Commercial pesticide applicators told the board last summer that it couldn't. But Shelter Island town code restricts pesticide use near the wetlands, a restriction that had been challenged by licensed applicators.

When this question arose again during Tuesday's Town Board work session, Supervisor Jim Dougherty indicated he was ready to move forward on a town registration procedure for pesticide applicators. “Sounds like we have a good consensus on the board,” he said.

The pesticide discussion followed new agenda issues — a special permit for South Ferry to rebuild its repair shop and the need to address outdoor assemblies involving boats — and the announcement that the town had reached agreement on a contract with Highway Department workers (see story, page 5).

Pesticide issue

Councilman Ed Brown raised the issue of pesticides and concerns that permethrin, the pesticide used on 4-poster stations deployed by the town to kill ticks, may need a closer look in light of an Environmental Protection Agency listing of the chemical as a candidate contaminant needing a drinking water standard. Mr. Brown suggested that the Conservation Advisory Council and Water Advisory Committee research the listing.

Councilman Glenn Waddington turned the subject to contractors licensed to apply pesticides. “Maybe it's time for us to craft our own legislation to say they have to register with the Building Department when they come on the Island,” a suggestion made to prior boards by WAC Chairman John Hallman. “They'll say its burdensome,” Mr. Waddington continued, and the commercial applicators will also say that only the state Department of Environmental Conservation can regulate pesticides. He added, “I don't have a problem taking the state on with this but it's going to be costly,” he said.

Councilwoman Chris Lewis agreed. “We are an Island. We are a single source aquifer ... Their regulations aren't adequate for our purposes.” But she added that maybe the town should meet with the DEC to gain their support for stricter pesticide rules.

Code enforcement officer Chris Tehan has been “left hanging,” according to Mr. Waddington, as he tries to enforce a code that prohibits use of pesticides within 100 feet of tidal or freshwater wetlands. “Are we going to back our own law or the state law?” Mr. Waddington questioned.

Supervisor Dougherty said, “I feel very strongly” about the pesticide issue. “The first step,” he said, would be requiring commercial applicators to register with the Building Department and log pesticides used.

Mr. Tehan was asked to join the meeting. He said that applicators spray as close as 20 feet from wetlands, but the wetlands are not marked, making any enforcement difficult. He suggested broadening the ban to the entire Near Shore District.

“Why would we want the stuff on the ground anywhere?” Ms. Lewis asked.

Police Chief James Read suggested from the audience that the board ask Vinnie Palmer of the DEC Bureau of Pesticides to meet with the town. He is the DEC point man on the 4-poster project.

South Ferry permit

The town reviewed an application by South Ferry Company for a special permit to rebuild the repair shop at 128 South Ferry Road, a project specified in the ferry company's rate increase package adopted by the county this spring. According to Town Attorney Laury Dowd, the application followed a letter from Mary Wilson of the Building Department denying a building permit for the project because an office component in the plans suggested a change.

The Planning Board is also reviewing the permit application. Member Emory Breiner said that the proposed construction “meets the rules in our code,” which allows “anything that's necessary for the operation of the ferries.”

A public hearing on the South Ferry special permit application has yet to be set.

Boat assemblies

The outdoor assembly law may be reworded to require permits for assemblies of boats in town waters after a major event, an annual boat party involving 500 vessels, was moored off Majors Harbor in Mashomack. The August event involved loud, live music, drunk and disorderly participants on the Mashomack property and “massive” garbage, according to Chief Read. The police had little warning of the event, which required the presence of four police boats (the Shelter Island department was assisted by East Hampton town, the Coast Guard and the Sheriff's Department). “We need some proper lead-up time to prepare for emergency management.” Chief Read added that the town may want an opportunity to regulate the event.

He said that the organizers first tried to get permission to hold the event in East Hampton and Southampton waters with little luck and held it instead, without a permit, in Shelter Island waters. A general Coast Guard permit was approved but for only 300 boats. Ms. Dowd suggested adding words to the town's outdoor assembly law requiring a permit for events in town waters.

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