Letters

After years of complaints of constant flooding on Flying Point Road in Water Mill, Supervisor Jay Schneiderman requested that the Highway Department review the problem. Highway Department officials, accompanied by their traffic paving consultant and their engineer, investigated the conditions.

During the original review of Flying Point Road, it was discovered that the town-owned right of way, some of which was actual paved shoulder, was covered by dirt, sand, brush or landscaping, preventing rainwater from leaving the roadway, causing large puddles. In part, this was due to years of lack of maintenance by the Highway Department and/or intentional planting by residents.

A plan of action was discussed, and the work was scheduled.

On October 17, the highway crew started the process of cutting back the brush and debris in the right of way. Crews discovered parking stalls that were once available for residents to park but were not currently visible. Also, several parking signs were totally covered by overgrown brush or landscaping.

The roadway was returned to its original width and repaved.

No good deed goes unpunished, I was reminded by a close friend after she read the article [“Water Mill Residents Decry ‘Decimation’ of Roadside Plantings by Town Highway Department,” 27east.com, October 18]. A person who owns a residence on Flying Point Road made many untrue statements and rallied other homeowners in the neighborhood to jump on the bandwagon in attempting to stop the Town Highway Department from “paving over our paradise.”

A single letter of protest was written; a copy of the same letter was signed by 27 residents and sent to Town of Southampton officials. If you read through the smokescreen of these complaints, they are not about over-clearing, damage to private property, damage to wetlands or historic vegetation. Their biggest complaint is the possibility of adding additional parking for other residents to use “their beach” or installing a well-needed bicycle lane.

Their fears of eliminating all parking on the ocean side, which will add room for a bicycle lane and maintaining the same number of parking spaces via angle parking on the bay side, are, in fact, great ideas.

To be clear, the Highway Department has no authority to change any historical parking. These changes must come from the Town Board via legislative resolution. If you would like to see a bicycle lane to access the beach at the end of Flying Point Road and the parking moved to the bay side to increase the safety of people on bicycles or walking with children, you should call Town Hall to add your support.

In closing, I would like to remind all homeowners to stay within your property line with landscaping, irrigation, fencing, gates, etc. — please review your survey now and before any work is to be done.

Charlie McArdle

Superintendent of Highways

Southampton Town