Town Hall Notes: Councilman back after mild heart attack
Councilman John Dunleavy was back on the job Tuesday for the first time since he suffered a mild heart attack on June 20.
Mr. Dunleavy, who spent a week in Stony Brook University Hospital and the weeks after that recuperating at home, was present at Tuesday’s Town Board meeting and said he plans to attend all upcoming board meetings.
“I’m a little bit better,” the 70-year-old councilman said after the meeting. “I still have to go back to Stony Brook for more tests to see how much oxygen I’m getting.”
The main thing his doctors told him? Avoid stress.
“The worst thing is mental stress,” he said. “That’s five times worse than physical stress. They told me not to get upset and if I start to get upset, to just step back and stop.”
Fortunately for Mr. Dunleavy, Tuesday’s meeting was over in less than 25 minutes and had very little controversy.
“This was a nice one for you to come back to,” Town Attorney Bob Kozakiewicz told him afterward.
Supervisor Sean Walter publicly welcomed Mr. Dunleavy back at the start of Tuesday’s meeting.
Jitney seeks IDA help
The Hampton Jitney bus company will be seeking some tax breaks on the bus terminal and maintenance area it is proposing to build on Edwards Avenue in Calverton.
The Riverhead Town Industrial Development Agency has scheduled a public hearing on the request for Monday, Aug. 1, at 5 p.m. at Riverhead Town Hall.
Hampton Jitney wants to acquire the vacant 13.9-acre site at 253 Edwards Ave. and build a maintenance building there for repairing, fueling and washing buses, along with office space, a lobby, a car rental facility, a waiting area and a parking lot.
The company received special permit approval for the project in 2009, and got an extension on that approval earlier this year. It has yet to submit a site plan application.
The IDA application seeks exemptions from mortgage recording taxes and sales tax on materials used in the construction as well as a partial abatement on property tax increases associated with the proposed improvements.
Energy-efficient Mardi Gras
The Riverhead Business Improvement District’s upcoming Mardi Gras Festival, scheduled for Aug. 6 downtown, will have the usual mix of New Orleans-style bands, Cajun foods, stilt walkers and parades that you might associate with Mardi Gras, but according to Councilwoman Jodi Giglio, this one will also have an energy-efficient angle.
The Riverhead energy awareness committee will be present at the festival, offering residents an opportunity to get free energy audits, worth up to a $700, and “to learn how to make your home more energy-efficient in these troubling times,” Ms. Giglio said.
The stage for the event will also be powered by solar energy, she noted.
The Mardi Gras Festival is scheduled to run from 1 to 11 p.m. on Aug. 6.in the parking lot along the Peconic River.
