Full Transcript

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Barbara. And as we're going to have to break and say the pledge again, I will have Mr. Gannon lead us with that. Since he's an Islanders fan. Okay. I have an announcement regarding the agenda sequence today. We're going to take the first discussion item of Noah Levine and representatives from BFJ regarding the presentation of the final draft of the comp plan. Then after that discussion, we will close the work session and open the special town board meeting as it relates to the comp plan discussion item. At the conclusion of the special, we will reopen the work session and continue with the agenda and the remainder of the discussion items prior to going into executive session. You all got that? Because I'm not sure I do. Okay. Discussion item number one, matters surrounding the final draft of the comp plan with Noah Levine and others from BFJ. Come on up to the table, please. Please.

Cool. Good morning. Good morning. How are you? It's okay?

This is for everyone. Sarah, you should go next. Thank you for having us. It's been a while since we've seen you in person, but we have been very busy. I'm also joined, you mentioned my name, but also Sarah Yackel from our office. Yeah, we're very excited to present both the plan. The full document that's formatted as well as the draft generic environmental impact statement. We have a presentation just to kind of very short, but just to guide the discussion basically to let you know where we are in the process, what the next steps are for kind of getting this to completion, hopefully. But of course, we encourage you to review the document thoroughly. There's going to be time for public comment and so on, so this is not the end of the process, but it's certainly an important milestone. So just to give you kind of an idea of where we've been, if we can just flip to the next slide. Essentially, the draft chapters, as you know, were posted to the website in February. Those were draft Word document chapters, and we received over a 30-day period, approximately I think it was 42 comments. We received comments from members of the steering committee, members of the board of directors, and members of the board of directors. So we're going to be doing a lot of work on that. So we're going to be doing a lot of work on that. We've had a lot of work on the draft of various organizations throughout the town, individuals, and then other stakeholders. And so we think we got a fairly diverse view of different issues and things that we needed to address in the plan. We worked closely with the town. We had weekly meetings with town staff to go through a lot of the kind of nitty-gritty details that really takes a lot of time to go through some of these details, and we thank them for their efforts. And then we met again with the steering committee to go over, just kind of give them a broad idea of some of the big policy changes that we were going to make based on comments. There weren't many, but we wanted to make sure we were all on the same page, and so I think there was some agreement there. And then we worked on the draft plan. As you can see, it's formatted. We're still going to put in some more pictures, but we wanted to kind of wait until we've received comments, but it's largely there. There also is an electronic red line version in the work document, so you can see what's changed. You know, it's a long document. It might be difficult to kind of parse out what's editorial and what's policy, but, you know, we just wanted to be transparent about the process. If there are any questions, we can certainly answer those. But before we move to the GEIS, which is its own separate thing, I just want to make sure that we have a few minutes left. I wanted to ask if there are any, you know, questions about the plan itself and the process and, you know, what the next steps are with regard to the plan. We just tell the public that it's all, like, currently online and accessible? Yes, that's a good point. The plan will be posted online basically at the end of this meeting once it's been accepted by the town board, which is basically what the action, which Sarah is going to discuss, is going to be. Thank you. And I think that's a good point, too, because, you know, we want you to make sure that this is copacetic and ready for public review. And assuming it is, we will post it right away. Excellent. No, I didn't get a chance. I started to read the draft. And if maybe you can just save me, because I went from the beginning. And I didn't get down. I was really concerned about EPCAL. And I'm concerned about is the ability for emerging technologies, is that going to be flexible in EPCAL? I'm going to give you an example. Currently, you can't recycle in EPCAL. However, there's emerging technologies with, like, recycling plastic that turns it into something else, right? And so, therefore, you know, if it's something that can be recycled and remanufactured, I want to make sure that we are covering emerging technologies, because they're coming and they're coming quick. And I think that's, if the language isn't in there, I'd like language in there to be more flexible. And I think that's something that's going to be in there to pick that. We can certainly revise it. Basically, you know, a lot of, just to generalize what we've said for EPCAL is that a lot has changed since we started the plan. What we heard from the community was the desire for some kind of kind of a further study, kind of a vision, community supported vision for that area. And that also could be helpful to define economically viable uses and, you know, in working with Dawn's department to figure out kind of the best strategy moving forward, both from a, like, financial sense and also to come up with something that was mutually supported by the community. So we focused more on kind of that being the next step. But we can certainly add in some, you know, a note that, you know, emerging technologies. I think it's really important, you know, because, you know, we're looking for a high, you know, we're looking to do some recreation. And then we're looking for a high, you know, we're looking to do some recreation. And then we're looking to do some recreation. But also we need high paying jobs in EPCAL. All right. So thank you. This is a huge milestone today. This is really, really big. We've got a ton of information before us. And it's been put together quite well. I'm very pleased with the work of BFJ and everybody involved. I think this has come together really nice. And I think we had a pretty good time. We had a pretty good amount, a fair amount of input from the community and the steering committees. I think it was a pretty active run. So we've got a lot of ideas put together. Now we have to make everything sorted out and make it work and adopt and everything else coming down the road. But this is huge today. And to walk you through sort of the next steps, why you're here today and what's to come for the public. It's so nice to hear Noah talk about all the public outreach that's happened because today actually, depending on the event, we're going to be able to get a lot of information. And I think it's really important to talk about the public and the actions you take will officially start the public review period, at least on the environmental review. And so as you recall, back in July of 2023, you declared your intent to be lead agency and became lead agency for the environmental review. We then, you adopted what was called the positive declaration, which stated you would be preparing a draft generic environmental impact statement in November. We then went through the scoping process. There was a 30-day comment period there to receive comments on the draft scope of what would be studied in here. And that was ultimately adopted by your board in January. And now before you, and I apologize for the overwhelming, this is not good for the environment, all this paper. There won't be that many printed copies. It will live online mostly. But you have before you now is the draft generic environmental impact statement, which has been written in accordance with the scope. It does analyze the policies in the comprehensive plan and it walks through what's called, there's a build out analysis. Based on some of the policies. And then you also have some of the zoning recommendations that where there were specifics related to zoning. Because your zoning is a little bit more complicated because of the transfer development right credits, we had to make a series of assumptions. Those are all explained in here. It ultimately came out with a 10 year build out for the town based only on the zoning changes. It is not a build out that looks at everything that could be done under existing zoning. It really is looking at the proposed changes and then studies the increment between what could happen under existing zoning in those districts. And what could happen under the proposed zoning in those districts. And so that is explained in chapters one and two of this document. And then the numbers that came out of that build out are the basis for the technical analysis throughout the document. That's a quick overview. I may have jumped ahead. But just walking you through the next steps. Today you have before you the documents for what's called acceptance or a completeness review and then acceptance of the draft EIS for public review. If you accept this today, it will then as a budget. And then you have the draft EIS for public review. As of tomorrow, it starts at a clock. The seeker requires a minimum of 30 days. I think the proposal is that you would have a special meeting on May 20th. That would be a joint public hearing for the comprehensive plan and the EIS. The seeker also then requires that the comment period be kept open a minimum of 10 days after that hearing for written comments. So your public comment period on the EIS will actually 39 days long instead of the required 30. So you are exceeding that, which is fine. Following that, we would come back to the discussion about the EIS. back following the close we would come back to what's called the final generic environmental impact statement and that final document really is what we call a response to comments document it will address the comments the relevant environmental comments made at the public hearing on the EIS it does not it does not respond to the comments made on the comprehensive plan that is a separate process but it will respond in writing to comments made on the GEIS that are relevant to the environmental scope so if there are comments for instance and say we don't like such-and-such policy or we don't you know we support such-and-such policy whatever the comment may be the response you'll probably see to that is comment noted because it doesn't contain necessarily to the environmental review so that's the final generic environmental impact statement that we are hoping to get to you sometime towards the end of June early July it really depends on the scale of comments we get following that again you would go through this process of completeness and acceptance of the final EIS and then after that have to wait a minimum of 10 days to adopt what's called environmental findings. You have to do, seeker suggests or actually requires you can't do it within 10, less than 10 days, but you should do it within no more than 30. So you are in a little bit of a time clock to adopt those findings and once seeker findings are adopted, seeker is complete and then you are in a position to be able to ultimately adopt the comprehensive plan. You know, you can, the public hearing on the comprehensive plan will be running concurrently. You can decide at that May 20th hearing to either close the public hearing on the complement or you can keep it open for an additional period of time for written comments or a second public hearing will leave that to you depending on that first hearing goes. That's sort of the the general time frame things may shift a little depending on meeting dates and number of comments, but we are hoping to be able to have you all be in a position to adopt by the end of the summer. Having been on the steering committee for instance day one, it's very exciting to be here and see the, you know, what could ultimately be the finished product. So you guys have done a really good job. It was a pleasure working with you and I look forward to continue working with you. Next slide.

