Summary AI
The Riverhead Town Board passed more than 40 resolutions covering infrastructure contracts, personnel appointments, committee reappointments, two energy-storage special permits, and an eminent-domain public-hearing notice for 111 East Main Street; public comment focused heavily on that proposed taking and on an immigration-enforcement transparency law proposed by a local advocacy organization.
Key actions
- The board awarded a bid and established a capital project for the Meetinghouse Creek bulkhead renovation, both adopted unanimously.
- Three change orders related to sewer-district construction contracts (plumbing, electrical, and general) were approved.
- Beach parking permit fees were waived for veterans, volunteer firefighters, and ambulance members residing in Riverhead.
- An administrative assistant and a traffic-control specialist were appointed to town departments; detention-attendant positions were filled after the board amended the hourly rate from $20 to $28.
- Special permit and site-plan approvals were granted for two battery-energy-storage facilities in Calverton on Edwards Avenue and Scott Avenue.
- The board authorized an appraisal for a portion of the Nassau County 4-H Camp property on Sound Avenue.
- A public-hearing notice for a proposed eminent-domain taking of 111 East Main Street was authorized; two board members voted no.
- The board authorized a public hearing on proposed amendments to commercial-district dimensional regulations in the Town Code.
Money
- Total tax collections as of April 15, 2026 were reported at approximately $110.4 million.
- The Meetinghouse Creek bulkhead project is estimated to cost approximately $745,850, with all costs for the Summer Wind Farm water-main extension paid by the developer.
Public hearings & comment
- A public hearing on the Summer Wind Farm water-main extension in Aquebogue was opened; the record will remain open for written comment for ten days.
- Multiple residents and online speakers urged the board to adopt an immigration-enforcement transparency law drafted by a local Latino advocacy organization, citing fear in the community and activity by federal immigration agents.
- Two speakers asked the board to table or reconsider the eminent-domain resolution for 111 East Main Street, raising questions about cost, intended use, and adequacy of environmental review.
- One speaker raised concerns about a request to allow drifting and other motorized vehicles on the track at a local water park, citing an existing covenant restricting use to go-karts and calling for full environmental review.
Auto-generated from an unofficial, machine-made transcript. It may misstate names, figures, or votes. Verify against the agenda and the full transcript below.
Full Transcript
Thank you.
Thank you, Supervisor. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, of the God, invisible, with liberty and justice for all. And, Councilman Rothblatt, we have someone for the invocation. We do. We are once again happy to see the chaplain of the Riverhead Fire District and associate pastor of the House of Praise, Pastor Justin Winters, his senior, is here today. So thank you for joining us once again. Thank you for having me here again today. Unfortunately, I'm going to do this prayer and then, unfortunately, I've got to do a meet and go to another meet. But I'm just happy to be here and thank you for having me again. Justin is a great volunteer throughout the community, so thank you for taking the time out today. No problem. Thank you. Would you bow your heads with me? Oh, Heavenly Father, we're so thankful to be here today. Oh, Heavenly Father, we ask that you who are on their way here, O Lord, and protect those who are already here, O Lord. Father, we thank you so much for letting us be able to gather here today, O Lord, that we may listen to one another, O Lord, and come do the right thing for this community, O Father. Father, we ask that you continue to look after our council of people on the board, O Lord, that you may guide them and protect them too, O Lord, Father. And Father, we know that they have many thoughts and different things that they have to take care of, O Lord, and we know that you will help them to take care in a manner worthy of our love and guidance, O Lord. And Father, let us who also have issues that we may also be able to listen and learn and to come to one understanding of everything that we need to know, O Lord. For this day, we're thankful and grateful for, in Jesus Christ's name, let us say amen. Amen. Thank you very much, Chaplain. And council members, do we have any announcements? Do we have any announcements tonight? Yes, I do. I have a couple tonight. First, I want to remind everyone that April is National Donate Life Month. This is a month to raise awareness about organs, eyes, or tissue donations. And they encourage people to register to be a donor for these items. And I also want to remind everyone that it's not just for donors with regard to once you pass away. The other thing I'd ask everybody is to remember those people that are in need of kidneys. 100,000 people alone are waiting for kidney transplants in the United States of America right now. And 12 people die every day in the United States while waiting for a kidney transplant. I'd like to give you the website, Kidney Transplant Services at Stony Brook Hospital. They do a wonderful job. I'll plug them because I myself am a kidney donor. I donated a kidney. I donated a kidney. And it's a wonderful feeling to help save someone's life. And I'm just living proof to tell everyone you can do this and go on to live a healthy, happy, productive life. You won't even miss it. And I want to let everybody know the website is www.stonybrookmedicine.edu slash patientcare slash transplant. You do a wonderful thing for a human being. And I highly recommend it to everyone. That's one, April Awareness Month, a national donate life. Second, I'd like to remind everyone that the Holocaust Memorial Program is happening at Temple Israel in Riverhead. It's this Sunday, April 26th at 1 p.m. And this year, they have grandchildren of Holocaust survivors that will be speaking and have a panel discussion. They are our living link to preserve the legacies and the lessons of the Holocaust. And I encourage everyone, if you had some time, on the 26th to attend. And lastly, if I can, one more. This is composters and rain barrels. We are doing a ratification of the brand builders that has a website for the town where you can purchase the composters and the rain barrels. And I spoke with Joe Rudd from the engineering department. And June 13th, mark the day, June 13th, at the Young's Avenue facility from 9 to 3 a.m., if you purchase these, they're going to be available. Thank you. And the link is online at the website. You can pick them up on June 13th over there at Young's Avenue from 9 to 3 p.m. Thank you, Supervisor. Absolutely. Mr. Rothwell will go right down the line. Sure. A couple announcements. First, Councilwoman Merrifield, thank you very much for being an advocate for organ donation. I think that's amazing. I have some less serious nature announcements. So I just want to take a moment at least to thank and wish a very happy birthday to our town board, our town board coordinator, Tina Boullier, who has been amazing since her arrival here, I believe in December, of getting us organized. And she's done a fabulous job. So I wish her a very happy birthday and celebrate her birthday wishes along with her family. Second is Veterans Hometown Hero banners. Many of the banners you see have been installed. We were surprised during the installation that we received many brackets that were, you know, bent or damaged during the winter months. And so they are actively being repaired by our Building and Grounds Department. So we do expect all the banners to be up. And we also have the other ones in Jamesport up in the next day or two. So I want to personally thank Riverhead Rotary for attending. They were a phenomenal group of individuals that came and participated in hanging the banners. Thank, of course, Councilwoman Merrifield was present, Supervisor, you're present as well. So thank you. You know, many hands mean light work. And so I think we got a lot done that day. But there are still more banners that will be hung up over the next few days. So if you don't quite see your loved ones' banner, they are coming. And third, I am getting a text right now. Chip, if you don't mind just taking a look at it, says that there is an error code on the live stream. So some people may be having difficulty right now seeing our meeting active. So we can take a look at that to make sure everyone can access what we're doing tonight. Thank you, Supervisor. Absolutely. OK, thank you. This Saturday will be the spring cleanup throughout the town of Riverhead. Here, everybody can meet at 9 AM between 9 and 11. And you will be given trash bags and gloves and safety vests, pickers to go out, bring your family. Sorry, I heard something. There's a little voice up. OK. Bring out your family and your friends. OK. Bring out your family and your friends and make a nice day of it. Originally, it looked like it was going to pour rain. But today, it looked a little bit better. So we're hoping that we'll be able to do it. It is rain or shine. And the Lions Club will be here as well that day during 9 and 11. And they will be collecting electronics. So if you have any old radio, cell phones, keyboards, things of that nature, bring them down and they will collect them. And find a place for them. And then were you going to speak about the America 250? No, no, no. Go. Well, I think Bob has one. Yeah, just quickly, and it's a good one. Opening day, Little League, 1030 AM, Granville. I'm sorry, Stotsky Park. Come see the future Yankees and Mets play before they get too big. And we'll be looking for their autographs. You just hurt Mets fans' feelings horribly by mentioning their future players. But May 1, Suffolk Theater, 8 PM, the Great American Bash is happening. There are very limited tickets. We are so excited because they're selling like crazy. So go on the Suffolk and make sure you get your tickets. It's going to be a great night. Come in all your garb. And I believe there's a contest for that. Also, we're excited to announce June 4, the fourth before the fourth, it's going to be at the Granville Park. It's going to be a country party. It's going to be a big party. And we're excited about those details that will be rolling out over the next few weeks. So lots of great stuff going on. And we have lots more to tell you about in the next coming days, different things that will be happening throughout our town. So with all of that said, I believe that's all of our announcements. And so I just wanted