Ahead of Governor Kathy Hochul’s executive budget proposal for New York on Tuesday, several Long Island elected leaders participated in a business forum to discuss what they need — more state and federal funding in 2024.
Among the topics were calls for more affordable housing, access to clean drinking water and improved sewage infrastructure.
Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine said that with enough funding, the region will prosper.
“This is an island of extremely talented people," Romaine said at the annual economic forum hosted by the Hauppauge Industrial Association of Long Island (HIA-LI), which is among the country's largest industrial parks. "Give us the tools, we’ll get the job done. So that’s my message. My message is to get the tools so that everyone here can be successful and prosper and our families can live a good life.”
Romaine said Long Island is in the midst of a housing crisis, blaming rising interest rates and increased demand. Smithtown Town Supervisor Ed Wehrheim noted that one of the main obstacles currently facing the development of affordable housing is sewage capacity.
"We did an overlay zone of 13 properties in this park, 7-acres plus, and changed the zone to a mixed-use to be able to put affordable housing, work, play, and recreate right here in this park. The only obstacle was sewer capacity. And the executive and I will work diligently together to make sure that that capacity is achieved expeditiously," said Wehrheim, nodding to Romaine, who is also a Republican.
The Suffolk County Legislature, which is dominated by the GOP, failed to pass an 0.8% sales tax increase to fund sewer projects last year, because too much money was allocated for replacing aging septic tanks. Legislative leaders say they will work with state lawmakers to set up legislation that will allow them to try again — with more money designated for downtown sewer systems.
Wehrheim estimated Smithtown was working to acquire an additional $80 million on top of the $30 million already spent on the sewer project in Kings Park, with a projected completion date at the end of 2025.
Both Wehrheim and Romaine also called for the federal government to move forward with its approvals of the proposed Townline Rail Terminal project.
The proposal, which aims to add more than 5,000 feet of rail line through Kings Park, is under the review of the federal Surface Transportation Board. Developers want to use the rail spur to move construction debris and waste ash off Long Island — instead of the Brookhaven Landfill, which plans to stop accepting bricks, concrete and other debris by the end of this year and waste ash until its permit ends in at least 2026.
Wehrheim said continuing to use trucks to haul waste could cause problems in the future.
"If, in fact, we begin to truck ash and construction material off this island, a conservative estimate is 55,000 tractor-trailers a year on Long Island Expressway. Minimum. So you can see the dilemma that's going to cause," he said. "So I believe one of our priorities is to make sure that that rail to move material off Long Island and [to move] commodities on Long Island has to be done, even over the opposition by people that may surround those particular areas."
Residents and civic groups have told the federal agency that the area is already full of heavy industry and people should not be subjected to daily freight trains due to the impact on their health and the environment. The federal agency is accepting comments about the project until Feb. 5.
“You know how the rest of the garbage gets out? Truck. You know how we get most of our products? Truck," Romaine said, who previously served as Brookhaven Town Supervisor, which owns the landfill. "You wonder why the roads are so crowded? Rail moves 1% of the freight on Long Island. Everywhere else in the United States, it moves 20% of the freight.”
Romaine said the estimated costs from the Long Island Regional Planning Council require more funding than the amount the region receives to support these projects. He called for the governor and the federal government to prioritize equitable funding for Long Island.
"We have to fight for the future of this island because we know what we need. We need better public transportation. We need an electrified rail. We need clean water. We need sewers. We need better transportation," he said.
