April 11, 2024 — Town Board Work Session

Town Board Work Session Meeting

Timestamped Transcript

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0:00Thank you.
0:30Thank you.
1:00Mr. Cuddy, would you mind leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance?
1:03Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America
1:07and to the republic for which it stands,
1:10one nation, under God, indivisible,
1:13with liberty and justice for all.
1:16Thank you, Mr. Cuddy.
1:21Okay, we have five items on for open session.
1:25Then we will do resolutions,
1:27and then we will close open session
1:29and go into executive session.
1:31Item number one on for open session
1:33is matters surrounding the update and overview
1:36of the Riverhead Community Awareness Program,
1:39or CAP, as we well know it,
1:41with Denise Merrifield.
1:43And, Denise, I'll turn it over to you.
1:45Hi.
1:45I'd like to invite the representatives from CAP to come on up
1:48and let everybody know the wonderful work
1:50that they're doing in the town.
1:52Absolutely.
1:59Good morning.
2:02Good morning.
2:03Good morning.
2:04If you would just all state your names
2:05so the people watching at home know who you are.
2:07Sure.
2:08I'm Isabella Marcucci.
2:09I'm the Coalition Coordinator for Riverhead CAP.
2:11Nice to meet you.
2:12I'm Felicia Skakosa, the Executive Director of Riverhead CAP.
2:15And how many years now, Felicia?
2:18Twenty-five.
2:19Twenty-five.
2:20Excellent.
2:21Very good.
2:22It's an awesome program.
2:23Since the last century.
2:24Yes.
2:25Excellent.
2:26Excellent.
2:27All right, Denise, you want to go ahead and?
2:28Yes.
2:28All right.
2:28All right.
2:29All right.
2:29All right.
2:29All right.
2:29All right.
2:29All right.
2:29All right.
2:29All right.
2:29Well, I was actually going to let Isabella tell everybody
2:33all the great work that they do.
2:35Sure.
2:35So Riverhead CAP is a nonprofit that's based in Riverhead.
2:39We are the major prevention provider
2:41for the Riverhead School District.
2:43And we do a lot of work with the schools.
2:45So we do a few school-based programs.
2:48So this is a little bit of an overview of our programs.
2:51Thank you.
2:52Thank you.
2:52Thank you.
2:53Thank you.
2:54Thank you.
2:54Thank you.
2:55Thank you.
2:56Thank you.
2:58So we do provide a lot of information.
2:59We do provide some prevention-based counseling
3:01in the schools.
3:02We have social workers that are based in the middle school
3:05and the high school.
3:06And they have a social worker who
3:08works at both Phillips Avenue and Roto schools.
3:12They provide brief training prevention counseling.
3:15And in the middle and high school,
3:17they also offer a team intervene for students
3:21who are caught vaping once or twice.
3:24They get that to help them.
3:28Along with our school-based programs,
3:29we also do prevention program curriculum
3:31within fourth, fifth, sixth, eighth, and ninth grades.
3:36Come a little bit closer to the microphone.
3:38So there's one right over there, too, for you.
3:40So with the prevention programs within the schools,
3:43our longest-running one is the Pulaski program,
3:45which I'm sure you've heard about.
3:47I, myself, went through it when I went to Riverhead.
3:50And that one's a really unique one,
3:51because we get community volunteers, along
3:54with middle school and high schoolers, to help us teach
3:59the curriculum.
3:59And then we also have a program called the Cat March.
4:02And the Cat March is a program that's
4:03a really important one.
4:04And it's a program that's really important to the fifth and sixth
4:07graders.
4:08And then, as you know, we do our Cat March at the end
4:10of the year to really celebrate the program.
4:13So that Cat March is June 6.
4:15It's going to be June 7 on a Friday.
4:16You are all obviously going to be invited to that.
4:18So we hope you're able to attend.
4:20What was the date again?
4:21June 7.
4:22And what does that entail?
4:24The Cat March.
4:25So we have a keynote speaker who comes and speaks to all the fifth
4:29graders.
4:30And we get all these t-shirts that say, Drug Free Body.
4:32And we really celebrate being substance free.
4:35The students get to make signs and have banners.
4:39And they do a march from Pulaski to part of downtown
4:42and come back.
4:42And they get a day to celebrate.
4:45The Mousse Lodge provides food for us.
4:48And for all the students.
4:50And the students, yes.
4:52And it's really a celebration of just prevention
4:55and all the hard work they've done throughout the year.
4:58So hopefully.
4:59Yeah.
4:59You can attend.
5:00We do have special speakers for each classroom.
5:03I was honored to speak a few years ago on that.
5:06I was like, when I first came in as a town board member,
5:08and all the kids in the class made me this awesome card
5:10and everything like that.
5:11And I felt like it was really great.
5:13Yeah.
5:13You're celebrities to them.
5:14Yeah.
5:15Exactly.
5:15A lot of our other elected officials come as well.
5:18It's a really fun day, I have to say.
5:20It's a great day.
5:21And the kids appreciate somebody coming to their class.
5:24Sure.
5:24Yeah.
5:25And walking with them.
5:26Yeah.
5:26And you said that's June 7?
5:28Friday, June 7.
5:29Yes, exactly.
5:30It's in the morning.
5:35We just need good weather.
5:37Yes.
5:38Hopefully no more smoke from the Canadian fires like last year.
5:41Oh, exactly.
5:41Right?
5:42Yes, that's right.
5:42Walking around in school.
5:43Yes.
5:44Yeah.
5:45So this year, fingers crossed, it's going to be amazing.
5:49Along with our school-based programs,
5:51we also have community-based programs.
5:52So I do the coalition, and we really
5:55work with all our sectors within the community,
5:58such as elected officials.
5:59We work with the health care sector.
6:03We also work with the New York National Guard a lot.
6:07And they help us find strategies that
6:10reduce the opportunities for substance use in the community.
6:14We do a lot of environmental strategies.
6:17Like Denise, you helped us with our environmental scan
6:20a few weeks ago, where we went into local vape shops and gas
6:23stations and just saw what they were selling.
6:27Because as we know, they are selling, you know,
6:28they are selling substances that they shouldn't be selling.
6:31So getting that information is really important for us,
6:33because then we can share it with the police department.
6:35And now they know what places to check out and do compliance
6:39checks at.
6:40Oh, they were very willing to help me and the other person
6:42I went with.
6:44I was amazed how open they were about the illegal items
6:48that they were selling in the store.
6:49Yeah.
6:49A lot of times, they keep the substances,
6:51like flavored vapes, not in view,
6:54because those are illegal.
6:55But then if you just ask someone, say, oh, do you have a flavor,
6:57they'll open up a cabinet.
6:58And then show it to you.
7:00So by doing that.
7:01That's just what they did.
7:01Exactly.
7:02Yeah.
7:03You were very good undercover.
7:04Good work, Denise.
7:06Yeah.
7:07Thanks.
7:09So that's just one of the strategies
7:11we do for getting data.
7:12But we also do focus groups in the middle school
7:16and high school.
7:16So we just performed two focus groups in the past month,
7:20where we got qualitative information from students
7:24about what are they seeing in the schools,
7:27what are they seeing in the community,
7:28what are they seeing in the community for substances.
7:30And we found out, no, they don't really
7:32think anyone's drinking at beaches anymore.
7:34Now it's more like house parties or getting an older sibling,
7:38allowing them to buy it for them.
7:40So it's really important information
7:42to help us cater our strategies to the substance
7:45use in the community.
7:49So along with that, we also have been working
7:51with some mental health first aid.
7:54So my coworker, Sandra, she runs all that section.
7:57Yeah.
7:57So she's a mental health first aid
7:59trainings, which is a six-hour training.
8:02It's seven, really.
8:04Seven-hour training.
8:04So that is a very in-depth look.
8:08We offer it for adults and people who work with youth.
8:11But then we also offer a 90-minute, 60, 90-minute
8:15option called QPR, question, persuade, refer.
8:19And that's for suicide prevention.
8:21And that's a really great option.
8:22And the great thing is, because it's with a grant,
8:24we offer all these trainings for free.
8:27So any organizations that want to be
8:31trained to see the signs of mental health issues or suicide,
8:37we do offer free training.
8:39So on that sheet, you can contact Sandra or myself
8:41if you want me to get you in contact with Sandra
8:44to get those free trainings.
8:46We also offer specialized, so people who work with veterans
8:50or people who work as first responders,
8:52because that's a specific kind of trauma
8:54that they're experiencing.
8:57So these people are now trained in how to actually speak with them
9:01and learn the signs for that specialized group.
9:05We've done several with the Riverhead Police Department.
9:07The chief has been really good in bringing in some
9:10of the other East End departments, too.
9:12And we're planning on doing some more in that area.
9:15That's great.
9:15Excellent.
9:16I wanted to ask you, just for a moment, supervisor,
9:19can we put this up on our site?
9:22100%, yes.
9:24So we'll get this up, the cover sheet.
9:25Do you want me to sign?
9:26I'll send you a digital copy so it doesn't get to that.
9:29It makes it easier for Justin.
9:31Yeah, perfect.
9:32I didn't mean to interrupt you.
9:33Please don't take it.
9:34And then finally, we also just received the Partnership
9:38for Success grant.
9:39That was really great because we were
9:41one of the few organizations to receive this grant.
9:45We're the country.
9:46Yes.
9:48So it was really great.
9:50And it really helps us build the prevention infrastructure
9:53within Riverhead Town.
9:54So we are working with the
9:56some of our sectors, such as we've worked a lot with PBMC,
9:59Northwell Health.
10:00They are one of our bigger partners,
10:02and same with the Riverhead Police Department
10:05and the school district.
10:08Do you want to speak anything to Partnership for Success?
10:11It's a very large grant.
10:13There's a lot of moving parts.
10:16So the goal, as Bella said, is to build prevention
10:20infrastructure that's sustainable after the five
10:23years of the grant ends.
10:25So we're working on several projects.
10:26Like we've put some evidence-based programming
10:32in place in the school district that we're not actually
10:35teaching ourselves for once.
10:37But we're supplying the training and the materials
10:41for the teachers.
10:42And there was a gap in, you know,
10:44there was Pulaski in fifth and sixth.
10:47And we have a couple of people doing fourth grade programs.
10:50But there was really nothing standardized after that,
10:53as far as substance use prevention.
10:55So now they're doing the 15 sessions,
10:57Too Good for Drugs and Violence, which is also
11:00about healthy relationships and bullying in eighth grade
11:03and ninth grade.
11:04So that's a big change.
11:06We're also trying to implement an SBIRT, Screening Brief
11:10Intervention Referral for Treatment, program
11:13in some of the schools so that some of the youth
11:16don't fall through the cracks.
11:18That's great.
11:19I wanted to just ask you, you mentioned earlier something
11:22about surveys in the school.
11:24Could you just speak to that?
11:25A parent had contacted me and was concerned that if the children fill
11:31out the survey on their email that they have with the school,
11:36is that going to be somehow, I know
11:39that the surveys are anonymous.
11:40They were concerned that the school would get access
11:43to identity of the individual that fills out the survey.
11:47Could you just speak to that,
11:48just to allay people's concerns about that?
11:51Sure.
11:53So when you go into the survey,
11:54you're going to get a survey.
11:55The second you get into the survey,
11:57it becomes anonymous.
11:58And there is no way for the school
12:00to collect any information about the student or the person
12:03filling out the survey.
12:05And then furthermore, when the school gets the information
12:07back, it comes as an aggregate.
12:09So they don't get to see who actually answered a question
12:13or even who answered the survey.
12:16So it is completely anonymous, completely confidential.
12:18There is no way for the school to get the information
12:21about who's answering what or who even is answering the survey.
12:25And this helps you find out what these kids know about drugs, right?
12:28If someone in their family is using them or friends,
12:32or if they're using them, it gives you that kind of data
12:34to know what programs to start, right?
12:36Exactly.
12:36That's why taking anonymous data is so important,
12:39because someone's more likely to be honest.
12:41And that's why we want to make sure everyone knows it is
12:43completely anonymous.
12:44There's no way to trace it back, because we want
12:46to know the honest truth about what is happening in the schools
12:49and in the community, because we want to be able
12:51to direct our services to help those areas.
12:53And this is the CAP program.
12:55Right.
12:55Yeah.
12:55And we're referring to, not any other surveys.
12:57Yeah. We only did the Clyde survey.
12:58We only did the Clyde survey a few weeks ago.
13:01Also, I just want to add
13:03that survey data helps us track our outcomes.
13:07We can't just say, oh, the programs we're doing are great
13:11because the kids really like them.
13:13That's not enough.
13:14We need to track our outcomes.
13:16So as you probably are aware, in 2019, we were named Coalition
13:21of the Year nationally through Community Anti-Drug Coalition
13:25of the Nations of America.
13:26And that is because if you look in your packet under,
13:32on this page of underage drinking, we were able
13:34to show significant long-term outcomes
13:37in reducing underage drinking,
13:40as well as prescription drug abuse, actually.
13:43So we need to be able to track our outcomes, and our funders also want us
13:48to track our outcomes, because part
13:50of the Drug-Free Communities grant that we had, which is ending now,
13:55it's very powerful.
13:57If you remember Kelly Malosky, she went to the work
13:59for what's called the DFC National Evaluation Team,
14:03and that team tracks national outcomes.
14:08So we have to put in certain core measures every two years
14:11into the system, but it also shows that communities
14:16with drug-free community coalitions
14:18in them have significantly been able to reduce youth access
14:22to substances and subsequently reduce drug abuse.
14:25So we're in a phase now
14:27in which we're able to determine if there are substances
14:30that are in the system that might affect the society.
14:33So if there are substances in the system,
14:35if there are substances in the system that might affect society,
14:39if there are substances in the system that might affect society,
14:42if there are substances in the system that might affect society,
14:46if there are substances in the system that might affect society,
14:49if there are substances in the system that might affect society,
14:51if there are substances in the system that might affect society,
14:54being in the funeral homes and family members were in hospice, going back 30 years ago,
14:59we used to have to sign off and witness.
15:01The nurses would take the drugs and they would put them down the sink because they just didn't
15:04know anything was there.
15:05And then you realize later on that that was affecting potentially water supply and so
15:09forth and toxins and so forth.
15:12Now I think it's so great.
15:13We always share with all the families, like, you know, after the nurse leave, like, any
15:16other things?
15:17It's going to be a nice take-back day.
15:18My son, 24 now, so he's getting older, still loves to go and attend that and be there for
15:23him.
15:23It's a good take-back day.
15:24And that's great.
15:27Like, you know, I think one year it was, it rained.
15:31It rains every year.
15:32Like, torrential.
15:32Every time.
15:33Especially for the past year.
15:35Since you've joined us.
15:38Lastly, I've been to a spin rating.
15:39I'm noticing a pattern.
15:41Smoke.
15:42Rain.
15:42What?
15:43He runs car to car and everything and helping people.
15:46If people can't make it, we have, through our opioid grant, several other options for
15:52disposal.
15:53There's a medical.
15:53There's a medication drop box at the Rip Ed Police Department, which is 24-7.
15:58And through those take-back days and the medication drop box, we've collected over 12,000 pounds
16:04of medication since 2014, which for this size community is a lot.
16:09And it doesn't go in the water.
16:11Right.
16:12And it's not available to be abused.
16:15Right.
16:15And then we have several other disposal opportunities for people who can't make it.
16:20In fact, we're busting at the seams with this stuff.
16:22So we have Deterra.
16:23We have the activation bags.
16:25We have Dispose RX envelopes that go right into the prescription pill bottles.
16:30And we also have Safe RX lock-in pill bottles for, you know, elderly can use it.
16:37Parents can use it.
16:38Anyone who just doesn't want someone getting into their medication, either by accident
16:42or on purpose.
16:44We do offer them for free.
16:46So if anyone wanted them and can't make it out to the office to pick it up, we can ship
16:51it to them.
16:51So they can just...
16:53Contact the office and we can set it out to be shipped to them.
16:57I...
16:57We can...
16:58Oh, sorry.
16:58No, no, go ahead.
16:59I was going to say, or we can partner with any of the town organizations like the Senior
17:04Center...
17:04I was just going to say...
17:05...to distribute them.
17:06Maybe partner with Meals on Wheels or something like that to distribute these for homebound
17:12people or veterans.
17:14We also now have lock-in bags for people to store their marijuana since it's legal.
17:22Right.
17:23We have free lock-in bags that were no questions asked.
17:26We're happy to distribute them to keep, again, what we are learning, not just from our focus
17:33groups, but in me speaking with other coalitions over the years, is that it's very easy for
17:39youth to access their parents' weed, edibles, you know.
17:46So in order to keep them safe, we have these lock-in bags that we'll send to anyone for
17:52free.
17:52Okay.
17:53That's great.
17:54Yeah.
17:55And in the years past, you've teamed up with Peconic Bay Medical Center.
17:58I know in the last two years, I got my Narcan training there.
18:01So that was always good.
18:02I don't know if that continues, but that was always just something good to have.
18:06You never know when they're driving.
18:07You know, it's, you know, I'm proud that my family is, my kids are great.
18:12I'm not naive.
18:13They're really great kids.
18:14But like, you never know, taking the training, I always have it in the back of my truck.
18:18So if you're just driving along and you see somebody collapse on the side of the road
18:20or something like that, you have the ability.
18:23Of getting the training from you and the issue of Narcan.
18:25So that's always been a good little added to the juke guys.
18:29You do great work.
18:30Very impressive.
18:31Thank you.
18:32Speaking of Narcan trainings, at our upcoming meet and greet, which you are all invited
18:35to, Northwell, the South Oaks Hospital, they will be doing free Narcan trainings and providing
18:41Narczone at the meet and greet.
18:44So hopefully you're able to attend and re-up your training if you'd like.
18:47So here is an invitation.
18:51Thank you.
18:51These were mailed.
18:52But if you could please let us know.
18:55Yes.
18:55We will be doing.
18:56We will be attending.
18:57I know Bob already said he wasn't coming.
19:01I did?
19:01Yeah.
19:01Didn't you respond that you weren't able to make it?
19:03Yes.
19:04I got a response saying that you weren't.
19:05I love this event, but it's grueling interviews sometimes.
19:11Oh, yes.
19:11It was tough questioning.
19:14That's fine.
19:15That's fine.
19:16But I would like to do it.
19:20The other thing is, can we share this with the people?
19:21Yes.
19:21Yes.
19:21Yes.
19:22Yes.
19:22Yes.
19:22Yes.
19:22Yes.
19:22Yes.
19:22Yes.
19:22Yes.
19:22Yes.
19:22Yes.
19:22Yes.
19:22Yes.
19:22Yes.
19:22Yes.
19:24They did receive the invitation.
19:28So it's not open to the entire community type of event.
19:32We don't have the capacity to do that.
19:36But we did invite about 200 stakeholders in the community.
19:40I'm going to see why I can't make this.
19:44Well I have to say our town board coordinator is fantastic,
19:48Diane Tucci. She already has this on my calendar for me and I will be
19:52in attendance. I go wherever Diane tells me to go.
19:56Yeah, it's every year we do something different.
20:00But there's lots of... It's on my calendar.
20:04See? Oh good. So are you coming?
20:08It's on my calendar twice.
20:12It's on my calendar twice too. To Joanne's point,
20:16Diane, we're robots for her.
20:20Great. Excellent.
20:22So and there's lots of interactive activities and our youth coalition
20:26will of course as usual be highlighted. What they've been doing
20:30in the community and we're just going to really be talking about looking forward
20:34to the future of prevention in Riverhead.
20:38That's terrific. Thank you for coming in. Thank you.
20:42I have to say that over the years the Riverhead CAP has set the standards
20:46for many organizations. The awards that you guys have
20:50received is tremendous. The work that you've done in the community is phenomenal.
20:56The number of kids that you have reached out to and have gone through the program
21:00over the years. My kids all went through it.
21:04And it's just an awesome program. Thank you.
21:08And the hard work that you put in. Nobody sees what you do behind the scenes
21:12but we know a lot goes into it and we really appreciate you here in our community
21:16and what you do. Thank you. We have a great team. So thank you very much.
21:20Thank you. Thank you.
21:24I was so happy to be on the team and imagine how happy I was when Bella
21:28who was a peer leader in high school showed up for an interview one day
21:32and I was basically before I even spoke to her I was like you're hired.
21:36I was all over the CAP website from high school.
21:40There's nothing more exciting than having someone who's been through your program
21:44and through multiple programs then shows up and wants to work at your place.
21:48It's such a great feeling and makes you feel very old.
21:52Well she only went through the program last year.
22:00Anything, any other questions? No I think it's great.
22:04Thank you so much. See you on April 30th.
22:18Okay, item two we have. We have Joyce Novak
22:22and regarding matters surrounding the Peconic Estuary Partnership.
22:26Hello there, how are you? Hi, this is Valerie
22:30She is our outreach coordinator and she's going to be
22:34speaking today.
22:38As well, so I put together a presentation to sort of guide us through here.
22:42And I'm just going to start with, I don't know everybody here.
22:46So I'm going to start with a little bit of how
22:50and what the National Estuary Program is.
22:54Well we'll take care of that first. We have Councilwoman Joanne Roski.
22:58Hello. Good morning. Councilman Bob Kern. Hello.
23:02Tim Hubbard you've met. Councilman Ken Rothwell. Hello.
23:06And Councilwoman Denise Merrifield. Hello. Hi, how are you?
23:10And you know Drew Dilling. Drew I know well, yes.
23:14And I'm glad to have the opportunity to be here in person.
23:18So I just want to go through a little bit of the National Estuary Program.
23:22We've been here on the East End since 1993.
23:26The program was originally hosted through Suffolk County.
23:30In 2017 we left Suffolk County and we are currently
23:34hosted by Stony Brook University. And that just means that they help us
23:38as a fiscal host to
23:42assist us with contracting and financial management.
23:46I won't go through the watershed. You guys live here.
23:50You know it's here and how great it is. But why is the National Estuary Program
23:54important? We're authorized under Section 320 of the Clean Water Act.
23:58However we are non-enforcement and non-regulatory. We have no interest
24:02in doing the state or the federal government's
24:06job in that respect. We are here to build community partnerships.
24:10And quite frankly to get money on the ground for our communities.
24:14And so how do we make decisions? We're guided by
24:18a comprehensive conservation management plan which is a series of 35 actions.
24:22From community engagement to habitat work to water quality
24:26work to coastal resiliency most recently.
24:30And it is under these actions that we are able to
24:34move money around and get it on the ground.
24:38Our governance has a series of committees with our policy committee
24:42at the top and working our way down. We would really
24:46like to see Riverhead engaged in
24:50our management structure. We have two local government
24:54representatives who have a vote on our management committee. That is important
24:58because that votes on what we spend our money on, how much of it goes to the ground, and where
25:02it goes. And I will be at the East End Supervisors
25:06meeting coming up to reach out to all supervisors to see who is
25:10interested in having more engagement on our committees.