to, one more? Small thought. All right. Councilman Kern is quite amazing on the guitar we learned. He did a wonderful performance of Happy Birthday. He is extremely talented. We thank you for your sharing. And just a quick one. Streaming is now working. Streaming is now? Yeah. I just got a text. So anybody who's out there listening. I think you're just avoiding that we're going to have to come in and, you know. Oh, yeah. All right. It depends. You know, it's a big ticket price. He's great. He's quite talented, I must say. You're very impressive. I'm sorry. Did you say streaming or strumming? Streaming. Exactly. Both. So we'll quite thought. You guys are in such a treat tonight. So and we'll turn it over to our town clerk for correspondence and reports. Okay. Currently on the correspondence, we received three letters in reference to the Science Center. And then we received a letter from Mark McLaughlin from the anti-bias chairman for correction of a public statement that was printed. And two letters from Jimmy Dreven, who's a member of the Alternative Transportation Committee in reference to the bike trail up at Epco. And they can all be read for debate on the agenda on the website. On the reports, we received total tax collection from the receiver of taxes as of April 8th of 2026 at $109,555,288.99. Receiver of taxes produced their monthly utility report for the March at $426,191.17. The town clerk's monthly report for March was $15,651.50. The building department monthly report for March was $189,888. Then the receiver of taxes total tax collection as of April 15th was $110,400,091.27. That concludes our correspondence and our reports. Thank you, Mr. Wooten. We have a motion to approve the bill. So we have one scheduled public hearing tonight for 6 p.m. The time is actually 612 for Summer Wind Farm Water Main Extension. And our water superintendent, Frank Mancini, is here to start that off and to lead it. Hi. Good evening. Thank you. I'm Frank Mancini, the water district superintendent. And I was there for that performance, and it was fantastic. Jeez. So we are presenting a map and plan for the summer. Summer Wind subdivision. It's a major subdivision located on Peconic Bay Boulevard in Aquebog. It'll involve the construction of 15 new homes, hooking up one existing home to water, the installation of three fire hydrants, and 1,820 feet of 8-inch pipe. We estimate the cost to be about $745,850. Key money applies to a major subdivision. So all of these expenses are paid for the developer to the benefit of development to the developer. It's already within the boundaries of the water district. So it's like we're going to build a small neighborhood in Aquebog surrounded by farmland. Anybody have any questions? I'd just always like to repeat that it's paid for by the developer. Absolutely. There's no cost to taxpayers. Yep. I think we'll just have you move to the side, and we'll ask if there's any comments or questions.
From anyone in the room or anyone online? Give everybody a couple seconds just in case they were logging on. I don't want to be too quick. Anybody in the room? Okay. Frank, if you can come back up. So we will be closing this public hearing. We will keep it open for 10 days, which should put us at I believe it's May 1st, which is a Friday. It's written. before 10 days, which should put us at, I believe it's May 1st, which is a Friday, for written comment, and then we will close it. So thank you, Frank. All right. Thank you, Supervisor. Absolutely.
So with that, we'll turn it over to our resolutions with Clerk Wooten again, but before we have him go through them individually, we will open up the floor for any open comments on the resolutions, public comments on the resolutions. Sorry. Two?
Is that what I saw? Again, if you come to the podium, just please say your name and where you're from, and that would be awesome. Cindy Clifford, Riverhead. There is a consensus among residents, particularly those who have ever taken the time to come to a town board meeting to share their concerns or opinions, that historically their input has had little, if any, impact on the final decisions. That for the most part, at least for some of you, your minds are already in the air. So aside from the legal requirement for a public hearing on the town's plan to take over the Science Center, should the residents believe that taking their time to come to address that vote will matter? At the last town board meeting, Lucy Barnes presented each of you with a 92-page packet to set aside erroneous claims of the Science Center's purported inactivity. Those pages substantiated a year's worth of working with the various departments to move the project forward. It seems the scheduling of today's vote is not as important as it is today. The vote confirms those supporting the takeover did probably not take the time to page through the packet, because if they had, it seems this resolution would not be on the agenda, unless there is a covert goal at play behind the scenes, in which case following suit a public hearing would be nothing more than a formality and a waste of breath. My intention is not to be hostile or contentious, but to convey a frustration and disappointed that I am one of many concerned citizens who feel that, as I stand here sharing my viewpoint, the than has often been the case, independent of what we want. So I would ask before you vote on setting a public hearing that you consider whether you might better serve the residents and our downtown revitalization by tabling the resolution indefinitely or for an agreed amount of time and commit to working with the Science Center to attempt to bring it to fruition. Thank you.
Good evening. Sorry about that. Kathy McGraw. Nice to see you in person. Yes. Pardon? Nice to see you in person. Oh, I'm glad to be here in person. And out of character for what many of you may think about me, I'd first like to say thank you to the town for the splendid job you do on sanitation. Garbage collection in this town is unbelievable. It happens multiple times a week. It's done really efficiently. And I thank you. I live part of the year in the city that doesn't do nearly as well. Thank you very much. But I'm here to speak on Resolution 404, the condemnation of 111 East Main Street. It seems to me that the resolution and proposed notice in the paper are deficient. The only stated reason is that the resolution is deficient. The only stated reason for this taking by eminent domain is, quote, general municipal purposes. Just what does the town plan to do with this building? Tear it down? Reuse the building? If it's to tear it down, what will the property then be used for? Are we supposed to guess? How will this taking enhance the town square project? If we don't know your intentions... intentions, how can we, the public, make a meaningful response to this proposed taking during a public hearing? The law requires that within 90 days of the public hearing, the Town Board will adopt and publish its findings and determinations with regard to the effects and purposes of the proposed acquisition and project, including the public use, benefit, or purpose to be served by the acquisition. How will you be able to meet this legal requirement if you can't tell us how you specifically plan to use the property? And finally, having provided no specific use for this property, how can you state in the notice in the paper that is attached to the resolution that this Type 1 SECRA action has been neg-decked? If you can't tell us how the property will be used, how can you know that whatever you may do there with it will have no significant environmental impacts? It's nonsensical and underscores, in my view, what little respect this Town shows for meaningful SECRA review. I think this public hearing is premature and should be postponed. And if any of you would like to share with us what you plan to do with that property, I'd love to hear it. Thank you very much for your time. I think we have one online, so we'll take that person online. Don't forget all those great announcements you heard earlier while we're waiting on that to come up. It's good stuff. It was a lot of fun doing the banners on Saturday. That was excellent. I don't think he's there yet. I'm here. Good afternoon. I'm sorry to have to interrupt you. I'm sorry to interrupt you. I have to do it online. I wrote to the members of the board that I have other obligations. I'm in two Zooms at the same time. I will basically read what I sent, prefacing it slightly to say that I hope that at least one of the three people who are proposing this resolution, proposing eminent domain, reconsiders. Okay. I will take seriously the request for postponement of further consideration. But the questions I have may go to the reasons that I think that postponement is important. The first is to ask you how much it costs to go to court to achieve eminent domain against crafted. You must know that number. How much more will it cost? Okay. So the answer is quite specific. eminent domain. Remember, Kraft did not, so it was very easy for you to win in a short court hearing. But if the Science Center raises evidentiary questions and legal questions, that's going to raise the bill for the town. I would guess also from the reaction tonight and other times that there will be people from the community that might show up and testify on that question, which will further elongate the hearing and the cost. So what kind of money are you talking about to proceed on this? Second, if you do win in a domain, what will it cost for the town to purchase the property approximately? How will it be paid for? There was some reference in the last discussion to bonding or something like that, but what are the costs associated with that? How long will it be before the land is then sold to a private buyer? Third, will the town plan to demolish the building, which you complained mightily about in terms of its condition, or will it sell the land as is and leave that? Demolition to the purchaser, which presumably will take some months to move through. Fourth, have any board members or the planning department or Joe Petrucelli had conversations with potential buyers? Who are they? What do they want to do? What do they plan to do? What kind of agreement? Or semi-agreement have you already had with them about what ought to happen with the land? Well, thank you, Mr. McCullough. Last question you consider to be my usual obsession, but if you seize the science center's land, is it conceivable that you move Petrucelli's hotel to that location so the East End Arts Council is not hidden behind a five-story box? And the Suffolk Theatre is not as overwhelmed. Thank you very much. Thank you, sir. One more on the line. One more on the line. Mr. Herrera, can you hear us? Yes.
