Board members debate plan to give highway superintendent $20,000 pay raise to oversee town garage

A proposal to increase the salary of the highway superintendent by $20,000 to compensate him for taking on responsibility for managing the town garage sparked more debate among town board members than comments from the public during a public hearing at Riverhead Town Hall yesterday.

Councilwoman Jodi Giglio voiced opposition to the proposal during yesterday’s public hearing, arguing that a few years ago, the board discussed having the highway superintendent take over all of the responsibilities of a retiring longtime employee, who served as the head of the sanitation and municipal garage departments — for the same $20,000 increase.

But the public record doesn’t support that assertion. In 2015, when voting against parceling out the sanitation department duties of just-retired department head John Reeve, Giglio advocated turning them over to the highway superintendent without mentioning any additional compensation.

“I think the highway superintendent is capable in handling the yard waste facility and the sanitation department as is done in East Hampton and Shelter Island and it wouldn’t be a burden on the general fund,” Giglio said at the Jan. 6, 2015 board meeting, according to the adopted minutes of that meeting.

But a majority of the board in 2015 supported assigning Reeve’s sanitation department responsibilities to various employees, giving them promotions and raises totalling $20,000. Giglio argued then that the cost of the raises was about $30,000, when taxes and benefits were taken into account. Then-councilman John Dunleavy voted with Giglio against the measures.

Responsibility for overseeing operations of the municipal garage was not addressed at the time.

“Years ago when Johnny Reeve retired, there was a proposal to give you $20,000 to take over the municipal garage, sanitation and yard waste,” Giglio told Highway Superintendent George Woodson yesterday after calling him to the podium during the hearing.

“There was talk but it never materialized,” Woodson replied.

“I was in support of that,” Giglio said.

Councilman James Wooten said he never heard a proposal in 2015 that Woodson should take over the sanitation department and the town garage.

“I’ll pull the minutes from when Johnny Reeve retired,” Giglio told him.

Supervisor Laura Jens-Smith said the discussion is “not an argument with Gio.” She said the board needs to address oversight of the town garage.

In 2016, following a critical internal audit report, then-chief of staff Lawrence Levy was put in charge of department oversight for the garage and one of its four mechanics was elevated to a supervisory position.

Levy’s employment was terminated in December at the end of former supervisor Sean Walter’s administration, leaving the municipal garage once again without an administrator. It has since been under the supervision of the town engineer.

Yesterday, Giglio also argued that the proposed additional pay for the highway superintendent would carry over to future years and future highway superintendents — a point fellow board members disputed in a discussion on the dais during the hearing.

Other board members said that is not the case, because the highway superintendent, as an elected official, has his salary set by the town board every year as part of the budget process, in keeping with state law.

The supervisor concluded the hearing and left the record open for written comment for 10 days.

Editor’s note: This article originally omitted the fact that the garage has been under the supervision of the town engineer since January.