In a 67-page Final Scope released Monday, Dec. 1, SCWA outlined the environmental review for the two-phase, 12-mile project — which is estimated to cost $35 million for the first phase alone. The document sets the stage for a Draft Environmental Impact Statement expected by late January, SCWA communications director Daniel Dubois told Riverhead News Review.

“Following its release, we will hold public hearings to take comments,” Mr. Dubois said. “Once that process is complete, the SCWA Board will make a final determination on the project’s environmental impact.”

The move comes two months after Riverhead’s five-member Town Board voted unanimously that SCWA must comply with local land-use regulations for the 8.15-mile pipeline that would run through town but provide no water service to Riverhead residents.

SCWA conducted its own legal review, known as a Monroe Balancing Test, and reached the opposite conclusion, claiming immunity as a state-created authority.

Now Southold wants its own review of whether the pipeline project should be exempt from local regulations. During discussion at the Town Board’s Tuesday, Dec. 2, work session, officials said they would conduct a Monroe Balancing Test — a legal standard that weighs whether regional projects can override local control.

“I think it’s very important that we have that here,” Southold Councilwoman Jill Doherty said.

The town is determining when it will hold the Monroe Balancing Test, which would allow local experts and residents to voice their concerns about the project.

The pipeline is intended to bolster drinking water supplies for Southold, which the Final Scope says faces a “limited supply of potable drinking water” and local water sources “subject to saltwater intrusion.”

If approved following environmental review, construction could take four years, with the pipeline expected to be operational by 2030.

In October, the feud over the pipeline escalated when SCWA attorney Richard Finkel argued the not-for-profit agency should be immune from local regulation because “if the authority was bound by local land-use regulations in each [municipality it serves], it would be subject to the regulations of all 43 municipalities in which it operates.” 

Riverhead officials countered that the town would shoulder construction impacts — particularly along Sound Avenue, a major agricultural and tourism corridor. The pipeline would carry water from Flanders wells through Riverhead to Southold customers. 

“You design it, you approve it, and you do it and step all over Riverhead while doing it, with no benefit to us whatsoever,” Supervisor Tim Hubbard said at an October hearing. 

Riverhead Town Attorney Erik Howard said he was reviewing the pipeline Final Scope and would respond after completing his analysis when contacted by Riverhead News Review.

In October, Mr. Howard argued that Riverhead should have the authority to conduct the Monroe Balancing Test, saying the host community — not the entity seeking immunity — should determine whether local regulations apply.

Environmental planning firm Nelson Pope Voorhis prepared the Final Scope based on comments from three public scoping sessions held in June and on written comments submitted through August. The firm will now conduct the environmental analysis.

Pipeline construction plans

Phase one would run 8.15 miles from Riverside and Flanders in Southampton to the Riverhead-Southold town line in Jamesport and Laurel, supplying up to 6,000 gallons per minute to approximately 9,500 Southold customers, according to SCWA documents.

No new wells would be drilled. SCWA would draw from excess capacity in its South Shore Low Zone, according to the Final Scope. A booster station would be built on SCWA property on Pier Avenue in the Jamesport area.

The pipeline would be installed using two methods: approximately 0.63 miles by directional drilling beneath the Peconic River, the Long Island Rail Road and Main Road, with the remaining 7.52 miles installed by open-cut trenching.

The daily installation rate for trenched sections is estimated to be 300 to 400 feet per day, and up to 600 feet per day or more on long stretches within grassed shoulder areas such as along sections of Cross River Drive.

An alternate route could run north from the Flanders Road and Cross Island Drive intersection, then north to the Cross River Drive and Main Road intersection, and east along Main Road to the Franklinville Road intersection in Laurel, connecting to an existing SCWA main.

Phase two would extend existing water infrastructure 3.79 miles from East Marion to Orient. SCWA says it is not currently planning the extension and included it only to avoid “segmentation” violations under state law. No cost estimate for the second phase was available.

Southold Councilman Brian Mealy said at the Dec. 2 meeting that data from an ongoing U.S. Geological Survey study on the aquifer should be included in the pipeline environmental review.

In October, Southold Councilman Greg Doroski questioned whether SCWA was overstating the water crisis. Mr. Doroski — who won election to the county Legislature last month and will leave the Town Board in January — asked whether “the urgency created by the SCWA in moving this proposal forward is artificially created.”

