Full Transcript
Thank you. Thank you. Good evening, everybody. Today is Tuesday, April 15, 2025. We're here for a town board meeting. Could all please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. 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.
Okay, Councilman Rothwald, do we have somebody here for an invocation tonight? We do. We are honored today to be in the presence of Reverend Lorraine DeArmit from the United Methodist Church, and she is going to lead us this evening. Thank you for joining us, Reverend. Wowee, that was some introduction. Well, good evening. It's good to see all of you. Let us pray. Most Holy One, as we are in this, season of Passover, some of us are spending a lot of time thinking about your sympathy for those who are oppressed, your desire to remove people from those places where they are under the thumb of an unfit power and bringing them to a promised land where there's plenty to eat and where there's no food. And where there's no food. [transcription gap] And where they can have peace. And then there are others of us who are in the beginning of Holy Week, and we're spending time thinking about your steadfast love, your protective care, your plan for salvation, and the many, many ways that you show your love for us. And so I ask your continued blessing on all the people at this meeting and the Lord, and the leaders of the town, those who will be speaking tonight, that they might speak with honesty and compassion. We give you, Lord God, this meeting, and we give you ourselves, that you might utilize us for the greater good, that Riverhead might increasingly be a place of prosperity, peace, and well-being. Thank you. Thank you. Amen. [transcription gap] Thank you very much, Reverend. Appreciate it. Thank you. Okay, I have two quick announcements. Reverend just touched on them, basically. Happy Passover to everybody who celebrates, and to Sunday, happy Easter to those. Anybody else have any announcements? Actually do, Supervisor. Saturday, May 3rd, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., the town of Riverhead is open to the public. And we're going to be doing a lot of work to get the people to come in. And we're going to be doing a lot of work to get the people to come in. And we're going to be doing a lot of work to get the people to come in. And we're going to be doing a lot of work to get the people to come in.
We're having our spring cleanup, which is sponsored by the Riverhead Anti-Litter Committee. So we will have all supplies for everyone, pickers and vests and gloves. We'd like you to come on down and do your part to create a cleaner and more beautiful Riverhead. So again, that's Saturday, May 3rd, from 9 to 11. Thank you. Thank you, Joanne. Anybody else? Okay. We will move on to correspondence. Okay. Okay. Okay, we received two letters from Barbara Vlaespooth in regards to Island Water Park and their site plan, and one letter from Adebe Conrad in reference to the trailers at the charter school. Under reports, we received the tax receiver tax collection report for 2425 at $103,375,404.54. The town clerk monthly report for March was $12,727.75. And the tax receiver monthly utility report for the month of March, $340,006.24. And that concludes our reports and our correspondence. Thank you, Jim. That brings us up to, since we have no public hearing tonight, that brings us up to resolutions. So we would open up the floor for comments on any. Give the resolutions on tonight's agenda. Any resolutions on tonight's agenda for comments? Sir, step up and state your name and your location. My name is Mark Kroszylewski. I'm a resident of the town of Riverhead, live in South Jamesport. My family actually emigrated here from Poland in the early 1900s, and we have been living here continuously. So we are very proud residents, and thank you for this opportunity. I'm speaking on the issue, there's a sale of a property, which I believe is the Vale Levitt Theater. And I'd like, I'm wearing two hats. My first hat is as a subject matter expert, and the second one is as a taxpayer. So let me talk about the subject matter expert, just looking at the Vale Levitt. It needs a lot of investment. Thank you. Thank you. My background, saying a subject matter expert, I have been in the music industry for 25 years. I've taken two non-profit organizations that were financially troubled and turned them into having sustainable business models based on music. They were dilapidated. They needed a lot of infrastructure upgrades. And in one case, they didn't have any infrastructure that supported. I mean, I don't think they had any infrastructure that supported music at all. What I needed to do in order to create those venues and make them successful, by the way, one of them was voted New York City's most favorite music venue by Time Out magazine. 60,000 people voted for it. So I think I have, I've done something right there. And what it was a combination of that the venue, the infrastructure, the people that ran it, and the diversity. What's what was really important. It was the diversity of the program. We had everything from blues, world music, jazz, rock, pop, country. And that's what kept people coming in. So we did not rely on a single genre for us to be successful. And each genre kind of built upon itself. And we had probably twice or three times a week different genres of music. We didn't have full sound system. [transcription gap] working with me as well right now, and the designer and project manager for Live Nation that upgraded the Polish National Home and the Polish Soldiers Home, which are now known as Irving Plaza and the Warsaw. In that process, we spent over $20 million to make them what they are today. And so Tom is going to hopefully join in on Zoom shortly, but he really has the knowledge of how to take a venue. And when I talk about partnerships, the programming side of it, and with my contacts and my network, I can really make it work. But the partnership of actually how do you build out a venue, renovate it, restore it, because these were restorations that we did. And it really took, if you think it's going to cost a half a million dollars, whoever tells you that, it's not going to be half a million. It's going to just go up. And there's a lot of questions, because when you start peeling the onion, there are things that you didn't know. And so like my father, or actually my great uncle, Joseph Krasulewski said, I was a little boy at the time, he goes, Mark, remember, you don't know what you don't know and we were talking about fishing where to go get clams where to get the scallops and I would go go because remember to know what you don't know so what I'd like to what I didn't see and I don't know the process and in a very respectful way want to bring to the attention or maybe it isn't a process if I'm saying something that you guys are already doing by all means I don't mean to repeat it but there needs to be a feasibility study and a due diligence on the actual building itself I have done a walk through through it so I'm not taking information from the thin air I have walked through there and it requires a lot of renovation a lot of tender loving care secondly it needs the program that will bring people in and make it the crown jewel that everybody feels it can be after you do the feasibility study the due diligence and feasibility study there has to be some form of even if it's a pro forma business plan which shows okay we can bring in this type of music X number of times a year we're tied into festivals were tied into touring groups and also I'm working with carey Higgum over at the Suffolk and there's in the industry there's a whole process of göra göra göra göra göra göra göra göra göra göra göra göra göra göra göra göra göra göra göra göra göra göra göra göra of where you start out at a small place like the Vale Levitt. Then you move on to you develop an audience. Then you go to the Suffolk Theater. And then you move on upwards and forwards. So it's an important element, I think, that to create a thriving music diverse music scene here in Riverhead. And as a, now put my taxpayer hat on, I'm just going to say, is that for me what's important is to have a thriving downtown. I live here. I love the town. I love downtown Riverhead. I come with my boat many times during the summer, maybe even, you know, late into the fall for the festivals. And it's a beautiful thing to see what the town is doing. So I want to give you kudos for that. I really, really enjoy being a resident. And with that, I thank you for the time. Thank you. Just so you know, a feasibility question. Yes. So I was wondering, I know that the feasibility study has been done already on the property. And I know that this is kind of a last minute thing that you're coming in. But do you have a business plan put together? I can put a, I'm working. You have one now. I don't have one at the moment. I can put one together very, very quickly. I mean, I've done many of them. And I was brought in late into the game by Ray Castronova with the Zenith Group. He heard of my expertise, et cetera. And I thought that made a really good partnership. He knows the construction business. He does not know anything. I mean, even though he's a musician, the music industry is different than being just a musician. So my partnership with him, and he had already basically said, Mark, you're the missing link. You know, I know how to do construction. You know music business. You know the music industry. We could actually do something together quickly and efficiently. Thank you. And that's great that you guys have done a feasibility study. We've been working on that. Quite some time. All right. Thank you, Sarah. Anybody else who would like to make a comment on any resolution tonight? Just a reminder. We have nobody online. Go ahead, Barbara. Just a reminder. Sorry. I let you go a little long. There's a three-minute time limit. I appreciate. Thank you. or comment period. Good evening, Barbara Blass, Jamesport. I had corresponded with Eric earlier in the week on resolution 366 which is the special event for Island Water Park but I still have some questions seeing that it is still on the agenda in the same format. So. We're going to be tabling that tonight. Okay. Will you be reconsidering it at a particular time? Eric Green, National Public Radio. Eric Green, National Public Radio. If and when they amend their special event application. So we were given notice late on Friday that the applicant is at the very least rescheduling the event from the end of this month to potentially sometime in September that would require them to amend their Chapter 255 application for the special event and any additional details or changes or anything would be addressed in that application revised amended application. Barbara Blass, Jamesport. Okay. With that being said then can I just make a few comments in the future application. Perhaps you could consider that they have on-site EMS. Advertising for the event if the event is the same as is was currently advertised uses words like heart pounding stunts and octane thrills and jaw dropping stunts and things of that nature. And I don't think you have to be a teetotaling or a tea drinking grandma to say it sounds dangerous. And perhaps it's not the size of the event as much as the nature of the event that would require on-site EMS and the application says the size didn't warrant it. So I would hope that you would keep that in mind in the future. They were going to have, we were requiring them to have on-site EMS. Barbara Blass, Jamesport. That's good to hear. And assuming that go-karting is available or approved at that point. And if not, they do also advertise that the go-karting is available with for extra fee. Had it been available or the event taking place April 27th, I don't think the town would have been in a position to permit go-karting for a fee since the facility is not yet approved. Correct. Okay. But I'm just saying that that's what, it was in the advertisement for the event. And finally. There was a notice on this same advertisement that service dogs were not going to be permitted due to the loudness of the motor sports. And I know that there was another application, or another resolution in your packet tonight that speaks to noise generated from events at EPCAL. And I thought that one, if that doesn't say that this is going to be a noisy event, I don't know what does. So I just ask you to keep those kinds of things in mind as you consider an application in the future. Thank you very much. Thank you, Barbara. Hi there. Good afternoon. Good evening. Tauke Church and Greater Calvert and Civic Association President. I'm very glad to hear that that resolution is going to be tabled tonight. And just two pieces of a caution and a request. The request is that when the, vendor with Island Water Park wants to put this event on, that they don't use Riverhead Town Ambulance, that they provide their own private ambulance. And that would be for obvious reasons, right? I mean, if you pull the ambulance down to the far west part of the town, it's not available for the rest. And I know there's more than one ambulance truck, but at the same time, it seems appropriate to ask for that. And number two is probably a little bit more of a question. But I'm going to make it a little bit more simple. No special permit without a CO. Thanks very much. Thank you. Do we have somebody online? Okay, we'll take that.
