Sewer Expansion, Easing Traffic Key to Industrial Park's Future

The Hauppauge Industrial Association’s provided local business owners with updates on where several infrastrutural projects are headed in addressing local sewage, electrical and trafffic issues. 

“This is the most important economic 3-square-miles we have in town. This is where our focus should be in coming years,” said Frank DeRubius, the Town of Smithtown’s planning and community development director.

Suffolk County Department of Public Works started construction on expanding the park’s south wastewater treatment plan, the largest step in a $41 million project to expand the area’s sewer system. Currently, a large part of the park relies on a cesspool system.

Ben Wright, chief engineer for the Department of Public Works, said reconstruction plans will expand the treatment plant capacity from 250,000 gallons a day to more than 1 million gallons. This will help reduce wastewater restrictions that have prevented some businesses from expanding, according to Wright.

Starting this June, LIPA will be using the Hauppauge industrial park to launch a pilot program to test the effectiveness of new smart meters. LIPA will install electrical meters with computer chips that connect the Internet to provide 50 Hauppauge businesses with real-time data on their electrical use

“You can look on the website to see how you are using power through the day. What it does it allows us to look at ourselves more efficiently, and make decision on what we want to do,” said Bruce Germano, vice president of LIPA’s consumer services.

Germano said if businesses are able to manage their output, they could spread out their energy use to lower the demand during peak hours. This would reduce stress during peak summer use, and provide power to expand, he said

Transportation is a third key infrastructural issue affecting the park’s future development. A new transportation study, funded as part of a $600,000 federal grant, suggests new traffic signals and road widening.

“Those improvements are necessary as people don’t want to work and companies don’t want to locate in a congested area,” DeRubeis said.

Joe Pecora, division manager for Nelson & Pope who conducted the study, suggested several key intersections in the park that need improvements. The study suggested improvements at New Highway, Old Willets Patch, Adams Avenue and Moreland Drive from adding more lanes to coordinating traffic signals to clear up congestion.

Jack Kulka, HIA founder and CEO of Kulka Construction, said roughly $447,000 in grant funding remains to start the project. Further federal funding is being sought to pursue the study’s recommended actions.