Directors, President Quit Hampton Bays Civic Association

Expressing confidence in the ability of those left behind, five members of the executive board of the Hampton Bays Civic Association announced their resignations via email on Thursday, March 9.

Group President Maria Hults, Vice President Janice Landis, Secretary Bonnie Doyle, plus directors Terry Wildrick and Kevin McDonald, have all left their leadership posts.

“After our last membership meeting in February,” Hults said in a group email sent to members, “I finally felt the membership has come together to work for the same common goal … the betterment of the hamlet.”

Hults pointed out that for the last two years, she’d been asking if someone was willing to take the helm; she’d agreed to switch positions with Landis for a brief period that stretched on. Speaking to The Press that night, she figured she’d been president of the group for five or six years.

The association’s bylaws allow Hults to appoint board director Geraldine Spinella as interim president; she may serve until an election in November. Director Sean Deery will serve as vice president, and board member Patti Hamill will assume the role of secretary.

Scott Bolster remains as group treasurer, and John Capone and Barbara Pierce will remain on the board of directors.

The desire to devote more time to family matters, other civic activities and charities were cited as reasons for the resignations. “Please know we will still be there to help the new officers in any way they may need, but based on the strength and determination of the Civic’s new committees and their leaders, we feel you are all in good hands,” the announcement reads.

The association has been a focal point of factional angst in the community over the last year or so. Last summer, a meeting scheduled to clear up “misinformation” about hamlet revitalization and proposed redevelopment drew a rebellious crowd to the Hampton Bays High School auditorium.

Town officials are in the process of trying to create an overlay zoning district to make way for the redevelopment. The overlay district originally approved by the town was thrown out by a judge last year following a lawsuit by district resident Gayle Lombardi challenging how it was passed.

At the same time, Alfred Caiola, a Hampton Bays resident and developer, who purchased a dozen or more parcels in the hamlet on the north side of Montauk Highway, near Good Ground Park, pitched a plan to revitalize the downtown business district by creating both commercial and residential buildings.

The August event came on the heels of a scandal involving a contract with consultants that included plans to “neutralize” opponents by painting them in a poor light. The consultant ultimately dropped out of the community outreach portion of the work.

Hults was repeatedly heckled throughout the forum.

The contentious outing was followed by still more unrest, with police called to a November membership meeting described as “riotous” by member Marion Boden, who at one time served as the association’s president.

By the January meeting, it appeared that detente had been reached; members spoke with one voice, all voting in opposition to the development of the Bel-Aire Cove Motel property, Boden related. Town officials purchased the property in 2019, with the goal of redeveloping it as a luxury motel. Later this month, a special hearing will be held to elicit feedback on two proposed options for the land — as senior housing or luxury condos.

As of Monday, March 13, a Change.Org petition opposing the development in favor of a passive park, had garnered over 1,100 signatures in five days. A rally at the site is planned for Sunday, March 19, at 1 p.m.

Following the January meeting’s Bel-Aire Cove Motel vote, Boden related, in a letter to The Express News Group, all those in favor of a park rather than development were asked to stand. “And suddenly, the room was standing together virtually as one. A true miracle,” she wrote, adding, “I am so proud of the people of Hampton Bays. Despite everything, we have discovered our voice and are learning how to use it.”

A productive February outing prompted the move to turn over the reins, Hults said. Responding to the news, her harshest critics — Boden, Ray D’Angelo, and Gayle Lombardi offered conciliatory comments. Said Boden, “My first reaction upon hearing the news was ‘There’s no joy in Mudville tonight.’”

Continuing, she mentioned unprecedented development pressures on the Hampton Bays community and “the often perceived complicity of the Town Board” created a crisis. “The Civic Association leadership worked hard, but the town was letting us down,” Boden asserted. “Many in the community recognized this and came forward to help. This has been a difficult time and we should all recognize that.”

D’Angelo had criticized the association, calling the August meeting an “undemocratic and biased forum” in a letter to the editor, while Lombardi denounced the group’s following of its bylaws after the November rebellion.

She responded to an email request for comment on the resignations with, “Over the years, I have watched the board and directors work tirelessly. It is not easy running a civic association. I wish them all the best in their endeavors going forward.”

D’Angelo replied, “I want to thank the outgoing officers and directors for their years of dedicated service to the Hampton Bays community. I am hoping we can move forward with new elections, and invigorate the HB Civic Association so we can have a strong advocate for the Hampton Bays community going forward.”

An avid scuba diver, Hults annually produces Beneath the Sea, a dive, travel and oceans exposition at the Meadowlands that sees 15,000 visitors over the course of a weekend. She wants to focus on that, as well as her family. “My husband wants a little piece of me at home,” she said Thursday night.

Reporting that a lot of community members have stepped up and joined the Civic Association, Hults said, “I felt it’s okay for me to leave now, I think that the people who are going to take over are going to do very well.”

“We’re not out of it, we’ll be there to help, but just the responsibility of running it is a lot,” she continued, praising the abilities of those who will take over as “solid.”

“I wasn’t going to let the vitriolics chase me out of the office,” Hults said, reflecting on last year’s divisiveness. “But when I saw the opportunity to go, I thought, ‘This is the time.’”