25:14We have located an individual within our town that works for us
25:18that is more than happy to do this. I know it's been a while since Riverhead
25:22had representation. I'm not really sure why we haven't had it, but
25:26we want to take care of that and we want to get some representation on it.
25:30That would be great. And again, we talked about that.
25:34I think this was one of those post-COVID
25:38everybody had a lot going on for a long time to bounce back.
25:42We're going to go through some estuary-wide
25:46program updates with Valerie and then we'll
25:50circle back to some exciting things in Riverhead.
25:54Okay, great. Thank you. So I'll just go quickly through some updates that we had
25:58over the past year. And this is just a small section of all
26:02the great work that PEP does. So you may be familiar
26:06with the Byron Young Fish Passage at Woodhull Dam right across the street
26:10from the county center where PEP works out of. This is an
26:14ongoing fish passage project that's over a decade in planning
26:18and implementation. And if you're familiar with Byron Young,
26:22he's a really amazing person. He is a retired
26:26fisheries biologist with the DEC. He spent over a decade
26:30actually bringing these fish into the water.
26:32And he's in a bucket up over the dam upstream so that they
26:36could go spawn. So to honor him, we did work with
26:40the Suffolk County Legislature to name this fish passage project
26:44after him. And we had that unveiling event last year. That fish passage
26:48project is up and running. We also have a camera at that
26:52location so we can see how many fish are
26:56using this fish passage. There's also an eel passage.
27:00Oh, I didn't know that. I knew they all were.
27:02Yeah, that's very cool.
27:04Elwhife monitoring, as I said, we do have that new Elwhife
27:08monitoring camera at Woodhull Dam. And we have the
27:12existing camera at Grangeable that we work with DEC,
27:16Town of Riverhead to put in each year. We've had consistent data from
27:20that point for a very long time. So that's up and running once again.
27:24We have our annual horseshoe crab survey. We host a site
27:28at Squires Pond in Hampton Bays.
27:32But that, of course, is an island-wide endeavor
27:36that we work with the DEC and Cornell Cooperative Extension to
27:40continue that. We have a new endeavor with SeaTuck,
27:44a river otter survey that we actually worked last year to get Stony Brook
27:48students, interns, working with SeaTuck to identify locations
27:52where we're seeing new river otters, including right here
27:56in Riverhead. Amongst a lot of the development, there's little pockets of wetland
28:00and we actually see river otters using those locations, which is
28:04really interesting. I just learned that yesterday. It was so interesting.
28:08I had no idea that they were here. I didn't either. They're slowly coming
28:12back. It's interesting because they're very elusive.
28:16So I've been with the interns to go out looking for
28:20these new locations and you're just looking for signs of them. It's really hard to
28:24actually find them, but slowly they are spreading them and we are seeing
28:28much more evidence of those otters. I think I saw one in a pond
28:32at a golf course. I thought it was a beaver. Somebody said, no, that's
28:36a goose. I said, no, it's not a goose.
28:40I said, they don't stay underwater like that and
28:44move like this. Anyway, that's great.
28:48If it was sneaking around hard to look at, it may have been an otter.
28:52Okay, so we have our annual water quality report
28:56that we put out. 2022 is up on the website and we're
29:00working to finalize 2023's water quality report. We get
29:04information from all different sources, so that's quite an
29:08endeavor to put together and finalize, but that should be up on our website soon.
29:12We have our Eastern Peconic Blue Carbon site. Joyce will
29:16go into some of these projects a little bit more granular after I'm
29:20finished. Sorry for this blank slide, but we actually did
29:24have our biannual conference
29:26last year right at Atlantis Banquets and Events here in Riverhead,
29:30bringing together a bunch of stakeholders and talking about all the great work that
29:34PEP does and our partners are also doing in the region.
29:38We have a USGS solute transport model project that's been ongoing
29:42for quite some time. We're in the final stages of the USGS
29:46finishing that project and also creating an app that's easy to use
29:50because this is very technical and this will show different
29:54scenarios for nitrogen reduction. So if we work on
29:58certain types of nitrogen reduction, what can
30:02we see projections for the future?
30:06Next we have Aquabotic Wetland
30:10Restoration. We are working in partnership with local organizations
30:14and smart teams. This is a really interesting
30:18task in that it is working to restore natural hydrology for
30:22this wetland to improve the functionality of the wetland.
30:26It also started as a mosquito mitigation technique.
30:30Working to restore the natural hydrology so there aren't those sitting pools
30:34that we see those mosquitoes coming from and also
30:38going out there and scooping mosquito larvae.
30:42A lot of great partnership and on the ground work in this task.
30:46Next we have Broad Cove, which I'm sure you are all familiar with.
30:50This is a former duck farm site. We are working
30:54with Peconic Land Trust and through our bipartisan
30:58infrastructure law funds to create public access
31:02signage and in the future work for more environmental
31:06remediation. That is an absolutely beautiful piece of property.
31:10If anybody hasn't been down there, I invite you to
31:14take a walk through there because you will be amazed.
31:18You will be able to check for ticks when you are done.
31:22It is interesting that in the last presentation you mentioned
31:26the Canadian wildfires last summer because we actually had a planned
31:30eelgrass aerial survey that was postponed due to those wildfires.
31:34There is a very short period of time during the summer that you can actually do
31:38this aerial flyover technique and it was completely smoked out
31:42the entire time that we would like to do this.
31:46Hopefully this summer.
31:50Next we have Three Mile Harbor. This is the
31:54location of a PRB, so that is a permeable reactive barrier
31:58which is a technique to remove contaminants such as nitrogen
32:02from groundwater before it flows into our surrounding waterways.
32:06We are working now to monitor the effectiveness
32:10of this to future plan where
32:14these work best, if it is working in the site at all,
32:18so that we will have more information on it.
32:22Next we have this great tool on our website.
32:26Nitrogen Load Reduction BMPs.
32:30This is a great tool that anyone from homeowners to
32:34municipalities can use when working to reduce nitrogen.
32:38It has various different techniques that you can use to reduce
32:42nitrogen input and also will go into the cost effectiveness of
32:46each of these alternatives. Our critical land protection strategy
32:50also very useful for municipalities when you are working
32:54to plan climate resiliency as well as land acquisition for
32:58preservation. You can go ahead and check out that tool. If you do want
33:02any further help using that, you can go ahead and call the PEP office and
33:06we can help you with that. Next we have Now River Broad Meadows
33:10Marsh Restoration. Is this the latest that the land use agreement is in process?
33:14No, the land use agreement is finalized. Engineering designs are underway.
33:18Okay, great. Next we have Paul Stoutenburg.
33:22You are in completion for those engineering designs as well.
33:30Do you want to go over that one? Sure, absolutely.
33:34We are doing some work with the aquaculture industry.
33:38When Suffolk County renewed their lease program a couple of years ago,
33:42there were some communities that pushed back that aquaculture,
33:46oyster aquaculture particularly would have negative environmental impacts.
33:50So we decided to engage researchers at Stony Brook University because
33:56of the science that we were getting would disagree with that.
34:00So we've engaged the Peterson Lab at Stony Brook University,
34:04which is a research center for the Stony Brook University,
34:06and we've also engaged the University of Minnesota.
34:08We've also engaged the University of Minnesota at Stony Brook University
34:10to carry out in-water research and under-cage research,
34:14so in the sediment and the surrounding water,
34:16to look at what's happening under the water and to be able to formally document what's happening.
34:24Initial results are showing that these cages actually increase biodiversity.
34:28There is a lot of use as multi-habitats for different organisms under water.
34:36There is a lot of use as multi-habitats for different organisms under water.
34:38And water quality immediately around the cages tends to get better.
34:44So we're excited for this work as it moves forward and we move more into some of the sediment work to see what's happening.
34:52But very excited about that.
34:54ECO-SIM modeling is really just looking at the different fish assemblages in the water.
34:59As our water is warming, things are changing.
35:02So we want to know what's happening and where everybody's moving to
35:06and who's coming into the estuary.
35:08Hardened shoreline ground truthing.
35:12We did an initial desk-based assessment of bulkheads.
35:16And we are really working hard to try and have communities and municipalities preserve natural habitats.
35:25Natural shoreline habitats.
35:29And introduce other options in lieu of a bulkhead.
35:33What is a bulkhead appropriate?
35:36You know, there are some places out there,
35:37you know, there are some places where no amount of plants are going to keep back the ocean, right?
35:40Water always wins.
35:42But there are other places, up creeks and in less energy affected areas,
35:48that nature-based solutions are a possibility.
35:51So we're working really hard to come up with what those are,
35:54who are the engineers that we can get to certify different types of installations,
36:01and a map-based approach to where they are appropriate and where they are not.
36:06We're also working with our towns and DEC on streamlined permitting.
36:14So some of our towns tell us, well, we go to DEC, we get the permit.
36:17The town doesn't have power then to say no to that permit.
36:20So we're trying on the back end to work to fix that.
36:24And the Bay Scallop.
36:26So for, since 2019, we're all aware the Peconic Bay Scallop has been in a die-off.
36:33So we have been supporting some of the research at Stony Brook.
36:35We're working with the research at Stony Brook University
36:38through our funds with New York State and some of our partner programs
36:42to try and get to the bottom of it, come up with a solution
36:46to what is the decimation of the Bay Scallop.
36:52And so I will just move into on the ground where we're spending money.
36:58So under the bipartisan infrastructure law,
37:00we get about a million dollars a year to spend in the Peconics.
37:04600,000 of that is in process here at Riverhead for Meeting House Creek.
37:10Broad Cove, over two years, we're giving the Peconic Land Trust $300,000.
37:16You know, you talked about how much of a beautiful site it is,
37:19and we want people to get there.
37:21We want to increase access.
37:23So we're helping the Land Trust to, I know they just finalized an agreement
37:26for alternative parking, to be able to get communities there to build trails,
37:31to manage some of the invasive species that are in there,
37:33with a long-term vision of using this site for a variety of purposes.
37:40If we can get some kelp growing in there,
37:42if we can get some of these nature-based solutions there
37:45so people can walk through the water, see what they are,
37:48make decisions for themselves, and are not afraid of those solutions and those things.
37:53And the Land Trust, of course, is a very good partner,
37:56and we'll continue to work with them.
37:58We're also trying to have access for,
38:03for some of our disabled residents.
38:05We're looking into signage with braille.
38:09We are looking into how we can make trails more accessible to our communities,
38:15including gardens for children with disabilities.
38:19And we're working through the Land Trust on that,
38:23and, you know, it's their property, but we're supporting them to do that.
38:26Town of South Hold, Goof Creek, they're doing a discharge elimination project,
38:32which means they're taking some of their ocean outfalls
38:35or their bay outfalls and putting them to ground.
38:38We're working through the Peconic Protection Committee
38:41to get funding for all towns to be able to do this.
38:45In Riverside and South Hampton,
38:49we're funding some wetland restoration, stormwater mitigation on the South Fork.
38:54The Peconic East Blue Carbon Shoreline Project
38:58is one that marries kelp and oysters and seagrasses
39:01with the land.
39:02We're also working with the City of West Hampton
39:05to mitigate some of the climate effects that we have.
39:08This is the project.
39:10We're investing $600,000 on the east end of the watershed,
39:14and we also want to move to invest money at the Broad Cove site
39:18and the western estuary so that we can have an end-to-end
39:23nature-based climate plan.
39:26We've engaged the team at Stony Brook University
39:28who did the Shinnecock Bay Project,
39:30which is to date the only successful project.
39:31We've been working with them for over 12 years
39:34using nature-based solutions with proven water quality reductions,
39:38more shoreline stability, and a series of other benefits.
39:42So we're excited to work with them,
39:44and we want to replicate that here in the Peconics,
39:46and we want Broad Cove to be the western site for that.
39:49And we're supporting Suffolk County's IE system
39:52for some of our low- and middle-income communities and homeowners.
39:57The county provides the grant to put these systems in,
40:00with three-year maintenance, and then people are on their own.
40:03So we are working with the county to provide another three years
40:06of maintenance for those homeowners.
40:10$50,000 of bipartisan money and another $45,000
40:13of our annual funds are going to this.
40:16So we have $100,000 to try and get this program off the ground,
40:19and the county is working hard to do that.
40:22Again, I talked about the Broad Cove Land Trust Fund.
40:26I don't need to get into this anymore.
40:28You are, of course, familiar with the program.
40:29You are, of course, familiar with Terry's and Meeting House Creek,
40:32which are priority sites for the estuary program.
40:37And Meeting House Creek, I've been working very closely with Drew.
40:42The drainage area is about 5 1⁄2 acres, 60% impervious surface,
40:47and this will be a constructed wetland to manage stormwater in this area.
40:53I know that the town is short about $175,000,
40:56so we are going to continue to work with them
40:58to try and close that gap and get this constructed.
41:02We've been talking about it for a very long time.
41:05We really want to see it installed.
41:07And then we'll talk about next steps up into that sub-watershed
41:11if there are other stormwater management techniques
41:14that we can support and help the town to take care of there on Church Lane.
41:19Just some accomplishments.
41:22What do we do?
41:23We're bringing $3 million to the region annually.
41:28In the past 23 to 24 season,
41:31we have over 90 acres of wetland restoration being implemented or in planning.
41:36We've opened 100 acres of diadromous fish habitat.
41:39We fund annually over $500,000 in water quality monitoring.
41:44We have five sub-watershed stormwater installations in planning and implementation.
41:49We've launched two online tools, which Valerie talked a little bit about.
41:53I would encourage you to go and look at them.
41:55They are a parcel-by-parcel assessment.
41:57So they are not just a broad brush of what we think will work where.
42:01It's a parcel-by-parcel assessment.
42:04Land use categories are based on Suffolk County land use data that we used.
42:10It was the only uniform across all six towns information that we could get
42:14because some towns do things differently.
42:17But there's a lot of information there that you can benefit from.
42:21And of course, we support local organizations through our annual mini-grant.
42:25We had four organizations.
42:26We had four local organizations.
42:27We had four local organizations that we funded in 2022.
42:30In 2024, we'll release again another call for this grant for another four local organizations.
42:40How has work gone with the algae blooms?
42:44I know Stony Brook was involved pretty heavily with it and others.
42:48And are we making any leeway with them?
42:51So that's a trick question, right?
42:56And it's tricky because the algae, you know, when you may conquer one species,
43:05two more come and decide, okay, now the conditions are okay for us to come in.
43:10So we're funding Stony Brook University's work throughout the estuary here in Riverhead.
43:17It's meeting his and Terry's creeks.
43:20And what we're looking to do is identify the reduction point in nitrogen and phosphorus.
43:25That we need to achieve to stop blooms.
43:29We're looking at three of the species that were particularly bad last year and two years ago.
43:35So are we making progress?
43:38Sure.
43:39We're getting to answer that question to be able to identify the reduction point,
43:43which will help us then target, okay, we know what we need to do in these areas.
43:47Now we need to come up with funding to do it.
43:50Right.
43:51It will help.
43:52That's even over and above TMDL.
43:54Yes.
43:55Yes.
43:56That is over and above the TMDL.
43:58None of this information data is a part of that TMDL.
44:02Arguably, the EPA and PEP should be working to update that TMDL.
44:07It's very old at this point.
44:10I have one question concerning the algae bloom.
44:15I know it can decimate shellfish.
44:18Yes.
44:19So does kelp, is it affected or does it have an effect on algae bloom?
44:23So kelp takes up all of the nitrogen that's in the water.
44:31So if you have enough kelp, presumably, yes.
44:35Right?
44:36And where we're seeing really great benefits is that co-benefit when you have shellfish
44:41and kelp together.
44:43Right?
44:44Because it helps both of those organisms thrive.
44:48And there's great nutrient reduction with kelp.
44:51And that is what the kelp eats.
44:52So ergo, it will reduce the haves.
44:56That's the idea.
44:57Yeah.
44:58And your comment on that it's cleaning up Shinnecock Bay.
45:02I can't wait to get it off of Brunko.
45:05Sooner is better.
45:06And those women over there are doing a phenomenal job at the bay in Shinnecock.
45:10Oh, yeah.
45:11Yeah.
45:12At the nation.
45:13Yeah.
45:14Yes.
45:15Yeah.
45:16No, I agree.
45:17And that's exactly why we engaged the same team at Stony Brook.
45:21Who had that success.
45:22We want to see that at Broad Cove.
45:23We've had some preliminary assessments done by them at the Land Trust site.
45:24And they think that's the ideal site.
45:25And that kelp will grow very well there.
45:26So we are excited.
45:27And we're looking for funding now to add that on to the work that we're doing at Broad
45:28Cove.
45:29Of course, through the Land Trust.
45:30It is their property.
45:31We're not just going to come in and tell them what to do.
45:32But they're excited too.
45:33Okay.
45:34That's great.
45:35Thank you.
45:36Thank you.
45:37Thank you.
45:38Thank you.
45:39Thank you.
45:40Thank you.
45:41Thank you.
45:42Thank you.
45:43Thank you.
45:44Thank you.
45:45Thank you.
45:46Thank you.
45:47Thank you.
45:48Thank you.
45:49Thank you.
45:50Thank you.
45:51Thank you.
45:52I want to go through a little bit of funding so that you guys can understand
45:56by being engaged in our committees where our money comes from.
46:00We get money from the local governments through the Community Preservation Fund.
46:04Largely some towns opt to give us direct budget lines.
46:08I'll go through that in just a second.
46:12New York State budget is not final yet. We have put in a request for more than $550,000,
46:16but that is what we traditionally have got in the past two years.
46:20We have received $1.7 million from the federal government.
46:24The Community Preservation Fund, and I go through this with every single town,
46:28looks at a contribution which is allowable by law.
46:32The Estuary Program is written into the law to receive funds for operational purposes.
46:36Because of Riverhead using CPF funds for debt services,
46:40they have always historically given us people's time
46:44to help us manage projects in the town.
46:48So that's a little bit of that.
46:50But I want to make you aware of this because I would like you to consider
46:54if the $46,000 is something that the town feels that they would be able to do
46:58as a direct budget line, I'd like you to consider that for the program.
47:02Because our goal is to increase funding.
47:06Always. Right?
47:10Not to our program office, per se,
47:14but to all of these projects that I just talked about.
47:18And so, we're going to be able to do that.
47:20And so, supporting us, you know, you're leveraging a lot of money
47:24from that initial investment.
47:28And that's it. So I will open it up to any questions that anybody might have.
47:32I know that was a lot of information.
47:36Good information.
47:40So much work you do.
47:42We do a lot of work. We do a lot of things.
47:44A lot of good things. A lot of very good things.
47:48Paul Stoutenburg. Yes.
47:52What kinds of services do they provide?
47:56Paul Stoutenburg? The Reserve? Yeah.
48:00Do they provide other than money? Services other than money?
48:04So, we funded them to do that
48:08wetland restoration work. They don't give us money. Right. That's what I mean.
48:12What kind of work did he actually do?
48:16The town of Southhold or the consultant?
48:20The consultant. So, we had the consultant come in and do a drainage
48:24assessment on the wetland. Originally, we thought that we
48:28would be able to have a more engineered solution to some of the
48:32wetland problems there.
48:36And as always, you know, it's drainage and pipe issues.
48:40So, we're in the process now of just getting some elevations and some final
48:44work done. And we have much more minor engineering solutions to look at the
48:48stormwater drainage and fixing some of those pipes. But we're in the
48:52permitting phase with the EEC on that.
48:56They're reducing the number of outfalls there, right?
49:00Oh, so that's Goose Creek. Right. Paul Stoutenburg, we're just amending
49:04the flow in and out of the wetland. We're not involved in the drainage reduction.
49:08At Goose Creek, we fund the drainage.
49:12At Goose Creek, we funded them to, I think it was seven and we funded four
49:16of the outfalls to go to ground.
49:20Yeah. That's very interesting.
49:24Because we're in the process right now of identifying which ones we can do.
49:28That is a project that our management board and our technical advisory committee
49:32really like. So, I'm happy to
49:36see that.
49:40So, I'm happy to talk to you further
49:44if you get yourself to a place of identifying those areas.
49:48How we can add Riverhead sites
49:52to, you know, like all this on the ball, we have a lot of
49:56South Pole information. So, happy to increase what we have to include
50:00Riverhead. Thank you. Sure.
50:04The more we can close up, the better, correct? Correct.
50:08We love to see alcohol elimination and rain gardens.
50:12So, keep that in mind. Right. We have rain gardens
50:16in Riverhead. And we do offer a homeowner rewards program, which
50:20we didn't really talk about, where for homes that are in the
50:24Peconic Watershed, we will give you $500 if you
50:28remove a small portion of your lawn and plant native plants.
50:32We will also provide a rain barrel. We'll reimburse you for the cost of the
50:36rain barrel.
50:38Is crabgrass a native plant? Crabgrass is native.
50:42Because I've gotten millions of dollars worth of that. It is annoying. It is native.
50:46How about moss? Oh, that I can't answer. I don't know anything about
50:50mosses. What's your take on
50:54the fact that, I have a problem with people being able to go to
50:58I won't mention the names of the stores and buy
51:02as much fertilizer as they want and drop as much as they want
51:06on the ground. Because farmers traditionally get blamed for that. However,
51:10they don't want to use more than they need because of the expense.
51:14Whereas homeowners, you know, they're putting so much down when they're cutting
51:18their grass, it's growing up two inches behind them as soon as they pass.
51:22Right? What's, anything going on to
51:26So, bad timing, but right before
51:30COVID hit us, Scott's Fertilizer released
51:34a Long Island blend that has the
51:38state recommendations of reduced
51:42nitrogen and slow release nitrogen. It is on the
51:46back shelf in Home Depot, covered under some dust and spider webs.
51:50But it's available at larger stores.
51:54And the
51:58launch of the product, you know, was overshadowed by what happened to the world.
52:02Unfortunately. But there is a Long Island blend that people can use
52:06on their lawns. We do, of course, advocate
52:10do you need that much lawn? But that's a personal preference.
52:14Most people have their lawn, love their lawn. So, you know, you have to
52:18find a way to, I have kids, they want to run around on the lawn, not
52:22plants. So, you know, I think it's about responsible
52:26use. Absolutely. There is definitely
52:30data to indicate that residential
52:34use of fertilizer is probably
52:38equal to ag. You know, that's
52:42important. That's a lot. So, it also has
52:46to do with when you fertilize. You know, if you know it's going to rain, maybe that's
52:50not a really good time. Do you need Kentucky bluegrass? You know, we're on Long Island.
52:54That's not what's supposed to be here. So, even, right, even
52:58working with, there are some slow growing grasses that you don't
53:02have to, that are lower maintenance and require lower fertilizers.
53:06And a lot of it comes down to, people just don't know. They're going to listen to
53:10what a landscaper tells them to do. And, or they're just unaware.
53:14You know, what a landscaper is doing. So, what's the state doing? I'm just
53:18curious. The state's so concerned about water. They're concerned about so many
53:22different things. You would think that they would require
53:26that you're using the
53:28slow release nitrogen fertilizer in New York State.
53:32I would love to see that on Long Island. I would agree with you.
