Riverhead Town has completed a five-and-a-half-year environmental review process on a new development plan for its remaining property at the former Grumman facility in Calverton.
The town board yesterday adopted a “findings statement” — the last step in the process under the State Environmental Quality Review Act.
The next step is the adoption of an updated use plan and zoning code and the completion of the subdivision by the Riverhead Planning Board. The town must also obtain a permit from the state Department of Environmental Conservation under the Wild, Scenic and Recreational Rivers Act. It is also seeking a WSSR boundary line amendment from the DEC.
Riverhead officials say they are currently negotiating with two “serious potential buyers” who have made “significant” offers to buy all or most of the town’s remaining real estate holdings at the site — other than its 93-acre park. Officials so far have declined to publicly identify the prospective buyers or the plans they’ve floated, if any, for the use of the site. Both suitors were brought to the table by Cushman and Wakefield, the real estate brokerage the town hired last year to market the town’s property within the Calverton Enterprise Park.
Skate park repair expenditure approved
The town board yesterday authorized the transfer of funds to pay the cost of some of the additional repairs needed to reopen the Riverhead Skate Park at Stotzky Park, which has been closed since last year.
Earlier this year the board hired a contractor to make $50,000 worth of repairs, based on an estimate given by the contractor for work needed to get the park in shape. But after removing boards on the park’s ramps that required replacement, the contractor discovered that extensive additional work is required, according to Riverhead Recreation Superintendent Ray Coyne. The additional work, if undertaken in its entirety, would require an additional expenditure of $71,000. However the town opted for an”Band-Aid” approach to get the park open this year, authorizing another $27,000 in additional repairs.
Councilman Tim Hubbard voiced strong objection to the additional expenditure saying the town lacked a “solid explanation” of what happened. “I’m not happy about it,” he said. “To go from $55,000 to add ather $27,000 and that’s a Band-Aid approach — and yet to complete it we need another $70,000? I don’t understand how this happens.”
Hubbard said the skate park is used mostly by out-of-towners and it is not enough of a money-maker for the town to justify the expense.
Coyne said at yesterday’s meeting that the town is actually losing money on the operation of the skate park. He said the contractor discovered the additional repairs that are needed only after its workers began removing boards they knew had to be replaced.
“That doesn’t fly with me,” Hubbard said. He voted against the measure.
Councilwoman Jodi Giglio abstained, saying she thought the town board should get legal advice before moving forward. She would like advice on whether there is any recourse against the contractor for providing the town with an estimate that was not “thorough.”
The resolution authorizing the additional expenditure was approved, with councilmen James Wooten and John Dunleavy and Supervisor Sean Walter voting yes.
“Anyone who owns an old house knows” how “you never know what you’re going to get when you open things up,” Wooten said.
“We don’t maintain what we have,” Dunleavy said, “then when something goes wrong, it mushrooms.”
Aug. 16 public hearings set
The board scheduled a trio of public hearings for its Aug. 16 meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. at Riverhead Town Hall:
7:05 p.m. Preston House special permit
Hearing on the special permit application of Joseph Petrocelli and J. Petrocelli Development Associates to convert an existing two-story residence at 428 E, Main St. to a 185-seat restaurant and bar and to construct a seaparate five-story 20-unit hotel on the north side of the property, behind the existing structure. The property, known as the Preston House, is located in an urban renewal area and in the DC1 zoning use district.
7:10 p.m. Peconic Care research/rehab facility in Calverton
Hearing on the site plan application of Engelman Burman Group for Peconic Care on lot 17 of the Calverton Camelot subdivision. The Peconic Care proposal consists of a research and rehabilitation facility on a 95.6-acre campus with associated site improvements including a 77,798-square-foot main building, a 17,188-square-foot extended-care building, a 10,156-square-foot fitness center, a 2,172-square-foot arts and crafts barn, a 1,440-square-foot maintenance building, and a Gate House.
7:15 p.m. CPF extension and modification
A local law to amend town code chapter 221 “Community Preservation” which would implement the 20-year extension of the Peconic Bay Region Community Preservation Fund (subject to approval in a mandatory referendum this November) and authorize the expenditure of up to 20 percent of the town’s community preservation fund revenues on water quality projects.
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