Can you hear us, Thomas? I can. How's everybody doing? Okay. State your name and where you're from, please. My name is Thomas Glennon. I live in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. I grew up in the town of Bellport. Grew up most of my life out there. My mom lives in East Moriches. My uncle lives in Riverhead. Still have a ton of friends and family out there. I know Mark through building Irving Plaza and Brooklyn Warsaw with him. So he has recently reached out to me to help him work on the Bale Levitt, if he's the one that gets it. And so he had asked me to come on here and talk to you guys about what the renovation would be and kind of my background. So let me just tell you guys who I am. So I started working in the Hamptons, Raymond Houses in 2004. Was out there for a couple years. I worked on animatronics estate. I worked on the
I moved to the city. I worked on Madison Avenue doing Victoria's Secrets, Fifth Avenue, Victoria's Secrets, Hilton Square, Apple Cube. So I was a site superintendent. I was a project manager. I found my way to Live Nation and for the last seven years I worked there. I recently left and started my own company. And so I'd be helping Mark on this project. And I'm going out there tomorrow to take a look at the property and do my own assessment, get my eyes on what's going on out there, and then put together our own feasibility budget and plan for it. That'll probably take me a week or two to put together. But just from what I know about simple production equipment to make something palatable for somewhat big name artists to play there, I mean, you're talking, I would imagine the renovation is probably a million and a half. You got acoustics. One thing I do know is when you open these little buildings up, you find all sorts of sins in the building that you have to fix. Some percene structural conditions. I think there's an elevator there, but I don't think it's up to code. I think sprinkler and fire alarm need to get installed. Just cause of the size of the renovation. I believe. I don't know the code out there. I have to get acquainted with it. But if the renovation is 50% of the value of the building, everything has to go to code. And you've got... I looked at some photos online. I'm actually really excited to go out there tomorrow. Look at it. Cause I didn't even know it was there. So everything I've done in my life was... So I was Brooklyn Paramount Theater was a 3000 cap thing that recently opened last year. Irving Plaza, a big renovation, 10 mil was the cap, I think 1300. And then Brooklyn Warsaw also in Greenpoint. We did a huge renovation there to bring everything up to code, put elevators in, ADA compliancy. So this stuff takes time and work and there's a lot of plan that goes with it. So I think... I think it's a great opportunity to do something really great there that brings a lot of people out there. A lot of big name artists out there. If it's done right. You know, bringing life safety up to code, the production, the architectural lighting, all lighting controls, the bars being properly built out, proper ice machines, all that stuff. It's a lot of work and coordination. And I'm looking forward, like I said, to go out there tomorrow and put together my plan. And I think in three weeks I can probably have renderings and a floor plan to share. Cool. Thanks. Thanks. Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you guys. Appreciate your time. Chip, apparently there's some kind of problem. We just fixed it. Okay. Disregard. Okay. You got one too. All right. Do we have anybody else from the audience or online that would like to comment on resolutions? Having seen nobody, I will ask... I'm going to comment. Oh. Go ahead. So if I can... I'm going to... [transcription gap] I just want to... I also want to comment on resolution 374, and that's considering the sale of the Vale Levitt to the Jasloff. We had two, I found, excellent presentations on Thursday, but my concerns particularly, I'll say first and foremost, I think the Jasloff does an incredible venue up in Stony Brook, and they're a great organization. My concern is that they lack the funding. Okay. But there's a lot of work to be done to restore this theater, which is going to be an immense project, and they're strictly relying on grants, and I feel that this can go and extend it over many years for them to accomplish that. You had another individual that stood before you that was not relying on grants, and I know that he's a successful man. He's restored many buildings within our town, and in addition, he's invested in our town and he's offered to bring the right people to the table, and I think that he has the way with all. Thank you. to really complete a great project in an expedited period of time. In addition, in our discussions on Thursday, we said we wanted to get public insight. And since Thursday, this resolution was put in yesterday, and we haven't done that. And so I feel like we're kind of neglecting here moving forward with the sale of a building. And I really would like to have a public hearing. I really would like the people to come out to what everybody's looking for. The ultimate goal here, of course, is to restore the theater and to make it a great venue. But it also needs to be a venue that's going to put people in the seats of all the restaurants, people that are going to come out here and spend, you know, perhaps a weekend or a couple days, an overnight stay, and invest in our hotel rooms, our restaurants, and our stores. And I just think that having a multitude of events, such as Blues Festival, again, Country Fest, Latino festivals, that type of thing. Brings people of multitude together. And that's what the whole focus that we're spending millions of dollars on our Town Square project. And I feel like suddenly from Thursday to now, this resolution is put in, and we're really not hearing what the public has to say overall. Because the feedback that I'm getting is that everybody wants festivals. They want a large attraction. They want a multitude of events, from Broadway stars to all types of different music. And so at the appropriate time tonight, I would ask to take a moment to ask for your full attention. To table this resolution, to have a public hearing here in this room, to gather, to bring people in from around the community, from downtown, of what our community, what our residents want to see, what they want. I feel like we've just been streamlining for some time with one particular individual. We also have to do our due diligence with taxpayer money. We have somebody that has limited funds, is putting up 150, and you have somebody else that's putting up $55,000 more. And we don't seem to really be inviting them to the table to have full attention. I just want to clear up just a little bit. I just want to clear up just a little bit.
