Town to vote on $3.5 million plan to repair highway department facility
Southold Town board members are set to vote a measure tonight authorizing $3.5 million in funding for construction improvements to the town’s highway facility.
The aging highway department building on Peconic Lane is badly in need of repairs, according to Highway Superintendent Peter Harris. Mr. Harris has been working with the town for the past year to budget for the work, which is beyond what the highway staff is capable of doing in-house, he said.
The proposed upgrades include the construction of a metal building containing a welding bay, service bays and administrative space, according to the resolution. The plan also calls for the demolition of the department’s existing fuel storage tanks and the construction of a consolidated fueling station, the document states.
The site would also house a pole barn and an outdoor truck washing area.
Also tonight, the public will have another chance to weigh in on a proposed revision to a parking restriction on Mill Lane in Peconic.
The latest reversion of the draft law would continue to ban parking on Mill Lane from the intersection of Soundview Avenue to the north end of the road and remove no parking signs from Soundview to RT 48, according to the draft law.
Addressing parking concerns on that road has been an uphill battle for residents and town officials. The board believes the revision will solve the problem created two years ago when the town adopted a policy limiting all parking between Mill Lane and Route 48. The hope was to prevent overflow parking generated by Goldsmith Inlet beachgoers, who residents said littered the roads with trash.
However, that policy created another issue of signage posted every 50 feet long Mill Lane, which residents said made it difficult for guests and service providers to park outside their homes.
At the last public hearing on the issue in June, Mill Road residents indicated to board members that the parking restriction wasn’t warranted on the entire length of the road.
The hearing will be held during the town board regular meeting tonight at 4:30 p.m. in the Town Hall Annex.
