{"id":1068,"date":"2011-11-25T17:25:00","date_gmt":"2011-11-25T17:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/middleislandcivic.com\/?p=1068"},"modified":"2011-11-25T17:25:00","modified_gmt":"2011-11-25T17:25:00","slug":"tob-announces-land-preservation-in-middle-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/s453969799.onlinehome.us\/mica\/?p=1068","title":{"rendered":"TOB Announces Land Preservation in Middle Island"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Supervisor Lesko and Councilwoman Kepert  Announce Open Space Purchase of 7.5 Acres in Middle Island located in  Carmans River Watershed<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<div><em>November 22, 2011<\/em><\/div>\n<p><em><strong>Acquisition is the first purchased pursuant to Long Island Solar Farm Natural Resources Benefit <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Farmingville, NY \u2013 <\/strong>At  the November 22 Board Meeting, the Brookhaven Town Board unanimously  approved a resolution authorizing the acquisition of 7.5 acres in Middle  Island to be preserved as open space. This is the first land purchase  as part of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Long Island  Power Authority (LIPA) that provides the Town with $2 million for the  purchase and preservation of open space in the 0-5 year groundwater  contributing area of the Carmans River, which lies within Long Island\u2019s  Pine Barrens region.<\/p>\n<p>The MOU, which was approved by the Town  Board on June 15, 2011, is part of the \u201cNatural Resources Benefit\u201d  associated with and designed to enhance the environmental benefits of  the development of the 32 megawatt Long Island Solar Farm at the  Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). This solar energy facility began  operating earlier this month .<\/p>\n<p>Supervisor Mark Lesko said,  \u201cWorking with LIPA, we were able to achieve a win for the environment  and the residents of Brookhaven Town. This piece of property is in the  most sensitive area of the Carmans River Watershed and will now be  forever protected from the development. Because of our partnership with  LIPA, the Town was able to protect open space without spending any  additional funds.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Councilwoman Connie Kepert said, &#8220;I have been  diligently working with our Town Department of Environmental Protection  (DEP) to identify critical parcels of property along the Carmans River  Corridor to acquire and preserve. The acquisition of the Holy Trinity  property will add to the wealth of protected and preserved lands which  lie within the contributing area of the Carmans River. These past,  present and future acquisitions will ensure that this great river  remains protected.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe acquisition of this land is consistent  with the Natural Resources Benefits package provided for the Long Island  Solar Farm and allows LIPA and its partners to fulfill its commitments,  which was to not only advance renewable energy on Long Island with the  largest solar farm in the state of New York, but to also ensure that we  protect the precious natural resources of the Pine Barrens,\u201d said  Michael Hervey, LIPA Chief Operating Officer.<\/p>\n<p>The 0-5 year  groundwater contributing area of the Carmans River was identified by the  Carmans River Study Group as the area around the River where it takes  0-5 years for groundwater, or anything that seeps into groundwater, such  as nitrogen, to reach the Carmans River.<\/p>\n<p>The property in Middle  Island is located on the east side of County Road 21 (Middle  Island-Yaphank Road), north of Longwood Road. The current owner of the  property is Holy Trinity Church, which will continue to operate on 2.5  acres adjacent to the property that will be purchased by the Town. The  cost of the property is not to exceed $567,000.<\/p>\n<p>The Town Board  will be accepting the Carmans River Watershed Protection Plan in the  coming months and will set a public hearing to solicit comments on the  plan. Earlier this year, New York State passed legislation expanding the  core of the Pine Barrens Region in the Carmans River Watershed, which  was recommended by the Carmans River Study Group. The Draft Carmans  River Watershed Protection Plan is arguably the most significant  environmental achievement in Brookhaven since the Pine Barrens Act of  1993.<\/p>\n<p><img src=\"http:\/\/www.brookhaven.org\/portals\/0\/elected_officials\/Holy%20Trinity%20map2.jpg\" alt=\"Holy Trinity map\" \/><br \/>\n<em>Aerial  map of the Holy Trinity property (blue outline) in Middle Island to be  purchased by the Town of Brookhaven as part of the Memorandum of  Understanding (MOU) with the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) that  provides the Town with $2 million for the purchase and preservation of  open space in the 0-5 year groundwater contributing area of the Carmans  River. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>For additional information, please contact:<br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Division of Public Information * Office of the Supervisor<\/strong><br \/>\nOne Independence Hill \u2022 Farmingville \u2022 NY 11738 \u2022 Phone (631) 451-6595 \u2022 Fax (631) 451-6258<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Supervisor Lesko and Councilwoman Kepert Announce Open Space Purchase of 7.5 Acres in Middle Island located in Carmans River Watershed November 22, 2011 Acquisition is the first purchased pursuant to Long Island Solar Farm Natural Resources Benefit Farmingville, NY \u2013 At the November 22 Board Meeting, the Brookhaven Town Board unanimously approved a resolution authorizing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/s453969799.onlinehome.us\/mica\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1068"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/s453969799.onlinehome.us\/mica\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/s453969799.onlinehome.us\/mica\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/s453969799.onlinehome.us\/mica\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/s453969799.onlinehome.us\/mica\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1068"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/s453969799.onlinehome.us\/mica\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1068\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/s453969799.onlinehome.us\/mica\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/s453969799.onlinehome.us\/mica\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/s453969799.onlinehome.us\/mica\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}