Town Hall Notes: Community Garden to get Boost from State

Sponsors of a proposed community garden on a one-third acre parcel of town-owned land in downtown Riverhead received good news at a public hearing Tuesday.

Among those speaking out in favor of the project was Susan Wilk of the Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County, who said that her organization had just received word of a $1.2 million grant from the New York State Department of Health, a portion of which could be used to support Riverhead's garden.

She said projects under the grant will include new farmers' markets sites and community gardens as a way to promote creative strategies in the towns of Riverhead, Babylon and Southampton aimed at healthy eating.

"We are excited about this opportunity to help design, implement and promote this idea," Wilk said of the garden, which its sponsors call "the River and Roots Community Garden"  because of its proximity to the Peconic River.

She said that many master gardeners who had received their certifications through Cornel Cooperative had already agreed to volunteer their expertise.

Amy Davidson, one of the community gardens' sponsors, said the site would contain 36 garden beds and two herb gardens shared by gardeners. She said the plots, each measuring five feet by 10 feet, would be offered first by residents living in downtown Riverhead and then be offered to residents town wide should all of the beds not be spoken for.

"We are ready to make the garden a reality and improve the health and quality of life of Riverhead residents," she said.

Though the garden received broad support at Tuesday's hearing, a representative of VFW Post 2476 spoke out against it, claiming that the parcel had already been promised as the site of a war memorial.

"I'm the only one speaking on the other side of this issue, but, as I understand it, a previous town board had passed a resolution approving this piece of property for honoring veterans," said John Newman, a South Jamesport resident who serves as chaplain for the VFW post.

"I don't think that's accurate," Supervisor Sean Walter told him. "We have gone through every record and there is no record that this was ever dedicated or donated. If you have proof of that, we'd love to see it, but we haven't seen anything."

Councilman James Wooten said he saw no reason why a war memorial couldn't coexist with the garden, and Walter agreed.

"We can have the community garden and have a memorial working with it with a flag pole," Walter said. "Otherwise, this piece is going to stay the way it is, and that's unacceptable."

Walter said that the property – located between two storefronts on the south side of West Main St. – has become a blighted area, "filled with people that just hang around all day."

New fines for false alarms

The chairman of commissioners of the Riverhead fire district says that 80 percent of the  743 fire alarms his volunteers responded to this year to date have turned out to be false,  resulting in increased costs as well as increased risks.

Dennis Hamill made his remarks Tuesday at a public hearing on a proposed set of fines to be imposed on companies whose alarms go off due to faulty systems.

The new regulations – which Hamill said have actually been on the books since at least 1989, but never enforced – will apply to all commercial and industrial entities in the Town of Riverhead as well as all apartment houses and residential co-ops and condominiums.

"We will enforce this code," Supervisor Walter said. "I can assure you of that."

The new code, expected to be approved next month by the town board, will impose no penalty for the first two false alarms in a calendar year. The third false alarm will carry a $100 penalty, the fourth a $200 penalty, and the fourth and all false alarms thereafter a $300 penalty.

"Stiff penalties are needed," Hamill said. "You can't enforce this without penalties."

The penalties will also apply to false burglary alarms that police officers respond to, according to Dan McCormick, the deputy town attorney who drafted the code after consulting with the leaders of all four fire districts in the Town of Riverhead.

He said that of the fines collected for false fire alarms, 70 percent of the revenue will go to the fire district responding and 30 percent to the town. Fines for false burglary alarms will be shared 70/30 by the police department and the town.