Letters

The recent discussion of the management of the village’s open spaces [“Express Sessions Explores Sag Harbor’s Green Spaces,” 27east.com, May 17] was quite wide-ranging. It would have benefited from inclusion of history on two sites, Cilli Farm and Havens Beach.

Cilli Farm was acquired with the specific intent that it remain an unmanaged or “unimproved” open space. It is available to anyone who wants to explore it, and I recommend doing so in the winter with a dog — they get introduced to smells that are not available in the rest of the village. Development in any form, including adding groomed trails and such, would be counter to the original intent: assuring that it would be preserved as it was. There are several other sites that can be “improved” in the village, leaving Cilli Farm alone.

The current configuration of Havens Beach was selected and created instead of a plan that would have, to a major degree, restored the original marsh character of the site. That original proposal would have provided for management of the runoff with settling sections and vegetation. At the same time, upstream trapping of runoff would have reduced the amount reaching the beach area.

That plan is somewhere in the village’s archives — maybe it could be dusted off.

Pierce W. Hance

Sag Harbor

Hance is a former mayor of Sag Harbor Village — Ed.