Suffolk County Approves $275,000 for Park Boundary Surveys, Fencing Projects

The Suffolk County Legislature voted March 10 to commit $275,000 to fencing installations and boundary surveys across county parks, advancing Capital Project 7007 through pay-as-you-go financing drawn from the General Capital Reserve rather than new borrowing.

The resolution, Intro. Res. No. 1076-2026, was introduced by the Presiding Officer at the request of the County Executive and Legislator Kennedy. It had been laid on the table February 3 before receiving final approval. The County Comptroller is now authorized to execute the interfund transfers from Fund 401 to the Capital Fund, with the Department of Public Works directed to include project updates in its Quarterly Status Report.

The $275,000 is divided between two project lines: $25,000 to account 525 CAP 7007.114 and $250,000 to account 525 CAP 7007.423. The Commissioner of Parks, Recreation and Conservation requested the funds for planning and site improvements tied to fencing and surveying work at various county parks.

Suffolk County operates one of the largest county park systems in the United States, spanning more than 60,000 acres of preserved land, beaches, campgrounds and natural areas. The Department of Parks, Recreation and Conservation also maintains thousands of buildings and structures within that footprint. Surveying work under CP 7007 establishes metes and bounds that define park property lines, addressing encroachments from neighboring properties and clarifying boundaries that can shift over time without formal verification.

Fencing serves a range of management purposes across the system, including restricting access to environmentally sensitive areas such as dunes and wildlife habitats, protecting park infrastructure and directing visitor movement. County officials have described boundary verification and fencing as routine parts of park stewardship rather than responses to specific incidents.

The Legislature classified the action as a Type II action under the State Environmental Quality Review Act, citing Section 617.5(c)(1), (2), (21), (26) and (33) of Title 6 of the New York Code of Rules and Regulations, finding that the work involves routine maintenance, surveying, fencing and minor site improvements with no significant adverse environmental impact.

Using pay-as-you-go financing means the county taps available reserves instead of issuing bonds, avoiding debt service costs on a project of this scale. The county confirmed that General Fund operating interfund transfers to the Capital Reserve Fund are available to support the appropriation within the 2026 Capital Budget and Program. The specific parks and sites scheduled to receive fencing or boundary surveys under CP 7007 have not been publicly identified in the resolution.