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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1976 LONG ISLAND TRAVELER - WATCHMAN PAGE NINE F o r e c a s ts (Continued from Page I) swiftly tiian any other event on the economic horizon. Whether an embargo will come in 1977 is something not even Secretary of State Kissinger knows. But no-one from Kissinger on down is denying it is a possibility. This ties neatly in with an event closer to home that will get wide play in the media in ’77. The Department of the Interior is in the preliminary stages of preparing to let bids on new ocean floor tracts in the Atlant ic. The country’s major oil compan ies, who join the Federal Govern ment in arguing greater domestic oil supplies are essential as insurance against high OPEC oil prices or the embargo spector, will snap up the tracts, if they are offered, and could eventually start drilling as close as 15 miles from Suffolk's south shore. Oil Talk That possibility has already un leashed a debate in Suffolk. County Executive John Klein, who opposes off-shore drilling, went up to Boston several weeks ago to argue against the new leases in federal hearings. Just last week the county legislature, over his strenuous objections, ap proved the formation of a special committee to talk with the oil industry about what the coming drilling and related operations will mean to the county and to its shoreline. On the day the resolution was passed, a huge oil tanker was splitting up near Nantucket Harbor and spilling millions of gallons of heavy industrial oil into the sea. The ship's captain, it seems, had a faulty gyroscope and went aground. The accident was not lost on Klein. He is liable to site it many times as the oil debate heats here, since off-shore operations south of Long Island apparently will also involve tanker transport. Some businessmen have a very different view, and will stress it in 1977. There is an East Coast oil boom in the ofTmg, they will argue, and Suffolk ought to get a piece of the action instead of just living with the risks of spills and other acci dents. But to Klein, who is pressing a law suit in federal court that is one of the major roadblocks to drilling operations, this is heresy. To him, looking for flnancial rewards from the drilling while opposing it in court puts the county in the posture of holding an anti-drilling club in one hand while reaching for a hand-out with the other. Off-shore drilling will almost cer tainly develop into a major Suffolk political issue, and may cause Klein some trouble in his own party. On the east end, there will be those who will argue the oil companies would be pleased to use Suffolk County Airport in Westhampton as a heli copter and supply base for off-shore operations. That, they will contend, would bring jobs and money to east end and county coffers. Klein does n't want the airport to become an oil base. He will be attacked for that stand. An alliance including Klein, environmentalists, conservationists, some summer residents and tourist interests will engage in a classic debate with those politicians, busi nessmen and year round residents who would welcome the money and jobs they say the drilling could bring. The Plants LILCO will spend 1977 trying to secure construction licenses for the two Jamesport nuclear power plants, and an operating license for the Shoreham plant, on which construc tion will be completed. On Jam e s port, LILCO is only about halfway through the process of winning approval from both the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the state Public Service Commission. 1977 will probably not be the year the final decisions will be handed down. However, what will become known this year is the route transmission lines from Jamesport would follow, a decision reached in a sepearae PSC deliberation which is drawing slowly to a conclusion. If the PSC grants LILCO the right to run lines over head through prime Riverhead farm land, the Long Island Farm Bureau is apt to react with an angry roar and take the decision to court. If the PSC tells LILCO to underground the lines along Route 58, Northville Turnpike and Sound Avenue or along some alternate route, LILCO may turn around and ask the PSC for a rate raise to cover the extra expense. The deliberations on building the Jamesport plants will be strongly affected by national and internation al events. If President-elect Carter swings into office with determination to follow up on his campaign position nuclear power should be used for electrical generation only as a last resort, LILCO could face a different federal attitude toward the technol ogy. But a far more immediate impact would come if a major nuclear power plant accident occured any where in the world. Such