Featured Letter: Solutions for two items of concern for Riverhead

To the editor:

Please allow me to take a moment to comment on two recent items of concern to Riverhead residents.

1. The Riverhead Water District wish list

2. Policing fees

Regarding the water district wish list, I’m hopeful that all parties involved have evaluated and have come to a realistic solution to manage our future water demands. As the article stated, half of the larger shopping centers use the district water supply, and this is a major reason for the shortages of this precious resource. In order to keep the Riverhead residents’ share of the water bill fair and realistic, maybe the town should perhaps consider a “user” or “flat annual” fee for those with heavier consumption of water. This will help with upgrades of the current system and keep the majority of future fee increases off the homeowner and place more of it on those individuals and concerns that profit from their daily operations. Using and alternative source for water (a well) can be very expensive for the larger users of water to install.

I believe a sliding scale fee schedule is a fair way to pay for police services at special events. There seems to be a discrepancy in how fees are charged and some events incur no charge at all. I believe the best way to proceed would be to have the chief of police or his designee establish fees for special events on an individual basis. All events should be required to pay some fee so as not to incur an additional burden on the residential taxpayers. Nonprofit events should apply for a waiver or reduction of fees and the Town Board should debate and discuss and finally take a vote on these instances.

As we all know, arriving at a solution that is fair to all is not usually easy. Hopefully this will not be the case in these two important instances.

William Van Helmond, Jamesport