Riverhead Town will hold a public forum next Wednesday, Aug. 13 at 6 p.m. to share information regarding the Suffolk County Water Authority’s proposed North Fork Pipeline, which is slated to travel over 8.5 miles of roads, mostly in the Town of Riverhead.
The 24-inch diameter pipeline, as currently proposed, would tie into existing Water Authority infrastructure on Whitebrook Drive in Flanders, traveling up Route 105 to Northville Turnpike and then east on Sound Avenue to the Southold town line, where it would again hook into existing infrastructure in Southold. A pumping station on Pier Avenue in Jamesport is also proposed.
“The goal of the forum is to communicate and share information regarding the Suffolk County
Water Authority’s plan…, how it may impact the Town and its residents and explain the Monroe Balancing Test the Town Board will apply following a public hearing on August 19,” according to the notice of the forum.
The Monroe Balancing Test is a legal test done to resolve intergovernmental land use disputes. The public hearing will be held at the Town Board’s 6 p.m. meeting on Aug. 19.
The town said in the announcement of the forum that the Monroe Balancing Test “is designed to assist determining whether and to what extend the project will be deemed immune from local zoning and codes.”
Riverhead environmental consultant Jeffrey Seeman had told the Water Authority at a scoping session on its Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the project that the town is asking the Water Authority to submit to the test because “the applicant in this case, which is also the lead agency, believes it may be exempt from land use regulations.”
Mr. Seeman will be a speaker on the panel, along with Councilman Bob Kern, who serves as liaison to the Riverhead Water District; Riverhead Water District Superintendent Frank Mancini; Town Attorney Erik Howard; Riverhead Town Director of Economic Development, Planning and Building Dawn Thomas and Town Senior Planner Matt Charters.
The town is also accepting questions and possible discussion points from the public via email to charters@townofriverheadny.gov with the subject line “Transmission Line Forum” before 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 11.
The meeting will also be aired on Channel 22, streamed on the town’s livestream site and be accessible by Zoom here.
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