Southold police get $1M federal grant for vehicles, radios
Southold Town Police will receive over $1 million in federal money for new vehicles and radio equipment as part of a broader package for 10 Suffolk County communities that was secured by Congressman Nick LaLota announced.
The funding includes $871,701 for 10 new Ford SUV police vehicles and $132,857 for 20 multi-band portable radios, according to the Jan. 23 announcement.
The new vehicles will patrol over 55 square miles of Southold Town, including Fishers Island.
The Radio Upgrades Project will bring in the 20 multi-band portable radios, enabling officers to communicate seamlessly with all law enforcement departments across Suffolk County and with officers deployed to Fishers Island. The dual-band capability of the radios ensures officers can communicate on both the current VHF radio channel and the county-wide system, dramatically improving coordination during emergencies and routine patrols across the town’s geographically challenging service area.
“That allows us to communicate with surrounding law enforcement agencies, the county, Riverhead,” Chief Steven Grattan said. “We’re looking to purchase dual bands for everybody, and this funding will certainly help with that acquisition.”
Mr. Grattan said that, currently, about 30 officers use dual-band radios. An additional 25 are only using radios without dual-band capability
“These federal investments will equip our police departments with modern vehicles and communications equipment,” Mr. LaLota said in a release, calling them “targeted, taxpayer-funded solutions to real problems facing Long Island residents.”
Mr. LaLota’s announcement included $11 million for 10 Suffolk County community projects, including $2.25 million for water main installation to homes in Calverton and Riverhead affected by PFAS contamination from the former Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant at Calverton — now known as EPCAL.
Over the past decade, the Navy has designated several new areas of concern and investigation sites where PFAS levels detected in groundwater were 100 times the Environmental Protection Agency’s regional screening level of 4 parts per trillion. The contamination plume stretches southeast across the runway toward the Peconic River.
This particular funding is for the $5.6 million project known as Extension 95, which is located in the southwest portion of Riverhead Town along various roadways in Calverton, north of the Peconic River, east of Connecticut Avenue and west of Edwards Avenue. The area includes about 28 single-family homes along River Road, Railroad Avenue, Private Road and Canoe Lake Drive.
Frank Mancini, superintendent of the Riverhead Water District, said the federal funds help cover the rest of the money needed for the project on River Road. Mr. Mancini also emphasized the Navy did not contribute money to any water district project and credited Riverhead Town for its full support.
Next step would be the engineering and town procedural processes, but Mr. Mancini said he expects the project could be underway in the next six to eight months.
“River Road [was] kind of left off to the side … but we grinded away internally, so this one I’m most proud of,” Mr. Mancini said in a phone interview. “[Councilman] Bob Kern and myself at every [Restoration Advisory Board] meeting bring this up, that this needs to be resolved — there’s a massive PFAs plume heading off this southeastern portion of the site, in the direction of these homes.”
The House Appropriations Committee also announced that the Peconic Estuary and Long Island Sound will benefit from some of the $2.5 million in competitive grants dedicated to supporting coastal communities and environmental infrastructure.
