Vanderbilt Cup Races

The Long Island Motorsports Association (LIMA) has requested a call to action for its members and the motorsport community to voice their opinions on recent events concerning Riverhead Resorts and their attempt to purchase the Calverton property. The Riverhead Town Board will be holding a public meeting on November 16, 2010 beginning at 7:00 PM. The latest news was reported by several publications:

Riverhead News-Review, November 3, 2010: "Riverhead Resorts hands the town a check "

Riverhead Resorts representatives presented a $3.8 million check to the Riverhead Town Board at its meeting yesterday, but it wasn't made out to the town. And it wasn't a bank check.

It was handwritten and made out to the law firm of Frank Isler, the town's attorney in the contracted sale of 755 acres of town-owned land in Calverton, where the Resorts group hopes to build a $1 billion resorts complex that could include an indoor ski mountain. The money is going to be held in escrow until the Town Board formally approves reducing the selling price from $155 million to $108 million.

That all seemed to be good enough to keep the deal alive.

Riverhead Patch, November 3, 2010: "Riverhead Resorts Brings a Check for $3.9 Million

As promised, the lead lawyer for Riverhead Resorts brought a check for $3.875 million to Wednesday's Town Board meeting, but the board decided to wait until it clears before voting on a resolution which, if approved, would cause the money to be transferred from an escrow account into the town's coffers...

That's a decision the Town Board can make only after Riverhead Resorts undergoes another qualified and eligible sponsor hearing, open to the public, as called for by state law whenever property within an Urban Renewal Zone is considered for purchase.

Newsday, November 3, 2010:"Developer pays $4M to keep Calverton resort plan alive"

With a bit of staged drama, Riverhead Resorts -- which wants to build a $1-billion themed recreation park in Calverton -- gave Riverhead Town a check for nearly $4 million Wednesday, two late payments on extensions of its contract to buy 755 acres of town-owned land at the Enterprise Park at Calverton.

It means that, for the moment, plans to build the resort park on the East End are still alive. That resort would contain eight separate resort areas, including a fitness center, equestrian trails and possibly an indoor ski mountain.

Because of several delays by Riverhead Resorts in paying fees to extend its contract, the town board last month set Wednesday as its deadline to get the money or cancel the contract.

The Riverhead Resorts project was approved in 2007, and its backers were required to pay Riverhead nearly $6 million to extend a closing date on the contract three times.

The check Supervisor Sean Walter received Wednesday was a late payment of two of the extensions. But board members George Gabrielsen and Jodi Giglio said it should have been paid the full $6 million.

They questioned Walter on whether there were "any strings attached" to the payment - money that will remain in an escrow account until the town board passes a resolution lowering the purchase price on the land from $155 million to $108 million, and setting a contract closing date of no later than Aug. 31, 2011.