Full Transcript

Thank you. Thank you. Good morning, everybody. Today is Thursday, July 11th, 2024. We're here for a work session. And as we start all of our meetings, will we all please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance? And, Ike Israel, would you mind leading us in the pledge? My pleasure. Thank you for the honor. I pledge 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, Ike.

Okay, first item for open session today is... Actually, before I do that, I have a couple notes I want to read. Just a reminder that the summer concert series starts tonight, and that will be downtown at the town square. So bring a chair down and enjoy the music. I don't have the actual schedule in front of me as to what genre is being played tonight, but every Thursday night through the summer, there will be free concerts at the town square. Also, this weekend, Saturday, July 13th and July 14th, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Long Island Antique Power Association Summer Show at Hallockville on Sound Avenue. And that's an annual event, and I know Mr. Kern enjoys it. I've been to one in my lifetime. They are very interesting. But I just wanted to give everybody a heads up that that's this weekend. So go on out and enjoy the show. All right, first up, we'll light them up on open session. We have Matters Surrounding Possible License Agreement at EpCal slash Racetrack Knott Street, and that will be with town attorney... Who's one minute away. Who's one minute away. Okay. And we have Mr. Scalzo here. Okay, good. So as soon as we have the town attorney here, we will get started with this item. Pete, you can come up and join us. Yeah, come on up and have a seat. Yeah. Yeah. Tell us all about your trip. And travels. Always come back with us on time. Well, now I've been here, the weather's been spectacular. It has been nice. It's been Florida-like. That's what you have to say. It has been Florida-like. It's been spectacular. Yeah. And of course, I can add, I wish we were racing now, but we have to respect the birds. That's the way it is. Yeah, unfortunately. This racing is for the birds, huh? Yeah.

I didn't have a clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head so everybody's all excited good so good thank you we do we lost the race sorry you lost the race people yes sir okay we have matters around a possible license agreement at up count Eric you want to take over yes so the town board adopted resolution at the last meeting approving a license agreement for the upcoming summer classic so that is the license agreement as it stands right now so my understanding is there is a request to add some additional events to these okay okay yeah so I think maybe an explanation of what that entails yes last year's you know we had some standalone events where we did go-kart racing and drifting very well received by the racing community thanks to the Long Island karting group Rick and and Ed from them and then Chris with the drifters it was a I believe very well-run event it was a well received by the races and the only thing about it is return on investment on that for me it's a tough deal so what I'd like to ask is permission this year to give the town board a license agreement to do that and then we'll see what happens next year. to take a certain amount of dates that have already been approved for drag racing and add some drifting events during those dates and some go-kart events during other dates so it would be during the time not at the same time right. Pete for the general public listening in can you explain what drifting is. Drifting is something that's relatively new it's they they have special brakes in their cars. They have special brakes in their cars. It's a lot of sliding slipping and sliding and of course up here we know what happens in the in the in the wintertime with the cars sliding and they have it's very big in Europe it's getting very popular here what a lot of these guys are doing and sure if the chief was here he'd probably tell you is they're taking some old industrial areas and they're going playing in these areas and they go sliding around and and it's it's a different kind of a sport totally different from my drag racing. Drag races we go straight these guys want to slide and that's what drifting is all about it's going to be very very very popular just quickly my first drifting event at my racetrack in Miami Florida rain like crazy I went to the man that was helping with drifting and I said that listen I love this we have to cancel he said why I said well you know it's what we want saves our tires we like the drifting so that's what drifting is all about. Good so what if anything would be applied to drifting. Drifting is a very important part of the race. [transcription gap] And it's basically what we did last year. Again, last year we did the go-karts. We set up the race course utilizing part of the drag strip pit area. And then the drifting was further down, way past the finish line. So what we want to do this year, what I'm asking to do is we cannot run the drifting and the go-karts at the same time like we did last year because they are actually going to utilize the same track, which would be way past where the finish line is for the drag strip. Now, whatever we're discussing today, I do realize I have to have the site plan. It has to be approved by the fire marshal. And we'll have everything in place like we did last year with the ambulance and the fire rescue vehicle. So all the safety requirements will be in place. And, of course, the insurance will be in place. So if you're doing everything the same day, so you already got your... your fire and medical and everything there. Yes, sir. You've already got your initial site plan. You just really want to amend the site plan to include a second course. Yes, sir. And