Environmental review process

Throughout the environmental review, consultants will evaluate potential impacts, including land disturbance from construction, coastal habitat and wildlife effects, surface water quality, groundwater supply capacity, traffic safety, and proximity to schools and hospitals.

The Final Scope notes that “the Towns of Riverhead and Southold have raised concerns that the proposed action may induce secondary development or will be growth inducing.”

Impacts such as potential property value increases near public water are considered “out of scope for an environmental review,” according to the State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) handbook.

An analysis of how the project would affect future development at EPCAL in Calverton was also determined to be outside the review scope and is “not expected to be significantly or adversely impacted.”

SCWA and other agencies with permitting authority will be consulted on mitigation options, the Final Scope states.

The draft impact statement, beyond the review of the proposed project, potential impacts and alternative routes, will assist in SCWA’s “final determination of impact and the appropriateness of moving forward with the project.”

The Final Scope determined that water conservation programs alone, like Southold’s irrigation legislation passed in July modeled after an SCWA program, would not achieve the project’s goals of bringing potable water to the North Fork.

The post SCWA pipeline project moves to environmental review phase appeared first on Riverhead News Review.

Robert Burgazzoli, 36, died after crashing into a tree while traveling south on County Road 105 near NY-24, according to a Southampton Police Department press release. He was the driver of the vehicle.

An unidentified person in the car with Mr. Burgazzoli is currently in the hospital with serious life-threatening injuries, police said.

Southampton officers responded to the early morning wreck just before 8 a.m. Riverhead Town police closed the southbound lane on Cross River Drive at Main Road for nearly four hours.

Both the Flanders Fire Department and Flanders Northampton Volunteer Ambulance Corps assisted at the scene with injuries and traffic.

Southampton police detectives, with the help of New York State Police accident reconstruction officers, are investigating the accident.

Anyone with further information can reach out to the Southampton Town Police Detective Division at 631-702-2230.

The post Riverhead man dies after crashing into tree on CR-105 in Flanders appeared first on Riverhead News Review.

Yet to hear it from Miguel Dominguez, 13, it was really no big deal.

The modest young man was in his bedroom drawing Friday morning when he heard his mother scream out. Then he heard his pregnant aunt screaming in the bathroom.

“We had to take her out [of the bathroom] because we thought the baby was coming,” said Miguel, the oldest of four kids.

His mom, a Spanish speaker, told him to call 911.

On the other end of the line was Southampton police dispatcher Christopher Brenner.

“The officer told me I had to take care of my aunt.”

Officer Brenner instructed Miguel to get a towel, and then asked the boy to determine whether or not his aunt was crowning yet.

She was.

Meanwhile, Southampton police officer James Cavanagh was en route to the East St. home.

“It was actually like an ordinary call — a female having some contraction pains,” Officer Cavanagh told The Riverhead News Review. He reached the property and told Miguel’s mother, who answered the door, that an ambulance was on its way.

He looked into the living room and “at that point it was literally an active birth happening.”

He could hear his friend and fellow officer, Mr. Brenner, on the phone with Miguel — giving him instructions, which the boy would relay in Spanish to his mother.

“He was telling the child to secure the umbilical cord,” Mr. Cavanagh said.

“So I ran back to my car to let the ambulance know that there’s an active birth happening, and grab my medical equipment.”

By the time he returned, “the baby was wrapped in a blanket.”

It was a healthy baby boy.

Moments later, a Flanders Northampton Volunteer ambulance crew arrived on the scene and got right to work.

Mr. Cavanagh said Miguel was the key conduit between the dispatcher and the boy’s mother.

“It takes a lot of courage, and he did an excellent job,” the officer said. “They’re the real heroes — between the woman giving birth, her sister, the boy and our dispatcher, they did all the work.”

It’s not the first time Mr. Cavanagh has responded to the scene of an active birth incident like this one.

“It can be tough, but it’s a beautiful thing.”

He said Miguel was completely cool under all the pressure.

“He was just talking [to dispatch] like it was nothing to him. It was pretty impressive.”

Asked whether he was scared, Miguel said he wasn’t.

“I’ve done this before,” he replied.

Miguel went through a similar experience with another relative who went into labor early and gave birth at home several years ago.

The post Cool-headed Flanders boy, 13, helps deliver a baby appeared first on Riverhead News Review.

“That’s the number one thing we keep hearing over and over again,” she said, noting that river access was the top public response to a Riverside Revitalization Action Plan survey the civic group and Southampton town conducted in 2017. 

