Town Hall Notes: Town May Send Shelter Dogs to Brookhaven

Supervisor Sean Walter acknowledged Tuesday that he has been in preliminary discussions with his Brookhaven counterpart, Supervisor Mark Lesko, about having Brookhaven’s animal shelter take in dogs that are either surrendered by their owners or picked up as strays in Riverhead.

Walter said that if an agreement could be reached, he would shut down Riverhead’s animal shelter on Youngs Avenue and transfer the dogs currently there to Brookhaven’s animal shelter on 300 Horseblock Rd. in Yaphank, which he described as a state-of-the-art facility supervised by a capable manager.

Under the plan, he said, all dogs surrendered or picked up in Riverhead would be transferred to the Brookhaven’s shelter.

Describing his discussions as being only in their early stage, Walter said he didn’t know how much Brookhaven would charge for each animal it took in, but he estimated that the plan had the potential of saving the town about $100,000 a year, even while keeping the town’s animal control officer, Lou Coronesi, on the payroll.

Coronesi’s continued employment no matter what new avenues are being pursued drew anger from animal activists, including Rex Farr, who spoke at Tuesday’s town board meeting.

“You are not addressing the problem, and it’s going to be totally unacceptable if the present ACO is involved in any way, shape of form regarding any animal issues,” said Farr, president of the Greater Calverton Civic Association.

Coronesi has long been criticized for his alleged unwillingness to get along with shelter volunteers, but things came to a head in December when it was revealed that Coronesi had ordered a dog named Bruno be euthanized only a day after declaring in writing that the dog was making progress and was no longer aggressive.

Coronesi had also reported that Bruno had bit a child, sending him to the hospital, when, as facts later showed, it was the Bruno’s 20-year-old owner and not a child that was bitten and the bite he suffered was far from serious.

Walter, who had approved having Bruno put down, has admitted that Coronesi lied to him. But asked yesterday whether Coronesi should or would be fired, Walter said, “I took care of the situation personnel-wise though regular disciplinary channels. He has been disciplined and he is still our animal control officer for now.”

Proposed zoning for assisted living facilities

Councilman John Dunleavy’s proposal to allow assisted living facilities to be built in certain areas of the town will be the subject of a public hearing at the April 5 meeting of the town board, which starts at 2 p.m.

He said he’s calling for a zone change because, while Riverhead has a large senior citizen population, it has no facilities to provide 24-hour care to elderly or disabled residents once they are no longer able to live on their own but do not require the extensive services that nursing homes provides. He said the closest facilities are in Greenport and Holbrook.

Dunleavy said that a developer who built an assisted living complex in Huntington has already expressed a strong interest in building a similar one on a 25-acre site on Mill Rd. behind Home Depot at Riverhead Centre.

One of the stipulations in Dunleavy’s proposal is that the facility be within 1,500 feet or less of an existing sewer line so it could  be hooked up easily to the Riverhead sewer district.

No comments on early retirement packages

A proposal to offer early retirement to town employees as a way to save payroll dollars drew no comments one way or the other at a public hearing Tuesday.

The package would be similar to the one offered in October to members of the Civil Service Employees Association but would be offered as well this time to non-union members, including most department heads, and police officers below the rank of lieutenant.

The package, available to those at least 55-years old and with 20 years of service, would offer early retirees with two choices: either four years of paid health insurance for themselves and family members or, in lieu of paid insurance, lump sum payments $400 a month for four years.

Retirees would also receive pensions as members of the state’s retirement fund and would be eligible to receive payments for accumulated but unused leave time.

According to Meg Ferris, the town's personnel director, three union members took advantage of the packages offer last year. Employees have until May 2 to sign up for this years program, with their retirements taking effect at the end of May.