About a week after sexual assault allegations were filed against reassigned Riverhead High School principal Charles Regan, the alleged victim, Anastasia Stapon, and her family urged the Riverhead school board through their attorney to suspend Mr. Regan from his position.
(more…)A Germany-based company that sold a $147,000 machine to Luminati Aerospace in 2016 has filed a federal lawsuit alleging Luminati failed to pay the final $91,000 owed and failed to return or disclose its location once the payments stopped, according to court documents filed April 10 in the Eastern District Court of New York.
(more…)George Richards, the man who found a noose hanging in his locker at the United Riverhead Terminal in late 2015, has filed a lawsuit against the company, his former bosses and the Town of Riverhead for denying him his 14th Amendment right to be free from racial discrimination and for being retaliated against after reporting the incident. READ
Sustainable Property Holdings LLC — best known as sPower — has withdrawn its lawsuit against Riverhead Town and Calverton Aviation & Technology, saying that the latter admitted in a court document that the 2017 letter of intent between the town and Luminati Aerospace was no longer valid. READ
The solar energy company that recently offered Riverhead Town more than $40 million to buy over 1,600 acres of town-owned land at EPCAL is now suing the town for not letting them submit that offer.
In a lawsuit filed in State Supreme Court Thursday, Sustainable Property Holdings LLC, and FTS Master Tenant 2 LLC – both known as sPower – named Riverhead Town, the Riverhead Town Community Development Agency, the Town Board, Calverton Aviation & Technology, Luminati Aerospace, Triple Five Ventures Co., LLC, and Triple Five Real Easter I, LLC as defendants.
In court papers, sPower says it is the largest private owner of solar farms in the country.
Attorney Jason Stern of Melville-based Weber Law Group told the Town Board at a public board meeting on Jan. 17 that his client would offer the town more for the EPCAL property than the $40 million that Calverton Aviation & Technology is offering,
But Riverhead Supervisor Laura Jens-Smith, who took office in January, said that the town is locked in a contract with CA&T – a joint venture between Luminati and Triple Five – because the prior board had signed a letter of intent to sell the land to Luminati.
She said Friday afternoon that a State Supreme Court judge has rejected sPower’s request for a restraining order to stop a Qualified and Eligible Sponsor hearing with Luminati from proceeding. Ms. Jens-Smith said the Town was guided by its attorneys in determining that the Letter of Intent from Luminati still applies.
She said the Town Board must follow through with the Qualified and Eligible Sponsor hearing to determine if CA&T has the finances and ability to do the independent development plan it submitted for the EPCAL land before the Town Board can consider other offers.
“sPower has attempted to submit a higher and better offer for the EPCAL property, but the CDA has refused to entertain any other offers,” a press release issued Friday by sPower attorneys Morton Weber and Jason Stern read. The CDA is made up of the same members as the town board.
“The CDA’s explanation for its refusal is the CDA’s belief that it is prohibited from doing so based on a letter of intent signed with Luminati Aerospace LLC in March 2017,” according to the press release.
“However,” the press release states, “that letter of intent only applies to a proposed deal with Luminati and Luminati alone… The current proposed deal is with CA&T, a joint venture between Luminati and a subsidiary of Triple Five Worldwide Group (“Triple Five”) — in which Triple Five is the majority owner.”
Last March, the original letter of intent only mentioned Luminati, but the company subsequently entered a partnership with United Refining Energy Corporation., headed by billionaire John Catsimatidis, and after that deal fell apart, it entered a partnership with Triple Five, a Canadian company best known for building shopping malls.
“sPower has commenced this lawsuit seeking a declaration from the Courts that the letter of intent is invalid and therefore, the CDA must entertain other offers for the EPCAL Property,” the press release added. “sPower is confident that it will prevail on the merits of this action and is hopeful that it can ultimately work with the CDA to find the highest and best use of this uniquely important development property.”
Robert Hasday, the attorney for Luminati, said State Supreme Court on Feb. 1 denied sPower’s request for a temporary restraining order against the town that would have prevented the town’s Qualified and Eligible Sponsor hearing with SA&T from moving forward. The hearing is scheduled for Feb. 27.
“The Court’s decision was made after deliberations about the local economic benefits from the development of a new aviation and technology center, including the employment of large numbers of highly paid skilled labor, compared to the operation of a solar farm, in which there are no onsite employees following construction,” Mr. Hasday said. “The Court also addressed the fact that this lawsuit was solely in the economic interests of the two solar companies and had nothing to do with the interests of taxpayers of the Town of Riverhead.”
Photo: sPower, which owns this solar farm on Edwards Avenue, is seeking to buy 1,640 acres at EPCAL (Credit: Tim Gannon)
Calverton resident Greg Fischer has officially filed suit against Republican presidential candidate and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, saying he is “ineligible and disqualified to run/seek the Office of the President of the United States of America.” READ
Riverhead Town’s 2013 move to increase the rents its charges to cellular companies that lease space on town water towers has now resulted in yet another federal lawsuit against the Riverhead Water District claiming breach of contract. READ
Food and produce processing company J. Kings has filed a lawsuit against the Riverhead Town Board and Planning Board, accusing the town of illegally stalling its application for a hard cider mill at its facility in Calverton. READ