Week in Review: Winter's Work

Flocks of Traffic Cameras, BESS Grows Up, Chickens & Zoning

Author

Beth Young
January 18, 2026

On the Forks

Flocks of License Plate Cameras Raise Concerns

One of the most noticeable cameras in Southold Town is on the Main Road just west of Wells Road in Peconic.

In late fall of 2025, new solar-powered traffic cameras began popping up along roadways throughout the East End, raising heated discussions on social media about how the cameras were being used.

Energy

Riverhead Plans Hearings in February on Two BESS Applications

The batteries would be near the front of the Hampton Jitney’s Edwards Avenue terminal

Two public hearings on proposed Battery Energy Storage Systems in Calverton are slated for the Riverhead Town Board’s Feb. 18 meeting.

The projects, both of which are large enough to fall under Riverhead’s classification of “Type II,” utility-scale battery systems include a 5 MW/20KWh system proposed at 221 Scott Avenue in the center of EPCAL and a 1 MWh system at the entrance to the Hampton Jitney’s bus terminal on Edwards Avenue.

In Southold

Southold Zoning Board Chairwoman Leslie Weisman

Big House Law Tweak Hints at Incremental Code Changes Ahead

When the Southold Town Board unanimously approved a tweak to its 2022 “big house law” Tuesday evening, it bit off just the tip of the iceberg of a major overhaul of its zoning code that has suffered setbacks since an early draft was rolled out last spring.

Grant Callahan is planning a chicken farm in Southold, and his neighbors are not pleased

Chicken Farm Plan Pits Right to Farm Against Suburban Neighborhood

Poultry farming is not a new concept in the hamlet of Southold, where upstart poultry businesses have in the past decade won the hearts of farm-to-table acolytes for their small-scale approach to raising unique birds.

But a planned 2,100-square-foot agricultural storage building on a proposed chicken farm on Ackerly Pond Lane is ruffling feathers in a neighboring subdivision, where residents were not expecting to find livestock just beyond their backyards.

Environment

Health Department Issues Advisory After Riverhead Sewage Line Break

Contractors working on encasing a sewer line at an East Main Street construction site Wednesday noticed a break in the line, which is believed to have leaked about 10,000 gallons of untreated wastewater into the ground not far from the Peconic River. The Suffolk County Health Department is awaiting the results of sampling in the river, and has advised the public to avoid contact with river water.

Arts

Theater Warning: Stamp Collecting Can Be Dangerous

Unless you’re a die-hard theater buff or a stamp collector, you’ve probably never heard of the play “Mauritius,” which opens at the North Fork Community Theatre in Mattituck this evening. But this “tight little jewel box of a play,” as described by the DC Theatre Scene, should really be on your radar.

Columns

Climate Local Now

Cop30 and the East End

by Jack Gibbons

In November 2025, the nations that have agreed to meet climate goals under the 2016 Paris Accord met at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP 30, in Brazil, to discuss continued efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to limit global warming. 

Meanwhile, Bill Gates, philanthropist and founder of Microsoft, published a memo to COP 30 delegates that directly challenged these efforts.

Gates believes that technological innovations will drive down the “green premium” – the cost difference between clean and dirty energy sources – and this will be sufficient to motivate the shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy resources. 

But climate scientists are deeply skeptical.

Dave’s Desk@Ditch

My New Year’s ‘Conflict Resolution’

by Dave Davis

As easy as it would be to throw out some sort of traditional resolution this time of year, I’m choosing to sit this one out. 

Gone are the days of promising to lose ‘x’ number of pounds by a certain date, only to be frustrated when the numbers on the scale fall short of my ultimate goal. The only resolution that I see worth keeping is one that addresses conflicts. 

Community

Celebrating Dr. King’s Legacy

Numerous community service activities and public commemorations of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. are being held throughout the East End this weekend, including the Southold Anti-Bias Task Force’s annual celebration this afternoon, a youth-organized blood drive in Flanders and memorial breakfasts tomorrow, and a “Free America” open house at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the South Fork on Tuesday.

Community

North Fork Polar Bear Plunge Returns Jan. 25

For the fourth year in a row, North Forkers will head to the shore later this month to plunge into the icy waters in support of our neighbors in need — both people living on shore and the aquatic life under the surface of the Peconic Estuary system.

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UPCOMING EVENTS

Sunday, Jan. 18

Southold Before the Revolution

Southold Town Historian Amy Folk shares a look at the local and national levels of how we went to war in this America 250 presentation at the Cutchogue-New Suffolk Library.

Friday, Jan. 23

Showtunes Reception for “Playbill Throughout the Years” at Floyd Memorial Library

Coordinated with Huck Hirsch of the North Fork Community Theatre, this evening will feature pianist Jim Lowe and several guest vocalists, including a preview of GHS’s upcoming musical, and a piano-bar sing-a-long a la Marie’s Crisis.

Saturday, Jan. 24

Light the Winter Night Trail Walk at QWR

This annual self-guided peaceful stroll through the gently lit forest trail at Quogue Wildlife Refuge returns the evening of Jan. 24.

Our January print edition is on newsstands throughout the East End
All words in and on The Beacon are always generated by human beings. Guaranteed.

Words

“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality.”

— Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

See you next Sunday,

Beth