Full Transcript

Thank you. Good afternoon, everybody. today is thursday november 5th 2026 we're here for a town board meeting and why don't we stand and say the pledge of allegiance together i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all councilman rothwell do we have someone for the invocation today we do mr supervisor we are once again in the graces of Kathleen Berenzi to come forward. She is the chaplain of the ladies auxiliary for the Riverhead fire department And thank you very much for joining us today, and thank you for the invitation I'd like to congratulate Jerry on your two-year term as our Riverhead town supervisor for 27 and 28 Please please bow your heads as the leaves fall and the days grow shorter We gather here this afternoon bringing us together as we discuss budgets strategies and decisions May the board's work prioritize tasks and support each other. Their time together should result in productive plans for our community. Bless our supervisor and town council members for the efforts working for our residents to make our community stronger and a sense of belonging. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Thank you very much. So does anyone have any announcements today? that they would like to share i do let me guess surprise it's about clogging um so this saturday here at town hall between the hours of 9 and 11 a.m we will have our anti-litter committee host fall cleanup day we will provide the pickers and safety vests and gloves and bags and everything that you need to have a safe day and we are hoping that the community comes out if it seems like it's going to be very very rainy it probably will be canceled so i'll try to get that post on the website um if that does happen but hopefully the rain is going to hold out or be be done with by then so that's all that i have thank you very much awesome if i can oh yeah go ahead sir oh i'm sorry so i just would like to take a moment to uh congratulate supervisor jerry halpin on the election that was just held, and I am committed to work with the supervisor and all the members of the town board. Last year I was elected to a three-year term, and so I know that we're going to still do some great things together on this town and to lead this town in a great direction. I do want to at least take a moment to congratulate you on your recent election and look forward to working for the constituents over the next two years. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. We're going to do great things. Councilwoman? Yes, and congratulations on the election. Also, I want to point out that the pumpkin smash is still going forward this Saturday, rain or shine, and that's at the Young's Yard facility, and that's from 11 until 3 in the afternoon. I don't have it on the monitor, but I just let everybody know. There was a lovely article in the paper the other day that was wonderful, broadcasting and amplifying it and letting people know all about it. It's a great way to recycle. It's a great way not to put this material in the garbage. And it's a great day for the kids. I mean, after Halloween and all those pumpkins are going to sit rot on everybody's stoops and in their yards. So let's just bring them down to the yard facility waste and smash them and have a great time. And I think I'd also want to mention, I may be wrong, but I saw an email with regard to, I think, veterans' paintings. Kim, is that happening at the library this Saturday? Do you know anything about that? There was something about veterans painting artwork at the library. I think from 2 to 4. I believe it's from 2 to 4 at the Riverhead Library, some paintings by veterans. So if it's a rainy day, maybe that's a great place to go after the pumpkin smash. Thank you. Thank you very much. And then Sunday, November 7th. Oh, I think one of those two things is wrong. It's Saturday. Is that the steamrollings? Yeah. You got it. All right, so Eastern Arts is going to do a really pretty neat thing. Highway is going to bring over a steamroller over here to the annex, which is behind the building, and you can lay out whatever you want, and they're going to steamroll it and turn it into art. That's 12 to 4, Saturday, November 7th. All right, that's really exciting and cool. And then the 21st is our recreation is a turkey trot. So you can come down and pregame by getting some of that energy and calories off before you eat all that turkey. So with all those announcements done, we will move into our correspondence and any reports that we have. I think it's just correspondence. No, both. Okay. Yes. Under correspondence, we received several letters from Warren McKnight, a variety of local issues, civic association, political flyer, things that he wanted the board to be aware of. Those are all posted at the end of the agenda. We also received a letter from Brian Carroll, referenced the RUVED budget and his suggestions, and not listed, but we also received a letter from John McAuliffe with CDA comments that he wanted the CDA to be aware of from the last CDA meeting. And that's it for correspondence. Under reports, we have the Building Department monthly report for September at $144,849. We have the town clerk's monthly report for October at $12,706. And that concludes our reports and our correspondence. Thank you, Mr. Wooten. With that, we'll move right into our first public hearing, which was scheduled for 2 p.m. It is 2.07. Our first public hearing is the Lateral Water Extension, 1001 Scott Avenue, Calverton, New York, and frank mancini our water superintendent is going to kick that off and start as frank great to see you uh thank you supervisor and board i'm frank mancy the superintendent of the riverhead water district so pull your mic up just a little first but thank you sorry about that that's okay so this is a public hearing we're going to start on our proposed lateral main lateral water main extension this is for a particular project on 1001 scott avenue it's an undeveloped parcel in the epcal property and it's not developed because one of our two 12-inch feeds that feed that whole prop that whole parcel the entire epcal property crosses right through the center of it so no building has ever been put on it so in order to allow a building to be placed there that'll be used in manufacturing the developer it's a developer-borne project we're going to abandon IT IN PLACE AND WE'RE GOING TO RELOCATE THE 12-INCH, RUN IT APPROXIMATELY 450 FEET THROUGH AN EXISTING EASEMENT WE OWN AND THE ROAD SO THAT WE CONTINUE THAT 12-INCH FEET CONTINUOUSLY BECAUSE WE CAN'T ABANDON IT AND THE ENTIRE COST OF THAT SCOPE INCLUDING THE NEW SERVICES FOR THE BUILDING AND RECONNECTING ANY SERVICES WE HAVE TO MOVE THAT ARE ON THE OLD MAIN AND and relocating hydrants is $347,000. That's pretty much it. Okay. All right, Frank, so we'll open it up if anyone from the public has any comments or anyone online before we, you know, have the final. That's about it. Is it? I like that. I just want to mention, Frank, that this is going to be borne by the cost of the – Yes. I thought he said that. I'm sorry. Yeah, it's developer-born, so the ratepayers aren't paying anything for it. And it'll actually move the it's the cheapest way for us to do this actually removes it from the adjoining parcel, too So it really shouldn't be in the middle of the parcel not entirely sure I heard it was the existing easement the town put the water main in but it really did Devalue these parcels because it cuts right through the middle of them Thank you. He's gonna hang for a second. Yeah, anybody has any comments. All right. Thank you. Thank you. I I don't see anybody in the room rushing to talk about the water main extension or anyone online gentlemen. Okay. All right. With that, we'll keep this open for 10 days. It'll be open until November 15th, which is a Sunday. So it'll be that Monday and then we'll finish up from there. So we'll close that. Our next public hearing is for Article 279-7B, Taxation Exemption, and I believe, Eric Howard, you're going to introduce this? Yes, thank you. This is an amendment to Chapter 279 of the Town Code relative to property taxation. It implements an amendment to the real property tax law adopted earlier this year under Section 458-A11. This provides for a full property tax exemption for permanently and totally disabled veterans, and this includes taxation, special district charges, assessments, and ad valorem levies. and the eligibility is set forth in the state law and reiterated here in the town code it's a discharge release from active military service qualifying conditions as defined by the veteran services law discharged lgbt veterans other than for bad conduct or dishonorable service considered by United States Department of Veteran Affairs to be permanently and totally disabled pursuant to certain forms through that agency. And that is about the long and the short of it. I believe there's members from our Veterans Advisory Committee here as well as our tax assessors are here in the room if you have questions that if they need to be answered so I'll go ahead. Go ahead. If I would like to speak just regarding this, because for clarification, because this law that was originally passed by New York State, it has been reworked a multitude of times. And when we spoke to veterans, we'll go back as far as February. And at that time, the governor's legislation said that the town individual townships were mandated to to accept it, which we were happy about. and that's why we didn't enact any other local laws and some of the other towns surrounding us did do it and and i think they were just trying to put it in the spotlight um since then it was revamped again by the governor changed it before passing legislation a multitude of times and now and in its current form it is up to individual towns uh to enact you know a law to accept it and so that's what we are looking to do i've been very supportive i worked very very closely with this and also with the Suffolk County Veterans Advisory Committee and with Councilor Prudenti we put together this legislation which I fully support but I think it's a very small act that we can do as a township here to honor our veterans especially with those that have a disability because of the service that they've done for their country and we're grateful to each and every one of these men and women and so but this is the protocol and the steps that we need to go through this. So but those that say like why now when it's from the state level it has been a multitude of changes and we keep following the course and under its present time and the present the way it is written for the state our town does need to enact a local law to adopt us to honor our veterans. So we tend to do that. So if anyone has questions in the room if you you're welcome to come up and speak about it and that there's some people online as well. Laverne Tenenberg, assessor, not tax assessor, just to make that clear. There are a couple of issues with the legislation as written. On the first page it says 279-7B1, alternate tax exemption. It's called alternative. The word is not alternate. It's alternative. Can you speak a little bit louder, Laverne? It should be alternative exemption. It's not alternate. That's not the appropriate term. Second of all, in my opinion, it belongs in a different section of the town code. I spoke with the town attorney and he said at a future date that we can wholesale change the problems that are in the town code because this belongs in a different section of the code. On page two, authorizing said tax exemption two furthers. I think get rid of the word two. Can you go back to that? Where are you at again? What did you change up? This section here. The next page. Okay. Thank you. Authorizing said tax exemption to furthers protection. It doesn't make sense. 279-7B4 has been amended by the addition of A458-A11. Get rid of the letter A. And under the eligibility number D, you have or other documents sent 6.2 to such veteran. I think that should be removed.

