Letters

The Lake Agawam Conservancy has raised and spent millions to begin to clean up Lake Agawam. Our board and supporters consist of residents throughout Southampton Village. Today, thanks to the strong partnership between the conservancy, the village, the town and the State Department of Environmental Conservation, Professor Chris Gobler reports that Lake Agawam is healthier than it’s been in years.

In 2024, the conservancy entered into a stewardship agreement to maintain bioswales throughout our village. These bioswales “clean” toxic runoff before it pollutes the lake. At no cost to village taxpayers, the conservancy agreed to install a 1,000-foot bioswale along Gin Lane. This agreement was unanimously approved by the Village Board at a public hearing and reported in this paper [“Southampton Village and Lake Agawam Conservancy Combine Efforts To Install and Maintain More Bioswales,” 27east.com, August 21, 2024].

The conservancy has dedicated more than $700,000 in private funds to install the Gin Lane bioswale, beautiful native plantings, and it was fully approved by the DEC and the village trustees. These plantings will replace the 12-foot-tall, 40-foot-deep wall of invasive phragmites and knotweed that blocked the view of the lake for decades.

Shockingly, right after the conservancy had completed the month-long, very public $350,000 project of clearing the site, with another $350,000 spent on native plants ready to go into the ground, Trustee Rob Coburn staged an ambush. He claimed that this project was approved in secret and required the approval of the Board of Architectural Review and Historic Preservation [“Transparency Tensions and Traffic Troubles Dominate Southampton Village Board Meeting,” 27east.com, November 19]. He’s even demanded that the project be stopped, pending ARB approval, risking the loss of $350,000 in native plants.

Coburn is playing politics. A non-lawyer, he has pressed the legally baseless theory that the ARB must approve all bioswales in the village, even though the ARB has never done so since its creation nearly 40 years ago, and Article IIIA of the village code, “Wetlands,” requires only the Zoning Board of Appeals (or the DEC, for village-led projects) to approve wetlands.

Coburn has pressured the village attorney to reverse the village’s longstanding interpretation of its code. She now says, without providing any legal analysis to the conservancy, that the ARB must approve all bioswales and landscaping in the historic district. Does this mean that village residents must now obtain ARB approval before planting a bush or tree on their properties?

For decades, village officials allowed Lake Agawam to become one of the state’s most toxic lakes. We’re making progress, but more needs to be done, including installing the algae harvester to clean 3 million gallons of polluted water a day, the underground permeable reactive barrier to block toxic pollution from the business district, a sewer system, and upgraded septic systems.

Our elected officials should be working together to clean up the “Jewel of Southampton,” not grandstanding or playing politics.

Robert J. Giuffra Jr.

Chair

Lake Agawam Conservancy