Updated 4:43 p.m.: The Riverhead Town Board will postpone the vote on the resolution to move ahead with a new agreement that aims to finalize its $40 million land deal with Triple Five Group next week, Supervisor Yvette Aguiar said in a press release Thursday afternoon.
Aguiar said the board will not vote on the resolutions next week because she found out just prior to the work session this morning that two members of the board would not be able to attend the meeting scheduled for Wednesday “and given the importance of this matter and appropriateness to present these resolutions to a full Town Board, the Town Board has agreed to reschedule these resolutions.”
Neither Aguiar nor other board members mentioned the change or whether they would be absent from the meeting during the work session this morning, even as the resolution authorizing the plan was read aloud to the board by Deputy Supervisor Devon Higgins.
The Town Board will instead vote on the resolutions at a special Town Board and Community Development Agency meeting at 9:30 a.m. on March 24 preceding the work session scheduled for that day.
Original story:
Riverhead Town will move ahead with a new agreement that aims to finalize its $40 million land deal with Triple Five Group, if a resolution on the town board’s agenda wins approval next week.
The concept, first announced by Supervisor Yvette Aguiar on Feb. 10, allows the town to receive the balance of the $40 million purchase price in advance of the transfer of title on the 1,643 acres of vacant industrial land to Triple Five affiliate Calverton Aviation and Technology, and to shift the burden and cost of completing the land subdivision needed in order to transfer title.
The town’s efforts to finalize the subdivision, as required by its November 2018 contract with Calverton Aviation and Technology (“CAT”) have been stalled over regulatory issues at the State Department of Environmental Conservation concerning the Riverhead Water District and the state agency’s questions about public water supply infrastructure.
The town yesterday released the resolution and a “binding letter agreement” signed by Justin Ghermezian on behalf CAT.
The resolution requires the Riverhead Community Development Agency, which holds title to the land at the enterprise park, and Calverton Aviation and Technology (“CAT”) to file a joint application to the Riverhead Industrial Development Agency and requires the application to be accepted and deemed complete by the IDA within six months of the adoption of the resolution.
CAT will be seeking financial assistance from the IDA in the form of mortgage and sales tax exemptions and real property tax abatements, town officials said. CAT has agreed to pay the the town’s costs associated with the joint application to the IDA, including its attorneys’ fees.
CAT will have up to three months from the date the IDA application is deemed complete to “request and diligently pursue” the IDA’s final authorizing resolution approving the joint application. The IDA’s decision on the joint application will come after the IDA reviews CAT’s financial assurances in connection with its application for benefits.
If the IDA approves the application, the town will transfer its remaining 2,100 acres at the Calverton Enterprise Park to the IDA and the IDA will enter into “lease and project” agreements with both the town and CAT. CAT will pay Riverhead the balance of the $40 million purchase price when the town transfers title to the IDA and the lease and project agreements are signed. CAT will also pay all costs associated with the transfer, including the state transfer tax and the Peconic Bay Region Community Preservation Fund tax, the resolution states.
The IDA will lease to CAT the 1,643 acres that are the subject of the November 2018 contract. Under the lease and project agreement with the IDA, CAT will make payments in lieu of taxes for its commercial development plus full sewer, water and special district taxes, as well as full land taxes on the developable portion of the property.
The IDA will lease back to the town the remaining acreage the town currently holds for municipal uses, including a Pine Barrens Core Preservation Area parcel, Veterans Memorial Park, the recreation trail, and property used by the Calverton Sewer District and Riverhead Water District.
CAT agrees to pay the cost of the purchase and installation of lighting for the four existing ballfields at Veterans Memorial Park in Calverton within six months after the execution of the lease and project agreement between CAT and the IDA.
The lease and project agreement between the IDA and CAT will require CAT to fulfill the intended development plan required by the November 2018 contract with the town. Under the terms of that contract, CAT is required to complete a minimum of $1 million in infrastructure improvements to the runways within two years and construct at least 1 million square feet of commercial and industrial space within five years of receiving necessary approvals for construction.
CAT has also agreed to make a $1.5 million payment to the Riverhead Community Development Agency for “recreational and community benefits” upon completion and occupancy of 500,000 square feet of new construction at the EPCAL site.
CAT agrees to preserve and maintain the roughly 1,000 acres of environmentally sensitive land in accordance with the comprehensive habitat plans prepared by the town and any subsequent amendments by the State DEC.
CAT agrees to diligently pursue the subdivision of the land subject to the November 2018 contract of sale. When the final subdivision map is filed, the IDA will convey title to the 1,643 acres that were subject to the IDA/CAT lease and will convey title to the remaining acreage that were subject to the IDA/town lease.
CAT will pay all expenses of the IDA and the town, including attorneys’ fees and expenses, expenses of the IDA’s consultants, a cost/benefit analysis, feasibility reports, title reports, surveys, environmental audit, transfer taxes and recording fees and charges.
The resolution on the board’s March 16 agenda authorizes the supervisor to execute the letter agreement dated March 3, which is already signed by CAT and is attached to the resolution.
The letter agreement states that if the IDA, after considering all financial and project information, decides not to approve the joint application, the town “shall have the right to declare the Agreement of Sale dated November 19, 2018 null and void at anytime after the the IDA action on the Joint Application. In the event that Seller declares the Agreement null and void there shall be no liability on the part of any party hereto or any of its affiliates, directors, officers, owners, members or the stockholders/shareholders, except for the return of the Initial Deposit and Second Deposit as provided in the Agreement.”
The contract deposits total $1 million.
Except as amended by the resolution and letter agreement, all terms of the November 2018 remain intact, town officials said at an open forum Tuesday night at Town Hall.
The forum was conducted by Deputy Town Attorney Annemarie Prudenti, Community Development Director Dawn Thomas and the town’s special counsel, Frank Isler.
The three officials fielded questions from community members present in Town Hall and via Zoom for more than three hours.
The EPCAL Watch group submitted a list of 20 questions, most of which are answered in the text of the resolution and letter agreement, which were not made available to the public prior to the forum.
Prudenti went through the group’s written questions and she, Isler and Thomas answered them before turning to comments and questions from people in the audience and on Zoom.
The group asked how the town was handling compliance with the State Environmental Quality Review Act in connection with this new agreement. Isler answered that “there’s been total compliance with SEQRA all through this process” and nothing further is needed at this time.
Community members questioned how long the IDA lease terms will be and what would happen if CAT fails to obtain final subdivision approval. The IDA will set the parameters of the lease, Prudenti said. It is an independent entity, not under the control of the town board.
Prudenti said the town has not discussed the application with the IDA. That would be improper, she said.
IDA Chairman James Farley confirmed that in a phone interview this morning. “The IDA will review the application when we receive it, like any other application,” Farley said.
2022_03_16_EPCAL Resolution & Letter Agreement by RiverheadLOCAL on Scribd
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