Letters

Why is taxpayer money being spent to build a poorly located and controversial fire substation in Water Mill?

I totally respect and am grateful for the volunteer firefighters of Southampton; however, the proposed fire substation, to be located at 319 Upper Seven Ponds Road, is a bad idea, as the proposed site will neither serve the firefighters nor the Water Mill community.

Of the 150 firefighters who respond to alarms in the designated district, only a handful live/work in Water Mill, and this site (which is on a narrow, traffic-jammed residential back road) will deteriorate the effectiveness of the fire department by pulling important resources away.

The fire district already has a fully permitted, well-located, properly zoned property on North Sea Road, with plans approved by the Planning Board, that is ready to be built!

The fire district owns additional land as well. This raises the question as to why the district has accumulated excess taxpayer money in order to buy numerous properties that are not being put into service. The fire district is there to serve the community, not to accumulate land holdings and taxpayer money.

Can the fire commissioners prove the need for this specific substation (versus using existing locations that are ready to be built)? The Southampton Fire Department has a best-in-class rating for response and quality of services for Water Mill. What are the criteria used that suggested that the other existing owned locations were deemed unsatisfactory to expanded services if needed?

The Upper Seven Ponds location is a highly unsuitable location for a long list of reasons. Has there been a traffic study of this location? There is no quick egress for an emergency. Fire vehicles can’t make a left out of the property, because the bridge is in disrepair. The right out of the station is heavily trafficked, frequently at a standstill. It is dangerous to attempt a left turn from Old Mill Road, and there are regular trains that stop traffic.

This location sits next to wetlands. Although they can build a structure the required distance from the wetlands, there is significant risk that the runoff from cleaning hazardous materials off trucks and equipment will seep into the soil and contaminate the wetlands, Mill Pond and surrounding waters. This is a potential environmental catastrophe.

This is a quiet residential community, not the proper location for a municipal building with parking for 40 cars, commercial lighting, and a nexus for speeding emergency vehicles and sirens.

We want the fire district to have all the support needed to protect all of our families in Water Mill. There are just so many unanswered questions about if this specific substation is needed and this unquestionably poor location.

Lisa West

Water Mill