I'm following you, but what are you saying the change on D-6? She wants to remove where it says or other documents says 6-2-A, such veteran. Yes, that should be removed. Thank you. Always a pleasure. Great. And sorry about that. You are just the assessor. Yeah. And just to clarify, I did speak with Ms. Tenenberg when this was initially published She raised her concerns about where this was located in the code. It does belong in chapter 279 which deals with taxation in my opinion the the way that Amendments to this chapter of code have been adopted over the years has made it somewhat disorganized. So the conversation I had with Miss Tenenberg was reviewing this and sort of reorganizing it into a more manageable more manageable format that allows people to look at it and and understand exactly where they're gonna go because some of the veterans exemptions have been sort of populated in different places throughout the code. So we'll group all of those together and then you'll have your volunteer firefighter, volunteer ambulance, those will be grouped together and so forth. Also, I think when it says other document, I do believe that the county certainly has been advocating to the state to simplify the application progress and the process behind it. And so if that does become simplified, I don't want to keep going back and changing town law. If the state approves another simplified method to get approval, then I'd like to be able to have that, that it becomes automatically that we're not keeping going back and readjusting a law. So if there's another document in which the state approves to allow them to accept this, you know, exemption, then we want to make sure that that can be done in an easy process. Female Speaker 2 So can we add in that it must be approved? It says official form or other document.

I think the word sent 6.2. That's the part you need to take out. It says 6.2 or other documents sent 6.2 to such a veteran. That makes no sense. There's no such thing as 6.2. Yeah, so that's clearly a typo. That's a typo. I'm just asking you to remove that. Or other documents. You leave or other documents. We are doing an outreach to all the veterans. There are some that don't have the proper documentation, and we're doing a mass mailing, but that takes time because we have over 200 that we have to go through. So we are doing a mass mailing, and that will go out next week. Isn't that great that we have over 200 men and women and veterans in our community that have served? Thank you for those that are out there. Those are the only ones that are disabled. That's what I mean. Those are the only ones that are disabled. I know. That's what I'm saying. The ones that qualify for this. I think this is fantastic. Can I ask this? Can we put something on our website to guide disabled veterans so they understand exactly what's going on and know what the process is? Yeah, we can do that. Sure, we can. We can do that. We can do it on Channel 22 to let people know this is available. Yeah. If it passes this hearing and clears. Got to get through that part. Does anybody from the community have any questions about this or would like to say anything? You're welcome to come to the podium. and there's no one online, I see. But, yep, you guys can take your time. Yes, sir.

Good afternoon, town board. I believe I know all of you, and you all know me. Paul Osinski from 77 Clover Place, Ackerbaugh. I'd just like to say that the majority of these 100% disabled veterans are elderly. I'm elderly. when we served did our oath of duty swearing our lives to protect all the freedoms that you enjoy today we were chastised, we were spit upon name called, no matter what mode of transportation whether it be airport bus terminal, a railroad station whatever, people didn't appreciate what we did times have changed now everybody wants to befriend a vet you know every time everywhere you go somebody's saying oh thanks for your service thanks for your service thanks for your service this is your opportunity to thank a vet by approving this most of us like i said are elderly and if you're in a lucky 100 bracket how many more years you have to enjoy that Thank you. Do the right thing. Thanks. Thank you, Paul. Appreciate it.

Good afternoon, Supervisor Halpern, Board. I'm number 199 out of the 200, okay? veterans never ask for anything. I'm not here to ask you to pass this bill. I'm here to ask you, where were you in 1968? Where were you in 1969? I can tell you where I was. I was in the jungles of Vietnam with my other brothers, which I just buried one recently. As a town board, you have to consider everybody, not just your veterans. I understand that. We understand that. But as a town board, you have to also consider where your veterans are in their life, like this gentleman just said. I am 100% combat-related disabled. I was wounded twice in Vietnam. I suffer every day. Every day when I wake up, I suffer. I just had spinal surgery to remove shrapnel from my back from 56 years ago. I've never asked a town of Riverhead for anything. Yeah, you do give me a reduction in my taxes. Yes, absolutely. And the government does pay me monthly for my wounds that I receive. And I also go to physical therapy every day, probably for the rest of my life. So, I mean, if we're talking hundreds of thousands of people that you're granting this disability thing to, I can understand that. But there's such a small amount of veterans that would be eligible for this that I ask you to think about if it was you, if it was you, would you be asking for this? Like I said, I'm not asking for it. But if it was you, do your veterans deserve this credit? Do your veterans deserve to get a little bit more than the local person that served or didn't serve their community? I think yes. speaking for just a few veterans in my particular post. I'm the commander of the American Legion in Eastport. I have the commander from the Riverhead American Legion here also. In my post, it's three of us. Three of us. Now, is that money going to buy me a new Ferrari or a new Rolls Royce? No, I don't think so. It's not going to do that. But, you know, it will make it easier for the money that I help other veteran groups with because I do donate a lot of my own money to other veterans groups as well as my American Legion posts. We have guys in our posts that aren't 100%, that aren't disabled, that can barely put food on the table. Where does it come from? It comes from guys like me and other guys like me that are receiving disabilities, and we go out and buy an order of food for them. We go out and pick them up and take them to the doctor because the VA, they don't have enough disability to have the VA do that for them. So who does it? The American Legion does it. I do it. Mr. Robich will do it too for his post. So, like I said, I'm not asking for anything. But put yourself in our shoes or the 200, I think the assessor said there was 200 letters she has to send out. And the big question that I had is that how long will this be prolonged and what is the deadline set for this? Because everybody that's already 100% disabled veteran, the town should already have all that information. I know there must be other forms to fill out. I understand that. But the information has got to be gotten out there to our veterans so they know what is expected of them to do the right thing. And Ken, I cannot thank you enough from the bottom of my heart what you do for veterans. And that's personally from me to you. God bless you and God bless the board. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Appreciate it.

