Direct quote from developer Alfred Caiola on Next Door: “If there is some kind of gentrification in Hampton Bays in general, maybe they’ll have to fix the water. Maybe even put in a sewer so we don’t dump all that waste into the ground and then complain about drinking water? Invest some money in this amazing town before it crumbles forever. NIMBY neighbors stop much-needed improvements, renovations, new development, and beautification. Support betterment. Do nothing and the town will die.”
Facts: The complaints about the water in this town are unsupported by the test results posted on the Hampton Bays Water District site. Known problems, such as somewhat high levels of iron and manganese, are being addressed with cleaning, relining, etc.
PFAs and PFOAs are one of those wonderful accidents caused by human arrogance and dependence on chemistry to fix every little thing. The town is seeking money to solve the problem, managing it as best it can be managed in the meanwhile. It affects well field 3, not all wells.
What is not addressed anywhere is quantity. Where is the water for all the new development? For the new pipeline to the east of the canal? We don’t need new development to address issues caused by septic waste, which actually have no bearing on the drinking water, only on the health of the bay. County, state and federal funds exist for this. Towns do bond issues for this.
My response to Mr. Caiola was as follows: We don’t want to be Queens, or Manhattan, or Brooklyn. Being “poor Hampton” has always been fine by us. As a person who lives in a 15,000-square-foot house and is a multimillionaire, I doubt that position is comprehensible to you.
The town is dying? Really? You can’t find a parking space on a Tuesday afternoon. Perhaps begin by cleaning up and rehabbing the properties you have purchased rather than let them deteriorate. Listen to those who live and have lived here long before (2007?) rather than assume your prior experience should dictate the goal.
Note that Mr. Caiola and his family have a business specializing in urban development and redevelopment. The 2007 date I found on Zillow, along with information about his residence.
What we really need out here is to grow some industry other than tourism and real estate development. Jobs that make housing affordable, not affordable housing projects. Looking at the global supply chain issues, maybe investors will start waking up to this wild idea.
Amy Paradise
Hampton Bays
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