SAGAPONACK: Board on Budget, Beach, Bamboo
“It’s easy to do budgets when you have a lot of money to work with,” Sagaponack Village’s mayor, Donald Louchheim, said Monday after being thanked for his hard work by Joy Sieger, a board member. Following a public hearing at which there were not only no comments, but no attendees aside from the press, the village’s 2013-14 budget was passed unanimously.
It is the “seventh consecutive year that the village has had either no increase or a slight drop in the property tax rate,” according to a written statement from the mayor. An $81,000 increase in spending was balanced by an increase of $84,000 in non-tax revenues, he said, which will come “primarily from higher anticipated revenues from Building Department fees and state mortgage tax receipts.”
Road improvement projects and new data processing software make up a good deal of the next fiscal year’s total projected spending of $789,612, which compares to $708,059 in the current budget.
“The village remains in excellent financial shape,” the mayor wrote, with a capital reserve fund of over $1 million and a separate reserve fund for the maintenance and replacement of street trees added this year. Yet another reserve fund has been created to plan for assuming direct responsibility for services now performed by Southampton Town and charged to village residents in their town tax bills.
With ongoing questions as to responsibilities shared with the Town of Southampton, Eric Schultz, the president of the Southampton Town Trustees, was in attendance as an invited guest to address the board.
“We are concerned with what is going on the beach here,” Mayor Louchheim told Mr. Schultz. “We have some geo-cubes here.” The mayor was referring to large sand-filled bags buried on the beach to protect against erosion. “Are they permanent or temporary?” he asked.
“They are supposed to come out when the emergency is over,” Mr. Schultz responded, to which the mayor asked, “When would that be?”
Mr. Schultz took note of that concern and others, which included rising ocean levels and jurisdiction of the parts of the beach that have survived Hurricane Sandy. “We’re trying to do a townwide surveillance,” Mr. Schultz said, of where the actual “rolling easement” begins. Public property extends from the dune, which is “always moving northward,” he said.
“And when there is no dune,” the mayor asked, “under what authority are you operating?”
Mr. Schultz went into a lengthy historical explanation with the answer ultimately being that a colonial patent guarantees that the public should have free use of the beach.
“If we don’t do something, we’re derelict in our duty,” Mr. Schultz said.
With a choice between saving a beach or a house, Mayor Louchheim said, “most would opt to save a beach.” He wondered if the beach would have dunes created by bulldozers every spring.
Lee Foster, the village’s deputy mayor, said she observed clay being excavated along with sand when Sagg Pond being dredged. There seemed to be “little care as to the depth” of the dredging, she said.
William Barbour, a board member, worried about the potential for sinkholes that could lead to children drowning. Mr. Schultz suggested the trustees could put up signs.
Failure to control traffic over the dunes at Sagg Main Beach was also a concern of Mr. Barbour, who said that vegetation is starting to be replanted on the dunes. “People ignore the fencing along the perimeter of the parking lot, he said, or “tear it down and burn it in a bonfire.”
With the beach’s maintenance being a responsibility of the Southampton Town Recreation Department, the mayor asked Mr. Schultz if the town could be more vigilant, while also adding “they are doing a much better job with garbage.”
Also on Monday, the board unanimously adopted a law clarifying the definition of assemblies. Previously, the village required permits only for outdoor assemblies of 50 or more people. Now, the village will require permits for any type of gathering on private property of 50 or more people, whether indoors or out.
The addition of a permit requirement for yard sales was discussed, inspired by continuous complaints from a resident whose neighbor has been holding yard sales on a regular basis for years. The board members agreed that most other villages require permits and will discuss the matter in May.
The board also considered a ban on the planting of bamboo. “It’s hellish,” said Ms. Foster. Mayor Louchheim agreed, and said he will not ask those who have the invasive species planted currently to remove it unless it has invaded their neighbor’s property. Draft legislation will be prepared for a public hearing next month.