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Thank you. Thank you. Oh, Heavenly Father, who art in heaven, we thank you for giving us this proper opportunity to gather here today. Thank you for protecting all of us as we travel and provide an opportunity for the town council to learn and grow. Help them to listen attentively to one another and the community with open hearts and mind. May they not be quick to judge. May they not be quick to judge or criticize, but instead seek to understand different prospects. We pray that you will give them the distinguish to make the best decision for the greater good of the community. We trust that you will guide them as their path and learn them to reach an understanding to reflect your will. May your words and action be guided by your love and grace. In Jesus Christ's name. We pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you very much, Chaplain. Appreciate your help. Thank you so much. And before we get started tonight, we'd just like to take the time like we do and just do a few announcements. And Councilwoman Waski, would you like to mention our America 250? Sure. I've been talking about this for several weeks now. It's finally here this Friday, January 23rd at the Seastar Ballroom. We finally have our red, white, and blue ball to celebrate America 250. Again, something that's been going on nationwide. We're so happy to have something here in Riverhead. So that will start at 6 o'clock. Tickets are still available. We have a few. So you can contact me or do we have the QR, the flyer up? The flyer is definitely out in the lobby and also on our website. You should be able to find the link to it. And I believe you need to get those tickets purchased. That's what I believe. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. associated with the sewage discharge the event last week there was a lot of different hubbub and our our new sewer superintendent did an amazing job with his team and we're so thankful for that and he aired on the side of caution but the Suffolk County Health Department took samples from various locations in the Pecanic River and we were informed today that the results were unremarkable and do not suggest that any sewer related contamination made it to the river isn't that awesome what a great time yeah thank you Tim you did a you know and all the level samples were below the New York standards for for bathing beaches so so Tim thank you and your team so so much does anybody else have a supervisor I did want to mention on another positive happy note we were all at the PBA installation dinner on Saturday night it was a great event and they honored the different police officers throughout the year that did amazing things for the town and just I could go on and on but they did so many heroic acts there were officers honored for saving someone by pulling jacking up a car someone was struck by a car and they lifted the car up and were able to extract the individual there are other officers that had recovered farm animals that were burning alive in a farm fire many many heroic acts other officers had helped deliver a baby there were so many wonderful events and I was mentioning to the supervisor and other town board members that next year I'd like us to film it so that we could play the real so that we could play the real so that we could play the real so that we could see how good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and good and It's my kind of crowd, yeah. Yeah, exciting. Yes, Bob, you have an announcement? Yeah, so this Saturday at East End Arts, there's a show called In Motion, and I will continue to encourage people to visit that gallery. It's very, very different than it's ever been. There are, like, really, really good artists down there. That's all I'm going to tell you. So this Saturday and June 24th, and it goes through March 7th, and I'd like to, it's 4 to 7 p.m. is the reception. January 24th. January 24th. What did I say? You were thinking warm weather, so you said June. I was thinking warm weather, so you can come back on June 24th, but it is January 24th. We'll do another one in June. All right. So just to touch on what the supervisor made an announcement, we've got this winter storm coming over the weekend, but the highway superintendent asked me just to publicly announce, and it'll be on our website and other places as well, but there are three current positions opening in the highway department. There are the AEO positions. There's also a principal account clerk position as well. So those that are ever thinking about beginning a career here with the town, these positions are openly available, and you'll be able to fill out an application here at town hall. So just want to try to get the word out, especially when thinking about them approaching this weekend being a little shorthanded. So if anybody's interested in a town job, they are available. Yep. Thank you very, very much. That's great. And with another PSA, we just want to thank, Kelly Tachi and the senior center for making their space available for the warming center with this last cold day. And so we just always provide that as a town. And so that's incredible. All right. Town Clerk Wooten for the correspondence. Ladies and gentlemen, as Johnny would say, here's Jim. Well, we only received two letters on the correspondence. We received a letter from a group called the Riverhead Homeowners Alliance, and that was in reference to the short-term rentals. And we received a letter from John McCullough from Riverhead, complete with photos with the town square and its future in his words. Those are both posted on the website to read and to peruse at your leisure. That concludes the correspondence we got. Now, on the reports, we received the tax receiver's total tax collection as of January the 7th, 2026, at $71,531,900. That's $173.55. We also received the tax receiver's total tax a week later on January the 14th at $101,640,911.99. The building department gave their report for the month of December 2025 and collected $110,971. And that completes the reports that were filed. Thank you, sir. So tonight we have two reports. Two public hearings. Both are related to the golf cottages. The first public hearing is for consideration of amendment to Chapter 301, Article 1 of the Riverhead Town Code entitled Title, Purpose, Definitions, and Interpretations. And the second public hearing is for consideration of local law to amend Chapter 301, Article 42 of the Riverhead Town Code, Transfer of Development Rights. Those are scheduled for 6 p.m. and it is 6.14. And so we are going to open those up right now. And so I'd like to ask if anyone, Greg Bergman, our senior planner, to come up and to give an overview of these topics. And there he is, ladies and gentlemen. All right. Thank you, Mr. Supervisor, members of the town board. For the record, Greg Bergman, senior planner with the Riverhead Planning Department. I will go through the first public hearing notice. I would like to just keep them separate even though they are related. I would like to receive comments on each individual amendment. So the first public hearing is to amend Town Code Section 301-3, Definitions and Word Usage, Subsection B. We're amending the proposed amendment includes an amendment to the definition of a standard golf course. We're adding the standard golf course shall have 18 holes and may include a clubhouse and golf cottages as accessory uses. Standard golf courses shall have a minimum size of no less than 125 acres. We are striking. We are striking. We are striking. We are striking. We are striking. We are striking. We are striking. We are striking. We are striking. We are striking. We are striking. We are striking.
its entirety that reads a permitted accessory use to a standard golf course intended to provide convenient transient lodging options for golfers or visitors wishing to stay on a golf course golf cottages are not to exceed 1200 square feet of gross gross floor area per unit shall be limited to one golf cottage per hole for a maximum of 18 cottages per standard golf course golf cottages can be freestanding structures or attached structures with common walls separating individual units golf cottages shall not be used for the purposes of establishing residency within the town of riverhead so those are the summary of the changes to section 301-3 so if the board wishes we can open it up for public comment on that yeah we'd love to ask if any of the members of the public would like to offer comments please remember and welcomely so we'd love your comments and as you come forward remember that you're speaking to us and if we don't reply we're here to listen to digest this information you and then to come back when we do make a vote so it's not that we're ignoring your comment but this time is to give us pause and reflect and to represent you well so like to open up for sure good evening Gary Sharika congratulations supervisor happen on your victory I'm here to state that I oppose the golf course bungalows an issue that I have is while the technical definition of office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office office ordinances. Hotels and motels are appropriately situated in the commercial district. In contrast, short-term rentals do not align with the character of an established residential neighborhood and the associated quality of life concerns are unwelcomed by permanent residents. So I understand you don't respond to questions, but I have some rhetorical questions I'd like to ask. Why would you allow a total of 36 bungalows, which are short-term rentals, with transient guests on two golf courses that share the borders with an established residential neighborhood? In between both of these golf courses, there's 36 houses. You're going to put 38 short-term rentals on two golf courses. Why would you allow a fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed The other thing is why are they so big, 1,200 square feet? My house is 2,300 square feet. It's really pretty big. It's half the size of my house. So clearly we're looking at a very big structure that's going to be put there. I'm sure there'll be occupancy limitations, but with 1,200 square feet, I'm thinking it's pretty big. Like how many bedrooms, how many bathrooms, so on and so forth. And, you know, the concern is quality of life. We're talking traffic. We're talking littering. We're talking in general when people are on vacation, they feel a little bit faceless. And they feel that they can, you know, engage in parties and loud music and whatever else it might be. Now someone said to me, well, but your neighbors engage in a barbecue once in a while. And I said, yes, they do. I said, but if the only difference is, is that they're going to be eating barbecue. And I said, well, that's not going to be the case. If they're continually there every other night doing it, I can walk over and talk to them. And we can have a decent conversation. I have had experience, and I'm not looking to be total negative with the golf courses that I live by. But I have called over there when the noise was excessive. And the answer I got, quote unquote, at 1130 at night, when the inside of my bedroom was shaking, was, but it's a wedding. And that was the answer. That was the answer that I was supposed to live with. And you will not meet a bigger supporter of the police. 31 years I did. But the police told me they can't do anything because they need their enforcement officer, code enforcement has to be here to do something. And they don't work that late. So having said that, should you go through with this, and I hope you don't, because there's real quality of life issues, and I understand and appreciate, the idea that you're trying to balance a lot of things. But what safeguards would you put in place to ensure like across the entire country, people will be concerned about the quality of life issues that are going to, in these 36 bungalows, 1200 square feet, larger than the 36 houses in the residential neighborhood, in between both these golf courses that actually physically borders, touched, you know, the ground. And that's what's going to affect our community. So I have a couple other questions. Is there a minimum overnight stay? The way I read the announcement, it looks like it's not just open to golf courses, it's almost like a hotel. Okay, I'm going to make my reservation and stay in golf course X, it's open to the public. And of course, in my mind, that's increasing the frequency. And I greatly appreciate the idea that if somebody is making, if they're making that investment, they want some return on it, which means they'll be busier than more, than not, and thus creating more quality of life issues. So that's my statement. I'm against it. I hope you strongly consider this quality of life issue. And I think it's a real issue that needs to be addressed. Well, we really appreciate you taking the time to come and speak. And it wasn't that I said that no one would ever reply. It's just that a lot of times, people expect to reply and most of the time we're just listening. But I wanted to clarify that for you. But thank you. Thank you for taking the time to come here tonight.
Such a kind audience. Laura J. Hi, good evening. Laura Jen Smith from Riverhead. I have two hats I'm sort of wearing tonight. One, I'd like to speak as myself, and I'm also here as president of the Jamesport Civic to speak on their behalf as well. So first, I'd just like to say good evening. And I'd like to speak as a community member here. And just so you know, I'm a person who supports the town board's goal of encouraging golf course viability, expanding the use of transfer of development rights, and increasing long-term tax revenue for the town. I want to be clear at the onset. I support the code change as proposed in concept. Allowing golf cottages as an accessory use is a smart, pro-development policy. It creates an economic incentive. It's a public incentive to preserve open space, keep golf courses viable, and strengthens Riverhead's tourism base. My comments are not about whether we should allow the golf courses, but how we make sure that the code delivers exactly what the board intends as it approved in the comprehensive plan. The comprehensive plan envisions cottage-style transient lodging tied to golf courses, not residential development by another name. Aligning the zoning language with that intent. The proposed code allows for a total of 1,200 square feet of cottage space, and permits attached multi-unit dwellings. While that may seem flexible, in practice, it shifts the use closer to residential or lodge-style development. That creates ambiguity around enforcement, assessment, and occupancy, none of which benefits the town or responsible developers in the long run. By contrast, modest guardrails, such as Keeping Cottages Cottage Scale, consistent with the comprehensive plan. Otherwise, fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed tax revenue. When definitions are loose, revenue becomes harder to enforce and more vulnerable to drift. Importantly, these guardrails do not undermine transfer of development rights. The one-to-one exchange, one cottage per preservation credit, would remain intact. What changes is that the incentive stays aligned with preservation goals rather than residential yield. I believe the board's objective, economic development, preservation, and revenue generation are best served by tightening the language now, while the policy is being adopted, rather than leaving future boards and staff to resolve ambiguity later on. In short, the additions being suggested do not change the direction of your proposal. They help ensure it succeeds legally, economically, and in line with the comprehensive plan. So thank you for the opportunity to comment on this as myself. I also do have something I would like to hand to the board. I don't know who takes it.
