East Hampton Town Wants Farmers At 555 Property, Says CPF In Good Shape

East Hampton Town officials are looking for farmers to cultivate the newly dubbed “Amagansett Farm,” better known as 555 in Amagansett.

At Tuesday’s Town Board work session, Scott Wilson, the town’s director of land acquisition and management, said the town will publish a request for proposals on Thursday for farmers that would lease and farm the 19-acre plot.

He said applicants must have previous experience in agriculture and have a financial plan to maintain the property and infrastructure there. Farmers must also include a detailed plan for how the land would be used.

He said his office has already been contacted by a number of farmers, from those who grow microgreens, or small leafy plants like arugula, basil, kale and cilantro, to those who care for llamas and sheep.

In April, the town purchased the 555 property for $10.1 million with Community Preservation Fund money, after it was offered up by Putnam Amagansett Holdings LLC, which had previously been trying to build a luxury senior housing complex that was resoundingly rejected by Amagansett residents.

Under the town’s CPF code, the farmland can be used for any kind of agriculture, since agriculture is a preexisting, nonconforming use. The westernmost parcel includes a horse stable, office space and an apartment.

Town budget officer Len Bernard said the revenue flowing into the town’s CPF has been climbing over the last four years. He said in 2012, the town took in $22.2 million. In 2013, the town raked in $28.8 million and so far in 2014, $11.7 million has come into the fund. The CPF fund gets its revenue from transfer taxes and donations.

Mr. Bernard said based on the cash flow he’s seen since the beginning of the year and the projected amount the town will spend this year, it would be safe to assume the town will have a cash balance of over $40 million at the end of the year.

The town started with $55 million in its CPF fund in January, which increased to $67 million after more revenues came in and currently retains about $47 million to work with, according to Mr. Wilson.

Mr. Wilson said the town currently has 530 CPF properties and plans to add 160 more around Lake Montauk on Thursday at its Town Board meeting to the CPF Project Plan.

The acquisition of those properties is meant to further protect Lake Montauk’s watershed.

He said so far this year, 39 acres have been bought for $14.6 million and the department is working on closing 13 projects that total approximately $13.9 million.

He said on Monday the town was offered and accepted 30.8 acres throughout East Hampton at a cost of $18.2 million and that currently the town has about 125 acres in the process of acquisition so far for this year, representing about $47 million.

“We’ve been busy,” he said.

Mr. Bernard said it’s not true that the CPF has a negative effect on assessed property values when properties are taken off the tax roles.

He said full, real property values, over the course of the CPF program from 1998, have risen 24 percent in assessed value and over 200 percent in real property value.

Since 2008, assessed values have flattened out, but he said he’s seen them trend up over the last couple of years.