I just want to clear up just a little bit. able to have further and additional discussions and maybe we need to put an ad in the news review and invite other venues to come in and developers individuals maybe we should be contacting Stony Brook University in the Stoller Center and bringing other people in to see I know this has been a long process and it's been stalled many times I do want to activate it as soon as possible but I think suddenly we're jumping on something that on Thursday we were going to ask for a public opinion and then this was just put in and it seems that suddenly there's a race to the finish line here without really getting inside of what the public needs and to get people in into our restaurant stores so I'll do that and hopefully and ask for support to bring more people in and just to give whether it be 30 days or something to give an opportunity to have a forum in this room to hear what the public wants thank you okay so I'm just gonna add to what Ken is saying I have reached out to Gary Higgum and also this this this statistics online of what age groups spend what disposable income we are not taking the disposable income into it into account we are not taking into account that theaters and when I speak to Gary they thrive on variety even though that you and again nothing I think the jazz loft is great and they said they'd get other genres we just heard from a gentleman that's got 20 years working with stars working with the premier concert promoters in the world and I have a lot of interest in that they can bring jazz that people want jazz but country classic whatever it is and when you speak when I've spoken to Gary Higgum and about 80% of his audience is from out of town those are people that are coming to our town and and and going to restaurants there's not one venue that's gonna do the same thing every night unless you're down in New Orleans and then it's like you know you go from one place to the next and there's different types of music we have an amazing opportunity and Mark I got I got to meet you and I really appreciate that and also the fact that you've done you know to have somebody with your success that lives in our town and is willing to come out and put the time and the effort into this kudos to you and it's you know and you know it's it's a great opportunity to be able to do that and I'm so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so bathroom that is serving the entire park and it should be open any day now maybe today tomorrow we are right there at the finish line just waiting for PSCG I believe to put in the meter and activate it so it's it's really gonna be an awesome thing for so many people bikers runners walkers that have been up in that park for years so absolutely vote yes and let's get to the finish line on this covered yes resolutions adopted resolution 330 accepts donation for the Recreation Department and I want to thank Ryan Cudahy oh say it again Cudahy yeah so Ryan thank you very much so moved second vote please wasky yes very field yes turn yes Rothwell yes yes resolution is adopted resolution 331 ratifies the setting of fees for recreation spring summer brochure so moved second vote please wasky yes very field yes current yes Rothwell yes yes the brochure is out you should have received one in the mail if not we have them here in the building and there's a lot of programs for the spring and summer coming up so I invite everybody to take a look at the brochure and see if there's something of your interest resolution is adopted resolution 332 appoints new seasonal employees to the Recreation Department so moved seconded vote please wasky yes very few yes yes yes yes yes yes resolutions adopted resolution 333 reappoint seasonal pump out boat operators so moved second full please wasky yes very few yes third guess Rothwell yes cupboard yes resolution is adopted resolution 333 points a senior water treatment plant operator to be so moved second head so clear's américan yes Murray field yes third yes well yes headboard yes resolution is adopted adopted resolution 3 3 5 appoints a senior wastewater treatment plant operator 3a so moved second vote please waski yes Maryfield yes yes Rothwell yes yes resolution is adopted resolution 3 3 6 appoints a senior water treatment plant operator 1 B so moved seconded vote please waski yes very cute yes turn yes Rothwell yes yes resolution is adopted resolution 3 3 7 provisionally appoints a principal accountant clerk so moved second vote please waski yes Maryfield yes turn yes well yes covered yes resolutions adopted resolution 3 3 8 accepts the resignation of a fire marshal one sorry to see you leave Fred so moved seconded vote please waski yes Maryfield yes turn yes Rothwell yes yes resolutions adopted resolution 3 3 9 ratifies the resignation of a homemaker so moved seconded vote please waski yes Maryfield yes turn yes Rothwell yes covered yes resolution is adopted resolution 3 40 ratifies the resignation of a code enforcement officer so moved seconded vote please waski yes so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved [transcription gap] Yeah. Resolution 342. Ratifies and accepts the resignation of a traffic control specialist. So moved. Seconded. Vote please. Waski. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Hubbard. Yes. Resolution's adopted. Resolution 343. Changes the status of a part-time police officer. So moved. Seconded. Vote please. Waski. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Hubbard. Yes. Resolution's adopted. Resolution 344. Changes the status of part-time traffic control specialist and or part-time traffic control officers. So moved. Seconded. Vote please. Waski. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Rothwell. I just have to check with the town attorney because the son obviously does work in, as a TCO, is it not correct? So I should... I'll just recuse myself, please. Okay. Well, I'll say you're not required to recuse yourself as long as you disclose the potential conflict of interest. Yeah. So he is actively in pursuing different careers as an EMT and paramedic, but he does do some part-time, so I'm just going to recuse myself just in the interest, okay? But thank you. And Hubbard. Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 345. 345. Points to captain. To the Riverhead Police Department. So moved. Danielle Wilsey. You're great. Second. Captain. Daniel. Waski. Yes. Congratulations. Merrifield. Yes. Congratulations, Captain. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Absolutely all the best. Congratulations. Yes. And Hubbard. We appointed her a couple months ago, but it was... We appointed her provisionally, and with civil service, you have to take the test and pass the test. And she successfully did, and now she's officially our captain. So yes, congratulations, Danielle. Excellent. Okay. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 346. Ratifies the approval for a leave of absence. So moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waski. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Hubbard. Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 347. Authorizes submission of an application to apply for reimbursement. The new motor for the pump out boat to New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation, EFC. So moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waski. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Hubbard. Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 348. Ratifies the settlement of legal action in the matter of the town of Riverhead against Robert James Hartman, 1524 Osborne Avenue, Riverhead, New York. So moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waski. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Hubbard. Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 349. Authorizes the Senior Citizen Program Director to execute a memorandum of understanding with New York State Commodity Supplemental Food Program for 2025. So moved. Second. Vote, please. Waski. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Hubbard. Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 350. Authorized. The Supervisor to execute an agreement authorizing the town to accept funds from Suffolk County Office for the Aging for the purpose of supplementing the town's nutrition program for the elderly 2025. So moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waski. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Hubbard. Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 351. Authorized. The Supervisor to execute an agreement authorizing the town to accept funds from Suffolk County Office for the Aging for the Aging for the Deaf and the Deaf. So moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waski. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Hubbard. Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 352. Authorized. The Supervisor to execute an agreement with SeaTuck Environmental Association, Inc. and Rotary Club of Riverhead. So moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waski. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Hubbard. Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 353. Authorized. The Supervisor to execute a stipulation with Local 1000 AFSCME AFL-CIO Riverhead Unit of the Local 852. So moved. Second. Vote, please. Waski. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Hubbard. Yes. Resolution 354. Authorized. The Supervisor to execute a license agreement with Celtic Quest, Inc. 2025. So moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waski. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Hubbard. Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 355. Authorized. The Supervisor to execute a professional service agreement with H2M Architects and Engineers for their Meeting House Creek Stormwater Wetland and Habitat for the
! Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Hubbard. Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 357. Ratifies agreement with Riverhead Town Superior Officers Association, Inc. Insurance Buyout. So moved. Second. Vote, please. Waski. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Hubbard. Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 358. Ratifies agreement with Riverhead Town Superior Officers Association, Incorporated Insurance Buyout. So moved. Second. américans. américans. américans. américans. 320 I'm sorry three 2025 so moved seconded vote please wasky yes very few yes yes yes yes yes resolutions adopted resolution 359 ratifies authorization for the town attorney to execute a retainer agreement with Siegel and Stiller PLLC so moved second vote please wasky yes very few yes turn yes Rothwell yes yes resolution is adopted resolution 360 Oh frisley resolution of the town of Riverhead opposing state legislation Assembly Bill a two five eight six Senate bill s zero zero one eight eight introduced in the 2025-2026 legislative session titled limits the authority of cities viz and towns to impose certain zoning requirements so moved seconded vote please wasky yes very few yes turn yeah before I vote Eric this is a really good pick up by you by you and your office thank you yeah absolutely yeah yes Rothwell yes Robert yes resolution is adopted resolution 361 acceptance of 2024 Justice Court audit so moved second vote please wasky yes very few yes turn yes Rothwell yes Robert yes resolutions adopted resolution 362 approved special event chapter 255 application for our future generation for us by us as a for all I'm sorry for us by us for all of us vendor fair so moved seconded vote please wasky yes very few yes turn yes Rothwell yes Robert yes abges so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved town Civic Association Polish town street fair so moved seconded oh please Flosky yes very few yes yes Rothwell yes yes resolution is adopted resolution 365 approved special event chapter 255 application for race awesome 11th annual Jane's port triathlon so moved second vote please wasky yes very few yes Kurt yes Rockwell get out there town clerk Wooten yes yes it'll be a triathlon right yes resolution is adopted resolution 366 they want to table that resolution I get a snake emotion the table resolution number 366 yes seconded vote please you wasky yes very few yes to take earn yes Rothwell yes Hubbard yesterday resolution is unanimously table resolution 367 authorizes the town clerk to publish and post notice to bidders for printing and mailing of recreational recreation brochures so moved seconded vote please wasky yes Maryfield yes turn yes Rothwell yes Hubbard yes resolution is adopted so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved so moved awards rebid number two for meeting house Creek stormwater wetland and habitat restoration projects so moved seconded full please wasky yes very few yes turn yes Rothwell yes yes finally yeah resolution is adopted resolution 369 extends bid non pro tonk for charter buses so moved second vote please wasky yes very few yes turn yes Rothwell yes yes resolutions adopted resolution 370 ratifies application for congressional funding for RWD proposed e XTS nine five slash nine six so moved seconded vote please wasky yes Maryfield yes turn yes well yes yes resolution 370 one ratifies the application for community project funding aka congressional directed spending by the community development department for riverfront ampitheater so moved second vote please WASKI yes very few yes turn yes Rothwell yes upward yes resolution is adopted resolution 370 to pays bills second head vote please soit soit soit soit soit soit [transcription gap] soit [transcription gap] soit Yes. Merrifield? Yes. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Hubbard? Yes. Resolution adopted. Resolution 373. Authorizes the supervisor to execute a professional services agreement with Main Street Agency MSA Productions. So moved. Second. This actually needs to be amended, the title. Okay. It's Main Street Agency. The MSA Productions is being disabled. It's not. It's not an active corporation. Correct. So we can strike that portion of it from the title. The agreement's with Main Street Agency, period. That's it. Right. Yeah. No MSA? So anywhere MSA Productions is referred to in the body of the resolution will strike, and then we'll fix that in the PSA as well. Okay. Do we have to vote on that change? You can vote on the amendment and then vote on the resolution as amended. Okay. Okay. So we're going to amend by taking out MSA Productions. From the title and from the second whereas. Okay. And now for there it be resolved also.