This is just what I spoke about. It's proposed code changes for the code that you have. Okay, thank you very much. And then now I would just like to speak, change my hat, as a James Brown. We would like to announce that Judge
the golf courses and again whether you can answer or not the reason for the amendment to change the definition of the golf course is not clear I know Greg that you would address that but a couple of questions is does the current size allow for golf courses of less than 125 acres and also the definition in the code has executive golf courses par-3 golf courses standard golf courses I don't see anything being changed for those definitions in the code just seems like you're doing the standard for 125 acres and 18 18 holes but I don't know what's happening to those other definitions and how they jive together with the way it's presented the other is what is the intention of the proposed removal of the minimum par minimum yards in the definition of a standard golf course so I guess the question is is is why why take it out why not leave it the other one is the adopted 2024 comprehensive plan update recommended by the town of Riverhead plan out loud into perusal of 600 square foot cottages on the golf courses doubling the size of cottages to 1200 square feet was never presented to the public for consideration when the comprehensive plan was updated in 2024 that most of you were sitting as council members when that was passed and approved we urge the town board fully consider the recommendations of the planning perfect professionals who propose the 600 square foot golf cottages before doubling the allowance. The proposed language allowing the golf courses to be attached structures with common walls separating individual units is not by definition a cottage. A cottage is a small detached dwelling. If these are to be golf cottages, they should be free standing units of no more than 600 square feet. By proposing attached units of 1200 square feet each of the town, each, the town would essentially permit the construction of a hotel or motel structure of almost 21,000 square feet on the golf course if they could be attached as is permitted in the code as written. The proposed legislation does not regulate the number of guest rooms that would be permitted within each cottage. Guest rooms at luxury resorts are an average 400 to 600 square feet in size. A 21,000 square foot structure of attached cottages could potentially house 50 or more guest rooms. Truly the structure would not be a cottage by any definition, but rather a hotel or motel. Furthermore, the language in the proposed legislation does not limit the attached structure to other golf cottages. Could the attached structures be anything else such as a restaurant, health club, a spa, or an office? This entire section of the proposed code should be rewritten. It should be clear and specific and it should eliminate the development of attached cottage units. The other one was, are TDRs required for the golf rooms or are they simply suggested? I believe the code, I just wanted to clarify on that, the way it was written because in the TDR thing it said may be used, but I think, believe the way the code is written is that it will be required, correct? To put up a cottage? Male Speaker 2. Male Speaker 3. Male Speaker 4. Male Speaker 5. Male Speaker 6. Male Speaker 7. Male Speaker 8. Male Speaker 9. Male Speaker 11. Male Speaker 12. Male Speaker 12. Male Speaker 13. Male Speaker 14. Male Speaker 15. Male Speaker 16. Male Speaker 17. Male Speaker 18. Male Speaker 19. Male Speaker 20. Male Speaker 21. Male Speaker 22. Male Speaker 24. Male Speaker 25. Male Speaker 26. Male Speaker 26. Male Speaker 29. Male Speaker 30. Male Speaker 31. Male Speaker 32. Male Speaker 33. Male Speaker 34. Male Speaker 35. Male Speaker 36. Male Speaker 37. Male Speaker 38. Male Speaker 39. Male Speaker 40. Male Speaker 41. Male Speaker 43. Male Speaker 43. Male Speaker 43. owners. The proposed legislation should limit the length of stay to 30 days maximum in line with the town's occupancy limit for transient lodging units. In summary, we urge the town board to reject the golf cottages and related golf definition and TDR revision as written and amend it to permit a maximum of 18 freestanding cottages of a size no greater than 600 square feet each with the purchase of one TDR per 600 square foot cottage on standard golf courses. Cottages must be owned and operated by the golf course on which they are located. Golf cottages are transient lodging units and may not be occupied by the same individual for more than 30 days. So thank you for listening and I hope you'll take my thoughts and the civics thoughts into consideration when you're deciding on the code. Thank you. Thank you, Laura. We really appreciate your time and coming out soon. Hi, good evening. Amanda Grahams, Riverhead. Amanda, thank you for coming. You bet. Mr. Berman, where it says visitor. Oh, Amanda, if you could address us, please. That would be super helpful. Just in his definition, he said. He'll be listening, I promise. Okay, just double checking. Where his definition said golfers and visitors. I have a little bit of an issue with that because a visitor could be somebody who wants to have a bachelorette party on the golf course and play around the golf, but then have a bachelorette party. If it's just the members of that golf course, there you go. Just the members of that golf course can use those golf cottages. That's wonderful. And let them pay the Pine Barrens water credit and let them pay their taxes and let them not build roads. To the cottages. Use golf carts. Don't make more roads on the land, please. No more asphalt. Make them walk, get in the golf cart, go down to the parking lot, and then go to our fine restaurants. That's great. Sizing, 600 square feet. In Reeves Park, we got plenty of people living in houses with 600 square feet. And they're doing their thing. The last thing I was going to say, which just left my mind. I'm so sorry. That's okay. Oh, I know. Is there going to be heat in all these? Because I don't know anybody really playing golf this time of year. So to have heat in them would make them an all year round cottage. So let's also strike that from the record. No heat or no extended season use of these cottages because then you're going to get your transient people who are not playing golf, who are just going to be playing golf. Just hanging out in them and having their parties. So I think the all year round issue is another issue for these cottages. Because if you treat it like that, now you're in the Airbnb business. You're not in the golf business. So the definitions need to be cleared up a little bit around those. I thank you very much for your time. Thank you, Amanda. I really appreciate it. And I love the fact that you think our restaurants are fine. I do too. I agree. Thank you so much. Shout out to all of our restaurant owners. That's amazing. Really good stuff. Thank you. Good evening. Astrid Lehman, Baiting Hollow. Good evening. I'd like to start by saying that I am a resident that lives between two beautiful golf courses. I'm very happy about it. I enjoy them being there. My issue is it's almost like you have a schizophrenic approach here with this short term rental or short term transients. I can be remember being in a meeting not too long ago where there was a lot of talk about the fact that we're being fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed short-term rentals and the abuses that were associated with them in Waiting River and Jamesport. And then it came to light that there are, in fact, golf cottages presently being used in a short-term rental system right now. And Mr. Rothwell, I remember you saying that, you know, if people wanted to do STRs, they had to be there for a minimum of two weeks. And if they didn't stay the two weeks, they still had to pay the two weeks. So we have to understand as a public why some people can have short-term rentals that are short-term with at least a minimum of 30 days or not more than 30 days, and why some people can't. And I think this is a very unfair approach. There are a lot of mom-and-pop people who kind of do this short-term rental stuff, and they are being excluded. While other people are being allowed. And I was wondering if there was going to be a fine exacted on the golf course cottages that are now being used as short-term rentals that exist. Because I'm sure the town attorney was very clear about the fines associated with that. Is that correct? I mean, there are fines associated with short-term rentals that don't meet the criteria. Is that right? There are fines for short-term rentals in homes that are outside of the boundary. Right. That would be in residential areas. Residential areas? So golf courses are zoned differently. So there's still a short-term rental on a golf course. So that could be any golf. That's the other thing I'm kind of curious about. Could that be any golf course? No, there is size reduction. That was rent. So if it's 18 holes and 125 acres, that's the criteria. Is that correct? Not less than. No. Not less. It does not apply to all golf courses. Okay. So Greg can go over the zoning area. So the existing golf cottages that exist at Friars Head are not short-term rentals? I mean, if there's golf cottages there, it wouldn't be a permitted use. It would be a violation of town code right now. So it would be a violation? Yeah. Okay. And I believe the last time you were here, I referred that to code enforcement. Okay. Well. I haven't seen anything come through justice court for prosecution, but that's a real issue. It's really unusual because they don't do the prosecutions anymore, but I can certainly follow up on that for you. So right now, those cottages are short-term rentals in violation if they exist? Based on what you're telling me, I would say that that's correct. But I also don't know if code enforcement has been there, if they've investigated. You know, based on what you're describing, it would be a non-permitted use at this point. Okay. I have no problem with that issue if they are a permitted use, but I think that it's about fairness. Okay. And I would say that the court is not going to be able to give a definitive answer to the people who have or were involved with short-term rentals that were placed in a very difficult position in terms of the limits and the criteria that were placed on by the town court. Not to say that there aren't abusive short-term rental people. There are. And we do know that. Or not. There are a lot who are not. As much as I appreciate your conversation, we're not debating the short-term rental tonight. We just, we definitely want to look at this issue. Right. Well, this is a short, a transient home housing situation. I understand. I do understand how it cross-pollinates. Okay. It cross-pollinates a little bit for you, but I just want to make sure that, you know, that stays there. So thank you. Thank you so much. I appreciate your comments.
Good evening, Mr. Supervisor, members of the Board. My name is Barbara Blass, and I live in Jamesport. Thank you for being here. You're welcome. I commend those who are bringing forth creative ideas to further agricultural preservation in the town of Riverhead. Thank you. The following questions are meant to clarify and define the parameters of these transactions permitted by the amendments and highlight potential unintended consequences. On the comprehensive plan as written, there are only two golf courses eligible to construct these rental units, Friars Head and Baiting Hollow Club. By the way, I was researching something else. Be closer. I'm sorry. I was researching something else. And the tax cert case, between the town of Riverhead and Friars Head actually came up. So I said, oh, giggles, I'll read it. And this was some time ago, but when they described the assets on that property, they listed three, they didn't call them cottages, I believe. They were called cabins. And they're fairly large in size, and they have no kitchens, which is interesting. But I just didn't reference to what Astrid was just bringing up. I said, I thought maybe it would be. Okay. Okay. So the updated comprehensive plan recommends permitting golf units on all golf courses in all zoning use districts and limiting the unit size to 600 square feet. The proposed amendments, therefore, are totally inconsistent with the comprehensive plan. Seeker. Did the prior Seeker reviews for these golf courses anticipate such additional buildup? Will supplemental Seeker review be required to evaluate where and how many units can be constructed based on the site limitations, such as the course layout, slopes, wetlands, water and wastewater quantities, parking demands, unit access, et cetera? Part 617.4 would indicate that this amendment to the zoning code as affecting more than 25 acres is a type one action under Seeker. TDR. The section 301-207 of the Riverhead Town Code describes allocation of preservation credits in the TDR program. Paragraph B states that no allocation of credits can be made for real property improved with a golf course, implying that a lot improved with a golf course is considered completely developed. With that in mind, how can a golf course accommodate additional development? Local Local Local in the RA80 zoning use district are afforded this opportunity. Does this inequity subject the town to challenge? The text language itself, since the actual number of cottages will not be known until a site plan demonstrates their feasibility, wouldn't it be prudent to use the words, up to a maximum number of 18 rental units? The language of the amendment does not speak to ownership. Can the rental units be sold to members, multiple owners through an LLC? Can they become timeshares or condominiums? I assume the golf cottages can be rented in the off season when the course is not open, and especially during those special activities such as parties, weddings, and other events held at the golf course during non-golf season. The proposed zoning code amendments include a description of a standard 18-hole golf course as no less than 125 acres in size. But what is included in this acreage? Only the playing surfaces of tees, greens, fairways, and rough, or the entire parcel, including all the accessory structures, including the clubhouse, pro shop, and the non-play areas. This should be clarified in the definition. The town code, there is no stated minimum or maximum rental period. Accordingly, it would fall into the transient rental code, which sets limits on the number of units to be rented. The town code sets a minimum of 30-day rental period. If that is not your intent, then the language should be added to address that matter. Assuming these units can be rented for less than 30-day minimum again, would that inequity leave the town subject to challenge? And finally, in terms of property taxes, would this be a net positive or negative for the town of Riverhead? I respectfully request the foregoing be addressed prior to any further amendment or adoption of this public hearing. This public hearing remains open until the questions and comments are reasonably addressed. I thank you very much for your time and attention. Thank you for taking time to come forward tonight, Barbara. Good evening. Sid Bale, president of the Wading River Civic Association. And during the comp plan, I was on the steering committee. I was the civic representative. I'm a member of the board. I'm a member of the board. I learned a lot through the process. But I'll tell you, if you look at the comp plan, there is one paragraph on golf colleges, one paragraph. And so I was surprised to see that the one specific recommendation...one of the recommendations was a few specific recommendations of 600 square feet was doubled. I was a little bit surprised by that. And it seemed like the tie it to TDRs and as a justification and to say, now you're one TDR. can get you double the area was a bit disappointing, at least for me.
