Representatives of the Wading River and Riverhead fire districts weighed in during a public hearing today on a proposal to amend town code to allow the town to retain 100 percent of the false alarm fees collected to help fund a new fire inspector position in the town fire marshal’s office.
Wading River Fire District chairman Mike Harrigan told the town board his district commissioners objected to the change and wanted to see the town hire a third fire marshal rather than a fire safety inspector. Harrigan also said the Wading River district had never gotten paid any share of false alarm fees by the town, which he attributed to a misunderstanding of the proper paperwork to be filed.
Riverhead Fire District chairman Dennis Hammill said he didn’t understand how fire districts were confused about submitting false alarm fee requests. Riverhead Police Lt. Robert Peeker distributed the forms at fire district meetings and fire chiefs council meetings, Hammill said.
The Riverhead Fire District commissioners passed a resolution supporting the proposed code change.
Supervisor Sean Walter said the “there’s a good reason” to hire a fire inspector rather than a fire marshal.
“There’s not a list,” Walter said, referring to the Civil Service list from which new appointments are required to be made. “That means we can open it up. And I think we got something like 20 applications,” he said.
Walter said the person hired as a fire inspector would “probably eventually be promoted to fire marshal.”
In other action, the board passed resolutions:
- deeming the special permit application of United Riverhead Terminal withdrawn;
- authorizing the Business Improvement District Management Association’s weekly farmers market from May 23 to Sept. 5 in the riverfront parking lot;
- appointing Thomas Kruger assistant superintendent of the Riverhead Water District at an annual salary of $90,000;
- appointing Lori Ann Pipczynski to the Riverhead Industrial Development Agency board of directors;
- accepting the resignation of Victor Prusinowski from the Parking District Advisory Committee and appointing John Peragine in his place on the committee;
- setting May 20 public hearings on a proposal to amend the town code to set eight-ton weight limits on Twomey Avenue in Calverton and on a proposed zoning code amendment to the Planned Development zoning use district at EPCAL.
- setting May 23 as Litter Awareness and Spring Cleanup Day.
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