So vote on the amendment. Motion to amend number 373. Waskey? Yes. Merrifield? Yes. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Hubbard? Yes. Motion to amend is adopted. So it's striking MSA Production within the title, and within the body? Correct. All right. Now we did it again. Now we have to move it, right? Now we have to move it. As amended. Authorizes the supervisor to execute a professional service agreement with Main Street Agency. So moved. Seconded. Both please. As amended, yes. Merrifield? As amended, yes. Kern? No. As amended. Rothwell? As amended, yes. Hubbard? Yes. Resolution is adopted as amended 4-1. Okay. Resolution 374. Okay. This is the one, the authorization for the town attorney's office to negotiate contract of sale of real property located 18 Peconic Avenue, Riverhead, New York, Suffolk County, tax map number 128.6-80. Again, this is about the sale of the vale, and I totally agree with my opinion. I agree with my fellow councilman. I've never sit up here making a decision for the people that own a building in the town of Riverhead without hearing what the people of the town of Riverhead want out of that building. So for me, I'm going to make a motion to table this until we have that opportunity to really hear from the public on this piece of property that they own. So I vote to table. I'll second that. Quick point of clarification, if I could. I'm sorry. [transcription gap]
needs to be made publicly available, I think it's 30 days prior to the public hearing, has to be filed with the public library and with the town clerk, and then there has to be a publishing related to notice for the public hearing. So that's why this resolution always proceeds and simply allows the negotiation of the contract. So it's not a definitive or determinative resolution per se. It simply starts the process of movement towards a qualified and eligible hearing where the town board would receive financial information, testimony, business pro formas, et cetera, to inform their decision as to whether the applicant is qualified and eligible. So the reason why I want to table this is because we've identified an applicant. So I prefer that if we're going to do that, we need to go out for an RFP and give other applicants the opportunity. That's why I'm tabling. I'm tabling it because I am not in favor of a one-lane music venue for this venue. Again, I can't make that decision for the townspeople of Riverhead. You know, there may be people that like jazz. From what I'm hearing from the residents, they want a variety of music. So why would I want to continue this resolution? And this resolution specifically states to proceed with a potential sale to the Jazz Loft and specifically working with the Jazz Loft. So it's a good thing. It's not a generalized resolution. You're not opening up to multiple agencies. You're not opening up to anybody else that wants to apply. You're specifying one particular company. So. Well, that's correct. It's a contract sale with another party, a known proposed purchase. So I say, you know, if this is going to go forward at all, we need to go out for an RFP and end this so that the people of Riverhead have the opportunity to decide what they want. And from what I'm hearing, they want a variety. I'd like to know the true value of the building. And whether or not it should be sold for $150,000 or $500,000 for that matter. I don't think we have that in hand. And with that, you know, and I understand because I have the spreadsheet on what it costs. But what's not in that cost is all the ancillary equipment that's going to go into that building, which you're looking at $300,000, $400,000 in addition to what was provided by when the state did their examination of the building. So, you know, and I'm not going to, you know, so whoever. Ends up with this has to have the wherewithal to it to to financially accomplish this. So for that reason, you know, either, you know, table it or go out for an RFP. This is not fair to the residents who own that building. Right. So the qualified and eligible hearing would require the submission of financial documentation. I don't want jazz. I don't know if they want jazz. I I'm just I'm just clarifying that the financial examination would occur in connection with the qualified and eligible hearing. So you table it. You table it. You open it up to multiple entities, all interested parties. You publicize it. You put it before a real estate company. You hold a public hearing and you allow multiple entities to put their input into it and to see what they can do. And we haven't done our due diligence on this. So this is this is clearly steering it towards a one particular venue, one sided thing. It needs to be opened up. So it is an asset of ours and it's a key component to the success of downtown Riverhead. And we're one tracking us, which I completely disagree with. I think they have an. Entity that has proven itself in the past. They've proven that they're able to secure grants and move things forward. They've been successful. I was looking to see feedback from the public and we had our open work session the other day and Riverhead local did an article on the work session. And I was surprised at the comments on the support of the jazz off. People actually knew who the jazz jazz loft were. They they knew the players. They knew they knew Tom. They knew all about them and they were excited about the opportunity to have a jazz loft here. And honestly, I thought to myself, I'm like, I don't know. I don't know that I see myself going to the jazz loft. And then I started thinking about it. And I'm thinking I thought back to my wedding. Twenty nine years ago, the first song that I had played after I danced with my husband was Frank Sinatra, Fly Me to the Moon. And then I thought about. My favorite show on Broadway is all that jazz. I love that production. I saw Tony Bennett prior to him passing away in twenty twenty two. The music was phenomenal. It resonated in me. If I'm driving in my car and Ella Fitzgerald comes on, I know I am going to be singing along at last. And the way that I see this is at last we have somebody fully committed. Vetted, able to go into the jazz, into the veil of it that wants to see it come back alive again. And I know that the other interested party does does as well. And I respect that. But I was at the Suffolk Theatre Saturday for for production. And I remember in 2005, I was actually on one of the revitalization for the Suffolk Theatre under Supervisor Cardinale. And I remember what it looked like then. And I looked around the Suffolk Theatre. And saw that the life was brought back into it. And I want to see that with the veil. I don't want to see it, you know, a year or two years from now, I still kicking it down down the street. I want to see the jazz loft come in here and make beautiful music. I want to go there and I want to sing Ella Fitzgerald. So that's my take on it. So, Mark, you do an Ella Fitzgerald night, maybe one night for a joint. And again, as much as much to the podium. That was it. No, I'd actually like my opportunity to speak. I'd like to just state that the town board. This is an 1881 National Historic Landmark, the veil of it. The town board actually took title back to this particular property May of last year. We had to take it back because the other performing arts group that had it mismanaged it and put it in a terrible state of disrepair. Just so you all know. We. The town. Have been paying the carrying cost for that building for a year now. There have been multiple, multiple opportunities for individuals and organizations to step forward to purchase or lease this property. Everything has fallen apart or not really been what it's claimed it would be, except the jazz loft. The jazz loft started speaking to us in April of last year, 2024. We met with Tom Manuel and we met with the individual from the Gardner Foundation, Catherine Curran. She's a prominent individual, tremendous philanthropist. They are key partners in many ventures. The jazz loft has received grants from the Gardner Foundation in the past currently. And just to met my mentioned to you, ladies and gentlemen, the argument has been. We don't know their funding, the jazz loft. The fact that Ms. Curran brought the jazz loft to us. The fact that Ms. Curran sat at the table with the jazz loft speaking to us shows they have the support. The jazz loft has the funding. Not only do they get the, they have funding themselves, but they have the funding from the Gardner Foundation. And they also receive grants from the county for many productions. They are a well run, highly professional, organized. Acclaimed musical group that has been in existence for nine years running straight. This is not a hope and a prayer. As the other applicant who came in here last week, who is it by nature, by occupation is in construction. Who would like to do this? All he offers is potential. All the individual today here offers is potential. All the office individual on Zoom today offered potential. Where have they been for a year? While we have been paying for. Paying for this facility. Nowhere. The jazz loft has been here time and time again looking to purchase this. They brought architects into the building. They've had it examined. They've brought members of their board to speak with us in executive session. They have the financial wherewithal. They have an existing board of directors. Not praying or hoping that they'll get a board of directors. Not a plan to get a board of directors. But actual board of directors. With an actual capital. With a capital. With a calendar of events that they have year-run that they long. Right, run year-long. They also have artists that perform for them all through the year. Not hoping to get an artist. Not maybe, well, I know someone as the other individual said last week. I know someone that can bring these people here. No. Mr. Manuel has these artists. And they do perform. And it isn't just jazz. For everybody to understand, jazz encompasses a great deal. It's Broadway. It's show tunes. It's swish. It's swing. He doesn't just do that. He also has choral groups. He has community groups. He has said he would open this facility up to all different community groups in town to help support the local arts in our town. This is not some new, you know, Johnny, excuse me, Johnny come lately or pie in the sky hopes and aspirations for what they can bring to the town. But hard facts, economically what they can do for this town. And they have been here coming time and time again to prove that they can do it. They didn't just show up on Zoom today. They've been here for over a year. Not only do they have all of that background and experience. And I just to give you a little bit of background of who Mr. Manuel is. Tom Manuel is a recipient of the endowed artist in the residence fellow chair within the jazz department of Stony Brook University. He also directs the jazz loft school of jazz in the residence in the jazz loft. He serves as co-founder of the jazz loft. He's also the president of the jazz loft. He serves as co-chair to the Stony Brook University strategic planning committee. And is a member of the Long Island arts education council, which is chaired by the New York State regents. This is not somebody who just knows people in the biz. He is the business. He has successfully run this particular place for nine years, filling his theater. And just so everybody also understands, he wants to involve locals, not just