Town Board tables resolution to authorize agreement with Peconic Hockey Foundation

Riverhead Town officials are waiting to finalize an agreement with Peconic Hockey Foundation that would bring an ice hockey rink to Veterans Memorial Park in Calverton.

The Riverhead Town Board unanimously tabled a resolution to authorize the agreement at a meeting Wednesday, citing a need for further review. Councilman Ken Rothwell said the hockey foundation wanted another attorney to look over the agreement and the town needs more time to review suggestions received that afternoon. 

“We’re confident we’re going to get the ice rink here in Riverhead,” he said. “I’m confident that we’re going to come to a nice agreement with them and I commend the town attorney … I think we made great progress.”

“Everybody wants it, we’ve just got to get things right,” Supervisor Yvette Aguiar added.

Peconic Hockey Foundation is a Wading River-based, non-profit organization aimed at growing ice hockey across the East End. The organization recently purchased a “bubble” ice rink from a company in Cranston, R.I. that it intends to turn over to Riverhead Town. 

The rink, which is being stored in Riverhead, cost about $1 million for the foundation to buy and transport.

Earlier this year, the town revised the plan to instead locate the rink at Stotzky Park. However, that plan ran into opposition from soccer players, who said they still use the field.

The town then went back to its original plan to locate the rink at Veterans Memorial Park.