Initiatives
CLEAN WATER NOW!
Kelly McClinchy has been awarded the Riverhead News-Review’s "Community Leader of the Year for 2021" for her efforts over the years in advocating for clean public water to be provided for her Manorville community and also, affected areas of Calverton.
Last year, Kelly and members of her community staged a simple but effective action: They stood in an open field holding CLEAN WATER NOW signs. This action called attention to the community's efforts to have access to clean public water, and also served as a wake-up call to all residents of the East End of Long Island, that we must all work together to ensure the quality of our drinking water, now and for future generations.
Read more here:
The Riverhead Town Board have heard Kelly and other residents of Manorville and Calverton speaking out regarding their urgent need for clean public water to be provided to their communities.
Also, Kelly participates in zoom meetings updating her community's current efforts to obtain clean public water with the RNPC Board composed of the Presidents of Civic Boards of the RNPC, Greater Calverton Civic Association, Greater Jamesport Civic Association, Northville Beach Civic Association, and Reeves Park Civic Association.
In addition, as a member of the Navy’s Community Restoration Advisory Board, Kelly and other Board members review and discuss the Navy's progress in the ongoing removal of chemical contaminants in the groundwater in over 200 acres at EPCAL.
Last summer, Kelly was contacted by a photojournalism student, Isabel Paige Van Wie from Columbia University. The student was assigned a final project and wanted to focus on the Grumman/Calverton/Manorville water issue. She asked Kelly if she could contact other residents to meet with her to be interviewed. The final project resulted in a five minute informative video that clearly outlines the residents’ problems with the ongoing water issues of the area.
View the video here:
What the residents of the Manorville community and of the affected areas of Calverton urgently need is for Suffolk County, or the Town of Riverhead to provide these families the access to clean public water now.
If either Riverhead Town or Suffolk County are not able on their own to accomplish this effort to provide access to clean public water to the Calverton/Manorville residents, both entities should consider joining together to apply for a grant from New York State to undertake this important project using the Amendment approved by NYS voters and detailed in the paragraph below.
In the November 2021 election, the Ballot Proposal 2: AN AMENDMENT: Right to Clean Air, Clean Water, and a Healthful Environment was approved by 70% of NYS voters. This Amendment is now in Article I of the New York State’s Constitution's Bill of Rights and provides residents their rights to clean water, clean air, and a healthful environment.
Residential Solar/Community Solar
There are many types of solar installations, from private rooftop, in-ground installation to community solar, to electric company scale and there are some legal requirements for each.
But solar power is in a state of flux that requires some thoughtful planning. A first draft of a "solar plan for Riverhead" will be prepared that will provide background on the types of solar projects that can be installed, the related land use and other regulations, and the recommended solutions for our Town.
A source for residents seeking answers for Solar Panel Installation Issues, is available now as a 5 page PDF report on Residential Solar, see PDF viewer below this article.
The report covers common solar issues for residents:
- Educates residents on solar energy (overview), Net Energy Metering, Community Solar and Residential Solar
- Explains Community Choice Aggregation
- Identifies Benefits of solar energy production
- Frames issue of lease/purchase option
- Solar Loan/ Purchase
- Solar Lease/PPA/Mortgage loan issue
- Savings/Return On Investment (ROI)
- Provides easy step by step guide to Building Dept requirements
The NYS website (www.nyserda.ny.gov) provides information on many types of Solar programs and also provides a list of certified solar panel contractors and installers.
Copy and paste the link below for more information:
https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/All-Programs/Programs/NY-Sun/Communities-and-Local-Governments/Solarize
Solarize Your Community
New York State is supporting the development of solar power with local governments and communities, with a program called Solarize Your Community. In some cases, NYS will provide funding for Solarize campaigns for outreach to the communities.
From the NYS website:
Solarize campaigns help homes and business in the same area go solar together through locally organized community outreach. Working side by side, Solarize members can negotiate rates collectively, select an installer competitively, and decrease up-front costs associated with going solar. Solarize campaigns have helped hundreds of households and businesses access clean, locally produced power throughout the State.
There are two types of Solarize campaigns:
Rooftop Solar installations
Rooftop Solarize campaigns focus on getting a group of homes and businesses in an area to install solar panels directly on their properties. Rooftop solar installations offer a way to harness the power of the sun through panels installed on the roof of the home or business.
Community Solar
Community Solar Solarize campaigns focus on getting a group of homes and businesses in an area to start or join community solar projects. Community solar projects are an array of solar panels installed in a sunny, offsite location. Community solar allows residents and businesses to benefit from solar if they can’t install panels on their respective properties.
Participants in community solar projects get credits toward their electricity bill by subscribing to a local clean energy project. Community solar installations must be built within the same electricity service areas, as determined by utilities and transmission operators.
The nyserda.ny.gov website provides a map of NYS where community solar installations are being developed in conjunction with local utilities.
