The next Civic meeting will be on Thursday, October 9th, at 7:30 PM, at the American Legion Hall, 115 Church Street, Lake Ronkonkoma.

Election 2008: Meet the Candidates
The Executive Board has invited the following candidates to the General Membership meeting on October 9th to meet with our members. The Board does not endorse any particular candidate or political party, but we do encourage our members to come to the meeting and ask our guests about the issues that are important to them.

1st Congressional District
Timothy H. Bishop (incumbent)
Lee Zeldin

State Assembly, 5th District
Ginny A. Fields (incumbent)
John Bugler

State Senate, 2nd District
John J. Flanagan (incumbent)
Michael DePaoli

State Senate, 3rd District
Caesar Trunzo (incumbent)
Brian X. Foley


Members and non-members welcome!

Click here for a map and directions to our meeting.

The Brookhaven 2030 Charrette will be held at Town Hall in October 2008. Read more...

The majority of the members on the Brookhaven Town Council would apparently prefer that the public not attend Town meetings. They would also prefer that one of the council members who represents Lake Ronkonkoma and Farmingville not attend Town meetings either.Read more...

Tuesday, October 28, 2008, 5:30-7:30pm
Ronkonkoma Chamber of Commerce Dinner Meeting sponsored by Windows on The Lake.Read more...

The Nesconset-Sachem Civic Association will be holding a Neighborhood Watch meeting with representatives of the 4th Precinct regarding the increase in drug activity in the neighborhoods to the west of the Lake.
The meeting will be on Thursday, October 2, at 7:30 PM, at the Nesconset Nursing Home, 100 Southern Blvd, Nesconset NY.
For more information: http://www.nesconsetcivic.com/

Due to the predicted rain storms and high winds for Saturday and Sunday, the Executive Board has decided to cancel this year's Fall Festival scheduled for September 27th at the Michael P. Murphy Memorial Town Beach on Lake Shore Drive.
It wasn't an easy decision, but after weighing the pros and cons of the situation, the Executive Board decided that given the high chance of inclement weather over the weekend it would be in the best interest of our visitors, vendors, volunteers, Town employees, and our community members to cancel the event.
After four years in a row of clear skies at the Festival we're disappointed that weather wasn't as cooperative this year, but we'll be back next year with a bigger and better Fall Festival!

Many thanks to all of the civic members who have worked for months in preparing for this event, especially co-chairs Pat Duffield and Gregg Freedner, who put in countless hours into ensuring a successful festival.

Suffolk County Homemakers, Unit 38, will be meeting every Friday, from 9:30 AM to 1:30 PM, at the Ronkonkoma Fire District Building, on the corner of Portion Road and Hawkins Avenue, in Lake Ronkonkoma.
Suffolk County Homemakers is an organization that hosts local community service projects, donates to scholarships, worthwhile charities and organizations, and provides a social atmosphere where members can share talents and skills.
New members, and those who are interested in finding out more, are welcome to attend.

Because of rain, our Clean Up has been rescheduled for Saturday, September 13, 9:00 AM will be our next Portion Road & Hawkins Avenue Clean Ups.
Read more...

Recently, representatives from Commerce Bank were going up and down Hawkins Avenue trying to get local merchants to change banks and come bank with them. They got an earful from many local shopkeepers. Many told Commerce Bank representatives that their corporate policies of refusing to work with local communities and their insistence on cutting down trees and destroying pristine property instead of redeveloping a previously developed site, means that they will never become customers of Commerce Bank.
Local businesses understand that when large corporations ignore the redevelopment goals and revitalization efforts of communities, that it makes it much harder to sustain a vital downtown business district. One would think that a bank, which depends on the business of local merchants, would be more sensitive to community planning efforts. It may be too late for our community, but maybe, just maybe, by hitting Commerce Bank in the wallet they might change their policies before they inflict themselves on the next community.

The following letter was sent to Newsday in response to "Residents to boycott bank on site of proposed memorial", in the 8/10/2008 edition, by Patrick Whittle.Read more...

In case you missed it, we were able to get Newsday to publish a story about our battle with Commerce Bank on Sunday, August 10th in the LI Life section.Read more...

If the mailing label on the back of your newsletter is asking you to renew your membership, then your dues for 2009 are overdue. Contact the Membership Chair, at membership@lakeronkonkomacivic.org, to renew your membership. Your participation (and your money) keeps the Fourth Wave in motion!

If you have recently passed the little triangular park at the intersection of Church Street and Pond Road, you will have noticed that the Town has installed a perimeter fence and that there are pathways through the park. Read more...

