Town Acts Swiftly on Civic Association's Call for Sign Fixes

The this week called upon the Town of Brookhaven to act on a rash of vandalism to street signs, and the town heard the call loud and clear.

Responding to a letter sent Tuesday from past president Herb Mones on behalf of the Civic Association, Julia Wilson, an assistant to Highway Superintendent John Rouse, said Wednesday that work orders have been issued to clean up or replace a number of signs that were vandalized. She said the town's sign division, as well as the foreman assigned to the Stony Brook and Setauket areas, will inspect the area for more cleanup work.

"Unfortunately, the 'tagging' of signs has become rampant," Wilson wrote in her reply to the Civic Association. "It is a costly and labor intensive issue for the town and one the Highway Division does not take lightly."

In many cases the letters "JEL" and "TV" and the number "322" have been spray painted on stop signs, speed limit signs, bus stop signs, and others.

Previous instances of vandalism in the Three Village community have occurred at the Long Island Rail Road trestle over Nicolls Road, which has been .

Mones said the town should take a proactive approach to solving the problem, and Wilson then said the town has been working with the Suffolk County Police Department to apprehend the vandals.

"Roadsides that are litter free, landscaped with trees and appropriate signage adds to a community’s sense of place, enhances the overall quality of life, boosts property values and can even calm traffic," Mones wrote in the initial letter. "An increasing problem in the Three Village community is the  deterioration of our ‘streetscapes’ because of the number of town street signs now marred by graffiti."