MR. HERRERI, CAN YOU HEAR US? MR. SUPERVISOR, IN VOTING AGAINST MOVING FORWARD WITH THIS RESOLUTION, YOU HAD WARNED THAT THE TOWN IS IN A FINANCIAL DEFICIT. YOU ALSO SPECIFICALLY WARNED ABOUT THE PROJECTED COST OF CARRYING THE BUILDING TO TAXPAYERS AND LEGAL FEES ASSOCIATED WITH LEGAL ACTION IN THIS MATTER. WE KNOW ALSO THAT MILLIONS HAVE BEEN SPENT IN CONNECTION WITH THE CRAFTED BUILDING, WHICH WAS A TINY FRACTION OF THE SIZE OF THE SCIENCE CENTER'S PROPERTY. RIVERHEAD IS THE POOREST TOWN ON LONG ISLAND WITH AMONG THE HIGHEST TAXES ON LONG ISLAND. THE TOWN HAS PIERCED THE TAX CAP FOR THE PAST DECADE, AND OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS WE'VE EXPERIENCED A 20% TAX HIKE ALMOST. TO SAY THAT THIS BOARD AND PRIOR BOARDS HAVE SPENT LIKE DRUNKEN SAILORS WOULD BE A DISGRACE AND INSULT TO THE COMMUNITY. WHERE IS THE MONEY COMING FROM FOR THE TOWN SQUARE AND OTHER PROJECTS LIKE I THINK A POTENTIALLY GREAT PROJECT WOULD BE ACQUISITION OF THE 4-H CAMP? THERE'S BEEN STILL NO CLOSING ON THE PETROCELLI PROJECT, AND I'VE BEEN ADVISED THAT NO PLANS HAVE YET BEEN SUBMITTED IN CONNECTION WITH THAT PROJECT. AND THE RIVERHEAD LOCAL REPORTED THERE WERE STILL OPEN QUESTIONS. ABOUT THE EAST END RELOCATION. IT APPEARS THAT THERE'S BEEN A DISPARATE TREATMENT IN TERMS OF THE SCIENCE CENTER IN ITS EFFORTS TO OBTAIN AND PROCEED WITH ITS OWN PROJECT. AND I WOULD ALSO NOTE THAT COUNCILWOMAN MARYFIELD PREVIOUSLY COMPLAINED THAT AS A NOT FOR PROFIT CORPORATION, THE SCIENCE CENTER HAS NOT GENERATED TAXES FOR THE TOWN. BY CONTRAST, THE MASTER DEVELOPERS OTHER PROJECT, THE AQUARIUM AND RELATED PROJECTS HAVE RECEIVED THREE DECADES OF IDEA BENEFITS FOR WHAT I CONSIDER TO BE A FAILED PROJECT THAT HAS NOT DONE ANYTHING IN TOWNTOWN EXCEPT ALLOW IT TO CONTINUE TO BE A GHOST TOWN. I'M CONCERNED THAT THIS IS A CLEARLY IMPROPER DISPARATE TREATMENT AND I'M JUST WONDERING THAT PERHAPS THE SCIENCE CENTER AND ITS PRINCIPLES SHOULD HAVE MADE BIGGER CONTRIBUTIONS TO RIVERHEAD'S GOP. THANK YOU. NEW SPEAKER IS IT ANYONE ELSE IN THE ROOM ON RESOLUTIONS? OKAY. I DON'T SEE ANYONE. SO WE WILL HAVE OUR CLERK, MR. WOODEN. IT IS YOUR TURN. WE WILL START WITH RESOLUTION NUMBER ONE, RESOLUTION 360. AWARD'S BID FOR MEETINGHOUSE CREEK BULKHEAD RENOVATION SO MOVED. SECOND. MOVE, PLEASE. WASKEY? YES. MERRIFIELD? YES. KOERN? YES. HOUGHWELL? YES. ALPIN? YES. THAT RESOLUTION IS ADOPTED. RESOLUTION 361. CAPITOL PROJECT NUMBER 12607, MEETINGHOUSE CREEK ROUTE BULKHEAD RENOVATION. OKAY. SO MOVED. SECOND. MOVE, PLEASE. WASKEY? YES. MERRIFIELD? YES. KOERN? YES. HOUGHWELL? YES. ALPIN? YES. RESOLUTION IS ADOPTED. RESOLUTION 362. APPROVE SEWER DISTRICT REQUEST FOR CHANGE ORDER NUMBER TWO RELATED TO THE CONTRACT P, PLUMBING CONSTRUCTION RDSD 202, I'M SORRY, 2202 PROJECT. SO MOVED. SECOND. MOVE, PLEASE. WASKEY? YES. MERRIFIELD? YES. KOERN? YES. HOUGHWELL? YES. ALPIN? YES, SIR. RESOLUTION IS ADOPTED. RESOLUTION 363. APPROVE SEWER DISTRICT REQUEST FOR CHANGE ORDER NUMBER TWO RELATED TO THE CONTRACT E, ELECTRICAL CONSTRUCTION RDSD 2202 PROJECT. SO MOVED. SECONDED. MOVE, PLEASE. WASKEY? YES. MERRIFIELD? YES. KOERN? YES. HOUGHWELL? YES. ALPIN? YES. RESOLUTION IS ADOPTED. RESOLUTION 365. Related to the contract G general construction are DSD 2202 projects so moved. Second. Vote please. Waskey. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Alpin. Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 365. Ratifies acceptance of donation of portable toilet and maintenance to sewer districts. So moved. Seconded. Vote please. Waskey. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Alpin. Yes. Thank you. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 366. Waves fee for the town beach parking permits issued to veterans and volunteer firefighters and the ambulance members residing within the town of Riverhead. So moved. Seconded. Vote please. Waskey. Yes. Thank you for all that you do for our town. Merrifield. Yes. Thank you very much. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Thank you veterans and first responders. Yes. And Alpin. I concur with all of that. Thank you and yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 367. Authorizes sewer district employee to attend seminar. So moved. Seconded. Vote please. Waskey. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Alpin. Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 368. Authorizes town justice to attend New York State Office of Justice Court support town and village judicial continuing education program. So moved. Second. Vote please. Waskey. Yes. Merrifield. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Alpin. Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 369. Appoints an administrative assistant. So moved. Seconded. Vote please. Waskey. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Alpin. Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 370. Appoints traffic control specialist to the police department. So moved. Seconded. Vote please. Waskey. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Alpin. Yes. Resolutions adopted. Resolution 370. to the police department. So moved. Seconded. Vote please. Waske? Yes. Merrifield? Yes. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Halpin? Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 371. Approves the salary adjustment for detention attendant. So moved. Seconded. Vote please. Waske? Yes. Merrifield? Yes. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Halpin? Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 372. Appoints detention attendants to the police department. So moved. Second. We need to amend this. The hourly rate, the one before moved the hourly rate from 20 to 28 and it could not be, this one could not be changed until that was accepted. So this is from the Chief Frost's recommendation. So we met with him and he asked for that so the balance everything out. So if we could have a motion to approve. Okay. So we have a motion to amend if possible. On which one Supervisor? Is it 372? Yes ma'am. From the 20 to 28 dollars an hour. Or if there's discussion on that. It was the Chief's reason. Yeah we did. We picked up on it. We discussed it during work session. It's okay. I'll reiterate it. He just said that they to be competitive with other towns and what they're hiring so that they can continue to maintain it and not have to pull officers off the street. Yeah. But we need to do it in a minute and then we'll have to open it up to the floor for comments if there are any. These are not officers they're attention attendants. No, no these are but if he doesn't have an attention attendant he has to then pull someone in so if he can't fill the spot is what he said so. So. It's just a motion to amend. Yes a motion to amend. It needs to be seconded and then voted on. Do you want? I still want to make a motion. You need a motion? Yeah I need a motion to amend. I'll make a motion to amend from 20 dollars to 28. I'll second. Vote please. Waske? Yes to amend. Merrifield? Yes to amend. Kern? Yes to amend. Rothwell? Yes to amend. Howkin? Yes to amend. That resolution is amended and 372 we're amending? Yes. Okay. So are there any comments from the public either in the room or online regarding this? Give everybody a second. Okay I don't see any. All right so we're clear. So if there's any questions. Do you want to reread that? Thank you. Do you want to? Points to attention, attendance to the police department. So moved. Seconded. Vote please. Waske? Yes. Merrifield? Yes. Kern? Yes as amended. Rothwell? Yes as amended. Howkin? Yes as amended. That amended resolution is passed. All right resolution number 373. Authorized rate increase for justice court interpreters pursuant to administrative or administrative or administrative ! Oh thank you!