Ronkonkoma Hub Transit-Oriented Redevelopment Study
Informational Meeting
Phase II Recommendations
Thursday, September 18, 7:00 PM
Brookhaven Town Hall Auditorium
2nd Floor, One Independence Hill, Farmingville

Read more...

Lake Ronkonkoma is stocked and ready. Are you ready for the challenge of largemouth and smallmouth bass, Walleye, Chain Pickerel, Bluegill, Pumpkinseed, Black Crappie, Yellow Perch, White Perch, Carp, and Brown Bullhead?Read more...

The WS Commerdinger, Jr. County Park is open.Read more...

"Traffic does not yield to simple, appealing solutions. Adding lanes or roads is a short-lived fix. Widen one highway, and drivers from another will defect. Soon that road is worse than it was before." - Tom Vanderbilt, in his new book, "Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (And What It Says About Us)."Read more...

A big “thank you” to Assemblywoman Ginny Fields for sponsoring a New York State grant to help the Civic pay for the production and distribution of our newsletter, “The Fourth Wave” and to expand our membership outreach program. These funds will go towards informing our members of important issues as well as increasing our membership. Keeping our community members informed is critical to having a community actively involved in improving the quality of life in our neighborhoods.
Assemblywoman Fields will be speaking at our September meeting.

Summer marks the peak season for a deadly and yet dangerously misunderstood weather phenomena – lightning.Read more...

Tired of those unsightly signs you see on utility poles and along public streets? They are nothing but visual clutter advertising everything from weight-loss to home repairs. Well, as long as they’re not on private property, feel free to rip them down, pull them up, and throw them out, because those signs are illegal. You cannot even obtain a permit to post that type of sign.
During our monthly cleanups we usually take them down. The only exception we consider are signs for local yard sales. As long as the date on the sign hasn’t passed, we’ll leave them in place, but if they’ve expired, or there is no date, in the trash they go.

Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, Department of Social Services (DSS) Chief Deputy Commissioner Greg Blass and Legislator Kate Browning outlined new legislation combating illegal, overcrowded housing. Town supervisors and village mayors will now be able to submit to DSS a list of 10 housing units at a time that are in violation of regulations. If any of those dwellings are home to public assistance recipients, the property owners will be given 20 days to remediate those violations. If all violations are not remedied within 20 days, DSS will work with any willing public assistance recipients at those residences to identify alternative housing.

Suffolk County has activated a hotline for residents to report certain types of dead birds, which may be infected with West Nile virus. Read more...

Assemblywoman Fields sponsored legislation (A.1533) regarding uncontrolled "sober homes," which would bring oversight to these residences. The legislation was passed two years ago but vetoed by former Governor Pataki.Read more...

Read the Newsday article, and video, about Commerce Bank in Sunday, 8/10.
http://www.newsday.com/services/newspaper/printedition/sunday/lilife/ny-lftronk105792794aug10,0,2762650.story

As you may have seen, the beautiful wooded hill across from the movie theater on Portion Road is gone. Commerce Bank felt they had to put their new branch there even though the community voted in our 2004 Visioning to have a 9/11 memorial park in that location. The Civic tried to persuade them to choose another site in our area but Commerce Bank refused to listen. Read more...

Concerts, horse shows, movies, boat shows, kite flying, sand castles, nature walks and more!Read more...

Members of the Civic Board recently attended an informational meeting at the Cenacle regarding the fate of the existing Retreat House. After the meeting, we invited James Rennert, Province Director of Development for The Cenacle Sisters, to prepare an article for our newsletter.Read more...

We would like to recognize the service of Ken Kellaher, who recently stepped down from his position as Treasurer of the Lake Ronkonkoma Civic Organization. Read more...

Has it been a year already? When you are a Civic member, time flies! And it’s time once again to renew your membership. Renewing your membership on time helps to save your Membership Committee the time and effort it puts into interrupting the things you enjoy with those phone calls that gently remind you to renew.
It also saves the Civic money; printing those customized blue renewal forms isn’t cheap you know.Read more...

Shockingly, on March 24, 2008 the Town of Brookhaven Planning Board approved the site plan for a Commerce Bank to be constructed on Portion Road. Despite the Planning Board’s recognition that Commerce Bank’s site plan was “an ill-conceived project for this particular parcel of land,” six of the seven Planning Board members voted to approve the plan.Read more...

See photos of Civic members marching in the Lake Ronkonkoma Annual Memorial Day Parade.Read more...