my only question then is, are you extending the times or is it like we're going to take a break in the action from drag racing and go down and do drifting and then come back to drag racing? Or how is it? Or are you switching it out altogether? Yeah. No, it's going to run at the same time. Drifting will run at the same time as drag racing? Yes, sir. Okay. And then on the other dates when the drifting, the drifting is not going, it'll be the go-karts racing the same time as that. You know, the thing about... that I'm excited about with the... especially of the go-karts. You know, we're all familiar. You're watching this drive to survive, this new... this Formula One special that's on Netflix, I think it is, or Prime, where people don't realize... and that... almost every one of those racers that are in that Formula One probably 80% of all the racers that are in NASCAR started... Go-karts. Go-karts. Yeah. And if you... At like five years old. There you go. Yeah. So, you know, the go-kart and the go-kart community, they're all excited. And actually, I said, I really can't do it again like we did it last year. I can't. It's just not worth it financially. Sure. So, that's what I'm asking you, if I could combine that. They're great family oriented sports. Mm-hmm. And then, you know, what you folks are doing, which is very commendable, I think you see what my vision was from day one is a lot more of the motorsports activity out at that beautiful site. And you've proven it now because you've got the great Skip Barber driving school coming in there. Those people do a heck of a job. So, you know, I'm happy to be part of continuing to bring motorsports to the community. Good. I love it, Pete. Thank you. You know, I love that you're increasing the program. Yes, sir. And I love go-karts. It's been a very successful program. You've done a really good job setting it up and running it. Thank you. Knock on wood, there's been no major incidents or anything. There's really no incidents. And the people are loving it. The community, the people in the town, and people from surrounding areas. Because, you know, Long Island needs a draft. Drag strip people are very involved. But racing used to be a really big thing here when I was a kid growing up. And, you know, you had the Nationals over in, the Riches over that way. And you had West Hampton. And of course, Riverhead Raceway was then there. And you had the track up in Islip where they ran everything up there. Used to be on Wild World of Sports. They'd do the, when they'd crash them up and come to the figure eights demolition derby. That was televised nationally. And a lot of that's gone away. But there's a lot of fans. And the fans are coming out of the woodwork for your events. So it's a good thing. It's a good thing for the town. People are coming and spending money in the town. So we appreciate, I appreciate for sure everything you've done. And I have no problem supporting this. That's great. I just love being there and seeing all the families together. You know, you don't really get to see that a lot these days. And they're all there. The kids are participating. You know, the kids are helping dad out with the engine. And everything that goes into the racing. It's great. We've had three generations. Three generations of participants. And you know, that is exciting. And the support that I have gotten from the town of Riverhead from day one has been, I've been around a long, long time. And you folks from day one have been excellent. I got to tell you, we were a little skeptical at first. Sure. Because it was new to us. Sure. And you know, it was a little leery when you started talking about. We talked about high speed cars and everything. But it's been done so professionally. And you said that right from the beginning, being with the NHRA and everything. You know, this was going to be a first class act. And it really has been. So we appreciate you keeping your word. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Well, I have to keep my word because this guy is tough. And then you have the fire marshal that stuff. But you know what? It's all part of, you know, if I want to play in your playground, I have to adhere to what you say. And as you know, as you've seen, we're going to start our fourth year this year. I try to do everything the right way. You know, because this guy . We appreciate that. Thank you. We definitely appreciate that. I wish all our players and astounded that way. So these participants are bringing their own cars to drift and their own go-karts? Correct. Just like last year. And how are those being inspected? Oh, yes. Absolutely. Yes. And this Long Island karting is a great group. They handle all that inspections. They're the ones that set up all the barriers. Were you out there last year? I didn't see the go-karts, but I'm looking forward to it this year. They put up all the insurance required barriers and all. And of course, I have to have the concrete barriers separating the crowd. I have to have the police control metal fencing. So we'll do all that like we did last year. Okay. All right. So I think what we would need is an addendum to your application from last October that sort of details the events, designates the space that you're looking to use. And then once the town board takes a look at that, they'll do a resolution re-approving to include that stuff. And then we'll do a revised license agreement. And then we'll just need to get all that done before the first event. And I think that's August 18th. August 18th. August 17th. 17th. 17th. Yes. Okay. I'll get that to you right away. And I do realize, as you've mandated, that I will not do any promoting, no advertising, no announcing, no selling of tickets, et cetera, until such time as the town board approves what we can do that. What do I do with this