Southold Town Hall Repairs Continue After Burst Pipe; Meetings at Community Center

A pipe burst above the Southold Town Hall meeting room around 3:30 p.m. on Feb. 9, sending about one-third of the ceiling down and flooding the east side of the Main Road building, Supervisor Al Krupski said. The meeting room that houses Town Justice Court proceedings on Wednesdays and Fridays was vacant when the ceiling collapsed, and Town Board and Justice Court meetings have been relocated to the Peconic Community Center while repairs continue.

Southold Supervisor Scott Russell said the sprinkler or fire suppression system froze and broke, producing roughly two inches of standing water on the east portion of the building. “The sprinkler system froze and broke,” Russell said. “We’re going through the equipment now to see what works. The carpet is wet, we had shop vacs going all night.” Russell added that some west-side offices — Justice Court, the clerk’s office, the supervisor’s office and the tax receiver’s office — should be able to reopen by Tuesday, while the tax assessor’s office sustained worse damage and will take longer to resume normal operations.

Cleanup and restoration began immediately. Town Department of Public Works staff moved to clear the meeting room and other crews rushed to the records cellar below the meeting room to protect paper documents. Belfor Property Restoration was hired to handle professional drying and repairs, and Southold Information Technology Director Lloyd Reisenberg surveyed IT equipment to assess potential data and hardware losses.

Officials are conducting a full inventory of records. “We are also doing an inventory of all documents and, so far, we haven't found damage to official documents,” Russell said, noting that damage so far appears concentrated in replaceable files and equipment.

Town officials estimate the total damage will exceed $150,000, with insurance expected to cover all but $10,000 of that amount. Russell warned the ultimate cost will include equipment replacement as well as building repairs.

Carpet replacement was scheduled for the coming weekend, followed by DPW moving desks and cabinets back into place, and Russell said the town’s goal is to have the impacted areas up and running by the end of next week. Meanwhile, Town Board meetings previously rescheduled for Feb. 10 will be held at the Peconic Lane Community Center until Town Hall services are fully restored.