• Frank Pasquale – President
• Ryan Schaefer-Walker – Vice President
• Anthony Fusaro – Treasurer (absent)
• Yvonne Lambertson – Assistant Vice President (Technology, Web and Communications) 
• Steve Neuf – Assistant Vice President (Engineering and Special Projects) (absent)
• Sally Neal – Recording Secretary

Attendance  

Approximately 30 members, including officers, were in attendance.  

Frank Pasquale’s motion to accept last month’s minutes in the Changing Tides as posted on the POENB website was seconded and the minutes were approved. 

President’s Report – Frank Pasquale

Frank provided updates on three public safety issues and also recognized John and Christine Ballow for the leadership they have provided on the Bevin Seawall and PSEG.

1. Bevin Seawall – As discussed previously, the Bevin Seawall is rapidly deteriorating.   As recently as two years ago, it took approximately one hour, with 50 MPH winds and high tide conditions, for seawater from LI Sound to breach the Bevin Seawall, wash over Asharoken Avenue and cascade into Northport Bay.  Now, regardless of the tide and given 30 MPH winds, the Seawall is breached in as little as 30 minutes.   

To date, politics has negatively interfered with the development of feasible engineering solutions to permanently fix the Bevin Seawall.   

John Ballow, as Eaton’s Neck representative, has partnered with Phil Quarles (Asharoken resident) to form a citizens’ committee to

1. Further educate politicians of the public safety hazards to the 2,000 residents living north of Bevin Road (inability to access fire, police, and health services), and
2. Provide a fact base to help politicians collaborate with NYS DEC and the US Army Corp of Engineers on solutions and funding.    

On June 16, 2023,  Asharoken Mayor, Greg Leticia, Asharoken Deputy Mayor Pam Pierce, NYS Assemblyman Keith Brown, NYS Senator Mario Mattera, TOH Deputy Supervisor John McCarron, and Mike Ianelli, Regional Director for US Senator Schumer, met to discuss the deteriorating Bevin Seawall.   The meeting established a public record (Meeting Agenda published by the VOA Town Clerk) about current and potential dangers to residents of the rapidly failing Seawall.  

Mayor Leticia stated that he would schedule a follow-up meeting between July 8th and July 15th.  As of July 8th, neither John Ballow nor Phil Quarles had been able to obtain the exact time and place of the meeting from the Mayor’s Office.  

John Ballow stated that Keith Brown, Mario Mattera, and Mike Ianelli have been very engaged and are actively trying to push the ball forward.  However, Mayor Leticia and the TOH have not been as responsive.  John Ballow has sent letters to TOH Supervisor and Deputy Supervisor about the dangerous road situation but has not received a reply – either verbally or in writing – for either elected official.  

As noted in previously in the Changing Tides, on May 4, 2023 John Ballow and Phil Quarles made a presentation at the Eaton’s Neck Firehouse to Senator Matteo, Assemblyman Brown and others about the history of the Seawall.  

To make the situation more “real,” Phil Quarles played a recent (< 1 year old) video recording of ENFD rescuing Phil and his wife along the Seawall.  Fortunately, the exaction was successful but the Quarles’ car was a total loss. 

Based on the information provided by John Ballow and Phil Quarles and additional research conducted by Senator Matteo’s office, John Ballow stated that Senator Matteo believes the “fix” involves a three parts:

1. Reduce the force with which the waves from LI Sound break against the Seawall by potentially installing an artificial reef (as is often done in the Caribbean);
2. Repair/bolster the existing Seawall with additional rocks and steel; and 
3. Raise the road by several inches to allow salt water from LI Sound that does breach the Seawall to flow under the Asharoken Avenue into Northport Bay.  Lloyd’s Neck uses a raised road to alleviate a similar road flooding problem.  

John and Christine Ballow will continue to provide updates on the Seawall and any new developments will be published in the Changing Tides. 

2. PSEG – Frank Pasquale provided three updates related to PSEG.  Frank also re-iterated that persuading PSEG to make improvements was, in part, driven by the hundreds of people who signed the petitions.  

1. PSEG is making excellent progress on improving the reliability of electrical power to Eaton’s Neck as well as decreasing the frequency and duration of outages.  

A smart switch near the VOA Town Hall has been installed.   This “smart switch” allows PSEG employees (from their control room) to determine the length of time it takes for the power to be cut-off.  For example, without the smart switch, if a branch fell on a power line, power would automatically and immediately be cut off in one milli-second.  However, with the smart switch, the control room can “delay” the cut off by one or two additional milli-seconds to determine if the branch “self clears” (e.g., the branch bounced off the line and then dropped to the ground).  This smart switch, will reduce the number of momentary power losses. 

Work is continuing on installing a similar smart switch at Bevin Road as well as burying power lines from Bevin Road to North Creek Road.   That work is expected to be completed by Q1 ‘24.

PSEG has also 

1. Installed animal guards
2. Trimmed trees and removed vines in areas where continued growth could potentially bring down the power lines
3. Replaced poles with newer and thicker ones, and
4. Removed old/rotted trees 

Collectively, these projects should reduce the number of outages EN experiences (currently ~20 per year) by 70%.  

2. Unrelated to the EN specific solutions identified above, PSEG is also implementing three projects that should improve the reliability of electricity in EN. 

