Letters

I typically have faith in our local political system to do the right thing, but after last week’s Southampton Town Board meeting, I felt compelled to reach out of my comfort zone and send a letter declaring my unwavering support for the board to vote yes, as stipulated in their June 24 letter to the school’s Realtor, to spend Community Preservation Fund revenue to help the Sag Harbor School District in their purchase of the properties on Marsden Street.

My voice and perspective are unique. I am a 25-year homeowning, taxpaying resident of Sag Harbor, a parent of a current Pierson student, a graduate of Pierson, a 31-year teacher at Pierson, and have immediate family roots owning homes in Sag Harbor as far back as the 1940s.

My memory of the district’s goal to expand our outdoor space into the Marsden lots goes back to my Pierson years in the late 1970s and early 1980s. But this hope went back even further than my memory allows. The need for this space has been there for decades.

This opportunity of land adjacent to Pierson is the last one for our school, our children and the community, now and for future generations.

The Sag Harbor School District has been working with the board of Mashashimuet Park to come up with ways to better fit the ever-growing and -changing athletic demands of our school athletics and the community needs. The Marsden lots would make that process easier by splitting the space needs for not only our school sports and community youth programs, but add space for physical education classes and outdoor classroom experiences.

Wouldn’t it be lovely if we could have enough space for our youngest athletes not have to walk to the park along an increasingly busy road and two very dangerous intersections. These are not the quiet streets of my childhood.

Concerned neighbors worry about the impact of traffic and noise and lights. Once the total disruption of traffic and road closures to construct five residential homes is complete, they then will have the comings and goings of the residents and their maintenance workers and guests, with little regulation. And what about the environmental impact of five septic systems, swimming pools, irrigation systems?

Lastly, the children of Sag Harbor are paying attention. I have had a few students question, “Why did they say they would help us get this property, and now they don’t want to?” Another young girl feels it “isn’t very nice to say they would do something and then not do it.”

No, they can’t vote for you, but they are watching. What kind of impression does your board wish to leave on the youth of Sag Harbor?

Terri Federico

Sag Harbor