TOWN HALL NOTES
Route 25 work scheduled; Atlantis gets special permit for hotel
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The state Department of Transportation will begin pavement work on Route 25 in downtown Riverhead after Labor Day 2010, Riverhead Supervisor Phil Cardinale announced this week.
The work will take place on Main Street from the Long Island Expressway on the west to Route 58 on the east.
That job should begin about three months after the county wraps up its work widening Route 58 between Ostrander Avenue and the LIE.
Mr. Cardinale said the Route 25 new pavement is expected to last 12 to 15 years, but he also said he hopes the job inspires the DOT to begin fixing the sidewalks along Route 25 as well.
Riverhead received $1.2 million in federal grant money several years ago to repair downtown sidewalks but turned that grant over to the state because the sidewalks are on state roads. The state has yet to set a start date for that work.
"I am hopeful that the Route 25 roadwork will provide a further incentive for the sidewalk rehabilitation on that roadway, which the state will undertake in the upcoming years," Mr. Cardinale said.
Atlantis Marine World's proposed downtown hotel received special permit approval from the Riverhead Town Board in a meeting last Thursday at Town Hall.
The proposed 110-room Hyatt Place hotel would be located adjacent to the Atlantis aquarium on East Main Street. Hotel use in the Downtown Center-1 zone requires a special permit.
Atlantis still needs site plan approval before it can get started on building the project.
"We're hoping we'll be able to grant site plan approval in the first meeting in August," Supervisor Phil Cardinale said at the special meeting.
Before that can happen, a code change to allow a gravel driveway instead of a paved one must first be approved. The Town Board has scheduled a public hearing on a proposal to change the code for its Aug. 4 meeting. That proposal also deals with a number of other issues pertaining to off-street parking, such as drainage requirements, and the required size and number of parking spaces.
Reading help
The town senior center in Aquebogue now has a Merlin Enhanced Vision Reader that can help people with vision problems such as macular degeneration, glaucoma, retinitis pigmentosa and diabetic retinopathy use a variety of reading materials by magnifying the print.
Supervisor Phil Cardinale said the device will be paid for with $2,700 from the $17,022 salary increase he returned to the town from 2007.
"This machine will address a need that has been identified by Judy Doll and her senior program staff," Mr. Cardinale said. "I will be allocating additional sums from my salary return to a number of programs this year that will benefit our youth, our seniors and the communications outlets of Channel 22 and the town Web site."
tgannon@timesreview.com
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