Suffolk Moves Pilot Program Forward To Help Small Biz Sewer Hookups

MASTIC, NY — Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone signed legislation Wednesday authorizing a pilot program providing financial assistance to small business owners to make it more affordable to connect to the county's sewer systems, officials said.

The program will provide grants of up to $15,000 to qualifying owners of small business properties, and the county will work with Dime Community Bank to provide access to low interest loans to finance the remainder of the cost of connection over time, to minimize out-of-pocket costs for property owners, according to county officials.

The pilot program is in keeping with the county’s ongoing efforts to replace outdated septic systems and cesspools with sewers, county officials said.

Bellone added his John Hancock to the legislation in a ceremony outside Mama Lisa's in Mastic.

The construction of the historic $224 million Forge River Watershed Sewer District project is underway, but federal grant funds do not cover the cost of connecting individual business properties to the sewer district, making it a cost borne by the business owners, according to county officials.

The program will assist small business owners on the Mastic-Shirley Peninsula while construction progresses and following the county’s recent commitment of $28 million to expand of the Forge River Sewer project currently under construction, county officials said.

While the county continues its sewer expansion, commercial and business properties are responsible for the costs to connect to the county's sewer collection facilities at a time when the economy is still recovering from the financial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to county officials.

The program, set to allocate grants from the county’s the Water Quality Protection and Restoration Program Fund, is expected to begin accepting applications in Fall 2023 and assist around 65 small business owners with 25 or fewer employees, county officials said.

The initial $1 million will allow the county to gauge the need for additional funding, identify other potential funding sources, and evaluate other factors that may be relevant in determining how best to allocate future funds for commercial and business property connections, according to officials.

Bellone said that just as county officials "have worked to make the replacement of outdated septic systems and cesspools with the latest technologies affordable to homeowners," they need "to ensure it is affordable for our small business owners who are still recovering from the pandemic to be able to hook up to local sewer systems."

"Not only will this pilot program cover at least half of the cost of hookup, but it also affords business owners with competitive interest rates to finance the rest," he added.

"If I can really warp it in one word, it's excitement," said Legis. Jim Mazzarella.

Brookhaven Town Councilman Dan Panico noted that the program can help other small businesses, like Mama Lisa's, expand.

"This is what government is about," he said.

Mama Lisa's owner Gaetano Costigliola credited the program for helping small businesses.

"It's the perfect compliment to the whole town and the community," he said.

Chamber of Commerce of The Mastics and Shirley President Frank Montanez Jr. said the group's members were happy to hear the measure would be signed and is moving forward.

"As a chamber of commerce, our main goal is to advocate for all of our small businesses in the community and this pilot program is a huge step forward in helping out our local businesses obtain some sort of financial assistance for the hookups to the coming sewer project," he said.

"These are difficult times for many of our small businesses, with high inflation, higher product costs, difficulty in finding and maintaining employees and any help to offset these costs of doing business is welcome."

"We look forward to this financial help and to the finalization of the sewer project to bring much needed economic development to our area," he added.

Dime Community Bank's Chief Executive Officer Kevin O’Connor said the financial institution's leadership is pleased to partner with Suffolk "to support this innovative program to help mitigate the cost of sewer connections for small businesses and improve water quality.”