Yeah, we can go to the next one. So this is just the table of contents of the G.E.I.S. This follows what's in the adopted scope. The technical chapters there in chapter three, the environmental setting, potential impacts and mitigation, follow really the chapters of the plan. Those are all in the various chapters of the plan and then there is a chapter in the plan on sustainability and that's covered in that chapter four, other environmental impacts. Next slide.

Yeah, I did, I'd already walked through all of this. Again, this is just a high level look at the schedule and I think that that is the last slide. Just have to speak up a little bit. Next slide. So our presentation is pretty short today. I think it's really just to be here and answer questions that you have and give you these documents and certainly if you have questions about what is next, we're here to assist. I just want to mention too that at the table we have Riverhead's A-team and I'm going to ask you to come up here and talk about the work that you've done and the work that our staff has. It's incredible and we really appreciate it. We've got some great minds have been put together to develop this. So we're very happy and proud of each and every one of you. Board, do you have any further discussions or questions? No, I just want to say, you know, it's a pleasure to work with you and I know it's tough to get in touch with these guys because they've been working with you. But, you know, they've been real diligent. Sorry for monopolizing their time. No, no, no. We're glad you are. So, thank you. Absolutely. Got a lot of reading ahead of us. Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing. Part of the reason, and Sarah explained this to me, for the draft generic environmental impact statements, there's a bit of repetition in each of the chapters. And the reason for that being is that if, you know, it's supposed to be a document that in the future, if let's just say someone needs to find out information about traffic or infrastructure, Right. they can go to that chapter and it's all there and they can just read that chapter. And so that's why there's repetition. It's not really written like the comprehensive plan, even though this is still a big document, there is a bit of repetition. Yeah, and the existing conditions sections of each of the technical chapters really repeats from the comprehensive plan. This is viewed as a very technical document. It is not necessarily written to be engaging. It is technical. I find it very interesting, but maybe not everyone will. But the chapters, you know, so they do repeat the existing conditions and then go into the analysis. I noticed that. I was like, boy, I understand why somebody may go here and get that background again. Or if you want DPW to review the infrastructure chapter, you can just give it to them and they don't have to read the whole thing. Exactly. That springboards the zoning, right? That generic environmental impact statement allows us to adopt zoning that's consistent with the plan. I don't think that's consistent with the plan without additional, other than, you know, specific things. Of course, we would do traffic analysis and other things, but it really gives us a lot of opportunity to kind of get things going. Yeah, and the site-specific zoning moving forward, well, zoning is still generic. Anything that's been contemplated in here and analyzed, you can use this analysis as part of the subsequent seeker review. Any additional seeker actions will be required to comply with the State Environmental Quality Review Act. But you can, you know, we can write a technical memo or staff can do that looking at the analysis in here to sort of cover the analysis that would be needed for that process. So it should really shorten that. And, you know, this can be used largely to support any findings you're going to make on zoning. That's great. Very good. All set? Okay. All right. Can I get a first and second to close the work session? Second. Second. Okay. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Okay. We will be back momentarily for the special town board meeting. It's going to take a couple minutes, people at home watching, for us to shut down and then start up again and open up the town board meeting. So we'll see you in a few minutes. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. They are playing very exciting basketball. Okay, we are back. Yes. Okay, this is a continuation of the work session that began earlier this morning. We paused for a special town board meeting and will now continue with the balance of the work session agenda. So we're up to item number two, and that would be matters surrounding water conservation, the water conservation campaign, and rate tier schedule of the Riverhead. Water District. And I would call up the Water Superintendent, Frank Mancini, and Denise Merrick. Hi. All right. Mr. Mancini and I had gone to a conference. He was kind enough to invite me to the legislative agenda for 2024 conference regarding water. And it was a very informative meeting about the agenda and legislation that is being contemplated by the state. And one of the things that was spoken. About was water conservation with regard to people utilizing their sprinklers at their homes during the summer. And there were some very interesting ideas. People had different approaches, whether or not there should be a penalty, whether there should be incentives. And Mr. Mancini and I spoke about the idea of giving people the information to be aware of how to go about doing this to conserve the water with their sprinkler system. And I thought it was a great. Great. Great presentation. And I asked Mr. Mancini if he would present it to work session so people in the public can become aware of how to conserve water pretty effectively. Yeah. And I would like to thank you for bringing this up because it is a perfect time. This is the time of year where people are putting their sprinkler systems online. And they're either themselves or their contractors are doing that. So it's the time to set those timers and maybe increase technology. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. So I think the best strategy is to give people all the information and advice to water as efficiently as possible and teach them about what options are there. And then the second thing we're going to talk about is the tiered rate, which, you know, is a behavioral driver to essentially charge the largest users we have a little bit more money once they break into the higher tiers and make that water a little bit more expensive. So I don't know what we're going to put up first on the attachments. Do we post them?

Yeah, they have them. I borrowed a presentation from Mike Dwyer. That would be probably the best. Do you guys have that attachment? It looks like this. Can we post this? There's maybe... Oh, it's online? Oh, okay. Well, then I'll just read it, I guess. You can put... If you want... Oh, where we can see it. Ah, technology. Speaking of technology. Yeah, right over that great... Right over there. And then he'll pick it up. I just want to see if it's upside down.

