Town Board hires expert to lure FAA to Calverton

The Riverhead Town Board heard opposition from the farm community to a proposed change to require stricter regulations on excavating land for agriculture during a public hearing tonight.

Farmers argued that under state law, agricultural uses are exempt from requiring permits for excavating, but Supervisor Sean Walter contends that under current rules, developers can just say they’re farming and operate sand mines instead.

The board also approved a resolution to hire Richard Marakovitz as a consultant on air traffic control issues for $200 a day, capped at $5,000. Mr. Marakovitz is being hired to help the town try to lure the FAA to EPCAL. Officials said Mr. Marakovitz has been helping the town voluntarily, but that there is a lot more work ahead on the issue.

Click below to read the recap of News-Review reporter Tim Gannon’s live blog during the meeting. The full agenda and resolution packet is below that.

May_22,_2013_-_Agenda by rnews_review

May_22,_2013_-_Packet by rnews_review