and or part-time traffic control officers so moved second vote please yes mary field yes kern yes did i read the wrong one i did it correctly i'm just going to abstain just because my son's name cameron rothwell is listed on this my son has been in paramedic school so he has not been participating as a traffic control specialist over the last year while he's in school but may choose to attend afterwards so i'm going to abstain from my vote and happen uh yes that resolution has passed uh resolution 376. to make it changes the status of part-time police officers so moved second vote please waski yes harryfield yes kern yes rothwell yes yes solutions adopted resolution 377. yes
adopted resolution 378 reappoints michael reichel to the conservation advisory council so moved second vote please waski yes barryfield yes kern yes rothwell yes yes resolution is adopted resolution 379. appoints marjorie acevedo to the veterans advisory committee so moved seconded vote please waski yes barryfield yes kern yes rothwell she's great yes yes resolutions adopted resolution 380. reappoints lisa murrah fertile to the disability advisory committee so moved second vote please waski yes yes kern yes rothwell yes yes sir resolutions is adopted resolution 381. reappoints tom lavoda to disability advisory committee so moved second vote please waski yes barryfield yes kern yes rothwell yes yes resolution adopted resolution 382 reappoints joy o'shaughnessy to the disability advisory committee so moved second Vote, please. Waske? Yes. Baricu? Yes. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Alpin? Yes. Resolution adopted. Resolution 383. Reappoints Megan Bamberger to the Disability Advisory Committee. So moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waske? Yes. Baricu? Yes. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Alpin? Yes, sir. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 384. Reappoint Sue Gannon to the Disability Advisory Committee. So moved. Second. Vote, please. Waske? Yes. Baricu? Yes. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Alpin? Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 385. Reappoints Julie Barnett to the Disability Advisory Committee. So moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waske? Yes. Baricu? Yes. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. And Alpin? Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 386. Reappoints Liz O'Shaughnessy to the Disability Advisory Committee. So moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waske? Yes. Baricu? Yes. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Alpin? Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 387. Appoints Matthew Karloff to the Disability Advisory Committee. So moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waske? Yes. Baricu? Yes. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Alpin? Yes, sir. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 388. Appoints Michelle Cuomo to the Disability Advisory Committee. So moved. Second. Vote, please. Waske? Yes. Baricu? Yes. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Alpin? Yes, sir. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 389. Establishes committee membership terms for the East Creek Advisory Committee. So moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waske? Yes. Baricu? Yes. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? It's just a number of resolutions for all these people volunteering, so I just say thank you very much for stepping up and participating. So I vote yes and thank you. I think this is the last of them. So thank you very much for your volunteer work. Thank you. Yeah. And Alpin? Yes, sir. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 390. Authorizes submission of a letter of intent and execution of a contract by the supervisor for Operation and Maintenance Grant Program to New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation, EFC. So moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waske? Yes. Baricu? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Alpin? Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 391. Authorizes the Community Development Department to apply for a New York Places and Learning Activity and Youth Socialization New York Plays grant. So moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waske? Yes. Baricu? Yes. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Alpin? Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 393. Authorizes extension of agreement with Urban Design Associates, LTD. So moved. Seconded. Resolution 393. Authorizes the authorization for the Senior Citizen Program Director to execute a Memorandum of Understanding with New York State Commodities Supplemental Food Program for 2026. So moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waske? Yes. Baricu? Yes. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Alpin? Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 393. Authorizes extension of agreement with Urban Design Associates, LTD. So moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waske? Yes. Baricu? Yes. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Alpin? Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 394. Ratifies authorization for the supervisor to execute a stipulation with an employee. So moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waske? Yes. Baricu? Yes. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Alpin? Yes, sir. [transcription gap] The Office of the AG. Great program. It is a great program. Alton. Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 396. Authorizes the town supervisor to enter into an agreement with Briser LP for third-party fire and life safety compliance services. So moved. Second. Vote, please. Waske. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Alton. Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 397. Gratifies authorization for supervisor to sign a professional services agreement with Brand Builders Media LLC. So moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waske. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. And I'd like to state that this is a particular program that the town of Huntington, the town of Southampton, the town of Southhold also participates in. We had a work session where members of the Climate Smart Committee came in and spoke and the town engineering department. What this program will do is... The website will be up and participants can purchase the composters or the rain barrels on the website that's on our town site. And you can pick them up, as I said earlier, on June 13th at the Young's Avenue facility from 9 to 3 p.m. This is something the DEC is very interested in towns doing, reusing waste by composting and also reducing waste by not having to bring it to landfills. So, yes. Okay. Kern. I'm going to vote no because I don't have enough information. I don't know why we're paying a for-profit company to be on our website. And so at this time, I'm going to vote no. Rothwell. Can I vote yes? Hoppin. Yes. That resolution is adopted. Resolution number 398. Amends Resolution 2023-18. 34. Approves 2026 Special Event Application Fee Schedule. So moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waske. Yes. Harryfield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Hoppin. Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 399. Approves Chapter 255 Application for Jamesport Fire Department. Sound to Bay 5K10K. So moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waske. Yes. Harryfield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Got time to train, so I'm going to say yes. Hoppin. Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 400. Gratify authorization for an appraisal for a portion of the property commonly known as Nassau County 4H Camp located on Sound Avenue, Town of Riverhead, and described as Suffolk County Tax Map No. 600-41-1-PO, Lot 15. So moved. Second. Vote, please. Waske. Yes. Harryfield. Yes. And thank you, Councilwoman Waske. Thank you for all your work in this effort, and former legislator, Catherine Stark. Absolutely yes. Thank you. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. I say ditto to Maryfield. Yes. And Hoppin. Yes, sir. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 401. Grants special permit approval for the special permit application entitled Hampton Chitney Battery Energy Storage System 253 Edwards Avenue, Calvator, New York. County Tax Map No. 600-117-1-6.6. So moved. 1-806. Seconded. Vote, please. Waske. Yes. Harryfield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Hoppin. Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 402. Grants special permit preliminary and final site approval for the special permit application. Seconded. Yes. Maryfield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Hoppin. Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 403. Grants special permit application entitled Hampton Chitney Battery Energy Storage System 221 Scott Avenue, Calverton, New York. Grants special permit preliminary and final site plan approval for the site plan and special permit applications entitled Scott Avenue Energy Storage System 221 Scott Avenue, Calverton, New York. Suffolk County Tax Map No. 600-135.20-1-12. So moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waske. Yes. Harryfield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Hoppin. Yes. Resolution is adopted. Yes. Waske. Yes. Harryfield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Hoppin. Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 403. Town Board Determination Findings. Esthetician's Office used similar to professional office. So moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waske. Yes. Harryfield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Hoppin. Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 404. Yes. Waske. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Rahead.
I'll second it. Vote, please. Waske? Yes. Merrifield? Yes. Kern? No. Rothwell? Yes. Alpin? No. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 405. Ratifies the authorization of the town clerk to publish in post-notice of public hearing relating to the proposed increase and improvement of the Riverhead Sewer District facilities. So moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waske? Yes. Merrifield? Yes. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Alpin? Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 406. Authorizes the town clerk to publish in post-notice of a public hearing to amend Town Code Chapter 301, Attachment 3 of the Riverhead Town Code, entitled, Commercial Districts of Dimensional Regulations. So moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waske? Yes. Merrifield? Yes. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Alpin? No. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 407.
