Riverhead Town board wrap-up July 7: new staff hire in supervisor’s office, $13,000 cyber insurance policy OK-ed

A Jamesport woman who has taken it upon herself to keep Tuthills Lane litter-free and Riverhead’s perennial top DWI cop were honored at the start of yesterday’s town board meeting.

Beverly Schmidt has been picking up litter on Tuthills Lane in Jamesport twice a day for the past 11 years. She began doing the cleanup while walking her Golden Retriever. Her dog has since passed away but Schmidt continues the twice-daily pickup. She was honored with a town board proclamation making July 7, 2015 “Beverly Schmidt Day.” Schmidt was nominated for the honor by Ron Schmitt of Jamesport. (“No relation,” he joked.)

Riverhead Police Officer Tim Murphy made more DWI arrests than any other cop on the Riverhead force in 2014. Legislator Al Krupski yesterday presented Murphy with a proclamation from the Suffolk County Legislature honoring him for the achievement. Krupski said he was unable to attend the county’s ceremony in May because of a legislative committee meeting but wanted to honor Murphy for his work. The town board presented Murphy with its own proclamation on June 2.

The town board yesterday accepted the resignation of the supervisor’s executive assistant and chief of staff Tara McLaughlin and, over the objection of Councilwoman Jodi Giglio,approved the hiring of her replacement, Lawrence Levy of Cora,.

McLaughlin gave notice last month. She has taken a job in Brookhaven Town, where she will serve as executive assistant to Brookhaven planning commissioner Tullio Bertoli.

Levy, whom Supervisor Sean Walter in an interview last week called “a longtime friend,” is the owner of a real estate appraisal company since 2001 and a catering company, The Mussel Man, since 2010, according to his resume.

Levy will be paid an annual salary of $75,000, plus benefits including medical, dental and optical insurance and 15 days vacation, pursuant to the employment contract approved by the board yesterday.

In an interview prior to the meeting, Giglio said the position on the supervisor’s staff should be eliminated due to budget constraints, an argument she’s made before.

“Sean says he’s going to focus on communication. He’ll be doing Facebook and Twitter,” Giglio said. “We don’t need to pay someone that kind of salary to do Facebook and Twitter for the town. In reality I think we’ll be paying someone to follow the supervisor around with a camera for the rest of the campaign season.”

Walter said he will be “restructuring” his office staff and Levy will focus on communication, an area in which he said the town has been lacking. The supervisor once sought to hire staff to handle communications for the town. In March 2012 he asked the board to hire his then-political consultant Anthony Coates to take on communications for the town and lobby in its behalf for legislation in Albany relating to the Calverton Enterprise Park.

Many of McLaughlin’s current duties will be divided among Deputy Supervisor Jill Lewis, confidential secretary Carol Sclafani and personnel director Margaret Ferris, Walter said.

Levy’s salary was set some $6,000 per year lower than McLaughlin’s.

“The town is saving money by appointing him,” Dunleavy noted before casting his vote of support.

Levy’s official start date is next Monday, July 15.

Other town board action at yesterday’s meeting:

Ethics code amendment debated. Critics and supporters of a proposal to bar Riverhead Town elected officials from holding leadership positions on political party committees took the podium at town hall to sound off on the idea. See story.

Insurance against hacking.  The board approved (4-1, with Giglio objecting) to add a cyber insurance rider to the town’s general liability insurance policy. Giglio said the $13,000 cost of the rider would be better spent the software upgrade she’s been pushing for to improve the operation of the town building department. The councilwoman also argued that the insurance was not really necessary with the firewalls the town already has in place.

“We do need to upgrade our software,” Councilman James Wooten agreed. “But you don’t want to fix up your car and not have proper insurance on it.”

Housing agency on the move. The board authorized a license agreement with Riverhead Housing Development Corporation for use of the long-vacant house on East Avenue owned by the Riverhead Parking District. The organization, which administers the Section 8 housing program, currently has offices in the Eastlawn building, which the town is in the process of selling. The RHDC will use the site rent-free.

Microbrewery code approved. Microbreweries are now an allowed use, by special permit, in the DC-1 (Downtown Center) zoning use district, subject to regulations approved by the town board yesterday.

$50,000 creative place-making plan OK-ed.  The board approved a rider to the town’s contract with Nelson, Pope and Voorhis LLC authorizing additional services associated with developing a “creative place-making plan” for downtown Riverhead, at an additional fee of $50,000. The rider brings the firm’s total contract cost to $565,230. The contract is funded by a N.Y. State Brownfields Opportunities Area grant in the amount of $567,000 awarded to the Town of Riverhead by the N.Y. Department of State in 2011.

Hearing set on Twomey Avenue four-way stop. The board will hold an Aug. 4 public hearing (2:15 p.m.) on a proposed code amendment to make the intersection of Twomey Avenue with Riley and Youngs avenues a four-way stop intersection.

Should signs in vacant storefronts be regulated? The board also scheduled an Aug. 4 public hearing (2:10 p.m.) on a proposed code amendment aimed at regulating the number, size and appearance of signs in vacant storefronts in the Downtown Center zoning use district.