out of towners. And I'll get to that in a moment. But his tickets are $35. They're accessible to everyone in the town. It isn't a $500 performance for some artists. It's for everyone to come listen to their music. He also is accomplished. He has accomplishments cited in the New York Times, in Downbeat magazine, in Newsday, in Jazz Inside magazine, on and on. He's been featured in big band ensembles on the radio, television, and has several seasons. He's also been featured in many of the most famous music and TV albums. He's very accomplished. And recently, he has projects and endeavors, including educational outreach to Havana, Cuba. Collaborating with several top jazz artists, professors, producers, and independent filmmakers. The production of Oliver Nelson's Kennedy Dream, which is also included in world premier compositions. He and other, he and a collective of leading jazz artist composers. He produced a documentary film exploring the life and career of icon Frank Sinatra. This is a tried and true professional organization, which we would be honored to have in our community. It is not a single lane venue. It has tremendous performances that are packed and filled all the time. In addition, what you have to realize here, as the people that spoke today, they've never really gone and taken a look at the building yet. So this is another potential, maybe kick the road as Councilwoman Waskie just said. Kicking it down the can doesn't help us. We don't want this on our rolls any longer. And to have an opportunity like the Jazz Loft, a jewel, a gem, come to our town would be absolutely amazing for our town. Other people at the last minute want to tell you what they think. The man today on Zoom hasn't even looked at the building yet. He guesses what it'll look like. He guesses what it'll cost. Tom Manuel and the Jazz Loft have come in with an architect and they've made their evaluation. They've even told you at a work session that they will have this place ready early November for a soft opening. This isn't maybe, this isn't hopeful, this is I'll take a look at it next week and I'll tell you what I think. They've done their due diligence. They have a board of directors. They have programming in place. They are set to go. Our town square would... We are looking to activate that facility, that area within a year's time. That's going to coincide... Tom Manuel and the Jazz Loft will be ready sooner than that. But all those things will be able to come together and help us economically. Tom Manuel's performances at the Jazz Loft bring people from all over. It isn't the Stony Brook community. It's people from out of town. It's people from the city. People from so far as the Hamptons go. I've got... I've received letters from two individuals. One a woman from Remsenburg. Says she travels all the way to Stony Brook to see his performances. I travel from Waiting River to go see their performances. Another individual. And she said she'd be thrilled to bring her family and friends to Riverhead to come support the arts here. And go to our restaurants and go to our bars and go see Tom Manuel's shows. Because what he has that none of these other individuals has is name recognition. He has a product that is already tried and true. And doesn't have to build itself up for the next two to three years to become something that people want to come and see. There's another individual that had sent a letter. Cliff Baldwin. Who is a former member of the Riverhead Landmark Commission. He worked with Tom Manuel on the Rites of Spring Music Festival in the North Fork. Out on the North Fork. His opinion. Tom's integrity, business experience, scholarship, and musicianship are formidable. He is great. He knows his people. He is confident that when they choose the Val Loft. I'm sorry. The Jazz Loft at the Val Levitt. It will be the best thing. That leads me to the other part of this. The Jazz Loft has successfully restored historically a building from the 1790s. And brought it back to a beautiful venue. Our Val Levitt is a beautiful historic venue. That needs tender loving care. that needs an individual like Tom Manuel who knows how to restore such a building. The last applicant who came here at work session, I kid you not, said he's going to look at a couple of books and he's going to read and see and then he'll fix some sort of facade on the building. Uh-uh. That is a historic national landmark which needs the proper restoration. Not only did Tom Manuel say he could do it, he's already done it. He's done it at the Jazz Loft. I have full confidence in their organization, their board of 11 members, their staff of 9 members, and the experience that they've done it before. We're looking for them to replicate that here in Riverhead, not just starting from the ground up from people that at the last minute come in here and say that they want to try to do this and just stall and kick it down the can. I say we go vote today to move forward on this historical property and give this gem the leadership it needs. With the Jazz Loft running. Thank you. I just want to say one thing. So to make something very, very clear. I think Tom's a great guy. I think his operation is great. Just to correct some things that were said, the gentleman, Ray, that was here has restored four historic buildings in Riverhead. That's number one. Not for the National Registry. Not for the National Landmark Registry. Mark, I could. I could. But I'm going to ask you to throw around some names, which I'm sure you could, right? Like some very, very famous people. And I know you could do that. This is not about all of that. This is about what do the residents want? That's what this is about. You know? And you say these people just came out of the woodwork. You're right. I mean, it was a serendipitous text that I received from Ray. And I'll say this. Yes. It's been 16 months. wait two months. And I'll also say that the Jazz Law did say if we don't get to $250,000, we're not buying the building. And anybody who's been in business knows you cannot survive in business on grants. It doesn't work that way. That's not true. That's not true. 501c's philanthropic performing arts centers do survive on that. And they will qualify for the grant because they have qualified for those types of grants in the past. They don't see any problem, especially historically, having done so already. And I'll just mention the Gardner's Foundation because when I entertained the Lighthouse Theater, the first thing I did is I went to the Gardner Foundation. And they absolutely, they will accept anybody who submits on a historic building. And they were very excited that there was going to be theater, blah, blah, blah, you know, etc., I should say. So just so you know. I know that. At any rate, I don't know what to say. All right. The little guy in the middle would like to have a chance to say something, okay? The resolution that's before us right now does not preclude somebody else from putting in a proposal. That's what I don't think any of you understand up here. No, we do. Somebody who came in last minute can still put a proposal together and put it in. Can they do that, Eric? But you're giving preferential treatment. You're looking at the client. Yes. So. Previously when I explained the intent of the resolution, that was meant to sort of convey that this isn't a final determination. It simply allows my office to negotiate the contract of sale that we need to negotiate and have prepared well in advance of the public hearing so that it can be properly filed and published. Okay. And why did you not list the other venue that applied themselves? I wasn't asked to prepare a resolution for the other venue. Well, that's the problem because if it comes down to it. It's not the problem or it's not the point. The fact is you have three members up here that support this proposal and support the jazz loft. And you have two members that don't. So it's just simple math. Okay. The majority takes the lead. Well, then I'm going to suggest we go for an RFP and we have, we have, and let's go find out how many people make it out of the woodwork. RFP would put this out for another year, Bob, and we're not going to hang on to that property for another year paying for heat and maintaining it and hoping that the roof doesn't get worse or anything else. It makes no sense to me. Not at all. Not at all. We've been doing this for over a year. People should have, if they were interested, they should have stepped up. But you never advertised it. It was never put out there. You never. We reached out through our channels and that's who we got. And we've got somebody that is more than perfect for this scenario. If we didn't, I would agree with you wholeheartedly. But the jazz loft in my mind is a proven entity and it's something that a lot of people seem to want from a lot of people that I've talked to and heard from. A lot of people support it. I'm not saying that I support the jazz loft. I did not get one call in support of the other gentleman. I got plenty in support of the jazz loft. One thing I will say is that I know that our community development agency has been, you know, making calls or, you know, soliciting interest in this building since the time that we retook it. And that's been at this point, you know, well over a year. This is the jazz loft is being pushed. I would. I would. You speak with Gary Hagan. I would highly recommend you look at the music industry and I would highly recommend that the people of this town, you know, because this went out, it went on a Riverhead local. There was X amount. We got a few letters that the people of this town speak up and what kind of music you want to see here, what kind of music your kids want to see here. And they they did respond to the Riverhead local article. Very, very few. You got 36,000 people in the town. What percentage? Is that point zero zero zero zero? We have 36,000 people in the town now and there's. They elect you to make 30 people in the room. I would just, you know, I would do self a favor and poll everybody who works in town hall. Just go down and say what with the checklist, what kind of music do you want? All right. Okay. All right. We're up for a vote. So let's take the vote. Right now there's a, I want rap music by the way. But no, there's a, there's a motion on the floor at the table. The tabler. Bob made the motion. Uh, Cosman Rothwell seconded to the, you got to take the vote. We have to take a roll call vote on the table. Okay. So, uh, Waski. No. Merrifield. No. Roth, uh, Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. We need to do our due diligence with $150,000 is not adequate. We're responsible to the taxpayers vote. No Hubbard. Uh, I'm going to vote, uh, to go and move ahead with the resolution. So you vote no on the table. Correct. No table resolution. Okay. Resolution to table. Table is not adopted. Now having said that, we still can accept a proposal from somebody else. Okay. So if somebody else wants to put a proposal together, they put the proposal together. I wouldn't wait too long because it's only been 16 months already that we've been working on this. So. I agree with you. And I'm not looking to go another 16 months. No, I don't think anybody is, but let's, let's keep in mind who, who stretched it out 16 months. It wasn't us. We were available to meet with anybody who came. Okay. So. Okay. [transcription gap] right they wanted to give us a dollar a year with 12 acts a year and then they kept stepping up