Turn Over Your Ballot, Local Propositions Require Votes Too

In addition to the big names and big stakes on the front of next week’s ballot, voters in Southampton and East Hampton towns will each be presented with three propositions, or proposals on the back of the ballot.

The first proposal, Proposal 1, is an amendment to the State Constitution called the Equal Rights Amendment that in a technical sense prohibits discrimination against a person on the basis of ethnicity, origin, age, disability and sex, including gender identity. But the proposal also contains a provision that, effectively, guarantees women the right to seek an abortion in the state and attempts to block a future statewide abortion ban.

All New York State residents will be asked to vote on Proposal 1.

The second proposal, asks voters to approve a new 0.125 percent sales tax in Suffolk County, the revenues from which would be used to fund water quality improvement projects, primarily the replacement of individual home septic systems with nitrogen-reducing systems and the expansion of municipal sewer systems countywide. Proposal 2 will appear on all Suffolk County voters’ ballots.

The third proposal on the ballot will be different for residents of Southampton Town and East Hampton Town, but both deal with the “alienation” of designated parklands, as the process for abandoning a park, which is legally protected, to allow it to be used for another purpose in town. Any parkland alienation requires approval of the New York State Legislature and the signature of the governor — which both town proposals have received — and then a majority vote in favor by local residents.

In East Hampton Town, voters are being asked to approve the alienation of a 2-acre triangle of land at the intersection of Springs-Fireplace Road and Three Mile Harbor Road to make way for a roundabout, or traffic circle, at the problematic merging of the two roads. If approved, East Hampton Town would then give the land to Suffolk County for use in creating the roundabout as part of the repaving and upgrade of Three Mile Harbor Road planned for 2026. In return, the town will designate a new property, at 16 Swamp Road, as parklands.

In Southampton Town, voters are asked to approve the alienation of 1.6 acres known as Doscher Park on the shores of Lake Agawam, so that the land can be used to host an algae skimming system that cleanses the lake’s water of harmful blue-green algae. Southampton Town purchased the land in 2005 for $3.1 million using proceeds from the Community Preservation Fund, under terms of sale that required it be kept as open space. But the land, at a far corner of a large public park, has been underused and Southampton Village has identified the location as the only suitable spot to put the $10 million harvester system, which is capable of filtering some 3 million gallons of water each day.

All of the proposition need only a simple majority of support from voters to win approval.