Civic coalitions to urge ‘lame duck’ town board to delay action on EPCAL sale

A resolution setting a public hearing on the proposed sale of more than 1,600 acres in the Enterprise Park at Calverton is scheduled to be taken up by the Riverhead Town Board at its meeting tonight, but civic activists are planning to converge on town hall to protest the move. The newly elected supervisor and councilwoman should take their seats next month before any further action is taken on the proposed deal, according to civic group coalition leaders.

“Our town’s future must stop being decided behind closed doors, by a lame duck administration,” Riverhead Neighborhood Preservation Coalition president Phil Barbato wrote in an email to its members this weekend. The group also posted a call to action on its Facebook page.

Tonight is the final regular meeting of the current town board — and outgoing Supervisor Sean Walter, who has been an outspoken proponent of the massive land deal with Luminati Aerospace LLC, and veteran Councilman John Dunleavy. Walter lost his bid for a fifth term of office in the November election — a defeat some opponents of the EPCAL plan and Luminati deal say was, at least in part, a result of the positions he took regarding redeveloping the former Grumman manufacturing site in Calverton.

Luminati Aerospace offered Riverhead Town $40 million to buy most of its remaining land-holdings within the enterprise park. The town signed a letter of intent with Luminati in April and has spent several months negotiating the contract terms with the startup aerospace company, whose founder, Daniel Preston, claims he will bring the aerospace industry back to Riverhead.

Luminati had simultaneously been negotiating the terms of an agreement with billionaire businessman John Catsimatidis, owner of United Refining Energy Corp., who in July expressed interest in partnering with Luminati. Earlier this month, town board members learned Luminati had instead entered into written agreement with mega-developers Triple Five Ventures of Alberta, Canada and Las Vegas Nevada.

That prompted Walter to ask the board to schedule the “qualified and eligible sponsor” hearing required by state law for the town to sell property within a designated urban renewal zone.

Skeptics of the deal believe the town board should not act until Supervisor-elect Laura Jens-Smith and Councilwoman-elect Catherine Kent take office.

“Outgoing Supervisor Sean Walter was in part defeated by Laura Jens-Smith because of the issue of EPCAL,” the Coalition Against EPCAL Housing said in a press release. “We find it presumptuous that he is seeking to limit the options of his successor by announcing the date of the [qualified and eligible] hearing.”

The Coalition Against EPCAL Housing and the Riverhead Neighborhood Preservation Coalition are both urging civic group members and other “concerned citizens” to attend tonight’s town board meeting to speak against the resolution, which would set the qualified and eligible sponsor hearing for Jan. 17.

Both Councilwoman Jodi Giglio and Councilman Tim Hubbard said in interviews last week they would not support a resolution tonight setting the hearing. Both council members said the incoming supervisor and councilwoman should be in office before such a hearing is set.

“At this point it’s going to be what it’s going to be,” Jens-Smith said today. “I’m ready to roll up my sleeves and do the work that needs to be done and try and get the best possible outcome for the town.”

The proposed purchaser, according to the resolution on tonight’s town board agenda, is Calverton Aviation & Technology LLC, a company formed in the State of Delaware on Dec. 13. The new entity was formed by Luminati and Triple Five, according to town officials.

The town board meeting will take place at 7 p.m. tonight.