their game they kept it for 16 months we did when anybody else it was to come forward and they didn't but that was it wasn't publicized it was publicized motion on the motion yeah now we need a new motion right resolution okay read the resolution please I'll move it authorization authorization for the town attorney's office to negotiate contract of sale of real property located 18 Peconic Avenue Riverhead New York Suffolk County tax map number one twenty eight point six dash eighty so moved second vote please waski it is time to move this along and I vote yes Merrifield yes Kern no Rothwell no Hubbard yes resolution is adopted resolution 375 Denise I got it okay authorizes the town attorney to execute an agreement with PF a PKF O'Connor Davies LLP for audit services for Riverhead Business Improvement District Management Association bid ma so moved second vote please waski yes Merrifield yes Kern yes Rothwell yes Hubbard yes resolution is adopted that concludes our resolutions for this I do want to have one other discussion if I can last month we had passed resolution 2025 209 it was a men's town board resolution 2021 563 and 2020 209 and 209 it was a men's town board resolution 2021 563 and 2020 209 and 2020 209 and 2020 209 so I'll head over to head over to head over to head over to head over to head over to for building department fees. Looking over the resolution after it was passed, it said it had no fiscal impact, but it never did go before the town financial administrator, and there seems to be a great need to take a careful, a closer look at this and how it's going to financially impact. And so I'd like to, with the idea, until we can at least complete an in-house audit on its effect on the building department fees for the interest of taxpayers, I would like to make a motion to rescind this resolution. I would second that after this statement. So when these were done, the building inspector was not even in town. When he got back, I sat with him to go over it, and there was quite a few discrepancies. So I went to the accountant department and asked to have an audit. That audit is not complete. In addition, on this resolution, the signature of the accountant, and it's not even on here, and on this resolution it says, will the proposed legislation have a fiscal impact? And the answer is no. When in fact, in certain cases it's almost there, but I want to see the audit completed by the accounting department before we continue with these. And we were told that it would have no impact.
So I second to, you know, just rescind this resolution. Do you have a resolution to put forward correcting it? No. But I just wanted to rescind it. It would return to the current fees as is until we complete it all. But do you have that resolution to put forward tonight? No. If we rescind this one, it goes back to the previous codes that were in place. Then we need a resolution to pull up the floor rescinding the prior resolution. Right. You can set a policy not to adhere to that. So that's done. Dawn, would you mind addressing this please? Sure. Yeah. So some concerns were raised. We did an initial analysis with all of those groups involved, accounting, my office, who I was not included in any of the, you know, original discussions between the council people and accounting and the building department. We had, we did a very extensive analysis. Our accounting department's done a tremendous amount of review. We've reviewed a lot of the ! I think it's been a lot of review. [transcription gap] But there's nothing urgent at this moment. We are in the process of coming up with recommendations for potential alterations. That would be appropriate and normal after having three months of these fees in place. There are some things that we may recommend to alter, but I think it would be unwise to just go back to the original fees for some of the reasons that we've discussed. But also because we are going to recommend to you collectively, as your department heads, some changes. Can we hear from Jeanette for a second? for a sec. Sure. She was part of that. Yeah. No, I appreciate that, Todd. Thank you.
Good evening. So, Jeanette, I know when we went over renewal fees, and I know also there's some talk about oh, it's illegal to charge your percentage in the second year, third year, and all that kind of stuff, but when looking at it, comparing it to other towns, it's really not illegal. So, with the renewal fees, where do we stand, and where do we stand with that? Because I'm hearing that we're still off with that. Yeah. So, the renewal permit fees are the most critical that I'm looking at now. So, they will be reduced with the new structure drastically. Whether they're illegal or not, I'm going to defer to town attorney's office, because I really can't answer that question. Other towns do charge their renewal fees very similar. I do have some recommendations. I'm not sure we should be rescinding the existing one, but I definitely think we need to continue to do more work, specifically when it comes to the renewal fees, because I certainly don't want the town to lose money that it's entitled to get. But the other, the initial permit fees are actually very close. Yeah, you said that. But I do want to do another analysis and get some updated construction cost information from the old method that we were using to make sure we're not losing money there as well. So, we do have a little bit more work to do, so I do want to meet individually with each council person and go over that, and then come up with a recommendation for the board. So, I mean, I'm all ready to go to talk about it. So, we just have to set the meetings up and then decide. So, it might be better to wait until we have all the individual meetings, and then rescind and revise, that kind of thing. I would like the opportunity to speak with Jeanette. I would as well. I'm okay with doing it just a work session, so we could all sit down together and open forum here and discuss it openly. That's fine. I don't think we need to. Okay. We need to keep going around it. Yeah, that's fine. Let's put it out in the open forum. Whatever you prefer. A simple amendment might be better down the road than a rescind. I just think you'd like to see some of the recommendations first before you have an open work session, so you know what you're thinking about and why, rather than just having an open discussion. It might not be as productive. Okay. I mean, I think we have some good ideas, and we, you know, council's been working on it. So, just like the department had said, we're making sure that it's correct. Okay. Thank you. Okay. So, yeah. Open discussion is down. Any members? Okay. So, yeah. Without a resolution submitted, but I'd like to address this as soon as possible. I agree. Because it's a financial impact to our taxpayers. Yeah. And it needs to be corrected. And I'm not sure. When the word illegal was used, I don't know if illegal is quite the word, or is it arbitrary and capricious. No. I mean. It might be that rather than being illegal. It could be. I mean, because I've heard. It could be. I've heard different things. And when we look at other towns, some towns charge 100% in the second year, some are 50. And, you know, and you. And so, they've said, no, you can't do that. But I don't want to lose. I don't want the building department to lose a dime. No. None of us do. You know. And I did. Jeanette did show that the square footage, doing the square footage, you know, works. But there are other parts that we really need to sit down. It's a renewal. It's a renewal for us. It needs work. We need to do more. [transcription gap] The advice that has been given from my office is what my office has concluded is the correct way to do things That avoids any of our fees from being characterized as an exaction which is illegal Okay, thank you. Okay. Thanks Eric Alright at this point time. I'm going to open the floor up to Comments on any matter comments on any matter not just on tonight's meeting or tonight's resolutions If you have comments or concerns of anything you can come up and state your name and where you're from And you will have three minutes to tell us about that
Hi there Taki church and greater Calvert and Civic Association president Noise it seems to be a problem in Timber Park one resident in particular has been writing into code enforcement for Over three years and gotten various responses, but it's this nighttime low hum and There he's trying to determine where this is coming from. It is coming from ep Cal but they don't know which business I'm on an email chain where he submits to the town But his concerns and and it's a long chain there has been some response But there's been no solution and actually right now it's radio silence for 17 days. Don't know why so If we could maybe Address that and I think I did bring it up once at our Supervisor's Civic Roundtable a while back. Not the recent one and Was hoping maybe there's more input on it. Do you have any idea now or do you want to get back? Has no complaints from anybody else in that neighborhood. I know that's part of the problem Okay, if he's hearing it and other people aren't They are he's speaking to them. And I think maybe he's he's the point person for it What's the time of the overnight hours? What I'm going to say is that this complaint has been investigated extensively by code enforcement with on-site observations and noise studies. And based on the decibel limits in our town code, what's being observed does not violate the noise requirements of town code. Now we think that the sound is emanating from Eastern Wholesale Fence. We have tried having outreach with their council to see if we can limit hours of operation. Unfortunately they have a site plan approval for what they're doing there. It's permitted use in the zoning use district. And so we are a little bit limited in terms of available enforcement. So I understand that there hasn't been any progress on that. Without a clear violation of the town's noise code, I don't know that there's anything that code enforcement can do about it. One thing that could happen is if they ever sought to amend their site plan or something like that, we could try to impose hours of operations on what I understand it to be. It's a blower on the top of the building. Okay. Okay. And you know, that's in reviewing this complaint, that's really the best solution that we have at this point. I know it's not a satisfying solution, but not every complaint that comes into code enforcement is a founded town code violation. Okay. It has been an ongoing problem. And like I mentioned, it has been addressed here and there, but the problem hasn't gone away. I wonder, and another aspect to that. When we went through the comprehensive plan update, we talked about reviewing the sound noise and sound code. And I know that that hasn't really been addressed. And there are newer, and I think Bob Kern, you're very familiar with how sound moves and you've shown us actually diagrams, graphics, that maybe we should be reviewing that, especially when it comes to manufacturing. Maybe that's, it's the time has come for us to review that and to update our code. But I do think that even if you have as of right to produce a sound, that you do need to also take into account that when it becomes disturbing to a neighbor, just because you have the right to do it doesn't make it an okay thing to do. As a neighbor, you want to see what you can do to mitigate things so that you're not disturbing