April 16, 2024

Dear Neighbors:

I have a few items to update you on:

The Village has a contractor who is working on getting the crossover steps at the seawall repaired. He had to order some parts before being able to start. I am hoping that the repairs will be completed in about two weeks.

The Village met with its paving contractor this morning to discuss the Bevin Road resurfacing project. The milling and paving are tentatively scheduled for the middle of May. It is estimated that Bevin Road will need to be closed for about five hours a day for two days to do the milling and paving. The closure will be from approximately 9am-2pm. Trustee Ian Jablonski, who lives on Bevin, is running this project. As the exact dates and details of the project are finalized, he will transmit all relevant information to the affected homes with about 10-14 days lead time. Emergency vehicles will have access to Bevin Road during the construction. There is going to be some short-term inconvenience but in the long term it will be worth it to have Bevin repaved. This project is fully funded by a $100,000 grant and the Village CHIPS balance.

Last Friday, the Village received bids from six excellent engineering firms to create a comprehensive design to rebuild the seawall and restore the beach in front of it. The Village is in the process of reviewing the bids and expects to award the contract in June. This project will be funded by a $1,000,000 Hazard Mitigation Grant and a local share of ten percent.

Yesterday, I finally saw my first Piping Plover of the year. Along with the Osprey, the plovers return to Asharoken annually to nest and raise their chicks.

Wishing you a great day!
Mayor Dr. Greg Letica

April 5, 2024

Dear Neighbors:

On Wednesday, the Village was hit by a very strong Nor'easter that included a 68MPH wind gust recorded at the Eaton's Neck Coast Guard Station. The worst of the storm hit during the evening high tide. Unfortunately, the seawall sustained some very substantial damage including significant dislocation of a large section of the sheet steel, loss of three steel caps, damage to another steel cap, and serious damage to the crossover steps. Asharoken Avenue abutting the seawall had to be closed for three hours during which travel was determined not to be safe. Huge waves overtopped the wall and flooded the road. In addition, several of the seawall boulders were washed onto the road. The safety of the motorists and the first responders who might have had to rescue them if they got in trouble made the decision to temporarily close the road very straightforward. The storm also caused significant erosion of the dunes in the beach lot area.

I would like to commend Village PD Officer in Charge Ray Mahdesian, and the members of the Police Department who did a great job managing the situation. In addition, I would like to thank Andre Sorrentino and the members of the Huntington Highway Department who cleared the road of debris once the tide started going out. Please remember that real-time notices of road closings and re-openings are posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) @AsharokenNY. I urge you to follow the Village on X for this important information.

Yesterday I again reached out to federal, state, county, and town elected officials to inform them of the recent damage to the seawall. A meeting of all parties to continue the ongoing dialogue to rebuild the seawall/beach is in the process of being scheduled for early May . In addition, I arranged to get Asharoken Avenue swept, made plans to get the shoulder of Asharoken Avenue by the seawall rebuilt, worked on getting the crossover stairs rebuilt, and started discussions on how to remove the loose steel caps from the seawall area.

It is disheartening that the Village was able to go through the entire hurricane season and the winter without a significant storm only to have it get walloped by this spring monster. I will let you know when more information becomes available.

Enjoy your weekend,
Mayor Dr. Gregory Letica

March 29, 2024

Dear Neighbors:

Rich Causin, Regional Director of the NYS DOT, Rick Marquis from the FHWA, and Mayor Letica at the seawall.

Linda and I would like to wish everyone celebrating Easter a very happy holiday. It will be a perfect weekend for easter egg hunts and family gatherings. We hope you have a great day.

After quite a bit of effort that took almost one year, I was finally able to arrange a meeting between the New York State Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration to finalize the application of the $1,000,000 earmark for seawall repair. I was joined by Rick Marquis, the Division Administrator from the FHWA, and Rich Causin, the Regional Director of the NYS DOT on March 28 for a site visit at the seawall. We reconvened at Village Hall and had a productive meeting at which it was determined the FHWA concurred that the earmark could be used to fix the most critically deteriorated 200 feet of the seawall. The Village and DOT will have a follow-up meeting in the next few weeks.

On March 28 the Village opened bid packages from Posillico, Rosemar and Graci paving to resurface Bevin Road and Asharoken Avenue (from Bevin Road to 561 Asharoken Avenue). Posillico, who have done much of the previous paving of Asharoken Avenue, was the lowest bidder on both projects. Two resolutions will be on the agenda next month to accept the bids. Bevin Road will be paid for by a $100,000 grant and CHIPS money so, therefore, no Village funds will be needed. The Asharoken Avenue section will be paid for by PSEG. Once these two projects are completed all of Asharoken's roads will have been repaved during my 12 years as Mayor.

