Riverhead Water District rates going up Jan. 1 for biggest consumers: Town Board meeting wrap

Riverhead Water District’s Tier 2 rates will be going up Jan. 1 from $2.75 per 1,000 gallons to $3 per 1,000 gallons.

Tier 2 rates apply to water in excess of 90,000 gallons in a three-month billing cycle for customers with 5/8 -inch and 1-inch lines —residential customers. 

Tier 2 rates kick in for customers with larger service lines, ranging from 1.5-inches to 10 inches —commercial, industrial and institutional customers — for usage of 290,000 gallons to 2.3 million gallons per billing cycle. Customers with service lines over one inch are billed monthly.

Tier 1 rates remain unchanged at $1.95 per 1,000 gallons. 

The Town Board approved a two-tiered rate system in 2022.

The board on Tuesday approved the rate hike, which was requested by Riverhead Water District Superintendent Frank Mancini to keep up with rising costs of operation. 

The board also approved two new fees for the water district: a $50 meter download fee and a $75 service call fee, plus $50 per hour after the first hour. The meter download fee covers the cost of downloading data from the meter, so the district can analyze water usage. This is a service done at the customer’s request, typically when the customer has an unusually high usage rate, generally for irrigation system troubleshooting purposes, Mancini told the Town Board at its Dec. 5 work session.

The $75 service call fee covers the cost of a water district employee going to a customer site to assist the customer with troubleshooting. The $75 fee will cover up to one hour, with time in excess of the first hour to be billed at $50 per hour. Water District staff are sometimes required to spend many hours, even days, assisting a commercial customer with troubleshooting a spike in water consumption, Mancini said. 

The board approved the measure unanimously.

Yard waste permit fees going up

Fees to use Riverhead Town’s residential yard waste facility are also going up Jan. 1. 

The annual fee will increase from $50 to $60 per vehicle. The daily fee will increase from $15 to $20 per vehicle. 

Proof of residency is required for both yearly and daily permits.

In other action at its Dec. 17 meeting, the Town Board:

• Adopted code amendments to implement more than a dozen recommendations of the comprehensive plan update approved by the board in September. The code amendments address changes relating to the transfer of development rights program, to industrial zoning code provisions and more. The changes, which were the subject of public hearings on Nov. 19, are summarized here. 

• Commenced environmental impact review on a special permit application  expand the pre-existing, nonconforming use of the 9-hole Sandy Pond golf course and 18-hole mini-golf facility on Roanoke Avenue.  The Planning Board granted final site plan approval for changes to the golf course and construction of the mini-golf facility in March. The owners of the site are seeking to expand the use by constructing an approximately 3,100-square-foot clubhouse, a 1,040-square-foot property manager’s residence, and three  7,200-square-foot commercial trade shop buildings, along with 67 new parking stalls. 
  • The Town Board on Tuesday classified the application as a Type 1 action under the State Environmental Quality Review Act and is seeking lead agency status for coordinated review of the application. The board also scheduled a public hearing on the application for its Jan. 7 meeting at 2 p.m. at Town Hall.

• The board on Tuesday commenced coordinated review of the site plan application of Island Water Park dba Scott’s Point in Calverton, which is seeking to legalize changes made at the site without approvals. It also tabled a resolution that would have scheduled a public hearing on the site plan amendments. The hearing is delayed due to ongoing settlement discussions regarding a lawsuit brought by the town seeking removal of the new features at  the site, including a go-kart track and pickleball courts, built without permits. See prior story.  

• Approved amendments to the employment contracts of Town Attorney Erik Howard, Chief Deputy Town Attorney Annemarie Prudenti and Director of Economic Development and Planning Dawn Thomas, providing each an annual raise based on the consumer price index for Long Island, not to exceed the greater of 3.5% or the Civil Service Employees’ Association’s contract step and salary increase. 
  • The board also approved amendments to their contracts pertaining to sick leave and vacation time, and the terms of buyouts for unused days upon retirement or resignation.

• Ratified the appointment of attorney Philip Siegel of the law firm Siegel & Sitler, as special counsel to the Board of Ethics. 

• Approved the special event application for the “Bob Feller Act of Valor 5K Run For Life,” starting and ending at the VFW Hall in Riverhead to take place on Sunday March 30, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. The course for the 5K includes Parkway Street to and from Stotzky Park and looping around the park.