Town To Implement Fee For Pump-Out Boat

Sayville and Bayport residents looking to use Islip Town's Pump Out Boat during the upcoming summer season will have to pay a $5 service fee to do so.

The Town Board approved the measure this week, and council members noted the fee was necessary to offset Islip’s on-going fiscal issues.

According to town officials, severe budgetary constraints forced Islip to re-evaluate the service, but through a combination of grant money and expected revenue from fees, the service was reinstated.

The Pump-Out Boat will operate weekends and holidays, from Memorial Day through the end of September. Services will be available for six hours per day, with the equipment committed to the south side of the Great South Bay in the morning hours and then on the north side of the Great South Bay in the afternoon.

All service fees may only be paid via credit card. No cash or checks will be accepted.

“All boaters have a responsibility to ensure waste from their vessels is properly disposed of,” said Steve Flotteron, Islip Town councilman.

“This ensures protection of the marine environment, and of the people who swim in our waters. This service, in addition to the four land-based Pump Out stations that the town offers, helps us to remain good stewards of the Great South Bay.”

The town’s 24-hour land-based pump out stations are:· Browns River Dock –Seaman Avenue, Bayport· Bay Shore Marina – South Clinton Avenue, Bay Shore· East Islip Marina – Bayview Avenue, East Islip· Atlantique Beach Marina.

The Islip Town Board approved a measure to institute a five dollar service fee forboater’s use of the Town’s Pump-Out Boat during the summer months.

Severe budgetary constraints forced Islip to reevaluate the service this year, but through a combination of identifying grant money and the expected revenue from fees,officials have reinstated the environmentally popular service.

“This Town Board has been forced to confront difficult budgetary realities at every step, and not every program has been sustained,” said Councilwoman Trish Bergin Weichbrodt.

“Luckily we were able to save this vital program that our boaters, and the Great South Bay itself, rely on," said Flotteron.