Riverhead supervisor, other town officials refute accusations involving solar project

Riverhead officials are defending their role in a recently approved 36-megawatt solar farm in Calverton after a former councilwoman accused the town of failing to comment on a state review of the project.

Barbara Blass, a former Republican town councilwoman, told the town board at its regular meeting July 7 that she was disappointed that town officials did not comment on the review of the solar farm project while the state’s Office of Renewable Energy Siting was examining it. The project is on 290 acres along Middle Country Road and Edwards Avenue and has been proposed by Riverhead Solar 2 LLC.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced June 25 that the newly-created state agency issued a final siting permit for the project.

The transcript of the May 11 public hearing with the state Office of Renewable Energy Siting showed that no Riverhead officials or representatives commented at the hearing. No comments were received during the solar project’s public comment period, according to the office’s documents on the project.

Blass told Newsday that she stood by her comments, and she felt town officials did not represent the community by not providing updated comments during the state review.

"The town literally did not participate in this process" Blass said. "They failed to do their jobs and represent the people."

At the town board’s July 15 work session, town officials said they had taken as many steps as the state review process permitted.

Town Building and Planning Administrator Jeff Murphree, who called Blass’ comments "a carefully scripted ambush," said Riverhead’s Planning Department and the town attorney’s office had worked with Riverhead Solar 2 representatives to address community concerns throughout the entire process.

Town Supervisor Yvette Aguiar told Newsday that the company published notice informing the community of the May 11 state hearing, and said that town attorney Robert Kozakiewicz attended the hearing but did not speak.

Additionally, Aguiar added, the town shared community concerns regarding the project in a 14-page letter dated Oct. 5, 2018, to the state's multiagency Siting Board.

Aguiar said she found Blass’ comments offensive toward town employees who worked on the application.

"It was an ambush on our town’s employees," Aguiar said. "Facts were misrepresented, and assertions were made that should not have been made. It’s evident the [project’s] site plan was read, and a lot of those assertions were addressed there, but some people refuse to take it into consideration."

Barbara Blass was elected for two terms as a Republican town councilwoman on the Riverhead Town Board. An earlier version of this story had an incorrect political affiliation.