Letters

Nearly $13 million of public tax dollars has been pledged to Lake Agawam to address harmful algae blooms under the current mayor. This includes a $10 million algae skimmer, a temporary solution to treat the symptoms of the blooms.

Last year, the mayor and the Lake Agawam Conservancy representatives stated that the skimmer was already covered by two grants that they had secured.

Now we learn that the village has to prepay the $10 million in order to receive the grants — and they want to take it out of our reserves. If this $10 million is to be fronted by us (the taxpayers) for the algae skimmer, what percentage confidence do we have that the entire project amount will be reimbursed by a future grant? What is the status and timing of these grants? Where is the documentation for the grant sources? Where is the project reflected in a capital reserve list for water quality projects in our 2025/26 budget? And we are still waiting to hear how much it will cost for the toxic algae that is brought up from the bottom of Lake Agawam to be removed, stored, dried and carted off.

Should we be concerned about millions of dollars being potentially withdrawn from our water quality capital reserves and the unassigned fund balances? This motion exists but was recently tabled for future consideration and approval.

No previous administration has ever spent millions without a clear explanation of the entire project and all related costs. Expenditures of this size are typically put forward by public referendum (where voters approve the project scope and the funding, as they did for the new ambulance facility).

It is disconcerting that we might be tapping into reserve funds — bypassing a public referendum — without the proper accountability and transparency.

We were promised a sewer to address the root cause of the problem and not expensive temporary solutions that treat symptoms.

Kimberly Allan

Southampton Village

Allan is a former member of the Southampton Village Board — Ed.