You know, one of the other things in the comp plan, the phrase that was banted around a lot was we need many tools in our toolbox to solve the problems that are facing the town. And I realize this, but I think we have to have a really good understanding of the tools that we use. And so tonight I got quite an education from the statements of the people who spoke. I was very impressed by the effort of my fellow civic people from Jamesport. They made some... some very, very impressive points. And you're all a serious group of people. And I think before this... I guess what I'm saying is I don't think right now the golf cottages are ready for prime time. They need some refinement. All right? And so that they are in the best interest, and that is my plea to the public, and my plea is that we would continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue The 1,200, going from the 600 to the 1,200, actually happened right here at a work session when we were discussing the possibility of really having the conversation about it. And I thought about myself as a mom. I've got five people in my household, which is now expanding. When we go on vacation, I want to be in something bigger than 600 square feet with the five or six or even seven of us in my immediate family. And when I look for a place like that, I look for something around 1,200 square feet so that we're not all on top of each other. And it kind of just mutated from that 600 square feet in the comprehensive plan to the actual further discussion. Of, hey, this is real life. This is what people are going through. And if the family wants to come here that is a member of a golf course, they want to bring grandma and grandpa out to spend a few days with the kids and the dads and the son go off golfing and the women go to Tanger or to our agitourism spots. That's what happened here. I find it interesting that the language, the word of hotel keeps coming up. That was never my intention or I can say for the rest of the board, that word was never used. It came out of nowhere and it just keeps getting repeated tonight. And I really wish that it didn't snowball into what this has snowballed into. This is something that I personally really thought about further than when I was on the steering committee. Right. That it is a good thing for our community. Right. And I wish that we would have discussed it more during the comprehensive plan. Right. Just one last comment. The epiphany that you guys came to during the work session, all right, I hope that doesn't cancel out what you heard tonight. Not at all. Not at all. I hope that you had it in consideration. Sid. Because I don't want to be argumentative about this. Oh, you don't? No, no. No. I'm just glad that you pointed it out. Right. That there's just one paragraph. It's like this is something that's happening now that we want to hear from the public. It's worth discussing. So thank you for coming up and everybody that's come up and pointed out some really good points. Sid. Yes, sir. And it was, you know, I was also on that ComPlan committee with you. Were you? Yes. You forgot already? Okay. We spent so much time. So, Sid, one of the things, you know, in terms of this, even when the TDR committee took a hard look not only at this, but I'll give you an example, at commercial, and Greg, you got to help me because we went back so far. You know, in the past, I think we were giving 1,500 square feet for one TDR if you wanted to expand commercially. Mm-hmm. And so, you know, we had a ComPlan in 2023. I think we sold six of those. So no town board from 23 till now figured out that we're not doing well in preserving land. We're not giving the economy change. We needed to give out more square footage. So we really, we don't just sit around and pick random numbers. And at this point, commercial, I believe, is now 3,035. Is 3,000 correct? And we also work not with one person, but with developers, the cost of construction and what's going to, you know, two things happen. And Laura-Jen Smith brought this up. Two things happen. One is we're selling TDRs, so we're preserving land. Second thing that happens is the building expands. We're getting more tax revenue. On industrial, you get, for one TDR, you get 5,000 square feet. Right. Yeah. And that's because of what people can get in an industrial building. Now you look at this, they're getting 600, they're getting really 600 square feet for 800, you know, 1,200 for $80,000. And that's at the going rate right now. We really spent a lot of time on these things. Okay. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. And you made my day because you said you were going to at least consider what was in the way. You're the one everyone wants to talk to. I think Mr. Rothwell would like to reply to you as well. Yeah. But just also I'd want you to consider because, you know, you being from the west side of our town and the Shore and Wading River and so forth, I grew up raising our kids there. And our common place to go when they were younger was over at Calverton Links. And it was a great family place. It was great. But they struggled financially to survive and eventually it became their demise. I don't want to see that happen to other golf courses. I don't want to see all of our golf courses start filling up with solar and other things like that. Right. And so you said, oh, it's another tool. It is. It's another tool. It doesn't mean that any golf course has to build a single cottage. But if there's an economic way to keep golf courses viable in the town of Riverhead and they can raise some additional revenue and keep it affordable, quite frankly, you look at most of the fundraisers and the golf outings and so forth, and for many families, you know, they've become unaffordable, reachable, where people are paying, you know, $250 for a golfer to go out and you want to help a charitable organization, but it's very expensive if you're going to bring a family of four and put out $1,000. These are different ways to help keep costs maybe a little bit more reachable from the hardworking middle class to allow things like that, to keep golf courses viable. Somebody said there's a season. I don't know that there's a season to golfing. You get a good, decent, clear day on a winter day and people are out there golfing. I've been out there a few days. But it's about making certain that the town doesn't drastically change over time and that you keep these golf courses and you give them tools to be viable. We also talked, and I won't stray from it, trying to give farmers other tools. It doesn't mean they have to use them, but you try to put things in and say, if this helps you to keep that, I wish Calverton Links was here today and was still existing because we enjoyed it. Then they even went to Paint Bowl and my kids had their birthday party up there. It was a great place. I don't want to see the demise happen to other facilities because when you're talking about 125 acres, that's a massive amount of upkeep at a massive cost. So we've got to make sure they survive. I'll just add one last point. It's not to exceed 1,200. That doesn't mean that the owner is going to put 1,200 square feet units everywhere. That's just the maximum. So to say that, to think that it's all going to be that may not be the case. And for Sid and everyone else, this is definitely, this is my 21st day and I can tell you there's been a lot of one-on-one conversation. Your words do carry weight and the comp plan does carry and everyone up here can tell you. I've said to them, after 21 days, the 600 to 1,200, I'm struggling with because that wasn't the comp plan. So I do appreciate your words and everyone's words. I think it's healthy for us to understand both sides. So thank you to everybody. Thank you. Thank you, Sid. Again, Barbara Blass from Jamesport. Just a follow-up comment. Keeping what was just expressed by Councilman Rothwell, if that was the intent to help golf courses in the town, offer them an opportunity for more secure revenue, why would you not take the step and do a GEIS to allow for this? I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
I just wonder if you're not leaving yourselves nevertheless vulnerable. Good point. Thank you, Barbara.
Yes, ma'am. Absolutely. Come on down. Hi. Carrie Fagerniak, Baiting Hollow. I apologize I'm a little late, so if I'm repeating anything, I'm sorry. I'll watch the tape later. Thanks for being here. I was just curious. Like, you're starting with the two what seem to be very successful golf courses, so I'm just making that comment. For the houses, like, who would build them, or the cottages? Who would build them? Who's going to front the money? And I just have a bunch of questions. And for the Baiting Hollow Club, where would the entrance and exit be? Have they gone that far as to know? Are they going to entrance? You have no side plan. No, ma'am, yes. There's no applications before. This is just. This is just. Yeah. Okay. And I understand your questions. Those are solid questions for another time. Right now, this is around the proposed code change. So. Okay. But thank you. All right. And then my other concern is the beaches. Is there a way to make sure they don't start going to our beaches? Because right now, you can go to Edwards Avenue in the summer. Three-quarters of the cars don't have stickers. You can't park at times. So that's. Again, that's a concern. You're welcome to email my office. Okay. Supervisor. Thank you. Yeah. But that's a concern. And we always look at that. But that wasn't the subject matter of tonight. But I do take that serious. Thanks. Anyone else in the room that wants to come say hi and give us your comment? All right. Good evening. Hi. Marilyn Banks Winter. Riverhead residents, indigenous to this land. So I just wanted to say that this is a helpful. Healthy conversation that we're having. And I'm loving to that we're all doing this together. Because the town board needs us to continue to give the put forth recommendations. So I think Joanne answered my question. I think Denise answered my question about how it went from 600 square feet to 1200 square feet. And曲?" Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local recommend a Winter Olympics for some time that they're down and they're not it's not a summer time there's always opportunities to bring forth another type of event they have quite a bit of land so we need to be creative in our suggestions so that's all I have to say congratulations I love that Marilyn because I would love to slay right on there or cross-country ski I'll push you down the girl Scouts for the greens keep it was used that way a long time ago Thank You Marilyn thank you so much for taking the time Marilyn appreciate go more mile Claudette good evening Claudia Bianco beating hollow um I have a question are these cottages you exclusive use of the members of these golf courses or will they be open to the public well I don't believe there's a code that says they're they're sectioned off just for the members I don't believe that but I don't know what they will have their own there's there's not rules regarding that yet so okay I saw the echo I'm just mentioning what the code actually says it's two golfers or visitors yeah I'm sorry I can't wishing to stay on of course golfers or visit our code will be the golfers or visit on the golf course because right now these are two very exclusive golf courses where the membership on Friars head is a quarter million dollars so I don't know how many million middle-class people are going to be able to make use of it unless they open it up but I really think it should be exclusive to the members who pay that membership so this is public otherwise it's a hotel room so this is just regarding our code and so what each of those individual places do with our code and what they decide that would be another conversation if I'm not mistaken now maybe it's misspeaking so I will say I'm taking notes and I mean I do have some ideas there are some valid points that are being made I mean if the board is amenable I think we can come up with some modifications to the language to speak out about it uh speak about it at a subsequent work session but I mean there are I think things that can be used to strengthen the code to make sure that we don't kind of get into any unforeseen or unanticipated issues down the road so I can do that but I'm taking notes so thanks Greg to be continued isn't he great he's doing a great job thank you Greg Claudette thank you yes before you leave I golf and I've traveled on several golf trips and I'll tell you now the best thing is is when there's cottages on a golf course and usually when you do that you go with eights uh up to 16 friends and this is a perfect scenario for a golfer I'm not against the cottages I just want to make sure I just want to make sure that the town benefits the most it can from the cottages and not cost the taxpayers anything because no matter what how big they are how many people can stay in them they are going to use fire police ambulance water everything that we can provide as a town and we need to benefit from that and not be costly to the taxpayers and if it's open only to the membership then you will get middle-class people possibly but you have to be careful that you don't shoot yourself in the foot in the process remember you're bringing in tax revenue for those units similar to what we paid you know on our houses for right and make sure the idea is that you're paying the tax bill and you're paying the rental fund to help to alleviate the tax bill yeah I know you can't control that but there's no idea on this yeah okay it doesn't fit the parameters I'm sure there are a lot of people glad to hear that thank you you're welcome thank you for speaking sir did you want to speak
hi my name is Craig Vasey I've been in Rivenhead Township for about a year now and I'm going to talk to you about the ! I've been a town resident for 33 years I had no intention of speaking here tonight but after hearing some of the comments I felt that necessary I played golf on Cherry Creek the woods the vineyards Bading Hollow and the old Great Rock golf course which is now called the rock and I could tell you these are some of the best golf courses around and I will also tell you that my name is Craig Vasey and my name is Craig Vasey and my name is Craig Vasey and my name is Craig Vasey and my name is Craig Vasey and my name is Craig Vasey and my name is Craig Vasey and my name is Craig Vasey and my name is Craig Vasey and my name is Craig Vasey and my name is Craig Vasey and my name is Craig Vasey and my name is Craig Vasey and my name is Craig Vasey and my name is Craig Vasey and my name is Craig Vasey and my name is Craig Vasey and my name is Craig Vasey and my name is Craig Vasey and my name is Craig Vasey and my name is Craig Vasey and Is it 18? 18 cottages, two bedrooms? Two bedroom cottages. So the first gentleman that spoke said, increase traffic. Let's get realistic about that. We know what it's like in the fall, pumpkin picking, etc. 18 cottages is not going to have a problem with traffic control, etc. And the exposure to the town by people coming in and finding out how great a town this is, is not only going to lead to them golfing here and telling friends about it and family, etc. And coming into the town and spending money in the town at all the great restaurants and facilities in the town, big benefit to the town. It's ridiculous that we're even considering not turning this down. This is a great idea. We know from the hotels that went up in the town, the indigo, etc. They're packed out. So we put up 18 cottages, get more exposure, and continue to support our golf courses is the only way to go. That's all I got to say. Thank you, Craig. Craig, I think you just auditioned for our economic development commercials. Thank you very much. Do we have anyone online? Justin? Yes. We do. I thought maybe you were going to tell us your views on the golf cottages for a second. How about a round of applause for Justin? Doesn't he do a great job every meeting? That's right. A lot of clapping going on around here. Golf claps. Somebody told me not to tell jokes. I hope that was a joke. Just waiting on Justin.
