Oyster Bay Cold Spring Harbor Protection Committee Seeks Municipal Funds

One of Long Island’s newest watershed protection groups is fighting to stay alive in order to implement the important objective of improving water quality in our local harbors. The Oyster Bay Cold Spring Harbor Protection Committee is comprised of local municipal entities, which include Suffolk County, Nassau County, the Towns of Huntington and Oyster Bay, the City of Glen Cove, and the villages of Lloyd Harbor, Bayville, Brookville, Centre Island, Cove Neck, Lattingtown, Laurel Hollow, Matinecock, Mill Neck, Muttontown, Old Brookville, Oyster Bay Cove and Upper Brookville.

The committee entered into an informal agreement back in 2010, which provided for the formation of the Oyster Bay Cold Spring Harbor Protection Committee. This move allowed the committee to receive grant funding in order to start the committee, hire a coordinator and begin operations. The next step is to enter into a legally binding agreement with the municipalities mentioned earlier so that the work of the committee would continue. Based upon the proposal, municipalities will provide various degrees of funding based upon the municipality. The Counties are being asked to contribute $9,750, the Towns (including Huntington) $6,500, and the Villages $1,250 each, which adds up to $50,000 annually. The money will fund a $37,500 coordinator position annually.

The goals of the committee are to improve water quality in Oyster Bay and Cold Spring Harbor so that these waters will consistently meet standards for bathing, swimming and fishing, improve shell fishing opportunities, control and reduce point and non-point sources of pollution and to enhance tidal wetlands, educational opportunities and to provide storm and flood control.

Currently the inter-municipal agreement is being circulated amongst the involved municipalities for their signature which would signify their legally binding commitment to the committee. These funds must be in place by June of this year which is when the committee will have exhausted all of it’s seed grant monies.