53:36And the state stopped short of a recommendation. Not surprised.
53:40Not surprised. Yep. So, that was
53:44I want to say 2018, 2019 that was up in Albany.
53:48And it stayed as a recommendation.
53:52It did not move forward as a law. The county has a
53:56stronger policy. The county has a closed period, you know, when you cannot
54:00fertilize anymore. So, that is a legal
54:04requirement that you can lean into. But, again, they don't
54:08dictate slow release, lower nitrogen, you know,
54:12all of those things. I would encourage you to go. What I do where I live
54:16is I go to even my local garden center, because I try and support them over
54:20Home Depot. And ask for the Long Island blend.
54:24Even suppliers don't know that it's there.
54:28It's first time I'm hearing of it. Right. And it is, it's Scotts. It's a
54:32Long Island blend. And it adheres to the state
54:36recommendation that was made. So, you know, there
54:40is a product out there. What's the slow growing grass?
54:44I want that. I can get that for you.
54:48There is a slow, you have to plant it in the fall. I've heard all these things.
54:52That is not my specialty. But I can certainly get that information for you.
54:56Right. And it is, it's easy to point a finger at Ag.
55:00But for Ag, they are a business.
55:04Why would they want to spend more money that they don't have to spend?
55:08So, you know, I see that. We did also launch an Ag
55:12work group through PEP to try
55:16and bring Ag partners on board to have
55:20better outreach materials about some of the great work
55:24that some farmers are doing. And to try and shift
55:28that conversation a little to everybody loves to come out
55:32here to use the farms. So, we should be supporting them and not just
55:36pointing fingers. I think it's the overarching message.
55:40I have one question. I'm sorry. What did
55:44happen to the horseshoe crabs? Where are they? I would see them all over the beaches
55:48all the time growing up. And I never see any horseshoe crabs. I saw you have a whole bunch
55:52of programs about the horseshoe crabs. What is happening to them?
55:56So, the horseshoe crab populations are in decline.
56:00I believe DEC is considering
56:04changing the quotas in the fishing. It is still
56:08an open fishery. But I can't really speak to the
56:12ins and outs of DEC and their regulations.
56:16I didn't mean to put you on the spot. No, that's
56:20okay. The likely culprit is disappearance of habitat.
56:24In addition to, again, I'm not familiar with the
56:28fishery landing numbers. They use them for
56:32bait and the traps all the time. And the traps. But I don't know anything
56:36about what the actual numbers are for landings. But I can
56:40say we focus on habitat retention. So, that
56:44is natural shoreline. If you put up a bulkhead, there's no more
56:48horseshoe crabs. So, that is something we take into consideration.
56:52I know that Dr. Matt Sclafani at Cornell Collaborative Extension
56:56for years has been looking into this and
57:00has even been able to, or he's getting to where
57:04we're having the conversation about
57:08which natural shorelines based on even the grain size of the sand
57:12is the best breeding habitat to try and really support them.
57:16I will say I can put you in touch with the program
57:20coordinators if you are interested in going out on a night they are, like monitoring
57:24and tagging. I can find the closest site for you. We're out in Hampton Bay
57:28and it's like in the middle of the night. Sounds cool.
57:32It is. It's very fun. But if you saw them previously,
57:36you'll notice when they are mating, they're right along
57:40the shoreline where the waves are coming in. And so it's a very specific
57:44type of shoreline that you need. If you have bulkheads, there's no way that they are going to
57:48be using that location. So, that I think is a big
57:52part of the equation there. But I will say on the south shore, they seem
57:56to have more robust numbers to the point where they don't
58:00even do the normal like counting all of the horsehoe crabs on a beach. They use like a
58:04segmented type method because they're just overcrowding of them.
58:08They haven't disappeared off the base of Long Island. You can
58:12even visit one of those sites if you want to see them in abundance. But
58:16yeah, just anecdotally, we did see more at our site in Hampton Bay than we had
58:20in previous years that I had been monitoring. So, that's somewhat...
58:24I just think they're so cool. They're so prehistoric. I thought that they were
58:28extinct. I used to see them all the time. I haven't seen them in decades
58:32in the bay. Seagulls like them.
58:36Yes. They attack them and I've seen them
58:38there. Really? Oh yeah. I used to be petrified of
58:42horsehoe crabs. I love that they are scary looking when that tail goes up.
58:46You think it's going to jab you or something.
58:50Maybe there's a horror movie in there somewhere.
58:54You just get up close and personal when you're tagging them.
58:58It's pretty intense. Oh, I'm not going to do that. I'll just watch.
59:02Anybody have any more questions?
59:06Excellent presentation.
59:08I really appreciate you being here. Thank you so much. I agree.
59:12It was great meeting you the other day too. Yes.
59:16During the earthquake. Yes. We shared the earthquake.
59:20None of us knew it was an earthquake. Yes, and anytime.
59:24Please reach out with questions about anything.
59:28Thank you. I leave this here. This is yours.
59:38Thank you.
59:42Thank you.
59:46Thank you.
59:50Thank you. Thank you so much.
59:54Thank you very much.
59:58For our next item, we're going to go a little bit out of order. We're going to take
1:00:02matters surrounding traffic light at Fresh Pond and Middle Country Road intersection
1:00:06at the end of the day.
1:00:10Joanne Woski and Greg Berman.
1:00:14Thank you.
1:00:18Good morning. Good morning.
1:00:20Supervisor and town board members, I have asked Greg to come speak with us this morning
1:00:26with regard to concerns from the residents in Calverton
1:00:30about where a potential traffic light may be going
1:00:34on Middle Country Road.
1:00:38There is a lot of concern that
1:00:42the residents have been asking for several years
1:00:46for a traffic light to be placed at the intersection of Middle Country Road
1:00:50and Fresh Pond Avenue. This road serves
1:00:54as a cross access from Middle Country Road
1:00:58to Sound Avenue. The residents in Timber Park
1:01:02use this road
1:01:04as a way to gain entry onto Middle Country Road.
1:01:08You have a senior mobile home park
1:01:12with about 328 units.
1:01:16I'm thinking about the future
1:01:20of Calverton moving forward. If there's development,
1:01:24we have a lot of open space over there. If it gets developed,
1:01:28I need to make sure that we have some kind of plan.
1:01:32I'm going to turn it over to you, Greg.
1:01:34I will say there's always a stare down when you're leaving
1:01:36Tractor Supply. Yes.
1:01:38If somebody else crosses Gene and Fresh Pond, I wonder which one of us
1:01:40is going to get to go. It's a busy road.
1:01:44I'd like to advocate for
1:01:46the residents of the town
1:01:48and see if there's something that we can do
1:01:50to ensure that a light does
1:01:52go at Fresh Pond.
1:01:54Absolutely. They need a light there.
1:01:56Thank you. So what I did, rather than
1:01:58come back with three or four
1:02:00binders, I just kind of excerpted
1:02:02a couple of sections and pages
1:02:04from traffic reports and studies
1:02:06that we've done on projects in the area
1:02:08and the vicinity of Fresh Pond
1:02:10and Middle Country Road.
1:02:12So just going back probably
1:02:14about, at this point, five or six years,
1:02:16when the Tractor Supply application
1:02:18first came in, it was two
1:02:20applications. It was a three lot
1:02:22minor subdivision and then the site plan
1:02:24to develop the Tractor Supply site.
1:02:26That Tractor Supply site,
1:02:28just for the Board's knowledge, they do have approval
1:02:30for the Tractor Supply pad, and there's
1:02:32three additional buildings that were approved.
1:02:34I believe one is approximately 9,000
1:02:36square feet, and then there were two smaller
1:02:384,000 square foot retail buildings
1:02:40that got approvals. Obviously they're not
1:02:42constructed yet. The landlord's trying to find
1:02:44tenants. So when that application
1:02:46came in, obviously because the
1:02:48project site is located on Middle Country Road,
1:02:50which is a state highway under the jurisdiction
1:02:52of the New York State DOT,
1:02:54when the initial referral was sent to the
1:02:56DOT back in, I believe it was 2018,
1:02:58the DOT came back and
1:03:00noted that only a small portion
1:03:02of that property at the time was slated for
1:03:04development. So they wanted to see
1:03:06a traffic impact statement that sort
1:03:08of analyzed a theoretical build out
1:03:10for the entirety of that property.
1:03:12So the first page of the
1:03:14little packet that I presented to you
1:03:16is from the traffic impact study
1:03:18in connection with that
1:03:20Tractor Supply development.
1:03:22The Build A condition,
1:03:24which I highlighted for you, the Build A condition
1:03:26was the development of that Tractor Supply
1:03:28site itself with the four buildings.
1:03:30The traffic impact
1:03:32study noted and found that it was
1:03:34unlikely that the Build A condition
1:03:36would warrant a traffic signal
1:03:38at Fresh Pond and 25.
1:03:40However, it did note that the
1:03:42RWCS, which is the reasonable worst
1:03:44case scenario, which was that theoretical
1:03:46build out, said that it would likely
1:03:48warrant a traffic signal. So
1:03:50being that the 25 isn't under
1:03:52the jurisdiction of the DOT, we were
1:03:54not in a position to say you have
1:03:56to install a traffic light. It was
1:03:58the DOT's opinion at that point
1:04:00that the signal was not warranted.
1:04:02So as we fast forward a couple of years,
1:04:04the next page is an excerpt from the
1:04:06HK Ventures draft environmental impact
1:04:08statement, which was submitted in May of 2021.
1:04:10We had the applicant at that point
1:04:12through the secret process and the
1:04:14EIS process look at several alternatives.
1:04:16One of the alternatives was the
1:04:18implementation of a roundabout at
1:04:20Middle Country Road and Fresh Pond Avenue.
1:04:22I saw that the EIS process was
1:04:24not in line with the
1:04:26EIS requirements.
1:04:28So I was not able to
1:04:30get a look at the
1:04:32EIS requirements.
1:04:34I sat in on a Zoom call with the
1:04:36New York State DOT. That meeting was
1:04:38held in December of 2020.
1:04:40So the next couple of pages just show
1:04:42that we did have them analyze the
1:04:44feasibility of a roundabout at Fresh Pond
1:04:46at 25.
1:04:48At that time, the DOT ultimately in the
1:04:50future said that they would prefer
1:04:52signalization of that intersection just
1:04:54based on geometry and the fact that
1:04:56the installation of a roundabout would
1:04:58require takings of property on all
1:05:00corners. They noted it would require
1:05:02the public eminent domain of five
1:05:04properties, approximately half an acre.
1:05:06So they ultimately sort of yielded to
1:05:08the point that that was highly unlikely
1:05:10in the DOT's opinion to ever come about.
1:05:12One of the other alternatives that we
1:05:14had the applicant look at was providing
1:05:16a cross-access, just for the boards to
1:05:18get you oriented, the HK Ventures site
1:05:20which is approximately 30 acres which
1:05:22is slated to be developed with
1:05:24approximately 412,000 square feet of
1:05:26industrial land.
1:05:28And the other alternative was to
1:05:30provide a cross-access to the
1:05:32West side of the development, which is
1:05:34located directly to the east of the
1:05:36tractor supply site.
1:05:38So early on in the review of the HK
1:05:40Ventures site, one of the alternatives
1:05:42was to provide cross-access with the
1:05:44neighboring property to the West, which
1:05:46at that time was owned by Calberton
1:05:48Industries. The thought being, and this
1:05:50would have been the optimal situation,
1:05:52if Fresh Pond Avenue could be, sort of
1:05:56act as the feeder road to a larger
1:05:58industrial development, both on the back
1:06:00where the Sky Materials site is, and
1:06:02as well as act as a feeder road to the
1:06:04HK Ventures site. At that point, we
1:06:06likely would not have had a traffic
1:06:08signal at HK Ventures. At that point, it
1:06:10probably could have been like a right
1:06:12in, right out with the main access being
1:06:14a signalized intersection at Fresh Pond
1:06:16Avenue.
1:06:18And would have weighed more strength
1:06:20to put the light at the intersection of
1:06:22Fresh Pond and Tractor Supply.
1:06:24Correct.
1:06:26That's a no-brainer. I mean, that...
1:06:28I absolutely agree with you.
1:06:30I see there's a letter here from the
1:06:32Calberton Industries.
1:06:34So in March of 2021, and it's in the
1:06:36record in the DEIS, the owner of the
1:06:38Calberton Industries property at the
1:06:40time was approached with the potential
1:06:42cross-access. And he essentially said,
1:06:44as per our prior conversation, we at
1:06:46Calberton Industries feel that allowing
1:06:48cross-access through our property to
1:06:50yours would be detrimental to our future
1:06:52plans. Unfortunately, we cannot
1:06:54accommodate your request. So this was in
1:06:56a position where you have a private
1:06:58landowner who was unwilling to facilitate
1:07:00cross-access that would be
1:07:02ultimately would have yielded a better
1:07:04result for the entire area.
1:07:06That's a shame.
1:07:08You know, it was just in a position where
1:07:10we couldn't compel it without going through
1:07:12some probably lengthy legal action.
1:07:14So that's where we are.
1:07:16So the...
1:07:18Has he been approached again, do we know?
1:07:20Since then?
1:07:22So he has been approached since then.
1:07:24The problem is since we've finished
1:07:26CEQA on the HK Ventures project,
1:07:28we had granted
1:07:30preliminary approval.
1:07:32The position that HK Ventures has taken
1:07:34is like, you know, that train has sailed.
1:07:36You know, if it was three years ago
1:07:38when they're so far down the road,
1:07:40short of Calberton Industries going and
1:07:42funding, essentially what at this point
1:07:44would be paramount with a complete
1:07:46redesign of the project, unless they're
1:07:48willing to foot the bill for that,
1:07:50which I completely understand from a
1:07:52developer standpoint, HK Ventures was,
1:07:54you know, we've attempted that route,
1:07:56we've knocked down that door, and we
1:07:58were shut down. So, you know,
1:08:00we're not going to be able to do that.
1:08:02We're going to...
1:08:04That's a shame.
1:08:06As a property owner that has property
1:08:08which fronts on a state highway,
1:08:10the New York State DOT, they can't restrict
1:08:12someone from having curb cut and access
1:08:14to a state highway.
1:08:16What's our zoning, what's our town strength
1:08:18in order to mandate cross-access on properties?
1:08:20So we are, it is a function of the
1:08:22site plan code, so we are
1:08:24in the preliminary approval for the HK Ventures site,
1:08:26we did require a future cross-access
1:08:28to the tractor supply site.
1:08:30What that will do, again,
1:08:32it doesn't immediately address the
1:08:34Fresh Pond Avenue and the Middle Country Road
1:08:36intersection, but people who are
1:08:38visiting the tractor supply site
1:08:40would be able to exit
1:08:42to the east through HK Ventures
1:08:44and access that traffic signal.
1:08:46So again, I understand the concerns
1:08:48with the residents coming off of Fresh Pond
1:08:50from Timber Park. Absolutely.
1:08:52You know, so we're in a position where
1:08:54right now, we have no jurisdiction
1:08:56over that intersection. What I can do,
1:08:58and I don't believe we've gotten the GEIS
1:09:00chapters, I'll have to double check, but I don't think
1:09:02we've gotten the GEIS on
1:09:04the impacts of traffic and infrastructure.
1:09:06But I can consult with LKMA,
1:09:08who is our traffic consultant
1:09:10for the comp plan,
1:09:12and I can work with them.
1:09:14They've got strong working relationships with the DOT.
1:09:16We can work with them to draft a letter,
1:09:18potentially include some of the studies
1:09:20we've done up until this point
1:09:22to sort of petition the New York State DOT
1:09:24to really take a hard look at that intersection.
1:09:26Unfortunately, what typically happens is
1:09:28the DOT is going to wait until this point
1:09:30to sort of petition the New York State DOT to really take a hard look at that intersection.
1:09:32It's a tragic accident, and then they'll sort of
1:09:34look at it proactively.
1:09:36I think it would be appropriate
1:09:38to send them a letter and sort of really
1:09:40petition them to strongly look at it.
1:09:42Absolutely. I would highly recommend that.
1:09:44Absolutely.
1:09:46We should get letters of support from our
1:09:48State Assemblywoman and our State Senator.
1:09:50Put a packet together and send it to the DOT.
1:09:52State Route 25, absolutely.
1:09:54Greg, I've got a question.
1:09:56And I'm very familiar with this.
1:09:58So between
1:10:00HK and Tractor Supply,
1:10:02there's also the ability for more
1:10:04commercial here, right?
1:10:06Well, so on the Tractor Supply
1:10:08site, they do have approval
1:10:10for three additional buildings.
1:10:12I believe it's approximately
1:10:14a 9,000 square foot building
1:10:16directly to the east of Tractor Supply.
1:10:18Basically three other pad sites.
1:10:20I think totaling approximately
1:10:2218,000 to 20,000
1:10:24square feet of additional.
1:10:26And I mean, the
1:10:28old zoning applies to that property.
1:10:30They retain the old zoning, which is old
1:10:32business CR through litigation
1:10:34with the town probably 20 years ago at this point.
1:10:36So I mean, it could permit,
1:10:38that's how the Tractor Supply site
1:10:40was developed under that old zoning.
1:10:42So they can have retail,
1:10:44they can have restaurants.
1:10:46There are approval for three other
1:10:48pad sites.
1:10:50That site plan is approved, so they would have to come in
1:10:52really for building permits,
1:10:54architectural review board, but that
1:10:56site plan in its totality was approved.
1:10:58So they would exit at this.
1:11:00This fresh pond definitely needs to run.
1:11:02I can't stand making a left turn over here.
1:11:04You can barely make a left turn.
1:11:06It's dangerous.
1:11:08So the question
1:11:10I have, so we can
1:11:12make sure that these other
1:11:14pad sites here exit
1:11:16here, can we not?
1:11:18Well yeah, so that's what I said.
1:11:20So for the HK Venture site,
1:11:22we're requiring future cross access.
1:11:24So where you've got Tractor Supply
1:11:26here and here's HK,
1:11:28there's going to be a cross
1:11:30access here that, so someone
1:11:32visiting the Tractor Supply site or any of those
1:11:34additional buildings when they get constructed,
1:11:36they would be able to go out, because there will be
1:11:38the New York State DOT did accept
1:11:40So we'll have two lights in that area.
1:11:42There will eventually, I foresee
1:11:44But wait a minute, if there's already
1:11:46going to be a cross access,
1:11:48instead of having the cross access
1:11:50going to HK
1:11:52Ventures, why can't the cross access
1:11:54be HK Ventures
1:11:56going to Tractor Supply?
1:11:58Why can't it just be reversed?
1:12:00Well so cross access is going to be
1:12:02I mean, the DOT accepted the
1:12:04signalization report for the
1:12:06HK Ventures site.
1:12:08Would they be, and I'm with
1:12:10Joanne on this, would they be amenable
1:12:12to just making the cross access
1:12:14so that it comes to Factory Pond
1:12:16so the light's already here?
1:12:18Well yeah, so right now
1:12:20there is no light, like there's never been
1:12:22the warrant analysis
1:12:24like the permitting process for the
1:12:26light at Fresh Pond and
1:12:2825 has not been done at this point.
1:12:30So the study was
1:12:32done once the neighboring property
1:12:34owner shut down HK Ventures for cross access.
1:12:36I think the question is
1:12:38does a new project
1:12:40in any way have a right to bear
1:12:42onto a pre-existing project?
1:12:44Tractor Supply is done and completed
1:12:46so why do you have to ask
1:12:48Tractor Supply if they can?
1:12:50It would be great for them to work together
1:12:52but I think that's your problem.
1:12:54So that's where the traffic impact study
1:12:56for the Tractor Supply site
1:12:58Again, just the build out of the Tractor Supply
1:13:00site at that time they said didn't warrant
1:13:02any signal but any future development
1:13:04so there is another, you've got Tractor Supply
1:13:06you've got the access road off of 25
1:13:08there is another 5 acre piece
1:13:10across that access road
1:13:12that could be developed in the future
1:13:14and then there's the remainder of the
1:13:16Sky Materials site which right now is acting
1:13:18it's a C&D material processing
1:13:20site. So any future
1:13:22development will be referred to the DOT
1:13:24it's likely that
1:13:26at that point any future development will
1:13:28have to put a signal in
1:13:30but at this point I think we're sort of
1:13:32limited to petitioning the DOT
1:13:34I mean again with
1:13:36HK Ventures we can make the request but
1:13:38going so far down the road
1:13:40finishing SIGRA, issuing a
1:13:42finding statement
1:13:44granting a preliminary approval I think is
1:13:46Even without cross access
1:13:48can instead of the light
1:13:50being in front of HK Ventures can it be
1:13:52a Tractor Supply and then just being a right hand
1:13:54turn only out of HK Ventures
1:13:56so when the light turns red next door
1:13:58you can still exit out of
1:14:00HK Ventures so the light is still helping
1:14:02the whole overall situation but
1:14:04it doesn't have to be across us
1:14:06I mean again having
1:14:08gone through the review, issued
1:14:10the finding statement, granted a preliminary
1:14:12approval whereby a signal was
1:14:14going to be approved at HK Ventures
1:14:16I think it's unfortunately
1:14:18But can we move it though is what we're saying
1:14:20so we like, we want the
1:14:22traffic light there but can we
1:14:24move it and then HK Ventures
1:14:26HK Ventures just make a right hand turn only
1:14:28in other words they wait for the light to turn red
1:14:30in front of Tractor Supply
1:14:32and then they make a right in other words it doesn't
1:14:34line up to HK Ventures but it's still going to help
1:14:36their entering and exiting out of the facility
1:14:38and it's going to help the whole intersection overall
1:14:40I mean so having granted a preliminary
1:14:42approval I think it, I think that's a
1:14:44a tall ask I mean I can
1:14:46consult HK Ventures and I mean
1:14:48they don't have a final approval
1:14:50but again that would require a
1:14:52essentially a complete redesign
1:14:54of the project
1:14:56Well just keep their
1:14:58entrance and exit in the same place but move the
1:15:00light down or
1:15:02the whole traffic is going to course
1:15:04right?