I'm sorry. Authorizes town clerk to publish in post-public notice to consider a local law to amend Chapter 293 of the Riverhead Town Code, titled, Waterways and Water-Related Activities, Article 9, Shellfish and Fin Fish. So moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waske? Yes. Merrifield? Yes. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Alpin? Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 408. Ratifies award of bid for town Honda Upward Motors or the town of Alpin. Yes. Alpin? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Alpin? Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 409. Extends bid for dry hydrated lime. So moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waske? Yes. Merrifield? Yes. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Alpin? Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 409. So moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waske? Yes. Merrifield? Yes. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Alpin? Yes. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 411. Pay his bills. So moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waske? Yes. Merrifield? Yes. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Alpin? Yes, sir. Oops. Sorry. Resolution is adopted. That concludes the resolutions for this meeting. So with that, we finalize our resolutions. We'll move into our open comments from the public. Again, there is a three-minute regulation for that, and we ask that you adhere to that with respect for those around us. We have a few people online. I'd like to open it up in person first. So if there's anybody in, if you could please come to the podium again. Remember, we're listening to understand. But if you could do that, just say your name and where you're from. That would be great. I have a comment, too. Yes, sir. Sure. If you'd like to go, go ahead. Yeah, real quick. On resolution 393, which authorizes extension of agreement with Urban Design Associates, LPD, and unfortunately, I don't see Dawn here. Joe, you're here. Yeah. What I would like to do is to have, one second, Urban Design at a work session, and bring us up to speed what they've done and what they're doing, so that the community understands what's going on at the town square. Okay? Thank you, Joe. Yeah, you can just come to the podium. Thank you. Thank you for letting me speak first. It's your floor. I'm a guest. No, no, no. What? Hello, Riverhead Town Board. My name is Brody Eggert. I am the Eastern Long Island Chapter Manager for the Surfrider Foundation. And here today, I'm here on the behalf of the Surfrider Foundation, which is a member of the 300 Organization Coalition in support of modernizing New York State's Bottle Bill. I'm here to urge your support for the legislation. As you know, the Bottle Bill has been on the books for over four decades and is the law that requires a nickel deposit on carbonated beverages, water bottles, and cans. The legislation was initially designed as an anti-liquid. It was a very simple measure, but quickly became the state's most successful recycling program. Roughly two-thirds of the covered beverage containers are redeemed, meaning those containers are returned and that nickel goes back into the consumer's pocket. Yet, there are many containers that did not exist in 1982 that do exist today. And they should be covered under this law. I have with me an example. This Pepsi here is covered under the law. But this very similar-looking iced tea container is not. It's a very similar-looking ice tea container. Expanding the law to nearly all beverage containers would help reduce litter and even reduce municipal waste costs for the local taxpaying public. It is that point I wish to emphasize today. This morning, you should have received a memo from the Coalition that urged action in support of this legislation. And with it, a report from an independent think tank that examined the fiscal benefits of its approval. As estimated in that report, the taxpayers of the town of Riverhead could see a reduction in solid waste disposal and litter cleanup costs totaling over $110,000. As shown off by this kind of comically small check for all of you. Any steps to curb solid waste costs must be embraced in this climate of affordability and the need to reduce budgets. As you may know, the Surfrider Foundation is a national nonprofit dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of our world's oceans, waves, and beaches. One of the ways we do this is through organizing beach cleanups. In 2025, two of the top ten most common items collected from our beaches are related to bottles, the bottles themselves, and the associated caps and rings. The Bigger Better Bottle Bill would not only save the town of Riverhead money, but it would keep plastic off of our beaches. Therefore, I urge you to consider supporting the legislation. That support can be shown either through a local resolution, such as the ones already approved by dozens of New York localities, or by simply letting our local state representatives and Governor Hochul know that the Bigger Better Bottle Bill is a measure worth supporting, especially for our East End community. Toheadheadhead headhead
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only covers certain types of beverage containers specifically water carbonated beverages and a few others but certain things like iced tea and sports drinks haven't been covered on it yeah vitamin water is also not covered on it because it's flavored water thank you no it's not just what's at the beaches anytime we're doing litter cleanups it's the biggest item picked up on the roads exactly models so i did receive the email and i read it and i think that it's it's great for for our town and i'm the liaison for the anti-litter committee and i plan on bringing that information to them addressing it with them and seeing how we can do our part here to help your initiative thank you councilwoman i thank you all for your time i think we need to advocate to the state of new york because there's something that's long been like things like lemonade and iced tea have never been addressed you know in the in the in the nickel deposit program so yes thank you thank you thank you for coming out thank you so much absolutely anybody else oh there we go hi my name is kimberly wilder i did not come to support that initiative but it sounds very wonderful it's funny when sometimes you have the laws have to catch up to the reality so i hope we can get all our bottles covered um i came i'm not the most knowledgeable person and i'm wondering if some of the knowledgeable people are online but i i am very concerned at the level that the way ice works with communities works with our fire departments around long island sometimes letting them use the parking lot the way that ice interacts with police that it causes a lot of undue fear and intimidation in our community and i wish that we could take control and do immigration in a more compassionate and humane way if we do have to do immigration i was heartened to hear that the organization ola went through a lot of trouble to create a proposal that that's a model that towns could use to help them create synergy between police and ice in the correct ways the the correct working together in the correct not working together so i i'm really supportive of that and any efforts that we can do to keep ice at bay i don't think i should be anywhere near a school i wish we could make a giant perimeter children do not deserve to be in in the party of adult violence, legalities, whatever. Children are very special, and churches, schools should be protected from any attempts at law enforcement. Thanks.
Hi there. My name is Rebecca Ray, and while I'm not a resident of the town of Riverhead, I, like many residents of the East End, come to Riverhead often. Can you just say where you're a resident of? Sure, East Moriches. I'm also a business owner there, a small business owner. But I come to Riverhead often to shop and take care of errands, and I too am concerned about the increased ICE activity here and across the country. I'm also a board member of OLA, which is a nonprofit Latino-focused advocacy organization working in East Hampton, South Hampton, South Hold, Shelter Island, and Riverhead. I'm here today to advocate for the adoption of the East End Act, which is a non-profit Latino-focused advocacy organization that supports the education of the community. The law is based on the East End Public Safety and Accountability Law, crafted by OLA, and former State Assemblyman Fred Thiele. If you hadn't had a chance to read the law, I do have it right here, if you'd like to take a look. This law focuses on what towns and villages can do to create effective emergency responses that better support our communities during ICE raids. I have family in Minnesota, St. Paul, and Minneapolis specifically. So I've seen firsthand what happens when there is no, no plan in place to deal with the random federal ICE raids by ICE agents. While I understand that local law enforcement does not have the power to stop a federal agent, we need something in place to build confidence that our emergency response systems are ready to protect the community. Adoption of this local law will connect accountability to action while defining roles and emergency plans for each town and village, specifically Riverhead. For example, police sharing immediate knowledge of a raid before or during that raid with the town or village. Leadership allows that leadership to engage in a coordinated and a collaborative response. Timely transparency, I believe, is paramount to give the public a sense of safety that we all deserve. We've witnessed what happens, and I've witnessed firsthand what happens when communities are not protected. Kids don't attend school, roads become less safe, and people become afraid to leave their homes. Our shared trust in public safety is then broken. So I'm asking you to read the proposed law from OLA today and consider its adoption [transcription gap]
beg your pardon I just wanted to remind the town board that we have some vacancies and in the PB zoning or a lot of the second floors would be you know for people to live and and right now these doctors offices and I know there's at least an attorney's office that's left the area because of like Northwell and things like that they're they're sucking in the doctors they have to they have to practice where they're told to practice and we're getting some vacancies over there you know I have an interest in that so it just I understand there's there has been some discussion with the town on this that you and that there's there may even be a master plan coming up sometime in the near future where this PB zoning is going to be looked at a little closer you know I have a building over there myself it was overlaid with PB while still the zoned residential so I'm gonna I'm a little I'm stuck you know I have an apartment that I can't use because they got overlaid circa 2002 just two years before the PB came in and now I now I have this vacant apartment up there so we had thank you we do a change of use for the down for the building tonight resolution where we're gonna be playing a spot there instead of a doctor's office but a lot of the other doctors offices are still empty there must be at least four of them that's popped up in the last year okay that's what my only comment on that if you just try to keep that moving and and well I didn't come up here to say this but I'm going to say that I'm going to say that I'm going to [transcription gap] So just give me one second, Barbara. Let's see.