Can you guys put that camera on? The overhead camera, guys? Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. We need ear pieces and little microphones so we can communicate back and forth. Like ordering at McDonald's. He's going to... Oh, you're going to move the thing. He's going to move to that. Wow. Okay. So... Perfect. Thank you. So this is Mike's presentation that I was able to borrow from him. We're going to post this on 22 with other recommendations. And we're looking for more. So we've met with Cornell. We've worked with the Environmental Committee. So we want to flood people with different types of information. Obviously, Mike is a certified irrigation contractor. And the one thing he stresses, and I agree with, is to go to your certified professionals for the best advice because they do have that level of training. Just like I would say, if you really want to learn about water, ask a licensed water operator because there's a lot of misinformation out there. So the goal is to build the most efficient irrigation system that you can. So he's got a couple of bullet lists like separate your lawns and shrub areas. These different plantings may require different levels of irrigation. Divide areas into similar hydro zones. So if you have a bunch of plantings that are maybe water-intensive, you don't want to group them up with ones that require no or little water because you'd be wasting it. They recommend to use drip irrigation in shrubbed areas and flower beds. Don't use spray heads on the same zone as a rotor. Those are different types of like the actual thing that sprays the water. So you want them, if you're going to use these advanced controls, you don't want to mix and match the technology and avoid water landing on hardscaping. He gets a little further into that, but that would be your over sprays where your water is not actually being used for the plants. In other words, you're watering your driveway. Yeah, or the sidewalk or something. And there's some technology that's going to help mitigate that. This is really the actual sprinkler head design and load of the water. Really, literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally literally Most of the time, they're soil moisture sensors, and the more advanced ones are cloud-based and internet-connected, which actually use weather reports and rain data from there to make those decisions. And years ago, we've put all the systems on town on these types of controllers, and something like the ball fields at Epco, there is no internet service. So we use a rain sensor or soil moisture there. That would be an example of where you're using one thing, but if you've got great interconnection, you might use a smart control that's just listening to the online information. This was something I learned from the Irrigation Association, that New York State now has this as a law. So this has to do with the sprinkler head, and it's a pressure-regulated sprinkler head. And what that's mitigating is, say, water pressure can vary in the water system based on whether we're emptying, filling, or whatever we're doing. So in Riverhead, if you're... got your sprinkler on at 5 a.m., you're probably going to experience... maybe it's shooting two feet out of the sprinkler head, or six feet. Later on in the day, when we're on the fill, and you could see 120 pounds of water pressure in your main, because now we're forcing the water to fill, that thing might be shooting 25 feet, and that's where you're getting your overspray onto the ground and paved areas. So now these heads regulate that to 30 psi. So the system pressure we're providing... is regulated so that the spray coming out of the nozzle is always the same. It's going to be a constant. Yeah, regardless of what we're doing. The system's complicated, and especially Riverhead, we're large. So we move water around, and it's a lot of high-pressure situations. The tools like we... If you don't have internet access or a more advanced controller, you're going to be using these types of rain sensors. And even the average homeowner could use this. These are pretty widespread, because we see this in our system. And I have a smaller presentation that I've given out. Where I can show you on... And in June or... July or August day, the difference of a rainy week versus a non-rainy week. There's that many of them out there that it's a dramatic impact on the water we're pushing through the system. So there's two styles. Quick acting and a more cumulative irrigation rate. Depending on the smart control you have, you'd want to use those. They can come in a disc or cup design. The newer ones incorporate freezing protection, because people do put systems on early and late. Yeah. And you don't want it to be damaged. They must be installed correctly. Like he said, you don't want to put it in an area that's not going to be exposed to the appropriate amount of rain. If you tuck it behind the building, maybe it's not going to see the rain that's falling all over the place. You really want it in an open area. And there's wireless versions, so you don't have to run like a wire through your yard. Maybe you put your rain sensor somewhere where you have your important plantings, and it's communicating with your controller wirelessly. There's more fine-tuning that they're getting. And again, this is more of a certified installer would be doing this, requiring check valves, so there's any leakage from sprinkler heads or back into the system. It wouldn't come back into our system, because we require a double check valve or an RPZ. But you could get leakage through other areas of your internal water system. And they give you some idea of how much water is in the ground and the poly pipe you need for certain houses of property. Those are all potentials for leaks. So you want to make sure that when you're in a water system, you're not going to have to go through a water system. And you want to make sure that when you're not actively using your sprinkler heads, you don't have a leak that's wasting water. And that's going to cost you a lot of money. We see that sometimes on a leaky service line. The property owners, that's where I've seen the largest bills, is where they have a leak and they don't address it. And we're trying to tell them to do that. And they don't realize they're paying for all that water they're leaking into the ground, and it's on their side of the meter. We've just had a couple disasters. So the other thing is move water sequencing to avoid applying water. And that's a big thing. You don't want to be applying water in the same area. So you've got your zones, and you don't want to just completely hammer one area at the same time. So that was a quick and short presentation. We're thanking Michael Dwyer from the Irrigation Association of New York. And what he wanted me to emphasize is something I agree with. Just reach out to your irrigation installs that are certified because they've gone through a certain level of training. So you know that they're telling you something accurate. One question I have. Now it's time to leak by myself, which we do out and get the sprinkler system up and running. I undoubtedly every year have a couple broken heads for the winter and so forth. So if I go into like a Stolle's Home Depot, for example, and I buy a Toro or a Hunter head, is that pressurized? Or do I need to specifically ask for a pressurized head? Like is that, am I being compliant or do I need to seek out to pressurize that? You know, I'm not a certified installer. So I assume because it's a state law that the ones that are certified, they're not going to be certified. So I assume because it's a state law that the ones that are certified, they're not going to be certified. So I assume because it's a state law that the ones that are certified, they're not going to be certified. So I assume because it's a state law that the ones that are certified, they're not going to be certified. So I assume because it's a state law that the ones that are certified, they're not going to be certified. So I assume because it's a state law that the ones that are certified, they're not going to be certified. So I assume because it's a state law that the ones that are certified, they're not going to be certified. So I assume because it's a state law that the ones that are certified, they're not going to be certified. So I assume because it's a state law that the ones that are certified, they're not going to be certified. So I assume because it's a state law that the ones that are certified, they're not going to be certified. I don't know that they had to get rid of all the entire stock. But I would ask someone who's more, I know how to make the water and get it into the system. As far as how you spray it all around, it's not my expertise. That's a great question. Yeah, it's a good one because I really don't know. If you're buying them, are you in compliance or are you not? I had a question. The timing, the particular time of the day, better time you would recommend watering. That's a good question. Or is that night time? Yeah, well, so almost everybody waters from like 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. And the driver there was, you were going to waste water through evaporation if you water somewhere other than that. But then I see that this is becoming a problem for us because you've got everybody grouped in and we're producing 20 million gallons a day. And it's all in this narrow window of time. So I'm starting to think that those restrictions and those recommendations should be much more open. So I think if you say live in Wading River where it's. Maybe hilly, not exposed to heavy winds and there may be trees watering during the day might not be the worst thing. But if you're in Calverton and I learned this through when we had our public hearing after it didn't go well. And afterwards I had all the irrigators and the non irrigators and agro come to the water district. And we had one hell of a meeting where we had real experts in the room. Bayrott was there. Keith Lewin, the environmental committee and everybody. Cornell. Everybody had a slightly different opinion as to how this should go. So I think that. As we get more into this, we want to have a wide range of recommendations when you should water and it's really based on your exact system. So if you have say all drip irrigation, maybe you should water in the middle of the day where evaporation is not a problem. But my most basic advice is if your neighbor is watering, you should pick a different time to water. Because that'll spread out the demand. And it'll be better for you because if everybody's watering at the same time, not only is the system struggling and maybe you're going to get lower pressure. But even the water management. In your neighborhood might not be. You might have a six inch water main that was originally designed to provide you with drinking water to your faucets and toilets. If everybody in your block turns on their irrigation system, the pipe might not be big enough. Even if we've got plenty of pressure to distribute that much water. So I think the message we want to send is pick a time where your neighbor is not watering and try and be a little different. So we get our usage. The more our usage is spread over at a lot of wide period of time, the better it off it is for us. And I think the customer. We'll get a more consistent pressure and you know, water volume. So there's no simple answer there. And I think we'll continue to work with the environmental community. Continue to work with Cornell and provide as much information as we can as to maybe what's best for you. You want to recap the public? We passed legislation two years ago about like water restrictions on even days and so forth. Yeah, we have a recommendation now for odd and even days. But then we learned that older controllers. They you can set them for every other day. And because the months in a. Change the days in a month change that you would be out of compliance. So that's why I'm starting to think well, you know in a perfect world. Everybody's got the same equipment, but that's not true. So that's why I'm driving the message. You just pick a time that's different from the people around you and maybe your your maybe your neighbor doesn't have drip irrigation. So he's at 5 a.m. Maybe you can pick a different time. You know, we just want to spread the usage out as best we can.