an incident could shatter public confidence in the • reactors irreparably. LILCO could also face trouble if investors decide nuclear power is a poor investment, or if it becomes abund antly clear that uranium prices are Coffee Break By Sherley Kat% Too old for New Year’s lists and too eternally young to give them up. I jotted down three words, health, love and peace. That’s what I wish for me and mine. If you’re interested, be my guest. * * * Remember the lists as kids, painstakingly put together with emphasis on riches, the green kind? If a Ruby Keeler flick was the last to make the circuit, tapdancing expertise made the list. In those days of girls’ basketb>ali leagues, I dreamed endlessly of shooting from the edge of the court and sinking the tie-breaking basket. It was ail in my head, i could never get into the air. These were the days of the terrible depression, harder for some than others, but we ail felt it. For years, a convertible was top priority on everyones list, not that we expected to have one but we could see ourselves at the wheel, hair blowing in the wind. On occasion the list contained a fervent hope for a new wardrotje. Putting together an ensemble from scratch seemed the ultimate. Normally, I fell heir to all and any hand-me-downs the others outgrew. Since they had already been altered for the second wearer, another refashioning didn’t do much for them or me. The lists were never prepared alone. The custom was to figure out which set of parents would be going to a New Year’s Eve party which automatically made the daughter of the house a hostess the same night. Sometimes the lists made it home, nrwre often they didn’t. The first infraction brought a wave of derision. After that the whole thing was banished until the next year. * * * It was slightly different, a bit nnore sophisticated, at college. The night t>efore leaving for the Christmas vacation found everyone wandering in at all hours, doing sonne desultory packing and a lot of talking. For some reason I never fathomed, staying up ail night was accepted procedure. These long pre-vacation sessions with nearly the whole population of the house in one room cov^ed a range of subjects and a great deal of \if you could.” Fundannentaily it was a repeat of high school; we wished for the impossible. The depression had given way to an uncertain world. This was the generation that would see our classmates at war and in 1939 we were well aware of it. An uneasy time surrounded us. When I read the review of \Voyage of the Damned’’, I wished I could share my thoughts with some of those who had gathered to talk about the future not knowing it was going to be far worse than we suspected. I wonder what their response would be to the shipload of German Jews who came out of hiding and concentration camps that May of 1939. Visas in hand, 937 of them boarded a ship to nowhere but they didn’t know it. The destination was Havana, Cuba. When they reached there the visas turned out to k>e unacceptable and after sham negotiations and payoffs to corrupt politicians, the ship was ordered to leave. When they came into the territorial waters of the United States, they were ordered to leave again. I feel deep pain for our idealism as students. It wasn’t the real world. According to documentation, the people on the ship were never intended to fiijid a safe haven. It was strategy to show the race was a superfluous people without allies and the final solution was obvious. * * * Health, love and peace. Amen. rising to impossible high levels because of a uranium cartel. Broader Those who would stop nuclear power, both here and across the country, will broaden their argu ments. In Riverhead, the anti-nuc- lear stand will be that the Jamesport plants will alter the character of the east end forever, hook Riverhead on the need for LILCO's taxes to continue to function, and bring new housing tracts that will quickly eliminate any tax benefits LILCO brings because of the need for new services. The Long Island Farm Bureau will continue to air its argument that even the rumor of a radioactive leak at the plants will destroy the market for Long Island agricultural products. If the last few months of 1977 are any indication. LILCO will continue to step up its own campaign to convince its customers that the plants are safe and the only econom ically feasible way to meet energy needs. There message will come in newspaper ads, press conferences and appearances before groups by company personnel. Legislature The county legislature, just emerging from a year of financial battering largely brought on by the mammoth Southwest Sewer District project, will be working with too little money to unhatch any big capital programs, much to the frustration of some legislators