Fast facts: Coffee house planned for Main Road ♦ Will board sue the supervisor? ♦ Jamesport Fire Department to build pavilion ♦ Board likes downtown Edgar Allan Poe Festival idea ♦
Cab driver permit fees to be reduced ♦ Four-way stop proposed for Griffing and Lincoln
Coffee house planned for Main Road
Hampton Coffee Company would like to open “a real community coffee house” on the North Fork, owner Jason Belkin and his attorney Jim Hulme told town board members. Belkin is proposing to open a coffee shop in a free-standing building on the north side of Main Road, just east of County Route 105 in Aquebogue. The building is the former home of a solar energy company, a woodworking shop and a automobile service station before that.
The site is in the Rural Corridor zoning use district and the coffee shop use would be allowed as a “bistro use” in that district, planner Joe Hall told board members. It requires a special permit of the town board. Board members reacted favorably to the idea and agreed to act on a resolution classifying the proposed action for environmental review purposes and calling a public hearing on the special permit application.
Hampton Coffee has locations in Westhampton Beach, Southampton and Water Mill. The company roasts its own coffee in Southampton, Belkin said. In addition to coffee, the shop would serve fresh-baked muffins and light fare.
Will town board sue the supervisor?The battle over which software to buy first continues.
With Supervisor Sean Walter absent, Councilwoman Jodi Giglio proposed a resolution authorizing Councilman John Dunleavy to sign a contract with a software company the board originally authorized May 6. The supervisor, who likened the purchase to “putting whipped cream on road kill” and cast the lone dissenting vote on the measure, has since declined to sign the contract.
Giglio proposed buying a new $44,000 software system to track building permits and provide communication between the building and assessor departments. The councilwoman says it will pay for itself by making it easy for the building department to keep track of expired permits and collect fees. But Walter wants the town to first upgrade its “archaic” main frame computer and the software used by the accounting department, which he called the engine of all town operations. He asked the board on May 29 to delay the building department software purchase, but didn’t get a definitive answer; Giglio was absent from that meeting.
Town attorney Bob Kozakiewicz told board members yesterday state law did not allow any single board member to act on behalf of the board.
“The statute says only the town supervisor can be authorized to act on behalf of the board,” Kozakiewicz said. “Absent statutory authority, you can’t do it,” he said.
The only recourse the board has is a legal proceeding to compel the supervisor to act, the town attorney said.
Board members did not immediately react to that idea.
Jamsport Fire Department to build pavilion
The Jamesport Fire Department is planning to build a 30-foot by 30-foot open-air pavilion behind its headquarters on Manor Lane, for use as a recreation area by members, JFD vol and architect Chuck Thomas told board members yesterday.
The wood frame, metal roof building, paid through firefighter association fundraising, won’t require town board approval or a public hearing, board members decided.
Board likes downtown Edgar Allan Poe Festival idea
Board members reacted favorably to a proposal by Sal St. George and the Riverhead BID Management Association to bring a three-day Edgar Allan Poe-themed festival to downtown Riverhead Oct. 31 through Nov. 2. The festival would include a parade, street performers, live music and theatrical performances, as well as a masquerade ball, a haunted boat ride and other attractions. Details about the festival will be posted to a Poe festival Facebook page, according to Riverhead Community Development director Chris Kempner. St. George has worked with the Dickens Festival in Port Jefferson.
Cab driver permit fees to be reduced
For the second time since the adoption of legislation he pushed for requiring permits for taxi cabs operating in Riverhead, Councilman John Dunleavy is looking to ease the financial impacts of the law on cab companies and drivers.
Dunleavy said the annual renewal required for taxi driver permits is too costly for cab drivers, who are also required to have their fingerprints checked with each renewal. The current renewal fee of $100 plus the $75 fingerprint fee paid to the state is an undue burden on drivers, Dunleavy said.
He suggested requiring fingerprinting every two years instead of every year.
“Why would you want it to be every two years?” Councilwoman Jodi Giglio asked. “Aren’t we trying to protect the people who use cabs?”
Board members decided instead to cut the renewal fee in half, from $100 to $50, but still require an annual renewal, including fingerprinting.
Dunleavy also wants the town to limit the number of hours cab drivers can work, suggesting shifts no longer than 10 consecutive hours. Drivers should be required to keep a log in their vehicles indicating hours worked. The town attorney’s office will work on a draft code revision, the board agreed.
Four-way stop proposed for Griffing and Lincoln
Councilman James Wooten wants to make the intersection at Griffing and Lincoln a four-way stop. It currently has stop signs on Lincoln Street only. There is also a flashing light at the intersection, which Wooten says has nonetheless been the scene of three recent accidents.
“For some reason people seem to think cars on Griffing have a stop sign also,” Wooten said.
The group home on the corner there is an added reason for the four-way stop, Wooten said.
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