ticket, you sold? No. Sabine, I just have one question for you. Yes. 1,000 percent support. One thing I'd ask is, obviously, you're going to be utilizing the same firematic services and ambulance services, right, for both events at the same time. Yes. So the only thing, so that we don't need to increase additional ambulance differently, is that you have a radio or some type of communication that if there is an accident down on the drag strip, then drifting and everything should stop at the same time. So obviously, they can't respond to it at the same time. So just have both races being watched by your staff at the same time. Absolutely. So if the emergency services have to intervene and attend to it, then you're going to have to intervene and attend to someone that everything stops all around. It's not like there's still something else going on down here. Of course. Sure. So just kind of be aware of that. We can do that. This way, then you won't need any additional fire services or personnel there. You can use the same set that's on standby for both things at the same time and just situate them between two events, right? Okay. Yes. That's exactly where I would argue. And we've always had the radio communication, but we'll have the additional radios down at the other side. Perfect. Good. Excellent. Okay. Thanks. Thank you very much. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you. Take care. And Chip and I both need cars, go-karts, yeah. You've got to have a rematch. I'll bring my own. There you go. That rematch is on. Rematch is on. I'll say it right now. $10,000 to the winner if you run against another. Oh. You are donating $10,000? It's a monopoly money, but it'll be fine. Pete, I want the money. I want the money. [transcription gap] I want the plan. Do you want the what? I want the Tesla plan. Oh, the Tesla plan. I know how to get there. Okay. I know how to get to the finish line. And you, councilor, the new Ferrari, you just bought it. Bye, Pete. All right. Next up, we have matters surrounding possible code amendment on Chapter 217-67. We have Danielle Hurley and Bob Kern. Good morning, everybody. Good morning. Good morning, Danielle. Okay. So, there's a lot of things to say. But there's a lot of things to say. So parking on the front yard has come up a couple times in court, in justice court. There have started to become some issues with prosecuting these matters, mainly because of the 24-hour exception. It's in 217-67D, which basically gives an exception if the car has been there for over 24 hours, then they're guilty. So it's becoming difficult when the person comes to court and they say, well, I was there less than 24 hours, and we don't have a way to show that they have been there for more than 24 hours. Because that would entail code going back multiple times and taking pictures and documenting. So in order to put the burden more on the person who's being charged and not on the prosecutor, we're asking to take out this exemption. We are keeping in the last paragraph, which basically says that it's up to the prosecuting attorney that they can dismiss the violation or reduce the fines, given the certain situations of that case. The only problem I have with 24 hours is, I mean, this was put up because people are having, a lot of times there are overcrowded houses where there's people parking on the front lawns. And it's not a good look. And the car that's parking on the front lawn may be somebody living in that house, but maybe they go to work during the day. So the car's not there 24 hours, but it comes back and it's parked there every night, seven days a week. That's what we're trying to get rid of. So if we limit it or make it that it has to be 24 hours, we're never going to get that. Right. And just so you know, Supervisor, I spoke with Victoria who handles the court cases. She can't defend these. And it's a problem. And also I spoke with Code, and they have multiple violators, and it's useless for them to get tickets because they can't defend them. Right. Right. Understood. And if somebody's working on their car, obviously Code is not, you know, they're not going to come down on them or anything less like that. So it's a necessary fix. Otherwise there's no use to having the Code in there to begin with. I think it's a great fix. I think it's terrific. Excellent. Very good. Are we able to increase the fine for multiple violations? Or does the fine increase with multiple violations? Uh. So one, it's subject to a fine not less than $500. So. Pretty heavy fine. It's a pretty heavy fine, which like I said, the last paragraph puts the ability on the prosecuting attorney to lower that fine or dismiss if it's a situation where say where someone was just pulled up for a minute to unload their groceries or whatever. But again, Code's not going to give someone a ticket for that. So if there's multiple violations, it's $500 each time. Okay. So it's a pretty heavy fine. Can I just make a suggestion building on that with the exception that's kept on the bottom there? I guess it's E or it's now becoming D. Yes. Can it almost like an ACOD, you get one crack at that. We let you get the case dismissed one time. And if you do it again, you're not going to get that courtesy. Can we add maybe some language like that? What do you think about that? So the prosecuting attorney does do that. She'll offer a conditional discharge and write it up and say, if you're back here on the same ticket, then this one comes up. And then this one comes back. And so she has that authority to do that within the Justice Court. Okay. But even just maybe we give you one shot and then period. You're not getting this again. Yeah. That would be like a policy decision that we can definitely do. Okay. So we'd rather start right off from the back. Let's start issuing tickets. I agree. I agree. Okay. All