Timeline set for installing sewers along New York Avenue in Huntington Station

After years of promises to get sewers installed along New York Avenue in Huntington Station south of the Long Island Rail Road train station a timeline is now in place.

Suffolk County Legis. Stephanie Bontempi, who represents part of Huntington Station, said an engineering report for the $66.8 million Huntington Station Hub Sewer Infrastructure Project is expected to be completed in April with work on the project projected to begin in February 2024 and be completed by April 2027.

“The engineering report serves as a green light to move ahead with the project," she said. "Sewers are something that have been wanted and needed for a long time in order to revitalize Huntington Station. Sewers will improve the whole economic development of that area.”

The project will span the New York Avenue / Route 110 corridor heading south from the Huntington LIRR station to 14th Street, with additional adjacent parcels to the east and west, town officials said. The system would connect to the Bergen Point Wastewater Treatment Plant in West Babylon.

The county is the lead agency on the project. The county and the town will each use $22.4 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding to pay for part of the project, Bontempi said. The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 is a stimulus funding package for local governments tied to the pandemic.

The state included $22 million for the project in the 2022/2023 fiscal year capital budget Bontempi said.

A request for bids on the project is expected to go out this spring.

Brad Rosen, who owns two properties on Depot Road, said sewers would be a game changer for the community because they would allow more development such as housing and more varied businesses.

“I’m excited and very enthusiastic about what the future can be for the second-largest railroad hub on Long Island now that sewers are coming,” he said.

Frank Cosentino, president of the Huntington Station Business Improvement District and owner of Countyline Hardware, said the hamlet has never fully recovered from failed Urban Renewal efforts dating back to the 1960s. He said after decades of unfulfilled promises he is cautiously optimistic that the sewers are coming this time especially since there is money in place.

“If it happens, sewers could be the thing that makes someone step forward to say ‘I can put up a nice building with some retail with some apartments above, maybe some affordable housing,’” he said. “It’s an opportunity to attract more growth than we’ve been able to do in the past.” 

Ryan Porter, president and co-chief executive of Renaissance Downtowns USA, the master developer for Huntington Station, said the lack of sewers in the area south of the train tracks has delayed development. 

“Any material development requires a wastewater system, some type of sewer access,” Porter said. “The current septic systems are old and have limited capacity making it not financially feasible to redevelop a property without increases to the density or aggregating properties, making it difficult to underwrite a deal because of the septic limitations.”

Town Supervisor Ed Smyth said the sewer project will be a win for all of Huntington.

 “The expectation is that with the public financing of the sewer project, there is going to be private investment that is badly needed and long overdue in Huntington Station which is the gateway to Huntington,” Smyth said.