1:15:06I mean so that would
1:15:08in a perfect world the access would have
1:15:10gone behind the Tractor Supply
1:15:12it would have been like an essentially an
1:15:14industrial feeder road
1:15:16the level of traffic that's going to be generated
1:15:18by the HK Ventures site would not be appropriate
1:15:20to be going in front of the
1:15:22Tractor Supply building so at this point
1:15:24I'm not suggesting cross access I'm suggesting that you
1:15:26exit the light is still
1:15:28in front of Tractor Supply and HK
1:15:30Ventures has a right turn only so
1:15:32when the light turns red
1:15:34everybody leaving at
1:15:36HK Ventures is making that right hand turn
1:15:38on through 25 because traffic is essentially
1:15:40But so there is no light at
1:15:42Fresh Pond and that's the
1:15:44sort of impasse that there is no light at Fresh Pond
1:15:46I can't position to try
1:15:48to get the light at Fresh Pond
1:15:50What I'm saying is just reposition
1:15:52the light instead of it being in front of
1:15:54HK Ventures if it was slid down
1:15:56in front of Tractor Supply
1:15:58it takes care of the cross
1:16:00you know Fresh Pond Avenue
1:16:02and the senior traffic at the same point
1:16:04if you're trying to
1:16:06of course it helps Tractor Supply but if you're trying to
1:16:08exit out of HK Ventures you're looking at the
1:16:10light which is now going to be a couple hundred yards
1:16:12down when it turns red
1:16:14make your right hand turn and you start getting out of there
1:16:16I mean I understand
1:16:18I'm fully aware I've reviewed both
1:16:20of these applications
1:16:22Installing
1:16:24a traffic signal on a state
1:16:26highway is not just as simple as sliding
1:16:28it down it's not like adjusting a curb
1:16:30cut or widening a curb cut
1:16:32adjusting radiuses on curb cuts
1:16:34I mean that's a
1:16:36you're essentially trying to
1:16:38we'd be burdening a neighboring
1:16:40property owner with installing a traffic light
1:16:42to benefit the neighbor
1:16:44Tractor Supply would love a traffic light there
1:16:46I can't see that
1:16:48they would see that as a burden
1:16:50The problem is the state has looked at that
1:16:52intersection and said it doesn't
1:16:54deem that it needs a light
1:16:56But that was in 2018
1:16:58Right
1:17:00Well I mean we did you know the DOT
1:17:02we reviewed all the traffic impact studies from
1:17:04HK Ventures
1:17:06I mean again I think we can draft a letter
1:17:08but I'll consult with Dawn
1:17:10I'll speak with LKMA on what
1:17:12they believe you know the best
1:17:14course of action
1:17:16but I think we are hard pressed to
1:17:18I agree with you but I
1:17:20think we at least owe it to try
1:17:22and see if for some reason maybe
1:17:24we could work something out here
1:17:26because to me that makes two lights makes
1:17:28absolutely no sense to me whatsoever
1:17:30I mean one light is absolutely
1:17:32not a problem
1:17:34I mean it's a
1:17:36from a planning perspective
1:17:38the fact that you have a neighboring property
1:17:40owner who really in the long run
1:17:42would have benefited because
1:17:44HK Ventures if we could have
1:17:46designed this and he would have allowed cross access
1:17:48the reality is HK Ventures
1:17:50would have foot the bill for the light
1:17:52and again if they are going to install a light
1:17:54whether they are installing it at the access to their
1:17:56site or the neighboring property line
1:17:58it was very frustrating just from a
1:18:00long term planning perspective that
1:18:02you had a property owner who just said
1:18:04no unfortunately I think that was a little bit
1:18:06short sighted just to his own interest
1:18:08because now any development
1:18:10he would be responsible for a light
1:18:12at that intersection so
1:18:14that was just
1:18:16personally frustrating for me that
1:18:18again you can't compel you can't twist the property owners
1:18:20arm to
1:18:22work with the neighbor
1:18:24I just have a question what about the idea that
1:18:26the other alternative for these people
1:18:28is they have to just go on Sound Avenue
1:18:30and eventually get over to what
1:18:32Edwards to start getting into town
1:18:34if they can't make the left off of Fresh Pond
1:18:36I mean that would
1:18:38people from Timber Park aren't going to go all the way
1:18:40from there to Sound Avenue
1:18:42what I'm getting at is something to
1:18:44notify the state that we want this to be
1:18:46a historic corridor on Sound Avenue
1:18:48and you don't want the traffic to be
1:18:50as large as it is on Sound Avenue
1:18:52because people are afraid to make the left
1:18:54they're going to make the right
1:18:56and go down off on Sound Avenue
1:18:58maybe that's something we could add to the letter
1:19:00that's an unforeseen issue
1:19:02an unforeseen circumstance that's happening
1:19:04with a lot of the people that live in the town
1:19:06they can't get to the town
1:19:08they have to go on Sound Avenue
1:19:10I think I mean I'll
1:19:12I can draft a letter I'll work with LKMA
1:19:14I can see again the DOT
1:19:16if we just write a letter with no sort of
1:19:18studies and support
1:19:20probably just okay thank you
1:19:22but I think we've done enough
1:19:24a lot of common sense right going on
1:19:26I mean I myself pull horsetails out of
1:19:28tractor supply
1:19:30and when you finally get that moment
1:19:32when it's clear and I'm pulling out
1:19:34somebody from J&R Steakhouse
1:19:36has got a little sports car that goes
1:19:38right in front of you
1:19:40it's not a good situation
1:19:42it's a common sense
1:19:44years ago when I did stuff
1:19:46for the DOT we used to sit out there
1:19:48with clipboards and just
1:19:50send them out to do a study on the intersection
1:19:52and just have them watch it
1:19:54I fully agree I mean regardless of
1:19:56tractor supply and HK Ventures
1:19:58you have a T intersection
1:20:00where State Route 25
1:20:02has a heavy volume of traffic
1:20:04I think irregardless of tractor supply
1:20:06or HK Ventures it was a
1:20:08difficult intersection before that
1:20:10but now you throw in the four way intersection
1:20:12with tractor supply it's compounded
1:20:14the problem and the pavement is so
1:20:16smooth up there
1:20:18I hate that
1:20:20it's like traveling in a coma
1:20:22by not having a light there
1:20:24I'm wrecking the alignment of my car
1:20:26I know I'm telling you
1:20:28my low profile tires I tell you they love it
1:20:30me too
1:20:32well Greg whatever you're able to do
1:20:34to help the residents
1:20:36I'll talk to LKMA
1:20:38I'll see what we can do to bolster
1:20:40a letter of support
1:20:42we would appreciate that for sure
1:20:44I know the people of the senior community
1:20:46up on Fresh Pond
1:20:48would extremely like that
1:20:50Greg when you talk to LKMA
1:20:52can you ask them
1:20:54they're probably familiar with
1:20:56the technology where you can put
1:20:58a tracker rather than putting
1:21:00rubber across the road and they can put
1:21:02a tracker and a light there
1:21:04that goes directly to an app
1:21:06and it counts the traffic
1:21:08they'll get
1:21:10immediate results
1:21:12instant reads
1:21:14can you let me know if they
1:21:16are familiar with that technology
1:21:18I'm sure they are
1:21:20let's see what that costs
1:21:22that would be good
1:21:24thanks
1:21:26alright so I'll work with LKMA
1:21:28and I'll get a letter
1:21:30and I'll review it to the board
1:21:32and we can get that sent out
1:21:34thank you
1:21:36I appreciate your time today
1:21:38I know how busy you are
1:21:40thank you
1:21:42ok we're going to go back up this schedule
1:21:44and go to matter number 4
1:21:46which are matters surrounding agricultural
1:21:48worker housing for 422
1:21:50Edwards Avenue and we'll have Matt Charters
1:21:52come up and
1:21:54Councillor Cuddy
1:21:56it's always good to see Councillor Cuddy
1:21:58good morning Mr. Cuddy how are you
1:22:00much simpler discussion and hopefully a quicker one
1:22:02you already have the light
1:22:04laughter
1:22:06laughter
1:22:08laughter
1:22:10laughter
1:22:12laughter
1:22:14trying our best
1:22:16laughter
1:22:18laughter
1:22:20our 14 billion dollars
1:22:22that goes off Long Island up to the state
1:22:24is not enough money for them
1:22:26laughter
1:22:28probably not
1:22:30we have to kill them with kindness
1:22:32applause
1:22:34applause
1:22:36thankfully we do have the eye in the sky
1:22:38so everyone can see the plan here
1:22:40so this is for agricultural labor housing
1:22:42at 422 Edwards Avenue
1:22:44if the board is aware
1:22:46this is Delalio Sad Farm
1:22:48so this is coming before us because
1:22:50sort of a consequence
1:22:52of a subdivision that's happening on the property
1:22:54they're doing a two lot subdivision here
1:22:56because there is a state sited
1:22:58solar project going on
1:23:00what's the northern portion of this property which is Riverhead Solar
1:23:02that went through the 94c process
1:23:04so essentially Delalio's are subdividing
1:23:06this area which nobody can see now
1:23:08but the clerk can see
1:23:10is going to be solar and then Delalio is going to retain
1:23:12this area down here
1:23:14that's got their barns a lot of their infrastructure
1:23:16and there are two existing houses on the property
1:23:18which they benefit from a pre-existing
1:23:20from an LPU
1:23:22essentially they've been functioning as ag labor housing
1:23:26as a consequence of this subdivision
1:23:28you lose your
1:23:30my allergies are
1:23:32killing me today
1:23:34as a consequence of doing subdivision
1:23:36you lose your rights to
1:23:38pre-existing non-conforming uses because you're changing a lot of area
1:23:40so this was a method to essentially
1:23:42keep what's essentially now agricultural labor housing
1:23:44and to continue the use
1:23:46in these two houses which I just gave you guys photos
1:23:48other than that
1:23:50it's very straight forward
1:23:52they'll need an RPZ for the water district
1:23:54health department approval
1:23:56I included conditions of approval
1:23:58that are typical for agricultural labor housing
1:24:00which both staff and Mr. Cuddybrook
1:24:02have said
1:24:04and my attention has some language that I think is worthy of a code revision
1:24:06it does reference ag labor camps
1:24:08which as everyone knows is
1:24:10pretty negative connotation at this point in time
1:24:12so it's my recommendation to just
1:24:14in the code change it
1:24:16to just reference ag worker housing
1:24:18absolutely
1:24:20otherwise it'll look like Arizona
1:24:22other than that pretty straight forward
1:24:24they'll need rental permits
1:24:26they get inspected every year
1:24:28obviously the people who are going to be living in these units
1:24:30have to work on farms within Riverhead
1:24:32and give some people places to live
1:24:34so I think it's all in all pretty good and pretty straight forward
1:24:36the farms
1:24:38is sod farm staying where
1:24:40these houses are?
1:24:42their operation is staying there
1:24:44you want to keep housing but you're getting rid of the farm
1:24:46so the agricultural use
1:24:48is still there
1:24:50the production is going to be elsewhere within the town
1:24:52so there's no requirement that the actual growing
1:24:54has to happen on the property within where
1:24:56the ag labor house is
1:24:58but it'll be like employees for the sod farm
1:25:00correct it has to be
1:25:02these houses have been there
1:25:04and used by
1:25:06since 1988
1:25:08and he uses one of the houses
1:25:10the larger house
1:25:12which is two stories
1:25:14is seasonal
1:25:16the other one is year round
1:25:18but these employees work in Riverhead
1:25:20some of them work in Calvaryton
1:25:22they've been doing that for years
1:25:24as long as they're working in town Riverhead
1:25:26they have to
1:25:28they have to by code to have these
1:25:30and while it's not going to be an ag production anymore
1:25:32they're going to be agricultural use
1:25:34so their farms are there
1:25:36their processing there
1:25:38so it's like their base camp so to speak
1:25:40typical
1:25:42it fits all
1:25:44I have a resolution for Tuesday
1:25:46for you guys
1:25:48Mr. Cuddy it's nice to come in with an easy one
1:25:50once in a while
1:25:52yeah really
1:25:54I think it works for everybody
1:25:56it's very helpful
1:25:58alright very good
1:26:00thank you
1:26:02good to see you
1:26:04nice to see you
1:26:06thank you
1:26:08nice meeting you
1:26:10thanks Mr. Cuddy
1:26:12very good
1:26:14thank you
1:26:16we have all of the A team here today
1:26:18I see we got Heather up next
1:26:20next matter
1:26:22is matter surrounding
1:26:24special permit application for two family
1:26:26dwelling at 4592
1:26:28Middle Country Road
1:26:30and we have Heather Trojanowski from
1:26:32the Plain and Water Pump
1:26:34Tracy's still upstairs
1:26:36here we go
1:26:38let's have a party
1:26:42so I did let the applicant know
1:26:44that the work session was today
1:26:46I don't see him here
1:26:48I believe he's the expediter
1:26:50but I did provide him with a copy of my
1:26:52staff report
1:26:54I don't know if anyone
1:26:56has gotten a chance to really
1:26:58look at the plans
1:27:00staff reports will likely I apologize
1:27:02but I'm just going to open this up
1:27:04so we can all get a look at the site
1:27:08yeah we actually have
1:27:10put it on
1:27:12there it is
1:27:14you're on TV now
1:27:18alright so just a brief overview
1:27:20this is a special
1:27:22permit application seeking approval to
1:27:24construct a two family dwelling
1:27:26at a two car detached garage
1:27:28within the residence B40
1:27:30zoning use district where two family dwelling
1:27:32are specially permitted use
1:27:34the site location is
1:27:364592 Middle Country Road
1:27:38in Calverton more particularly
1:27:40identified as Suffolk County Tax
1:27:42number 600-97-1
1:27:44just 79.1
1:27:46it's roughly a half an acre parcel
1:27:48and surrounding development is
1:27:50mainly residential with the exception of
1:27:52the Stony Brook incubator which is
1:27:54right across the street and then
1:27:56I'd say about 1200 feet east
1:27:58is the Calverton Commons shopping center
1:28:00the proposed action is to
1:28:02consider type 2 action pursuant to
1:28:04because it's the construction of
1:28:06two family dwellings so no further
1:28:08environmental review is required
1:28:10but I did give you all a brief
1:28:12overview of the requirements of
1:28:14301-312 all A through R
1:28:16the special permit considerations
1:28:18I mean
1:28:20again the surrounding development
1:28:22is residential and the purpose and
1:28:24intent of our B40 zoning is to allow
1:28:26for medium density residential development
1:28:28so I don't think it would be entirely
1:28:30out of character with the surrounding area
1:28:32given that the town board did grant a
1:28:34special permit in the past for two family
1:28:36down the road just east of
1:28:38the entrance to Timber Park
1:28:40the only
1:28:42thing that I noticed
1:28:44was that the groundwater
1:28:46management zone is 3
1:28:48which per Suffolk County Department of
1:28:50Health Services standards is 300
1:28:52gallons per day of sanitary flow
1:28:54two family dwellings require 600 gallons
1:28:56of sanitary flow so they will need
1:28:58Pine Barren credits again I provided
1:29:00the applicant with a copy of my staff report
1:29:02so they were made aware of this
1:29:04at this point in time
1:29:06we can have a resolution
1:29:08on to classify SECRA
1:29:10and then we are required to schedule a public hearing
1:29:12once we get past that point
1:29:14I would just highly recommend
1:29:16that as a condition of approval if
1:29:18granted they have to get Suffolk County Department
1:29:20of Health Services approval as well
1:29:22as water district approval they didn't
1:29:24note whether or not they were using
1:29:26one or two services so that will have to be
1:29:28hashed out when they make their application to the water
1:29:30district but I mean as far as
1:29:32parking is concerned town code
1:29:34requires one spot per dwelling
1:29:36unit this is a two family
1:29:38residence and per the site plan they are
1:29:40requiring four parking stalls
1:29:42plus they have the detached garage so I
1:29:44don't see an issue with parking
1:29:46I will note
1:29:48personally I am a big fan of trees
1:29:50the lot is wooded there are
1:29:52a ton of Norway Maples
1:29:54and those are invasive so I have no
1:29:56objections to those being cleared but there are a couple of
1:29:58nice oak trees along
1:30:00the middle country road frontage so I mean
1:30:02I would recommend that if you are
1:30:04looking for trees that are
1:30:06possible for them to save them or any
1:30:08large size caliper trees along the
1:30:10property lines just to you know avoid
1:30:12clear cutting the property that's
1:30:14something that I would recommend it's
1:30:16you know entirely up to the board
1:30:18but if there are any other questions
1:30:20I think it's going to dress it up
1:30:22because for a while it wasn't all that
1:30:24nice there was dumping on site the
1:30:26prior owner you know it's been vacant
1:30:28he was dumping asphalt milling I think
1:30:30storied equipment there and essentially
1:30:32it wouldn't really be larger than a lot
1:30:34of the newer construction single family
1:30:36homes that are going up and actually
1:30:38each unit does meet the minimum
1:30:40living area requirements
1:30:42that are currently under RB40
1:30:44zoning I'd like to see them
1:30:46keep the trees yeah
1:30:48that's something that we can discuss
1:30:50further at the public hearing when the applicant
1:30:52their representative are here
1:30:54but I just wanted to get the ball rolling
1:30:56with this and if we're good we can
1:30:58classify SEPRA and schedule a public hearing
1:31:00I just have one question Heather because I'm a little
1:31:02I know about the Pine Barren credits
1:31:04but do they
1:31:06do they show proof that they
1:31:08purchased them to the health department
1:31:10and to us so the health yeah the
1:31:12health department you know again in order to get
1:31:14approval from the health department they'll
1:31:16probably dictate how many they need
1:31:18again this is
1:31:20you know it's double the density
1:31:22essentially and
1:31:24groundwater not the zone 3
1:31:26make certain that the separate
1:31:28detached garage
1:31:30belongs like to the rest
1:31:32of the home and it's not a third entity
1:31:34where somebody is now renting the detached
1:31:36garage to
1:31:38somebody else's storage and parcel
1:31:40do we
1:31:42do you know what I mean I'm not like the three
1:31:44businesses on one pile well I was just going to question the pitch of the
1:31:46roof I can't read
1:31:48the numbers of what's written here
1:31:50it looks like it's proposed
1:31:52to be a loft and
1:31:54again this is something that I think the applicant
1:31:56would probably
1:31:58better address since they're you know
1:32:00they commissioned these
1:32:02plans but the town board does have
1:32:04the authority to impose any conditions
1:32:06they feel necessary so
1:32:08when it comes time to approval
1:32:10after the public hearing you know
1:32:12has been closed
1:32:14we can say that the garage is only
1:32:16to be you know a garage
1:32:18detached garage accessory use no living space
1:32:20and that can also once they go for building
1:32:22permits that can be put on the CO
1:32:24as well so that way you have a you know
1:32:26a record when someone goes to put in a foil
1:32:28for the property or it gets sold
1:32:30it's on the certificate of occupancy
1:32:32that this is a garage and only a garage
1:32:34but a sign can
1:32:36is there potentially a way to make it a sign
1:32:38to residents or whoever's renting that
1:32:40structure and it's not in other words
1:32:42I mean it's only a detached garage
1:32:44and then do we have a third business going in
1:32:46there storing vehicles trucks whatever
1:32:48and now it's not you know what I mean
1:32:50we have three entities or we have two entities
1:32:52it should only be accessory to the two family dwelling
1:32:54you know it's an accessory structure pursuant
1:32:56to town code and building code
1:32:58but again if there's
1:33:00any specific language I would definitely consult
1:33:02with council you know
1:33:04when it comes time to craft
1:33:06an approval resolution if that's what the
1:33:08town board is inclined to do after the public hearing
1:33:10we can you are allowed
1:33:12to impose conditions almost
1:33:14like it's part of the lease of the first
1:33:16two projects so whether you whether
1:33:18one house gets both or each will get a space
1:33:20and I can I can reach
1:33:22out to the applicant and you know get
1:33:24something in writing correspondence from him
1:33:26about the intent of this garage
1:33:28I mean I'm assuming it's a
1:33:30two family dwelling and the garage is a
1:33:32accessory to it but we want to make sure
1:33:34that it's going to stay that way
1:33:36that's the only thing I think we're all in agreement
1:33:38yes other than that
1:33:40it's a middle country road state highway
1:33:42so they will need a DOT approval
1:33:44as well
1:33:46other than that
1:33:48well maybe they can get a lay
1:33:50alright are we good
1:33:52how boring is this
1:33:54get Greg back here
1:33:56I didn't realize how much I missed the planning board
1:33:58until I had this back in front of me
1:34:00alright
1:34:02thank you everyone
1:34:04thanks Heather
1:34:06thanks about those Norway maples
1:34:08people thought it was a really great idea
1:34:10realtors were like yeah plant them they're great tree trees
1:34:12and you know they seed really easily
1:34:14they grow faster than they can root themselves
1:34:16so they're prone to falling over
1:34:18they're extremely prone to disease
1:34:20plant red maples they're native
1:34:22ban Norway maples
1:34:24Heather's big with the trees
1:34:26I know I love that about her
1:34:28I always love being in meetings with her
1:34:32next up we are to the point of doing our resolutions
1:34:36and Devin would you mind reading through the resolutions for us
1:34:40okay I'm ready if you guys are
1:34:44everybody ready
1:34:48alright resolution number one
1:34:50authorizes the town clerk to publish in post
1:34:52notice to bidders for food and meat products
1:34:54for our senior center
1:34:58resolution number two
1:35:00authorizes the town clerk to publish in post
1:35:02notice to bidders for street light and traffic signal repair parts
1:35:06number three
1:35:08authorizes the town clerk to publish in post
1:35:10a public notice for a public hearing regarding an alleged unsafe structure
1:35:12located at 1092 Dolores Avenue Riverhead Suffolk County New York
1:35:14Suffolk County Tax Map number 600-102-3-16
1:35:16pursuant to chapter 217 part 4 of the Riverhead Town Code
1:35:18this has been on the radar for a while
1:35:20this has been on the radar for a while
1:35:22this has been on the radar for a while
1:35:24this has been on the radar for a while
1:35:26this has been on the radar for a while
1:35:28this has been on the radar for a while
1:35:30this has been on the radar for a while
1:35:32resolution number four
1:35:34classifies the special permit application of 4592 middle country
1:35:36application of 4592 middle country road to construct a two-family
1:35:38dwelling as a type two action pursuant to secret and schedules
1:35:40pursuant to secret and schedules public hearing 4592 middle
1:35:42public hearing 4592 middle country river riverhead coward to
1:35:44country river river river coward to new york suffolk county tax map
1:35:46new york suffolk county tax map
1:35:46new york suffolk county tax map number 600 97 19 19 19 19 19
1:36:02FARMS SUBDIVISION.
1:36:04THIS IS FOR THE SUBDIVISION I BELIEVE UP OFF OF RONALD CABINET.
1:36:11RESOLUTION NUMBER 6, ESTABLISHES STANDARD WORK DAY FOR ELECTED OFFICIAL.
1:36:15THIS IS FOR DONNA BROWN.
1:36:18THIS IS DONE EVERY YEAR FOR ELECTED OFFICIALS FOR THE RETIREMENT SYSTEM PURPOSES.
1:36:25RESOLUTION NUMBER 7, APPOINTS A MEMBER TO THE RIVERHEAD CONSERVATION ADVISORY COUNCIL,
1:36:29MICHAEL REICHEL.
1:36:31THANK YOU, MICHAEL, FOR STEPPING UP.
1:36:33WE'VE HAD THIS POSTED FOR QUITE SOME TIME.
1:36:37INDICATED INTEREST.
1:36:38I THINK IT'S A GOOD CHOICE.
1:36:39IT'S A GOOD WAY AS HE PUT HIS RETIREMENT TO KEEP A GRASP ON HIM.
1:36:44WE'RE NOT GOING TO LET HIM GET TOO FAR AWAY.
1:36:46HE ACTUALLY ATTENDED THE MEETING LAST NIGHT TO KIND OF GET HIS FEET INTO IT.