right. So publishing post. Thank you, David. Yes. Yes. Very good. Thank you. Thank you. Perfect. Good job. Thank you. [transcription gap] Okay. Next up we have matters surrounding special permit for 431 Griffin Avenue, Riverhead. And that will be with Heather Trojanowski. Good morning, Heather. Good morning. We do have time here if you guys have any specific questions. Okay. I can come up if you want. All right. So this is a pretty straightforward special permit application. The subject property is 431 Griffin Avenue. Okay. Just up the street. Tax amount number is 600-128-1-30. And just a note, it is situated on the west side of Griffin Avenue. There was a typo in my original staff report, which I have since fixed. Thank you, Bob, for letting me know about that. It's a .17 acre parcel and it's within the DC-3 zoning use district. Long story short, it was originally a single family. It was a single family. Okay. And it's now a single family dwelling. We have a letter of preexisting use on file. In the 80s, the building department issued a CO to convert the building to offices. I think the last documented use was for a law office. And since then, the building is currently vacant. I think Ike said that he's been having trouble renting it out as office space, so they're looking to convert it back into a single family dwelling, which now requires a special permit from the town board. This is right next door to the Cornell building? Yep. The county building. Okay. Yeah, I mean, in terms of, you know, you were just talking about parking. In terms of parking, there's a pretty sizable driveway. I see that. There's actually a parking area in the back that was part of the office. Sure. So they have more than enough parking for a single family dwelling. It's not out of character with the area. Griffin is a mix of offices and residences, so I don't think it's going to create any sort of... It's not a noxious use. Again, it's just going back to a single family dwelling, but the code changed, so now they need to get a special permit. Okay. Yeah, I don't see any downside to this. I don't either. It's simple. So, I mean, I have a resolution in the packet to classify it as a Type 2 action-pursuant seeker and to schedule the required public hearing for August 6th. Okay. Right. Good. Yep. August 6th? August 6th. Okay. So I think that's the easiest special permit application we've had so far. Thank you. How much more complicated? Yeah. Quite down. Thank you, folks. Thank you. Okay. Last item on open session before we go to resolutions is something that we've started, we've been talking about for a while now, and we came up with a name for it and we call it Riverhead in Action. And Riverhead in Action is... Riverhead in Action is going to be a collaboration of many things. What you're going to see in a couple of minutes of the video that was made, it highlights things for the past two months of May and June. And it goes through... There was a financial award from the county at Kent Animal Shelter. We have a retirement of one of our town workers. We have the swearing-in of the new police officers. Duck Pond Day. We have... Probably... We have a dozen items that you'll see little clips of here. And it's just part of what we want to do as the town to promote positivity within the town of Riverhead, whether it be our own workers and what they do on a daily basis. And I said this before, everybody pays a water bill, but what's the water department really do? And we're going to showcase some of these items as to what they do. And let me tell you, if you start seeing some of these operations, you'll understand how expensive it is to run a water bill. Okay. [transcription gap] Okay. [transcription gap] Okay. Okay. [transcription gap] Okay. [transcription gap] Okay. [transcription gap] Okay. [transcription gap] Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. idea of what the town workers do and any and all positive things that are going on in town and it will include businesses that are maybe generational we did that with Hubbard Electric I think next month we're going to be doing Griffin Hardware and highlight them because it's a generational business in town we have a lot of those and I think that needs to be recognized and honored we have farms that have been in production for generations we want to get around to any and all people that we can and we're going to try to do a new real every every month and we have created with the help of my staff we Debbie Burkowski created a YouTube channel for the town of revenge so these reels are going to be posted on the YouTube channel along with Facebook and Instagram and whatever social media is out there that we're going to use so it's a format to really show the positivity of the town you good things are going on in the town and this is our first run at it it's it's pretty good we know we have a little bit of tweaking to do with it but if we could get ready to run that we can go ahead and run it and then if anybody has any questions we'll certainly answer those questions okay excited yeah get it on tik tok hi this is Tim Hubbard supervisor of the great town of Riverhead and you're watching Riverhead in action a media campaign designed to highlight the incredible work of the 350 plus employees they comprise Riverhead's 26 departments and sub departments town events projects job openings local businesses and other town happenings I hope you find this informative and enjoyable and thank you for watching Riverhead in action so head head head head head head [transcription gap] head Thank you. [transcription gap] Thank you. [transcription gap] And we have planning staff here. If the board has any questions specifically with respect to the most recent change or most recent iteration. We're comfortable. We'll move on to resolution number 10.