Anybody else a chance to speak? So there won't be any forms that you have to fill out. You already have an application with our office. We already have most of the documentation and if we're missing the documentation that says that you are permanently and totally disabled, we are asking you to call the VA and all of that will be in the letter. So there's no form you need to fill out. Thank you. Thanks. Thanks for explaining that. That's great. Bob Robich, I'm the commander of the American Legion post in Riverhead. I'm also the commander of the district, which is all of Long Island. I just want to thank all of you for your efforts to clarify the exemption and what you're going to do for us with the exemption. I personally am not 100%, so I'm not going to benefit anything from it. But we do have 200 people around here who are qualified and very much deserving of it. Most of them, like Paul said, were all old guys and girls. and it's really not that much of a financial burden, I think, on the taxpayers for the few people in the town of Riverhead who would be benefiting from this. But we do appreciate it, and anything that we can do to help as far as getting the word out to all of the veterans in the area, we're more than happy to help you with that right down the road. So just come and see us. Thank you, sir. Thank you.

Give everybody an opportunity and just check one more time online. Nobody online? Anybody has any other questions or comments on this? Okay. It doesn't look like there are, so we will close this public hearing. We'll keep it again. It will be open until November 15th, which will be that Monday. We'll allow the 16th for written comment. I also just point out on a separate note, but somewhat related, is that Veterans Day is coming up on November 11th and we have some more banners. And so members of the Veterans Advisory Committee here ready to hit the streets to put up some more banners. We also just received a number of plaques for our veterans. Trees have been planted up at Veterans Memorial Park. And so those monuments will be going in in the next day or two so that we are ready to honor all of our veterans on Veterans Day and of course I'm extremely grateful for each and every one of your service and so we do everything we can and this legislation again is a small step just to say thank you for everything you do for us. God bless you all. I'd like to just comment as well. I'd just like to say thank you not only for your service to our nation but to the community that you continue to give at the American Legion Hall where we see everyone. offering your assistance and helping other veterans and it's so commendable and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for that and I want to just mention councilman Rothwell I believe with Kim Judd on November 21st we'll be removing the hometown heroes banners so we can ask for assistance from people in the community I guess for the holidays I guess they were moving them we put them away for the winter months just because you know they they get you know sun STAINED OVER THE WINTER MONTHS AND THE SALT. SO WE DO PUT AWAY SOME OF THE DOWNTOWN LIGHTING, THE HOLIDAY LIGHTING GOES INTO PLACE. EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM WILL BE HUNG UP ONCE AGAIN FOR MEMORIAL DAYS. WE HONOR OUR VETERANS THAT RAN MEMORIAL DAY, THOSE THAT GAVE THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE, AND WE HONOR EACH AND EVERY VETERAN ON VETERANS DAY. AND SO I THANK THE VETERANS ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR ALWAYS PUTTING UP THESE BANNERS, PUTTING UP THESE. NOW WE'VE GOT THE ASSISTANCE OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS FROM ROTARY HAS COME IN WITH A FULL force to help put them up and down. It's a great program and now, you know, we did this, started this project five years ago and it was for downtown Main Street and then we got a lot of veterans to honor and then so we went to the side streets and then we went to Jamesport and now we're starting at Duck Ponds and now this time, for the first time this week, we're hanging them up on Pulaski Street in Polishtown because it's been a wonderful program that just keeps expanding and expanding. So The only downside is now veterans are traveling around the town looking for their banners, to be honest, because there's so many of them. But it's a great program, and our banners, I still travel in the country and see different things. Our banners are great because your picture is really blown up full size, and the name is very. So when people are driving by, they can see the name, see the photo. It's a great layout. Thank you, Lisa Wiedel, for doing everything over Wiedel Science for us for years and her support. So it's a great program. So on Veterans Day, get out there and check out these banners. Drive around town, all the side streets, Polish Town, everywhereabouts, and go over to Veterans Memorial Park and see all the new trees that are planted up there. It's Veterans Memorial Park. It's a park in your honor. It's your park. And the beautification has been quite significant over the last few years. And so thank you again. If you'd like to be part of a tree right outside of our town board coordinator, there's a sheet there. Every day you can come. You can actually purchase a tree there and sign up for that form. So there's great ways to honor someone in your life or as a family member. So great way to be part of what's going on at the Veterans Memorial Park. So with that, go ahead. Yes, ma'am. Absolutely. I just, of course, want to say thank you. It's an honor to be in your presence today. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all that you gave. And I'm sure that it's hard sometimes to look around and see what's happened over the years. And it's a constant reminder to you of everything that you sacrificed and your families have sacrificed. And I don't know if people are aware, but the veterans, they have a clothing donation pickup. It's wepickup.org. So if you have any personal clothing that you'd like to donate, go online to wepickup.org. We do it all the time in my family and donate to the veterans so that other veterans are able to be helped during difficult times that they do have. So, again, thank you. Yeah, I just want to say thank you. And I also, to your point, we also have, and we'll let you know as the time goes on, we have a veterans drop here for clothing. And we will keep the public aware of that. I know I fill the box up every year it's here. So, you know, again, thank you. I mean, I don't think any of us could imagine what it's like to take off, go to another country, and somebody's shooting at you. You know, but you're here, and thank you. During open comment, Warren, we just closed the comments for this part, so you can do it at the open. Yep, at the end. Thank you very much. So with that, we'll have those comments closed, and that public hearing will be open, or the written comment will be open until the 15th. So our next public hearing is public 205, public hearing to consider the adoption of the 2027 budget. And I believe our financial administrator will be leading that, kicking that off for us. Good afternoon. We need to get a little closer. Sorry. Pretend you're, you know, when you used to be in Led Zeppelin. Okay. So we're here to have the public hearing on consideration of the 2027 preliminary budget. The tax cap levy is currently at 1.79%, which is well below the tax cap. The tax cap limit was set at 2.79 this year. So that was really good news and great for the public, as well as the town. So I guess with that we'll just kick it off and see if anybody has any questions. You have a question from the audience? If you come over to the microphone, introduce yourself or comment or if there's anyone online, kind of go from there. Nobody online. Nobody wants to text us to be online. So give a couple more minutes. Don't want to rush anybody. I don't know if somebody's a lot of smiling faces out there. Don't forget all that. You can do that plogging on November 7th where you can jog and pick up litter. I'm not really sure. It's going to be an exciting time. And the pumpkin smash. We practiced that, the board, right? We did. It was good. That was fun. Thank you, Councilwoman Merrifield. Absolutely. Joe Rett from engineering. Yeah, he built some really good stuff. He built those. That's with Climate Smart Points. Right. All the time. He built the hammers of Thor for us. All right. I don't see anyone online or in the room, so we will actually close the public hearing for our budget. We'll leave it open again. Today's the 5th for 10 days until November 15th. So we'll slide that to, I believe that's a Sunday, so we'll slide it to the Monday. And which will be the 16th for written comments. So with that in mind we will go on to comments on resolutions from the public if you have a comment on a resolution We ask that you come forward say your name your Hamlet now you will have three minutes But we also ask that you tell us which resolution you're speaking of so that we can draw our attention to that You look excited. I'm sorry? You look excited. Oh, well, I don't know. First of all, I would like to congratulate Supervisor on your successful reelection campaign and congratulate Mr. Rothwell for your efforts and for running a positive campaign. That's always something that we hope everyone abides by, and I hope we can look forward to more collaborative efforts in the next two years. Thank you, gentlemen. My comments pertain to Resolution 980, which I know your hands are tied with this resolution. This is authorizing the hiring of or signing the agreement to hire counsel for CPF as a regional counsel. And I have a lot of concerns about this, irrespective of the fact that you have no choice in the matter, but I think it's important that people understand some of the background here. The amendments provide for the formation of a council, a regional council to discuss and deal with CPF matters and also for the hiring of outside council. The amendments use the word shall, meaning we have no choice. I don't think any of the other CPF