Can you hear me? We can, yes, ma'am. Please say your name and where you're from. Sure thing. Allison Matway from Wading River. Good evening, Supervisor Halpin and council members. I am on the call tonight to express my support for the proposed legislation by OLA. This legislation asks only one thing, that this town board and our town police do what they are charged with doing to protect and serve all members of our community. I have had the privilege of getting to know many Latino members of our community, including the kids in our schools with whom my own children were educated. And they are afraid. The idea that masked, unidentified men and women are taking people from their jobs and homes and sending them into detention centers, a.k.a. concentration camps, is terrifying. Imagine how your own children would feel if they were constantly on high alert because of the color of their skin, constantly worried if they or their family members would be abducted. Students from both Riverhead High School and... Middle school, my understanding is, continue to have school resource officers available to them. And I feel like the school resource officers are kind of like a model for this legislation. And I don't understand why we wouldn't adopt it. The school resource officers have forged relationships with the students and vice versa. And it makes everyone feel safer in their schools. So I don't understand why not extend... I don't understand why not extend this concept to the entire town and police department. Why not have the police be liaisons between the families and the federal agents who may or may not even be legitimate actors? Seems to make the most sense to me. And the way people, including our officers, will feel and stay safe is by forming these relationships that ensures our communities are safe places for everyone. I implore each of you to consider this legislation from a place of responsibility. Thank you. A place of empathy and community. We all want the same thing. To feel and be safe. This legislation is a step in that direction for our town. And I urge you to support and implement this legislation. Thank you. Thank you, Alison. Barbara, did you want to come up?
Good evening. My name is Barbara Blass and I live in Jamesport. Thank you. First, I'd like to totally support...ask that you totally support the expansion of the Bottle Bill. It actually had its beginnings in our own Suffolk County legislature. Barbara, can you just get a little closer? You...oh, am I...you're the only one that always tells me that. Don't be shy. I'm not shy. Am I really not coming... What do you hear what you have to say? You can't...okay, sorry. Chip, turn the audio up in here, please. Oh, geez. Get your guitar. You and Barbara can... Yeah, there we go. All right. We did last night. Can we get multiple camera angles? She was with me last night. Honestly, yeah. So, I don't think you can prevent someone from seeking administrative relief if it's available. But it just doesn't seem right to me that an entity who is receiving IDA benefits, it's already a form of tax relief, can take the town to court and grieve for it. And grieve their taxes further. I know that the IDA is an independent body, but their decisions affect our tax base. And there's got to be a way that pilot agreements can be crafted such that at least a portion of it should not be able to be further reduced. It kind of sounds like it's double dipping to me, and I think it's wrong. And I don't know what can be done about it. But I was... I'm hoping that at least a conversation can be started because it just doesn't seem... And most of the IDA... Most of the tax cert cases are from individuals, entities that receive tax relief already through IDA. So, Barbara... Yes. I just want to let you know, I've addressed this with the IDA to have, you know, quite a while ago, to have legal language in there. That one, while they're getting benefits, they can't grieve. And two, you know, there's got to be... X amount of time after the benefits expire, you know, so they cannot grieve their taxes. I agree with you wholeheartedly. It's very discouraging because they're getting sales tax benefits. Yes. And I grant you, you know, at the end of the day, you know, Riverview Lofts was paying, I think, $32,000 when it was just... That property was blank. We started them at $38,000. Now they're over $100,000. And they're not... You know, they're not paying their taxes. They're not paying their taxes. And they're not, you know, they're not somebody grieving their taxes. But, you know, that building is paying well over $100,000 now. But to see somebody come back later and then grieve their taxes, I've addressed it and will continue to address that. So you've had discussions, but nothing has been... Yeah. I want something in the legal language to that effect. You know, just what you're talking about. Well, I'm happy to hear that. Thank you for... No, you're very welcome. You're very welcome. Off the top of my head, I can't remember what the date is of the next IDEA meeting, but I will definitely... They're usually the... I believe they're usually the first Monday of the month. They've kind of been... Oh, have they? ...dumping around a little bit. They're... All right. Okay. So I'll let you know exactly what it is, and I would love for you to come and speak with them. Absolutely. I'd be willing to do that. Thank you. Thank you for your time. Thanks, Barbara. All right. Thank you.
Kathy McGraw, Northville. Scott's Point, which may very well be the most renegade operation in Riverhead, has submitted yet another amended site plan. It seems there's no end to the violations and illegal changes Eric Scott makes at this water park. Only to come back to the town. [transcription gap] permit. The town issued violations and even filed a lawsuit, but as usual with the serial offender, the town board capitulated and approved an amended site plan legitimizing all these illegal additions in June of last year. Not even one year ago, the approval included a covenant that the track would be used exclusively for go-karts, all other vehicles prohibited. In fact, during consideration of this amended site plan, Ken Myers, Scott's representative, told you that the track was too small for cars and was only meant for go-karts. Because only go-karts would be used, the town did no environmental review to determine if cars or other vehicles on the track could contaminate the groundwater lake adjacent to the track. Well, not even a year later and sure enough at last week's work session, Scott's back asking for cars for drifting events and the use of hit bikes on the track. Really should be no surprise if one watched the video made two years ago when the illegally built track was completed. It's a video made by a drift driver who at Scott's invitation test drove the track for drifting events and declared it terrific. You can see the video in a recent column in the Riverhead Local and it should be required watching. Also, at last week's work session, Mr. Myers mentioned that although they asked for special event permits for their drifting at the track, they really think drifting should instead be a regularly allowable event. So we know where that will be going if the board approves the latest amended site plan. The first or second drafting event, they'll seek a special permit. After that, who needs no stinkin' permit? Just do it. My time is short, but as it appeared at the work session that you all are inclined to approve the site plan, I will end by urging you not to do so before conducting a full environmental impact review of drifting on this track. DEC may have closed the mine reclamation permit and think as Mr. Myers does that this takes DEC out of the picture, but it should not and does not do so. And for sure, this technical issue is not something that we should be asking for. It's something that we should be asking for. And for sure, this technical issue is not something that we should be asking for. The hometown board has a legal and moral obligation to Riverhead residents to protect the groundwater in this lake by doing a thorough CQRA review before acting on SCOTT's latest amended site plan. Kathy, I'm going to have to cut you off here. I have more to say. I have more to say but I'll submit it in writing for inclusion in the minutes of this meeting. Thank you. Oh gosh, you don't do minutes anymore. I forgot. I appreciate your time. I'm Colin Tooker from Riverhead. As a frustrated economist, I apologize to everybody for a brief, bluntly worded economics lecture. Immigrants have not invaded our country. They came here due to economics. Not their economics, but our economics. The laws of supply and demand work naturally, and our demand for labor has required more workers than our immigration system legally allows. Simply put, there are not enough legal immigrants, and we need more workers. So for decades, we've ignored our immigration laws and drew hardworking, illiterate immigrants. We've brought illegal immigrants into our country. Our employers offered jobs, our marketplace offered opportunities, and we benefited from their labor and their contributions to our economy and to our culture and our town. The demand for labor exists, and the supply naturally follows. We know our immigration system is broken, but we don't fix it. We keep inviting immigrants into our country. Many legal and many illegal. And we give a wink and a nod to the business owners who employ the illegals. However, at the same time, some of us have decided that the illegal immigrants have to go. They call them criminals and portray them as murderers and rapists who have invaded our country. They demand that the government round them up and get them out. So masked men in unmarked cars hunt them down. They poach random brown people off the street, which I witnessed myself one day on the corner of Sweezy Avenue and Main Street. They rip good people from their families. They lock them up in detention centers and eventually deport them. All the while, some of us exclaim with glee, ice, ice, baby. We are begging immigrants to come here to work and support our economy. But at the same time, we are terrorizing them and demanding that they leave. It's a cruel game that a lot of people seem to be taking a lot of joy into. So here in Riverhead, my home of 63 years, my Latino neighbors, both legal and illegal, are afraid. I don't like that. I think we need to do something about that.
