Highway department

Riverhead Town will conduct loose leaf pickup in January, after a new highway superintendent takes the helm, according to a notice posted on the town website this afternoon.

A State Supreme Court judge this week ordered the Riverhead Town highway superintendent to plow the "roadways" in the Oak Hills community in Baiting Hollow, the subject of ongoing litigation between the homeowners association, the highway superintendent and the town board.

After Riverhead nearly ran out of salt for its roads last winter, the highway department is taking extra precautions this year to keep the salt barns supplied through the winter months.

A warming trend in the days ahead will gradually melt the snowpack, but freezing nighttime temperatures will make for icy roadways, worrying some officials about already-scant salt supplies.

Riverhead highway superintendent cautions against unnecessary travel tonight , as department's salt supply too low to treat many icy roads across town. Only the town's main roads will be salted tonight, Woodson says.