Letters

Last week, I wrote a letter to the editor that was butchered by The Express and reworked to read as nonsensical. The vital point I was making pertained to the placement of a cell tower on North Haven Village property, an agenda high on Terie Diat’s list.

During the North Haven mayoral debate, Ms. Diat had stated that the Sag Harbor Village Board likely would disapprove a monopole (replacing the existing 165-foot lattice tower) on the commercially zoned site of WLNG. After voicing her take on the Sag Harbor Board’s reluctance, why in the world would Ms. Diat pursue a tower in purely residential North Haven?

Last week, she placed an ad in The Express stating: “North Haven Needs Leadership You Can Trust.” Trust you, Ms. Diat? You, whose leaked emails revealed your attempt to not disclose a secret location to North Haven residents during an imminent public meeting? You, who spearheaded the placement of a crane and a balloon at that location — a specific site on the Stock Farm Preserve, which I know well — to launch your cell tower campaign to see if any residents would notice or make a fuss?

Trust you? Really?

As one of the two stewards (joined by Camille Petrillo) of the 73-acre Stock Farm Trails, maintaining this land is a labor of love. It is darn hard work. It is a community commitment, clearing the overgrowth, repairing the bridges. It is a categorical devotion to the uncultivated balance of the existing environment: the returning ospreys who nurture their young to make their first flight; the American eagles who peruse the land, perhaps for future nesting sites. Invading the natural flow with a monstrous 130-foot structure looming over osprey nests and a meandering creek filled with wildlife? I don’t think so.

Last week, Joel Ross (whose name doesn’t appear on any registered voter rolls) wrote that we are a small group of “screamers” who have zero validity and substance [“Choice Is Clear,” Letters, May 16]. Glenn Lawton, as a former Parks and Recreation Committee member, are you “villainized” by my asking where you envision a North Haven tower [“The Right Stuff,” Letters, May 16]?

We, as concerned North Haven residents, are a formidable coalition of level-headed, laudable citizens. And we stand in solidarity, alongside our fellow neighbors, sagharborcelltower.com — combating the very same issues — protection of our preserves, wetlands and residential neighborhoods.

Chris Fiore and Dianne Skilbred stand beside us.

If, by misfortune, Terie Diat is elected mayor, expect a viable force at all public meetings addressing cell towers on our land. Please try, Ms. Diat, to control your huffing and eye-rolling when confronted with friction and the values of the tenants whose allegiances greatly contrast your own skewed agendas.

Leon Esker

North Haven