Unfortunately there are no community solar projects listed in our area. In addition, our local provider PSE&G is not involved in any community solar projects at this time.
Read More...
Available now is a 5-page PDF downloable report on Residential Solar/Community Solar that explains the different types of Solar Installations, ROI, Solar loans, lease/purchase options. The report also covers other common solar issues for residents.
See the PDF viewer below, download for printing or read online.
The Condzella Family Farm Preservation
From the Peconic Land Trust website:
You can help preserve this 100 year old family farm in Wading River!
Learn about the history of the Condzella family farm as well as the challenges and very real threats they face today. You can be part of a community effort to permanently conserve 38 acres of prime farmland covering 6 different parcels, including the Condzella’s farm!
To read more about this community effort to preserve farmlands from development, copy and paste the link below in your browser:
https://peconiclandtrust.org/our-work/projects/wading-river
With protection of this land, our community will forever benefit from:
- Fresh, locally grown food
- Scenic views and drinking water protection
- Continuation of the area’s bucolic farming heritage
To save this farmland, your help is needed to raise $700,000 by March 31, 2022! Your gift will be TRIPLE-MATCHED by grants awarded to the Peconic Land Trust by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets.
For 100 years, the Condzella family has farmed this land on North Country Road in Wading River. Together we can ensure that this working farm is permanently protected from development. Conservation is absolutely within our reach if we can move quickly, creatively, and generously - together!
Public Participation
We have noted that it is very difficult for many citizens to participate in town decision-making:
- Board meetings have been closed to many residents
- Some residents have not been allowed to speak or cut off before finishing their statement
- Residents' letters citing major concerns in their area have not been acknowledged or received any response
- Advocating for remote participation by residents that are unable to attend Town Board meetings.
Examples will be given where our own participation, or that of others, has been prevented by the Town Board. Links to all those examples will be provided as well as suggestions on how our participation can be enhanced. By highlighting this situation on this blog, we hope to bring awareness of this issue to the Town Board.
....................................................................................................................
New York State's "Open Meetings Law" requires that the public business be performed in an open and public manner and that the citizens of this state be fully aware of and able to observe the performance of public officials and attend and listen to the deliberations and decisions that go into the making of public policy.
The Open Meetings Law covers cities, counties, towns, villages and school districts. Committees and subcommittees of these entities are also included within the definition.
https://www.dos.ny.gov/coog/openmeetlaw.html
NYS Open Meetings Law
§100. Legislative declaration.
It is essential to the maintenance of a democratic society that the public business be performed in an open and public manner and that the citizens of this state be fully aware of and able to observe the performance of public officials and attend and listen to the deliberations and decisions that go into the making of public policy. The people must be able to remain informed if they are to retain control over those who are their public servants. It is the only climate under which the commonweal will prosper and enable the governmental process to operate for the benefit of those who
created it.
§101. Short title. This article shall be known and may be cited as "Open Meetings Law".
Read more about the NYS Open Meetings Law:
https://www.dos.ny.gov/coog/openmeetlaw.html
......................................................................................................................
Who is covered by the Open Meetings Law?
The Open Meetings Law applies to "public bodies." That term is defined to include entities consisting of two or more people that conduct public business and perform a governmental function for New York State, for an agency of the state, or for public corporations, such as cities, counties, towns, villages and school districts. Committees and subcommittees of these entities are also included within the definition.
Read the facts on NYS Open Meetings Law:
https://www.dos.ny.gov/coog/openmeetinglawfaq.html
........................................................................................................................
From NPR (local station WBFO)
https://news.wbfo.org/post/coalition-says-ny-villages-need-learn-meaning-open-meetings
Coalition says NY villages need to learn the meaning of 'open meetings'
By Mike Desmond • Mar 5, 2021
New York State has an Open Meetings Law. A new report from the state Coalition for Open Government suggests that doesn’t matter much, since there is no enforcement and if you don’t know what’s coming up at the meeting or don’t know what happened afterwards, how valuable is it?
The study says almost all of a sampling of villages statewide don’t pay much attention to the Open Meetings Law and this means the public doesn’t know what’s going on.
"The real problem here, as we mentioned in our report, is the lack of information being provided to the public," said Coalition President Paul Wolf. "So if you’re not posting meeting minutes, I, as a concerned citizen, if I missed the meeting, I don’t know what happened."
Learn More
Since its inception, the RNPC
has been a strong voice against over-development in the
hamlets and against business uses and expansions that negatively impact residential neighborhoods.
The RNPC has evolved over the years into a strident advocate for increasing government transparency and public participation as well as for improvements in municipal processes, zoning and codes.
Our Work
Since its inception, the RNPC has been a strong voice against over-development in the hamlets and against business uses and expansions that negatively impact residential neighborhoods.
The RNPC has also evolved into a strident advocate for increasing government transparency and public participation as well as for improvements in municipal processes, zoning and codes.
We live, work and play in the only rural region left on the Island and we believe it is in all of our best interests that it remain that way