So when you say post-public notice, is this going to go to a work session again with these changes? How is this going to work? So these are the resos. So. [transcription gap] public hearing. Okay, thanks. So we have Matt Charters here. He can speak to it specifically if you wish. Everybody's good? Okay. Number 10, appoints a Justice Court clerk, Spanish speaking. Number 11, appoints a Maintenance Mechanic 2 to the Sewer District. Number 12, appoints a Seasonal Pump Out Boat Operator. Number 13, appoints Seasonal Staff to the Recreation Department. Number 14, amends a portion of Resolution 2024-459 adopted on May 22, 2024 to correct the salary of a Seasonal Recreational Aid. Number 15, authorizes the promotion of a police officer to the position of Detective Grade 3. Number 16, authorizes the promotion of a police officer to the position of Detective Grade 3. Congratulations to that. I'm Byron Perez and Sean Evans. Number 17, approves Special Event Chapter 255, Application for Cornell Cooperative Extension of Nassau County Centennial Celebration. Number 18, approves Special Event Chapter 255, Application for Hallockville Museum Farm Country Fair. Number 19, rescinds Resolution 2024-433 and Resolution 2024-500, Time Change, Townscape Country Fest. Thank you. Thank you. [transcription gap] Thank you. [transcription gap] Thank you. Thank you. Postpone the Country Fest date for their summer concert resolutions. It was their concert program. They had the Country Fest scheduled. I think it was for July 27th, and I think they've changed that, and they have another event on that night, another concert, but not the Country Fest. And we're waiting to hear back from them as to when the Country Fest will be. Right. Number 20, awards bid for Veterans Memorial Park Sanitary System. Number 21, amends Town Board Resolution 2024-601. And number 22, amends Town Board Resolution 2024-602. Number 23, this was an error. This resolution is not intended to be in the packet just yet. That's going to be removed. Number 24, ratifies appointment of fire prevention inspector. And 25, pro-housing communities resolution. It's a short list this week. Yeah. Even the resolution states summer vacation, so apparently it will be relatively short. Can I just mention to the board, we're going to have one more resolution we're going to ask to ratify. It's just for Highway Department. We need to have the asphalt contracts set in place so he can start paving. Oh, yeah. Good. Teresa is working on it today, so she'll have something, but I'll just kind of give the board a heads up. Okay. It's something that he really needs to prove right away so he can start doing some paving. The sewer and the curbing has been completed, so now they're ready to move on to the paving. Not referring to that Highway Department, just the general paving throughout the town of Riverhead. Gotcha. Okay. So he just needs the... Gotcha. Okay. Everything to be approved for that. Good. Okay. Not a problem. Yep. All right. That's it on resolutions. That's all we have for open session. In a moment, I'll ask to close the... We'll close the open session and go into executive session to discuss matters of... Under personnel, matters surrounding possible change in status of an employee with Howard. We have a contractual matter with matters surrounding a contract for Seawall and Meeting House Creek with Drew Dillingham. We have two legal matters, matters surrounding the sale of real property with Prudente. And we have the town of Riverhead versus DEC and CMA Mines versus the town of Riverhead and DEC. And that will be with Howard and Ornstein. So at this time, can I have a motion to close the open work session? So I'll go into executive. Second. Seconded. All in favor? Aye. Aye. All opposed? Okay. The open session is closed and we will go into executive session. Thank you, everybody, for coming in.

Thank you.