amendments used the word shall. used may and we always had the option to opt opt in or not in this case it's particularly troubling that we don't have that option the committee must meet at least four times a year and council is required to attend those meetings according to her agreement and by the way the inter-municipal agreement eric was was not attached i know you said it was it has a high it has a title as inter-municipal agreement, but it's her contract. It's our agreement with Mary, per se. It's not the inter-municipal agreement. But irrespective of that, the council is required to attend these meetings four times a year, and she lives in Florida. And her agreement says she's to be compensated for travel time. So I'm asking, is that air travel time? Is that driving travel time? Is there a cap on the fee per year in terms of how much she can charge for her services? Since the agreement is for the calendar year 2026, and by the way, you may want to amend that because we're at the end of 2026, but I wondered if she's already submitted any bills for billable year 2026, which we are obligated to pay for retroactively. And we're responsible to pay for her bill regardless of whether she provides services on Riverhead matters. And this is particularly, again, problematic because from the very beginning, and I was a part of it at the time, Riverhead has always kept true to the foundation, the purpose, the intent of the CPF, and that was preservation of farmland and open space. That was our regional community character. And we've always been very challenged with our... I have just a little bit more... I think we need to hear this. ...challenged with our CPF revenue compared to some of the other towns, obviously. And I remember at a... Not a civic roundtable, the environmental roundtable. There was a discussion, and it would always come up, isn't some of the towns who are so flush with money, don't they feel as though they could share part, again, we're regional intent, open space farmland. That's all we do here in Riverhead. We don't buy hat shops. We don't buy marinas. We don't buy, you know, bowling alleys. We buy farmland and open space. And when this issue was raised at the environmental roundtable, one of the panelists actually said, you know, And it was directed at Southampton at the time, I have to be honest. You would collect more in interest on your revenue earnings than some of the other towns collect in a year. Obviously, that was Riverhead for sure. Perhaps you can consider even a low-interest loan to Riverhead to help them secure it because they have more farmland still at risk, and that's what they do with CPF. and the supervisor at the time yelled out, we are not Riverhead's bank. That was the response at the time. And that's why this bothers me more than anything because now we're part of, they're sharing our checking account. They're spending our money. If there is a matter in Southampton or Easthampton or in any of the other towns that requires legal determination, is this consistent with the law? Can we fund our sewage treatment plant, for example? Is any of this things that we don't really have, it don't pertain to Riverhead? We have to pay into that fund. I know you have no choice, but I just wondered if there's a possibility to put that back on the table at some point and request a refinement of that language. Maybe we could pay for matters legal, legal that that this outside council would work for Riverhead interests but not everybody else's thank you very much for your time and I appreciate your um thanks I wanted to speak to this too I I again um myself was very offended by this um I spoke to Councilman Howard um Council Howard rather and I was really offended that the state is requiring this of us we had no choice we had to enter into this, and once we're in it, they set who this individual is and what this payment is, and I'm very offended by it. I just feel, again, it's the state taking over and dictating to the town what they have to do in their own local community, destroying our home rule even more. But this was a law that was passed at the state level, but let's be real. It came from the East End. It didn't come from, say, the DEC or any of the other state entities. You're fine, Barbara. I'm just curious, Barbara, after listening to you and getting educated on this, I would really like to table this if you think that if there's something and have a meeting and discuss this. I was going to ask that respectfully, but I figured in that you had no choice. But you've kind of waited this far to sign this agreement, which, as I understand, other towns have signed it already. Again, Eric, I don't know where the intermunicipal agreement is. I don't know what our share is. It's attached. Which it's not. It is. I uploaded it today after you sent me that email. Well, I checked just while I was sitting. Well, what is the title of that? It is CPF Regional Advisory Committee IMA and Proposal for Council. So that second attachment to resolution 980. It's the second attachment. The second attachment. Okay. So I, just about 20 minutes ago, looked for it. What is our pro-rated share of her bill? It's apportioned based on the town. So they take the total CPF from all the towns, total it up, and then the amount that you contribute to it or the amount that makes up the share of Riverhead, that's our apportionment. So in 2023, it was about 5.3% of the total. So on $100, we would pay $5.30. Okay. Were there any other counselors that were, was anybody else interviewed for this position and who and when decided on the hiring of this particular individual? i can't speak to because i'm not on the regional advisory committee i know ann murray prudenti typically attends those meetings so she participated in the negotiation of the agreement with council and the original ima just just for a little bit of context so the committee consists of 11 members the 11 members are the town supervisor of each of the five east end towns or their designee a representative of village government that is jointly selected by the villages in the peconic bay region and then there's five i guess you call them at-large members who are selected by the legislative representatives representing the peconic bay region right so that would be assemblywoman giglio and assembly assemblyman shivoni and one thing that's unclear to me on that is whether that includes the senators It just says legislative representatives. Yeah, I don't know if it includes the senators or not. It's probably just the assembly members. So they meet the four times a year. They refer things to council and essentially the way they operate is in an advisory committee. So if a certain town has a question about how to use CPF funds, they would refer it to this advisory council. They would confer on it if they felt the need to engage the services of counsel. That's when her role would start. And has she been, the other towns have signed her agreement? I haven't received any invoices for payment from this attorney at this point. Okay. And do you know when it references her travel time, is that her travel from Florida? I would hope not. But we would have to. I have a question right now. That's a really good question. That would be a reason for us to table it. I don't think we can. It refers to her attendance at meetings either in person or by a teleconference. I would imagine if she resides in Florida, she should mostly be doing this by teleconference. I can't imagine a scenario in which she would need to physically attend. Most of the meetings, to my understanding, have been done via Zoom or Teams at this point. and actually I think all of them. So maybe there was one in person. I have a concern about the 5.3%. Given what the land value is on the South Fork, what portion are we paying? What's the proportion that each town is paying? What's East Hampton paying? East Hampton is paying, based on 2023, 33%. South Hampton would be paying 51%. Shelter Island 1.7%, and South Hold 8.5%. So how long does that percentage last, if you're saying quoting 2023? The IMA references recalculating it annually based on the final quarter of each year and doing that in the next quarter of the subsequent year. So in the first quarter of 2027, they'll look at what each town's share was in the last quarter of 2026. And I understand, or at least Ms. Wilson, by the way, she's very competent. I mean, this is not personally about her or her ability by any means, but it's just how this is all structured that I have these questions. Her contract says for the calendar year 2026. That begs the question, is her contract renegotiated every year? No. She serves at the pleasure of the advisory committee. AND CAN BE REMOVED UPON UNANIMOUS VOTE OF THE COMMITTEE. SO HER FEE OF $400 PER HOUR IS WHAT WE'RE GOING TO ANTICIPATE FOR 2027? YES. YOU MAY JUST WANT TO CHANGE THAT IN THE CONTRACT THEN. I'M NOT SURE IF THAT'S SOMETHING YOU WOULD WANT TO DO. THAT'S WHAT'S LISTED IN HER ADVISORY, HER CONTRACT. TO YOUR POINT, WHAT DID WE PAY IN 2026? DID WE PAY ANYTHING? pay anything? Well, that's what I asked. I know, you did ask that question and I want to know. I can't say that I have seen any invoices from Ms. Wilson. So is it worth it to table this just so we know? That's entirely up to the town board. I would like to table it. This is something when I looked at this at work session last week, I pulled it to the side and actually after Councilwoman Merrifield spoke with Councilor Howard, I had concerns about it just as much as she did. One of my concerns is I have recently spoken with Assemblywoman Giglio. Out of the five East End towns, the town of Riverhead is the only town that does not offer a first-time homebuyer exemption. And now that our bond is paid off, we're able to look at that again. And I don't know if it's going to end up being that now this has to go through this committee in order to change that. I'd like to have a further discussion with other people about it. So I think that it does need to be tabled. Yeah, I'm in favor of that. Thank you for your time and attention. I appreciate it. Thank you, Barbara.

