Letters

My request to the Southampton Town Board and Town Planning Department: Please stop talking down to us as if we don’t understand the issues.

If you paid close attention to the residents of Hampton Bays who came to speak to the Planning Board and the Town Board of their concerns, you would have noticed a few whose credentials outshine any held by anyone in Southampton Town Hall. Harvard- and Yale-educated engineers spoke about their experience with and knowledge of this new technology.

Neither they, nor the rest of us, are confusing personal use batteries in e-bikes, cars and home solar units for the massive battery energy storage system that is proposed for Hampton Bays. We understand the difference. Do you?

Instead of debating the need for green power (there is no debate, we agree), try paying attention to the real concerns that people are expressing.

John Bouvier pointed out that the East Hampton battery fire demonstrated that the fire suppression systems worked as expected [“27Speaks: Sustainability Advocates Defend BESS Plans,” 27east.com, June 29]. But that facility is a fraction of the size of the North Road facility, and it has been recently reported that the BESS facility will be out of commission for months while they diligently work to repair the facility. Months.

Another recently built lithium ion BESS facility in Warwick, New York, caught fire and was allowed to burn itself out for several days to avoid injury to firefighters. Neighbors within a quarter-mile radius were warned to stay indoors and close all windows. Schools nearby were evacuated.

What was the suspected cause? Lightning, or a power surge during a run-of-the-mill rainstorm. What if that happened on North Road?

Mr. Bouvier professes concern for future generations and our need, as a coastal community, to care for our environment. His concern rings hollow when, at the same time, he, Jay Schneiderman and Tommy John Schiavoni want to overdevelop the Bel-Aire Cove Motel acre and a half of land on Penny Pond rather than leaving it as a buffer to absorb storm surges that will be greater as climate change continues. Why is the environment not important to them in that location?

Mr. Bouvier, Mr. Schneiderman and Mr. Schiavoni, you have lost the trust of the people of Hampton Bays. But since Mr. Schneiderman and Mr. Bouvier are termed out, and Mr. Schiavoni is not up for reelection this year, I suppose you just don’t care. Well, we care. And we care what the Democratic Party in Southampton has done to Hampton Bays.

As a lifelong Democrat, it pains me to say that I will make it my mission to vote the Democrats in Southampton out of office.

Elizabeth Hook

Hampton Bays