Riverhead Town candidates make calls to scrap proposed EP-CAL plans
Politicians say they want the IDA to return the contract to the town board so it would be dissolved.
More Stories
Some Town of Riverhead candidates are calling on the local Industrial Development Agency (IDA) to step away from the Enterprise Park at Calverton (EP-CAL).
Democrats and Republicans running for town supervisor, town board, town clerk and judgeships say they are opposed to the proposed plan by Calverton Aviation and Technology. The company wants to turn hundreds of acres at EP-CAL into a mixed-use technology park.
According to the company, the site would include warehouses, a rail hub and the use of existing runways on the old Grumman site for planes.
Politicians say they want the IDA to return the contract to the town board so it would be dissolved.
Riverhead town supervisor candidate Angela DeVito called the current EP-CAL deal "not acceptable or viable on any level."
"We can't imagine anything, that's good, that's coming out of this," DeVito says. "There are no development plans, there's no financing, other than taxpayer dollars."
The current Riverhead town supervisor released a statement, saying, "Everyone was recently versed on the process at a public forum by three attorneys, the IDA attorney, the independent counsel hired and the town attorney. There is no doubt, the contract was extremely advantageous to the sell Calverton Aviation and Technology, not the town. At the point where I am informed, the town can legally walk away from the contract. I will advocate for it with the town board."
News 12 reached out to the IDA for a statement and are waiting to hear back.