Hi, my name is Marjorie Acevedo. I'm from Wading River. I have a question. I don't understand with all the lawyers that we have on Long Island and even in the East End, why are we hiring somebody that lives in Florida? I think that's a question that we should be really, really looking into. There are just as many qualified people around that could do this service for the CPF group, whatever their title, total title is. But I really believe that that's something that should be looked into. And it's a lot of money. We haven't gotten any invoices, as Eric said. However, I think with what's going on, the money that we have in the town now for open space. I'm concerned about it. So I think I'm glad that you are considering tabling this and I hope that you do. Thank you. CHAIR BAILET. Ms. Marge, any other comments on any resolutions at all? Good discussion. Nobody online? Okay. With that in mind, we will move into our resolutions. Okay. That in mind, we will move into our resolutions. Now I'm going to have to say that non-proton. Okay, we're going to start with resolution number one, which is 969. Adopts Water District budget transfer. So moved. Second. Vote, please. Waskey? Yes. Merrifield? Yes. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Halpin? Yes, sir. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 970. Budget transfer of additional general liability insurance claims. So moved. Second. Vote, please. Waske. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Saltman. Yes, sir. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 971. Approves a salary adjustment for part-time police officers. So moved. Negative. Vote, please. Waske. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Saltman. Yes, sir. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 972. reclassifies an employee from a call-in to a part-time basis so moved seconded I'll vote please resolution 973 ratifies the appointment of a temporary part-time office assistant so moved second vote please yes yes yes yes yes yes sir Resolution is adopted. Resolution 974. Appoints a custodial worker 1. So moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waske. Welcome, Tyler. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Welcome, Tyler. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Hopkin. Welcome to the team. Yes, sir. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 975. Appoints an automotive equipment operator to the highway department. I just had one question on this, Mr. Howard. But in the body of it, it says appoints the person. But further down, one, two, three, seven. The seventh where is? The highway superintendent report states said reappointment is necessary. Should that just be appointment? Or is this a reappointment? This is in, I'm sorry, you said that this. It's one, two, three. Automotive equipment operator. Seventh one down. His highway report stated that reappointment is necessary. Meanwhile, the rest of the body says appointment. So I wasn't sure. Is it a reappointment or an appointment?

