Community Corner

LIPA Unsure if They Will Use EPCAL as Staging Area

Utility company 'analyzing and reviewing plans,' may or may not stage equipment and park trucks in Calverton.

Though the Long Island Power Authority has signed an agreement to use property at Enterprise Park in Calverton as a staging area for equipment and vehicles, the utility company is unsure whether it will use the space or continue to operate solely from other locations.

On Wednesday, Supervisor Sean Walter said that LIPA "politely declined" his initial offer, extended last week, to use the Henry Pfeifer Community Center on River Road to stage poles, wires, and other equipment, and to park trucks. However he soon added that after extending the offer again this week, LIPA "graciously accepted."

But whether LIPA will actually use the space is another question.

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"We may place trucks there," said Vanessa Baird-Streeter, spokeswoman for LIPA. "I can't tell you what we're going to do. We have many staging agreements in place, but we're still basically analyzing and reviewing our plans to see if that's needed. We do appreciate the supervisor reaching out to us."

According to the text of the agreement, LIPA or National Grid - acting on LIPA's behalf - would have access to community center at no cost until Sept. 15.

Find out what's happening in Riverheadwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The closest staging areas to Riverhead and the North Fork are reportedly Calabro Airport in Shirley and East Hampton Airport.

Walter also suggested that he will work on an offer to host LIPA at EPCAL in future emergencies, though said on Thursday, "I don't think future negotiations are on their priority list right now" as they work to restore power.

As of 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, just over 1,500 LIPA customers in Riverhead were without power, or nearly 8 percent.


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