Clean up by H.S. AP Biology and "Greenagers" Club volunteers seen as a first step

Councilman Steve Fiore-Rosenfeld (left) joins Comsewogue High School Students during the clean-up event in the Terryville Greenbelt conservation area on Friday, October 7.

Farmingville, NY – On Friday, October 7, Councilman Steve Fiore-Rosenfeld worked with, thanked and encouraged the Comsewogue High School “Greenagers” club and the L.E.A.P. club to clean up a part of the Terryville Greenbelt conservation area just south of the school that the students are informally calling the “Warrior Woods” (Comsewogue's team being called the 'Comsewogue Warriors'). The group was organized under the guidance of Ms. Shane Goldberg, who teaches Biology and Advanced Placement (AP) Environmental Science classes at the high school and other local volunteers. Councilman Fiore-Rosenfeld, who worked closely with Ms. Goldberg to organize the clean-up, also coordinated with the Town’s Department of Waste Management to pick-up the debris that the students collected.

"The Terryville Greenbelt is a critical watershed which helps to replenish our underground drinking water aquifer. I've continued to advocate for acquisition of the various parcels which make up this ecosystem and critical remnant of the Terryville Outwash Plain," said Councilman Steve Fiore-Rosenfeld. "It was always the vision to incorporate the obvious connections of Comsewogue High School and its student body and faculty hoping to some day have them utilized the town's open space holdings as an outdoor learning laboratory for biological and ecological studies. I'm thrilled to finally have a teacher of the caliber of Ms. Goldberg and her AP students interested in pursuing such a connection with our Township.

Ms. Goldberg said, "Today's clean-up of the Terryville Greenbelt (or "Warrior Woods" some of our students are informally calling it) was a successful first step in fostering a sense of pride and stewardship for the students of Comsewogue High School."

Initial site visit with Student's teacher Ms. Shane Goldberg, the Councilman and DEP staffers John Turner and John Lessler occurred in September in prelude to establishing a longer term relationship between the Comsewogue School District and the Town of Brookhaven and its abutting Terryville Greenbelt open space holdings.

Councilman Fiore-Rosenfeld has been a staunch advocate of the Town’s open space initiative and in December 2010, he was instrumental in the Town’s acquisition of 16 parcels in the Terryville Greenbelt conservation area adjacent to Comsewogue High School. The parcels are in an area that the Town, with Councilman Fiore-Rosenfeld’s full support, has made numerous open space purchases in the past. The entire Terryville Greenbelt is 60 acres and over 37 have been purchased by the Town under its long-standing policy to protect this critical watershed area. The goal is to eventually purchase the remaining parcels within the greenbelt so that this assemblage of properties will be wholly protected and interconnected.

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