Civic group awarded $60K grant for Pike Street parking lot improvements
The Mattituck-Laurel Civic Association has received a Suffolk County Downtown Revitalization grant of more than $60,000 for improvements to the Pike Street municipal parking lot.
More than $580,000 in grant funding was split among 12 downtown projects countywide, according to a press release from Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone.
“It’s great for the community that the Mattituck-Laurel Civic Association is able to partner with Southold Town and get these needed improvements for the greater good of Mattituck,” said John Carter, civic association president.
While the civic association is the lead agency on the parking lot project, it will partner with the town, which owns the lot, to complete it. It is the lot on the eastern end of Pike Street, near Wickham Avenue.
Denis Noncarrow, government liaison officer, said contracts are currently being drawn up and work is set to begin in the spring. New curbs will be installed, the sidewalk will be updated, the parking lot surface will be ground down and new asphalt will be laid down. Drainage work has already been completed, he said. The parking lot will expand to include 14 additional spaces.
“It’s so needed at this point,” Mr. Noncarrow said. “Especially on the summer weekends, it’s jammed here. It should make it easier for customers to park.”
Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell credited the effort of civic association members.
“We are grateful to that organization and to Legislator [Al] Krupski, who has been a big supporter of and a zealous advocate for the association and for all of the residents of Southold,” Mr. Russell said.
Mr. Carter said the civic association received another $2,500 through a state grant from Assemblyman Anthony Palumbo. That money will be used to install bike racks and benches in the Mattituck area.
Recipients of county funding were chosen by the Suffolk County Downtown Revitalization Citizens Advisory Panel, according to a press release. Those awards are reimbursement grants, meaning that the county will repay costs after the projects are completed and all paperwork and receipts have been filed.
Photo credit: Rachel Siford