Last Wednesday, Ms. Huneault and Southampton Town Supervisor Maria Moore were present for the formal opening of a 1.6-mile trail that will eventually lead to the Peconic River. The trail crosses Suffolk County-owned land, but the project is being undertaken by Southampton Town, officials said.

The county parcel is meant mostly for passive recreation, but the town also purchased an adjacent property where more uses will hopefully be permitted, Ms. Moore said. In addition to the trail, she said the town plans to install a kayak launch area as well as a fishing pier, using $550,000 in grant funding the town has received.

The trail currently stretches from Route 25 on the south toward the river, and a there is a small parking lot at the north end of the property. However, officials said extensive clearing will still be needed to open the north end of the trail itself, which fronts the river. That work is expected to be finished by the end of the year. 

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Homeowners Meigan Madden Rocco and her husband have been watching the watchers — and loving every minute of it.

“When this bird comes, every single camera goes up,” Ms. Rocco said this week. “And there’s people crying after it leaves. They’re hugging. They are fist-bumping. They’re high-fiving. And I am just really enjoying watching that aspect of it. I’m a horse person. I’m a dog person. I’ve never really been part of a bird thing, so it has been really, really cool to watch.

“Yesterday, my husband and I got up in the morning and came downstairs about seven o’clock and there were people in front of the house already waiting. It literally is paparazzi. It’s bird paparazzi.”

Ms. Rocco said she welcomes the birder community.

“We’re really enjoying it, though I do now know how the Kardashians feel: you look out the window and there’s 100 lenses pointed at the house. But I’m just really enjoying the fact that everybody is enjoying it so much.”

The name lazuli bunting derives from the bright blue gemstone lapis lazuli.

Ms. Rocco said she’s very much the amateur birdwatcher.

“I have the one bird feeder and the one bird bath. I just like to watch birds. I’m not like a birdie,” she said, meaning a birder. “See?” she replied, when corrected. “That’s how much of a birder I’m not.

“But I like to watch birds and when something different flies up, I send a picture to my friend who used to be a wildlife biologist for the [Department of Environmental Conservation]. Anytime I see something strange or different or just cool-looking, I send her a picture and say ‘hey, what is this? It looks too big to be a finch.

“She got right back to me and said, ‘I think that’s a lazuli bunting, but the location makes no sense. That bird should be in California somewhere.”

The biologist consulted with some of her former colleagues and confirmed that it was a lazuli bunting. Word went out on Cornell University’s eBird website, which dispatches real time rare bird alerts.

More than 500 people came to see the songbird over the weekend.

“Why he found my bird feeder? I have no idea,” Ms. Rocco said. “The theory is that he must have been swept up in some sort of storm or something and just lost his way.”

Peggy Lauber, president of the North Fork Audubon Society, said early spring is peak travel season for birds.

“Right now if you walk around, everything’s just sort of starting to bloom: the trees are starting to sprout and the flowers are starting to bloom, so the food is starting to become available … So the birds pass through and some stay and breed and some breeds keep going further north. But this is when they travel — during the month of May — coming up from the south, so many of them. They winter in South America and Central America.”

At lunchtime on Monday, a small crowd of birders lined the road across from Ms. Rocco’s home.

“It’s awesome,” said teenager Jesse Lebolt from Jericho, who traveled about an hour with his mom to see the songbird. “We’ve seen a similar species, but nothing like this before. It’s definitely one of the rarest we’ve ever seen.

“You have this list of birds that you expect to see in a certain area, and then this appears,” he said, gesturing towards the house.

Elena Lebolt said her son Jesse has been interested in birding since he was four or five years old.

“So we started traveling to look at birds, and now we do things like jump in the car after track practice and come to see birds.”

Ms. Rocco said her welcoming of the birders seemed to catch some of them off guard.

“The first three or four groups of visitors were like, ‘Do you want us to buy you some birdseed? Do you want us to make a donation in your name somewhere? Is there anything in return we can do for you for allowing us to view the bird?”

Being a horse and dog lover, Ms. Rocco said sure — they could make a donation to the Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation.

“That’s where all our animals came from.”

Ms. Rocco — who welcomes pictures of the local lazuli bunting at lazulibuntingpics@gmail.com — said her introduction to the world of hard-core birders couldn’t have been more fun.

“It’s been a really great experience to have the bird find us and pick us, but also, just to be able to see so many people so happy is really special, especially the way the world is today. If this little bird can make so many people so happy, I’m all for it.”

