Southampton Town

Last Friday afternoon, with little deliberation, jurors acquitted former Southampton Town Supervisor Linda Kabot of driving while intoxicated charges stemming from a September 2009 arrest of the then-supervisor in Westhampton Beach.
According to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, Kabot was acquitted in a Riverhead courtroom for the drunken driving charge, refusal to submit to a pre-screen breath test, and failure to maintain lane. The jury did convict Kabot of failure to stop at a stop sign.

Kabot, 43, of Quogue, was arrested on Main Street in Westhampton Beach on Labor Day weekend in 2009 when Westhampton Beach Village Police alleged she crossed over the double yellow line prior to making a left hand turn onto Main Street around 12:25 a.m.

Kabot was born and bred in Southampton Town, and graduated from Westhampton Beach schools before attending Hobart and William Smith colleges. She returned to the East End, cultivating over a decade in public service, first as the executive assistant to former Southampton Town Supervisor Vincent Cannuscio for six years before being elected to the town board for another six years. In 2008 she was sworn in as Southampton Town Supervisor, becoming the first female Republican town supervisor in town history, but lost out in 2010 to current Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst.

Sag Harbor Village
Update on Havens Beach, West Water Street Erosion in March

At a Sag Harbor Village Board of Trustees meeting on Tuesday, Mayor Brian Gilbride announced that Sag Harbor Village Environmental Planning Consultant Rich Warren will present updates on stormwater runoff remediation of Havens Beach at the board’s March 8 meeting at 6 p.m.

For over a year now, Warren and his team at Inter-Science Research Associates in Southampton, have been working on a remediation plan for the village’s only bathing beach after bacteria results showed a drainage ditch at the beach exhibited high levels of bacteria, dangerous both to humans and the shellfish population.

Inter-Science is also working on a bulkhead and erosion control plan for the waterfront on West Water Street, which last winter began to buckle at the water’s edge after several storms. Gilbride said he hopes to hear an update on that project in March as well, and about a proposal to extend the transient docks off Long Wharf to increase village revenues.

Southampton Town
Landmarks Board Launches New Website
While not 100 percent complete, the Southampton Town Landmarks and Historic Districts Board announced this week that it has revamped the town website in the hopes of providing the community with greater access to its resources regarding historic districts and projects within the town.

Now found at www.southamptontownny.gov/landmarks, the webpage has been separated from other boards and contains information including current board vacancies, links to hamlet heritage area reports, town historical societies, as well as references to the town’s Comprehensive Plan.

The hope is that maps on the webpage will soon become interactive, so detailed information can be pulled from each property, including current and historic photographs.
Southampton Town Landmarks and Historic Districts member Sherry Clark and GIS Manager M. Ross Baldwin were instrumental in the webpage changes, according to a town press release, which are meant to increase public awareness and education of the architectural heritage within Southampton Town.

East End
CPF Advisory Committee Nears Adoption

Following the revelation of misappropriations of Community Preservation Funds (CPF) in the Town of East Hampton two years ago, a regional CPF advisory committee and a standard set of CPF guidelines is nearing adoption, according to New York State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr.

On Tuesday, Thiele said both actions are an attempt to ensure CPF laws are consistently applied throughout the five East End towns and that should a question arise regarding the use of CPF monies, a panel is on-hand to interpret the law.

Thiele is one of the architects of the CPF legislation, which since 1998 has allowed East End towns to purchase open space, farmland, parkland and historic structures through monies generated through a two-percent real estate transfer tax.
“I am not going to sugar coat it,” said Thiele on Tuesday. “A lot of this came out of the abuses in East Hampton Town and it was through stewardship that the town tried to raid the CPF.”

Thiele said as a part of this initiative, the towns have come together and drafted legislation that creates specific guidelines for historic preservation purchases through CPF, as well as the CPF monies that can legally be used towards those properties stewardship.

Additionally, a panel coined “the Peconic Bay Joint Town Coordinating Committee” would be created to issue opinions and interpretations of the CPF law when issues arise, as well as identify land that could be purchased regionally, rather than through one town’s CPF.

Thiele said that committee will be made up of a representative from each town, as well as one representative for all of the East End villages. Three residents, picked by the East End Mayors and Supervisors will complete the panel.

The committee is subject to approval by all five East End towns, said Thiele, who added the Town of Southampton has already signed off on the measure, with the other towns expected to follow in coming weeks.

“This is really just about creating transparency,” said Thiele.

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