1:36:53RESOLUTION NUMBER 8, RATIFIES THE RESIGNATION OF A HEAVY EQUIPMENT OPERATOR.
1:37:00NUMBER 9.
1:37:00NUMBER 9.
1:37:01EXCEPT FOR THE RETIREMENT SYSTEM.
1:37:01NUMBER 9.
1:37:03treatment plant operator to be?
1:37:05Arnold Wolfrath.
1:37:06Arnold Wolfrath.
1:37:07Arnold has been an excellent employee for Frank Mancini and the water department.
1:37:12I'm sad to see him go, but I know he's going to be happy and still going to be around town,
1:37:16so best of luck to him in his retirement.
1:37:20And another retirement accepts the retirement of an employee, Julianne O'Neill.
1:37:25Another great employee we're losing to retirement.
1:37:28Unfortunately, age happens, but best of luck to Julie, too.
1:37:32She's been great in the town clerk's office.
1:37:33I thought that she was leaving to join Barry Manilow's new tour.
1:37:36Oh, it's quite possible I hadn't heard that.
1:37:39It's possible.
1:37:40She's a fan of ours.
1:37:42Very good.
1:37:45Resolution number 11 appoints a deputy town clerk.
1:37:48Congratulations to Vanessa Lacan, who will be joining our town clerk's office as a deputy
1:37:55town clerk, replacing Julie O'Neill.
1:37:59Resolution number 12 sets terms and conditions of employment for deputy clerks.
1:38:02The clerk, Vanessa Lacan.
1:38:06And number 13 appoints a deputy registrar of vital statistics.
1:38:11Go with the position.
1:38:12Authorizes recreation superintendent to attend the 2024 NYS RPS conference.
1:38:18I think that Ray has just a little bit of additional paperwork he has to file to accompany this resolution,
1:38:23so assuming we get that, we should be good to go.
1:38:26Otherwise, it may have to be delayed and come to you guys as a ratify.
1:38:31Okay.
1:38:32Thank you.
1:38:33Number 16 authorizes supervisor to execute a stipulation with local 1000 AFSCME AFL-CIO
1:38:39Riverhead Unit of the Suffolk Local 852.
1:38:42This is assigning one of the clerical and supervisor salary schedule.
1:38:53We're moving up one of the workers in the town clerk's office who was due to be moved
1:39:00up last year.
1:39:01And we waylaid it until after the start of this year.
1:39:05Right.
1:39:06Resolution number 17 authorizes the supervisor to execute an agreement with Parking and Mobility Consultants, Inc.
1:39:15This is to help us with the downtown parking area and the first street parking garage.
1:39:22Resolution number 18 ratifies the authorization of the town supervisor to execute a retainer agreement with S. Barshav L. P.
1:39:29L. L. L. L. P. L. L. C.
1:39:31Sorry.
1:39:32Can you say that again?
1:39:33Yeah.
1:39:34I got a little tripped up there.
1:39:35Yeah.
1:39:36I didn't hear that either.
1:39:37Yeah, I know.
1:39:38I'll have to work on it.
1:39:39This is the attorney we're hiring to assist us in legal action against the town of Southampton regarding their 10-year-old revitalization plan.
1:39:51Resolution number 19 ratifies application for CDS funding for Riverhead Water District proposed extensions 95 and 96.
1:39:56Okay.
1:39:57Thank you.
1:39:58I'll get the funding so we can finish those two projects up.
1:40:03That would be awesome.
1:40:06Resolution number 20 ratifies submission of letter of intent and authorizes public notice and application for Empire State Development Restore New York grant.
1:40:17Dawn, can we just get a quick description of what this is?
1:40:26So Restore New York grant.
1:40:27Yeah.
1:40:28IS A PROGRAM THROUGH THE STATE.
1:40:31WE'VE USED IT ON SEVERAL
1:40:33PROJECTS.
1:40:34THE RIVERHEAD LOFS PROJECT AND
1:40:37ALSO THE HYATT HOTEL PROJECT.
1:40:40IT ALLOWS US TO APPLY.
1:40:42IT'S A DOWNTOWN REVITALIZATION
1:40:44PROGRAM.
1:40:45WE COULD GET UP TO $2 MILLION.
1:40:47IT WOULD BE FOR THE HOTEL ON THE
1:40:49TOWN SQUARE.
1:40:50WE MAKE THE APPLICATION.
1:40:51IT DOESN'T COST THE TOWN
1:40:53ANYTHING.
1:40:53THEY PAY THE MATCH.
1:40:55BUT WE'VE BEEN MEETING WITH THEM
1:40:56AND WE THINK IT'S A GOOD
1:40:57APPLICATION.
1:40:58WE SPOKE TO THE STATE.
1:40:59THEY ALSO AGREED.
1:41:00SO WE'RE GOING TO LET IT RIP AND
1:41:02SEE HOW WE DO.
1:41:03PERFECT.
1:41:03EXCELLENT.
1:41:06THANK YOU.
1:41:10RESOLUTION NUMBER 21.
1:41:14PAVE OUR POTHOLES POP 2023 AND
1:41:162024 ROAD RESURFACING PROJECT
1:41:18NUMBER 52315 GRANT BUDGET
1:41:21ADJUSTMENT.
1:41:22SOME MONEY FROM THE STATE
1:41:23EVERY YEAR WE GET TO HELP FIX AND
1:41:25MAINTAIN OUR ROADS.
1:41:27MAYBE WE'LL JUST
1:41:28BUILD IT FORWARD AND JUST
1:41:29CLARIFY FOR US.
1:41:31EXACTLY.
1:41:33MORE SPECIFICALLY WHAT WE'RE
1:41:35DOING HERE.
1:41:35HE CAN JUST ARTICULATE THAT
1:41:36BETTER THAN I THINK I CAN.
1:41:43GOOD MORNING.
1:41:44THAT WAS MONEY THE $61,000 WAS
1:41:47LEFT OVER MONEY IN 22 THAT WAS
1:41:50BUDGETED AGAIN IN 23.
1:41:53SO IT WAS BUDGETED TWICE.
1:41:55121 149,000.
1:41:57LAST YEAR.
1:41:58INCLUDED 61,000 OF LEFTOVER
1:42:00MONEY DIDN'T NEED TO BE BUDGETED
1:42:01AGAIN.
1:42:01SO NOW WE'RE TAKING THAT BUDGET
1:42:03AWAY SO WE DON'T SPEND IT TWICE.
1:42:05GOT YOU.
1:42:12OKAY.
1:42:12RESOLUTION 22 CAPITAL PROJECT
1:42:14NUMBER 72217 ROOF REPAIR SENIOR
1:42:16CENTER CLOSURE.
1:42:19THIS IS ACTUALLY GOOD NEWS FOR A
1:42:21CHANGE.
1:42:21THEY CAME IN $50,000 ON THE
1:42:23BUDGET AND THAT'S A WINDFALL FOR
1:42:26THANK YOU.
1:42:27THANK YOU.
1:42:27THANK YOU.
1:42:27THANK YOU.
1:42:27THANK YOU.
1:42:28WE LIKE THOSE.
1:42:29WE LIKE THOSE.
1:42:29WE LIKE THOSE.
1:42:29THAT'S RIGHT.
1:42:30WE'LL TAKE THEM WHERE WE CAN GET
1:42:31THEM.
1:42:31NUMBER 23 GRANTS AGRICULTURAL
1:42:33WORKER HOUSING PERMIT FOR 422
1:42:36EDWARDS AVENUE AKA DELALIO SAAD
1:42:38FARM LLC 422 EDWARDS AVENUE
1:42:40CALVERTON NEW YORK SOUTHERN
1:42:42COUNTED TAX MAP NUMBER 600-117-2
1:42:45THIS IS WHAT WE DISCUSSED
1:42:48EARLIER IN OPEN SESSION.
1:42:50RIGHT.
1:42:50RIGHT.
1:42:50RIGHT.
1:42:51RESOLUTION NUMBER 24 APPROVE
1:42:53SPECIAL EVENT CHAPTER 255
1:42:54APPLICATION FOR LONG ISLAND
1:42:56ANTIQUE POWER ASSOCIATION
1:42:57TRACTOR POLLS AND FALL SHOW
1:42:59SEPTEMBER 28 TO NOVEMBER 3.
1:43:06NUMBER 25 APPROVE SPECIAL EVENT
1:43:08CHAPTER 255 APPLICATION FOR LONG
1:43:10ISLAND ANTIQUE POWER ASSOCIATION
1:43:11TRACTOR POLLS AND SUMMER SHOW
1:43:13JUNE 2 THROUGH SEPTEMBER 22-24.
1:43:19NUMBER 26 APPROVE SPECIAL EVENT
1:43:21CHAPTER 255 APPLICATION FOR LONG
1:43:23ISLAND ANTIQUE POWER ASSOCIATION
1:43:24TRACTOR POLLS AND SUMMER SHOW
1:43:25JUNE 2-24.
1:43:26NUMBER 27 APPROVE SPECIAL EVENT
1:43:28CHAPTER 255 APPLICATION FOR THE
1:43:29HOME DEPOT OUTDOOR PLANT SALE.
1:43:31SPRING IS COMING.
1:43:33NUMBER 28 APPROVE SPECIAL EVENT
1:43:35CHAPTER 255 APPLICATION FOR
1:43:37RIVERHEAD TOWNSCAPE INC.
1:43:38RIVERHEAD COUNTRY FAIR.
1:43:42FALLS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER.
1:43:44I THOUGHT YOU WOULD SAY FALLS.
1:43:46I THOUGHT YOU WOULD SAY FALLS.
1:43:48I THOUGHT YOU WOULD SAY FALLS.
1:43:50I THOUGHT YOU WOULD SAY FALLS.
1:43:52I THOUGHT YOU WOULD SAY FALLS.
1:43:53I THOUGHT YOU WOULD SAY FALLS.
1:43:54NUMBER 29 APPROVE SPECIAL EVENT
1:43:56CHAPTER 255 APPLICATION FOR
1:43:59HALLOCKVILLE MUSEUM FARM FLEECE
1:44:01AND FIBER FESTIVAL.
1:44:06NUMBER 30 APPROVE SPECIAL EVENT
1:44:08CHAPTER 255 APPLICATION FOR
1:44:10RIVERHEAD TOWNSCAPE INC.
1:44:11RIVERHEAD TOWNSCAPE COUNTRY FEST.
1:44:13AND JUST TO CLARIFY NOT TO BE
1:44:15CONFUSED WITH THE COUNTRY FAIR.
1:44:16THE FEST IS A MUSIC FESTIVAL.
1:44:17THE FAIR IS NOT.
1:44:22CORRECT.
1:44:23NUMBER 31 APPROVE SPECIAL EVENT
1:44:25CHAPTER 255 APPLICATION FOR
1:44:27RIVERHEAD TOWNSCAPE INC.
1:44:28BLUES BY THE RIVER.
1:44:31FOR THE BLUES FEST THAT THE
1:44:32TOWNSCAPE IS WORKING SO HARD TO
1:44:34BRING BACK AGAIN.
1:44:35WE APPRECIATE ALL THE WORK AND
1:44:37EFFORT IN THE TOWN.
1:44:40NUMBER 32 APPROVE SPECIAL EVENT
1:44:41CHAPTER 255 APPLICATION FOR
1:44:43RIVERHEAD TOWNSCAPE INC.
1:44:45HOLIDAY TREE LIGHTING CEREMONY.
1:44:48WOW WE'RE TALKING ABOUT
1:44:49CHRISTMAS TREES.
1:44:52JUST THINKING THAT.
1:44:53I GOT TO START MY CHRISTMAS
1:44:55SHOPPING.
1:44:56RESOLUTION 33 RESCINDS
1:44:59RESOLUTION 2024-286 AND
1:45:02RESOLUTION 2024-324 SCRAMBLE
1:45:05ELITE.
1:45:07THIS IS JUST A NOTICE THAT THE
1:45:10SCRAMBLE EVENT HAS BEEN
1:45:12RESCINDED.
1:45:13THE GENTLEMAN RUNNING IT HAS
1:45:15NOTIFIED US HE'S NOT GOING TO
1:45:17HAVE IT AND I BELIEVE IT WAS
1:45:19SCHEDULED TO BE THIS WEEKEND.
1:45:22YEAH I THINK IT WAS SEPTEMBER
1:45:2313TH AND THE 14TH ON THE RUNWAY
1:45:25UP AT EPCOW THAT HAS BEEN
1:45:27CANCELED AND HAS BEEN
1:45:28WITHDRAWN SO WILL NOT BE
1:45:30OCCURRING.
1:45:32RESOLUTION NUMBER 34 CORRECTS
1:45:34RESOLUTION 2022-278 IT WAS JUST
1:45:37A TYPOGRAPHICAL ERROR.
1:45:39SO THAT'S JUST A LITTLE CLEANUP
1:45:41ITEM.
1:45:43NUMBER 35 ACCEPTS PERFORMANCE
1:45:45SECURITY FOR OVERLOOK HOMES
1:45:47SUBDIVISION.
1:45:51AND THEN.
1:45:52YOU GUYS HAVE AN ADDITIONAL
1:45:54RESOLUTION THIS WAS IN
1:45:56ORIGINALLY AND SOMEHOW IT WAS
1:45:58INADVERTENTLY LEFT OUT.
1:46:00THE PRESS HAS BEEN GIVING
1:46:01COPIES OF IT AS WELL WE'LL ADD
1:46:02IT ONLINE AUTHORIZES TOWN CLERK
1:46:04TO PUBLISH AND POST A NOTICE FOR
1:46:06A PUBLIC HEARING REGARDING AN
1:46:08ALLEGED UNSAFE STRUCTURE LOCATED
1:46:10AT 650 ELTON STREET RIVERHEAD
1:46:12NEW YORK.
1:46:14THAT'S IT.
1:46:15THAT'S ALL WE HAVE FOR
1:46:16RESOLUTIONS.
1:46:17WE'VE GOT.
1:46:21OKAY.
1:46:22IN A MOMENT I'M GOING TO MAKE A
1:46:24MOTION TO CLOSE THE OPEN SESSION
1:46:26AND GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION TO
1:46:29DISCUSS UNDER LEGAL ITEMS,
1:46:31DYLAN HARRIS ESQUIRE, MATTERS
1:46:34SURROUNDING POSSIBLE LITIGATION
1:46:36REGARDING PROPERTY TAX
1:46:38ASSESSMENTS.
1:46:39THAT WILL BE WITH TENNENBERG,
1:46:41LAPINSKY, BROWN, HOWARD AND
1:46:42THOMAS.
1:46:43AND WE WILL BE DISCUSSING
1:46:45ANOTHER LEGAL MATTER WITH
1:46:47STEPHEN BARSHOFF, ESQUIRE,
1:46:50MATTERS SURROUNDING POSSIBLE
1:46:51LITIGATION WITH THE TOWN OF
1:46:52SOUTHAMPTON.
1:46:53THAT WILL BE WITH HOWARD AND
1:46:54THOMAS.
1:46:55EXCUSE ME.
1:46:56WE HAVE ONE MATTER FOR
1:46:57CONTRACTUAL AND THAT'S MATTERS
1:46:59SURROUNDING PROPOSED CONTRACTUAL
1:47:00AGREEMENT REGARDING THE TOWN OF
1:47:02RIVERHEAD INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
1:47:04DEPARTMENT.
1:47:05THAT WILL BE WITH KREMBORG AND
1:47:07BALDINUCI.
1:47:08DO I HAVE A MOTION TO CLOSE OPEN
1:47:10SESSION AND GO INTO CLOSED
1:47:12EXECUTIVE SESSION?
1:47:13I MAKE A MOTION.
1:47:15SECOND.
1:47:16ALL IN FAVOR?
1:47:17ALL OPPOSED?
1:47:18OKAY.
1:47:19OPEN SESSION IS CLOSED.
1:47:21WE WILL NOW RETIRE TO EXECUTIVE
1:47:23SESSION.

Full Transcript

Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Cuddy, would you mind leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance? Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you, Mr. Cuddy.

Okay, we have five items on for open session. Then we will do resolutions, and then we will close open session and go into executive session. Item number one on for open session is matters surrounding the update and overview of the Riverhead Community Awareness Program, or CAP, as we well know it, with Denise Merrifield. And, Denise, I'll turn it over to you. Hi. I'd like to invite the representatives from CAP to come on up and let everybody know the wonderful work that they're doing in the town. Absolutely.

Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. If you would just all state your names so the people watching at home know who you are. Sure. I'm Isabella Marcucci. I'm the Coalition Coordinator for Riverhead CAP. Nice to meet you. I'm Felicia Skakosa, the Executive Director of Riverhead CAP. And how many years now, Felicia? Twenty-five. Twenty-five. Excellent. Very good. It's an awesome program. Since the last century. Yes. Excellent. Excellent. All right, Denise, you want to go ahead and? Yes. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. Well, I was actually going to let Isabella tell everybody all the great work that they do. Sure. So Riverhead CAP is a nonprofit that's based in Riverhead. We are the major prevention provider for the Riverhead School District. And we do a lot of work with the schools. So we do a few school-based programs. So this is a little bit of an overview of our programs. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So we do provide a lot of information. We do provide some prevention-based counseling in the schools. We have social workers that are based in the middle school and the high school. And they have a social worker who works at both Phillips Avenue and Roto schools. They provide brief training prevention counseling. And in the middle and high school, they also offer a team intervene for students who are caught vaping once or twice. They get that to help them. Along with our school-based programs, we also do prevention program curriculum within fourth, fifth, sixth, eighth, and ninth grades. Come a little bit closer to the microphone. So there's one right over there, too, for you. So with the prevention programs within the schools, our longest-running one is the Pulaski program, which I'm sure you've heard about. I, myself, went through it when I went to Riverhead. And that one's a really unique one, because we get community volunteers, along with middle school and high schoolers, to help us teach the curriculum. And then we also have a program called the Cat March. And the Cat March is a program that's a really important one. And it's a program that's really important to the fifth and sixth graders. And then, as you know, we do our Cat March at the end of the year to really celebrate the program. So that Cat March is June 6. It's going to be June 7 on a Friday. You are all obviously going to be invited to that. So we hope you're able to attend. What was the date again? June 7. And what does that entail? The Cat March. So we have a keynote speaker who comes and speaks to all the fifth graders. And we get all these t-shirts that say, Drug Free Body. And we really celebrate being substance free. The students get to make signs and have banners. And they do a march from Pulaski to part of downtown and come back. And they get a day to celebrate. The Mousse Lodge provides food for us. And for all the students. And the students, yes. And it's really a celebration of just prevention and all the hard work they've done throughout the year. So hopefully. Yeah. You can attend. We do have special speakers for each classroom. I was honored to speak a few years ago on that. I was like, when I first came in as a town board member, and all the kids in the class made me this awesome card and everything like that. And I felt like it was really great. Yeah. You're celebrities to them. Yeah. Exactly. A lot of our other elected officials come as well. It's a really fun day, I have to say. It's a great day. And the kids appreciate somebody coming to their class. Sure. Yeah. And walking with them. Yeah. And you said that's June 7? Friday, June 7. Yes, exactly. It's in the morning.