Yeah, everybody should be sending the same message. In Suffolk County because we're all experience. So can you experience the same thing? And that's why these meetings that you went to real. I was really thankful you and Bob Curtin came because when the water business is serious and you see all those big players in the room. There's a lot going on here. I know all the other issues you guys are helping me with. So the one thing we did that we is the tiered rate where I'd like to push these post these now on that. Can you put that camera back on? These are the original memos we sent out when we did the tiered rate. So it has the. Old Town Hall address, but that's not really the important information. We haven't changed our tier. So we sat back and we watched the waters, the water Authority and other water suppliers implement the tier first and some of them went well and some of them didn't. There was tremendous push back at say American water that their tier was too aggressive. The water Authority even adjusted there. So after a couple years, really Robin happened in my office played the lead role here. We didn't hire H2M for any type of study. We did this all in ourselves and ours is very similar to Suffolk County water. We give you a little bit more water. So on a 5 8 or a 1 inch 5 8 service you you don't hit the tier till 90,000 gallons. So you're going to be charged a dollar 95 for the first 90,000. And if you're not irrigating, you're never going to break that tier. But if you decide, you know, gardening is your thing and you want to irrigate a bit from 91,000 and up. You're going to be paying 275 per thousand gallons. These rates are still much lower than our competitor, but it does discourage aggressive water use in the time of year when we need this type of health. A one inch service has the same a tiered a tiered rate of 90 with the same pay scale. When I first did this Tim you asked me a question. I didn't know the answer. Why did it look so small for the one inch or one and a half inch service? So the answer is is that the 5 8 and 1 inch are considered standard residential services. They're billed quarterly. Once you get to. One and a half inch and up to 10 inch. We have you get charged monthly. So that's what we consider a large water meter at the Riverhead Water District. Obviously a one and a half inch is not common. I'm not sure. I don't know of a single one. We have you start getting two inch three inch and up to 10 for some mobile home parks and stuff. So that's why you see the adjusted the adjustment for the monthly service charge and the rates the actual tier. So like with a one and a half inch. You don't start paying a tier to what you have to use 290,000 gallons of water before you hit that tier. But the rate is the same as far as once you get over that tier again much less than our competitor, but gives us help if you're one of those big users. And then the other important thing is a dedicated irrigated dedicated irrigation account is charged at the conservation rate of two dollars and seventy five cents per thousand right from usage one and in Riverhead. We have quite a few of those because we're a Seward area. And I. Think Riverhead should get more should be like commented more for having such a good sewer system. But one of the things is it's based on your water usage. So if you're irrigating a lot your sewer rents would be really high. So a lot of people in the Seward areas of Riverhead have come to the district and they have a separate account. And with Michael's approval, they can remove that usage from the sewer rents because none of it's going to the sewer plan. So they're saving a lot there. But it is because it's being used for only irrigation. We do charge you the higher rate right from gallon one. So we're doing our best to sort of discourage you from using an excessive amount of water. But we also understand that people like plants and like myself and like to guard it. So we don't want to be able to want to be able to use the water. We just want you to be careful about it. So I think that's about it. We're going to check out you long today. I have zoe good dress and never water ever. I just don't like mowing or paying someone else to do it. So but I am an avid gardener and I like plants. Even Barbara was involved. I mean you get a new fancy planting. You got to water that thing more than you know, ten years later. It may be more established. So there's a lot to this and it's very serious. It's the worst public hearing I ever had and people freaked out and went nuts. So that's why we're just trying to give them ideas. Yeah, keep their water bills lower. Yes, how to do this. Yeah. I always told the kids turn the water off when you're brushing your teeth because they'd be in there to what it be, you know, yeah, it running full force. Just going down the drain. We were just simple, simple little things. Yeah, Barbara blessed comments. We were just talking about that at the Environmental Advisory Committee last night. We were all saying what happened to all those commercials that used to hear about turn up, turn off the water when you're brushing your teeth. And I commented about when I recall don't be a weight or waste of roof or water waste of room. We were trying to say where those commercials now. Yeah, we should be seeing that from the feds because just that latest PFAS rule means that any well, we have a detection of PFAS. Thankfully, you don't have that many will require a carbon set of carbon treatment vessels. Now that's costing us two and a half to three million dollars per set. We're very good at getting grants and we would pursue litigation to recover costs. But the truth is if we don't get any of those things, we've got to pay for that treatment anyway. So, we're in a position where people that's costing us so much to make drinking water because the rules are very strict. So we've got to really make sure that the drinking water we're making is not 70% of it sprayed on the ground right now. We've got to rein that in. So somebody like me advocates for private irrigation wells that the regulators don't really like that, but I see that as a tool in the toolbox. So I think the more options we provide the easier we mitigate this problem and it's not really going to be about in legal enforcement and things like that. It's about providing options that fit with you because that's what I learned from when we tried to regulate it was that everybody's a little different and what they need to do to satisfy themselves and help us might be a little different. Absolutely. Thank you Frank. We appreciate it. Thank you for having this. Interesting as always. Okay. Thanks so much. We will move on to item number three and that's matters surrounding the introduction of plant a tree to honor a veteran campaign. At Veterans Park and turn that over to Councilman Northwell. Thank you very much supervisor. All of our parks, you know, you've noted, you know, all of our parks, you know, do need, you know, funding in terms for beautification and so forth. And the Veterans Advisory Committee has always looked at different ideas towards honoring our local veterans here and for our family members. And so they, we've come up with a plan to beautify Veterans Memorial Park in Calvington. So it's in an ideal location right across the street from Calvington National Cemetery. And so what we've come up with is, we're fortunate now and I thank you supervisor. We've got our funding in place. So we have a new parking lot coming. We have new sidewalks being installed as well. And the septic systems. There's a lot of things going on there and we're just looking to upon that completion be ready and willing to add some beautification components. Okay. So we're going to be able to add some beautification components to the park itself. So the veterans cherry blossom tree idea we came forward and basically that anybody within the town can purchase a tree to honor a veteran. It could be somebody that is a veteran or somebody on active service. And they'll have two different options. We'll go. These are mature trees. They're about six foot in height. And so, and they'll be able to say in honor of, or loving memory of, and they're going to be on a 12 inch by six inch granite slab. So the name will be placed at the foot of each tree. So the idea is that when we arrive in Veterans Memorial Park, we want to have different areas. So we may start where the new parking lot is where the current construction is completed. We can do like line the parking lot with all beautiful cherry blossom trees and then around the walkways. We can also continue on to like where the dog park area is pickable and eventually over towards the park. We can also continue on to like where the dog park area is pickable and eventually over towards the baseball field. So the whole