folks. So if there's a way to muffle this or to adjust it some way, but there isn't a proactivity that I've seen. I do have a clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear clear and with the neighbor and myself, that name has come up. So, my suggestion is, for proactivity, let's contact who you believe the source of the noise is and mention that, you know, this isn't a figment of the imagination of one neighbor. Male Speaker 1 Right. We've done that. Female Speaker 1 We need to come to it. Maybe they need to have a sit-down, because we need to be good neighbors to one another, business and residential. I would ask for that sit-down, and also a review of our code. And let's do a really good job at making the sound and the noise levels in Riverhead well-crafted, because, you know, tonight we've talked about a lot of things that create noise, right? Concerts up at Island Water Park, the Jazz Loft. These are all sound. Some of them are beautiful, and some of them are maybe not. So, maybe we need to take a look at that. Thanks. Male Speaker 1 Thank you. Male Speaker 2 Male Speaker 1 Thank you. Male Speaker 1 Thank you. Male Speaker 2 Male Speaker 1 Thank you. Male Speaker 2 Male Speaker 1 Good evening, members of the Town Board. My name is Christopher Dorr, and I'm a resident of Northwoods Road in Calverton for over 22 years. And I'm here tonight on behalf of my neighbors and our community to speak about a tragic incident that could and should have been prevented. Recently, a dog was struck and killed by its own owner in the driveway right in our neighborhood. This was not a random accident. It was the result of a pattern of neglect that many of us saw and reported again and again. The dog was found dead in the driveway right in our neighborhood. The dog was found dead in the driveway right in our neighborhood. The dog was found dead in the driveway right in our neighborhood. The dog was found dead in the driveway right in our neighborhood.
The dog had been loosed repeatedly. It roamed the neighborhood, often near the road. We reported this to the animal shelter. We reached out to code enforcement. In response, code enforcement advisors called the police. But we hesitated, not because we didn't care, but because we do. We understand how overextended our police department is, and we felt that it was unfair to burden them with a loose dog when they were dealing with more pressing town-wide concerns. Until one day, the inevitable happened. But this tragedy isn't about one dog. It highlights a deeper and growing concern, the unsafe conditions caused by a resident in our neighborhood that operates with what could only be described as a boarding house mentality. The number of people, vehicles, and activities centered around this one home is far beyond what is typical or appropriate for a residential area. There is constant vehicle traffic coming and going from this property. Work trucks, personal cars, and commercial vans, and even the most expensive cars, are all driving at all hours. Drivers tear through the street as if it's a thoroughfare, not a neighborhood where children play, people walk, and pets live. Let me be clear. We fully understand and empathize with the economic challenges people are facing, especially here on Long Island. With the rising cost of living, legal accessory apartments exist for a good reason. It's not uncommon for adult children to move back home to save money. Families are doing their best to make it work, and that's not what we're complaining about. What we are raising concern about is a very different situation. When homes function like unregulated boarding homes. When they bring excessive traffic, noise, and risk into quiet residential areas, they need to be treated differently. If boarding houses are operating in the town of Riverhead, then they should be zoned as such, and not allowed to quietly operate in areas designated for single-family homes. To otherwise is allow unsafe, unstable environments, and
to continue to be unchecked. This is another tragedy waiting to happen. What happened to that dog was heartbreaking, but it was also a warning. And if this pattern continues, the next time it might not be a pet, it could be a person. We're asking for more than sympathy. We're asking for recognition that this situation is not normal, not safe, and not sustainable. We ask for enforcement, for oversight, and for a commitment to restore the sense of peace, safety, and a true residential character to our neighborhood. And I know this is going on all over Riverhead, not just in our neighborhood. Thank you for your time and attention. Excuse me, what was the address you're referring to, sir? Um, it's 150... 156 and... 156 Northwoods Road. 156? Yeah. All right, so code enforcement responded to that residence in January, and on January 29th, they issued violations for no building permit, no certificate of occupancy, and no permit to move. So, they issued a violation for no building permit, no certificate of occupancy, a Chapter 301 zoning violation for an illegal use, and a Chapter 263 violation for no rental permit. They found that there is a single-family residence occupied by six people. They indicated that it is larger, that it meets capacity for those six people, but there was an illegal conversion of the garage to an accessory apartment, and that's what they have violations for. This matter is on in Riverhead Town Justice Court on April 22nd, next week, and the latest from the defendant is that they've retained an architect to draw up plans for the application to the building department to legalize the garage conversion as an accessory apartment. We've also heard through the grapevine that they've turned a pantry into a bedroom and have twin bunk beds. Okay. As of now. Has that been, when did that happen? Have you told code enforcement about that? No. Okay. So, I'll make that note on the file. We were back there in February and then had an office visit on this in March, and status of the complaint was given to the complainant, but I'll make a note for code enforcement to revisit the property. Thank you. You mentioned that the property was in a state of emergency. Thank you. You mentioned two addresses, sir. You started to say another one. You said 156 and- It's 156 and- Steve will speak on that. Oh, okay. Okay. 32. And there is another one also. Okay. Thank you. You said 132? Yeah. Okay. So, the last time code enforcement went to 132 was in 2022. There was a complaint about an unregistered trailer in the road, and that was corrected. Is there a different complaint? Is there a different complaint now? I know they've been back because we were here all speaking when the rental agreement, you guys spoke on that, and I know soon after that code enforcement was there. Okay. So, it looks like we went back in April of 23 because they needed, yeah, they had violations. They did an illegal garage conversion to an office and a gym, and that was- And that was given a CO in 2020, May of 2023. So, if there's anything post 2023, that's what we would need a complaint on. Okay. The complaint will be assigned out to one of the code enforcement officers. Be promptly investigated, and any violations that are observed will receive tickets. Okay. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. [transcription gap] I will not boy with any redundancy in this speech that I've worked on for the last two days. Don't step up to clear head. You have to be at the mic. Okay. No, you can give it to the clerk. To the clerk. I'm sorry. I do not know procedure here. I didn't ... No guns. In any event, I don't know if you people here at the Board is familiar with Northwood's Road, but it is a quaint 25 single thing road. I didn't have a clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear head clear clear clear head clear head clear head clear clear clear head clear 25 single family dwelling on an eighth of a mile and ends on a cul-de-sac. For those people who don't know, that's dead end in French. But in any event, the fabric of the whole entire neighborhood has changed. To give you an idea, I handed you out some pictures. Sorry, just state your name for the record. Oh, I'm sorry. My name's Steve Aver. I reside at 78 Northwoods Road in Bading Hollow. Thank you. In any event, what happens is that some of our original neighbors have moved, and some have moved into our development over there. Welcome arms going over there, introducing ourselves. But like I said, the fabric has changed. And just like in building, there is something which is called conformity. Not building a five-story building where there are only two stories in a particular area. We don't speed in our neighborhood. Everybody knows one another. We wave. We hand out cards during Christmas time and all. You would say that our neighborhood is probably compared to Mayberry, USA. That's the only way that I can describe it. We've never had a neighborhood watch, and we've never had a speed limit sign ever posted on our street. But now, there was a need to. We formed a neighborhood watch. I'm fortunate enough to be one of the block captains. We got a speed limit sign. If I was to take you down the road right now, you would drive your car and bingo, you would come to the house at 11 Northwoods Road. There have been a lot of people who have been there. There have been construction trucks there for the last two months. And what had happened, we got wind that they were doing some construction in the house. We called up the code enforcement. They didn't have a building permit. Stop order was done on that. I ask you, a house that has a lot of square footage living space with four bedrooms, why would they, by any chance, finish a basement off, make a subdivision in it, and put two egress windows in it? Use your imagination. You go down to 132. At 132, yes, he converted a garage over there into an office and a weight room. He also converted a dining room into a bedroom. He also got around 40 trees, cut it down, and made a commercial parking lot in the back. And here's how I know. What happens is every morning at 610, an individual in a car with one other passenger goes down to 136. A minute later, that car passes by my house again. One person in it. 132. Sorry, 132. And soon after, one of those box trucks leaves. I don't know whether or not the person is right. I don't know. [transcription gap] I just didn't get 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
person that owns the house there there are other occupants that are there too that's where max the dog died that was his name uh i've asked people to slow down i've been having pushback and met with opposition and being cursed at and also being threatened uh they travel down the road not doing 30 or 40 or 50 it's close to the 60 miles an hour and when they are told to do so they just keep going whether it's leaving the development or coming back in up until two years ago we've never had any code enforcement officers in our neighborhood we've never had a police officer other than those who live on our border block we've never had a police officer come into our neighborhood because of domestic arguments that's what we're getting right now and i realize there happens to be a housing problem but in purchasing this house this was originally advertised as a single family development by making any of these houses into rentals what you would be doing is causing the downfall of this whole entire community. And I thank you very much for your time. Thank you.