who wish to be remembered for something other than pledging a penny of the county s sales tax to pay sewer investors. The Democratic majority, which tightened into a more homogeneous voting block as 1976 wore on, will continue to battle John Klein for a bigger share of power. And several western Suffolk legislators will keep a sharp eye on Klein's farmlands program, and will pounce if any pro blems develop in the taking of development rights to 3800 east end farm acres in phase one of the program. Legislators appear to have the Southwest Sewer District project, still projected to cost somewhere around $1 billion, under financial control, but investigations that be gan into the project this year will surface soon. They could make some headlines, ones charging corruption or gross mismanagement on the part of at least one county official and over-payment to contractors. The project drove the county to the brink of bankruptcy once; it could again in 1977, Bonds It appears that to many bond investors Suffolk County might as well be part of New York City. At least that is how they reacted in 1975 and most of 1976 when the city almost went under financially. Suf folk is caught in the New Vork City web. If the city’s still great fiscal problems intensify in 1977, Suffolk will suffer on the bond market. Interest rates on county issues have SETTING SUN H ighligh ts (Continued from Page 7) Social Services: the s tate's new tidal wetland law was explained at two east end meetings; August 5: JUD subsidized housing application hit Mattituck with a 48 unit dwelling planned; wetland own ers showed distress at the meetings to explain the substance of the state's tidal wetlands act; Hampton Bays asked for control of their water district; an uncharacteristic fight was shaping up over the county leader ship of the Republican Party center ed around' Babylon Town leader, Gilbert Hanse; Suffolk funded a mental health clinic in Riverhead at the county center; August 12: La Belle slammed the east end with storm winds and high tides, schoolhouses were used as refuges and firemen remained on duty for 19 hours at a stretch; non-cumulative zoning was introduc ed in Southold Town after the HUD scare in Mattituck; August 19: Belle cost crops some thing like $10 million; Mattituck voices were strong against HUD and Greenport closed on property using HUD money, taking $4,800 from the first year's consortium funds to buy the Hodges property, Second Street; the Suffolk Legislature passed $30,000 for restoration into the capital budget for equippinf; the North Fork Health Center; Suffolk viewed the decision of Justice Mar shall to allow bidding on the first sale of oil leases off the Atlantic coast with disappointed eyes; August 26: National cemetery at Calverton came under protest; Nuc lear Regulatory Commission opened hearings; agriculture's loss to Belle was estimated at $11.4 million; Southold Town Board rejected HUD housing; Riverhead Town Board announced intentions to file a num ber of applications with the federal government under the Public Works Employment Act of 1976 for possibly half a million; September 2: In another round of off-and-on-again funds for the North Fork Health Center, County Exec Klein deleted the $30,000 for equip ment from the budget; LILCO’s evacuation plans in case of a major nuclear accident were questioned at the NRC hearings; Southampton Town Board adopted a “ stop-gap” wetlands ordinance just in the nick of time, one more day and they would have lost the jurisdiction; HUD funds to 26 Suffolk towns and villages were announced at $4,038 million; September 9: Suffolk Legislature approved Phase I for the county farmland preservatiop;, Southold Town cut back the police department precipitating a storm; Suffolk’s air port commissioner Robert Rosaco was indicted for doing a friend a favor and shutting down the instru ment landing equipment which in turn stopped an impending sale of Westhampton Beach property; Southampton lifted a self-service gas ban; Doc Menendez faced a stiff challenge for the NYS Senate seat in a Democratic primary; September 16: John Klein's civic lesson irked the Democrats in the County Legislature; Suffolk GOP accepted Buzz Schwenks resignation and stated it was an end to speculation on his successor until after the November elections; Vision architects submitted plans in River head; cauliflower sold poorly on the opening day; Menendez lost his nomination for NYS Senator to Barry McCoy: September 23: Southold Board contended the police layoffs were necessary; County Court Judge Jo seph Fox was sworn in to complete the unexpired term of Judge Ernest Signorelli who became Judge of the Surrogate Court: Southampton Town made plans to purchase a new town hall, the old Southampton