Navy Names New Ship and Town Dedicates “Serenity Plaza” for “Medal of Honor” Recipient Navy SEAL Lt. Michael Murphy

On Wednesday afternoon, May 7th, on the shore of Lake Ronkonkoma, U.S. Navy Secretary Dr. Donald C. Winter, Brookhaven Supervisor Brian X. Foley, 5th District Councilman Timothy P. Mazzei, and 1st Congressional District Representative Tim Bishop today joined the Murphy family to honor Navy SEAL Lt. Michael Murphy of Patchogue. Lt. Murphy, who was killed in action in Afghanistan June 28, 2005, received the nation’s highest military medal, The Congressional Medal of Honor, for his courage, sacrifice, and heroic efforts to save the Navy SEALs under his command.Read more...

Members of the Civic Executive Board met with the Suffolk County Department of Public Works engineers and County Legislator Brian Beedenbender on April 1, 2008 to discuss the status of the Portion Road improvement project.
Read more...

Past copies of our newsletter, The Fourth Wave, are available to download and view online on our Downloads page.

Daniel Wagner of Newsday has written a brief article describing the situation with the proposed Commerce Bank on Portion Road in the Long Island Edition of Newsday for Tuesday, February 19th, page A33.
You can also read the article online at http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bzwagner0219,0,1838331.story. Scroll down to see the item titled "Vote on bank development."

A Neighborhood Watch program has proven to be a successful method of reducing the risk of crime. But don’t wait until your neighborhood has problems to participate; establishing a Neighborhood Watch now can prevent those problems from occurring.The Civic can assist your neighborhood in establishing a Neighborhood Watch.Read more...

Thanks to the efforts of members and other organizations, the Suffolk County Legislature voted on Tuesday afternoon to override the County Executive's veto, allowing the County to investigate possibly purchase of the Bavarian Inn property. Both Legislators Kennedy and Beedenbender voted yea to pass the resolution.
The County will now proceed to prepare a report regarding the property, which will include information such as a survey, assessment, appraisal, and an environmental audit. Given the environmentally-sensitive location of the building, having the County gather this information is invaluable to the community.
The property report will take 6 to 8 weeks to prepare and after it is complete a decision on the disposition of the property will be made. The Civic will keep you informed as the situation develops.Read more...

As outlined in the January issue of the Fourth Wave, Commerce Bank is proposing to site a new bank in Lake Ronkonkoma. On the surface, this is not bad news: more choices for consumer banking is always welcome, and there are some areas along Portion Road that are ripe for redevelopment. Old, empty and/or under-utilized parcels would be great possibilities for a new bank in our community. However, Commerce Bank has chosen one of the few remaining green tracts in the area to place their new bank. Read more...

A well-attended community meeting for the ongoing Ronkonkoma Hub Planning and Land Use Study was held on Thursday, January 17th, at Brookhaven Town Hall. Besides community residents, many elected officials and staff members from several government agencies were there to explain the study and discuss it with the community.Read more...

The Civic Board can keep you informed with periodic email updates about what's happening in our community.
Just send us an email at information@lakeronkonkomacivic.org and we’ll add you to our emailing list.

You have probably driven past it countless times without giving it a second thought, and yet during the Portion Road Visioning, in October of 2004, hundreds of you had identified this property as a desirable location for a memorial park. Now it may disappear. Commerce Bank has decided to cut down all of the trees and remove the hill to completely flatten the site, and construct a bank with a multi-lane drive-thru adjacent to the homes on the south side of the property. But you can help prevent this from happening.
Read more...

The Lake Ronkonkoma Civic Organization often addresses the Brookhaven Town Board, the Planning Board, and the Zoning Board of Appeals on applications in the Lake Ronkonkoma, Holbrook and Farmingville areas in the Civic’s boundaries. One such application involved a change-of-zone for the CVS parcel at the corner of Portion Road and Holbrook Road in Lake Ronkonkoma. This was a complicated application in that it was not readily apparent what the intent was, but after our initial meeting with the developer, it became clear.Read more...

The Town of Brookhaven has started a 3-year program to update the Town’s Comprehensive Plan, which has been titled Brookhaven 2030. Read more...

Brookhaven has unveiled its new Constituent Response System “451-TOWN.” This new system uses a single phone number to provide Brookhaven residents with direct access to all town services and information. Read more...

The giant, but friendly, lake monster; the scorned princess who lives in the lake looking for young men to drown.Read more...

You can support your Civic and buy get some great stuff at the same time.
We have hats, shirts, mugs, tote bags, and more with the Civic logo and other neat Lake Ronkonkoma artwork.Read more...

The online search site, Google.com, has implemented a new feature that allows you to search for information by entering a telephone number. Read more...

If you know of any local service organizations, such as the Boy/Girl Scouts of America, that would like to accomplish local beautification and neighborhood enhancement projects to earn merit badges or to become an Eagle Scout, the Civic can help.Read more...