HomeMy WebLinkAbout12/04/2025
Town of Southold Water Advisory Committee – Meeting Minutes
December 4, 2025
Attendees: Kate, Kariane, Caroline, Anne Murray, Vinnie, John, Maggie
Agenda:
Recommendations re Zoning Update
o Met with Bob DeLuca (Group for the East End). Mentioned importance of good
data. Report: “Town of Southold Water Supply Management and Watershed
Protection Strategy”. Town passed resolutions adopting that. Report is part of
the town’s legal framework since it was adopted by resolution. And was
referened in the Com plan. So WAC can refer back to that document.
Recommendations from that report have been utilized by Planning. Nelson Pope
& Vorhees 2008 report shows work on housing issues based on
recommendations from the report. Bob said the report is relevant even though
it’s older. WAC may wish to recommend to the town that it be updated. Use that
to prepare DGEIS and as basis for Aquifer Yield Study.
o Good data benefits the town because it makes actions more defensible in court.
o (Bob mentioned Growth Inducing Impacts of pipeline are relevant to Southold,
even if didn’t pass the Monroe Test)
Ask Town if they plan to do a Monroe Test—they may be having a
meeting in January
o Next steps: Submit WAC Recommendations to Heather
o Heather gives us feedback by January TBD
o WAC go to Town Board working session in January and present our
recommendations with Heather
WAC needs to consider what board members care about, and of the list
of issues (e.g. impervious surfaces etc.) which should we emphasize the
most? Heather can provide us with that guidance.
o Recommends calling it a Water Quality Protection and Restoration District.
o Some issues to be considered for reserved section for Future Zoning Updates:
Definition of deep recharge zone. SPGAs: Special Groundwater Protection
Areas (go down spine of North Fork). Voorhees expanded them. We
could review report and identify if we’d like to add those boundaries as
an outline, and what the restrictions should be.
Recommends including recharge issues and others reserved section in
Zoning Update for details to be filled out later.
Irrigation education outreach plan/budget
o Goal: mailing to irrigation professionals regarding new law. Can we get mailing
list from Irrigation Association? Email lists? Send one-pager to pdf. One side for
irrigation specialist and one for homeowner.
o Banner across streets: need permit from AT&T and local. Liability.
Caroline: doublecheck with Joe Pokorny re hours (10-4 which is what SCWA says).
Needs to be customized to the North Fork. Maybe 10-4 is fine if you do alternate day
watering .
So maybe odd-even needs to be the big push, not the hours.
Schools: John wants to go to the schools to educate kids.
Fire Department digital signs. New irrigation law: see town web site.
Creation of web page on Town site.
At clerk’s office have one-page handout on new Irrigation Code.
Vinnie and others could go to Rotary meetings and Civics meetings.
o April panel at Civics. Town Wide Civics meeting.
Speakers: Someone from industry, SCWA, Al
Booth at festivals with posters and brochures. Love Lane Street Fair.
Library or rec center session in late spring: Answer your questions on irrigation.
Need to update hours to 4am to 7am, not 10am to 4pm as current talking points say.
Do we include as campaign that everyone on a private well should get their water
tested.
As SCWA whether they can do an educational campaign.
Reclaim Our Water, Water Guardians: got coalitions of companies driving toward a
common goal.
Channel 22 gone
NYS DEC has grants. Too late for this year but can consider for next year.
Orient Water Study—how to advance next steps
o 3.5 hour meeting. Al attended.
o Should we do for the whole town what Orient did? Need Fred Stumm to do his
work. Push more testing.
o We could ask Town Board if we should talk to Suffolk County Dept of Health
and talk about need for testing.
January: WAC goes to Town Board and does introductions and shows 2-3 issues we
care about. And ask them for their agenda. Invite them to attend Civics meeting.
Mattituck PFAS inquiry