Riverhead town attorney investigating councilwoman’s building permit issues

The Riverhead town attorney’s office has begun an investigation into Councilwoman Jodi Giglio’s building  permit issues and has taken custody of the building department files on her Baiting Hollow home.

The move came Friday, after Giglio, in email correspondence with RiverheadLOCAL on Thursday, insisted all building department fees had been paid and all open permits taken care of, despite letters to the contrary in the building department file — letters which Giglio said she never received.

The file, reviewed again by RiverheadLOCAL Thursday afternoon pursuant to a freedom of information law request, still shows an expired permit for a second-story addition to Giglio’s Baiting Hollow home. That permit, issued in 2009 and expired in 2010, covered an already-built, 440-square-foot second-story addition constructed without a permit in 2004.

There was no certificate of occupancy for the addition in the file on Thursday. In the file were copies of letters addressed to Giglio and her husband Michael, dated June 20 and July 11, stating that the permit had expired and a renewal fee of $1,500 remained unpaid.

Those letters never arrived, she said. She only found out from a reporter “that there is a letter asking for additional money,” she said.

“It is my understanding that everything is paid,” Giglio said.

“I have letters from the building inspector saying the renewal fee for a second story addition is not required and the fees that they asked for have been paid and I have receipts,” she wrote. “The inspector came, inspected and said everything was O.K.”

Asked for copies of that correspondence, Giglio said Thursday her attorney would forward it to RiverheadLOCAL. No correspondence has yet been received.

Deputy town attorney William Duffy said Friday afternoon he had spoken with building department administrator Jeff Murphree to confirm that both the June 20 and July 11 letters were mailed to the Giglios. Murphree said they were, according to Duffy.

Riverhead Supervisor Sean Walter said Friday he asked the town attorney to take custody of the building department file “for safe-keeping” and investigate whether there is any discrepancy in the records.

“Mr. Duffy is creating a timeline for all permits issued and will correspond them to checks received,” Walter said.

According to county land records and building department files examined by RiverheadLOCAL, Giglio’s husband Michael, whose company, Structural Technology Inc., of Shirley, built the Baiting Hollow home in 1989-1990, years before they were married, applied for a permit to construct an in-ground pool in 1999. Giglio, the former Jodi A. Bennett, who owns a permit expediting business, notarized permit documents for the pool in 1999.

The Giglios finished the basement of the home some time thereafter and also added the second-story addition — both without first obtaining permits required by code, according to the building department file.

The Giglios filed building permit applications for the already-built 1,008-square-foot finished basement and second-story addition in 2009, the year Giglio was first elected to the Riverhead Town Board.

As of early this year, according to building department files, the permit for the addition lapsed in 2010, the permit for the basement had never been issued, and the permit for the pool — originally issued in 1999, renewed in 2001, and expired in 2003 — remained expired.

In May, Giglio paid permit renewal fees for the pool and finished basement. Certificates of occupancy were issued for both on June 20, 2013.

In a letter dated June 20, advising the Giglios that the C.O.s for the pool and finished basement were being issued, building inspector Richard Podlas wrote that the permit for the second-story addition had to be renewed and a permit fee of $1,500 was due.

In a July 10 interview (see prior story) Giglio said the permit for the addition had been taken care of, but as of Thursday, July 18, there was no indication in the file of that permit being paid or issued. Instead, the file contained a second letter to the Giglios, dated July 11, reminding them to pay the fee and obtain the permit.

The councilwoman issued a statement on July 16, in which she reiterated what she told RiverheadLOCAL on July 10: “I have paid all necessary permit fees and penalties required by the Town of Riverhead and will remit payment for back taxes when calculated.”

When asked about the still-open permit on Thursday, she said, “I would never put out a statement publicly saying it was all taken care of if I didn’t think it was.

“I have asked my attorney to go to the building department to get answers,” Giglio said in an email Thursday evening. “I have given her a check in case she resolves that additional monies are owed.”