I have nothing against the code enforcement. They did their job. They came there. They they gave out tickets or whatever. But what I don't understand because I've been in touch with the town attorney also, I'm planning on being at that court appearance on the 24th. They have to answer to four tickets. Why is it if they were issued four tickets and one of them happens to be for an illegal fence that they have that they haven't taken down yet or getting vehicles and parking it in the backyard and using the black mesh screening in order to camouflage it. It's still up. And why there are vehicles that are still being parked down there. This is happening not with the idea of one house but three of them. And why is it that these the people who live in our neighborhood now aren't they supposed to get permits before they start building? And is there a law that if a person comes to you and requests a rental permit and they comply with your rules and regulations of Riverhead, will they be issued a permit to rent out a room or rooms knowing that they have deceived the community and also that they have deceived you? I thank you very much. Sir, I just want to point out one thing. You said you were going to be there on the 24th. I believe the town attorney said it was on for the 22nd. 22nd. Right. It probably is. I'm old and whatever. No, no. I just want to make sure you have the right date. Yeah. So April 22nd. Tomorrow I'm going to give this to Richie Downs. I'd like to give it to you. Sorry to make you get up. You want me to give it to Richie Downs? You can. Otherwise you can give it to the board and let them read it. I circulate all the information on the board for them. I just want to show you one thing. People from Northwood Road, please stand up. That's just about the whole entire neighborhood. Thank you very much. Thank you all for coming out. Good job, Steve. Good evening. My name is Madeline Bichinski and I reside at 68 Northwoods. Although I've only been a resident of the beautiful community for two years, I've noticed a dramatic change in the amount of vehicles that are driving into our community. I've also witnessed that many drivers are exceeding the speed limit and driving recklessly. [transcription gap] [transcription gap] [transcription gap] [transcription gap] [transcription gap] [transcription gap] [transcription gap] [transcription gap]
[transcription gap] Thank you.
Hi, everybody. My name's Thomas Byrne. I live at 32 Northwoods Road. I've been here almost 40 years now in this community. I met my wife, who's from Riverhead, grew up in Riverhead, and we decided to stay here and raise our family. I'm a retired correctional officer in Suffolk County. I'm also a former United States Marine who served in Beirut, Lebanon. Thank you, sir.
I'm just here to back up. I know some of you people, a lot of you people, through sports with the kids and things like that. My boys are grown men. They're here now. It is bad. This has never happened. This is a cul-de-sac. There's only one way in, one way out. I know you've been there. We've talked. It's three houses now. It went like that. It's three houses. I'm sure code enforcement can't keep a handle on it. This happened years ago behind me. There's a house behind the sump that in 2004, the same thing happened. But we were able to get it taken care of. The guy actually walked away from the house, took the equity out and split. But I was still working at corrections, working midnights, my wife home with two little boys. And I had to worry about that every night and then work a double. So what I'm saying, these people are paying. These houses now, I moved from Aqaba into this community. I sold my tiny little house in Aqaba because I needed a bigger house for my boys.
I thought I was going to stay here. I don't know if I'm going to anymore. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Burns. My name is Tyler Vokes. I live on Northwoods Road. This whole situation, as Steve pointed out, it was... I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. Maybe 20 years ago. I'm there 22. We had a house, as the gentleman just explained, was behind a town sump, as we refer to it. That house was being almost in a demolition state. Housing 19 illegal aliens. I don't know what these houses that are current. They're being demolished inside or outside. Parking lots, commercial parking lots, as Steve had mentioned. Thursday night, I was coming home from an airport at around 11.30 PM. This box truck was coming in the opposite direction, cut me off, turned onto Northwood. I was in the middle of the night. I didn't have a head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head head demolished the worth of my home and every other home on the block. Now, going back to the first issue I mentioned that was 20 years ago, the town interceded and posting signs, stop work orders on trees, on poles. They took an aggressive position to get that situation rectified. I don't know what the town has done thus far other than fining, but it's got to change. I don't know if these people are illegals or not. I don't know if anyone in the town knows if they're illegals or not. And if they are, this town board has to get rid of them.
That's all I have to say. Thank you.
We have anybody else who would like to comment on any matter? We have one online. We'll take it. Two online. Three online. Two online.
Good evening. Kathy McGraw from Northville. I'd like to say thank you very much to board members Waski and Merrifield and Supervisor Hubbard for voting to move forward on drafting the contract to sell Vale-Levitt. I watched the work session and it is so clear that the jazz, I can't even, I'm getting old, I can't even remember the name. Lost. Jazz lost. Thank you. Is just so far superior to the other operation. And so clearly a right match for the Vale-Levitt. And I just wanted to thank you for voting yes on that resolution. I also have one other thing I'd like to raise with you. I have a friend who attended an event at Island Water Park and advised that there were many, many large boats being stored there and many of them being repaired. Repair work was being done on them. And I wrote to the planning department to find out. I don't think that that is an author. I think that that is a very authorised use of those premises. And I just wanted to bring that to your attention and perhaps have enforcement or someone go out and take a look. So thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, Kathy. Thank you, Kathy. One more online.
Thomas, you're on. Unmute yourself. I can't hear you. Thomas. [transcription gap] Thomas. [transcription gap] I'm still on the island. I'm just a little further away. If I was in your guys' shoes, I would totally understand where you're coming from that you've got to move forward with the project. But they all love it. And by no means do I want to compete for something. I'm going to go out there tomorrow and put together my plan and my budget and everything with Mark and corporate strategy guys. If you don't like it, don't like it. If you think it's great, great. Ultimately, I left Live Nation because I don't want to work for the monopoly anymore. So I would love nothing more than to come out there and build a premier venue and kind of stick the middle finger up to my ex-employer. There are great people there, but I'm more into independent artists and community and trying to build a good community. So... I'm looking forward to showing you guys what I think would be a great renovation to the place. And looking forward to the opportunity to meet everybody. So thank you, everybody, for your time. And enjoy your evening. Thank you. Look forward to it. Nobody else online? Nobody else here? Okay, at this time, I'll make a motion to close the town board meeting and open up the community development meeting. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Okay, the town board meeting is closed and now the community development meeting will open up.
Thank you, folks, for all coming out. Yes. Maybe the next big honor will come from their bed. Be nice, right? Yeah, right? Absolutely. It's going to be a long meeting, Dawn. Yeah, another exciting meeting. So, we're going to have a meeting of the community development agency. We would be taking... Shh. [transcription gap] We would be taking comments on CDA matters only. There are no resolutions on the agenda this evening. Okay. Do we have anybody who would like to comment on any CDA resolution? Nobody on Zoom? Nobody coming up? Going once? Going twice? Okay. [transcription gap] We'll head over to this... I see she's looking for a note. ... CDA meeting is... Okay. ... you can close it out. We just need a motion to close... So moved. ... a motion and a second... ... I'll close. So moved. Second. Yes, Maryfield. Yes, Kern. Yes, Rothwell. Yes, Hubbard. Yes. Okay. The meeting is closed until the next exciting adventure Thank you, happy Easter happy Passover everybody have a good weekend we'll see you next week Oh, well, we'll see you the rest of this week, but enjoy your weekend
You