We just need good weather. Yes. Hopefully no more smoke from the Canadian fires like last year. Oh, exactly. Right? Yes, that's right. Walking around in school. Yes. Yeah. So this year, fingers crossed, it's going to be amazing. Along with our school-based programs, we also have community-based programs. So I do the coalition, and we really work with all our sectors within the community, such as elected officials. We work with the health care sector. We also work with the New York National Guard a lot. And they help us find strategies that reduce the opportunities for substance use in the community. We do a lot of environmental strategies. Like Denise, you helped us with our environmental scan a few weeks ago, where we went into local vape shops and gas stations and just saw what they were selling. Because as we know, they are selling, you know, they are selling substances that they shouldn't be selling. So getting that information is really important for us, because then we can share it with the police department. And now they know what places to check out and do compliance checks at. Oh, they were very willing to help me and the other person I went with. I was amazed how open they were about the illegal items that they were selling in the store. Yeah. A lot of times, they keep the substances, like flavored vapes, not in view, because those are illegal. But then if you just ask someone, say, oh, do you have a flavor, they'll open up a cabinet. And then show it to you. So by doing that. That's just what they did. Exactly. Yeah. You were very good undercover. Good work, Denise. Yeah. Thanks. So that's just one of the strategies we do for getting data. But we also do focus groups in the middle school and high school. So we just performed two focus groups in the past month, where we got qualitative information from students about what are they seeing in the schools, what are they seeing in the community, what are they seeing in the community for substances. And we found out, no, they don't really think anyone's drinking at beaches anymore. Now it's more like house parties or getting an older sibling, allowing them to buy it for them. So it's really important information to help us cater our strategies to the substance use in the community. So along with that, we also have been working with some mental health first aid. So my coworker, Sandra, she runs all that section. Yeah. So she's a mental health first aid trainings, which is a six-hour training. It's seven, really. Seven-hour training. So that is a very in-depth look. We offer it for adults and people who work with youth. But then we also offer a 90-minute, 60, 90-minute option called QPR, question, persuade, refer. And that's for suicide prevention. And that's a really great option. And the great thing is, because it's with a grant, we offer all these trainings for free. So any organizations that want to be trained to see the signs of mental health issues or suicide, we do offer free training. So on that sheet, you can contact Sandra or myself if you want me to get you in contact with Sandra to get those free trainings. We also offer specialized, so people who work with veterans or people who work as first responders, because that's a specific kind of trauma that they're experiencing. So these people are now trained in how to actually speak with them and learn the signs for that specialized group. We've done several with the Riverhead Police Department. The chief has been really good in bringing in some of the other East End departments, too. And we're planning on doing some more in that area. That's great. Excellent. I wanted to ask you, just for a moment, supervisor, can we put this up on our site? 100%, yes. So we'll get this up, the cover sheet. Do you want me to sign? I'll send you a digital copy so it doesn't get to that. It makes it easier for Justin. Yeah, perfect. I didn't mean to interrupt you. Please don't take it. And then finally, we also just received the Partnership for Success grant. That was really great because we were one of the few organizations to receive this grant. We're the country. Yes. So it was really great. And it really helps us build the prevention infrastructure within Riverhead Town. So we are working with the some of our sectors, such as we've worked a lot with PBMC, Northwell Health. They are one of our bigger partners, and same with the Riverhead Police Department and the school district. Do you want to speak anything to Partnership for Success? It's a very large grant. There's a lot of moving parts. So the goal, as Bella said, is to build prevention infrastructure that's sustainable after the five years of the grant ends. So we're working on several projects. Like we've put some evidence-based programming in place in the school district that we're not actually teaching ourselves for once. But we're supplying the training and the materials for the teachers. And there was a gap in, you know, there was Pulaski in fifth and sixth. And we have a couple of people doing fourth grade programs. But there was really nothing standardized after that, as far as substance use prevention. So now they're doing the 15 sessions, Too Good for Drugs and Violence, which is also about healthy relationships and bullying in eighth grade and ninth grade. So that's a big change. We're also trying to implement an SBIRT, Screening Brief Intervention Referral for Treatment, program in some of the schools so that some of the youth don't fall through the cracks. That's great. I wanted to just ask you, you mentioned earlier something about surveys in the school. Could you just speak to that? A parent had contacted me and was concerned that if the children fill out the survey on their email that they have with the school, is that going to be somehow, I know that the surveys are anonymous. They were concerned that the school would get access to identity of the individual that fills out the survey. Could you just speak to that, just to allay people's concerns about that? Sure. So when you go into the survey, you're going to get a survey. The second you get into the survey, it becomes anonymous. And there is no way for the school to collect any information about the student or the person filling out the survey. And then furthermore, when the school gets the information back, it comes as an aggregate. So they don't get to see who actually answered a question or even who answered the survey. So it is completely anonymous, completely confidential. There is no way for the school to get the information about who's answering what or who even is answering the survey. And this helps you find out what these kids know about drugs, right? If someone in their family is using them or friends, or if they're using them, it gives you that kind of data to know what programs to start, right? Exactly. That's why taking anonymous data is so important, because someone's more likely to be honest. And that's why we want to make sure everyone knows it is completely anonymous. There's no way to trace it back, because we want to know the honest truth about what is happening in the schools and in the community, because we want to be able to direct our services to help those areas. And this is the CAP program. Right. Yeah. And we're referring to, not any other surveys. Yeah. We only did the Clyde survey. We only did the Clyde survey a few weeks ago. Also, I just want to add that survey data helps us track our outcomes. We can't just say, oh, the programs we're doing are great because the kids really like them. That's not enough. We need to track our outcomes. So as you probably are aware, in 2019, we were named Coalition of the Year nationally through Community Anti-Drug Coalition of the Nations of America. And that is because if you look in your packet under, on this page of underage drinking, we were able to show significant long-term outcomes in reducing underage drinking, as well as prescription drug abuse, actually. So we need to be able to track our outcomes, and our funders also want us to track our outcomes, because part of the Drug-Free Communities grant that we had, which is ending now, it's very powerful. If you remember Kelly Malosky, she went to the work for what's called the DFC National Evaluation Team, and that team tracks national outcomes. So we have to put in certain core measures every two years into the system, but it also shows that communities with drug-free community coalitions in them have significantly been able to reduce youth access to substances and subsequently reduce drug abuse. So we're in a phase now in which we're able to determine if there are substances that are in the system that might affect the society. So if there are substances in the system, if there are substances in the system that might affect society, if there are substances in the system that might affect society, if there are substances in the system that might affect society, if there are substances in the system that might affect society, if there are substances in the system that might affect society, if there are substances in the system that might affect society, being in the funeral homes and family members were in hospice, going back 30 years ago, we used to have to sign off and witness. The nurses would take the drugs and they would put them down the sink because they just didn't know anything was there. And then you realize later on that that was affecting potentially water supply and so forth and toxins and so forth. Now I think it's so great. We always share with all the families, like, you know, after the nurse leave, like, any other things? It's going to be a nice take-back day. My son, 24 now, so he's getting older, still loves to go and attend that and be there for him. It's a good take-back day. And that's great. Like, you know, I think one year it was, it rained. It rains every year. Like, torrential. Every time. Especially for the past year. Since you've joined us. Lastly, I've been to a spin rating. I'm noticing a pattern. Smoke. Rain. What? He runs car to car and everything and helping people. If people can't make it, we have, through our opioid grant, several other options for disposal. There's a medical. There's a medication drop box at the Rip Ed Police Department, which is 24-7. And through those take-back days and the medication drop box, we've collected over 12,000 pounds of medication since 2014, which for this size community is a lot. And it doesn't go in the water. Right. And it's not available to be abused. Right. And then we have several other disposal opportunities for people who can't make it. In fact, we're busting at the seams with this stuff. So we have Deterra. We have the activation bags. We have Dispose RX envelopes that go right into the prescription pill bottles. And we also have Safe RX lock-in pill bottles for, you know, elderly can use it. Parents can use it. Anyone who just doesn't want someone getting into their medication, either by accident or on purpose. We do offer them for free. So if anyone wanted them and can't make it out to the office to pick it up, we can ship it to them. So they can just... Contact the office and we can set it out to be shipped to them. I... We can... Oh, sorry. No, no, go ahead. I was going to say, or we can partner with any of the town organizations like the Senior Center... I was just going to say... ...to distribute them. Maybe partner with Meals on Wheels or something like that to distribute these for homebound people or veterans. We also now have lock-in bags for people to store their marijuana since it's legal. Right. We have free lock-in bags that were no questions asked. We're happy to distribute them to keep, again, what we are learning, not just from our focus groups, but in me speaking with other coalitions over the years, is that it's very easy for youth to access their parents' weed, edibles, you know. So in order to keep them safe, we have these lock-in bags that we'll send to anyone for free. Okay. That's great. Yeah. And in the years past, you've teamed up with Peconic Bay Medical Center. I know in the last two years, I got my Narcan training there. So that was always good. I don't know if that continues, but that was always just something good to have. You never know when they're driving. You know, it's, you know, I'm proud that my family is, my kids are great. I'm not naive. They're really great kids. But like, you never know, taking the training, I always have it in the back of my truck. So if you're just driving along and you see somebody collapse on the side of the road or something like that, you have the ability. Of getting the training from you and the issue of Narcan. So that's always been a good little added to the juke guys. You do great work. Very impressive. Thank you. Speaking of Narcan trainings, at our upcoming meet and greet, which you are all invited to, Northwell, the South Oaks Hospital, they will be doing free Narcan trainings and providing Narczone at the meet and greet. So hopefully you're able to attend and re-up your training if you'd like. So here is an invitation. Thank you. These were mailed. But if you could please let us know. Yes. We will be doing. We will be attending. I know Bob already said he wasn't coming. I did? Yeah. Didn't you respond that you weren't able to make it? Yes. I got a response saying that you weren't. I love this event, but it's grueling interviews sometimes. Oh, yes. It was tough questioning. That's fine. That's fine. But I would like to do it. The other thing is, can we share this with the people? Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. They did receive the invitation. So it's not open to the entire community type of event. We don't have the capacity to do that. But we did invite about 200 stakeholders in the community. I'm going to see why I can't make this. Well I have to say our town board coordinator is fantastic, Diane Tucci. She already has this on my calendar for me and I will be in attendance. I go wherever Diane tells me to go. Yeah, it's every year we do something different. But there's lots of... It's on my calendar. See? Oh good. So are you coming? It's on my calendar twice. It's on my calendar twice too. To Joanne's point, Diane, we're robots for her. Great. Excellent. So and there's lots of interactive activities and our youth coalition will of course as usual be highlighted. What they've been doing in the community and we're just going to really be talking about looking forward to the future of prevention in Riverhead. That's terrific. Thank you for coming in. Thank you. I have to say that over the years the Riverhead CAP has set the standards for many organizations. The awards that you guys have received is tremendous. The work that you've done in the community is phenomenal. The number of kids that you have reached out to and have gone through the program over the years. My kids all went through it. And it's just an awesome program. Thank you. And the hard work that you put in. Nobody sees what you do behind the scenes but we know a lot goes into it and we really appreciate you here in our community and what you do. Thank you. We have a great team. So thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. I was so happy to be on the team and imagine how happy I was when Bella who was a peer leader in high school showed up for an interview one day and I was basically before I even spoke to her I was like you're hired. I was all over the CAP website from high school. There's nothing more exciting than having someone who's been through your program and through multiple programs then shows up and wants to work at your place. It's such a great feeling and makes you feel very old. Well she only went through the program last year.

Anything, any other questions? No I think it's great. Thank you so much. See you on April 30th.

Okay, item two we have. We have Joyce Novak and regarding matters surrounding the Peconic Estuary Partnership. Hello there, how are you? Hi, this is Valerie She is our outreach coordinator and she's going to be speaking today. As well, so I put together a presentation to sort of guide us through here. And I'm just going to start with, I don't know everybody here. So I'm going to start with a little bit of how and what the National Estuary Program is. Well we'll take care of that first. We have Councilwoman Joanne Roski. Hello. Good morning. Councilman Bob Kern. Hello. Tim Hubbard you've met. Councilman Ken Rothwell. Hello. And Councilwoman Denise Merrifield. Hello. Hi, how are you? And you know Drew Dilling. Drew I know well, yes. And I'm glad to have the opportunity to be here in person. So I just want to go through a little bit of the National Estuary Program. We've been here on the East End since 1993. The program was originally hosted through Suffolk County. In 2017 we left Suffolk County and we are currently hosted by Stony Brook University. And that just means that they help us as a fiscal host to assist us with contracting and financial management. I won't go through the watershed. You guys live here. You know it's here and how great it is. But why is the National Estuary Program important? We're authorized under Section 320 of the Clean Water Act. However we are non-enforcement and non-regulatory. We have no interest in doing the state or the federal government's job in that respect. We are here to build community partnerships. And quite frankly to get money on the ground for our communities. And so how do we make decisions? We're guided by a comprehensive conservation management plan which is a series of 35 actions. From community engagement to habitat work to water quality work to coastal resiliency most recently. And it is under these actions that we are able to move money around and get it on the ground. Our governance has a series of committees with our policy committee at the top and working our way down. We would really like to see Riverhead engaged in our management structure. We have two local government representatives who have a vote on our management committee. That is important because that votes on what we spend our money on, how much of it goes to the ground, and where it goes. And I will be at the East End Supervisors meeting coming up to reach out to all supervisors to see who is interested in having more engagement on our committees. We have located an individual within our town that works for us that is more than happy to do this. I know it's been a while since Riverhead had representation. I'm not really sure why we haven't had it, but we want to take care of that and we want to get some representation on it. That would be great. And again, we talked about that. I think this was one of those post-COVID everybody had a lot going on for a long time to bounce back. We're going to go through some estuary-wide program updates with Valerie and then we'll circle back to some exciting things in Riverhead. Okay, great. Thank you. So I'll just go quickly through some updates that we had over the past year. And this is just a small section of all the great work that PEP does. So you may be familiar with the Byron Young Fish Passage at Woodhull Dam right across the street from the county center where PEP works out of. This is an ongoing fish passage project that's over a decade in planning and implementation. And if you're familiar with Byron Young, he's a really amazing person. He is a retired fisheries biologist with the DEC. He spent over a decade actually bringing these fish into the water. And he's in a bucket up over the dam upstream so that they could go spawn. So to honor him, we did work with the Suffolk County Legislature to name this fish passage project after him. And we had that unveiling event last year. That fish passage project is up and running. We also have a camera at that location so we can see how many fish are using this fish passage. There's also an eel passage. Oh, I didn't know that. I knew they all were. Yeah, that's very cool. Elwhife monitoring, as I said, we do have that new Elwhife monitoring camera at Woodhull Dam. And we have the existing camera at Grangeable that we work with DEC, Town of Riverhead to put in each year. We've had consistent data from that point for a very long time. So that's up and running once again. We have our annual horseshoe crab survey. We host a site at Squires Pond in Hampton Bays. But that, of course, is an island-wide endeavor that we work with the DEC and Cornell Cooperative Extension to continue that. We have a new endeavor with SeaTuck, a river otter survey that we actually worked last year to get Stony Brook students, interns, working with SeaTuck to identify locations where we're seeing new river otters, including right here in Riverhead. Amongst a lot of the development, there's little pockets of wetland and we actually see river otters using those locations, which is really interesting. I just learned that yesterday. It was so interesting. I had no idea that they were here. I didn't either. They're slowly coming back. It's interesting because they're very elusive. So I've been with the interns to go out looking for these new locations and you're just looking for signs of them. It's really hard to actually find them, but slowly they are spreading them and we are seeing much more evidence of those otters. I think I saw one in a pond at a golf course. I thought it was a beaver. Somebody said, no, that's a goose. I said, no, it's not a goose. I said, they don't stay underwater like that and move like this. Anyway, that's great. If it was sneaking around hard to look at, it may have been an otter. Okay, so we have our annual water quality report that we put out. 2022 is up on the website and we're working to finalize 2023's water quality report. We get information from all different sources, so that's quite an endeavor to put together and finalize, but that should be up on our website soon. We have our Eastern Peconic Blue Carbon site. Joyce will go into some of these projects a little bit more granular after I'm finished. Sorry for this blank slide, but we actually did have our biannual conference last year right at Atlantis Banquets and Events here in Riverhead, bringing together a bunch of stakeholders and talking about all the great work that PEP does and our partners are also doing in the region. We have a USGS solute transport model project that's been ongoing for quite some time. We're in the final stages of the USGS finishing that project and also creating an app that's easy to use because this is very technical and this will show different scenarios for nitrogen reduction. So if we work on certain types of nitrogen reduction, what can we see projections for the future? Next we have Aquabotic Wetland Restoration. We are working in partnership with local organizations and smart teams. This is a really interesting task in that it is working to restore natural hydrology for this wetland to improve the functionality of the wetland. It also started as a mosquito mitigation technique. Working to restore the natural hydrology so there aren't those sitting pools that we see those mosquitoes coming from and also going out there and scooping mosquito larvae. A lot of great partnership and on the ground work in this task. Next we have Broad Cove, which I'm sure you are all familiar with. This is a former duck farm site. We are working with Peconic Land Trust and through our bipartisan infrastructure law funds to create public access signage and in the future work for more environmental remediation. That is an absolutely beautiful piece of property. If anybody hasn't been down there, I invite you to take a walk through there because you will be amazed. You will be able to check for ticks when you are done. It is interesting that in the last presentation you mentioned the Canadian wildfires last summer because we actually had a planned eelgrass aerial survey that was postponed due to those wildfires. There is a very short period of time during the summer that you can actually do this aerial flyover technique and it was completely smoked out the entire time that we would like to do this. Hopefully this summer. Next we have Three Mile Harbor. This is the location of a PRB, so that is a permeable reactive barrier which is a technique to remove contaminants such as nitrogen from groundwater before it flows into our surrounding waterways. We are working now to monitor the effectiveness of this to future plan where these work best, if it is working in the site at all, so that we will have more information on it. Next we have this great tool on our website. Nitrogen Load Reduction BMPs. This is a great tool that anyone from homeowners to municipalities can use when working to reduce nitrogen. It has various different techniques that you can use to reduce nitrogen input and also will go into the cost effectiveness of each of these alternatives. Our critical land protection strategy also very useful for municipalities when you are working to plan climate resiliency as well as land acquisition for preservation. You can go ahead and check out that tool. If you do want any further help using that, you can go ahead and call the PEP office and we can help you with that. Next we have Now River Broad Meadows Marsh Restoration. Is this the latest that the land use agreement is in process? No, the land use agreement is finalized. Engineering designs are underway. Okay, great. Next we have Paul Stoutenburg. You are in completion for those engineering designs as well.

Do you want to go over that one? Sure, absolutely. We are doing some work with the aquaculture industry. When Suffolk County renewed their lease program a couple of years ago, there were some communities that pushed back that aquaculture, oyster aquaculture particularly would have negative environmental impacts. So we decided to engage researchers at Stony Brook University because of the science that we were getting would disagree with that. So we've engaged the Peterson Lab at Stony Brook University, which is a research center for the Stony Brook University, and we've also engaged the University of Minnesota. We've also engaged the University of Minnesota at Stony Brook University to carry out in-water research and under-cage research, so in the sediment and the surrounding water, to look at what's happening under the water and to be able to formally document what's happening. Initial results are showing that these cages actually increase biodiversity. There is a lot of use as multi-habitats for different organisms under water. There is a lot of use as multi-habitats for different organisms under water. And water quality immediately around the cages tends to get better. So we're excited for this work as it moves forward and we move more into some of the sediment work to see what's happening. But very excited about that. ECO-SIM modeling is really just looking at the different fish assemblages in the water. As our water is warming, things are changing. So we want to know what's happening and where everybody's moving to and who's coming into the estuary. Hardened shoreline ground truthing. We did an initial desk-based assessment of bulkheads. And we are really working hard to try and have communities and municipalities preserve natural habitats. Natural shoreline habitats. And introduce other options in lieu of a bulkhead. What is a bulkhead appropriate? You know, there are some places out there, you know, there are some places where no amount of plants are going to keep back the ocean, right? Water always wins. But there are other places, up creeks and in less energy affected areas, that nature-based solutions are a possibility. So we're working really hard to come up with what those are, who are the engineers that we can get to certify different types of installations, and a map-based approach to where they are appropriate and where they are not. We're also working with our towns and DEC on streamlined permitting. So some of our towns tell us, well, we go to DEC, we get the permit. The town doesn't have power then to say no to that permit. So we're trying on the back end to work to fix that. And the Bay Scallop. So for, since 2019, we're all aware the Peconic Bay Scallop has been in a die-off. So we have been supporting some of the research at Stony Brook. We're working with the research at Stony Brook University through our funds with New York State and some of our partner programs to try and get to the bottom of it, come up with a solution to what is the decimation of the Bay Scallop. And so I will just move into on the ground where we're spending money. So under the bipartisan infrastructure law, we get about a million dollars a year to spend in the Peconics. 