The Osprey are making a late return to the Village this year. I have seen only one so far. I think the weather, especially the wind direction, has delayed their return. But I fearlessly forecast that they will be back in the next few days.

Happy Easter!
Mayor Dr. Gregory Letica

March 26, 2024

Dear Neighbors:

I am pleased to provide you with a copy of the tentative budget and supporting documents for the fiscal year ending May 31st, 2025. The budget proposes a 2.06% rise in village taxes and a tax levy of $1,815,928, which is $8,566 below the NYS 2% Tax Cap Levy Law. During the 12 years I have been Mayor the average annual tax increase has been 0.969% and the Village has never exceeded the tax cap. In seven of those years, there was no tax increase.

The Village maintains a very strong financial position with a robust cash balance and extremely well-funded reserve accounts. For nine years, the Office of State Comptroller has performed a Fiscal Stress test on local governments. Each year Asharoken was awarded the highest possible rating, "No Designation."

After thorough review of the budget, it was determined that a modest increase in taxes was unavoidable because of higher costs of contractual obligations and other expenses that are mandated by outside agencies. It was not possible to offset all of these increases through cost savings or higher revenue. Fortunately, as a result of the recent construction boom in Asharoken, the Village assessment roll grew helping reduce the tax increase. The tentative budget will maintain all the services that the Village provides for its residents and reserves money for future needs.

These are a few notable changes to next year's budget.

• REVENUE: Interest and Fines/Forfeitures increased. Mortgage tax revenue decreased due to fewer real estate sales in Suffolk County.
• EXPENSES: The cost of Police salary and Fire/EMS/Paramedic services with the Northport Fire District increased because of contractual obligations. Health Insurance Costs rose impactfully. Police retirement costs increased significantly. All nonpolice personnel received a 3% cost of living adjustment and Assessor costs rose. Additionally, multiple operating costs went up. Cost savings were realized in Professional Fees, Engineer, Police Equipment, and Marine Police.
• SEAWALL: Money was allocated to pay for engineering fees with the cost fully offset by grant and reserve funds.

I thank Clerk Michelle Glennon and Treasurer Emily Hayes for helping prepare this budget. Emily's work on the last sixteen budgets and Michelle's rapidly growing knowledge of the budget process allowed the Village to construct its financial plan very proficiently.

A public hearing on the budget will be held at the regularly scheduled Board Meeting on April 9th at 6:30 pm. You can email your comments or questions to me at gletica@asharokenny.org before the hearing or speak at the meeting. Any emailed comments or questions will be addressed at the meeting and will become part of the official record.

Here is the Tentative Budget Packet for the fiscal year ending May 31st, 2025. A copy can also be viewed at Village Hall.

• Tentative Budget for 2024-2025
  UPDATED April 11, 2024

Sincerely,
Mayor Dr. Gregory Letica

March 20, 2024

Dear Neighbors:

In an effort to keep you informed of what is going on in the Village, here is my mayor's report from the Board Meeting on March 19th:

• Mayor's Report: March 19, 2024

I have pulled out one paragraph below which I want to make sure you see:

This afternoon the Board of Trustees held a work session to review the tentative budget. After a thorough review, I am pleased to report that the BOT agreed to accept the tentative budget with a 2.06% tax increase and a tax levy of $8,566 below the NYS 2% tax cap limit. The tax increase is primarily caused by large increases in some of the Village's biggest expense categories over which it has no control. Over the twelve years that I have been mayor, the Village has averaged an annual 0.969% tax increase and for seven of those years, there was no increase. A public hearing will be held at the April 9th BOT meeting before the adoption of the budget. On March 26th the detailed budget will be sent to everyone on the Village email list, and be available for review here at asharoken.com and at Village Hall. The BOT looks forward to your comments.

Have a great day!
Mayor Dr. Gregory Letica

January 23, 2024

Dear Residents:

In recent days, many Asharoken residents have received email and/or text solicitations to join a so-called "neighborhood application" called Nextdoor. The Village of Asharoken and the asharoken.com website have absolutely no affiliation with Nextdoor, and neither recommend nor sanction its use.

Residents should be aware that the process of joining Nextdoor is extremely invasive and involves revealing your email address, birthdate, name and address. In addition, the Nextdoor app has a very questionable reputation, with users experiencing phony posts from fake residents, Internet scams, fraud, and overall malfeasance while using it. The Better Business Bureau gives Nextdoor a customer rating of 1 out of 5 stars, and has logged many hundreds of complaints against the company.

I strongly suggest that residents not install the Nextdoor app on their devices, and avoid Nextdoor in general. If you've already installed the app, it might be best to delete it now.

Regards,
asharoken.com Webmaster Eric Maffei