The North Fork Audubon Society is offering a series of bird watching walks next month, Ms. Lauber said.

The post Rare songbird draws ‘bird paparazzi’ to Flanders home appeared first on Riverhead News Review.

Riverhead v. Southampton?

Riverhead soon may be filing a lawsuit against Southampton Town over its development plans for the neighboring hamlets of Flanders and Riverside.

“[Riverhead] Town employees have been attending Southampton Town meetings regarding their 10-year-old revitalization plan for Flanders,” Mr. Hubbard said. “The plan advocates between 1,000 and 2,300 ‘attainable’ income housing units and calls for the development of a much-needed sewer treatment plant to service this area. I have personally attended such meetings and spoken with Southampton Town officials and made it clear that housing units in such large volume would overwhelm the Riverhead Central School District and place an entirely unfair burden on services funded by Riverhead taxpayers — like the library, ambulance, parks and recreation services, among others.”

Mr. Hubbard said Riverhead is adamant that any new sewer district must include the County Center and the County Correctional Center, which are both located in Southampton Town. 

The supervisor said Riverhead hopes to free up sewer capacity along West Main Street for properties on or near the Peconic River. 

“To date, Southampton Town officials have not cooperated or — in my opinion — shown any good faith effort to meet and consider our requests,” he said. “This leaves us with little choice but to pursue legal action to protect the interests of our town and taxpayers. Stay tuned.”

Southampton Town officials have said in their recent meetings that they reduced the number of housing units they are proposing in Riverside to about 1,600.

County to pay up for sewer

“I have been negotiating with County Executive Ed Romaine regarding a fair and reasonable repayment of past sewer bills for services rendered at the County Center and the correctional facility. The county executive has indicated a willingness to work with the town on this matter to achieve a fair and equitable result and I look forward to bringing the matter to conclusion, in the very near future.”

Downtown revitalization

Another major project Mr. Hubbard addressed is Riverhead’s downtown revitalization project. 

“Currently, we are in the formal, final design phases for the adaptive playground, the riverfront amphitheater, the Town Square, the riverfront and complete street improvements along Main Street,” Mr. Hubbard said. 

The final piece of the agreement with master developer Petrocelli Contracting, the supervisors said, is to construct a hotel on the Town Square. 

The town has also applied for a $25 million grant to build a multi-story parking garage on First Street and for sidewalks, lighting and landscaping, he said.

Comprehensive plan update

Mr. Hubbard said the town’s Comprehensive Plan update “is on time and on budget.” 

“We expect to have the final draft plan at the end of this month,” he said, “after which there will be a public hearing on the plan.” He added that he expects final adoption of the plan at the end of the summer. 

PR position open

Mr. Hubbard said the town is “in the process of hiring a part-time marketing and media person to assist with the distribution of positive public relations in the town.”

He added: “I feel this will help with the overall perception of our town as we go through the revitalization process. It will also include videos of our different departments so the public can understand the functions, services and even employment opportunities within [those] departments. We will also showcase local businesses within the Town of Riverhead.”

Connecting residents to clean water

Mr. Hubbard said he was “very proud to report that our Community Development and Economic Department has obtained $18.1 million for connecting public drinking water and that we are bringing water to areas of Riverhead.” 

Code enforcement

The town hired a new code enforcement officer this year, and officials said this has helped with enforcement. The supervisors provided an update on the statistics so far.

“Code enforcement has already handled 123 calls/cases. They have performed 625 rental inspections, issued 129 Justice Court summonses for code violations, issued 14 notices of violations, completed 12 rental verification inspections and brought in $61,700 for rental permit application fees so far this year,” Mr. Hubbard said.

The post Key takeaways from Hubbard’s ‘State of Riverhead’ address appeared first on Riverhead News Review.

Yet, she said, when her sister-in-law Patti Jo Tocci went into cardiac arrest last fall, no one from the ambulance corps answered the call. 

“My sister-in-law passed away and no ambulance showed up,” Ms. Tocci said last Wednesday at a special meeting in Flanders called by Southampton Town.

She said a paid employee of the ambulance unit was scheduled to be on duty at the time, but didn’t answer.

“Do you know why you’re not being sued right now, Flanders ambulance?” she asked. “Because it’s the Tocci family.”

Ms. Tocci said she still supports the ambulance, and that her comments were made as constructive criticism. 