That was a joke.
Hi, Kathy McGraw here from Northville. Can you hear me? Yes, ma'am. Thank you, Kathy. Great, great. I'm not opposed to golf cottages. I think they're a good idea. I have a brother who's a golf pro. I'm into the golf world. And I'm going to sound kind of skeptical here, but I got to say what I got to say. This town and all its taxpayers spent a huge amount of money, as well as time and energy, updating the comp plan. The experts we paid recommended considering golf cottages. As an accessory? It's a good idea. Each cottage to be 600 square feet. The same experts also talked about agritourism resorts. But you, the town board, ultimately rejected those resorts due to resounding opposition from the people who live here. So they're not included in the comp plan. Today, we're here to comment on proposed codes. The new code definition allows them to be joined together, sharing walls, to form one. They could form a small dwelling. They could form one big building. A total size of 21,600 square feet. I've never seen any cottages that look like that. Skeptic that I am, it sounds like a hotel. And call me suspicious, but I'd not be surprised to see a developer, once they've built the hotel, the so-called hotel cottages, try to subdivide the 12. Local office fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed Not only is there a new definition of the golf cottages, there's also a modification to the definition of a standard golf course. The current definition is simply a course that has a minimum par 70 and a minimum 6,000 yards on no less than 125 acres. That's all it says. The proposed definition is a course that has 18 holes, a minimum size of 125 acres, and allows a clubhouse and golf cottages as accessory uses. A couple of things jump out at me. While still requiring at least 125 acres, the new definition eliminates the requirement. The new definition requires par 70 and a minimum 6,000 yards. That means you could build a small par 3 course and have an awful lot of land left on this 125 acres. And you would still meet the definition of a standard golf course under the proposed new language. So that means you could build on a small par 3 course. And build up this hotel, aka golf cottages. And you could build a clubhouse that happens to include several restaurants, bars, a luxury spa, a pool, a workout room, maybe tennis and pickleball courts. And voila, we have ourselves a resort. The very thing the town board quietly tried to sneak in. On Sound Avenue way back in 2023. When it was secretly working with the developer, Alfred Wiseman, to allow agritourism resorts on the sound next to Willow Ponds. Although that project was defeated, the concept of such resorts was recommended in the comp plan update. And only withdrawn when there was outpouring of opposition from the public. To its inclusion. But here we are today with what would seem to be just a few code changes. That will allow golf cottages. But in reality, I suspect these changes are a way to allow resorts. It's a wolf in sheep's clothing. If this town board sincerely wanted to implement just golf cottages, they'd leave the definition of a standard golf course alone. And then they'd have to go back to the original plan. And simply allow freestanding cottages of 600 square feet each for golfers on par 70 golf courses. We've got proposed changes instead that can be manipulated and morphed into allowing the kinds of resorts this town board wanted since the Wiseman project three years ago. But as I noted, the people of Riverhead resoundingly rejected the proposal. And so we're going to have to do something about it. And that's what we're going to do. We're going to demand that fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed There you go. And I appreciate you taking the time to call in and to care about our town. And as a 21-day person, I can tell you, I know a lot of people have said to me, everybody's worried about what's happening back there. I can tell you with the straightest face and the absolute certainty that there is nothing maligned that I have found. It's just not now one of these people could be sitting here and they could be like, and they're not. And so I can tell you that. And the man that's about to speak at the microphone, the exact same way. And now I understand you have to trust me, and that's your choice. But I do ask you to understand that. And he's made the suggestions of what will be coming down the pike. So just wanted to say that. But thank you, Kathy. We appreciate you calling in. Could you just give me a sign of how many more that are online? Justin? Wow, that's quite the night. I'm never going to get past my record-breaking time of being done tonight. Go. There's three more online. Would you ready to speak, Craig, now? I think it's important. Yes, sir. I will just bring up, I mean, you know, the minimum lot size of 125 acres, that's devoted to a golf course. Now, currently, our current zoning code, without any amendments, allows standard golf courses in two zoning use districts by special permit of the town board, one of them being the Residence A80 zoning district, the other being the Residence B80 zoning district. I just did a quick. Scan on our GIS systems. I looked for potential properties that could be eligible to be developed under a golf course standard. There are four properties within the town that currently meet that standard. One of them is the 4H camp, Briar Mere Farms on Sound Avenue, Lewins Farms on Wading River, and the Half Hollow Nursery in Laurel. Now, in a world where someone came in to develop a golf course, 125 acres is devoted to that golf course. That's essentially dedicated to that use. So I don't see any stretch of the imagination where someone can come in and build a small golf course and build a resort. I just, there's no mental gymnastics that I can perform to get that through the definition of a golf cottage. There's no mention of resorts. There's no mention of spas. There's no mention of restaurants. These are intended for transient lodging options for visitors wishing to stay on a golf course. Again. just I feel there's no stretch that I can get to or arrive at the conclusion that these are resorts or any way implying that this is a way to sneak that in so thank you Greg thank you for the clarification there our next caller hope it's a long time first time here
hello Ellen patiently awaiting you Ellen can you yep there we are yeah can everybody hear me yes ma'am okay I got a new computer I wasn't sure I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry so I I have some ideas just state your your name and your I'm gonna do that so my name is Ellen Hoyle I'm from Riverhead so I just have a few ideas written down and I just want to start by saying I enjoy golfing I live across from Cherry Creek the idea of staying at a golf cart cottage would appeal to me greatly but I also as an attorney recognize the danger of vagueness and being sick and sick and sick and sick and sick and sick and sick and sick and sick and sick and sick like to start off by ask if I can ask what is the definition of transient lodging I don't have that handy so our code defines transient as anything less than 30 days okay so anything less than 30 days somebody can stay for regardless of whether they're there for golfing or other purposes so the 1200 square feet to give an idea I live in a two-story condo in Willow Ponds that's 1400 square feet it's two bedrooms two and a half baths kitchen dining room living room and I understand the appeal of having your whole family come golfing but without the restriction of that it's for golfers and they're not allowed to go golfing I think opens it up to an abuse I hate to think of that but I also think that as lawmakers you have to assume the worst case scenario sometimes so the comment was made that just because it's allows 1200 square feet doesn't mean that it'll be built at 1200 square feet but to think that it won't is irresponsible you have to assume that somebody's going to build it and it's going to be built at 1200 square feet and it's going to be built in the maximum allowed number of units at the maximum size um as far as Ms blast's comments about uh the gis um Studies and whatnot if they're and the secret if they're waived for one project you set a precedent that opens you up in court to challenges on future projects so if you say well we'll let one person build it and we'll see what happens is not a great deal and it would be good if we could get public public office office office office office let one person build it and we'll see what happens is not a great way to do town management because it opens you up for challenges that you may in fact lose because they will turn around and say, well, you allowed it here. You have to allow it for me. So it doesn't specify whether or not you can do back-to-back stays. So as long as I'm not doing residency, there's nothing that prevents me from doing a month-to-month lease is what I'm envisioning. As long as I move out for a day or two, it's fine. So again, it's too vague. 00.01.46. 00.01.46. 00.01.46. 00.01.46. 00.01.46. 00.01.46. 00.01.46. 00.01.46.
about that, but I did want to say that. So, but I think if you're envisioning golfers coming and enjoying golf courses with their families, I think you need to restrict it to golfers and their visitors. And I think that needs to be built in from the get go. Well, thank you, Ellen. I think is that is that everything? I really appreciate calling in. Yeah, I think that's pretty much everything. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Supervisor, if I could just clarify. I didn't think you were going to, but I didn't know if you want to do it now. Yeah, I just I just want to make sure that everybody understands that this just contemplates an additional or an accessory use. So any specific application would still need to be submitted to the planning department, which would be reviewed and they would review all the environmental aspects of it. Any kind of additional infrastructure that's happening, enhanced sanitary, all of those things would be would be reviewed by our planning department and by our planning board prior to any kind of approval for any of these units. So, I mean, I think I think that's something that everybody needs to understand in the context of this public hearing, that this is just a public hearing that allows an application for the use, really. Thank you, Counselor. Very well said. We have two more online or have they given up? Nope, they're still there. All right. Next caller, please. Zoom person. Thank you all for being so patient in the audience. Hello, Joan. Can you hear us? Okay. Can you hear me now? Can. Great. Great. Good evening, Mr. Supervisor, members of the board. My name is Joan Cyr and I live in Jamesport. Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. I'm speaking because like others, I believe the proposed definitions for standard golf course and golf cottages are not specific enough and therefore would leave the town and its residents susceptible to unintended or maybe even intended consequences. Please do not confuse that with opposition to the concept of golf cottages. I appreciate the goal of the town to support tourism, to support the golf industry and to generate tax revenue. But these definitions really should be much more specific, as several of us have said tonight. And I apologize in advance of some of my comments, restate some of those already made by other concerned residents. But in my opinion, that repetition just reinforces the depth of concern among members of the board and the community. I'm very grateful to the board for their support. And I appreciate the fact that they are so much more than just a concern among members of the community. And I personally very much appreciate their comments and insights. Like Kathy McGraw, I'm a skeptic. And I fear that the revised definition of a golf course and the current language around golf cottages are one way that the town is opening the door to resort development. Now, whether that's an intended consequence or an unintended consequence, I will leave up to others to interpret. In the standard golf course definition, making definitions less specific opens the town up to interpretation and enforcement issues, as several people have said, including Ms. Hoyle. The size should specify a minimum golf playing area of 125 acres. And that does not include the land for clubhouses, maintenance or storage buildings or parking areas. Again, I realize that Mr. Bergman said it is for the, that it's beyond his imagination that a golf course would be small. It should not be 125 acres. And we have to write definitions and codes that stand the test of time, not that stand the test of Mr. Bergman's imagination. So therefore I see no reason to remove the minimum par on yardage requirements, so that we can avoid the possibility like Kathy McGraw mentioned of the new definition opening the door to small golf courses that could create a resort like development. Regarding the golf cart, the cottage definition, may I suggest that the town go back to the drawing board. The 2024 comprehensive plan update suggested a 600 square foot golf cottage, as we all agree. A 1200 square foot habitat, which you discussed in a work session. Well, a 1200 square foot habitat is, as someone else has said, is really the size of a house. It's not a temporary hospitality accommodation. And I encourage the town to revert back to the 600 square foot size originally proposed. The definition should include a maximum of 18 units per course, a maximum square footage of 600 square feet, and it should specify the maximum allowable number of sleeping quarters per unit. Because in a 600 square foot unit even, you could get two bedrooms. In a 1200 square foot unit, you could get four good sized bedrooms. And I don't think that's the intention, but we need to tighten that up. The proposed legislation should limit the stay to 30 days maximum in line with the town's occupancy limit for transient lodging units. And again, we just need to spell these things out because these definitions and codes need to stand the test of time. They need to be really impenetrable. We should delete the option to attach the golf cottages. That's got to go. By attaching golf cottages, as is featured in the current definition that's proposed, a developer is no longer erecting a golf cottage, but he's building a hotel or motel. A cottage is a small freestanding structure. You take 18 units and if you take them, especially at the 1200 square foot footprint each, you're building a 21,000 square foot hotel. And without setting a maximum limit on the number of sleeping quarters per unit, a developer could erect a hotel with 50 to 75 guest rooms. It's not a golf cottage. And I appreciate that Ms. Waspie said that wasn't the intention. May not be the intention, but the way the definition is written now, it's absolutely a real possibility. In addition, the proposed language does not limit the attached structure to be other golf cottages. Could be restaurants, could be spas, could it be health clubs? I don't know. So non-sleeping quarters should not be permitted to be attached to a golf cottage. But frankly, a golf cottage should be a freestanding unit, not attached to anything else. And it's great if you want to take your adult children and Mr. Kern wants to take a 17-basketball. But I think that they can walk like 100 feet to the next cottage. I think that that's not an unreasonable expectation. The proposed definition should specify that ownership and operation of the golf cottages is restricted to the golf course owner, not an outside entity or a private owner. Like a private owner can't come and own one golf cottage. And the golf cottage definition should specify that the purchase of one TDR per 600 square foot. The golf cottage is required. This would help to nurture a successful TDR program, which has long been a goal for the town. I don't understand what Mr. Kern meant by his comment this evening about additional square footage. But I urge you to require a TDR purchase for the primary 18 units that are at a maximum of 600 square feet and not to allow additional square footage. So once we start. Allowing additional square footage, the whole thing gets out of control. Further, as Ms. Blass noted, because the golf courses exceed 25 acres in size, zoning the golf courses for golf cottages is a type one secret action. Thank you. I appreciate the opportunity to share my thoughts with you. He's doing. I was making reference to. To commercial. Spaces and to industrial spaces, not to golf cottages. I was addressing Mr. Bell on that. Okay. Thank you for the clarification. Thank you, John. I really appreciate it. And I do want you to know that Mr. Bergman's comments were as sincere as possible. And he does have the best interest in mind. I have sat with that with this subject in mind with all of you. And again, you don't have to believe me, but I would ask that you give that. And it's from an outsider's perspective. He has gone to great lengths to help each of you understand us understand what's going on there tonight. He's expressed that over and over. I would like to know if I'm in Bob Kern's 17 top friends list. Okay. We have two more. All right. That's the last two. If you're at home, you're not called in yet. These are the last two. Mr. Supervisor. Yeah. I would just point out that in as much as Mr. Bergman is currently our appointed zoning officer, the extent of his imagination is really kind of what's relevant at this point. Yes, sir. Thank you for making that. I think so. Here we go. Our next caller. Hello, Mr. Harari. If you just take your name and your town. Ron Harari of Aquabog. I certainly respect the comments of the prior speakers. And I recognize that there may be some definitional issues that need to be addressed in the future. With that being said, I believe that. The suggestion of golf cottages can be a positive thing for the town. I note, however, that through this legislation, you would dramatically increase the value of these properties by creating what would amount to undoubtedly because they are terrific courses and facilities. Eighteen. Eighteen. Eighteen separate luxury homes in among the best courses on Long Island, if not the Northeast. In dramatically increasing that value, have you considered what increase in the assessed value of these properties would be and what additional tax revenue the town would be based upon the assessments taking into account? The increase value and increased potential revenue. And this connection is a supervisor. I would know that the last time this town was reassessed was almost half a century ago ago. And I can wonder whether you will be addressing that as part of your tenure, although brief tenure. This is I understand your question, but this is that wouldn't be right in this moment. This is about the proposed legislation. I understand that. Thank you. You got it through. You got her. I told you it was wrong. I said each. Okay. Are you on? I told you to try. You're on. Yes, we can hear you. Hello, Mr. Very. Can you hear us? I heard I heard your comment. You don't want to address that. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. positive impact on the value of this property, the assessed value and revenue to the town. So I want to encourage it. And I want to encourage the board and its planners to work on addressing some of the concerns expressed by other speakers. And I'm happy to address the need, the constitutional obligation of the town to direct and reassessment of all properties after half a century. And we can have that discussion another time when it's more convenient for you, sir. Well, just when it's, this is regarding this issue. So that was not about convenience. It's about definition of what we're doing, but I appreciate it. I guess we did, I don't know if we lost you, but sorry, Mr. Harry, and thank you for your comments. And I think we have one more caller tonight. Who can it be now?
