Nassau and Suffolk Health Departments Conducted School Food Safety Inspections At 6% Of Eligible Schools

Long Island Morning Edition

Long Island’s two county health departments conducted required twice-a-year food safety inspections at only 6% of eligible schools in 2022-23 school year, a Newsday analysis of state records found. Schools that receive federal money as part of the National School Lunch program must obtain two inspections per year, and the state relies on local health departments for food-safety inspections. Among the violations found in cafeterias across Long Island were inadequate hand-washing facilities, rodent droppings, dead mice, both live and dead cockroaches and insufficient refrigeration for food storage.

Anastasia Valeeva and Robert Brodsky report on Newsday.com that critical violations pose a threat to food safety, possibly resulting in foodborne illness, according state and county health codes. Examples include violations regarding food temperatures, bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat foods and unapproved food sources.

Noncritical violations are commonly referred to as sanitation or maintenance violations. They typically involve general cleaning and maintenance of food service equipment or structural deficiencies. Violations for insects or rodents are not considered critical under current state and county laws.

Regan Kiembock, food service director in the South Huntington school district and a member of the Long Island School Nutrition Directors Association, said county health officials told her “unless there is a critical violation on the first visit, they will not follow up with a second inspection as they do not have staffing to do so.”

In Suffolk, the districts with the most cafeteria violations were Sachem and Brentwood, each recording 225 citations, followed by Middle Country with 200, inspection reports from 2017 to 2023 show. The National School Lunch Program was established under the National School Lunch Act, signed by President Harry Truman in 1946.

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The Riverhead Water District and Suffolk County Department of Health Services are independently investigating a groundwater pollution plume in and around the former Northrop Grumman site in Calverton. Alek Lewis reports on Riverheadlocal.com that the town and the county hope to learn about how groundwater migrating from the site could impact the public water supply in the area, according to Riverhead Water District Superintendent Frank Mancini. The town is particularly concerned with synthetic “forever chemicals,” known as PFAS, which is present in groundwater at the site, Mancini said. The chemicals have been linked to cancers and other harmful health effects, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency and state health officials. Drilling for samples has already started, Mancini said. After the investigation, Mancini said, the town and county will have “a much better idea of how bad this PFAS issue is.” He said that depending on the outcome, the investigation can help put more pressure on the Navy to take action remediating the offsite pollution, which it has consistently refused to do. Riverhead Town will be paying for the PFAS analysis, while the county will take on the rest of the cost, including drilling wells for the tests, Mancini said. The Riverhead Town Board on Tuesday transferred $40,000 of its fund balance to a budget for the investigation. Mancini said he expects the testing to cost roughly half of that amount.

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You are invited to attend Southampton Public School’s Class of 2024 Wall of Distinction Induction Ceremony and Reception tomorrow at 6:00 PM in the Southampton High School Auditorium

The ceremony is free and open to the public.

The Wall of Distinction recognizes the rich heritage and tradition of successful academic and athletic programs of the Southampton School District, honoring Alumni, Coaches, Teachers, Administrators and Teams.

The 2024 Induction Class features Carol Gulija, Charles “Chuck” Henke, Vincent Mangano, Kristen Stephens and Dr. Merritt Burke White.

The Induction Ceremony is Friday May 10th at 6:00 PM in the Southampton High School Auditorium with a reception to follow. This event is free and all are welcome.

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The architects working on the designs of the new East Hampton Town Senior Center have made changes to the plans that shaved some $4 million off the sticker price, Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez announced this week. Michael Wright reports on 27East.com that the architects, R2 Architects, have abandoned their preferred plans to shroud the flowing exterior in reflective stainless steel shingles and will mount solar panels on the building’s roof instead of having panels on stanchions over the parking areas — changes that Burke-Gonzalez said have led to cost savings, along with other changes she did not detail. The changes, Burke-Gonzalez said, have cut the estimated construction costs from the original estimate of $32 million down to $28 million, without sacrificing the building’s primary design features or the goal of “net-zero” energy self-sufficiency. The supervisor also announced on Tuesday that the commissioner of the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation had issued a ruling that the East Hampton Town Board should be the “lead agency” for the review of the Senior Center project — a decision that would allow the town to skip regulatory review by its own planning, zoning and architectural review boards and could shave a year or more off the time it will take to get the project ready for construction. With the Town Board as lead agency, Burke-Gonzalez has said she expects the board will ask the town’s independent regulatory boards for their insights and opinions on various aspects of the plans, but will not present formal applications to them, which could take months for each to complete and would allow the boards to force the town to make changes. The new East Hampton Town Senior Center will be located on a seven-acre parcel at 403 Abraham's Path, Amagansett, adjacent to the recreation park, and will replace the current 10,100-square-foot center at 128 Springs-Fireplace Road in East Hampton.

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As the osprey population on the East End continues its decades-long rebound, with nearly 500 nests found across eastern Long Island during a 2022 census, the Group for the East End, which once focused on counting the local population of the birds, has shifted its focus to hazard and conflict mitigation. Now, in partnership with PSEG Long Island, the Group is launching an educational campaign that offers the community ways to address hazards and conflicts between people and nesting birds. As quoted on 27east.com, “In 1985, when I helped install Group for the East End’s very first osprey nesting platforms, I really didn’t know if this magnificent bird would ever truly recover,” said Group for the East End President Bob DeLuca. “But we knew we had to try. Nearly 40 years later, I am thrilled to see that our work alongside that of so many others has given our local osprey population a second chance. It’s an ongoing effort, and a worthy one, as we enter the next important stage of the osprey’s sustained recovery.” The public has played an integral role in the success of the osprey. As the East End community now navigates living with a thriving local population, many questions have come up, including what to do if an osprey builds a nest on a house or a nest or nesting platform appears to be in danger. In response, the Group has created a print and digital guide to use as a resource, which can be accessed by visiting thegroup.org/initiatives/osprey-conservation.

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The Sag Harbor Village Board is expected to scale back a proposal to require paid parking in most municipal lots and will be forced to postpone a public hearing on the plan that it had originally scheduled for Tuesday’s monthly meeting.

Stephen J. Kotz reports on 27east.com that due to changes in the wording of the law, a new public notice will have to be published, and the hearing will be held at the board’s June 11 meeting.

Sag Harbor Village Mayor Tom Gardella said this week, after soliciting public input at a May 1 workshop, that the board likely would agree to require paid parking in only the National Grid gas ball lot, where there are an estimated 94 spaces, and the Meadow Street lot next to the Collette consignment shop, which has an additional 58 spaces.

The Village of Sag Harbor recently signed a three-year deal with developer Adam Potter, who holds a long-term lease on the gas ball lot, to sublet it for $52,500 a year. Village officials initially proposed paid parking in that lot as a way to provide the revenue needed to cover the cost of the lease.

“This is going to be an ongoing conversation,” said Trustee Aidan Corish, who favors requiring paid parking in most municipal lots. But Corish said he recognized it was important to reach a compromise after objections were raised to the initial proposal.

Sag Harbor Village first began experimenting with paid parking in summer 2021 when it launched a pilot program on Long Wharf using the ParkMobile phone app. The program was made permanent the following year, and in the three years it has been in place, the village has collected more than $250,000 in revenue. Those funds have been used for sidewalk repairs, drainage and road improvements, said Corish.

The vast majority of the people using paid parking were from outside the 11963 zip code, he said, providing the village with an important source of revenue that did not come solely from local taxpayers.