High School; September 30: Riverhead opposed the Calverton cemetery site; a dem onstration marked the nuclear hear ing start; Klein’s budget showed layoffs, higher taxes; fight was looming over the ward system in Southampton: Mattituck School wanted Economic Development Ad ministration funds; Southold Town planned how to deal with increased insurance and personnel costs in their budget: Oclober 7: Expert urged the use of wind power energy: County an nounced beginning of the swine flu shots: Shelter Island and Southold were judged medically underserved and meetings were held to determine applications for federal funding for a health clinic: PSC reconvened hear ings in Riverhead on route of transmission lines from LILCO's proposed Jamesport plant with all parties but LILCO favoring under ground lines; Southampton put games of chance on the November ballot; tentative '77 east end budgets showed increased local taxes: October 14: Klein supports new back to work program for jobless; Southold tax rate levels out at $3.37; PASNY power will cost $463,000 for final hookup to Greenport light plant: Southampton appealed ward system ruling which ordered the town to include referendum on the November 1976 ballot; there was talk of the county helping LILCO defray underground lines; October 21: Riverhead's Super visor Allen Smith clashed with the PBA on proposed police cuts; Gov ernor Carey was blamed for the loss of a solar energy research plant in Brookhaven; the swine flu shots were under way while in some parts of the state the deaths of 45 elderly persons was blamed on the swine flu shots; conflict of interest charges were raised by Conservative oppon ent to Otis Pike, Seth Morgan the latter charging Pike’s interest in a nursing home complex was incom- patibile with Congress setting med icaid appropriations; October 28: Nuclear engineer, Robert Fluegge, charged LILCO with safety defects; Southold hired con sultants to go after possible grants; Plum Island announced a $10 million expansion: administrative appoint ments were made for the eastern campus of Suffolk County Commun ity College: November 4: First District voters return Duryea and Pike to office, LaValle, Tuthill, Finnerty and Doyle are winners: Southampton Ward System met with defeat: Riverhead PBA Rejects secret contract offers; Pharmacists' revolt spreads to east end: losers Ford and Buckley won in Suffolk: November 11: Legislature hears protests on new social services plan of using store fronts; LILCO foes step up information war; Greenport Passes a $460,000 bond issue; Wool- co opening on Route 58; use of niopeds limited; November 18: Speculation soared briefly that the Suffolk Airport in Westhampton was under active con sideration as a helicopter and supply base for oil companies; Wading River senior citizens went to bat for a community center to remain open to them for meetings; Riverhead ap proved the town budget and made offical a reduction of five policemen from the force: Southold School Board voted ifgainst a referendum on transportation sought by parents; five east end supervisors went on record as seeking the end to binding arbitration; November 25: A trip to Plymouth, Mass., showed co-existence with nuclear plant; Southold reviewed the cost of the county dredge which is no longer in the county budget: Mas- cony was permitted by ICC to operate a sound crossing with a terminal in Greenport; East Quogue asked for tax reassessment: December 2: County readied pur chase of farm development rights; Pastor and Mrs. Daniel Aho of the Redeemer Lutheran Church, Aque- bogue met death in a tragic plane crash leaving twin sons to survive them; Westhampton questioned a full time mayor; Southold Town and PBA go to factfinding; Pulaski Street Division protested; December 9: December 16: Stiff Canadian winds cause severe Southold dust storm; Southampton group opposes division of Ford estate; Mattituck school is target of vandalism; Mas- cony loses Front Street location; LILCO line issue moves slowly; December 23: Legislature appoint ing a committee to study off-shore drilling; a Christmas tree is felled in Riverhead. allegedly a \dare” ; Su- perintendant of Highways Alex Hor ton under investigation by DA; some agreement is reached on North Shore ferry rate increases; Southold CSEA contracts ratified. R e p o r t (Continued from Page 8) Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the famed writer and Soviet exile, provides much of the moral force as in this excerpt from a speech at an AFL-CIO banquet in Washington: Alexander Solzhenitsyn: ‘‘At one time there was no comparison be tween the strength of the USSR and yours. Then it became equal to yours. Now, as all recognize, it’s becoming superior to yours. Soon it will be 2 to 1, then 3 