Settlement OK’d, hearing set on Scott’s Pointe revised site plan: Town Board wrap-up

The Riverhead Town Board this week set a public hearing on a plan to legalize the already-built go-kart track and pickleball courts at Scott’s Pointe in Calverton, and to allow a catering hall use on the second floor of its main building.

The Town Board had tabled the resolution setting the hearing last month because the town was still in settlement discussions with Scott’s Pointe’s owner Island Water Park Corp, to end a lawsuit seeking penalties for the illegal construction. The board voted 4-1 both to bring the resolution back on the floor and to set the hearing, which will take place during the board’s next meeting on Jan. 22 at 6 p.m..

That action came after the board voted 4-1 to ratify the settlement of its lawsuit against Island Water Park Corp. The settlement, signed on Monday by both the town and the business, requires Island Water Park to pay a $50,000 civil penalty. The town agreed in the settlement to process Island Water Park’s amended site plan application, giving the business a clear path to legalize the improvements with the town; all the changes are permitted in the Scott’s Pointe site’s zoning district. 

Read more articles on the subject of Scott’s Pointe here.

Council Member Denise Merrifield cast the lone dissenting vote on the resolutions. Merrifield said before voting on the settlement that Island Water Park has “a long history of violating our town code.”

“And our town is moving forward with a great deal of development happening and I want to let individuals know that they’re going to do business in the Town of Riverhead, they are going to pay the consequences for being repeat violators,” she said. “And as a former prosecutor for 30 years, I know from experience that people that are bad actors — that repeat over and over again — they need to pay a heavy consequence for their actions.”

Merrifield said the town should have continued the lawsuit and “forced them to tear up the pickleball courts and the go-kart track, in order that they would learn a lesson that: don’t continuously violate our town code and just pay a fine afterwards.” She said $50,000 is not a sufficient penalty for the business’s action.

All the other board members, except Supervisor Tim Hubbard, voted to approve the settlement without comment.

“I agree with a lot of what Denise Merrifield just said, but in this litigious world we live in, court cases are always looking to be cleared, and settlements are always looking to be made,” Hubbard said. “And at times, you have to weigh whether the settlement is worth it, or whether going all the way to the end is worth it. And at this time, I truly believe that the settlement — although I wish it were more — it would cost us a lot more to continue on, and there’s never a guarantee in a court action that is going to fall into your favor,” Hubbard said.

“I also want to say it was never an intention to shut down Island Water Park, but it was an intention to send a strong, strong message out to developers who think they can come into town and do what they want to do and ask for forgiveness later,” he said. When the town filed its lawsuit, it asked the court to shut down Scott’s Pointe until it removes go-kart track and pickleball courts, and impose a financial penalty of at least $100,000 on the company.

“And I think a $50,000 hit is not quite sufficient, but I’m willing to live with it,” Hubbard said. “And hopefully this will deter other developers that come in and want to do things to know that we’re serious about this and we’re not just going to forgive and forget. We’re going to go after your wallet. And for that reason, I vote yes.”

Salary increases

The Town Board set the salaries of all town employees, appointed board members and elected officials during the meeting, as typically done during the first meeting of the year. The board also approved salary increases, separate from contractual increases, for 53 employees — either through direct increases or reclassifying their jobs. The board distributed a total of $164,212.67 in raises at the meeting.

Some key employees whose salaries were increased include: Town Attorney Erik Howard; Deputy Town Attorney Annemarie Prudenti; Deputy Town Attorney Danielle Hurley; Chief of Staff Debi Burkowski; the town’s three planners; Town Engineer Drew Dillingham; and Chief Building Inspector Andreas Sofoklis.

Financial Administrator Jeanette DiPaola said in an email that the raises passed by the board were factored into the 2025 budget adopted by the Town Board in November. The salary increases, based on merit, were put into separate resolutions to allow the board members to vote on them individually, she said.

Several town employees also receive annual stipends for doing work outside the responsibilities of their position.

Also during its meeting, the first of 2025, the board took a number of actions including:

• Authorized the Community Development Department to apply for $2 million through the NYS Department of Homes and Community Renewal’s “ADU Plus One” program, which provides up to $125,000 to income-qualifying homeowners with the funding to create or legalize existing accessory dwelling units (ADU). The resolution authorizes the Community Development Department to negotiate a contract with the Long Island Housing Partnership to administer the program, subject to board approval. 

• Authorized the publishing of a job advertisement to recruit part-time police officers. A candidate must be a U.S. citizen; have reached 20 years of age at the time of application; be a high school graduate; pass certain physical and psychological evaluations; possess a valid NYS Driver’s license; and possess a Municipal Police Training Certificate or attend and complete the Suffolk County Police Academy training course tentatively scheduled to commence in fall 2025. Applications are available at Riverhead Police Headquarters at 210 Howell Avenue and must be submitted to the office of the police chief no later than March 28.

• Established a capital project budget for the improve water quality in Meetinghouse Creek in Aquebogue. The town allocated a total of $1.235 million in state and county grants to the project, which it wants to use to manage runoff from Main Road and Church lane into the creek, and to remove sediments and pollutants. 

• Established a capital budget for enhancing an alleyway near the Suffolk Theater with motion activated lighting that “will be designed by an artist specializing in ‘light art’ to enhance safety, walkability and access to Main Street for pedestrians…” The Town board designated a total of $40,000 to the project, including grants received from the federal government, county government and Business Improvement District.

• Accepted the 2023 audited financial statements prepared for Riverhead Town by auditors PKF O’Connor Davies LLP. The town has not posted the document and has not yet responded to RiverheadLOCAL’s Freedom of Information Law request for a copy.  

• Reappointed members to the Anti-Bias Task Force to a new one-year term: Harley Abrams, Jasmine Esquilin, Patrice Stokley, Connie Lassandro and Thomas Najdzion.

• Adopted a local law to mandate the election of town justices remain as currently held, alternating between even numbered years and odd years. The law was passed in response to the state law mandating that local elections be held in even numbered years.

• Reappointed Munistat as the town’s financial advisor and Hawkins, Delafield and Wood, LLP as its bond counsel. 

• Ratified authorization for Building Maintenance Manager David Zebrowski to buy-back 78.25 hours of accrued vacation time.