the country's immigration problems but at the least we should assure that our legal immigrant neighbors feel safe in our town because it's their town we can make sure they feel understood and that they feel welcome we can do this at least for our legal immigrant neighbors and then maybe just maybe we could show some compassion to the illegal immigrants that we've invited to be
after this person will pull somebody up online nope you can't up okay so then just pull somebody up online if we're don't forget all those great announcements you heard the and then we're going to go ahead and get to the next one litter cleanup which is going to be fantastic this weekend you heard all the reasons to pick that up hello everyone can you hear me you can yes um hi my name is Brianna Hearn and I'm a Riverhead resident and a mother I work with local youth organizations here in Riverhead and across the East End as a nonprofit consultant and a grant writer I mean in addition I run the butterfly effect project garden club and I'm a swim coach for I-TRI, preparing Riverhead middle school girls for a youth distance triathlon in July. Like many here tonight, I'm here to voice my support of the OLA public safety legislation and urge the town board to pass it. This local law focuses on what towns and villages and their own police departments can do to create effective emergency responses that support all of our public institutions, including the nonprofits I work with, schools that our children attend, hospital daycare centers, places that affect all of our residents. So Riverhead has experienced more random ice raids than any other eastern town, and yet we're the only town that has yet to address this legislation. There is a palpable fear among Latino youth and families in the community that I have experienced all the time, and it's hurting our town. This fear is preventing youth and families from attending programs and events that would assist them in so many ways, from economic planning to career preparation to resource distribution, and we must do something to alleviate this fear. The fear has permeated our youth, riddling them with anxiety about whether their parents will be taken when they are at school or whether they'll be detained on their way to and from school. Our youth are already facing mental health challenges. I can provide you lots of statistics. I research in my grant writing, I'll speak to you in a moment, but I'm going to start with the first one. I'm going to start with to start with the first one. I'm going to start with the first one. I'm going to start with the first one. And this fear is exacerbating them tenfold. And this fear and trauma doesn't just affect our Latino students and families, it affects their classmates and school communities, negatively impacting everyone in our community. We owe it to our kids to at the very least address and consider the OLAW legislation and create a community task force to figure out how to implement it. Kids deserve to feel safe and know where their parents are, and this law will help ensure that is the case. Additionally, as a resident, I care deeply about the long-term economic viability and success of our downtown businesses. A large number of our downtown businesses are immigrant-owned and serve immigrant patrons. I have heard from immigrant neighbors and community members that they are scared to go out and patronize these businesses due to the presence of ICE in our community. We need to ensure that all residents feel safe going to these businesses and that they can keep their doors open. We don't want any more empty storefronts. So this is not only about the safety, but the future of our town. The best protection against disruption of public safety is a clearly stated law that includes roles, responsibilities, and consequences, and transparency. Having this law in place and clearly communicating it to town and village employees, police departments, emergency services, community members, institutions, nonprofits, houses of faith, is a unified act that builds the trust needed and exhibits the commitment. We are committed to maintaining a level of care and safety for all town and village community members. Thank you so much for your time.
Is there anybody else in the room before we go back online? Yeah, you were welcome before.
Hi, everyone. My name is Sarah Reynolds, and I live in Riverhead. Thank you for listening. I'm also here about the proposed OLA public safety law. Just talk really loud. You can't hear me? Well, we had a little trouble with the speaker. Yeah, just to please. Okay. I'm also here about the proposed OLA public safety law. It is about a law about public safety and transparency. Can you hear me? Sure. Okay. Federal immigration agents create chaos and fear for everyone when they come into our community wearing masks and tactical gear without communicating with local law enforcement. Okay. Thank you. I wonder how often do other federal agents such as FBI or DEA carry out investigations without informing local law enforcement. And I definitely know they don't hide their identity with masks. And so I'm wondering what is what could be the justification behind why immigration officers should operate differently than other federal agents and differently from how they have operated for the past 20 plus years. If an FBI or DEA agent doing a drug bust or arresting a gang leader isn't scared enough to need to hide their face, why does an ICE agent need to? These anonymous masked agents that come into our community could be mafia, gang members, vigilantes, but we're just supposed to trust them. Why? The reason law enforcement wear uniforms and show their badges is to convey authority and trust. But a mask and lack of identification does the opposite. All of this makes the public less safe and local police's job harder. In this new environment, it's harder to keep the peace, maintain law and order and public safety and it erodes public trust of law enforcement. I need to also remind you that no one is above the law, especially federal law enforcement. The proposed OLA law is very clear that it doesn't actually aim to restrict federal immigration enforcement. That is lawful. Even so, some members of the town board have dismissed it outright. Right.
believe that the federal government can do no wrong. Does anyone believe the federal government should be allowed to do whatever it wants, especially the Republicans? This should be something we can all agree on because of course Republicans famously want less big government, less federal control, states rights, but when it comes to this they want to pass the buck and say it's out of our hands, the feds have total control. So what kind of upside down world is this where Republicans are the ones raising taxes in our town and Republicans want the federal government to be able to do whatever they want. I'm here tonight because it is our constitutional right to petition our government for redress of grievances when those grievances are with the federal government and the current administration shows contempt for the Constitution for checks and balances and the rule of law then what are we to do but petition our state and local government? I urge all of you to first please read the proposed OLL law to meet with Minerva Perez and Fred Thiel to discuss it. Don't just promise to do that, actually do it. And I have one more, just finishing, and to allow it to be brought to a town board meeting and heard by the public. Thank you.
I think there's a few more people online. Do you have your chip right? Correct?
If there's anybody else in the room that wanted to speak if you could make your way over just so we know.
Ms. Flanagan, can you hear us?
Carrie? Give them the times again for Saturday. Yeah, all right, we're ready Carrie. Yeah, we can hear you. Okay, Carrie Flanagan. Riverhead, New York. I'm here to speak in favor of the OLL law public safety law proposed by OLL law. I'd like to bring your attention to recent investigations
by the Associated Press, which shows that newly hired isolated started working before passing background checks and that some had financial legal and employment problems, which would normally make them eligible for a federal job. Some of those problems include financial problems, including bankruptcy, a red flag hiring process, because it makes them susceptible to bribery, extortion, misconduct in prior law enforcement, including one agent charged with false allegations against a woman arrested by that officer, which resulted in a lawsuit settled in the woman's favor. [transcription gap]
police department. These types of agents are a danger to all of us, including our police. The people who are afraid and terrorized by ICE agents in Riverhead don't look like me. They don't look like the town board members or like Linda speaking tonight in support of the public safety law. It's very easy to ignore the terror of others when those terrorized don't look like you, speak like you, or live in your neighborhood. Town board members don't live in neighborhoods where there is gang activity, yet you still want our police department to stop such activity to keep everyone safe. Gang activity on doctor's path can spill over to Route 58 or Main Street, where all of us go about our daily lives. ICE activity led by agents who were in the neighborhood can be a threat to our lives. Town board members who are improperly hired or who have legal and financial problems can also spill over to Route 58 or Main Street and create unsafe conditions for everyone. We are not creating a narrative that does not exist in Riverhead, contrary to what Mr. Rothwell has been quoted saying. As town board members, you have the responsibility to do more than assume that if it doesn't happen in your neighborhood, it doesn't happen in another neighborhood. You should listen to those who have seen and will see again those events unfold in our streets. To dismiss what has happened and will happen again puts all of us in danger, including our police officers and town board members. Ms. Flanagan, I am going to stop you because you are out of time tonight, and I just wanted to thank you for calling or, you know, zooming in, and I appreciate it. So I think we have someone else. Just in response to her comments, I just want to say how I feel about the fact that we're [transcription gap] Does anybody not know that there's a spring cleanup this weekend? Yeah. What a great response. When is it? I know. What day is it? Saturday with the Little League opening at 10 a.m., 10.30, 10.30. Councilman Kern will be there. Mr. Harari, can you hear us? Yes, I can. Ron Harari of Aqaba. To remind you all, last meeting I discussed the multimillion-dollar mistakes by the County Assessor's Office, which were the subject of reports everywhere from News 12 to Newsday to even the New York Post. Unfortunately, rather than figure a way to address the impact of the pandemic on the community, I'm going to go ahead and talk about the impact of these multimillion-dollar screw-ups. This board really seemed like they were apologists for a clearly incompetent town official. I noticed in your reports that between April 10th and April 17th, the town's reserves declined by over a million dollars. I wonder whether that can be attributed to the millions of dollars that were spent on the city budget now on notice that your town assessor has employed improper methodology in connection with her assessment process, in addition to the scores of parties in litigation with the town assessor and matters that are currently under discussion or being reviewed for possible settlement, I have to believe that there are multiple other, maybe thousands of other taxpayers who are the victims of the town assessor's improper methodology. And what steps will you take now that you're on notice of the assessor's improper methodology and need to refund millions, what steps will you take to make sure that other taxpayers are not involved in the process of refunding millions? Other victims of the town assessor's incompetence will be reimbursed for overpayments they were charged. Anyone care to venture an answer? And A, either the liability the town may have, and B, how you figure out how to pay other people that have been improperly assessed by an incompetent assessor, as determined by the Supreme Court, affirmed by the Appellate Division's second department. Any answer? Taking the fifth, I take it. Thank you, Mr. Herrera, for your passion for our town. Is there anybody else in our, I think, Barbara, you had a comment?