The reappointment is probably a typo. Okay. So, all right. Should I make an application to amend it or is that just administerial? Since we're all here, we could do an amendment. Okay. appoints an automotive equipment operator to the highway department i move to amend it so what i've just stated as to paragraph vote to amend please is there a second yeah bob bob second sorry yes to amend maryfield yes to amend kern yes to amend rothwell yes to amend oven yes sir to amend the correction has been made it's amended appoints an automotive equipment operated to the highway department. As amended, so moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waski. Yes, as amended. Merfield. Yes, as amended. Kern. Yes, as amended. Rothwell. Yes, as amended. Hoppin. Yes, as amended. That resolution is amended and passed. Resolution 976. Accepts the resignation of Assistant Chief Fire Marshal, so moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waski. Best of luck to you, Liam. Yes. Yes, best of luck Liam out in East Hampton turn Yes, good luck there Liam Rothwell yes Thank you Liam for all your service to the town of Riverhead. Yes, sir Supervisor if I could also just say thank you to Liam for oh, yes work in fire marshals office He's really done an amazing job over the past couple years Organizing that office ramping up their permitting and enforcement capabilities I think East Hampton's really getting a fine fire marshal. So thank you, Liam Eric is his department head. So thank you Eric for sharing the resolutions adopted resolution number 977 Chapter 229 application for importation of materials to 61 main road for self storage facilities so moved second vote, please Waski yes, I feel yes Kern. Yes, well, yes Yes. Hoppin. Yes, sir. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 978. Ratifies acceptance of letter of credit from Reds Adventures LLC, Summerwind. So moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waskey. Yes. Murrayfield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Hoppin. Yes, sir. That resolution is adopted. Resolution number 979. accepts and approves the appraisals and reconciled value for the proposed joint acquisition of development rights for Young's Farm Association, LP. So moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waske? Yes. Merrifield? Yes, and I'd like to thank Councilwoman Waske for all her work the last couple of years working on these projects to see this come to fruition. Absolutely, yes. Thank you. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Great job, Councilwoman. Yes. And Halpin. Yes, sir. That resolution is adopted. Resolution number 980. Table. Authorizes the supervisor to execute an agreement to retain the legal services of Mary Wilson Esquire consistent with town law 64E14A and B. So moved. Vote please at the table. I thought we had to. No. Motion is made. I'll have a motion to table this. Seconded. Vote please at the table. Was key yes to table Very few guests table turn yes to table Well, yes the table and help it. Yes, sir table that resolution is tabled resolution 981 Ratifies the authorization for the supervisor to execute an agreement with Casa projects group LLC so moved Second vote, please. Was he yes, very few. Yes turn. Yes Yes helping yes, sir Resolutions adopted. Resolution 982. Amends Resolution number 2026-359 authorizing the supervisor to execute professional services agreement with the Honorable Laurie M. Hulse. So moved. Seconded. Please. Waske? Yes. Yes. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Halpin? Yes, sir. Resolutions adopted. Resolution 983. Amends the Town Board Resolution 2026-914 to amend Agreement Non-Protonc for Young's Avenue Landfill Maintenance and Monitoring. So moved. Seconded. Vote please. Waskey? Yes. Merrifield? Yes. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Hoppin? Yes, sir. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 984. Authorizes town clerk to publish and post public notice to consider a local law to amend Chapter 291 of the Riverhead Town Code entitled Water. So moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waskey? Yes. Merfield? Yes. Kern? Yes. Hathwell? Yes. Alpin? I'll mess with our fire hydrants. Yes, sir. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 985. Authorizes town clerk to publish and post public notice to consider a local law to amend Chapter 289 of the Riverhead Town Code entitled Vehicles, Traffic, and Parking Regulations. So moved. Second. Vote, please. Waske? Yes. Merrifield? Yes. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Alfin? Yes, sir. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 986. schedules public hearing to consider local laws to amend chapter 301 article 10 hamlet center HC HC zoning use district article 11 village center VC zoning BC zoning use district article 17 18 18 thank you business center why do we cook Romans in this article 18 business center BC zoning use district article 19 business CR business CR zoning use district and article what do you got there at the 45 what is it 45 article 45 supplementary use regulations so moved you need to think Super Bowls Exactly. Waskey? Yes. Merrifield? Yes. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Hopkin? Yes, sir. That resolution is adopted. Resolution number 987. Authorizes the town clerk to publish in post notice to bidders for well and pump testing, valuation, reporting, and information management for Riverhead Water District. So moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waskey? Yes. Merrifield? Yes. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Halpin? Yes, sir. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 988. Authorizes the town clerk to publish and post a request for proposals for SCADA system for the Riverhead water, for the Riverhead sewer district. So moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waskie? Yes. Merrifield? Yes. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Halpin? Yes, sir. Extends non-proton bid 2025-20 for auto parts. So moved. Second. Vote, please. Waske? Yes. Merrifield? Yes. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Halpin? Yes, sir. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 990. Extends non-proton bid number 2025-21 for Ford auto parts. So moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waske? Yes. Merrifield? Yes. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Hoppin? Yes, sir. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 991. Extends non-proton bid number 2025-30 for disposal of town-generated construction and demolition material. So moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waskey? Yes. Murrayfield? Yes. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Hoppin? Yes, sir. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 992. approved special event chapter 255 application for Riverhead-Bidma-Marymarket. So moved. Seconded. Vote please. Waske. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. That was such a great success in the parking lot here at Town Hall last year. Absolutely yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Yes. Halpin. Yes, sir. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 993. May's bill. So moved. Second. Vote please. Waske. Yes. Merrifield. Yes. Kern? Yes. Rothwell? Yes. Halpin? Yes, sir. Resolution is adopted. Resolution 994. Resolution to declare public emergency and approve services related to the declaration of public emergency requiring immediate removal and reduction of yard waste from Young's Avenue Northside Yard Waste Facility. Before I say so moved, I just want to, Denise, thank you and thank everybody that was involved in getting this done, so moved. Seconded. Vote, please. Waski. Yes, thank you, Councilwoman Merrifield. Merrifield. Yes. Kern. Yes. Rothwell. Thank you, Councilwoman Merrifield. This has started a major pileup after the good old July 4th storm and the debris that came in, and as they're working on it, it's stockpiled and be able to continue operations. It's great action work. Thank you, Councilwoman Merrifield. Yes. Hoppin. Yes, sir. The resolution is adopted. That concludes the resolution for this meeting. Thank you, Mr. Wooden. With that, we will move to our time of public comment. We will ask that you come forward. You have three minutes. That you state your name, your Hamlet, and that you hold to that three-minute timer as a respect for your neighbors.

John McAuliffe, Rolling Woods, Roanoke Landing. First, to join in the congratulations to Jerry, Halpin and comments that were made at the beginning of this board meeting were very positive and I hope that we will see a collaborative spirit at least until we get to the point of worrying about the elections for the two board members. But it's, I think, it's an important turning point for the town to have now the two-year term. I wanted to comment, also make an announcement first. Rashad Robinson is a son of Riverhead, a graduate of the high school who went on to quite substantial national prominence in the African-American community when he headed a kind of move-on operation called Color of Change. He will be at the library on the 19th doing a book. He's just published a book called From Presence to Power, and he will be speaking about that book, and Denise Civilletti will be interviewing him. So I hope there aren't a lot of seats left, but I hope that people are able to get them because it'll be an important event. Anne McLean, How time that is? David M. On the 19th at 6 p.m. Anne McLean, 6 p.m.? Some of you may even remember him from the day he was very prominent as an activist high school student. What I wanted to talk about is what is in my letter to the board and appears today in the news review as a very similar letter, which is first to be very appreciative of the fact that the Science Center is being dealt with as a request for proposals. I'm assuming or hoping that all of the proposals that come in get on the town website so everybody in town is able to see what people are proposing and can have comment on it. But I'm also curious about the process. Why, I think it's a good thing it's a request for proposals, but why was it done that way as opposed to the no-bid contract that was used for the other side of the town square where the hotel is supposed to go in. And second, why, of course, is the question I've raised over the last couple years, why the hotel wasn't a request for proposals and was dealt with on an insider no-bid contract. I don't know what the IDA will do. As I said in my letter at the first IDA, the hearing that took place, they made clear that the language the agreement with the master developer does not bind them that they could decide not to give any subsidy or not to give a 20-year subsidy or some variety of things i don't know what mr petroselli's attitude will be about that in the agreement there is a threat to end the contract if that happens i don't know that the board will do this but i hope you will then reconsider the whole project and leave the space open more like the park in Greenport. Thank you, gentlemen.

