Letters

For over a century, the Southampton History Museum has been the proud owner and steward of Conscience Point, diligently protecting its unique historical significance to our community.

In 2015, in an act of goodwill, we leased a portion of Conscience Point for the nominal amount of one dollar. The purpose was clear: to establish a shellfish hatchery and educational facility to increase awareness of our waters.

However, we recently uncovered a disturbing reality: Our tenant was primarily engaged in commercial shellfishing, not educational or ecological programming [“With Eviction Looming, Old Town Records Offer Potential Lifeline to Conscience Point Shellfish Hatchery, Showing Town May Own Site,” 27east.com, February 5]. The predominance of commercial shellfishing instead of programming that is in keeping with the museum’s mission puts our nonprofit status at risk.

Furthermore, our tenant sublet our land without our consent to other commercial entities for thousands of dollars, a direct violation of the lease. Most egregiously, our tenant secured a six-figure taxpayer-funded Community Preservation Fund grant to develop and further expand commercial operations on our land — despite our explicit objections.

Given these blatant lease violations, and to safeguard Conscience Point from further commercial exploitation, we had no choice but to decline to renew the lease. When the tenant refused to vacate, we regrettably were forced to pursue a costly eviction, a path that was forced upon us.

In an alarming twist, late last month, the Town of Southampton unilaterally moved our property line, carving off the leased portion of Conscience Point to claim it as its own [“Southampton History Museum Will Sue Town Over Conscience Point Ownership ‘Conspiracy,’” 27east.com, May 28]. This egregious act, initiated by a single town employee who, according to this paper, “took it upon herself to do her own review of town records,” was executed without any semblance of due process — no notice, no hearing, no legal steps whatsoever.

If a single town employee can arbitrarily redraw property lines, whose property is safe? This governmental “taking” shocked us, and it forced us as fiduciaries of the museum to take legal action to reclaim our land and to protect Conscience Point from irreversible commercial development.

To dispel more recent rumors, our 1987 lease with the town for public boat-ramp access remains firmly in place. Our ownership of the full parcel was unequivocally confirmed by multiple officials at that time, and this is recorded in documents from that period.

There is zero ambiguity regarding the museum’s historic ownership of Conscience Point as a single parcel. Deeds, surveys and historical documents prove this, and we look forward to proving it in a court of law. This fabricated narrative, designed to sidestep a legitimate eviction, has run roughshod over our fundamental property rights and due process.

As trustees, our duty is clear: We must correct this egregious wrong and preserve Conscience Point for future generations.

Averitt Buttry

President

Board of Trustees

Southampton History Museum