Hampton Bays Library No Longer Seeking To Purchase Adjoining Property

Hampton Bays Public Library officials threw out their plans to purchase an adjoining property this week because of the lack of support from the community.

The Library Board of Trustees voted against purchasing the half-acre property, located at 3 Argonne Road, which could have been used to provide a few dozen extra parking spaces and additional room for library programming, during a meeting on Monday.

Library Director Susan LaVista said the seven-member board decided not to go through with the $390,000 purchase because residents had voted down two separate bond referendums over the past year that would have financed the purchase of the property as well as the renovation of the Ponquogue Avenue facility.

“They were concerned after two votes went down and after hearing things in the community and online,” Ms. LaVista said.

David Zimmerman, president of the board, could not be immediately reached for comment.

Although they are no longer pursuing the land purchase, library board members are still mulling how to address immediate needs at the library—most notably, the need for more parking, a new roof, and a new heating and ventilation system, according to Ms. LaVista.

The members of the board still need to discuss which projects will take highest priority, as the improvements will be financed through the library’s reserve fund. The fund currently has “a few hundred thousand dollars,” according to Ms. LaVista, though she did not specify exactly how much.

“We are going to have to review what things are on the high priority list, and get some proposals, and come up with budgets and see what we really can do,” Ms. LaVista said. “Because, as we explained to voters in our meetings, there are a lot of things in this building that are very old and will need replacing.”