Town board wrap: permit fee hikes, Stotzky playground, mentoring program

A new after-school mentoring program will be available next month for Riverhead’s middle schoolers. The Riverhead Town Parks and Recreation department is starting a program in March geared toward low-income middle school students, during which students will be bused to a community center for mentoring and other activities.

Healthy snacks will be provided free through Long Island Cares, a not-for-profit hunger assistance organization that has partnered with the parks and recreation department in the past. The food bank has previously provided free meals to low-income families at Stotzky Park.

Students will be bused from the school to the community center and then to their homes.

Town rental permit fees may soon see some significant increases.

The proposed increases would help offset the costs of the inspections required every two years for owners to renew their rental permits, according to town attorney Robert Kozakiewicz.

Fees for one-unit dwellings would increase from $150 to $250, two-unit dwellings from $200 to $350, three-unit dwellings from $250 to $450 and four-unit dwellings from $325 to $550.

Rental permit applicants would need to pay the fees every two years with their bi-annual permit renewal.

“That’s a lot of money,” said Supervisor Sean Walter.

“I think we should do it,” said Councilman John Dunleavy. “It’s great to support industry and commercial developers and stuff, but you can’t put it on the backs of the taxpayers. Commercial people have to start paying their fair share, and if that means raising it, then we have to raise it.”

An analysis of inspection costs found that an average of 4.3 town employee hours were spent on each inspection, including filing of paperwork, the inspection itself and review, according to Kozakiewicz.

All the town board members said they supported the permit fee increases, with the exception of Councilwoman Jodi Giglio, who recused herself from the discussion due to her stake in the Summerwind Apartments on Main Street.

A revised draft with the rental permit fee schedule increases will be presented during the next town board meeting, as the draft presented during this week’s work session did not include the fee increases.

Stotzky Park’s playground is due for a makeover. The playground’s deteriorating and outdated equipment could soon pose a danger to children, according to Riverhead Town Parks and Recreation Superintendent Raymond Coyne, and needs to be updated.

“I don’t know if you’ve been there, but it’s desolate,” Coyne told board members.

Coyne received an estimate of $80,000 for a new playground at that location, but he said today that he thinks he can get that number down to $70,000, which could be funded by recreation fees.

All the town board members voiced their support for the renovations.

There are, however, numerous other repairs and updates necessary to town parks and beach maintenance that Coyne says his department cannot afford.

“I know there’s hardly any money left – I know where we are as a town – but I’m at a point where I don’t know what to do,” said Coyne at the work session today. “There’s a thousand things going wrong, and I’m trying to put my hands on each one of them with no money to help.”

“We have to fix up Stotzky,” said Councilman George Gabrielsen. “This is our premier park.”

“We have to fix this stuff so people can use it,” said Dunleavy.

“There’s a lot of parks that are falling apart,” Coyne said. “Some of them are at a point where you can’t band-aid anymore.

“I just wanted you to be aware,” Coyne said.