Kathy's back. There we are, Ms. Kathy, how are you? I'm fine. Just real quickly. I appreciated the comments by Greg, and I would just ask that the definition of a standard golf course not be changed. Let least one of the two, let least one of the two, let least one of the two, let least one of the two, even the par 70 in the 6,000 square, the 6,000 feet in length, it would eliminate any suspicion of a par three golf course. You did say that in your last comment. And likewise, with respect to the golf cottage definition, if you took out clubhouse as an accessory use, because I mean a clubhouse, every golf course of a par 70 length has a clubhouse. Every golf course of a par 70 length has a clubhouse. Already the adding it into the golf cottages, things make sounds like they can build another one. So I just wanted to point that out. And I hope that you'll have a work session to discuss the changes that you might consider for this proposed legislation, because I think it would be really good to see your thought processes on this. So thank you very much for the time. I appreciate it. Thanks for calling back in. Appreciate it. Well, I believe we have time for one more question. I believe that wraps up our colors and our public comments here. So with that said, I will be closing this public hearing and leaving it open for written comment until February 2nd, which is 12 days, which is additional. And so we are going to move into our second public hearing. I will not get an award for shortest meeting of the year, but Mr. Bergman, would you like to intro that one? Yes, sir. So once again, this is a public hearing on a proposed local law to amend town code section 301-202. We would like public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public public You'd have to come to the microphone and state your name and your thing and then make your comment. Carrie Fagerniak, just a quick question. Could you say it one more time just so they pick it up? Carrie Fagerniak, just a quick question. One cottage and you said the credit. What is it equal like in acres or something like that or one cottage or how does that work? It's 18 golf holes, which is a maximum of 18 cottages. Right. Which means the one TDR per cottage. But what is the one TDR equal size? Yeah. Greg is going to give you the exact here. He's money on the spot. Thank you, Greg. Correct. So one transfer of development right credit requires the sterilization of one acre of property in a sending district. Right now our sending districts are the APZ zoning district, RA80 and RB80. Essentially you're sterilizing one acre, which is 43,560 square feet. There's a process detailed in our town code to identify the sending parcel, receiving parcel. There's covenants and documents that have to be recorded on those parcels to memorialize the transfer of that credit. But essentially one golf cottage would result in the preservation of one acre of farmland. Thank you, Greg. Thank you both for coming. Any other comments on this section? I'm just going to make a quick comment so it's on the record. Name and where you are. Yep. Laura Jensmith, Riverhead. Thank you very much. So because it's a separate hearing, I just wanted to comment that for, as others have pointed out in the other discussions, one TDR for 600 square feet would be what I believe the comp plan recommended, and I hope that you would consider maintaining that. Thank you, Laura. Thank you for sticking around and making that additional comment. Do we have anyone else online? Two callers. That's so exciting. Caller number one, your time is here. Love life.
Welcome back. And it's great to be back. Just your name and your berg. Yep. My name is Joan Sear, and I live in Jamesport. Thank you. And with regard to the redemption of preservation credits, I would like to offer that this code should specify that preservation credits may also be used for the development of golf cottages as accessory uses to standard golf courses at a rate of one 600 square foot golf cottage per preservation credit redeemed. And it should specify that. Square footage size of a golf cottage for preservation credit redeemed. That's it. Thank you. Thank you, Joan. Thank you so much. Good night, everybody. Good night. Good night. Good afternoon. And we have one more. We'll do a straw poll to guess.
I'm not calling. You're calling in? Yeah. That's it. That's great.
I believe we're almost ready. Right, Justin? You're doing a great job back there. Here we are.
Don't forget that. America 250 ball. You can still sign up. You go on the website. You can also sign up to volunteer at any of our volunteer ambulance fire departments while we're waiting on this fine person to come. The latest article in the news review gave you the specifics on where to do that. You can adopt a pet at our shelter. You can register your dog. You can prepare for the snow that's coming. There we go. You scared him away. I did. Collar's off? Ah! Well, with that said, we will be leaving, we will be closing this public hearing. And we will be leaving it open for written comments until February 2nd, which is 12 days. You can mail those in and our fine clerk, Mr. Wooten, will make sure those are distributed to us. All of that will be available. Thank you. Wonderful said. What a wonderful night. And so our next thing, we will be moving. Counselor, I did all that properly, correct? Yes. Thank you so much. Resolutions. Jim, would you please? No, comments. Oh, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. Yes, yes, we've had so few so far. I thought we'd have some more. Comments from everyone? That would be welcome. Comments on resolutions?
John McAuliffe, Roanoke Landing. Good evening. I have three resolutions. One is, I think, very simple. The resolution that calls for the vehicle parking, it doesn't say how much we're getting for that. What number is that, John? Oh, sorry. That's 76. 76? 76. 76. 76. 76. 76. 76. 76. 76. 76. 76. 76. 76. 76. 76. 76. 76. 76. 76. 76. 76. 76. 76. 76. 76. 76. 76. 76. 76. 76. 76. 76. 76. 76. paying how much are we getting paid for the providing it should be in the second one should have been in the license agreement yeah number 79 but it's 150,000 yeah 150,000 good congratulations yeah yeah great yeah you can there it is right there okay yep all right second is more complicated the question on number 15 which is the amendment for lease payment provision just in terms of the way this is all proceeding what would happen if you voted not that you're going to but if you voted against it that would obviously disappoint mr. Petruccelli but would it in any way stop the project so that's that's a question about it the yeah fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed
fixed
in October and had to wait until the December 12th date. Therefore, we just changed the lease agreement from the beginning of October to December. And so that's when the lease will begin. I understand, but what would happen if you said no, if you didn't pass this? That's my question. Well, I think that that's a path that is, for right now, that's not going to happen. So I don't want to go down a path of like ifs, ands, and buts. Because ifs, ands, and buts. I'm always looking for a place that you could reverse this. So I understand. All right. So my second question related to that is, and maybe it is not in this resolution, but somehow we moved from a 76 unit to an 80 unit hotel. And I'm wondering whether that is coming up as a separate amendment to the agreement.
What resolution is that? No, it's not. It's not in the resolution. So this is the resolution. And I can bring it up at the end. I didn't think so. Yeah, I think. Oh, please. I hope the comments will be. All right. I'll bring it up at the end. Just by time for that. Thank you, Mr. McCullough. All right. One other. That is your time for tonight, sir, on the resolution. So if you'd like to get back in line, there's a couple people behind you. All right. I will get back in line. Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir. Appreciate that. They're right behind you. Sid, come on down.
Sid Bale, Wading River Civic. Thank you, sir. I think it's. I don't have the agenda, but I think it's resolution 32 about applying for an application for New York Sea Grant. Okay. And to help address the flooding issue on Sound Road and on Creek Road. And I think that's an excellent idea. And, you know, we fully support that. I hope you pass it. Thank you, Sid. We appreciate those comments, and we appreciate them all. Hope you have a wonderful night. How many online? Sir? One online, and then Mr. McCullough, I believe you can hop back up there if you so desire.
Wait, Mr. McCullough, we're going to do the person online and then swing back to you. I like to mix things up. Ellen, welcome back. Hi, how is everybody? Hi, how is everybody? Hi, how is everybody? Hi, how is everybody? Hi, how is everybody? Hi, how is everybody? Hi, how is everybody? So I want to talk on resolution 84 and 85. I was going through the agenda. First off, Ellen Hoyle, Riverhead still. Thank you, Ellen. I was just about to point that out. Yeah. So I was going through the resolutions, and I noticed resolution 84 and 85 mixed in with all the usual beginning of year stuff. And I'm wondering that I know that there are going to be public hearings on some aspects of these projects, but I'm wondering why there are negative declarations on best systems for the Hampton Jitney. And I am assuming also for this 221 Scott Energy Storage System. Why have they been declared negative declarations when a best system has been opposed up and down the island? As systems that are inherently dangerous for the most part to our environment and to our fire departments? Well, to answer your question, you know him, you love him. Here he is, Mr. Bergman.