idea will be really to beautify the entire Veterans Memorial Park. We picked a very particular cherry tree that is typically blooms in the end of May. And then we selected that particular tree because it should hopefully coincide right with Memorial Day weekend. And so as we look into we were kind of foreseeing the future that trees will begin to be planted this year. But next year during Memorial Day weekend, we want to have, perhaps a cherry blossom festival where people can come and gather in Veterans Memorial Park. We'll have specific events there and hopefully it will time in with Memorial Day weekend towards the blooming of these trees. And I think that lining them all up, we have teamed up with Jamesport Farm and Tony Caggiano has been instrumental in going to be providing us with these six foot trees. The cost is expensive. So it is $500 for the tree and then it's $150 for the, for the granite marker itself and then $25 just for the installation of the marker. And and so we're looking at a total cost of $675. But I know there is an interest out there. A lot of people have already expressed like I heard this. This is coming about and and you don't have to be a resident of the town. It could be on it. I would love to purchase a tree from my father-in-law who has since passed away, but was in the United States Marine Corps. And so it's really about like all veterans within the area and because we do want to get a large number, trees because I think it really, you know, if we start planting Monroe's, it could really be a beautiful setting there and we'll, we'll plan them accordingly to add some picnic tables within the, when areas so you can kind of sit amongst them and so forth and having walkways where families can go down and visually look at and find the one particular granite marker that pertains to their loved one that they, they selected the tree for. So I think it's a really a great project. I think it's going to help beautify the town parks because we're always on limited funding. We're asking the FOA to step forward. You know, the public to come forward and, and honor your veterans. We started the hometown here, O'Banis program, and that has been absolutely an incredible success. And so we, we, we keep tapping onto building and grounds to add more hangers in town and more. And we, we, we've kind of filled up all of downtown and we're in Jamesport and we're looking to expand that project into waiting rivers this year as well. So people generally want to show support for their veterans alone. So I think this could, could really tackle two, two things. One, honor your veteran to beautify our parks and recreation. So I think it's a great program. Moving forward. If anybody has any questions at all, has this been discussed with the rec advisory committee? Yes. So we had a meeting just two days ago and mentioned it to them as well. So they're, they're also excited about it because it's again, because of the lack of funding that's always in hand, you know, I said to Ray, maybe we can get some, some picnic tables and so forth around the tree areas and sitting areas and, and do that. And so the, when it comes time next year for Memorial day weekend, it would be nice for the veterans advisory committee to kind of team up with the park and recs committee as well and say, let's, we want to do like a cherry blossom festival of veterans Memorial park. So I think it'd be great event. That's great. Yeah. I think it's great for the environment. Planting trees is always great. And the fact that you're picking a tree that'll bloom, that'll bloom around Memorial day is fantastic. Is this a form that will be online? So, yeah. So if, if on, if everybody, everybody likes the program, we've put resolutions in for the next town board meeting, and then we can go on that to establish it. I did speak to Mr. Rothard and he would, our financial administrator would basically set up a separate line of accounting just to, to accommodate. So as the funds come in, people can send the checks payable to the town of riverhead. There'll be placed in a, you know, in a separate allocated account for that to purchase the tree, the granite marker and the installation. So, and then, so we'll keep track. So it's not something in which it is expensive, but it's not something which the town is making any money. It's just to be able to overall cover the cost of it. So no cost of taxpayers and beautify the park. Right. Wonderful. Looks good. Also, I mean, can you mention to me that they're going to wait till they get X number of trees ordered to do a planting? Like if you order one today, they're not going to plant it tomorrow. They're going to wait till they get like five trees or five orders and then do them in groups at a time when they go up there, just so people understand that. So people start ordering them right, right away. Yes. They'll be able to get them. They'll be able to get them. They'll be able to get them. They'll be able to get them. They'll be able to get them. They'll be planted in groups of 10. That just begins seems to be the most cost effective way to get a crew over from from the farm to come over and dig the holes, check the soil, you know, complete the plantings, staking of the trees and when necessary. But we're going to start taking one as soon as we pass the resolution. But the idea also is that we do have parking work that's going to be taking place and hopefully very soon. And once the curbing is in place and we can kind of do that groundwork around it, we're kind of setting the stage for being ready for planting. So, but we want to kind of get a jump start in selling them so we can order them and it will take a little bit time to print the granite markers. But yes, supervisor, we expect to kind of plant them in groups of 10. And the idea too is that, you know, it might not be ideal to plant them in the middle of August, you know, we don't have irrigation up there. So kind of be like we're looking if we get going right away, we can get some spring plantings in and then kind of, you know, conclude in the fall season, the cool weather. Good. Awesome. Good stuff. Okay. On to your ventures. You know what, I'm going to go right to number five since you're hot on the topic. Sure. Matters surrounding sidewalks and site improvements at the ice rink. Sure. Are we talking about that, pal? Put this right up there. Chip, do you have them or you want them in the center? I got them. You got them? You can do it that way? Okay. Okay. I'll leave it be and let you zoom in correctly. So, we've been working on the ! We've been working on the the the the the

to cover the cost with funding that they've raised through donations so it's not you know they're providing those costs so again it's not taxpayer dollars that it's through their fundraising efforts um and so the outdoor ice rink is is under construction now we were extremely fortunate and grateful that um we've received um the donation of bleachers from paconic bay medical center northwell health and they've donated those bleachers which will sit 280 people and so paconic ice hockey is asking to um basically to pour a concrete slab along the outside of the ice rink because it's not just for for ice hockey but we we would love to see um winter shows and events and so forth outside and maybe you know a nice uh outdoor tree lighting and create our own rockefeller center here in in riverhead and so but we need um sidewalks to access the the rear um ice hockey rink and so that we also want to make sure that for our emergency personnel in terms of being able to wheel a stretcher to the back and having like you know like nice solid sidewalk they're also going to add a second uh fire access road as per our fire marshals so we can put that in place um they have a zamboni garage that is there and so with the zamboni garage um it's small we have two zambonis for two rigs oh he's got perfect and so with with the zamboni they are looking to expand the garage for that second zamboni and then just to be able to have additional tools and equipment and stuff like that and so we're going to make sure that and basic landscape and other things and hoses and so forth that you would install in that facility. So they are looking to expand the Zamboni garage. And then they're also going to create outdoor locker rooms. And so for the outdoor rink, currently our indoor rink, it's on Friday nights and other games, it's full to capacity. And so they've even had to break up some of the public skating into different age groups because it is greatly being utilized. So they'll need additional outdoor locker rooms. And so that when one team is still at the conclusion of their game on the ice or activities, figure skating, we're going to try to get curling going on. And so when these events happen, while one is finishing up, the other is