600,000 of that is in process here at Riverhead for Meeting House Creek. Broad Cove, over two years, we're giving the Peconic Land Trust $300,000. You know, you talked about how much of a beautiful site it is, and we want people to get there. We want to increase access. So we're helping the Land Trust to, I know they just finalized an agreement for alternative parking, to be able to get communities there to build trails, to manage some of the invasive species that are in there, with a long-term vision of using this site for a variety of purposes. If we can get some kelp growing in there, if we can get some of these nature-based solutions there so people can walk through the water, see what they are, make decisions for themselves, and are not afraid of those solutions and those things. And the Land Trust, of course, is a very good partner, and we'll continue to work with them. We're also trying to have access for, for some of our disabled residents. We're looking into signage with braille. We are looking into how we can make trails more accessible to our communities, including gardens for children with disabilities. And we're working through the Land Trust on that, and, you know, it's their property, but we're supporting them to do that. Town of South Hold, Goof Creek, they're doing a discharge elimination project, which means they're taking some of their ocean outfalls or their bay outfalls and putting them to ground. We're working through the Peconic Protection Committee to get funding for all towns to be able to do this. In Riverside and South Hampton, we're funding some wetland restoration, stormwater mitigation on the South Fork. The Peconic East Blue Carbon Shoreline Project is one that marries kelp and oysters and seagrasses with the land. We're also working with the City of West Hampton to mitigate some of the climate effects that we have. This is the project. We're investing $600,000 on the east end of the watershed, and we also want to move to invest money at the Broad Cove site and the western estuary so that we can have an end-to-end nature-based climate plan. We've engaged the team at Stony Brook University who did the Shinnecock Bay Project, which is to date the only successful project. We've been working with them for over 12 years using nature-based solutions with proven water quality reductions, more shoreline stability, and a series of other benefits. So we're excited to work with them, and we want to replicate that here in the Peconics, and we want Broad Cove to be the western site for that. And we're supporting Suffolk County's IE system for some of our low- and middle-income communities and homeowners. The county provides the grant to put these systems in, with three-year maintenance, and then people are on their own. So we are working with the county to provide another three years of maintenance for those homeowners. $50,000 of bipartisan money and another $45,000 of our annual funds are going to this. So we have $100,000 to try and get this program off the ground, and the county is working hard to do that. Again, I talked about the Broad Cove Land Trust Fund. I don't need to get into this anymore. You are, of course, familiar with the program. You are, of course, familiar with Terry's and Meeting House Creek, which are priority sites for the estuary program. And Meeting House Creek, I've been working very closely with Drew. The drainage area is about 5 1⁄2 acres, 60% impervious surface, and this will be a constructed wetland to manage stormwater in this area. I know that the town is short about $175,000, so we are going to continue to work with them to try and close that gap and get this constructed. We've been talking about it for a very long time. We really want to see it installed. And then we'll talk about next steps up into that sub-watershed if there are other stormwater management techniques that we can support and help the town to take care of there on Church Lane. Just some accomplishments. What do we do? We're bringing $3 million to the region annually. In the past 23 to 24 season, we have over 90 acres of wetland restoration being implemented or in planning. We've opened 100 acres of diadromous fish habitat. We fund annually over $500,000 in water quality monitoring. We have five sub-watershed stormwater installations in planning and implementation. We've launched two online tools, which Valerie talked a little bit about. I would encourage you to go and look at them. They are a parcel-by-parcel assessment. So they are not just a broad brush of what we think will work where. It's a parcel-by-parcel assessment. Land use categories are based on Suffolk County land use data that we used. It was the only uniform across all six towns information that we could get because some towns do things differently. But there's a lot of information there that you can benefit from. And of course, we support local organizations through our annual mini-grant. We had four organizations. We had four local organizations. We had four local organizations that we funded in 2022. In 2024, we'll release again another call for this grant for another four local organizations. How has work gone with the algae blooms? I know Stony Brook was involved pretty heavily with it and others. And are we making any leeway with them? So that's a trick question, right? And it's tricky because the algae, you know, when you may conquer one species, two more come and decide, okay, now the conditions are okay for us to come in. So we're funding Stony Brook University's work throughout the estuary here in Riverhead. It's meeting his and Terry's creeks. And what we're looking to do is identify the reduction point in nitrogen and phosphorus. That we need to achieve to stop blooms. We're looking at three of the species that were particularly bad last year and two years ago. So are we making progress? Sure. We're getting to answer that question to be able to identify the reduction point, which will help us then target, okay, we know what we need to do in these areas. Now we need to come up with funding to do it. Right. It will help. That's even over and above TMDL. Yes. Yes. That is over and above the TMDL. None of this information data is a part of that TMDL. Arguably, the EPA and PEP should be working to update that TMDL. It's very old at this point. No. I have one question concerning the algae bloom. I know it can decimate shellfish. Yes. So does kelp, is it affected or does it have an effect on algae bloom? So kelp takes up all of the nitrogen that's in the water. So if you have enough kelp, presumably, yes. Right? And where we're seeing really great benefits is that co-benefit when you have shellfish and kelp together. Right? Because it helps both of those organisms thrive. And there's great nutrient reduction with kelp. And that is what the kelp eats. So ergo, it will reduce the haves. That's the idea. Yeah. And your comment on that it's cleaning up Shinnecock Bay. I can't wait to get it off of Brunko. Sooner is better. And those women over there are doing a phenomenal job at the bay in Shinnecock. Oh, yeah. Yeah. At the nation. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. No, I agree. And that's exactly why we engaged the same team at Stony Brook. Who had that success. We want to see that at Broad Cove. We've had some preliminary assessments done by them at the Land Trust site. And they think that's the ideal site. And that kelp will grow very well there. So we are excited. And we're looking for funding now to add that on to the work that we're doing at Broad Cove. Of course, through the Land Trust. It is their property. We're not just going to come in and tell them what to do. But they're excited too. Okay. That's great. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I want to go through a little bit of funding so that you guys can understand by being engaged in our committees where our money comes from. We get money from the local governments through the Community Preservation Fund. Largely some towns opt to give us direct budget lines. I'll go through that in just a second. New York State budget is not final yet. We have put in a request for more than $550,000, but that is what we traditionally have got in the past two years. We have received $1.7 million from the federal government. The Community Preservation Fund, and I go through this with every single town, looks at a contribution which is allowable by law. The Estuary Program is written into the law to receive funds for operational purposes. Because of Riverhead using CPF funds for debt services, they have always historically given us people's time to help us manage projects in the town. So that's a little bit of that. But I want to make you aware of this because I would like you to consider if the $46,000 is something that the town feels that they would be able to do as a direct budget line, I'd like you to consider that for the program. Because our goal is to increase funding. Always. Right? Not to our program office, per se, but to all of these projects that I just talked about. And so, we're going to be able to do that. And so, supporting us, you know, you're leveraging a lot of money from that initial investment. And that's it. So I will open it up to any questions that anybody might have. I know that was a lot of information. Good information. So much work you do. We do a lot of work. We do a lot of things. A lot of good things. A lot of very good things. Paul Stoutenburg. Yes. What kinds of services do they provide? Paul Stoutenburg? The Reserve? Yeah. Do they provide other than money? Services other than money? So, we funded them to do that wetland restoration work. They don't give us money. Right. That's what I mean. What kind of work did he actually do? The town of Southhold or the consultant? The consultant. So, we had the consultant come in and do a drainage assessment on the wetland. Originally, we thought that we would be able to have a more engineered solution to some of the wetland problems there. And as always, you know, it's drainage and pipe issues. So, we're in the process now of just getting some elevations and some final work done. And we have much more minor engineering solutions to look at the stormwater drainage and fixing some of those pipes. But we're in the permitting phase with the EEC on that. They're reducing the number of outfalls there, right? Oh, so that's Goose Creek. Right. Paul Stoutenburg, we're just amending the flow in and out of the wetland. We're not involved in the drainage reduction. At Goose Creek, we fund the drainage. At Goose Creek, we funded them to, I think it was seven and we funded four of the outfalls to go to ground. Yeah. That's very interesting. Because we're in the process right now of identifying which ones we can do. That is a project that our management board and our technical advisory committee really like. So, I'm happy to see that. So, I'm happy to talk to you further if you get yourself to a place of identifying those areas. How we can add Riverhead sites to, you know, like all this on the ball, we have a lot of South Pole information. So, happy to increase what we have to include Riverhead. Thank you. Sure. The more we can close up, the better, correct? Correct. We love to see alcohol elimination and rain gardens. So, keep that in mind. Right. We have rain gardens in Riverhead. And we do offer a homeowner rewards program, which we didn't really talk about, where for homes that are in the Peconic Watershed, we will give you $500 if you remove a small portion of your lawn and plant native plants. We will also provide a rain barrel. We'll reimburse you for the cost of the rain barrel. Is crabgrass a native plant? Crabgrass is native. Because I've gotten millions of dollars worth of that. It is annoying. It is native. How about moss? Oh, that I can't answer. I don't know anything about mosses. What's your take on the fact that, I have a problem with people being able to go to I won't mention the names of the stores and buy as much fertilizer as they want and drop as much as they want on the ground. Because farmers traditionally get blamed for that. However, they don't want to use more than they need because of the expense. Whereas homeowners, you know, they're putting so much down when they're cutting their grass, it's growing up two inches behind them as soon as they pass. Right? What's, anything going on to So, bad timing, but right before COVID hit us, Scott's Fertilizer released a Long Island blend that has the state recommendations of reduced nitrogen and slow release nitrogen. It is on the back shelf in Home Depot, covered under some dust and spider webs. But it's available at larger stores. And the launch of the product, you know, was overshadowed by what happened to the world. Unfortunately. But there is a Long Island blend that people can use on their lawns. We do, of course, advocate do you need that much lawn? But that's a personal preference. Most people have their lawn, love their lawn. So, you know, you have to find a way to, I have kids, they want to run around on the lawn, not plants. So, you know, I think it's about responsible use. Absolutely. There is definitely data to indicate that residential use of fertilizer is probably equal to ag. You know, that's important. That's a lot. So, it also has to do with when you fertilize. You know, if you know it's going to rain, maybe that's not a really good time. Do you need Kentucky bluegrass? You know, we're on Long Island. That's not what's supposed to be here. So, even, right, even working with, there are some slow growing grasses that you don't have to, that are lower maintenance and require lower fertilizers. And a lot of it comes down to, people just don't know. They're going to listen to what a landscaper tells them to do. And, or they're just unaware. You know, what a landscaper is doing. So, what's the state doing? I'm just curious. The state's so concerned about water. They're concerned about so many different things. You would think that they would require that you're using the slow release nitrogen fertilizer in New York State. I would love to see that on Long Island. I would agree with you. And the state stopped short of a recommendation. Not surprised. Not surprised. Yep. So, that was I want to say 2018, 2019 that was up in Albany. And it stayed as a recommendation. It did not move forward as a law. The county has a stronger policy. The county has a closed period, you know, when you cannot fertilize anymore. So, that is a legal requirement that you can lean into. But, again, they don't dictate slow release, lower nitrogen, you know, all of those things. I would encourage you to go. What I do where I live is I go to even my local garden center, because I try and support them over Home Depot. And ask for the Long Island blend. Even suppliers don't know that it's there. It's first time I'm hearing of it. Right. And it is, it's Scotts. It's a Long Island blend. And it adheres to the state recommendation that was made. So, you know, there is a product out there. What's the slow growing grass? I want that. I can get that for you. There is a slow, you have to plant it in the fall. I've heard all these things. That is not my specialty. But I can certainly get that information for you. Right. And it is, it's easy to point a finger at Ag. But for Ag, they are a business. Why would they want to spend more money that they don't have to spend? So, you know, I see that. We did also launch an Ag work group through PEP to try and bring Ag partners on board to have better outreach materials about some of the great work that some farmers are doing. And to try and shift that conversation a little to everybody loves to come out here to use the farms. So, we should be supporting them and not just pointing fingers. I think it's the overarching message. I have one question. I'm sorry. What did happen to the horseshoe crabs? Where are they? I would see them all over the beaches all the time growing up. And I never see any horseshoe crabs. I saw you have a whole bunch of programs about the horseshoe crabs. What is happening to them? So, the horseshoe crab populations are in decline. I believe DEC is considering changing the quotas in the fishing. It is still an open fishery. But I can't really speak to the ins and outs of DEC and their regulations. I didn't mean to put you on the spot. No, that's okay. The likely culprit is disappearance of habitat. In addition to, again, I'm not familiar with the fishery landing numbers. They use them for bait and the traps all the time. And the traps. But I don't know anything about what the actual numbers are for landings. But I can say we focus on habitat retention. So, that is natural shoreline. If you put up a bulkhead, there's no more horseshoe crabs. So, that is something we take into consideration. I know that Dr. Matt Sclafani at Cornell Collaborative Extension for years has been looking into this and has even been able to, or he's getting to where we're having the conversation about which natural shorelines based on even the grain size of the sand is the best breeding habitat to try and really support them. I will say I can put you in touch with the program coordinators if you are interested in going out on a night they are, like monitoring and tagging. I can find the closest site for you. We're out in Hampton Bay and it's like in the middle of the night. Sounds cool. It is. It's very fun. But if you saw them previously, you'll notice when they are mating, they're right along the shoreline where the waves are coming in. And so it's a very specific type of shoreline that you need. If you have bulkheads, there's no way that they are going to be using that location. So, that I think is a big part of the equation there. But I will say on the south shore, they seem to have more robust numbers to the point where they don't even do the normal like counting all of the horsehoe crabs on a beach. They use like a segmented type method because they're just overcrowding of them. They haven't disappeared off the base of Long Island. You can even visit one of those sites if you want to see them in abundance. But yeah, just anecdotally, we did see more at our site in Hampton Bay than we had in previous years that I had been monitoring. So, that's somewhat... I just think they're so cool. They're so prehistoric. I thought that they were extinct. I used to see them all the time. I haven't seen them in decades in the bay. Seagulls like them. Yes. They attack them and I've seen them there. Really? Oh yeah. I used to be petrified of horsehoe crabs. I love that they are scary looking when that tail goes up. You think it's going to jab you or something. Maybe there's a horror movie in there somewhere. You just get up close and personal when you're tagging them. It's pretty intense. Oh, I'm not going to do that. I'll just watch. Anybody have any more questions? Excellent presentation. I really appreciate you being here. Thank you so much. I agree. It was great meeting you the other day too. Yes. During the earthquake. Yes. We shared the earthquake. None of us knew it was an earthquake. Yes, and anytime. Please reach out with questions about anything. Thank you. I leave this here. This is yours.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. For our next item, we're going to go a little bit out of order. We're going to take matters surrounding traffic light at Fresh Pond and Middle Country Road intersection at the end of the day. Joanne Woski and Greg Berman. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. Supervisor and town board members, I have asked Greg to come speak with us this morning with regard to concerns from the residents in Calverton about where a potential traffic light may be going on Middle Country Road. There is a lot of concern that the residents have been asking for several years for a traffic light to be placed at the intersection of Middle Country Road and Fresh Pond Avenue. This road serves as a cross access from Middle Country Road to Sound Avenue. The residents in Timber Park use this road as a way to gain entry onto Middle Country Road. You have a senior mobile home park with about 328 units. I'm thinking about the future of Calverton moving forward. If there's development, we have a lot of open space over there. If it gets developed, I need to make sure that we have some kind of plan. I'm going to turn it over to you, Greg. I will say there's always a stare down when you're leaving Tractor Supply. Yes. If somebody else crosses Gene and Fresh Pond, I wonder which one of us is going to get to go. It's a busy road. Yes. I'd like to advocate for the residents of the town and see if there's something that we can do to ensure that a light does go at Fresh Pond. Absolutely. They need a light there. Thank you. So what I did, rather than come back with three or four binders, I just kind of excerpted a couple of sections and pages from traffic reports and studies that we've done on projects in the area and the vicinity of Fresh Pond and Middle Country Road. So just going back probably about, at this point, five or six years, when the Tractor Supply application first came in, it was two applications. It was a three lot minor subdivision and then the site plan to develop the Tractor Supply site. That Tractor Supply site, just for the Board's knowledge, they do have approval for the Tractor Supply pad, and there's three additional buildings that were approved. I believe one is approximately 9,000 square feet, and then there were two smaller 4,000 square foot retail buildings that got approvals. Obviously they're not constructed yet. The landlord's trying to find tenants. So when that application came in, obviously because the project site is located on Middle Country Road, which is a state highway under the jurisdiction of the New York State DOT, when the initial referral was sent to the DOT back in, I believe it was 2018, the DOT came back and noted that only a small portion of that property at the time was slated for development. So they wanted to see a traffic impact statement that sort of analyzed a theoretical build out for the entirety of that property. So the first page of the little packet that I presented to you is from the traffic impact study in connection with that Tractor Supply development. The Build A condition, which I highlighted for you, the Build A condition was the development of that Tractor Supply site itself with the four buildings. The traffic impact study noted and found that it was unlikely that the Build A condition would warrant a traffic signal at Fresh Pond and 25. However, it did note that the RWCS, which is the reasonable worst case scenario, which was that theoretical build out, said that it would likely warrant a traffic signal. So being that the 25 isn't under the jurisdiction of the DOT, we were not in a position to say you have to install a traffic light. It was the DOT's opinion at that point that the signal was not warranted. So as we fast forward a couple of years, the next page is an excerpt from the HK Ventures draft environmental impact statement, which was submitted in May of 2021. We had the applicant at that point through the secret process and the EIS process look at several alternatives. One of the alternatives was the implementation of a roundabout at Middle Country Road and Fresh Pond Avenue. I saw that the EIS process was not in line with the EIS requirements. So I was not able to get a look at the EIS requirements. I sat in on a Zoom call with the New York State DOT. That meeting was held in December of 2020. So the next couple of pages just show that we did have them analyze the feasibility of a roundabout at Fresh Pond at 25. At that time, the DOT ultimately in the future said that they would prefer signalization of that intersection just based on geometry and the fact that the installation of a roundabout would require takings of property on all corners. They noted it would require the public eminent domain of five properties, approximately half an acre. So they ultimately sort of yielded to the point that that was highly unlikely in the DOT's opinion to ever come about. One of the other alternatives that we had the applicant look at was providing a cross-access, just for the boards to get you oriented, the HK Ventures site which is approximately 30 acres which is slated to be developed with approximately 412,000 square feet of industrial land. And the other alternative was to provide a cross-access to the West side of the development, which is located directly to the east of the tractor supply site. So early on in the review of the HK Ventures site, one of the alternatives was to provide cross-access with the neighboring property to the West, which at that time was owned by Calberton Industries. The thought being, and this would have been the optimal situation, if Fresh Pond Avenue could be, sort of act as the feeder road to a larger industrial development, both on the back where the Sky Materials site is, and as well as act as a feeder road to the HK Ventures site. At that point, we likely would not have had a traffic signal at HK Ventures. At that point, it probably could have been like a right in, right out with the main access being a signalized intersection at Fresh Pond Avenue. And would have weighed more strength to put the light at the intersection of Fresh Pond and Tractor Supply. Correct. That's a no-brainer. I mean, that... I absolutely agree with you. I see there's a letter here from the Calberton Industries. So in March of 2021, and it's in the record in the DEIS, the owner of the Calberton Industries property at the time was approached with the potential cross-access. And he essentially said, as per our prior conversation, we at Calberton Industries feel that allowing cross-access through our property to yours would be detrimental to our future plans. Unfortunately, we cannot accommodate your request. So this was in a position where you have a private landowner who was unwilling to facilitate cross-access that would be ultimately would have yielded a better result for the entire area. That's a shame. You know, it was just in a position where we couldn't compel it without going through some probably lengthy legal action. So that's where we are. So the... Has he been approached again, do we know? Since then? So he has been approached since then. The problem is since we've finished CEQA on the HK Ventures project, we had granted preliminary approval. The position that HK Ventures has taken is like, you know, that train has sailed. You know, if it was three years ago when they're so far down the road, short of Calberton Industries going and funding, essentially what at this point would be paramount with a complete redesign of the project, unless they're willing to foot the bill for that, which I completely understand from a developer standpoint, HK Ventures was, you know, we've attempted that route, we've knocked down that door, and we were shut down. So, you know, we're not going to be able to do that. We're going to... That's a shame. As a property owner that has property which fronts on a state highway, the New York State DOT, they can't restrict someone from having curb cut and access to a state highway. What's our zoning, what's our town strength in order to mandate cross-access on properties? So we are, it is a function of the site plan code, so we are in the preliminary approval for the HK Ventures site, we did require a future cross-access to the tractor supply site. What that will do, again, it doesn't immediately address the Fresh Pond Avenue and the Middle Country Road intersection, but people who are visiting the tractor supply site would be able to exit to the east through HK Ventures and access that traffic signal. So again, I understand the concerns with the residents coming off of Fresh Pond from Timber Park. Absolutely. You know, so we're in a position where right now, we have no jurisdiction over that intersection. What I can do, and I don't believe we've gotten the GEIS chapters, I'll have to double check, but I don't think we've gotten the GEIS on the impacts of traffic and infrastructure. But I can consult with LKMA, who is our traffic consultant for the comp plan, and I can work with them. They've got strong working relationships with the DOT. We can work with them to draft a letter, potentially include some of the studies we've done up until this point to sort of petition the New York State DOT to really take a hard look at that intersection. Unfortunately, what typically happens is the DOT is going to wait until this point to sort of petition the New York State DOT to really take a hard look at that intersection. It's a tragic accident, and then they'll sort of look at it proactively. I think it would be appropriate to send them a letter and sort of really petition them to strongly look at it. Absolutely. I would highly recommend that. Absolutely. We should get letters of support from our State Assemblywoman and our State Senator. Put a packet together and send it to the DOT. State Route 25, absolutely. Greg, I've got a question. And I'm very familiar with this. So between HK and Tractor Supply, there's also the ability for more commercial here, right? Well, so on the Tractor Supply site, they do have approval for three additional buildings. I believe it's approximately a 9,000 square foot building directly to the east of Tractor Supply. Basically three other pad sites. I think totaling approximately 18,000 to 20,000 square feet of additional. And I mean, the old zoning applies to that property. They retain the old zoning, which is old business CR through litigation with the town probably 20 years ago at this point. So I mean, it could permit, that's how the Tractor Supply site was developed under that old zoning. So they can have retail, they can have restaurants. There are approval for three other pad sites. That site plan is approved, so they would have to come in really for building permits, architectural review board, but that site plan in its totality was approved. So they would exit at this. This fresh pond definitely needs to run. I can't stand making a left turn over here. You can barely make a left turn. It's dangerous. So the question I have, so we can make sure that these other pad sites here exit here, can we not? Well yeah, so that's what I said. So for the HK Venture site, we're requiring future cross access. So where you've got Tractor Supply here and here's HK, there's going to be a cross access here that, so someone visiting the Tractor Supply site or any of those additional buildings when they get constructed, they would be able to go out, because there will be the New York State DOT did accept So we'll have two lights in that area. There will eventually, I foresee But wait a minute, if there's already going to be a cross access, instead of having the cross access going to HK Ventures, why can't the cross access be HK Ventures going to Tractor Supply? Why can't it just be reversed? Well so cross access is going to be I mean, the DOT accepted the signalization report for the HK Ventures site. Would they be, and I'm with Joanne on this, would they be amenable to just making the cross access so that it comes to Factory Pond so the light's already here? Well yeah, so right now there is no light, like there's never been the warrant analysis like the permitting process for the light at Fresh Pond and 25 has not been done at this point. So the study was done once the neighboring property owner shut down HK Ventures for cross access. I think the question is does a new project in any way have a right to bear onto a pre-existing project? Tractor Supply is done and completed so why do you have to ask Tractor Supply if they can? It would be great for them to work together but I think that's your problem. So that's where the traffic impact study for the Tractor Supply site Again, just the build out of the Tractor Supply site at that time they said didn't warrant any signal but any future development so there is another, you've got Tractor Supply you've got the access road off of 25 there is another 5 acre piece across that access road that could be developed in the future and then there's the remainder of the Sky Materials site which right now is