Yes, sir, you may. Who's on your hat? I can't see. Lincoln. Oh, it is Lincoln. I didn't recognize. His beard's not showing up. Reference to the letter I sent you. You know, on the Lyceum address, yes, which is wonderful. In any case, I had a very rough time with this election. I liked the two candidates for town supervisor, and so did many of my friends. We had a rough time, you know, picking and choosing, because they're two really wonderful men. And to get right to the point, I went to the bookstore next to Jerry and the Mermaids, and I found these two books. First of all, I think coloring. Somebody told me coloring reduces stress. So two gentlemen went for a lot of stress. I have Riverhead coloring books. I present them to you. Thanks, Warren. Would you give them to me? Do we have to stay between the lines, Warren? Well, it's got something on the Riverhead Railroad Station here. They're wonderful books. Thank you very much. We both appreciate it very much, Warren. sweet thank you are we returning are we returning back to you for uh for okay comments thank you warren if anybody else has a comment are there any online

hi jones sear and james sport um congratulations to mr halpin on your successful reelection to town supervisor as I was going through the board packet I noticed one thing that I didn't a resolution I didn't want to comment on the resolution because this is a minor thing and I didn't want to hold up the vote but I think it's great that the town gets a venue rental fee when someone like this Casa productions does is going to do something you know do film something at the Reeves Park Beach that's great and you're getting a rental fee and that's terrific and I'd love to see Riverhead featured in all kinds of things, you know, fashion shoots and films. But may I suggest that you also get a security deposit from them? Because all they have to do is have a big truck come in and, you know, put big ruts in a parking lot or somebody swinging from the gazebo and part of it falls down and there's no security deposit that we've gotten from them for the use of the venue. So we just might want to think about that moving forward. You know, like I said, it's a minor thing, but it could protect the town from damages. Do you want to answer that? So the agreements generally require the production of insurance and indemnification liability language. With an activity like that, they're doing what they described as like a simple photo shoot. So a couple hours, you know, we didn't really think security deposit was necessary. in other instances where for example you have a racetrack not street there's a bond for you know because because that could lead to more substantial damage but the point is well taken yeah just something to think about that's all thank you thank you miss here anybody else in our room today anybody online If there's anybody else in our room that would like to speak, if you could just make your way to the wall just so we know that can identify you. Go ahead. Sorry. Dawn Zabrosky, River Road. So it would appear that the CSEA backed the wrong candidate. Congratulations, Brother Halpin. I suspect that upon taking office last year, your otherwise laudable inclination to collaboration may have led you to be persuaded by your Republican brethren that it was advisable to continue disregarding and abusing me as they had been. I would counsel you that independence would have served you better in my case and may better serve all of your constituents in the future. Speaking of Republican brethren, you are consistent at least in your inconsistency. I am quite sure that you are oblivious to the irony of your highly partisan faux outrage at recent legal voter outreach here at Town Hall, especially given the actual rank partisanship gaseously and routinely emitted from the good brothers and sisters as they purport to serve all residents of Riverhead irrespective of party affiliation. Your well-established collective tolerance for hostile, obscene, misogynist speech and yet open hostility to constitutionally protected speech and various other constitutional protections are offensive and intolerable inconsistencies. You are apparently incapable of distinguishing between between voter outreach and voter interference, but are so committed to voter suppression as to contemplate restrictive anti-constitutional legislation that no resident has asked for. Even you should be able to read the room, Brother Howard, because as of election day, the writing is on the wall for this style of government. But let's explore some practical consequences of actual partisanship. At the highway department, Brother Zaleski's folly, a shredded monument to ongoing incompetence, flapping in the breeze in the form of two huge storm damaged temporary storage structures. Brother Zaleski is probably waiting for disaster relief funds that he hasn't figured out are not forthcoming because those funds have been requested by our democratic female governor and will undoubtedly be withheld illegally by a hostile, obscene, misogynist Republican president whose twisted punitive perception of public service renders him incapable of rendering federal disaster funds to states who didn't vote for him. Expect Zaleski's folly to be flapping in the breeze for the foreseeable future, unless it again takes flight for at least a third time in the next war zone winter storm, hopefully not landing on someone's windshield, possibly killing or maiming a passing motorist. Like unicorns and the tooth fairy, I predict a mythological Trump check will not be forthcoming. So go ahead and bill the taxpayers for another repair and remediation, just as pointless as the last two, or is it three? Prize-winning post remover notwithstanding, Zalewki's folly is a potentially lethal eyesore that found anywhere else in Riverhead would be a windfall source of code revenue. When actual partisanship contaminates public service already compromised by misguided priorities and bad practice, monuments such as Zaleski's Folly are erected. Maybe Bucket Man and Ryan Go Suck Nuts could install a reflecting pool. See you next Tuesday. Ma'am, you cannot use that language here. You've been warned about that language. Anyone else? Really? You're opposed to that language? That language bothers you? No, it's coming for you. Oh, really? Hi, Joan Sear, James Ford again. And I just was looking at the veterans in the room and wanted to take this opportunity to remember everyone, to remind everyone, you know, next Wednesday is Veterans Day, and there will be services in Riverhead at the War Memorial. And I am married to a veteran. I'm proud to say that he's 20 years in the Air Force. And my brother's a veteran of the Air Force, and my father was a veteran, and he was at the Normandy invasion and the Battle of the Bulge. I just want to thank you for your service, not just these veterans who took the time to come today, but all of our veterans throughout Riverhead and Long Island. You know, I think for our generation, a lot of veterans are older, but there's a lot of younger men and women who are out there serving too. So whether they're active military or veterans, thank you for your service. This Veterans Day, please remember them all. Thank you. Thank you, Joan. Thank you for sharing that. That's a great, great, yeah. Thank you. Good afternoon. Colin Tooker from Riverhead. Last week, Mr. Rothwell had a concern about some intimidation taking place in the Riverhead Town Hall parking lot. And the captain of the police department was contacted, and a police officer was dispatched. and the senior investigator for the town code enforcement office was consulted and a town code officer was brought to the scene. An impromptu meeting took place between the supervisor and Mr. Rothwell and the town attorney was consulted and promptly proposed a town code change to address the intimidation. And it should be noted that the intimidation was two middle-aged white women behind a folding table. A town board member doesn't hesitate to pull multiple levers of the government to address his political concern. Is it unreasonable when town residents continually come before you and request that you address the safety concerns of them and their families and their neighbors, is it unreasonable to ask that you address those concerns?

