Fortunately, it would appear that cooler heads in Albany have put the brakes on Supervisor Walter’s new EPCAL bureaucracy. Unfortunately, the Supervisor is likely to use this setback as another excuse to delay sales and development at EPCAL and any chance of tax relief for our town.
Rather than his Don Quixote quest to chase a bad idea to supplant established agencies with development and environmental expertise with Riverhead’s notoriously inept town board to control the site, perhaps Mr. Walter and the council members might consider some ideas that could actually work in Riverhead. Here are some suggestions:
An Indian Casino: Governor Cuomo has already given the green light to gambling and it’s been a tremendous success at Aqueduct and Empire City. Casino workers get real wages to support families. The Shinnecock Indians already tried to do something in Riverhead and were rebuffed. Walter needs to get beyond his personal views and at least consider this as a possibility.
Motorsports: NASCAR is the fastest growing sport in America and the town turned down a $150 million offer to create a facility in Riverhead to pursue Sandmine Mountain brought to the town by alleged criminals involved in prostitution and money laundering. There is no excuse to blow off a legitimate deal by real players to bring a world class facility to Riverhead.
Aviation: With FedEx down the street and a working rail spur, its just a shame to see $500 million of US government built runways wasted. Limited cargo use with tight control over hours of operation to protect the public could generate hundreds of high paying jobs. And plenty of the rich and famous from LI’s Gold Coast and the Hamptons would love to have a place to keep their Gulf Streams for easy access for those quick trips to the South of France.
With thousands of acres available, there’s plenty of room to pursue all of these opportunities and other good ideas as well. But under Walter and his predecessors, Riverhead has gained a reputation as “The Little Town that Can’t.” If anything, the supervisor has displayed (sometimes misplaced) passion and intensity in what he does. It’s time for the supervisor to jettison his past failures and use those skills to get something moving in EPCAL that works and can lower taxes.
Ron Hariri
Aquebogue
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