Riverhead Town would like to use the Riverhead Industrial Enhancement Company for promoting expert services relevant to downtown redevelopment jobs.

The town board Tuesday approved a $50,000, 6-month contract with the Riverhead IDA, commencing Dec. 15, for “marketing, marketing and promotion of new development” — specifically the transit-oriented blended-use improvement around the railroad station, the town square venture and vacant or underutilized homes in the downtown space, according to the agreement.

But IDA chairman James Farley reported now the IDA board has not however approved the deal and continue to needs to go over it.

“I wasn’t expecting that resolution to essentially be place forward this week,” Farley explained.

He mentioned the IDA board has had discussions to attempt to ascertain how significantly time IDA director Tracy Stark-James has been “spending doing the job on town tasks as opposed to unique IDA tasks.”

Stark-James has been performing with Neighborhood Growth Director Dawn Thomas on “developing the TOD thought and rolling it out.” Farley explained. “It’s definitely about dividing, or an attempt to assess, where by Tracy’s attempts are being applied,” Farley claimed. “So probably the selection of the term ‘marketing’ is not the right selection of words and phrases,” he mentioned.

“I really don’t understand it as as becoming promoting for each se,“ Farley claimed.

“Certainly we really do not sector — Every developer that comes into town, tends to make their way to the IDA to discover out whether or not they may possibly perhaps qualify for some IDA aid,” he stated.

At minimum just one resident questioned whether that could present a conflict of fascination. Barbara Blass of Jamesport lifted that situation at Tuesday’s city board meeting, prior to the board voted on the resolution. She requested the no matter if the IDA marketing to builders might produce an expectation that the builders would obtain IDA positive aspects.

Town board members did not express considerations about that.

“Most APAs do have a promoting organization,” Supervisor Yvette Aguiar replied. “It’s not uncommon throughout the county and the point out for an IDA to have a advertising and marketing fund — company to marketplace all the properties we have,” she claimed.