February 26, 2021

Dear Neighbors:

Hope everyone is well.

At the Board of Trustees meeting on Tuesday, March 2, a public hearing on modifications to the fence law that the Village enacted in December will be conducted. Changes were made to requirements of deer fencing, a section on regulations for an agricultural district was added and additional clarification was made to the section on living fences. These changes were made as a response to several comments from residents during the last public hearing. I would like to thank you for your helpful and insightful suggestions. Click here to review the marked-up version of law 2-2021.

If you would like to comment on the changes to the local law, please let me know via email, nrittenhouse@asharokenny.org, or participate in the public hearing on Tuesday, March 2nd at 6:30pm via teleconference. Written comments will be added to the record.

Hopefully, spring is just around the corner. Today I found my first grackle of the year which I always consider a sure sign of warmer and sunnier days ahead.

Have a nice weekend.
Mayor Dr. Greg Letica

February 19, 2021

Dear Neighbors:

I hope this email finds you and your family well. Although the recent wave of COVID-19 is ebbing, we are still in a very dangerous situation. The new variants of the virus may lead to more infections due to their higher rate of transmissibility. I was optimistic that the case numbers in the Village would stabilize, but recently they jumped up four cases to 33. This underscores the fact that we need to always keep our guard up. Please consider getting a vaccine as soon as you can. In the meantime, continue to wear at least one mask (double masking has been reported to work better), avoid gatherings and practice excellent hand hygiene. If you have any symptoms or were around someone who tested positive, get a test.

The Village has hired a contractor to repair the crossover steps at the seawall. The weather has delayed this project, but I anticipate that the work will begin in the next week or two.

National Grid is still on schedule to replace the gas line from Village Hall to 285 Asharoken Avenue. The project is expected to start in the middle of March and last about three months. During the replacement you can expect some short traffic delays as a small section of the south side of Asharoken Avenue will be closed for work. Flag people will direct traffic around the construction zone. Once the main is installed, National Grid will connect all existing gas customers to the new main. Lastly, National Grid will repave and restripe Asharoken Avenue from Village Hall to the termination of the project. As more details become available, I will let you know.

The Village is continuing to work on next year's budget. As I have mentioned, due to the pandemic, this is the most challenging budget since I became Mayor nine years ago. The Village will be losing $30,000 of revenue from public safety money. This money comes from Suffolk County sales tax receipts that dropped drastically due to COVID. Additionally, the NYS Police retirement cost went up approximately $30,000. The multiple snowstorms may require an increase in snow removal costs as well. Although the Village has not had a tax increase in five years, it does not look like that is possible for the 2021-22 budget. We will do our best to keep any increase modest and below the NYS tax cap.

Building permits are required for various projects; if you are planning a future project please contact our Building Department for information 631-261-7098.

Wishing everyone a nice weekend. The snow should stop this afternoon and a warming trend is on the way. Stay safe and be well.

Best regards,
Mayor Dr. Gregory Letica