Mr. Tugger, I just want to make sure you know you're aware of your time so you can... I'll take that as an answer. The membership roster of the HDEC lists an Edgar Mejia as its vice chairman. I reached out to Councilman Rothwell. I reached out to the committee chairman. I reached out to the town clerk. I reached out to the town attorney to find out whether Mr. Mejia is alive or not. When no one responded, I filed a FOIL request and was promptly informed that the town doesn't retain any records regarding the state of Mr. Mejia. No one could be bothered to answer a simple question from a resident about whether a town board committee member is in fact alive or dead. Is it unreasonable for town residents to expect an answer from the board and from town officials when they bring forth a question. So who did you send it to? I usually reply to that. Mr. Mejia, I don't know. Yeah. He's listed. So, let's ask Mr. Rothwell, since he's the liaison to the committee, he's listed. I requested a copy of the membership roster of the committee. He is listed as a member of the committee. He's listed on the town website as a member of the committee. And I have reason to believe that he was tragically killed back in January. And I can't understand why I can't just ask that question and have someone say he's alive or dead. All your foils were answered. We have spent hours answering your phone messages. He's a member of the committee. He is not deceased, and he's a member of the committee, and we've answered all your questions. You have not answered my questions, and I have not made a phone call, so you're factually incorrect. All your foils have been answered, every one of them, Colin. You've gotten everything that you wanted. You don't always like the answers, but everything has been answered for you. So Mr. Mejia is alive. Okay, can you please describe who he is? to be interrogated by you. You come to the meetings. You were invited to the meeting, and you chose not to attend. What meeting was I invited to? You were invited to the Hispanic Development Education Empowering Committee. I saw the email, and you said, I'm not coming. So if you don't want to attend the meetings, don't attend the meetings, but they're open to the public, and you can participate. Every resident of this town is an open forum. I was out of town for two months, and I explained to him, as you well know, that I accepted... But the committee consists of volunteers that spend a lot of time putting together papers to provide stuff to the town attorney's office to answer all your foils. If you're that interested in the community developments of that particular committee, come to a meeting. That's what you should do. Participate. Don't attack people. Participate in the process. Mr. Rothwell, as I mentioned in my email, which you are very aware of as you were cc'd on it, I have been out of state for two months and I was unable to attend the meeting. These are committees of volunteers within the town. Yes. And your continuing FOIL request has to go out and reach out to them and everybody has to respond and send their information. It is a long, lengthy process. Come to a meeting. Which could all be abbreviated if the town board responded. When we write a letter to the town, that we get an answer. When we ask a question, that we get an answer. All right. We're good. We'll see you at the next meeting, Colin. Thank you, Mr. Tucker.

Is there anybody else that has a comment? I don't think there is. Oh, yes, ma'am. Sorry.

Hi, Kimberly Judd, Riverhead. I wanted to thank the town board. You all came to our Riverhead Rotary breakfast last week, all of you. I really, on behalf of Riverhead Rotary, really appreciate it. A few weeks ago, all of you came for our Peace Poll donation on behalf of Riverhead Rotary. And again, we appreciate the collaboration and the enthusiasm that you all show when you come to these events. We had the litter campaign coming up this Saturday. Rotary has a team. So if anybody is going, if you could bring a bag of socks, because we have a sock drive for the veterans at Acadia Rehabilitation. the Veterans Committee at the town of Riverhead, we get socks together every year. That seems to be a big item. So if you're coming to the litter event on Saturday morning. Saturday from 9 to 11. Bring your socks. Yeah, please bring a bag of socks or they don't have to be in a bag. As long as they're connected or have the paper around them unopened. Unopened. And I would appreciate that. I'm just going to say one thing. Not only the Rotary, you guys do a great job. And I have to say, commend the ROTC for engaging with them. They were phenomenal. And they will also be at the VFW Pancake Breakfast this Sunday. The VFW has a pancake breakfast that the ROTC participate in as well. So they're a really phenomenal bunch of kids. We couldn't do it without them. But so bring some socks and then hopefully we'll see you all on the 21st here to take the banners down The VFW Hall Sunday Sunday, yep, what time? He's right. I believe it's 8 to 1130. Okay. He's a member both. He's a mr Robich is a member of the American Legion I don't see any of the but that and I wanted to thank these two gentlemen from coming over to support the exemption for the veterans that that you guys had a public hearing on today. So thank you so much. Thanks for serving on the committee. I just want you to know that I brought my family and their significant others to the breakfast. And when we left, they said that was delicious, and we decided that we are going to make that a family event each and every year, that that's going to be our tradition, that as a family we always attend and support. Yes, glad to hear it. We're going to try to get Eric in the kitchen next year. It was great. Okay, I'm ready. He's usually on the serving line, but we need more cooks in the kitchen, so we're going to try to get him in the kitchen. I'd really like to help out with that. You're not a Rotarian, Mr. Kern. I don't think you're a Rotarian. Can I be one for a day? Okay. It was very delicious. It was great, and it was great to see Judge Walter actually serving everything to the people. Yes, thank you for coming. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Judge. Thank you so much.

Bye, Eric. Marjorie Acevedo. Waiting River. I just want to, I have two things that I want to say. Number one, I am so glad that you tabled that because I don't know how this affects our open space funds. I don't know where the money is taken from. I think it's a concern that we all should have. We've waited so long, the open space committee, to have the funds to purchase land and I don't want in any way or form any money to go, especially to somebody that does not even live on Long Island. And I think that Zoom meetings are great, but Zoom meetings for four times a year, people should be attending a meeting, I think. I don't think that's too much to ask, especially since they're all coming from the East End. So I don't think it's a big deal. Number two, I just wanted to say that during the storm that we had, the Nor'easter, a couple of weeks ago. We had, my husband has been ill, so he can't really do much around our house, but a tree fell in the street. And of course, my husband said, well, I'm going to go get the chainsaw. I said, no, you're not doing anything. I said, let me call the town. It's in the street. Well, I called the town at 1130, and by 1215, they were there. These men were great. They just chopped that tree down, took it off the street, and so kind and so respectful, came to the door and said to me, you know, we moved it all. We will be back to take away the debris that we left on the side. It probably won't be today. Well, it was like three days later, and I was like, it's gone. I can't believe it. So on behalf of, I know my whole block, because nobody could get down Dogwood drive because of it. We thank you. And Mike Zaleski has a great crew. They were just wonderful. Thank you. Male Speaker 2 Thanks, Marge. Marge McEwen Excuse me, I'm not talking to you. Male Speaker 2 No, just address us. Marge McEwen I know. I don't like to be interrupted. Male Speaker 2 Just address us. Either way, we will not. We will have orders. Marge McEwen Excuse me, I just want to say thank you. I think they do a great job. Male Speaker 2 Thank you, Marge. Female Speaker 2 I'd just like to make a comment. Today we were at the Aquavog Cemetery. I want to thank Councilwoman Waski with Richard Wines for the fantastic plaque by the Pomeroy Foundation, for Brister Young, a slave here in Riverhead that became a free man. We commemorated him at that cemetery today with members of the town board. Terrific. Thank you. So with that said, we will – oh, Warren, I think we're going to wrap up our public comment. Everybody's had an opportunity. Very quickly, because the support for Mrs. Cooper here. Okay. Is this reference to Mrs. Cooper? Lieutenant, you're out of order, you're going to have to leave the meeting, I'm sorry. You've been asked. Ma'am, we're going to have to ask you to leave. So, Warren. Well, basically I'm here on behalf of Mary Cooper, Reverend Mary Cooper, and Mr. Rothwell about the hometown banners. And, well, Mary's husband was in the Air Force, and he died of Agent Orange in 2010. And it's just a privilege for me to drive Mary around. and when we pass that the new ice cream parlor where the diner was we go down that street we see Martin Cooper and it's wonderful Mary and one more thing on Griffin Avenue and Main Street is also another hometown hero, Mary's daughter Thank you Thank you for your participation today impossible, sorry for the disruption and we thank each and every one of you I'd like to ask for a motion to close. So moved. Second. All in favor?

Thank you.