ISLAND COMMUNITY BOARD
P.O. Box 371, Fishers Island, NY 06390
Tel: 631-788-7990
Email: finy.southold@gmail.com
ICB Monthly Meeting
Wednesday, February 11, 2026, 5:00 pm
Zoom Meeting
Note: There was not a January 2026 Meeting
Total Participants: 84
ICB Representatives: John McGillian (President), George de Menil (Vice President), Staley Sednaoui (Vice President), April White (Year-Round), Richard Miller (Seasonal), Linda Mrowka (Year-Round).
Agenda February 11, 2026
Armando Pereira – Utility Update
Kate Stevens – Southold Update
Brad Burnham & Travis Garcelon – Pickett Solar Update
John McGillian opened the meeting and thanked everyone for participating. He then invited Armando Pereira to begin.
Armando Pereira– Utility Update
apereira@fiuc.net 203-768-3613
Armando introduced himself and gave a brief overview of his career in banking and corporate global real estate, as well as his more recent experience in regional utilities. His working experience has been focused on facing cost, risk, and innovation with practicality. He will always look for proactive solutions to support the customers. He respects the context of Fishers and believes in an open honest engagement with the stakeholders. Armando stressed how important community outreach and transparency is to him as he runs the Fishers Island Utility. He also mentioned what a terrific team of employees he has, and thanked Chris Finan for his many years of work. He also noted his very supportive and hardworking Board. He mentioned that he has asked Patty Faulkner to be the lead customer outreach and communications person at the Utility and he invited all residents to contact him or stop to see him anytime. He believes community trust is earned and he intends to earn it from this community. Stable utilities are the foundation of the company. He will listen to customer concerns and be accountable for the outcomes. He intends to look at long term thinking, not quick fixes. The pressures on Fishers are not unique. He intends to work in a culture of collaboration, and believes we work better when we work together with residents, businesses, and the regulatory agencies. He then highlighted the importance of the water main project and the new submarine cable. Regarding broadband, he stated that placing fiber optic into that undersea cable is an important addition. When asked about Starlink, he believes the broadband is still very important as Starlink is reported to have slower speeds with more traffic and possible state interference. Regarding the undersea cable, Armando said we have the 1967 and 1989 cable. The 67 cable well beyond its useful life. One cable for power is not enough. How would we support increased electrical use? He thinks we’d be rolling the dice to not replace the cable. By having a new cable, we could participate in green energy and sell electricity back to the mainland. Armando says they are working in tandem on the water main replacement project and the submarine cable.
Kate Stevens – Update on Southold
Kate@southoldtownny.gov 631-948-2434
Kate greeted everyone from the Cross Sound ferry, heading back after a long day in Southold and noted her appreciation of Louisa’s efforts communing to Long Island for so many years. Kate emphasized how she has been taking classes in Albany and NYC and learning who’s who in Southold as she gets her mind around all the various responsibilities of being a Town Board Rep. With regards to Fishers, Kate said she is working on the DMV project as well as community housing. She said the Town Engineer (Michael Collins who wants to retire in a few years) has 6 projects on Fishers: the highway barn, the sewer district (which needs pump, generator and camera inspection), the restoration of the Barracks, and closing the road adjacent to the failing Sea Wall and putting in turnarounds. She intends to have strong communication with the residents of Fishers and making sure she knows what the residents want. In fact, she had a question for our community about the short term rental code that Southold is working on. It was suggested that her questions be put on Fishnet so she can learn what our community wants. One question from a resident was about the status of the 4-stop sign at the ball field. April White recalled there was a survey put out and it had a negative response.
Brad Burnham – Update on Pickett Solar field
Brad shared a slide deck which summarized an update on the solar project. He said it has been a pleasure to work with Armando and his commitment to renewables. Brad is working on moving the project forward. In summary, they are exploring a 1.2 mw solar array. The ability to export solar energy on the Island would reduce transmission losses as well as create needed energy. He agrees we need a new submarine cable because we don’t have enough land capacity to run enough solar to power the island. Ideally, with a new cable, we would be able to export excess energy produced. He is looking at battery storage because, currently, we don’t have the capacity to send energy back on our existing cables. They are currently working on a zoning change (zoned R40 now) with Waste Management. The Zoning Board is receptive and working on a proposal which would limit the use to the planned footprint of the solar array and would revert when solar lease period is over in 25 years. They are also doing engineering work, a wetland study, and testing the depth of the cap of the landfill, which would be a “ballasted” array because you aren’t allowed to pierce the cap. Brad thanked Waste Management and said they have been very helpful. Currently, they are working on the interconnection to the FI grid right now, which is the trickiest part of the project (i.e., how interconnection would affect the power and present any potential risks). There can’t be voltage spikes and new equipment would be necessary with various safety mechanisms. They are hoping to have a couple of proposals in the next few weeks. There is a 30% investment tax credit which might still be available if they begin construction by June and they are working towards that goal. The array makes sense even without the tax credits, as it would lead to lower rates overall even without the tax credits. They won’t have a final proposal until they have an interconnect with the Utility. The most sensible plan would be to start with an array first and then consider adding a battery later.
A short conversation followed about a few questions in the chat, including the lack of Fishers representation over the years (Zoning, building inspector, and constables). Kate responded and invited residents to reach out to her to serve on various town committees to get involved and represent the island.
With no further questions or business, John adjourned the meeting at 6:05 PM.
