The resolution asks North Fork County Legislator Ed Romaine (R-Center Moriches) to "take any and all steps necessary to secure county approval for the elimination of a left-hand turn from County Road 105 northbound so as to prevent a left turn onto Riverside Drive."

Several residents of Riverside Drive have been calling for the measure as a means of stopping traffic from using their street as a bypass to get to Route 58. An earlier proposal to dead-end Riverside Drive before it gets to County Road 105 also was considered, but town officials say they believe that move is not legal based on a 1994 opinion of then state Attorney General Oliver Koppel.

At last Thursday's Town Board work session, board members also agreed informally to approve a proposal to put stop signs on Riverside Drive's intersection with James Street and River Avenue. But Supervisor Phil Cardinale later said that after meeting with some Riverside Drive residents, the board agreed to hold off on that measure until they get feedback from the residents living closest to the proposed stop signs. Mr. Cardinale said some Riverside Drive residents feel the signs won't be needed if the county blocks left turns from County Road 105.

Bag the plastic, committee begs

The town's anti-litter advisory committee is urging the Town Board to discourage local retail and grocery stores from using plastic bags.

"It's estimated that between 500 billion and one trillion plastic bags are used worldwide each year," said committee chair George Bartunek, a former town councilman and former Riverhead High School science teacher. "Of those, millions end up as litter or are deposited in landfills. After months and even hundreds of years, these plastic bags will decompose into bits of toxic chemicals from which they were manufactured, eventually permeating soil and eventually leaching into groundwater, streams and oceans."

He said paper bags aren't much better, because they kill trees.

The committee wants the Town Board to encourage people to purchase and regularly use reusable bags. They want the Town Board to ask stores to display reusable bags in areas where they would be readily available to customers, such as by the checkout counters, and to occasionally advertise the purchase of reusable bags at a reduced price. In addition, the committee wants the Town Board to ask stores to deduct the cost of plastic bags from purchases by customers who use reusable bags.

Mr. Bartunek said there is a proposal in Rhode Island to do the latter, although it is meeting with opposition from companies that make plastic bags.

Phone troubles for proposed police substation in downtown parking lot

The proposal to turn the old information booth in downtown Riverhead into a police substation is being stalled by difficulties in hooking up the call box, where people could call 911 from, according to town engineer Ken Testa.

"It's difficult to just get it to dial 911," he said. "The phone company said they no longer do this automatically."

The cost of the device needed to make the phone just dial 911 costs $1,690, he said.

Mr. Testa said he's reluctant to put the "police" sign on the building until the call box works.

Town officials want police officers to be able to file reports from their laptops at the substation, so as to establish a police presence downtown, where several violent incidents have been reported.

tgannon@timesreview.com

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