Riverhead swears in two new cops, sets hearing for water district improvements: Town Board meeting wrap-up

Two new full-time police officers were appointed and sworn into the Riverhead Police Department at last week’s Riverhead Town Board meeting.

Andrew Waski and William Leonardi were appointed as probationary police officers. Both officers served part-time in the department before being appointed to the full time position.

Andrew Waski was sworn in by his mother, Council Member Joann Waski. Leonardi was sworn in by Riverhead Police Chief David Hegermiller.

Council Member Ken Rothwell said Waski and Leonardi are “Riverhead’s finest and they are our future.” 

“I look forward to working with both of you. These are the two best candidates that Riverhead could ask for and two remarkable young men,” Rothwell said. “So I wish you excellent success and safety in all the years ahead of us.”

In other action at last week’s board meeting, the Town Board:

• Scheduled a public hearing to consider improvements to the Riverhead Water District costing $2.26 million. The hearing will be held during a special meeting scheduled for this Friday at 10 a.m.. The improvement consists of a wellhead treatment for the removal of PFAS compounds at a district well. 
• Scheduled a public hearing for the Town Board’s June 18 on a special permit application to construct three temporary trailers on the Riverhead Charter School’s high school campus on Sound Avenue. The resolution also classified the permit application as a Type II action pursuant to the State Environmental Quality and Review Act (SEQRA), which signifies that the project requires no further environmental review.
• Authorized a license agreement with the Skip Barber Driving School (known in the resolution as DMS Apex Holdings LLC) to use 6.6 acres of the town-owned 10,000 foot linear runway at the Calverton Enterprise Park for a driving school from June 1 to Dec. 31. The school will pay $6,000 per month to use the land. The agreement provides an option for two six month extensions, with the fee being raised 3% each extension. 
• Approved an $8 million increase in the estimated cost of a new upgrade to the town’s wastewater treatment facilities and authorized an amendment to its bond for the project. Read more here.
• Held a public hearing on proposed changes to the town’s zoning ordinance on alternative paving techniques.
• Adopted budgets for various road resurfacing projects that received state grants.
• Authorized a budget transfer from the town’s fund balance to the Community Development Agency’s budget for legal services. 
• Reappointed members of the town’s Business Advisory Committee whose terms expired at the end of last year. The members that were appointed to a new two-year term are: Martin Sendlewski, Rob Carpenter, Ray Dickoff, Ike Israel and Scott Middleton.
• Reappointed members of the town’s Beach Advisory Committee whose terms expired last year. The members that were appointed to a new one-year term are: Susan Cox, Rhonda Frisone, Bob Kelly, Jim Kelly (Alternate) and Jennifer Reeve.
• Authorized a budget adjustment to receive $245,000 in state grant money for engineering costs related to the town square adaptive playground.
• Set a public hearing to amend the town code to regulate satellite Earth stations in the Town of Riverhead.
• Set a public hearing for its meeting on June 18 on a law to establish a Community Preservation Fund Water Quality Improvement and Pollution Prevention Committee, which would advise the Town Board on spending real estate transfer tax revenues on water quality projects. The committee would be made up of various town department heads or their designees.  
• Tabled a resolution to set a public hearing on a three month extension of the Calverton industrial moratorium. The resolution was tabled in a 3-2 vote after some board members objected to the resolution not being discussed in a work section. The Town Board discussed the subject on Thursday and is poised to set a public hearing at its next regular meeting.
• Appointed purchasing agent Teresa Baldinucci in the newly created administrative role of senior purchasing agent. Baldinucci will lead a newly created town Purchasing Department, according to the resolution, and will be paid a salary of $92,000.
• Authorized a professional services agreement with LiRo GIS Inc. to create a master address table for the towns engineering department. 
• Authorized a professional services agreement with engineering firm VHB to prepare a property, topographic and utility survey of the East End Arts property and Riverhead Parking District properties on the Peconic Riverfront.
• Authorized a grant agreement with the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation for the funding of the Meetinghouse Creek restoration project in Aquebogue. The town is receiving $350,000 from the state’s fund and is matching 10% of the grant. The Town Board also declared lead agency on the restoration project pursuant to SEQRA and issued a negative declaration, which signifies the project is not expected to result in negative environmental impacts.