“There isn’t a person here who is not trying to do the right thing. That’s why they are volunteering,” she said, adding that the ambulance corps has taken her father to the hospital many times. 

“My father is running you guys ragged,” she said. 

Ms. Tocci is not currently a member of the ambulance corps.

Flanders Northampton Volunteer Ambulance Corps chief Jeff Takamine acknowledged what happened and said he has no words for it. 

Southampton Town called for last week’s meeting to address with several issues, according to Councilman Tommy John Schiavoni, who was joined on the meeting panel by town emergency management administrator Ryan Murphy, former town controller Len Marchese and Mr. Takamine.

Mr. Marchese said he has been doing consulting work with the town, which asked him and Mr. Ryan to focus on its four unincorporated ambulance crews: Flanders Northampton, Hampton Bays, Southampton and Westhampton Beach. Other ambulance crews in Southampton Town are affiliated with villages or fire departments. 

Mr. Marchese said that for many years the town let these ambulance districts operate with relatively little oversight, even though, collectively, they cost the town from $4 million to $5 million per year. But about two years ago, he said, the town asked him and Mr. Ryan to perform regular reviews of the ambulance corps.

The Flanders Northampton Volunteer Ambulance — which covers Flanders, Riverside and Northampton — has been taking some criticism lately over the amounts it has allocated for salaries and for implementing third-party billing for four years ago. 

Its 2024 budget showed $560,000 in payroll expenses. However, Mr. Marchese said those numbers are lower than those of most ambulance crews on Long Island and that virtually every ambulance crew on Long Island now has some paid employees. 

“We have 18 paid employees,” Mr. Takamine said. “One of which is the district manager, and we have two paid housemen. The district manager, who is also a paramedic and the maintenance man, is paid $25 per hour.”

Mr. Takamine said EMT salaries for the FNVA range from $20,000 to $22,000 per year, while surrounding districts pay upwards of $25,000 per year.

“The paramedics in our agency make between $30,000 and $32,000 per year. Its surrounding districts are paying up to $39,000 per year. So regionally we are one of the lowest paid,” Mr. Takamine said.

Flanders Northampton Volunteer Ambulance has 67 members overall, officials said. 

“It’s going to hurt the community if you start paying people to respond to calls,” Mr. Takamine said. In the past, they had a man who worked as a “house man” at headquarters while answering calls for the ambulance corps.

Training to become an emergency medical technician takes 300 hours, while training to became a paramedic requires more than 1,500 hours, Mr. Takamine said.

As for the third-party billing, resident Richard Naso said former supervisor Jay Schneiderman “sold us a bill of goods about third-party billing, saying they are going to lower the impact on our tax bill. It hasn’t done any of that, and taxes keep going up.”

Mr. Naso also said his “biggest gripe” is with the salaries. 

“That budget should be 25% lower than it is, and they should do away with third-party billing,” he said.

In 2018, the Flanders Northampton Volunteer Ambulance Corps began billing the insurance companies of nonresidents who require ambulance service within the district.

Residents who live within the district don’t have to pay because they already pay in through their auto insurance, officials said. 

FNVA’s 2024 budget estimates the district will receive $200,000 from third-party billing. 

Some of the speakers last Wednesday said that what the district needs is more EMS and responders.

But ambulance officials said that could be difficult with the training requirements responders must go though to be certified, along with the fact that additional requirements could be coming in the future. 

The Flanders Northampton district is much smaller that the other unincorporated ambulance districts.

Mr. Marchese said the money raised through third-party billing should be to used to hire more paid personnel.

“There’s not enough volunteers, that’s the issue,” he said. “It’s hard to man equipment 24/7 in this environment without the use of paid staff.” 

Mr. Marchese also said that’s the case everywhere, not just Flanders. 

Mr. Schiavoni said many ambulance districts are going the “hybrid” mode, which is part volunteer and part paid.

Officials said the days or having all volunteers is becoming a thing of the past. 

“There are 109 fire departments and 27 ambulance districts in Suffolk County,” Mr. Marchese said, adding that not a single one of those 27 ambulance corps is “100% volunteer.” 

The post Concerns mount about Flanders Northampton ambulance crew staffing appeared first on Riverhead News Review.

For the second time in two years, someone has run over or stolen the “Welcome to Flanders” Big Duck sign at corner of Pleasure Drive and County Road 105 in Flanders. 

The sign cost $5,000 and was paid for by the Flanders, Riverside and Northampton Community Association.