already in the locker room changing, getting ready to go out there. So it utilizes the best of its time and for any weather because he is going to be around and snow or cold won't stop us, but at least they can be more heated in. And at least in better elements during that time. So they're looking to create those locker rooms right alongside. That'll be on the north side of the facility. So it'll have sidewalks to the locker area. And they've been incredible, Kanekaki Foundation towards raising funds and money to do this through different events throughout the year. And especially, you know, again, with the assistance of the New York Islanders helping out and contributing. So this was part of the initial plan overall was like, we're going to need a, you know, was to do a second rink so they can have tournaments, especially during the winter months. You can have, you know, multiple teams playing at the same time and build tournament schedules. So what you're seeing over the right is just a shaded area. That's just that we've asked them to kind of say like, well, you know, we're currently doing a sports complex study and like what will be needed in the future. So the idea in the future was that someday there will be built a, a double indoor facility of two ice rinks inside with, you know, you know, larger scale facilities with, with, you know, the locker rooms indoor and a restaurant, food, snack bar, those types of things and so forth as well. And then we will always keep that dome in place. So the dome that is currently being used in the future. So everybody kind of knows that the planning of a double indoor rink in the future, the dome conventionally, it will eventually be transitioned into like indoor tennis, basketball, any other facilities that we want, indoor soccer, lacrosse, whatever one deems. So that, that is that, that current, the, the bubble, as we say, is, is our town facility. So it's owned by the town and, and Peconic is simply being the manager, the manager of the complex. So that will always remain there. And, you know, we do have a deck hockey rink over in Stotsky Park. So we'll always intend on keeping that outdoor rink, you know, for deck hockey around and other things. You know, once they move into a larger scale facility. So I just wanted to kind of, I asked them to present this because they're going to be seeking some building permits to get these sidewalks and concrete pads in place. And then they do need a permit for the locker rooms as well as the Zamboni garage. But it's really about keeping the town board appraised on what's going on and what, what, what, what everybody could see is the future side of it and how it's developing and open for comments and suggestions. But again, it is, it is an incredible facility. Very, very active with multiple events taking place. We just had our honor roll of our free of charge, had free skating night for all the volunteer firefighters, EMTs, police officers. We've done, you know, town employee nights and things like that. So, so they're doing a lot of activities just, you know, at no charge for the public to come in and see the facility, enjoy the facility, utilize it. It's, it's our town park. It's, it's, you know, it's our facility and we want, we want the general public to, to enjoy it. But I just want to at least give everybody an idea of the future for sites and to come in and see the facility. So, you know, we're kind of seeking your guidance, suggestions and support towards just, you know, kind of now we're kind of, we've got the greatest thing is that we've got a $2.1 million dome built and we've got an indoor ice hockey rink and, and for other services as well, up and running. And now we need to kind of work on the outer infrastructure around it and so forth. So, and this comes at no cost to the town. This is Peconic Hockey paying for all this. Yep. So they do an annual golf outing, which is probably their largest fundraiser each year. And then people like Mr. Goodale has been immensely financially supportive and, and, and Riverhead building supply coming. Edgar has just been tremendous in towards donating funds to it as long as, as well as the, and the New York Islanders have been instrumental. And so it's, it's really, it's been great. And so do fundraising efforts on their part. That's allowing them to keep expanding this. Maybe we could reach out to the ranger organization and see if they might want to help out here also. I thought the rangers were struggling organization. No, I'm not sure. I think that'll be determined in the next couple of weeks. Right. To display the Stanley Cup. To display the Stanley Cup. Oh boy. Good one. So that's just the, the outlook. And it also is a little, little changing of last I'll leave you with is, is fire access and so forth. With the new parking lot coming in, we want to make sure that it's, it's very easy for ambulance, ambulance and fire vehicles to maneuver around. So there's a current fire road that's kind of on a 45 degree angle, but where we're concerned about, about continuous parking and making sure that it's not blocked. So the new parking lot, which is shown in the front there is going to kind of conclude all that. The parking lot is there is for everyone. So it's for people using the bike trails, people going to pick a ball courts and writers and so forth. It's there for everyone. And so a nice paved parking lot is going to make things a lot easier, especially for a handicap being able to access the car in and out without any potholes. We're also going to have a crosswalk. That's going to go down, directly from the new bathrooms. Some people may, may have noticed that the new portable mobile restrooms have arrived. So there it's beautiful inside. So many people talk about beautiful bathrooms, but it really is. It's kind of a luxury style mobile unit. That's there. Um, the concrete structure that we've already allocated funds for, we expect to arrive hopefully by the end of June, and that's going to be put in place. And then that mobile unit will then be, driven over and installed over by the baseball fields on the other side. So we'll then, you know, the goal is by summertime, we'll have bathrooms on both sides of veterans Memorial park. Um, as the, um, alternative transportation committee has always said, Bruce on the committee, Joanne has always said it's the jewel of the East end. Yes. So that's his continuing comment and he's absolutely right. And so we're, we're just, we're adding infrastructure to it. Excellent. Very good. Thank you, Ken. All right. Uh, let's go to Mattis surrounding an update on boards and committees. Um, Joe, you want to start? Yeah. All right. Um, I kind of have had a little bit of a light month this month. Um, but we're excited to remind everybody that anti litter, um, is having their spring cleanup this Sunday morning here at town hall, 9 00 AM. Everyone can meet and, uh, we have lots of different, uh, destinations where people can go off and help clean up the litter that is around our town. It's going to be a fun event. So that's this Sunday, um, at 9 00 AM. Uh, the beach committee, we have, um, anybody that needs their beach sticker, you can go upstairs here at the new town hall and you can get your beach stickers there. They are, um, giving out, we have pamphlets for 10 rules for driving on the beach. So if you're getting a, uh, a sticker to be able to bring your truck down on the, on the beach, we have rules that everybody needs to follow. There's also, um, concern that some people may not be aware that you do have to wear bathing suits on the beach here in Riverhead. So that was kind of a new thing. Um, I think that's a new one. Um, they were asking if possibly there might be something in our code that lets people know that they have to wear a bathing suit. Well, you know, sometimes Joanne, when I go down to the beach, it's so crowded, I can't find a spot and I find it suddenly if I go down to my speedo, I have all the area around I could want. So I don't know if that's just the way you, I couldn't believe it. The conversation popped up, but it's a real thing. Understood. Um, and also we were discussing that, um, for, uh, the parking lot attendants that are at the beaches. A lot of times they are primarily, um, you know, high school students, but, um, the seniors, they can apply to come and have that job as well. You know, something to do maybe one day a week or whatever. So that's always an option. And then open space. Um, they're looking to kind of, be more out in the public eye and would like to be part of, um, what you were talking about with your media events and stuff like that. And they would like to come in, um, to one of our next work sessions and just discuss the different properties, what they're, what they're doing. They'd like some exposure. Absolutely. I'd like to invite