Community

Dam Pond Preserve to be named for Oliva

SUFFOLK TIMES PHOTO
The Dam Pond property in East Marion will be officially renamed in honor of Ruth Oliva in a ceremony next Wednesday, Sept. 22.

The preserve at Dam Pond in East Marion will be renamed to honor former Southold Town Councilwoman and environmentalist Ruth Oliva, who died in June 2009.

Supervisor Scott Russell and County Legislator Ed Romaine will preside at the ceremony on Wednesday, Sept. 22, at 3 p.m. at Dam Pond.

It was Mr. Romaine who introduced the resolution to rename the preserve in Ms. Oliva’s honor and who shepherded it through to unanimous approval by the Suffolk County Legislature.

Ms. Oliva was president of North Fork Environmental Council, a post she gave up in 1987 when she was elected to the Southold Town Board. She had become involved in environmental issues when she first moved to Orient from Flushing in 1970 and remained active in efforts to improve the quality of life on the North Fork throughout her life.

After being elected to the Town Board as a Democrat and serving from 1987 to 1991, Ms. Oliva won election under the United Southold Party banner in 1993 and served as deputy supervisor to then supervisor Tom Wickham.

Although she left the Town Board in 1997, she remained active in the Democratic Party and continued to monitor town issues.

Ms. Oliva was appointed to the town’s Anti-Bias Task Force in 2001, and in 2002 she was named to the Zoning Board of Appeals, a post she held until her death. She was also a member of the Southold Town Transportation Commission.