1. Installing three miles of underground lines from the Elwood Substation (near Northport HS / LIRR railroad tracks) to Ocean Avenue.  These buried power lines will reduce electrical loss due to cars hitting a pole or severe weather damage – along that route. 
2. Conducting a “full circuit” tree trim for EN no later than Q1 2024.  A full circuit tree, vine and branch trim is more extensive that the “hot spot” work already completed. It involves cutting back any foliage that interferes with electricity delivered by BOTH the low and high voltage wires.  PSEG will trim trees and their branches up to 6’ around a lower wire and up to either 10’ (for trees on private property) or “to the sky” (for trees on public property) for high voltage wires.  When a tree is trimmed to the sky, it looks like a football goal post.  
3. Installing beefier poles, thicker conductors, and new hardware more capable of withstanding harsh weather in 2024.

3. Finally, Frank urged residents to file claims with PSEG for damages to their homes caused by the power outage on February 3-4 since PSEG appears amenable to paying claims. 

To potentially obtain compensation, impacted residents must complete a claim form – found on the PSEG website (http://www.psegliny.com/claims) or accessed via telephone (where an operator will record the information).  While the form may be returned via email, fax or US mail, email is best since the email box is monitored 24/7.  PSEG will then assign each claimant a claim number and a claim consultant.   Claimants may be asked to provide color photos of damages, a written quote for the repair, or proof of payment if repairs were made – similar to data provided to a P&C insurer.  

By law, there is a 3-year time limit to file a claim from the date of the incident.

Treasurer’s Report – Sally Neal (on Behalf of Anthony Fusaro)

Sally provided highlights from the Income Statement for the period January 1, 2023 to July 10, 2023 and three Balance Sheet line items as of July 10, 2023.  

While income from beach usage, membership, social events, and watercraft spaces were robust, net income slightly decreased from the prior period given an increase in seasonal beach expenses (e.g., split rail fence at PB, new beach security camera at PB, Partí Gras and the 4th of July parade).

Income Statement

                                     

New Business Report

Crime and Safety 

Phil Cuiffo wrote a letter to the TOH Director of Parks and Recreation (Cable T. Jamison) and Director of Public Safety (Joseph Cirigliano) on behalf of the Eaton’s Neck Watch Group on July 3, 2023.

The letter noted that Hobart Beach

1. Is the largest of the seven TOH beaches (i.e., Crab Meadow, Asharoken, Hobart, Gold Star, Crescent, West Neck, and Fleets Cove)  
2. Is the only beach that requires patrons to weave through 3-4 residential streets to access the beach (vs. being directly accessible via a main road)
3. Is the only beach that allows fishermen to utilize any portion of the beach regardless of bathing area or bathers,
4. Is the only beach where most of the fishermen live outside the TOH

Recently, there have been unauthorized activities at Hobart Beach.  These include (1) bonfires and fireworks (which required a response by the ENFD), (2) car hijinks/ “donuts” in the parking lot, (3) speeding along residential roads, (4) five men sleeping overnight in an unregistered car with a paper NJ license plate on Argyle Drive, (5) urination on POENB property, and (6) leaving loose trash (including a syringe) on the beach.  

Unlike other areas of LI, the TOH has not put up “do not park” signs on residential streets near Hobart during April to November.   That means that anyone from anywhere is legally allowed to park on any street in EN for several hours, overnight or several days.   A member stated that non-EN and non-TOH residents have parked their cars on Robert Lennox, Tudor, and Peterborough Drive in order to access Hobart Beach.  There have also been reports of attempted car break-ins in EN.  

Phil’s letter requested that the TOH enforce the existing beach rules that:

1.  Only TOH residents (with proper license and registration be issued beach passes) and be allowed to use Hobart
2. The Hobart beach booth be manned from 8 am to 8 pm
3. The beach gate be closed by 9:30 pm
4.  A security camera be activated in the parking lot to monitor nighttime activities 
5. The no night fishing mandate be enforced, and
6. A designated fishing spot be created to limit potential injuries and liabilities.  

As noted in prior issues of the Changing Tides:

• SCPD has designated Hobart Beach a “routine patrol spot” for Car 216
• Residents are asked to call 911 regarding suspicious activities.  SCPD, not EN residents, will “screen the calls” to determine their priority, the type of response needed, and the best responder (VOA, SC or TOH0
• POENB has installed two security cameras and will be installing a new security gate (ETA Q3 ’23) to block access to the PB parking lot

On Friday, July 7, 2023, the TOH installed two rubber plates on Birmingham Drive.  It is assumed that these plates will be used to collect and analyze data on traffic patterns to and from Hobart Beach including the number of vehicles, the length of the vehicle, and the speed of the vehicle.  

Another member noted that the steep hill near Locust Lane (between the Coast Guard Entrance and Winkle Point) is “blind” for drivers going up and down the hill.  The member observed that there are often a large number of adult bicyclists (both solitary riders and those riding in packs) pedaling through Asharoken and EN.

To avoid the bike riders, drivers often swerve their cars into the opposing lane.  However, some drivers have been surprised when they suddenly encounter on-coming traffic going up or down the “blind hill.”  

The member suggested the TOH consider installing a “blind hill” sign on both sides of the hill.

Beach Maintenance

Members identified the following items in need of attention:  (1) the need to use grip paint to cover the rusty landing of the blue, overhead slide ladder at PB; (2) fix the baby swing at VG, and (3) fix the broken hose at VG. 

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 8:15pm.  The next meeting is scheduled for August 4th.