Sag Harbor Will Review Relationship With Planning Consultant In Wake Of Southampton Contract Disclosure

Sag Harbor Village plans to review its relationship with the environmental consulting firm Nelson Pope Voorhis following an embarrassing disclosure in the company’s contract with Southampton Town for a Hampton Bays downtown revitalization study it was conducting.

This week, Nelson Pope Voorhis, which also is known as NPV, announced that it would step down as the consultant for the Hampton Bays study after community members expressed outrage over a statement in the contract in which NPV promised to “neutralize” opponents and paint them as “traditional NIMBYs who consistently present misinformation to promote their own limited agenda.”

The language was contained in the scope of work for a $209,000 contract the town signed with the firm. Somehow, it made it past NPV, the town attorney’s office, the Planning Department, and the Town Board members themselves, and was only pointed out by a community member who complained about it last month.

In a statement released Wednesday morning, the firm said it took responsibility for the language a subcontractor, who has since been dismissed, had added to the contract.

“This single oversight does not define who we are as a company and the professional reputation we have worked so hard to build,” the company said. “NPV stands behind our solid reputation that is based on our 25-year history, the integrity of our partners and staff, and our high-quality work product.”

Sag Harbor Village Mayor Jim Larocca said he was “deeply disappointed by this unprofessional conduct” and promised to take “a hard look at our relationship with the firm.”

The company serves as the village’s chief environmental consultant, advising village regulatory boards on individual applications and handling most of its broader environmental studies.

“I think this requires a serious review, and that is what we are going to do,” Larocca said. “We have a lot of work with them, and we are going to review each of those assignments.”

The most prominent pending application before the village is that of Adam Potter and Conifer Realty to develop several parcels off Bridge and Rose streets, totaling 1.44 acres, with 79 affordable apartments and approximately 30,000 square feet of commercial space.

“That is an important application,” Larocca said, “but we are not confining our look to this project. We are looking at all of our work with them, because all of it is important, and all of it requires an element of trust and professional conduct.”

Larocca said he had spoken to Chic Voorhis, one of the firm’s partners, immediately after hearing about the situation with Southampton Town, to voice his concerns.

Trustee Aidan Corish said he was shocked by the language and surprised that NPV did not come out with a public apology immediately after its disclosure. He said he had written his fellow board members, lamenting the situation and expressing his fear that it would taint any application the firm is handling for the village.

“The bottom line with this is, it’s damaging,” Corish said. “I wish Nelson Pope Voorhis had gotten in front of this.”

He said the disclosure would only feed the suspicions of those who believe the village government is not seriously weighing their input. “People will believe their participation is a fool’s errand,” he said, “and that doesn’t serve anybody.”

Opponents of the Potter project have already cited concerns in letters to the editor and on social media that the disclosure shows NPV cannot be trusted to provide unbiased advice.

Corish said he believed NPV was an excellent firm that had served the village well in the past. He added that the Village Board tries “to be open and fair” and encourage public discussion of the issues before it.

“It was obviously inappropriate to be put in writing,” added Trustee Bob Plumb. He said he did not believe it rose to “the level of a fireable offense” and added that the town government should have caught — and deleted — the language before the contract was signed.

Trustee Tom Gardella agreed with the mayor that the firm’s contracts needed to be reviewed.

“The residents of the village, myself included, are looking for fair and unbiased reports,” he said.