them to join us. Otherwise that's about it. Good. Bob. Sure. Um, ag advisory. I think I, I reported on last time anti bias task force, which is a great, uh, committee. Um, they're doing a program called food nights, uh, dates to the, um, that will be forthcoming and they're going to work with the chamber and the bid. Basically when you go to restaurants for it, uh, they're going to depict a certain length of time. It might be a month long and whatever participating reference, uh, restaurants, just, uh, you'll get, you'll get a discount. If you've mentioned the anti bias task force, um, just to go around and sample all different types of foods, et cetera. That's a business advisory, uh, nothing to report there. Well, we'll next time, uh, bidma. So I want to thank personally, thank Steve Sharaga for everything he's done with his tenure as the president of, of the bid. He's been phenomenal. Um, he has since resigned and there is a new interim president and it is Sean Kenna. Kenna. Uh, so again, as the board convenes, I think in may, they'll, you know, have a, another report on what's going on there. Chamber of commerce. Uh, that's, um, more of a liaison there, but, uh, they do what they do. Um, department had an interesting meeting yesterday set up at the Suffolk theater. Yeah. I was with the Suffolk County Alliance. Yeah. The Suffolk Alliance of Chambers came out here. Uh, the riverhead chamber of commerce is a member of the Suffolk Alliance chambers, which does a lot, uh, in, in terms of that advocacy for the entire county. And they also, uh, work hand in hand with the NASA Alliance of Chambers. Uh, and there's, there's a lot that goes on between those two county groups with along with local chambers in terms of government work and getting, looking at, uh, what's going on in towns across both camps and a lot happening. Um, very helpful with the small business people. Yeah. And I, I want to thank as a department had liaison working with, uh, the tax receiver, uh, and meeting with dime bank to really get the, encouraging people to get their water bill online, pay online. And it just makes things simple and it looks like that's all going through now with ACH is available and that I bank has been very good with that and you can do it through your own ACH with your bank charge for that. Uh, no, no, no, not if you do it through your bank. There's no, there's no charge unless your bank charges you now which i doubt they do i mean i don't get charged i've been doing ach forever uh east end arts i'll let you know what's going on when they let me know what's going on i usually announce it during a work session or a town board meeting the ida has been they approved as the press has already reported the heatherwood project on main street which we'll go through nothing that we tenise and i we haven't found the personnel uh and that is about it for me okay thank you okay ken um just to update the public to make sure everybody's aware we do have monthly traffic safety meetings here so if you have any personal issues in the town your communities that you live in in your eyes and ears but typically like this morning we discuss placements of stop signs and then but you know when suggestions of crosswalks and other other safety issues parking is a big big issue overall so that does meet you know um you know each month so people are welcome here you can send if you you're working and you can't be here it's simply send an email we have a discussion it's great because we have the chief of police here along with our highway superintendent so like when we make a decision it's like it's it's go right to it so you know chief agrees we're gonna you know install a stop sign then mike is out there doing it right now so we're gonna go ahead and do that and then we'll see you next week right away and so forth and so let's let the public know they're welcome to come to our traffic safety meetings each month um it's that time of year spring time is coming so please keep a close eye out for highway workers that are out there they'll be working on some crosswalks and repaving will be coming soon so just take caution on that in the parks and rec committee um they have uh worked on for quite an extensive period of time to creating a priority list of things that need to be done in our park and again we need funding for our parks um they're uh we're great to hear that we're able to get funding you know in another um outlet for the veterans memorial park parking lot up there so they're great meaning that that we're leaving that park and rec fees that have slowly been collected so that they can use on their priority list and basically check off that veterans parking lot so they were really really pleased about that so thank you supervisor and um and uh other things the helicopter task force it's generally quiet during the uh winter months but um we just sent out an email to our members to confirm that they want to participate but that's really is a meet on uh on an ad needed basis you know um and so uh um also working on code revision we kind of cleared the docket i think just last month with all the things that we seem to have been working on for a number of months you saw a lot of resolutions go forth and now we're in the beginning stages of reconsidering some other items in the future but good so simple but and i did mention about the veterans advisory committee so we talked about the um veterans trade blossom tree project but i really have to thank and commend uh tom and kerry nijon kim judd we are out there where you know we've begun to hang the um hometown hero batters so it is a large task at hand and so we'll be out in jamesport tonight and tomorrow to get those ones up we're working on the ones on on main street and then continue to the outer thing so it's it's a great task and they do it all volunteering you know after days work to come home and hang these up and we're going to see if we can get some more It takes quite some time, but all banners will be out and ready for display before Memorial Day weekend. And then they're also already in the planning works for the Memorial Day parade, which the supervisor is going to give a resounding speech. Yes, I am. So look forward to that day. Be here before we know it. Yep. Very good. Thank you, Ken. Yep. Denise. Hi. Okay. I've got some nice news to report on the Outreach Committee. Dawn Thomas and I are meeting with Leah Thomas with regard to Just for Success. They're coming in on the 30th, April 30th, to sign the contract to have Just for Success in the basement of the building here. So that's going to finally get underway. With regard to the EAC Committee, we've got some very exciting things happening there. We are in the midst of creating a second food scrap location. Originally we were thinking over by EpCal, but the discussion was that we were going to have a second food scrap location. Last night was the Georgia facility over in Jamesport. They're very interested in doing this, and we think it would be a great location. And just to let the public know that there are only 75 people on this program right now. However, these are notes from Jason Blizzard that during that time period with just the 75 people, one ton of food scrap material a month is collected. So if we have another location, that's even more that we'll have. And they're working very well with the school. With regard to the high school and the middle school, the staff that the school has is very engaged and involved. They have their own trucks and collecting this for us for our one location pickup. So that's very successful. And Jason would like to come speak. Jason and Drew would like to come speak to the board in May about the proposal for the food scrap program at the other location. And also, again, with regard to environmentally conscious initiatives, I went to that program in February. I went to that program in February for town associations, and there was an application for green communities purchasing. I've given that to Teresa to review for its economic viability here in the town. So that's something we get a lot of climate points with regard to that. So on those fronts, there's a lot of things happening. I'm very excited to report. With regard to the senior citizens community, we have three new individuals that are joining that will be coming on board. We'll present that to the town as well. Yes. So that's exciting. And they're working again still with regard to the guide, the senior guide, and the MAP, the My Aging Plan program. That's all coming out very soon. With regard to the parking committee, we're meeting today with proposed corral revisions for the dumpsters that are back behind the Diggers parking lot and everything over there. So that's going to be a whole lot today that we're discussing. That looks promising. And with regard to personnel, as