I would just like it to be known that I think that our assessors do a phenomenal job, and that what happened with the tax assessment was deemed that way, by a court, and I think that the assessor at the time had the best interest of the town and the taxpayer to be able to assess the property that we all know is worth a lot of money, and it's unfortunate that the taxpayers at Riverhead lost on that, but I firmly believe that the assessors do do the best job that they can possibly do. Absolutely agree with you. They've done what they can. And it was a fair assessment, but we can't argue it in a court of law to the best we can, and we lost that legal battle, but they have always looked out for the taxpayers. All right. Good evening. Barbara Blass, again, from Jamesport. Better, Bob? Was that better? It's a little better. Just lift the mic up a little bit. It should be even with your mouth. Oh, geez. I'm a guitar player. You know, I'm very specific. I just have a quick comment about Scott's point. Firstly, I agree completely with what Kathy McGross said about the project. If there's ever an example of segmentation, Scott's point is segmentation on steroids. The project is just, in that um, seeker portion alone, it's not just about the steroids. It's about the steroids. It's about the !
Oh, thank you!
Because if we flounder on that, what is going to stop a covenant in the future from not being the remedy of moving forward on different projects throughout the town? So I just wanted that comment to be known. And I'd like to make a comment as well. I didn't support the legislation when it was enacted in the first place in the settlement of the lawsuit. As Ms. McGraw, you said the town board, that did not include me. I did not vote for that. And I do not support any drifting or anything on that track. It was built without building permits. And there was a covenant that was put. And I don't support any type of motorized vehicles traveling around near that lake.
Two coming up. There's somebody else in the room. If you have a comment, please make your way over. It would be excellent for us. In progress. Hello there. Are you able to hear me? Yes, ma'am. Hi there. Takbi Churchin with Greater Calverton Civic Association. I have a couple of thank yous I'd like to speak about. Particularly Resolution 400 today. Thank you very much for seeing the value in preserving that property of the Nassau 4-H Club on Sound Avenue. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. And I'm sure we're all going to be very thankful that you took the step that you did today. Thanks. Particularly on that property, thank you to Ms. Waski and her work for the last couple of years with prior Suffolk County Legislator Stark. It's been a long haul. And your efforts are coming to fruition. And it's very important. Thank you. Thank you, Takbi. I have to say that Catherine Stark was instrumental on that. So thank you. As she was with very many people. Thank you. And very many properties in Calverton that she dedicated over $5 million that Suffolk County dedicated $5 million of preservation money to us. Thank you. So also to Councilwoman Merrifield, thanks a lot for the announcement you made about the Barrels and Bins program that's going to happen at 532 Young's Avenue June 13th. And I saw that a visual announcement with an image is now on our website on the landing page. So I'm sure Joe Rudd's going to get a lot more activity out of that. And I'm really looking forward to that event. Thank you. And third, you're welcome. And our third thank you is full support and thank you for listening to the public comment on the New York Bottle Bill. I'm going to show my age. In 1981, just before I graduated and left for university across the coast, a NYPIRG person came to our door and spoke with my parents about the Bottle Bill in New York. And I'm going to show my age. Thank you. And interestingly enough, my first summer job as a freshman in university was working for California PIRG for their Bottle Bill. We should be all doing a better job at getting the proper materials recycled and this steps in that direction. So forth, there's a thank you to Kathy McGraw for the statements that she made about the impropriety of changing the use of bottle bills. the use of the Island Water Park go-kart track. I won't repeat the information that's already been provided to you, just echoing the sentiment that she presented and recognizing also that Ms. Blass's comments hit the heart of the matter, and that is covenants are supposed to be followed. And thank you to both Councilperson Waski and Mary Field that you recognize the solemnity of that type of a document. And as much as we'd like to see businesses succeed in Riverhead and do what we can to support them, again, Ms. Blass hit the nail on the head. Segmentation seems to be the example that Island Water Park is predicated on, and we need to not let that happen. I think that's about it. Yep, you are out of time. Sorry. And I just want to thank you for the good work that you're doing for us. Appreciate it. Thank you for your passion. Mr. Shea? Do you have something?
Good evening. Kevin Shea, it's brief. I don't need to add any words that anyone has already mentioned about the water. Just say where you're from. Public. Just like which hamlet. Kevin Shea, Bading Hollow. Thank you. All right. I'm not going to add any more words that other people have already said. I'm going to say that I'm not going to add any more words that other people have already spoken about the OLAW Public Safety Law. I urge you to obviously take your time to read the law. Obviously, I like it because it's about public life safety. It's about transparency, which I believe all you guys believe in. I'd also like to see if you can actually also reach out to other people. We have 30,000 people, citizens in Riverhead. See what they want to think about it. You could have an online survey. Yes, no, I'm for it, not against it. I'm against it. And obviously, the Public Safety Law, there is just a draft at this point. East Hampton has already advanced the law. They call it something called the Accountability Act and stuff. All right. That's all. Thank you. Is there anybody else? One more in line.
Are you good? No, I don't believe. I think that was still up there. Okay. You have Takwe up if you have the other person, Justin. All right. While we're waiting to see if we have, don't forget Bob's guitar lesson started at 11 on Saturday, right after the litter cleanup. Only if Joanne's got an amplifier. That's right. Oh, could you please? That's a jerk. Is it? Okay, so no one? All right. So with that said, may I have a motion to close the meeting? So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Adjourned. See you. Have a great week. I believe we're doing a community.
On my. Yeah. Wait, what's going on now? Do we have a? Oh, I totally left that page. We have a Community Development Agency meeting, Joe. So if you could make your way up. It's my fault. So we close our board meeting. Come on down. And Jerry Shalhoub. All right. We'll look at the second page. That's what. What's that little guy on Tom and Jerry that wears a sombrero and he. Jerry? Jerry's cousin. No, no, no. The cousin. Jerry's cousin. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't think you can say that with the supervisor. I know, right? So ladies and gentlemen, if you're in the room, if you could just please hang with us for a second. I hear they're making fun of me. That's right. Our CDA meeting tonight. Sorry about that. I don't know how I hear you. Good evening. Hello, Joe. How are you? Good. Ladies and gentlemen, if you're in our room, if you could just keep it down. We do have another meeting that's an opening. So thanks. You too. Thank you. Just need a motion to open up the CDA meeting. So moved, Joe. Seconded. All right. Seconded. We don't have any business tonight. So. Come on, Joe. Are there any comments from the public? Sorry. Anybody online? Is there anyone online for CDA? Joe, I think we should just take a moment of reflection here on the CDA. Before somebody comes on. Which is great. And so, Joe, there's no one online and there's no one in the room. So, motion to close. A motion to close. So moved. Seconded. First and seconded. Meeting adjourned. Aye. Thanks, Joe. Sorry. Thank you, guys. Great job. Good night. Just so we know. It's not on my page. I don't know. Oh, thank you.