Islip supervisor hails town’s finances and achievements

From future infrastructure plans to the Heartland Town Square project, Islip Town Supervisor Angie Carpenter used her State of the Town address Tuesday morning to call on local residents and business owners to help mold the destiny of the town.

“I invite all of the Islip community to become active participants in planning and shaping the future of our town as we work together to build a better, more efficient and effective government for all the people living and working in the Town of Islip,” Carpenter said in her nearly 45-minute speech.

Carpenter’s remarks included statistics compiled by department commissioners and mentioned an array of accomplishments and future plans, like the Bay Shore parking meter program, which she said “has worked” and will be expanding into other hamlets.

In addition to the Town’s AAA rating by Moody’s Investor Service, which had been upgraded in March 2016 and reaffirmed in September, and which Carpenter lauded as “the highest achievable by a municipality,” the town has taken advantage of a “very favorable” market that has allowed for “much needed repair” to parks and marinas.

At town-owned Roberto Clemente Park in Brentwood, Carpenter said work will begin within the next 30 to 45 days to backfill areas of the park where 40,000 tons of contaminated construction debris found to be illegally dumped there had been removed by the town in summer 2015.

The park has been closed since April 2014 and town officials have said they hope to have the soccer and baseball fields open by this summer. Carpenter said she is “very encouraged” at the progress at the park.

An informational session for the Heartland Town Square project will be held at the end of March, with a public hearing set for April 27 and a possible decision by the town board — which would decide on whether to allow a change of zone on the property — could come as early as May.

On a lighter note, Carpenter said requests to get married at Town Hall on Valentine’s Day this year were so voluminous that the town clerk’s office is working on extending the hours available for next year.

Carpenter thanked town board members, commissioners and employees for their work.

“And yes, together, we will build a better Islip,” she said.