to 1. Finally it will be 5 to 1. \A concentration of world evil, of hatred for humanity is taking place, and it is fully determined to destroy yoirt- society.” Solzhenitsyn’s words are inter spersed - debate style -- with the confident, boastful words of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev to the 25th Party Congress in Moscow. The film concludes, as it opened, with an excerpt from President Kennedy’s final address to a joint session of Congress. only begun to Inch down. Any new city trouble would shove them right back up again. This would cost the county millions and make the auster ity John Klein has written into his 1977 budget even stiffer. The state has financial problems too, and an intensification of them will have a similar affect on Suffolk. John Klein can be depended on to continue his broadsides on rising Medicaid costs the county must pay. Later in 1977, he will renew his vow to dismantle county government in order to pay those costs unless some major changes in the program are made on a state or federal level. Farmlands Klein’s Farmlands Preservation Program will enter a critical phase as 1977 begins. The legislature has given approval for the $21 million phase one, but the county must now reappraise the 53 east end parcels involved and seal its deal on taking development rights with individual owners. There is some indication the reappraisal will come in lower than the figures made in the original valuation two years ago. That could mean some of the owners, dissatis fied with the new figure, will choose to drop out of the program, especial ly if they are land speculators. 1977 could therefore be the year the farmlands program falls partially apart. On the other hand, if the takings go smoothly, Mr. Klein may begin his effort to mount a phase two of the program and gain legislative approval for it. The legislature will also begin to receive applications from east end farmers who wish to form agricultur al districts. The farmes will form the districts both for tax advantages and freedom from local ordinances. Other farmers will enroll in an individual commitment program that allows a similar tax break. Schools It was a tough year for school boards seeking approval of school budgets, and the indications are there is a major taxpayers revolt gathering steam and bearing down on rising school costs. But in a Catch-22 situation, those who voted down school budgets brought on austerity budgets which cut student activities. These voters remain frus trated in their efforts to cut costs by reducing staff or capping salary increases. The pressure on the boards to re-evaluate their policies and teaching staffs can only increase in 1977. Later in the year, contractors will file with the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development under Section 8 in order to build or renovate housing for low to moderate income families and senior citizens. Under the program, HUD will pay rents that are more than 25 percent of the renter's income. As the applications become known, they will meet strong opposition from residents in some towns, such as Southold, where low income multiple dwellings are not a popular possibili ty- East end towns will also get decisions on their applications for federal monies, most notably under the newly enacted Public Works Employment Act. Most applications will yield not a penny. More will be sent out in 1977. The most brutal general trend facing people here and everywhere is continued inflation and a stagnant or recessionary national economy. This will mean more unemployment and a further shrinkage in the buying power of money. Whether President elect Carter will succeed in reviving the nation’s economy remains to be seen. G r o w e r s (Continued from Page 6) hundredweights. Despite this year's larger crop, which averages out to a per acre yield of 290 hundredweights, storage holdings are about the same as on December 1. 1975, when 2,800,000 hundredweights out of total produc tion, of 6,058,000 hundredweights remained unsold. A lively European export business is mainly responsible for this year's heavier movement. Overseas ship ments of Long Island spuds passed the one million hundredweight mark last week, twice the volume exported a year earlier. In the country as a whole, Decem ber 1st potato stocks were estimated as 198,440,000 hundredweights, compared with 179,430,000 in 1975 and 187.715.000 in 1974. W E A T H E R S U M M A R Y Sundgy, Decamber 19, 1976 Thru Sqturdoy, Decmber 25, 1976 TEMPERATURE WIMO INCHES BAR. Hi«h Low DIRECTION PRECIP. Dec. 19 43 25 NW 0.00 30:14 Dec, 20 51 29 SW 0,38 29:72 Dec. 21 31 17 NW 0.00 29:08 Dec. 22 35 21 NW 0.00 29:96 Dec. 23 40 26 SW 0.00 29:89 Dec. 24 34 23 N\V 0.00 29:86 Dee. 2S 44 31 W 0,00 30:12