I mean, so I will preface this by saying I did not work on these projects, but the resolutions before the board for both the 221 Scott Avenue project as well as the Hampton Jitney, there are the full EAFs part two and three included in those resolutions. The part three of the EAF on both of those gives a recent elaboration for the issuance of a negative declaration. Again, that's not an approval of the project, but it's in there. I mean, these were discussed at work session with Heather Trojanowski and Matt Charters at last week's work session. They went over concerns by the fire marshal, hazmat training, the equipment for hazmat training, UL fire safety, all that. So again, the reasons for the negative declaration are provided by the board. So I think that's a good answer. Thank you. in the part three of the EAF, which have been available on the website for public consumption. Thank you, Ellen. Hopefully that helped. Yeah, I would just like to ask the town board to reconsider giving it a negative declaration. I think the environmental impact would not allow for a negative declaration on such a project. So that's my comment on that project. Well, thank you. Thank you very much for your comment. And you have just a great night. Be safe in the weather. Any others online? All right, Mr. McCullough, you... Oh, well, well, that's fantastic. See, that's what happens sometimes. Somebody asks a question and gets answered. All right, well, if that finishes our public comments on that. Now, Jim, take us away. Ready? We are, sir. Okay. We're going to start with resolution number one, which is number 61. What a district capital project. 8-2-6-0-1. Q. Dober Restaurant. 9-4-9. Old Country Road. Budget adoption. So moved. Second. Vote, please. Waskey. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Alpen. Yes, sir. Uh-oh. Uh-oh.
Please. Resolution is adopted. Thank you, sir. Resolution number 62. Water capital project number 8-2-4-2-4. Budget adjustment for electrical upgrade at plant number 7. So moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waskey. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Alpen. Yes. Resolution is adopted. I'm sorry. I'm struggling. Resolution number 63. Amends town board resolution 2026-17. So moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waskey. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Alpen. Yes, sir. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 64. Approve sewer district request for change order number 1 related to the electrical contract for the class A. Waskey. Merrifield. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Alpen. Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution number 65. Approve sewer district request for change order number 2 related to the contract E electrical construction for the class A biosolids upgrade project. So moved. Second. Vote, please. Waskey. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Alpen. Yes. Waskey. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Alpen. Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 67. Authorize attendance at the IAAI conference by chief fire marshal. So moved. Second. Vote, please. Waskey. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Alpen. Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 67. Authorize attendance at the IAAI conference by chief fire marshal. So moved. Second. Vote, please. Waskey. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Alpen. Yes, sir. Resolution is adopted. Resolution number 68. Ratifies the fees for the 2026 winter brochure. So moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waskey. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. This one doesn't have the parking fees. No, it's the next one. Just double checking. Sorry. Yes. Alpen. Yes. Alpen. Yes, sir. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 69. It sets the 2026 recreation fee schedule. So moved. Second. I actually would like to move to amend this. On page 72, our senior resident for the boat launch trailer only from 15 back down to 10, our senior resident parking only 15 back to 10, and our senior non-driver identification permit 15. to 10 to keep our senior citizens safe. So I'd like to just I'd like to make a motion to to amend. Seconded. Vote please. Waskey. Yes to amend. Merrifield. Yes to amend. Kern. Yes to amend. Rothwell. Yes to amend. Yes to amend. Amended. And now we go back. Did you have any sets of 2026 recreation fees scheduled? With amendments. So moved. Second. Vote please. Waskey. Yes as amended. Merrifield. Yes as amended. Kern. Yes as amended. Rothwell. Yes as amended. Yes as amended. Resolution is approved. Resolution number 70. Sets fire prevention construction fees 2026. So moved. Seconded. Vote please. Waskey. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Halpin. Yes sir. Resolution is adopted. Resolution number 71. Sets fire prevention operating permit fees 2026. So moved. Seconded. Vote please. Waskey. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Halpin. Yes sir. Resolution is adopted. Resolution number 72. Appoints an electrical inspector. So moved. Seconded. Vote please. Waskey. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Congratulations Chris. You've done a great job. Yes. Halpin. Yes sir. Chris. Good job. Resolution is adopted. Resolution number 73. Ratifies the appointment of a part-time code enforcement officer. So moved. Second. Vote please. Waskey. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. And Halpin. Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 74. Ratifies reappointment of member of the Riverhead Farmland Preservation Committee, Matt Schmidt. So moved. Seconded. Vote please. Waskey. Yes. Thank you for your time. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. And Halpin. Yes sir. Thank you Matt. Resolution is adopted. Resolution number 75. Amendment to lease payment provision of prepossession and lease agreement. So moved. Seconded. Vote please. Waskey. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Halpin. Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 76. Authorizes the supervisor to execute a license agreement with the Town of Riverhead Community Development Agency, CDA, for USGA vehicle parking. So moved. Seconded. Vote please. Waskey. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Halpin. Yes. Almost said it. Resolution is adopted. Yes. So moved. Resolution is adopted. Resolution number 77. Authorizes the supervisor to sign a memorandum of agreement and waiver and release for Eastern Suffolk BOCES interns. So moved. Seconded. Vote please. Waskey. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Halpin. Yes sir. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 78. Authorizes the supervisor to execute lease agreement authorizing the Town to lease an automobile from Suffolk County Office for the Aging. So moved. Seconded. Vote please. Waskey. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Halpin. Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 79. Authorizes the supervisor to execute a license agreement with United States Golf Association, USGA, Secret Classification, Lead Agency and Negative Declaration. So moved. Negative. Vote please. Waskey. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Halpin. Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 80. So moved. Negative. Ms. Kelleher. Yes. Ms. Kelleher. Yes. Ms. Kelleher. Yes. Ms. Kelleher. Yes. Ms. Kelleher. Yes. authorizes renewal of a musical works license agreement with the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers, ASCAP 2026. So moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waski. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Halpin. Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 81. Approves extension of an agreement with Mark Conklin, non parton. So moved. Second. Vote, please. Waski. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Halpin. Yes, sir. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 82. Authorizes town clerk to publish and post public notice to consider a local law to amend Chapter 279 of the Riverhead Town Code titled Taxation. Article 7. Eight. Oh. I didn't have the third line. I put it in. Thank you. Article 87. Exemption for volunteer firefighters and volunteer ambulance workers. So moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waski. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. The passionate yes. Rothwell. Yeah. I hope this will increase retention within the fire department. That's everything we want to do. And most of our young people work in multiple jobs. So for them to still be able to step forward and volunteer in our fire service and RVAC. So this is just a great way to end the year. This is just a great way to say thank you and appreciate them and to work on retention. So absolutely yes. Halpin. Ditto about all of that and yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution number 83. Classifies special permit application of Hampton Jitney Battery Energy Storage System as an unlisted action pursuant to SECRA and issues a negative declaration. 253 Edwards Avenue, Calverton. Suffolk County Tax Map number 600-117-1-8.8. Resolution. 8.6. So moved. Seconded. Vote please. Waske. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Halpin. Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution number 84. Authorizes town clerk to publish and post notice for public hearing for the special permit application entitled Hampton Jitney Battery Energy Storage System 253 Edwards Avenue, Calverton. Suffolk County Tax Map number 600-117-1-8. Resolution number 84. Local Local Local
Scott Avenue, Cowichan, New York. Suffolk County Tax Map number 600-135.20-1-12. So moved. Second. Vote please. Wanske. Yes. Murrayfield. Yes. Hearn. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Halpin. Yes, sir. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 86. Authorizes town clerk to publish and post public notice of public hearing for the site plan and special permit applications entitled 221 Scott Avenue Energy Storage System, 221 Scott Avenue, Cowichan, New York. Suffolk County Tax Map number 600-135. 21-12.
So moved. Second. Vote please. Wanske. Yes. Murrayfield. Yes. Hearn. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Halpin. Yes, sir. Resolution is adopted. Resolution number 87. Authorizes the town clerk to publish and post notice to bidders for Meeting House Creek Road bulkhead renovation. So moved. Seconded. Vote please. Wanske. Yes. Finally. Thank you to everybody that has made this happen. I appreciate it. Murrayfield. Yes. Hearn. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Halpin. Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution number 88. Authorizes town clerk to publish and post bid for propane fuel and equipment maintenance. So moved. Second. Second. Vote please. No. No. It's me. Yeah, you switched it up, but we're going to... Do we need to change? No. We're good. We're good. Vote please. Talk about stepping on my toes. Vote please. Sorry, we're all excited about getting a new bulkhead on our J-Sport. Vote please. Wanske can move it. It's fine. You don't have to change it. Yeah, we don't. Legally. Say so moved. So moved. Seconded. A couple clicks, I can do it. Are you going to second? Yes. Okay. Wanske? Yes. Merrifield? Yes. Hearn? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Halpin? Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution number 89. I feel like I owe one to councilman Wanske. No, I don't like saying nuk protunk. You do a good job at that. Extends bid nuk protunk for bid number 2022-35. Traffic signal emergency repair and additional work is authorized. So moved. Second. Vote please. Wanske. Wanske. Yes. Merrifield? Yes. Hearn? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Halpin? Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 90. Awards bid for rehabilitation of plant number seven, electrical upgrades, Riverhead Water District. So moved. Seconded. Vote please. Wanske? Yes. Merrifield? Yes. Hearn? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Halpin? Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution number 91. Awards rebid for truck parts. So moved. Seconded. Vote please. Wanske? Yes. Merrifield? Yes. Hearn? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Halpin? Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution number 92. Resolution for home rule request in support of bill, Senate Bill number S. Period 8378B, Assembly Bill number A-883. The bill is adopted. Seconded. Seconded. All those in favor? Yes. Seconded. Seconded. Seconded. Seconded. Seconded. Seconded. Seconded. Seconded. Seconded. Seconded. Seconded. Seconded. Seconded. Seconded. Seconded. Seconded. Seconded. Seconded. Seconded. Seconded. Seconded. Seconded. Seconded. Seconded. Seconded. Seconded. Seconded. Seconded. Seconded. Seconded. Seconded. Seconded. Seconded. Seconded. Seconded. Seconded. is adopted. Resolution number 93. Authorizes the submission of a letter of intent and grant application to New York Sea Grant for a study and plan to address flooding issues on Creek Road and Sound Road in Wading River. So moved. Second. Vote please. Waskey? Yes. Merrifield? Yes. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Alpin? Sid, you're not here, but yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution number 94. Prove special event chapter 255 application for Chicken Kids LLC consignment event. So moved. Seconded. Vote please. Waskey? Yes. Merrifield? Yes. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Alpin? Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution number 35. 95, right? 95, which is 35. Pays bills. So moved. Seconded. Vote please. Waskey? Yes. Merrifield? Yes. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. And Alpin? Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution number 96. Appoints a network and system specialist to. So moved. Seconded. Vote please. Waskey? Yes. Merrifield? Yes. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Alpin? Yes. Welcome. Resolution is adopted. Resolution number 97. Authorizes the supervisor to execute an agreement with New York State Urban Development Corporation, DBA, Empire State Development. So moved. Second. Vote please. Waskey? Yes. Merrifield? Yes. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Alpin? Yes. Resolution is adopted. I believe there's three coming off the floor at least. Yes. Yes, we do have, I want to make sure I proceed with this correctly. Someone needs to make a motion to move the first one off the floor. So if I can just take a moment first, I'm just going to briefly explain what's taking place. So, um. Local
