$4.3M sewer project breaks ground in Bay Shore

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Elected officials joined community leaders at a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday for a $4.3 million project that will connect a 170-unit housing complex in Bay Shore to the Suffolk County sewer system. 

The project will connect the Lexington Village Condominium housing complex to the Suffolk County Sewer District No. 3 Southwest, according to a county statement. The cost of the project is covered through municipal funding and won’t be passed along to Lexington Village, where the majority of residents receive public assistance. 

“The groundbreaking at Lexington Village highlights the significant progress we have made to take historic measures in order to reclaim our water and improve our wastewater infrastructure throughout all our communities in Suffolk County,” Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said in the statement. “This project is a result of community-based planning and collaborative partnerships. I thank Supervisor Carpenter and the Town of Islip for their unwavering commitment to enhance the quality of life and provide much needed relief for the residents of Lexington Village.” 

After initial bids for the project came in higher than expected, the county and the town kicked in $700,000 each to advance the project.  

“This project is a shining example of intergovernmental cooperation. As elected officials, it is our responsibility to ensure that everyone enjoys a standard of living and quality of life,” Islip Supervisor Angie Carpenter said in the statement. “This sewer connection addresses an environmental concern by cleaning up the water being discharged into the ground and provides a more sustainable development. It also puts an end to trying to maintain the current failing system, which had been a costly and untenable expense for residents.”  

The project entails the decommissioning, demolishing and removing of the property’s existing sewage treatment plan and will redirect the system to a nearby sewage pump station and connecting to the county’s sewer system. Construction is expected to take about eight months. 

“This is a great moment for Lexington Village,” Kevin Smith, president of the board of managers for Lexington Village, said in the statement. “What is great about this is that government is working together for a common cause. This is such a great day for us.”