The Riverhead BID Management Association, the nonprofit group that’s been organizing and producing downtown events for many years under contract with the Town of Riverhead has announced it will no longer produce two signature events that draw throngs of people to downtown Riverhead each year.
In an emailed statement Friday night, the BIDMA said it “will no longer be producing the Alive on 25 street festival and Halloween Fest as the Town of Riverhead has assumed operations for these events.”
The announcement follows a tense discussion at the BIDMA board of directors meeting March 19 between town officials and BIDMA board members regarding the group’s finances.
MORE COVERAGE: Downtown business group at odds with town over budget: Alive on 25 plans ‘frozen’
The organization said it was unable to move forward with downtown event planning because the Town Board had not yet approved its 2025 budget and event schedule. As a result, BIDMA board members said, the Alive on 25 summer street festival was at the risk of cancellation.
BIDMA Vice President Gary Hygom and Riverhead Council Member Joann Waski, the Town Board liaison to the BIDMA, agreed at the March 19 meeting that the BIDMA executive board would meet with Supervisor Tim Hubbard to resolve the budget issues. It is not known if that meeting has taken place.
Neither Riverhead Town Supervisor Tim Hubbard nor BIDMA President Sean Kenna could be reached this morning for comment.
The Town Board has not yet passed a resolution approving the BIDMA’s 2025 budget and event schedule, and there is no such resolution on the Town Board’s agenda for its upcoming meeting April 15.
The Riverhead Business Improvement District is a special taxing district established by the Town of Riverhead in 1990 to benefit properties within the district, an area that encompasses most of downtown Riverhead. State law requires the town to adopt a district plan and requires a not-for-profit management association to be established for the purpose of carrying out the activities spelled out in the district plan. The Riverhead Business Improvement District Management Association was formed for that purpose.
The Town Board is the governing body of the Business Improvement District and contracts with the BID management association each year to establish a budget controlling how district taxes are spent.
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