have our highway department out in force on the roads this weekend, which means overtime and payment and so forth. And so what the issue is, is that we will not have a replacement for Joan for probably a couple weeks till we go through the civil service format of things. And so we are going to need assistance in the highway department to take care of things such as payroll and so forth. The idea is that eventually Joan will train whoever comes in. So we're going to put together a little consulting agreement for her to return once we select a new employee, and she will spend some time just training them. So there's a couple different resolutions. The first one is to accept her retirement. Then the second one will be to create that consultant agreement. And also a third one to allow the union so that they understand that we just very briefly authorize the supervisors to have an agreement with them to allow somebody, a consultant, to do union work while we search for a replacement. All right. So it's just because of the... Upcoming storm. Normally we'd say, well, we could just wait till the next time we're meeting. But we'd hate for our highway workers to think that they came in on Saturday and Sunday and worked till late evening hours, and then they're told that their pay is not going to be effective until we hire somebody new. So we don't want to keep them waiting. I want to show appreciation for everything they're doing. So we have three resolutions. First one is going to be resolution 2026-98, approves the retirement of an administrative assistant. So I make a motion to take this off the floor. Second. Second. Vote, please. Washgate. Yes. Yes. To take off the floor. Very true. Yes. To take off the floor. Turn. Yes. To take off the floor. Rothwell. Yes. To take off the floor. Okay. Yes. Off the floor. And now we just have to allow time, not to step in toes, but if we don't want to do comments on this particular resolution, do you want to do comments for each one? So if anyone has a comment on this, and before we take comments off the floor, I'd just like to say this is not for, again, for unplanning or any other, you know, reason. This is not a reason that someone would come up with. This strictly has to do with making sure that we have the right people in place and that Joan can continue to help us. It's really a tremendous help and we're so thankful for it. But if anyone has one. If I could make a quick recommendation, maybe move all three of them off the floor, entertain public comment, and then they can be each moved individually and voted on. Okay. So, yep. So thank you, Eric, our counselor. So we want to go ahead. Do you want me to just do them all? Yeah. Will you read them? Nobody else want to do them? No, you can read them and then we'll go to move them later. So next is tabloid resolution 2026-99, authorize the supervisor to sign a consultant professional services agreement with Joan Modern. So move to take off the floor. Second. Off the floor. Waske? Yes, to move off the floor. Merrifield? Yes, to move off the floor. Hearn? Yes, off the floor. Rothwell? Yes, off the floor. Alpin? Yes, off the floor. Resolution 99 is off the floor. 13. I think you have one more, right? Then we'll be up to resolution 2026-100. Make a motion to take off the floor. Authorize the supervisor to execute agreement with the CSEA Local 1000 AFSCME AFL-CIO Riverhead Unit of the Suffolk Local Number 852. So move to take off the floor. Second. Vote, please. Waske? Yes, off the floor. Merrifield? Yes, off the floor. Hearn? Yes, off the floor. Rothwell? Yes, off the floor. Rothwell? Yes, off the floor. Alpin? Yes, and we didn't say, Joan, we are so sad to see you go in retirement because we made that motion in the beginning, but we are going to miss you, but we're glad we're getting you back on Monday for a little bit. So, yep, absolutely. Okay. Resolutions 98, 99, and 100 are alive. And now, Counselor, you're saying if someone would like to make a comment, right? Yeah. Open comment on resolutions 98 through 100. Open comment. Anyone? Anyone? Anyone online? There we... Two. Two online. Comment on the resolutions? Yes, sir. Oh, okay. Caller number one. I think that she probably thinks that the resolutions are over. Hi, Ellen. Hi, everybody. I'm just wondering, as to the consulting agreement that you're about to enter into, is there an anticipated timeframe for when it ends? I don't know. We're thinking about fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed fixed Hello, Kathy. Can I get another smile? Yeah, just state your name and again, please, for us. Kathy McGrath, Northville. Just a quick recommendation. Have you all given some thought to putting live the pre-submission hearings? Some very interesting things. Pre-submission sessions. Some very interesting things happened there. This is on the three resolutions that we just put forward. I said open comments from the public. We had to take some resolutions off the floor. I realize that. We did open comments and there wasn't any. I'm so sorry you did miss that. But if you want to send an email about that, I have been asked that question. I'd be happy to answer it for you. Have you already had? Have you already had open comments from the public on any matter? Oh, no, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It's been, yeah, so it's next. Yep. Okay. The guy put me on because, never mind. We'll be back. Oh, well. We'll be back to you in just a second, Kathy. Hang on there, caller. I was so excited about the CDA meeting, I wanted to jump ahead. All right. Anybody else on our, for the resolution since we double backed? Nope. All right. So we're. Resolution number 98. Yes, sir. Approves the retirement of administrative assistance. So moved. Second. Vote please. Waske. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Congratulations. Stern. Yes. Rothwell. I did tell Joan that I was going to vote no just to make her stay and work through the snowstorm. Aw. She doesn't really need her. She has been really wonderful in the highway department, so I want to congratulate her retirement. Yeah, absolutely. I know you're grateful. And I'm grateful for her to stay around a little bit. And once we have a replacement in place, she is committed to making sure and assisting, you know, the training of a new person. But she's been great, not just on the highway department. She's been great for all of the CSEA workers throughout the whole town, working, you know, on the, you know, for the union and so forth and negotiating fair contracts. And that's what they were. They were very fair contracts. She was very straightforward throughout those years and years past. So congratulations, Joan, but thank you for sticking around. I'm going to say, regardless. Thank you. I'm going to say, regrettably, I vote yes because I wish we could keep her. Absolutely. And help her. This is Modern. You're one of one. Thank you and yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution number 99. I just want to make a motion to amend the resolution 99. It's 2026. We don't have to do that. We don't have to do that. Because we wrote it. We wrote in that change prior to moving it off the floor. OK. So it's already proper. Is it showing that? Yeah, we did it before. Yeah. Right. OK. Yes. OK. Thank you. Sorry. Yep. Yep. Yep. Authorized supervisor sign a consultant professional services agreement with Joan Modern. So moved. Seconded. Correct, Terry, before we? Yes. OK. Vote, please. Waski. Yes. Marie Fium. Yes. Kern. I'm going to stay with Councilman Rothwell, Joan. I'm not going to vote for this. And hopefully you stay on. I guess I will. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Yes, sir. Resolution is adopted. And resolution 100. What else do you want to do? Authorized the supervisor to execute agreement with the CSEA local 1000 AFSCME AFL CIO Riverhead Unit of the Suffolk Local Number 852. So moved. Second. Vote, please. Waski. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Alpin. Yes. Resolution is adopted. Second. Resolution is adopted. That does conclude our resolution. That concludes our resolutions. Now it's time for open comment. Ladies and gentlemen, again, when you come to the podium, we ask that your comments and understand if we don't say anything back. It's not because we don't love you. It's just because we're listening. You do love us. I have a quick question. Claudia Bianco-Bading-Hallow. Does anybody know if the HAZMAT unit is up and running? And if not, when it will be? So I can answer that it is not completed yet. But they are there. They're working constantly. Oh, I know. They're in school. And it is, you know, coming in the next few months, hopefully. So as long as we have the resources and all of the tools, our fire marshal is updating us. You can go back. He spoke at the last work session about it. I know. I watched it. Yep. But in the next few months. I don't. Yeah. We hope. We don't want to give a definite. No, I know. And it's a very, very important unit. And it's really imperative to have that up and running. And I think that's what we're trying to do. I think that's what we're trying to do. I think that's what we're trying to do. I think that's what we're trying to do. And it's really imperative to have that up and running before any best unit is installed or considered. And I know you just said a public hearing or permission to post for a public hearing for two of them. But to allow an applicant to get a best system going without a hazmat unit is incredibly dangerous. Anything can happen. And we need to have the right unit. I mean, they can't do very much as it is. But we need to have the hazmat unit in place before we put any best units in there. I will tell you that four of the unit members did attend training in Alabama for a full week. They're certified. Okay, great. You know, and this battery energy storage isn't going to happen overnight. I know. That takes time as well. I know. I would just like to have. And it is a concern of the fire marshal. And we did have the chiefs in contact. We have the chiefs and commissioners here to discuss different things lately. And that is a great concern to them. So they're all working together. I know. I watched. The departments, including Manorville, to make sure that everything is in place before anything moves forward. Good. The residents and their safety is number one priority. I know that you feel that way. But I just want to make sure. I didn't know where we were in the process. Claudette, just so you know, it's required. They can't start to operate a battery unit unless they have a good, reliable, reliable fire department. And they can't start to operate it unless all the fire personnel are trained to how to respond. It's a requirement. That's great. And I understand they're paying for that. Is that correct? Yes. I'm just pointing that out. Oh, that's good. So just this way. We're not it's not required for them to have a hazmat team just for a correction. So they're implementing all the state had recently redid all of the fire prevention protocols. Right. And so they've come out with an entire new list of. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Right. Right. The HAZMAT team allows us to be on scene faster, responder, and protect locally. Right. In addition, but let's, you know, if there was an event or something that our HAZMAT team couldn't respond, they still automatically, when you have two fire departments respond, and on any battery powered energy storage, you're going to have more than two, I mean, maybe half a dozen responding. Right. What happens is immediately, the Suffolk County FREZ unit responds to the scene, and they take command, over command operations. And then at that point, they are going to reach out to other neighboring departments, could be anywhere in Suffolk County, that do have a HAZMAT team to respond. A big team effort. I know. Cary itself doesn't have a HAZMAT team, but they're establishing others. I know there are a lot of safety protocols as well, and I understand that. It's a great collaborative effort, but I'm going to absolutely commend our Chief Fire Marshal, Andrew Smith, for putting it together locally. Right. It just means we get beginning operations a lot faster. Right. And we know our town. That's terrific for our town. Best town on Long Island. It is. Thank you. Thank you, Claudette. Thank you. Anyone else? Let me guess. Is there one on line? Two on line. Look at that. Take them first, people. We'll just wait for you, Mr. McAuliffe. No roll. John McAuliffe, Rolling Woods. On the payment on the use of the, the full-time staff, we are not going to be able to get the full-time staff. No, we are not going to get the full-time staff. No, we are not going to get the full-time staff. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.
field for the parking i realized i didn't see it because it was in the contract all the way at the bottom maybe you could put those kinds of numbers in the resolution so people would know right at the beginning what is involved i also assume that you have figured out whether any of this is going to overlap with the racetrack not street yes sir we have taken that into consideration so you're clear on that okay um on the uh business on the the town square and the park and the hotel um first of all i want to express appreciation that the letter somehow went into the spam box and this and jim's staff person or his deputy director was able to find it pull the mic up a little sure there you go it was able to find it and therefore it got on on the agenda today and i appreciate her extra effort to do that great stuff there um i would note if people have a chance to look at the pictures or better yet if they have a chance to walk by that what i am going to be bringing up in a variety of ways until it's totally hopeless is how much better that space could be used as a green sword rather than for a hotel on the hotel the size has changed it was originally four-story now it's five-story but that's the way it was described in the agreement the moving from 76 to 80 rooms was not in the agreement um i don't know if that's changed the dimensions of the building i don't know whether the number of units is something that means the agreement itself has to be modified um so i don't know what what the implications are and so i'm really asking what what uh the 76 to 80 whether they've just read they've divided the room or divided up the floors differently or why you've moved to the larger number of units
where are you seeing 80 units it's it was what was in the stories about the demolition uh that's where it said 80 units well there hasn't been any site plan submitted for it yet so there hasn't been any kind of final okay so the the numbers that are in the agreement are not i think those were general general description of the of the project okay all right well that's seen anything form yeah anyway it's going it appeared as though we're an official statement and the stories about the demolition is where it said 80 okay 80 units so okay good question thank you for comments uh mr mccullough appreciate you coming out tonight i encourage people to take a look for themselves and make up their own minds appreciate it perfect timing mr mccullough all right our online guest how is it going mr mccullough good morning mr mccullough good morning mr mccullough good morning mr mccullough good morning mr mccullough good morning mr mccullough good morning mr mccullough Mr. McCullough. All right, our online guest. How are these ships going to get into the river? That's easy. Helicopters. All ships.
Hello, Ellen. Hello, Ellen Hoyle from Riverhead. As we're getting ready to deal with a major snow impact, or what we hope is not a major snow impact, I was wondering if now would be a good time for the town to do a study as to the cost effectiveness, because I live on Sound Avenue. When I go down anywhere south of Sound Avenue, I have to deal with drifting snow on from the farm fields. What would be the cost effectiveness of replowing these roads on a constant basis almost, versus the town encouraging or paying even for small plants or hedges to be planted along the fields of the farms to avoid drifting snow?" That is it. Well, we appreciate your comment and it will be, it's heard and it will be at least listened to. Thank you. Thank you. Our next caller. Our next caller.
I feel like we should have intermittent music. Kathy. What do you want, music? Hey, McGraw, Northville. I just wanted to suggest and ask that pre-submission conferences, which are on the board's agenda, on the town board, on the town's website, that they be videoed so that the public can see them. A lot of interesting things happen in those pre-submission conferences. And I've also noticed there aren't really all that many, so I don't think it would be a terrible cost for you all. I just offer that as a request. Well, I hear your request. And since taking office, I have asked those questions. And I do agree with the answers I've received. And that is, is that because of intellectual property of people coming in, different things that aren't, and overshooting that, you are welcome to come to those at any time. But we are not going to, at this time, live broadcast those because of where they are. So that is kind of where it's at. And it's understandable. You're welcome to call tomorrow. And I'd give you a much lengthier explanation of that. You could set up a time with David, my lovely staff person, and even schedule a meeting. But I would be happy to help explain that to you. And I would be happy to help you in greater lengths. If I can come and watch, I don't understand why you couldn't film it. But I'll follow up. Thank you very much. Well, thank you. Appreciate that. All right. No more comments. So I believe, ladies and gentlemen, that concludes our meeting. May I have a first? No, we have to. No, you got one more on. Oh, one more online. And then you have the CDA. No, no. We have to close our meeting and then open the CDA meeting. I do have that part down, right? All right. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All right. One more online.
