ABOUT THE LAKE RONKONKOMA CIVIC ORGANIZATION
A NON-PROFIT GROUP OF VOLUNTEERS AND CONCERNED CITIZENS
The Lake Ronkonkoma Civic Organization was founded in 2003 to stop Suffolk County’s plan to turn Portion Road into a high-speed roadway, permanently impacting local businesses and endangering all users of the road: drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.
Although the final roadway design was not “perfect”, we succeeded in reducing the number of travel lanes for most of the 3-mile project. Features were added that improved safety and aesthetics: dedicated bicycle lane, decorative streetlights, attractive brickwork and street trees. The resulting roadway combined efficient roadway designs to reduce congestion long-term and encourage a diversity of transportation options. We advocated strongly to promote & protect small businesses, and also provide accessibility for all users.
Working with the Town of Brookhaven as well as consultants specializing in “smart growth” principles, the civic spearheaded the creation of a “land use plan” to guide future development and re-development along the Portion Road corridor as well as Hawkins Avenue. The result is the “2009 Portion Road Corridor Study & Land Use Plan for Lake Ronkonkoma & Farmingville.” It is available for review on the Town’s website:
Since most of the Portion Road and Hawkins Avenue corridors are already developed, the Land Use Plan will be the blueprint for re-development of already developed parcels. It allows for upgrading instead of maintaining prior poorly designed buildings. The goal is to shepherd & promote good development, and work with developers to refine their projects to meet the needs of the community. Some examples of the work of the civic and various developers: Dunkin Donuts, Wendy’s, Bolla Market, IHOP, Chipotle, the upcoming Starbucks and the new 7-11 at Hawkins & Portion.
In addition to development projects, the land use plan also provides for open space preservation and wetlands protection, as well as improvement & creation of community parks. There are limited opportunities to preserve open space but the civic has worked to secure protection for several parcels in our communities including: 12 acres of the former Cenacle property are protected by a conservation easement, former Nature Conservancy parcel between Ronkonkoma and Hawkins Avenue is now Town of Brookhaven open space, and several acres just north of Portion Road on Hawkins Avenue have been preserved. The civic is working to preserve additional undeveloped parcels. We also turned a dirt lot into Arrowhead Park (near St. Joseph’s church) and worked with town officials to make much-needed improvements to Waltess Park and Michael Murphy Park.
The land use plan also focuses on protection of the lake. Civic members serve on the Lake Advisory Board and the civic pushed for the creation of an Intermunicipal organization to bring together the four entities that are responsible for the lake into one working group to improve the condition of the lake: Suffolk County and the three Towns: Brookhaven, Islip and Smithtown. Efforts to clean up the lake have been ongoing for decades, with years in-between with no action taken. The civic resurrected the “1986 Lake Ronkonkoma Clean Lake Study” and that led to more recent efforts to address the pollution and challenges to the entire watershed area. We are still hopeful that community engagement with the lake will continue: fishing, boating, swimming and other activities to connect the lake with residents.
The Lake Ronkonkoma Civic Organization also hosts cultural events for the community such as our annual summer concert series. We clean litter along Portion Road and have participated in annual Town of Brookhaven clean-ups.
A core duty of the civic is to serve as an informational resource in matters of concern to the community The civic holds monthly community meetings at the Sachem Library inviting guest speakers to educate and inform residents: local elected officials, Suffolk County Police Department representatives, Sachem School District representatives and many others. We listen to community concerns and work to address as many as we can to ensure that we are improving this area that we care about so much!
Please join us!
ABOUT THE EXECUTIVE BOARD
The Executive Board of the Civic consists of eleven members: President, Vice-president, Treasurer, Secretary, Membership Director and six Directors. A twelfth director, a Student Director chosen from Sachem North High School may also be appointed by the board.
The general supervision, management, and direction of the organization is delegated exclusively to the Executive Board. The Executive Board develops organization policy, selects all standing and special committees, establishes dues and authorizes compensation for justifiable expenses, and makes recommendations to the organization.
Each elected officer holds office for a term of five years, or until their successor is appointed.
CURRENT OFFICERS OF THE CIVIC ORGANIZATION
PRESIDENT
BONNIE SULZ
VICE PRESIDENT
MARK SALZANO
TREASURER
THALIA BOUKLAS
SECRETARY
MARYLOU GONZALEZ
MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR
BARBARA MANDELLO
DIRECTOR 1
DAWN HOPKINS
DIRECTOR 2
EILEEN TORRACA
DIRECTOR 3
KEN KELLAHER
DIRECTOR 4
PETER BONNA
DIRECTOR 5
GEORGE SCHRAMM
DIRECTOR 6
MIKE DELROSSO
STUDENT DIRECTOR
TBD