acting it's a C&D material processing site. So any future development will be referred to the DOT it's likely that at that point any future development will have to put a signal in but at this point I think we're sort of limited to petitioning the DOT I mean again with HK Ventures we can make the request but going so far down the road finishing SIGRA, issuing a finding statement granting a preliminary approval I think is Even without cross access can instead of the light being in front of HK Ventures can it be a Tractor Supply and then just being a right hand turn only out of HK Ventures so when the light turns red next door you can still exit out of HK Ventures so the light is still helping the whole overall situation but it doesn't have to be across us I mean again having gone through the review, issued the finding statement, granted a preliminary approval whereby a signal was going to be approved at HK Ventures I think it's unfortunately But can we move it though is what we're saying so we like, we want the traffic light there but can we move it and then HK Ventures HK Ventures just make a right hand turn only in other words they wait for the light to turn red in front of Tractor Supply and then they make a right in other words it doesn't line up to HK Ventures but it's still going to help their entering and exiting out of the facility and it's going to help the whole intersection overall I mean so having granted a preliminary approval I think it, I think that's a a tall ask I mean I can consult HK Ventures and I mean they don't have a final approval but again that would require a essentially a complete redesign of the project Well just keep their entrance and exit in the same place but move the light down or the whole traffic is going to course right? I mean so that would in a perfect world the access would have gone behind the Tractor Supply it would have been like an essentially an industrial feeder road the level of traffic that's going to be generated by the HK Ventures site would not be appropriate to be going in front of the Tractor Supply building so at this point I'm not suggesting cross access I'm suggesting that you exit the light is still in front of Tractor Supply and HK Ventures has a right turn only so when the light turns red everybody leaving at HK Ventures is making that right hand turn on through 25 because traffic is essentially But so there is no light at Fresh Pond and that's the sort of impasse that there is no light at Fresh Pond I can't position to try to get the light at Fresh Pond What I'm saying is just reposition the light instead of it being in front of HK Ventures if it was slid down in front of Tractor Supply it takes care of the cross you know Fresh Pond Avenue and the senior traffic at the same point if you're trying to of course it helps Tractor Supply but if you're trying to exit out of HK Ventures you're looking at the light which is now going to be a couple hundred yards down when it turns red make your right hand turn and you start getting out of there I mean I understand I'm fully aware I've reviewed both of these applications Installing a traffic signal on a state highway is not just as simple as sliding it down it's not like adjusting a curb cut or widening a curb cut adjusting radiuses on curb cuts I mean that's a you're essentially trying to we'd be burdening a neighboring property owner with installing a traffic light to benefit the neighbor Tractor Supply would love a traffic light there I can't see that they would see that as a burden The problem is the state has looked at that intersection and said it doesn't deem that it needs a light But that was in 2018 Right Well I mean we did you know the DOT we reviewed all the traffic impact studies from HK Ventures I mean again I think we can draft a letter but I'll consult with Dawn I'll speak with LKMA on what they believe you know the best course of action but I think we are hard pressed to I agree with you but I think we at least owe it to try and see if for some reason maybe we could work something out here because to me that makes two lights makes absolutely no sense to me whatsoever I mean one light is absolutely not a problem I mean it's a from a planning perspective the fact that you have a neighboring property owner who really in the long run would have benefited because HK Ventures if we could have designed this and he would have allowed cross access the reality is HK Ventures would have foot the bill for the light and again if they are going to install a light whether they are installing it at the access to their site or the neighboring property line it was very frustrating just from a long term planning perspective that you had a property owner who just said no unfortunately I think that was a little bit short sighted just to his own interest because now any development he would be responsible for a light at that intersection so that was just personally frustrating for me that again you can't compel you can't twist the property owners arm to work with the neighbor I just have a question what about the idea that the other alternative for these people is they have to just go on Sound Avenue and eventually get over to what Edwards to start getting into town if they can't make the left off of Fresh Pond I mean that would people from Timber Park aren't going to go all the way from there to Sound Avenue what I'm getting at is something to notify the state that we want this to be a historic corridor on Sound Avenue and you don't want the traffic to be as large as it is on Sound Avenue because people are afraid to make the left they're going to make the right and go down off on Sound Avenue maybe that's something we could add to the letter that's an unforeseen issue an unforeseen circumstance that's happening with a lot of the people that live in the town they can't get to the town they have to go on Sound Avenue I think I mean I'll I can draft a letter I'll work with LKMA I can see again the DOT if we just write a letter with no sort of studies and support probably just okay thank you but I think we've done enough a lot of common sense right going on I mean I myself pull horsetails out of tractor supply and when you finally get that moment when it's clear and I'm pulling out somebody from J&R Steakhouse has got a little sports car that goes right in front of you it's not a good situation it's a common sense years ago when I did stuff for the DOT we used to sit out there with clipboards and just send them out to do a study on the intersection and just have them watch it I fully agree I mean regardless of tractor supply and HK Ventures you have a T intersection where State Route 25 has a heavy volume of traffic I think irregardless of tractor supply or HK Ventures it was a difficult intersection before that but now you throw in the four way intersection with tractor supply it's compounded the problem and the pavement is so smooth up there I hate that it's like traveling in a coma by not having a light there I'm wrecking the alignment of my car I know I'm telling you my low profile tires I tell you they love it me too well Greg whatever you're able to do to help the residents I'll talk to LKMA I'll see what we can do to bolster a letter of support we would appreciate that for sure I know the people of the senior community up on Fresh Pond would extremely like that Greg when you talk to LKMA can you ask them they're probably familiar with the technology where you can put a tracker rather than putting rubber across the road and they can put a tracker and a light there that goes directly to an app and it counts the traffic they'll get immediate results instant reads can you let me know if they are familiar with that technology I'm sure they are let's see what that costs that would be good thanks alright so I'll work with LKMA and I'll get a letter and I'll review it to the board and we can get that sent out thank you I appreciate your time today I know how busy you are thank you ok we're going to go back up this schedule and go to matter number 4 which are matters surrounding agricultural worker housing for 422 Edwards Avenue and we'll have Matt Charters come up and Councillor Cuddy it's always good to see Councillor Cuddy good morning Mr. Cuddy how are you much simpler discussion and hopefully a quicker one you already have the light laughter laughter laughter laughter laughter trying our best laughter laughter our 14 billion dollars that goes off Long Island up to the state is not enough money for them laughter probably not we have to kill them with kindness applause applause thankfully we do have the eye in the sky so everyone can see the plan here so this is for agricultural labor housing at 422 Edwards Avenue if the board is aware this is Delalio Sad Farm so this is coming before us because sort of a consequence of a subdivision that's happening on the property they're doing a two lot subdivision here because there is a state sited solar project going on what's the northern portion of this property which is Riverhead Solar that went through the 94c process so essentially Delalio's are subdividing this area which nobody can see now but the clerk can see is going to be solar and then Delalio is going to retain this area down here that's got their barns a lot of their infrastructure and there are two existing houses on the property which they benefit from a pre-existing from an LPU essentially they've been functioning as ag labor housing but as a consequence of this subdivision you lose your my allergies are killing me today as a consequence of doing subdivision you lose your rights to pre-existing non-conforming uses because you're changing a lot of area so this was a method to essentially keep what's essentially now agricultural labor housing and to continue the use in these two houses which I just gave you guys photos other than that it's very straight forward they'll need an RPZ for the water district health department approval I included conditions of approval that are typical for agricultural labor housing which both staff and Mr. Cuddybrook have said and my attention has some language that I think is worthy of a code revision it does reference ag labor camps which as everyone knows is pretty negative connotation at this point in time so it's my recommendation to just in the code change it to just reference ag worker housing absolutely otherwise it'll look like Arizona other than that pretty straight forward they'll need rental permits they get inspected every year obviously the people who are going to be living in these units have to work on farms within Riverhead and give some people places to live so I think it's all in all pretty good and pretty straight forward the farms is sod farm staying where these houses are? their operation is staying there you want to keep housing but you're getting rid of the farm so the agricultural use is still there the production is going to be elsewhere within the town so there's no requirement that the actual growing has to happen on the property within where the ag labor house is but it'll be like employees for the sod farm correct it has to be these houses have been there and used by since 1988 and he uses one of the houses the larger house which is two stories is seasonal the other one is year round but these employees work in Riverhead some of them work in Calvaryton they've been doing that for years as long as they're working in town Riverhead they have to they have to by code to have these and while it's not going to be an ag production anymore they're going to be agricultural use so their farms are there their processing there so it's like their base camp so to speak typical it fits all I have a resolution for Tuesday for you guys Mr. Cuddy it's nice to come in with an easy one once in a while yeah really I think it works for everybody it's very helpful alright very good thank you good to see you nice to see you thank you nice meeting you thanks Mr. Cuddy very good thank you we have all of the A team here today I see we got Heather up next next matter is matter surrounding special permit application for two family dwelling at 4592 Middle Country Road and we have Heather Trojanowski from the Plain and Water Pump Tracy's still upstairs here we go let's have a party okay so I did let the applicant know that the work session was today I don't see him here I believe he's the expediter but I did provide him with a copy of my staff report I don't know if anyone has gotten a chance to really look at the plans staff reports will likely I apologize but I'm just going to open this up so we can all get a look at the site plan yeah we actually have put it on there it is you're on TV now okay alright so just a brief overview this is a special permit application seeking approval to construct a two family dwelling at a two car detached garage within the residence B40 zoning use district where two family dwelling are specially permitted use the site location is 4592 Middle Country Road in Calverton more particularly identified as Suffolk County Tax number 600-97-1 just 79.1 it's roughly a half an acre parcel and surrounding development is mainly residential with the exception of the Stony Brook incubator which is right across the street and then I'd say about 1200 feet east is the Calverton Commons shopping center the proposed action is to

consider type 2 action pursuant to because it's the construction of two family dwellings so no further environmental review is required but I did give you all a brief overview of the requirements of 301-312 all A through R the special permit considerations I mean again the surrounding development is residential and the purpose and intent of our B40 zoning is to allow for medium density residential development so I don't think it would be entirely out of character with the surrounding area given that the town board did grant a special permit in the past for two family down the road just east of the entrance to Timber Park the only thing that I noticed was that the groundwater management zone is 3 which per Suffolk County Department of Health Services standards is 300 gallons per day of sanitary flow two family dwellings require 600 gallons of sanitary flow so they will need Pine Barren credits again I provided the applicant with a copy of my staff report so they were made aware of this at this point in time we can have a resolution on to classify SECRA and then we are required to schedule a public hearing once we get past that point I would just highly recommend that as a condition of approval if granted they have to get Suffolk County Department of Health Services approval as well as water district approval they didn't note whether or not they were using one or two services so that will have to be hashed out when they make their application to the water district but I mean as far as parking is concerned town code requires one spot per dwelling unit this is a two family residence and per the site plan they are requiring four parking stalls plus they have the detached garage so I don't see an issue with parking I will note personally I am a big fan of trees the lot is wooded there are a ton of Norway Maples and those are invasive so I have no objections to those being cleared but there are a couple of nice oak trees along the middle country road frontage so I mean I would recommend that if you are looking for trees that are possible for them to save them or any large size caliper trees along the property lines just to you know avoid clear cutting the property that's something that I would recommend it's you know entirely up to the board but if there are any other questions I think it's going to dress it up because for a while it wasn't all that nice there was dumping on site the prior owner you know it's been vacant he was dumping asphalt milling I think storied equipment there and essentially it wouldn't really be larger than a lot of the newer construction single family homes that are going up and actually each unit does meet the minimum living area requirements that are currently under RB40 zoning I'd like to see them keep the trees yeah that's something that we can discuss further at the public hearing when the applicant their representative are here but I just wanted to get the ball rolling with this and if we're good we can classify SEPRA and schedule a public hearing I just have one question Heather because I'm a little I know about the Pine Barren credits but do they do they show proof that they purchased them to the health department and to us so the health yeah the health department you know again in order to get approval from the health department they'll probably dictate how many they need again this is you know it's double the density essentially and groundwater not the zone 3 make certain that the separate detached garage belongs like to the rest of the home and it's not a third entity where somebody is now renting the detached garage to somebody else's storage and parcel do we do you know what I mean I'm not like the three businesses on one pile well I was just going to question the pitch of the roof I can't read the numbers of what's written here it looks like it's proposed to be a loft and again this is something that I think the applicant would probably better address since they're you know they commissioned these plans but the town board does have the authority to impose any conditions they feel necessary so when it comes time to approval after the public hearing you know has been closed we can say that the garage is only to be you know a garage detached garage accessory use no living space and that can also once they go for building permits that can be put on the CO as well so that way you have a you know a record when someone goes to put in a foil for the property or it gets sold it's on the certificate of occupancy that this is a garage and only a garage but a sign can is there potentially a way to make it a sign to residents or whoever's renting that structure and it's not in other words I mean it's only a detached garage and then do we have a third business going in there storing vehicles trucks whatever and now it's not you know what I mean we have three entities or we have two entities it should only be accessory to the two family dwelling you know it's an accessory structure pursuant to town code and building code but again if there's any specific language I would definitely consult with council you know when it comes time to craft an approval resolution if that's what the town board is inclined to do after the public hearing we can you are allowed to impose conditions almost like it's part of the lease of the first two projects so whether you whether one house gets both or each will get a space and I can I can reach out to the applicant and you know get something in writing correspondence from him about the intent of this garage I mean I'm assuming it's a two family dwelling and the garage is a accessory to it but we want to make sure that it's going to stay that way that's the only thing I think we're all in agreement yes other than that it's a middle country road state highway so they will need a DOT approval as well other than that well maybe they can get a lay alright are we good how boring is this get Greg back here I didn't realize how much I missed the planning board until I had this back in front of me alright thank you everyone thanks Heather thanks about those Norway maples people thought it was a really great idea realtors were like yeah plant them they're great tree trees and you know they seed really easily they grow faster than they can root themselves so they're prone to falling over they're extremely prone to disease plant red maples they're native ban Norway maples Heather's big with the trees I know I love that about her I always love being in meetings with her okay next up we are to the point of doing our resolutions and Devin would you mind reading through the resolutions for us okay I'm ready if you guys are everybody ready yeah alright resolution number one authorizes the town clerk to publish in post notice to bidders for food and meat products for our senior center resolution number two authorizes the town clerk to publish in post notice to bidders for street light and traffic signal repair parts okay number three authorizes the town clerk to publish in post a public notice for a public hearing regarding an alleged unsafe structure located at 1092 Dolores Avenue Riverhead Suffolk County New York Suffolk County Tax Map number 600-102-3-16 pursuant to chapter 217 part 4 of the Riverhead Town Code this has been on the radar for a while this has been on the radar for a while this has been on the radar for a while this has been on the radar for a while this has been on the radar for a while this has been on the radar for a while this has been on the radar for a while resolution number four classifies the special permit application of 4592 middle country application of 4592 middle country road to construct a two-family dwelling as a type two action pursuant to secret and schedules pursuant to secret and schedules public hearing 4592 middle public hearing 4592 middle country river riverhead coward to country river river river coward to new york suffolk county tax map new york suffolk county tax map new york suffolk county tax map number 600 97 19 19 19 19 19

FARMS SUBDIVISION. THIS IS FOR THE SUBDIVISION I BELIEVE UP OFF OF RONALD CABINET. RESOLUTION NUMBER 6, ESTABLISHES STANDARD WORK DAY FOR ELECTED OFFICIAL. THIS IS FOR DONNA BROWN. THIS IS DONE EVERY YEAR FOR ELECTED OFFICIALS FOR THE RETIREMENT SYSTEM PURPOSES. RESOLUTION NUMBER 7, APPOINTS A MEMBER TO THE RIVERHEAD CONSERVATION ADVISORY COUNCIL, MICHAEL REICHEL. THANK YOU, MICHAEL, FOR STEPPING UP. WE'VE HAD THIS POSTED FOR QUITE SOME TIME. INDICATED INTEREST. I THINK IT'S A GOOD CHOICE. IT'S A GOOD WAY AS HE PUT HIS RETIREMENT TO KEEP A GRASP ON HIM. WE'RE NOT GOING TO LET HIM GET TOO FAR AWAY. HE ACTUALLY ATTENDED THE MEETING LAST NIGHT TO KIND OF GET HIS FEET INTO IT. RESOLUTION NUMBER 8, RATIFIES THE RESIGNATION OF A HEAVY EQUIPMENT OPERATOR. NUMBER 9. NUMBER 9. EXCEPT FOR THE RETIREMENT SYSTEM. NUMBER 9. treatment plant operator to be? Arnold Wolfrath. Arnold Wolfrath. Arnold has been an excellent employee for Frank Mancini and the water department. I'm sad to see him go, but I know he's going to be happy and still going to be around town, so best of luck to him in his retirement. And another retirement accepts the retirement of an employee, Julianne O'Neill. Another great employee we're losing to retirement. Unfortunately, age happens, but best of luck to Julie, too. She's been great in the town clerk's office. I thought that she was leaving to join Barry Manilow's new tour. Oh, it's quite possible I hadn't heard that. It's possible. She's a fan of ours. Very good. Resolution number 11 appoints a deputy town clerk. Congratulations to Vanessa Lacan, who will be joining our town clerk's office as a deputy town clerk, replacing Julie O'Neill. Resolution number 12 sets terms and conditions of employment for deputy clerks. The clerk, Vanessa Lacan. And number 13 appoints a deputy registrar of vital statistics. Go with the position. Authorizes recreation superintendent to attend the 2024 NYS RPS conference. I think that Ray has just a little bit of additional paperwork he has to file to accompany this resolution, so assuming we get that, we should be good to go. Otherwise, it may have to be delayed and come to you guys as a ratify. Okay. Thank you. Number 16 authorizes supervisor to execute a stipulation with local 1000 AFSCME AFL-CIO Riverhead Unit of the Suffolk Local 852. This is assigning one of the clerical and supervisor salary schedule. We're moving up one of the workers in the town clerk's office who was due to be moved up last year. And we waylaid it until after the start of this year. Right. Resolution number 17 authorizes the supervisor to execute an agreement with Parking and Mobility Consultants, Inc. This is to help us with the downtown parking area and the first street parking garage. Resolution number 18 ratifies the authorization of the town supervisor to execute a retainer agreement with S. Barshav L. P. L. L. L. L. P. L. L. C. Sorry. Can you say that again? Yeah. I got a little tripped up there. Yeah. I didn't hear that either. Yeah, I know. I'll have to work on it. This is the attorney we're hiring to assist us in legal action against the town of Southampton regarding their 10-year-old revitalization plan. Resolution number 19 ratifies application for CDS funding for Riverhead Water District proposed extensions 95 and 96. Okay. Thank you. I'll get the funding so we can finish those two projects up. That would be awesome. Resolution number 20 ratifies submission of letter of intent and authorizes public notice and application for Empire State Development Restore New York grant. Dawn, can we just get a quick description of what this is? Yes. So Restore New York grant. Yeah. IS A PROGRAM THROUGH THE STATE. WE'VE USED IT ON SEVERAL PROJECTS. THE RIVERHEAD LOFS PROJECT AND ALSO THE HYATT HOTEL PROJECT. IT ALLOWS US TO APPLY. IT'S A DOWNTOWN REVITALIZATION PROGRAM. WE COULD GET UP TO $2 MILLION. IT WOULD BE FOR THE HOTEL ON THE TOWN SQUARE. WE MAKE THE APPLICATION. IT DOESN'T COST THE TOWN ANYTHING. THEY PAY THE MATCH. BUT WE'VE BEEN MEETING WITH THEM AND WE THINK IT'S A GOOD APPLICATION. WE SPOKE TO THE STATE. THEY ALSO AGREED. SO WE'RE GOING TO LET IT RIP AND SEE HOW WE DO. PERFECT. EXCELLENT. THANK YOU. RESOLUTION NUMBER 21. PAVE OUR POTHOLES POP 2023 AND 2024 ROAD RESURFACING PROJECT NUMBER 52315 GRANT BUDGET ADJUSTMENT. SOME MONEY FROM THE STATE EVERY YEAR WE GET TO HELP FIX AND MAINTAIN OUR ROADS. MAYBE WE'LL JUST BUILD IT FORWARD AND JUST CLARIFY FOR US. EXACTLY. MORE SPECIFICALLY WHAT WE'RE DOING HERE. HE CAN JUST ARTICULATE THAT BETTER THAN I THINK I CAN. GOOD MORNING. THAT WAS MONEY THE $61,000 WAS LEFT OVER MONEY IN 22 THAT WAS BUDGETED AGAIN IN 23. SO IT WAS BUDGETED TWICE. 121 149,000. LAST YEAR. INCLUDED 61,000 OF LEFTOVER MONEY DIDN'T NEED TO BE BUDGETED AGAIN. SO NOW WE'RE TAKING THAT BUDGET AWAY SO WE DON'T SPEND IT TWICE. GOT YOU. OKAY. RESOLUTION 22 CAPITAL PROJECT NUMBER 72217 ROOF REPAIR SENIOR CENTER CLOSURE. THIS IS ACTUALLY GOOD NEWS FOR A CHANGE. THEY CAME IN $50,000 ON THE BUDGET AND THAT'S A WINDFALL FOR US. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. WE LIKE THOSE. WE LIKE THOSE. WE LIKE THOSE. THAT'S RIGHT. WE'LL TAKE THEM WHERE WE CAN GET THEM. NUMBER 23 GRANTS AGRICULTURAL WORKER HOUSING PERMIT FOR 422 EDWARDS AVENUE AKA DELALIO SAAD FARM LLC 422 EDWARDS AVENUE CALVERTON NEW YORK SOUTHERN COUNTED TAX MAP NUMBER 600-117-2 8.2. 8.2. 8.2. THIS IS WHAT WE DISCUSSED EARLIER IN OPEN SESSION. RIGHT. RIGHT. RIGHT. RESOLUTION NUMBER 24 APPROVE SPECIAL EVENT CHAPTER 255 APPLICATION FOR LONG ISLAND ANTIQUE POWER ASSOCIATION TRACTOR POLLS AND FALL SHOW SEPTEMBER 28 TO NOVEMBER 3. NUMBER 25 APPROVE SPECIAL EVENT CHAPTER 255 APPLICATION FOR LONG ISLAND ANTIQUE POWER ASSOCIATION TRACTOR POLLS AND SUMMER SHOW JUNE 2 THROUGH SEPTEMBER 22-24. NUMBER 26 APPROVE SPECIAL EVENT CHAPTER 255 APPLICATION FOR LONG ISLAND ANTIQUE POWER ASSOCIATION TRACTOR POLLS AND SUMMER SHOW JUNE 2-24. NUMBER 27 APPROVE SPECIAL EVENT CHAPTER 255 APPLICATION FOR THE HOME DEPOT OUTDOOR PLANT SALE. SPRING IS COMING. NUMBER 28 APPROVE SPECIAL EVENT CHAPTER 255 APPLICATION FOR RIVERHEAD TOWNSCAPE INC. RIVERHEAD COUNTRY FAIR. FALLS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER. I THOUGHT YOU WOULD SAY FALLS. I THOUGHT YOU WOULD SAY FALLS. I THOUGHT YOU WOULD SAY FALLS. I THOUGHT YOU WOULD SAY FALLS. I THOUGHT YOU WOULD SAY FALLS. I THOUGHT YOU WOULD SAY FALLS. NUMBER 29 APPROVE SPECIAL EVENT CHAPTER 255 APPLICATION FOR HALLOCKVILLE MUSEUM FARM FLEECE AND FIBER FESTIVAL. NUMBER 30 APPROVE SPECIAL EVENT CHAPTER 255 APPLICATION FOR RIVERHEAD TOWNSCAPE INC. RIVERHEAD TOWNSCAPE COUNTRY FEST. AND JUST TO CLARIFY NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH THE COUNTRY FAIR. THE FEST IS A MUSIC FESTIVAL. THE FAIR IS NOT. CORRECT. NUMBER 31 APPROVE SPECIAL EVENT CHAPTER 255 APPLICATION FOR RIVERHEAD TOWNSCAPE INC. BLUES BY THE RIVER. FOR THE BLUES FEST THAT THE TOWNSCAPE IS WORKING SO HARD TO BRING BACK AGAIN. WE APPRECIATE ALL THE WORK AND EFFORT IN THE TOWN. NUMBER 32 APPROVE SPECIAL EVENT CHAPTER 255 APPLICATION FOR RIVERHEAD TOWNSCAPE INC. HOLIDAY TREE LIGHTING CEREMONY. WOW WE'RE TALKING ABOUT CHRISTMAS TREES. JUST THINKING THAT. I GOT TO START MY CHRISTMAS SHOPPING. RESOLUTION 33 RESCINDS RESOLUTION 2024-286 AND RESOLUTION 2024-324 SCRAMBLE ELITE. THIS IS JUST A NOTICE THAT THE SCRAMBLE EVENT HAS BEEN RESCINDED. THE GENTLEMAN RUNNING IT HAS NOTIFIED US HE'S NOT GOING TO HAVE IT AND I BELIEVE IT WAS SCHEDULED TO BE THIS WEEKEND. YEAH I THINK IT WAS SEPTEMBER 13TH AND THE 14TH ON THE RUNWAY UP AT EPCOW THAT HAS BEEN CANCELED AND HAS BEEN WITHDRAWN SO WILL NOT BE OCCURRING. RESOLUTION NUMBER 34 CORRECTS RESOLUTION 2022-278 IT WAS JUST A TYPOGRAPHICAL ERROR. SO THAT'S JUST A LITTLE CLEANUP ITEM. NUMBER 35 ACCEPTS PERFORMANCE SECURITY FOR OVERLOOK HOMES SUBDIVISION. AND THEN. YOU GUYS HAVE AN ADDITIONAL RESOLUTION THIS WAS IN ORIGINALLY AND SOMEHOW IT WAS INADVERTENTLY LEFT OUT. THE PRESS HAS BEEN GIVING COPIES OF IT AS WELL WE'LL ADD IT ONLINE AUTHORIZES TOWN CLERK TO PUBLISH AND POST A NOTICE FOR A PUBLIC HEARING REGARDING AN ALLEGED UNSAFE STRUCTURE LOCATED AT 650 ELTON STREET RIVERHEAD NEW YORK. THAT'S IT. THAT'S ALL WE HAVE FOR RESOLUTIONS. WE'VE GOT. OKAY. IN A MOMENT I'M GOING TO MAKE A MOTION TO CLOSE THE OPEN SESSION AND GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION TO DISCUSS UNDER LEGAL ITEMS, DYLAN HARRIS ESQUIRE, MATTERS SURROUNDING POSSIBLE LITIGATION REGARDING PROPERTY TAX ASSESSMENTS. THAT WILL BE WITH TENNENBERG, LAPINSKY, BROWN, HOWARD AND THOMAS. AND WE WILL BE DISCUSSING ANOTHER LEGAL MATTER WITH STEPHEN BARSHOFF, ESQUIRE, MATTERS SURROUNDING POSSIBLE LITIGATION WITH THE TOWN OF SOUTHAMPTON. THAT WILL BE WITH HOWARD AND THOMAS. EXCUSE ME. WE HAVE ONE MATTER FOR CONTRACTUAL AND THAT'S MATTERS SURROUNDING PROPOSED CONTRACTUAL AGREEMENT REGARDING THE TOWN OF RIVERHEAD INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT. THAT WILL BE WITH KREMBORG AND BALDINUCI. DO I HAVE A MOTION TO CLOSE OPEN SESSION AND GO INTO CLOSED EXECUTIVE SESSION? I MAKE A MOTION. SECOND. ALL IN FAVOR? ALL OPPOSED? OKAY. OPEN SESSION IS CLOSED. WE WILL NOW RETIRE TO EXECUTIVE SESSION.