Bob, and I apologize. I forgot to mention that you were at that legislative update with Frank and I. That's okay. I apologize. I don't need it. No, it's just that you weren't there. But Bob and I have been doing a lot of interviews for different personnel positions, co-enforcement administrative assistant over in the court, a clerk there for them. So there's been a lot of hiring happening. It's great. Good. And as far as the inclusion task force meets, that's going to meet again in May, May 1st. Okay. So that's coming up. And the ARB, we're always checking on the architectural review. That's meeting next week. That was supposed to meet this week, and it's now been changed to next week. And last, and I think that's about it. Okay. I forgot one. Go ahead. It wasn't on my list. I just want to bring up, we just, the quality of life committee just met the other night. And I've reached out to the rep from the governor's office, a rep from Suffolk County in terms of the homeless. And I've also spoken to Dan from Maureen's Haven. And I really want to thank Maureen and the people on the quality of life committee. You know, in terms of, when I spoke to Dan, in terms about, look, you need to, we'd like you to move the location there upward. I've spoken to somebody else through a connection of mine. It's possible we're looking, well, it's a possibility they may split, do a building, a building in Southampton and split it. And we also, I think we identified a location for them to move to off of West Main Street. Extremely complicated, extremely underfunded program and programs in general, mental health, you know, et cetera. So and it's, it's, it's really rampant across both Nassau and Suffolk County. So, but they're, they're really diligent. And the other thing that came up. And I've spoken to Andreas about this. Right now, if you build a house, you have to wait three years before you can do an accessory unit. And we're looking to change that code for a couple of different reasons. One if you have an older child, let's say, and they have a job, right, you might build an accessory use unit on your property. So that's the other thing that we're looking into. South Holder's passcode, which I'm going to review with, I'm going to review with the other people. And then the other thing that came up, you know, with our planning department. The three year wait period never really made any sense to me. Exactly. Neither. I mean, I didn't seem arbitrary. Right. Especially, you know, so we're looking to that. And I will mention one other thing. The other thing that we're doing with, with code enforcement and with Victoria is we're looking at all the fines. And we're looking at the fines when they were, when they were done. You know, if they were 20 years old or 10 years old. And looking to update the code. And then we're looking at the fines. And then we're looking at the fines. Because there are a lot of fist fist fist fist fist fist fist fist fist fist fist So that's, you know, cut it on that. I can tell you it makes a difference because so many of our fines haven't been addressed in many years. And once you start getting them up to date in comparison to what other towns are charging, in the early talks with Bill Rothar about the budget for this year, we've seen increases in revenue that's been brought in through fines like of the building department because we've upgraded stuff. And it's good for the budget because it's not necessarily money that was anticipated in having and it becomes a surplus and it certainly helps. Not that there's ever a big surplus, but it's better than not having a surplus. So getting the fines up to date are huge and it's very important to do because it shouldn't cost the town money to go out and inspect a building. The fines should cover the cost of the personnel for the inspections, for the reviewing of the plans. Everything should be, you know. Well, the adjustments that we made last year and we looked at towns all over Long Island for the fire marshals has made a huge difference. And I don't know if Bill has looked at it, but that's made a huge difference. And I know our yard waste permit has not been changed in over 20 years and that is at $50. So Drew will be coming to discuss that. At the same time, we can't bang people and say, you know, we're going to have to pay for the fire. We're going to have to pay for the fire. We're going to have to pay for the fire. We're going to have to pay for the fire. And I can't say, you know, other towns, the equivalent would be $100. Right. You know, that's going to be sticker shock. But the fact that we don't increase these on an annual basis, have a list and look, the equipment, just to move the yard waste around, you're talking about an over $300,000 piece of equipment plus the price of diesel fuel is probably a quarter of the cost 20 years ago. So anyway, we're looking into all those metrics and we'll go from there. Yeah. Go right ahead. The CAP. CAP is having their event, a public event, their meet and greet. It's on April 30th between 3 and 5 p.m. Also, I wanted to mention that I had met with you and also the new Deputy Health Department Commissioner, Mr. Anthony Figliola, who was tremendously helpful in that I had asked him. He had spoken about an individual in the health department that goes around and speaks to schools about the dangers of vaping, and I asked if he would have that individual available. I've been in contact with him. He's placed me in contact with people. I hope to have maybe a presentation before the board in the next coming months and also at the schools about the dangers of vaping. So thank you. And also the use of their personnel on site when we do an inspection or go and maybe try to purchase something undercover. Yes. They have the ability. They have the authority to remove everything from that store that's illegal where the police necessarily don't. So that was a great thing. The Department of Health was, I mean, they have such a broad spectrum of things that they cover. They handle like from a dog bite to inspecting food trucks. I mean, and every and anything in between with water and sewer and everything else, and it's incredible. I think you said they have 675 employees within the Department of Health. Yes. And they certainly do. And they certainly could use more, but it was very interesting. Yes. Very nice man, and they look forward to working hand-in-hand with us. So it's a great relationship that's being built. Yeah, great meeting. We appreciate it. I did forget one thing. I'm sorry. Go ahead. Board of Assessment Review. May 15th is Tax Grievance Day, so if anyone would like to come to Town Hall and grieve the assessment of your taxes, that is the day to do it. You come to the Town Hall, this meeting room. Between 10 a.m. and noon, and then again from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. is the time that you can come down. So that's it. Good. I just wanted to mention, and Devin, I want to make sure we have this up on the Town website. The STOP program, I believe it's Saturday, May 4th. Okay. And it's up at the Town Highway grounds on Osborne Avenue. Anybody who has old paint. Or paint thinner. Or motor oil. Or car batteries. All that stuff. Electronics. Drugs. Yes. Too late. Drugs. And the drugs with the CAP program will be up there taking old drugs. It's not the 15th? It's the what? And that is Saturday, May 4th on the Highway grounds up there, and we'll make sure we get that up also on the... Excellent. Perfect. Thank you. My date was wrong. It's the 21st of May. I apologize. The 21st of May for the tax grievance. Meredith, are you eavesdropping on this work session? That's good. Thank you, Meredith. Okay. As far as open session goes, that's all we have. So I'd like to make a motion to close our work session and go into executive session where we're going to discuss items under legal. Stephen Barshaw of Esquire and Mattis surrounding possible litigation. Moderator of the That will be with Howard, Prudente, and Thomas. We have matters surrounding litigation update with the Vale-Levitt. That will be with Howard, Hurley, and Thomas. We have contractual matters, matters surrounding possible lease of real property with Prudente. And we have personnel issues, matters surrounding a possible change in status of employees with Prudente and Mancini. We have matters surrounding possible hiring of an employee with Dillingham, Prudente, and Stripland, T.O. And we have matters surrounding change in status of an employee with Wooten, Rothar, and Prudente. And I wish everybody a great weekend. And from what I hear, Monday is teaming up to be almost 80 degrees and sunny, no rain. So spring maybe is going to finally make its short appearance before we go right into a hot summer. But everybody enjoy, and we'll see you next week. Thank you. Thank you.