Hello, Mr. Harari. Thank you again. You're welcome. And perhaps my questions might be better reserved for the CDA meeting. But, Mr. Supervisor, I recognize you're only here a couple weeks. But you, of course, are involved. And you are, in effect, the chief financial officer of the town. And you ultimately will be responsible for providing a budget for the town. My question to you is, now that we have the start of a private hotel project for a major donor to Riverheads Republicans. What was the potential liability? And what was the cost? And what was the cost? And what was the potential liability for town taxpayers for the town square? And what portion of the town's reserves have been designated to foot the bill for the town square? And again, I may ask the same questions of your CDA director. What is the town's commitment for a multimillion dollar project? What is the commitment for a multimillion dollar project? And what is the commitment for a five-million dollar parking garage, particularly in view of the fact that the town's own parking study indicated that the town has adequate parking facilities? And finally, I ask whether the analysis by the town's attorneys and other officials in connection with the town's public public office wouldsein曲o Local ! Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local Local are able to answer any of these important questions for taxpayers of our town. I hear your questions and appreciate them during our comment section. And as I said to you last time you spoke, I would love for you to email those to me. And then I can give you have my you have my email, Mr. Superintendent. You're free to answer them if you can or direct me to a member of your staff. I was trying to answer the town town staff that can provide answers. So as I said last time, Mr. Hurry, which is greatly appreciated. If you would. I heard your questions, but I would love for those to be reinforced in writing to me. If you'd send those to me an email, then I can give you an articulate intellectual answer for those the best I can. So appreciate it. Thank you very much for your comments tonight. And we're done. We had zero. Well, fantastic. Thank you, everybody, for your public comments, concerns. We are going to ask for a first and second to close this meeting. May I have a first and second? So moved. Second. Vote. Are all in favor? Sorry. Anybody opposed? No. All right. So moved. All right. That ends and we will be moving in to open our CDA meeting. Good evening. And did you. Good morning, sir. Close and open or we need to open stuff. Oh, no, I guess we have to open. Yeah, we have. We have to open your. So, OK, if I can have a first and second to open the CDA meeting. So moved. Second. Vote. All in favor. Aye. OK. Anyone opposed? That's fantastic. Thank you, Don. We have three resolutions this evening. The first is, I'm sorry, to amend some policies and procedures of the agency, including the investment policy, the procurement policy and the donation policy. Those are. And resolution number one. Number two is the omnibus resolution, which basically affirms. I believe I believe I have the only copy on up here. Do you have copies for everyone? Oh, they're in. I know we did it in the work session. They're on your. With it. It just wasn't printed. I thought you have them on your. I just think we neglected. I don't think they were printed. That's all. OK. I do not have the same one. For. Call. Yeah. But you guys like to. You want to see my copy? So you. I think. Don't. If. I. I think. You read them off. Yeah. If you read about this. OK. We went over. Yeah. We went over. I read these. So. Was the donation there? Yeah. But. No. I know. Why don't you go through them? I read them and read them all. Just remind me of what they are. That's. Yeah. OK. So there were three policy amendments. The first is the procurement policy. The second is the CDA investment policy. And the third is a donation donation policy. So we. We amended the procurement policy to match what is. Currently the town's procurement policy. We amended the investment policy similarly. And the. We are adopting a donation policy which is. A mirror to the one that the town recently adopted. Those are the three policies that were recommended by the. Governance committee in the December meeting. The. Second resolution is the omnibus resolution. We do this every year. It basically affirms. All the prior policies. It will now affirm the policies. That you're adopting and amending today. That resolution needs to be. And it also sets forth the membership of the committees. Which if you remember in our last resolution. I hadn't updated. We are. I have a proposed update for those committee appointments. And those are on page. One of resolution number two. Which you don't have. I'm sorry. But. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. That's okay, Bob. Can I read those? Yeah, sure. So the proposed changes to the resolution will be resolved that it said Tim Hubbard, it will say Jerry Halpin, and it said Bob Curran, which is Denise Merrifield, who currently serves on that, to be appointed to the Audit Committee and shall serve at the pleasure of the Board. And then, again, the second one was resolved. Oh, I'm sorry. That was for the Governance Committee. And then Jerry Halpin from Tim Hubbard will be changed. And the second one said resolve that Jerry Halpin and Jeanette DiApolo are appointed to the Audit Committee and shall serve at the pleasure of the Board instead of William Rother. Thank you for that. And I apologize. So before we took comments on those resolutions, I wanted to make sure those amendments were in place. And the last resolution is a mirror resolution of the Town Board's earlier resolution relating to authorizing the execution of the agreement for, I don't know, USGA. And so that resolution is now in this packet as well. And that was discussed at the work session. So the first order of business would be to take public comments on any of those resolutions. If there are any. I just have one question. Sure. On the investment, can you just explain that a little bit?
The amendment to the investment policy? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I'm looking for it. Here, I'll give it to you. I'll give you mine. Which page is it on? It's the second. It's attached to the resolution.
She's here. Oh, here it is. Permitted investment? Yeah. Page seven. Good memory. There's only one change to the investment policy. It's just that we started adding. Chase Bank and NY Class to the list of banks that we deal with. Those should really be the only two. We just mirrored it to what the rest of the town of Everhead uses. So. That's just the towns. That's a good question. Great question. Denise, did you have a question? I'm just that we're going to make an amendment on the resolution off the floor, right? About the omnibus resolution. Yes. And that is the one that the supervisor just identified, which is the committee members. Which I had the old, you know, an old resolution draft in the packet. The committees are the governance committee will be Jerry Halpin and Denise Merrifield. And the audit committee will be Jerry Halpin and Jeanette DiPaola. And that's the only amendment to that. Oh, I'm sorry. Never mind. There is another amendment on this on the second page or the third page of that. We had the resolution number blank. So. The. It adopted. It stops the policies that will be in the first resolution. So we have to just call that resolution number one of 2026. You also have to. Did you make the amendment for the third resolution? I was going to say that until we got to the third resolution, because this seems a little. A little jumbled. Right. Yep. Okay. Are there any comments on any of those? Do we want to do that now? Yeah. That would be public comment. I would like to comment on any of those resolutions. Yep. Anyone online? Nope. All right. Well, look at that. Okay. So we can go ahead and call those resolutions. Community Development Agency Resolution Number One of 2026 amends procurement policy and investment policy and adopts a donation policy for the Town of Riverhead Community Development Agency. So moved. Second. Vote please. Waskie? Yes. Merrifield? Yes. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Halpin? Yes. Okay. Resolution Number One is adopted. Resolution Number Two we would move as amended. That resolution is entitled Omnibus Resolution Relating to the Requirements of the Public Authorities Accountability Act of 2005 and Ratifying All Prior Committee Charters and Policies of the Community Development Agency. So moved. Second. Okay. Waskie? Yes. Merrifield? Yes. Is amended. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea plea Eric has a moment. All right, so this resolution authorizes the license agreement between the town and the CDA and precedes the agreement between the town and the USGA. So on this one, it appears that it was just copied from the one that was in the town board packet. So in the title, we just need to line out supervisor and insert CDA director and need to line out community development agency such that it should read, authorize the CDA director to execute a license agreement with the town of Riverhead. And then in the first resolved, we need to line out the supervisor in the second line and replace that with CDA director and then line out CDA in that same second line and replace with town of Riverhead. That's the extent of the amendment. Okay, so should I read it as amended then? Yeah, do you have the title? Yes. Okay. 2026-03, authorize the CDA director to execute a license agreement with the town of Riverhead. So moved as amended. Second. Waskey. Yes. Merrifield. Yes, as amended. Hearn. I'm sorry. Yes, as amended. Rothwell. Yes. Halpin. Yes, as amended. Resolution. Number three is adopted. Thank you. And then we would take comments on, open comments on all CDA matters.
Okay.
Ma'am, could you please state your name? Yep. Laura Jen Smith from Riverhead. I was just wondering, this is just any update on EPCAL and the contract, the lawsuit with EPCAL. I think last time the comment, the judge was on leave. Maybe if I remember correctly, and I'm just wondering if there's any update on that. No. So the judge had been taking on additional cases because another judge was on leave. So he was handling some of the backlog. We unfortunately do not have a decision yet. I continue to hope that it will be forthcoming soon. I think we are now past the one year mark of that motion being fully submitted. Is there any projected time frame for it to be heard? The projected time frame is that it's supposed to be. It's supposed to be decided within 60 days. So we're well beyond that. But there's not a lot of procedural options at the town's disposal to compel a sooner decision. And typically I wouldn't recommend doing that. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for your question. Any other comments on CDA matters?
Good. Okay. Then we can go ahead and close. Oh, look. No. No. Look at that. We spoke too soon. Sorry. It's the meeting. I should have got up earlier. All right. That was awesome. I love this. Remember, 21 days. 21 days. Ms. Thomas, you may have heard my questions to the supervisor earlier. And I wonder if you might be able to shed some light on those questions. First, what is the potential contribution by taxpayers or liability for taxpayers in connection with the town square? Are you able to answer that, ma'am? I do not have any numbers in front of me. I wasn't prepared for your question, Mr. Hariri. But as the supervisor suggested, perhaps you could email. And I had actually suggested. I had actually suggested to you prior that, you know, if you'd like to stop by our office, we can go all through the projects and we can show you all of those numbers. I don't have them off the top of my head. As you know, I'm well adept at providing interrogatories. And I'm certainly willing to provide it. I've been very frustrated by your constant lack of response and avoiding the answers to these simple questions. As director of the CDA and director of other departments, these are matters that should be off the top of the draft. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to answer that. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to answer that. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to answer that. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to answer that. Judge Judge Judge with multiple different grants that apply to each project. So when you talk about the town square and you ask a question, I just want to make it clear that it's not a very simple question and it really wouldn't be off the top of anyone's head. So you would need to be a little bit more specific as to what exactly you're asking for, and we'd be happy to provide it for you because it is indeed, as you know, excuse me if you'd let me finish, Mr. Herrer, all public record. Thank you. And my question will also include, particularly since you and other members of this board were responsible for the Jazz Laws project where the purchaser anticipated a grant which no longer existed. So my question to you will also include how many of those other grants that you anticipated are no longer there, and how many grants were based on numbers based upon costs you anticipated that are no longer valid because you're, were based upon costs from many, many years ago. Another question I would expect you to be able to answer is in light of the fact that your own parking study indicated that parking in Riverhead is adequate, is the town still committed to provide a parking garage for Mr. Petrucelli's hotel under the deal you negotiated? So I'm happy with that. And I would also include those in an email to you. Yes, please do that, Mr. Herrer. But I would expect answers. If unfortunately tonight in the rules that are existing in our town, that is our time for your question and comments. So appreciate those and appreciate everybody who participated tonight. So happy faces. Everybody here gets a high five before you leave. Tom, would you like to close the meeting? Yes, I would. We need a motion and a second to close the CDA meeting. So moved. That was quick. Waski. Yes, and thank you for all that you do, you and your staff. Thank you. Thank you very much. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. You want to keep it open for a little while? Up to you. You're sitting up there. I'm good to close. Okay, you're good. Rothwell. This might have been a record long CDA meeting. I know. This has been amazing. Well, it isn't anywhere close to a record, but it's a recent record. And it's certainly a record for the last 12 months. Halpin. Yes, ma'am. And don't forget before the CDA meeting closes to mind our snow emergency this weekend. Take care of our highway guys. They take care of you. Fantastic. Thank you for the meeting.