Riverhead Highway Department

The millions of highway fund revenues spent on leaf pickup over the past decades could have purchased new plow trucks, paved roads, built desperately needed sidewalks, improved crosswalks, and provided more highway crew members to do the crucial jobs they do that keep our town functioning. Yet the Town Board insists on raiding the highway department's budget.

As the winter months approach, bringing the potential for snowfall while leaves still lay upon town roads, town officials are scrambling to find a way to resolve what they hope is the final dispute between the Town Board and the highway superintendent over who pays for loose leaf pickup in Riverhead. 

The saga of loose-leave pickup in the Town of Riverhead has not yet been laid to rest, with town officials still arguing over which town revenue fund should pay for the service.

Loose leaf pickup will continue in Riverhead Town indefinitely under an agreement authorized by the Town Board at its meeting Tuesday.

The Riverhead Highway Department has paved Cranberry Street and installed a sidewalk on the north side of the street, a common path for students walking to Riverhead schools.

Riverhead Highway Department crews will be paving North Wading River Road Tuesday and Wednesday this week, weather permitting, from Hulse Landing Road to North Country Road.

Highway Labor Crew Leader Ron Caffrey worked his last day on a job he says he loved to the end. Caffrey, 67, a Riverhead native and lifelong resident, started working full-time at the highway department in August 1981.

Friday’s snowstorm, while not a major snow event, was enough to complicate things mightily for the Riverhead Highway Department and its newly installed superintendent.

The Riverhead Town Board will “direct and require” Highway Superintendent George Woodson to perform loose leaf pickup this year in a resolution to be acted on during a special town board meeting tomorrow at 10 a.m., according to a meeting notice posted on the town's website today.

A standoff remains between the town highway superintendent and the town board over loose leaf pickup in Riverhead.