Letters

2010 brought what is referred to down in Lazy Point as the “December Storm.” In January 2011, the residents began to flood Town Hall looking for help with Napeague Harbor. In October 2011, as the Peconic Estuary Program was going to have a study done by Land Use Ecological Services, we learned some unforgettable answers from Larry Penny. Mr. Penny spoke of the Town of East Hampton’s position to have two inlets and to dredge two inlets in the harbor. In 2000, he wrote that if the east channel were to close, it would “exacerbate the erosive effects … [on] Lazy Point.”

Where do you think we are? The town, the Trustees, the Department of Environmental Conservation, the Environmental Protection Agency have all once again let a problem begin, not addressed it properly, and now will have to act in enormous fashion. Many want what was in the 1940s, with the west closed and the east open.

Should it be both opened for circulation to flow historically as the harbor is beginning to heat up? Clams and scallops expiring along with homes all raise the growing concern. This is going to be an entire overhaul of the harbor. Dredging for maintenance are few and far between: 1979, 1988, 2004.

In 2012, at discussions about the upcoming dredge, our then-Councilman Peter Van Scoyoc stated, about dredging the west channel again, that ultimately it may make the situation worse. Do you think, Pete? Where is the now-supervisor? Nonexistent and complacent a decade later.

In 2014, the harbor was dredged its last and most recent time. The sand went right back on Hicks Island. At the cost of $700,000. But why? This didn’t help any homes. Reread above from the year 2000.

In 2015, Larry Penny said he ran into the engineer who headed that project. Questioning why things were done this way, the engineer replied, “One body of water, one inlet.”

If that’s the new school of thought — it’s certainly the wrong school of thought.

The time is now. November 2, let’s bring about the resurgence of our community and the revitalization of our town.

Until next time. From your friendly neighborhood millennial environmental evangelist.

Joe Karpinski

Amagansett

Mr. Karpinski a candidate for the East Hampton Town Board on the Republican and Conservative lines — Ed.