Walter: Riverhead is ‘getting stronger every day’

In his fifth “state of the town” speech since taking office in 2010, Riverhead Supervisor Sean Walter struck three familiar themes: getting the town’s financial house in order, revitalizing downtown and developing the Enterprise Park at Calverton.

Speaking to a gathering of about 50 people last night in the Sea Star Ballroom at the L.I. Aquarium, the supervisor looked back on state of the town four years ago when he took office. He spoke of the accomplishments of his administration in those four years and laid out his priorities for the year ahead.

“First, we will continue to be frugal — some would say cheap,” Walter said. “We will add no new staff unless we can demonstrate how that position serves an indispensable function,” he said. “We will use early retirement as an incentive to decrease our staffing costs.”

Second, he said, is the subdivision of town-owned land at the enterprise park, which he called the town’s biggest challenge and most important goal in the coming year. The town is putting the finishing touches on the draft environmental impact statement and intends to schedule an April hearing on the document, he said.

“Once the subdivision is created, our third priority will be to market the land,” Walter said. The marketing process is already underway with the release of two requests for proposals for the new 95-acre energy park, he said.

Walter said his “fourth agenda item” for the year is procuring a line of credit secured by town-owned land at EPCAL.

The town needs to draw on the equity of the land to avoid a 16 percent tax increase, Walter said, blaming what he has called “a structural deficit” in the town budget that he estimates at $4 million.

“I have said repeatedly that due to our landfill debt, the only way our town government has functioned has been by drawing down on our budget reserves,” Walter said.

“I have said that one day we must pay the piper and he is calling,” he said.

“This is not a step we take lightly, we understand its significance… but with land sales and leases so close at EPCAL, with the knowledge that our downtown is on the rise, with new revenue about to come online from activity on Route 58 and with the knowledge that we are living frugally at town hall, we do not think it would be prudent to ask each of you to dig deeper into your pocket when help is on the way,” Walter said.

“I could not in good conscious deliver a 16-percent tax increase while we are sitting on a $100 million asset. So, this year, we will seek a line of credit as a cushion against temporary tough times.”

The fifth priority for 2014 is “to continue our march downtown,” the supervisor said.

“As one can plainly see, even in this difficult economy, downtown is on the move,” he said.

“We are not ready to announce plans today but there is action behind the scenes that we believe will bear fruit downtown” and eliminate the remaining vacant storefronts.

Walter cited the success of the new indoor farmers’ market on East Main Street as evidence of downtown’s vitality.

On the market’s first day, he said, shoppers “jammed the streets and they parked across town and they trudged through the snow and they came with baby carriages and with dogs. They swept through the market, they cleaned off the shelves, they marched through downtown and neighbors said hello to neighbors and they visited the shops and they had lunch on Main Street and they laughed and they stayed and they lingered.”

The supervisor concluded his speech by pronouncing the state of the town “strong and getting stronger every day.”

Each winter, Riverhead’s supervisor traditionally addresses a joint meeting of the town’s three service clubs, Riverhead Rotary, Lions and Kiwanis. Last night’s meeting at Atlantis was hosted by the Rotary club. In addition to members of the clubs, the meeting was attended by Riverhead town council members James Wooten, George Gabrielsen and Jodi Giglio, by BID president Raymond Pickersgill, Planning Board chairman Richard O’Dea, Police Chief David Hegermiller, by members of the supervisors staff and a smattering of community members.