Questions raised on ELIH seawall project
The Village Board approved construction of a seawall at Eastern Long Island Hospital — but not without a lengthy discussion and a condition attached.
At issue was the hospital’s progress on the project, which village officials said had already begun without approval. The Village Board needed to sign off on a wetlands permit for the seawall and curb around the eastern, western, and southern sides of the building, which is needed to install an electric generator on a raised platform.
But the board hasn’t received a drainage plan for the site, an important document since the construction has already removed walls that factored into the hospital’s previous plan. In the original resolution, the board gave the hospital six months after completion of the project to hand in a plan, but resident William Swiskey argued the village would have no way to enforce the ruling.
“They’ll finish that project in a month and then what will you do?” he said. Mayor George Hubbard Jr. said the village would rely on “good faith” and would urge compliance if they failed to get the plan in on time.
But during a later discussion during a vote on the resolution to approve the permit, Village Board members and the village’s attorney, Joseph Prokop, tweaked the conditions. The deadline for the runoff plan was set to Feb. 1, 2017, roughly three months after the permit was approved.
“I don’t think that should be that hard for them to come up with that in three months,” Mr. Hubbard said, adding that should the hospital not provide a plan, future applications could be held up.
Photo caption: Greenport Mayor George Hubbard Jr. and Trustee Julia Robins at Thursday night’s meeting. (Credit: Paul Squire)
