(2009-04-30: Published Riverhead News Review)

Something is rotten in Riverhead. And pray tell a higher authority is getting a whiff.

In a recent Riverhead News-Review guest column (Tangled web of town’s activities may mask trouble,” April 9), I raised several questions regarding Town Board Resolution #244, which was approved unanimously on March 17 and pertained to an excavation agreement granted to the Mastro Realty subdivision.

I had found the agreement to be rather peculiar because the file I pulled from the Town Clerk’s office on April 13 did not indicate any amount of yardage that was expected to be excavated. So how could there be an excavation agreement without indicating the amount of yards to be excavated? What made this resolution and agreement even more peculiar was the fact that the town was waiving all the excavation fees. Not only was the waiving of fees rare, if not unprecedented, how does anyone know the amount of the fees that could have been collected without knowing the amount to be excavated?

Some might ask, who cares? But in an open, honest government this information should be available to the public. And because sand these days is gold, we could be talking about a lot of money. Remember, this is a public agreement, not a private agreement.

In the last issue of The Riverhead News-Review, Deputy Town Attorney Dan McCormick responded to some of these questions. His statements seemed satisfying, for about 30 seconds. I stopped short when Mr. McCormick stated: “The Town Board’s resolution #244 passed on March 17, 2009, and has been available for review by all on the Riverhead Town Web site ever since. Resolution #244 sets forth the agreement and specifically references the excavation permit, which limits excavation to 22,218 cubic yards of material.”

Well, yes, the resolution does reference the excavation permit; however once again the excavation permit was not on file at the Town Clerk’s office on April 13. These are the unanswered questions.

Why is the deputy town attorney being cute with words? Why was the excavation permit and the yardage amount left out of the public file? Why is Mr. McCormick suggesting that it was included?

Since Mr. McCormick’s statements were made, I have finally received from him a response to my Freedon of Information Law, or FOIL, request. Mr. McCormick sent me a copy of the excavation permit #09-901 which was issued on April 1. While I appreciate this information, which finally stated the specific yardage excavated to be at 22,218 cubic yards, I’m still left asking the same question. Why wasn’t this permit on file at the clerk’s office on April 13 when it was issued on April 1?

Funny thing is, Mr. McCormick still never answered the questions I asked on the FOIL. How many yards of sand have been removed from this site? How many more yards will be removed?

 I would also like to mention that Mr. McCormick stated in his Riverhead News-Review response, “pursuant to my recommendation, the Town Board unanimously waived an excavation fee of $44,436.00 …” Was Mr. McCormick’s recommendation to the Town Board in writing? Why was that also left off the public record? How do we verify the town’s engineering consultant’s cost analysis and recommendations? Why would the deputy town attorney make the recommendations to the Town Board and not our town engineering department?

Finally, is anyone monitoring this excavation?

This has everything to do with taxpayer accountability and the illusion of an open government.