But this time, there’s also a mystery about who fixed the duck sign.

On Jan. 23, Southampton Town police responded to a report of a damage to the sign. Last year, around Feb. 9th or 10th, someone stole the entire sign from that intersection. 

But last year, a company that’s familiar with duck signs — Aflac — heard about the theft and stepped forward to pay the cost of replacing it.

“It’s a sad day,” said Angela Huneault, president of FRNCA on Monday. She said on Monday, adding that she hasn’t yet told Aflac what happened to the sign it paid for. 

The street sign for “Pleasure Drive” was also removed from its post, according to police. 

It’s believed this damage and the theft of the street sign occurred within the past few days, police said. 

But then, by Jan. 22, someone had repaired the duck, using glue. Ms. Huneault said FRNCA didn’t commission the repair and she didn’t know who did.

Southampton Town detectives were looking for assistance in identifying the person or persons responsible. 

Anyone with information regarding these incidents is asked to call the Detective Division at 631-702-2230 or the Southampton police tips hotline at 631-728-3454 or email crimetips@southamptontownny.gov.

The post Flanders Big Duck sign damaged, then fixed appeared first on Riverhead News Review.

Mr. Williams was recently the chair of the Flanders Board of Fire Commissioners, an elected position he’s held since 2005. 

He’s been a member of the fire department since 1994, and was department’s chief from 2001 through 2003. Brian Williams was also one of the few Black fire chiefs on the East End. 

In addition to volunteering with the fire department, Mr. Williams also worked for the Southampton Town Fire Marshal’s office. Mr. Williams’ death was unexpected, and the cause of his death had yet to be determined at press time.

“Nobody could believe it,” said fellow Flanders commissioner Mike Spano.”We were all stunned. I can tell you that.” 

“His absence is going to be very much felt,” said Southampton Chief Marshal John Rankin. “He was the go-to guy for a lot of things.”

Mr. Williams most recently organized a parade to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Flanders Fire Department on Flanders Road. 

“He’s [Brian Williams} going to be missed, especially by the Board of Fire Commissioners,” Mr. Spano said. “He did a lot of stuff for us.”

Mr. Williams was also the president of the Southampton Commissioners and a former president of the Southampton Chiefs’ Council. 

“He died too young,” Mr. Spano said. 

The post Flanders firefighter Brian Williams dies unexpectedly appeared first on Riverhead News Review.

The two candidates seeking to the fill the post — Democrat Maria Moore and Republican Cyndi McNamara — spoke Aug. 16 before the Flanders, Riverside and Northampton Community Association.

Ms. Moore said many of the issues in Flanders, Riverside and Northampton are similar to those she faced while serving as mayor of Westhampton Beach, including the need for an expensive sewer connection and the removal of blighted and shuttered gas stations. 

Ms. McNamara said that the many issues facing those Southampton hamlets are challenges that don’t plague other areas of the town. 

“The town may be turning a blind eye to some of these issues,” she said. 

Ms. Moore has been mayor of Westhampton Beach for nine years, while Ms. McNamara has been a Southampton Town councilwoman for the past two years. 

As mayor, Ms. Moore said, she was able to get things accomplished by talking to residents, rather than arguing. The $16 million Main Street sewer and sidewalk upgrade there was something officials had been discussing for years, because it was seen as necessary to improve the village’s finances. She said the village “applied for every grant” and ended up getting about $14 million in funding toward the project. 

FRNCA’s long range goal is to upgrade infrastructure across all three hamlets but the group’s initial focus is on Riverside, which is considered one of the most impoverished hamlets in all of Suffolk County. 

Like Westhampton Beach, the town has been trying to get a sewer hookup for years. 

About eight years ago, Southampton Town compiled a “Riverside Revitalization Action Plan,” which envisioned apartments on top of small stores near the traffic circle. However, none of the proposals ever came to fruition because of the lack of sewage facilities. 

Officials have been told that the estimated cost of installing sewers is more than $20 million. 

On the issue of abandoned gas stations, residents have objected to the proposed development of a 7-Eleven convenience store and gas station on the Riverside traffic circle. That project would replace a vacant gas station, but residents argue that there are already five 7-Elevens in the area. The proposal had been in the planning stage for almost three years. 

Other issues brought up by FRNCA members included the parking situation at the former Wildwood bowling alley.

Ms. McNamara said Southampton Town tried to buy the bowling alley, but was outbid by a church, which has drawn complaints about parking. 

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