Legislation to help expand sewers to Main Street in Kings Park passed the State Senate and Assembly on May 30th, 2019 but still awaits Governor Cuomo’s signature. The legislation allows Smithtown to alienate a tenth of an acre of land at its Parks Department headquarters in Kings Park for a sewage pumping station, which would send the waste to a county treatment plant on St. Johnland Road in San Remo.
After many community members lobbied for years to replace septic tanks and cesspools with sewers to help facilitate downtown revitalization, the desired result is now in sight. In 2017, Supervisor Vecchio personally asked Governor Andrew Cuomo for $20 million for Kings Park sewers and $20 million for sewers in downtown Smithtown. Many credit his relationship with Governor Cuomo’s late father, Mario, with the Governor’s decision to grant Vecchio’s request. The only obstacle that stood in the way, until now, was the alienation of parkland for the sewage pumping station.
County Legislator Rob Trotta commented, “Sewers will help protect our environment and aid in downtown revitalization, but it’s not the panacea some may have you believe. A tremendous amount of planning, rebuilding and other infrastructure improvements will be needed to transform Kings Park into a destination point. This is just the beginning of that process.”
