East End Decisively Approves Preservation Fund Extension

East End voters overwhelmingly approved a referendum to extend the Peconic Bay Region Community Preservation Fund through 2050 and to allow up to 20 percent of its future proceeds to be used for water quality initiatives.

The vote for Proposition 1 in East Hampton Town was 6,842 to 1,909, according to unofficial results from the Suffolk County Board of Elections. In Southampton, more than 78 percent of voters had approved the extension. It also passed decisively in Riverhead and Southold Towns, where nearly 75 and 80 percent of voters, respectively, said "yes."  Results for Shelter Island Town had not been posted on the Board of Election's website as of 10:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The preservation fund, financed by a 2-percent tax on most real estate transfers, was initiated in 1999. Voters approved a 10-year extension, through 2030, in 2006.

Since its inception, it has raised over $1 billion for open space and historic preservation in the five East End towns. Supporters of the measure, looking at a 10-year-average of past revenue, expect that it could provide East Hampton Town with some $4.6 million annually for water projects such as wastewater treatment, aquatic habitat restoration, stormwater diversion, and other pollution prevention efforts.

"I think the water is as important to our community as the land is," Jeanne Frankl, chairwoman of the East Hampton Town Democratic Committee, said at a Democratic Party gathering Tuesday night at LTV. "The high water table makes our drinking water fragile . . . 20 percent is not too much to invest in water." 

Each town has drafted its own plan listing possible projects that could be undertaken with the money. In East Hampton, Councilman Peter Van Scoyoc has said, the first step will likely be testing ground and surface waters to establish baseline water-quality levels before improvement efforts are undertaken.

With Reporting by Christine Sampson