Parking garage consulting agreement signed in March is ratified: Town Board wrap-up July 6

The Town Board last week ratified a $30,000 consulting contract that was signed by the deputy supervisor nearly four months ago hiring National Development Council to lead the town’s review of the downtown parking garage project on First Street. 

The town agreed to pay NDC $5,000 per month for six months of assistance on the project, which includes the coordination and direction of the parking feasibility analysis by a separate firm — Level G Associates of Bethpage, hired in November — as well as the facilitation of meetings with “stakeholders,” and the production of a preliminary capital budget for the project. 

NDC’s work was to begin on March 15.

The town is seeking to construct a multi-story 569-space parking garage on the current First Street parking lot downtown to help absorb the parking impact of future residential and commercial development in the area. The parking garage is estimated to cost $20.3 million, according to the town’s application for the U.S. Department of Transportation’s RAISE grant program. The town sought $10 million for the parking garage from the federal program, but was not selected to receive the grant this year. 

MORE COVERAGE: Riverhead passed over by U.S. DOT for competitive transportation grant

The contract was signed by Deputy Supervisor Devon Higgins on March 22, according to a copy of the document received through a Freedom of Information Law request. 

The Town Board previously hired NDC, a nonprofit community development consultant that works strictly for municipalities and local development corporations, to analyze and consult on the development of three other major projects: the transit oriented-development project near Riverhead’s Long Island Rail Road Station, the town square and the new Town Hall.

In other action at its July 6 meeting, the Town Board:

• Promoted Senior Building Inspector Andreas Sofoklis to the position of chief building inspector.
• Designated Planner Greg Bergman as the town’s zoning officer. The title was previously held by Building and Planning Administrator Jefferson Murphree, who is currently suspended pending disciplinary charges brought against him by Supervisor Yvette Aguiar alleging insubordination and incompetence. The zoning officer is tasked with enforcing the provisions of the town’s zoning and land development laws; issuing permits and certificates of occupancy; and interpreting the town’s zoning code. Bergman will be paid an additional $3,000 per year for the role. His appointment is effective until Dec. 31 unless terminated sooner by the Town Board.
• Approved the special event application for this year’s Jamesport Fire Department’s bazaar, carnival and fundraiser at the George Young Community Center. The event will be held from Tuesday, July 18 through Saturday, July 22 from 5-11 p.m. and includes games, rides, food concessions and drinks. A fireworks display during the event will take place on July 22 at approximately 10:30 p.m..
• Authorized the perfection of an appeal by law firms representing the town and the highway superintendent in a case against the town by the Oak Hills Association. The Suffolk County Supreme Court found in decisions earlier this year that certain roads within the Oak Hills subdivision are public highways and directed the town to provide snow removal services for those roadways.
• Designated Network System Administrator Henry Kreymborg the head and administrator of the town’s Information Technology Department. Kreymborg was removed from the town’s labor union unit and made a confidential employee. He will be paid an annual salary of $123,000. 
• Set a public hearing for 2:05 p.m. on Sept. 6 to extend the Riverhead Sewer District to a proposed car wash to be located at the corner of Pulaski Street and Old Country Road. The proposed buildout of the subject site will result in an estimated wastewater flow of 9,367.2 gallons per day, according to the resolution.
• Approved a 25-year lease agreement with CVE North America to host a solar energy facility at the former landfill on Youngs Avenue. The contract includes the option to extend the contract for five years twice. See more coverage here.
• Granted a special permit to locate a new 18,000-gallon propane tank at Do-Well Propane, a propane storage facility located at 120 Edwards Avenue.
• Granted a special permit to allow an existing commercial building at 740 Main Road in Aquebogue to be converted into an office for Coastal MD, a “integrative health and wellness” practice. The building is currently vacant and was formerly the home of the North Fork Chocolate Company.