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SAGAPONACK ASSOCIATION

The meeting was held at 2:30 on Sunday, November 25, at the Bridgehampton National Bank Community Room, Clay Dilworth and Ana Daniel residing.

In the order below, the following items were covered (see agenda and other meeting handouts, 3 pages attached):

1) We reported that 115 family units had joined the association as of the meeting date. We are not sure how many households there are in Sagaponack at present but town record show 868 taxable units in the hamlet. When we were working to incorporate Sagaponack we got close to finding 500 full time residents (usually more than one per house) and there are about 380 registered voters in the hamlet. Our guess is that the 115 members of the association represent about 25% of total households (full time and part time) in the hamlet. This is already a high level of participation and we hope it will increase over time.

2) We updated the gathering on the reasons for putting the incorporation effort on hold for the present. After working for two years, we had obtained enough petition signers to qualify for a referendum on incorporation. We also came very close to identifying by name the required 500 full time residents of the hamlet. Close, but no cigar! To achieve an unassailable record of over 500 would have required a door-to-door survey and frankly we did not have enough people willing to help us do the work. Running an incorporated village requires much more voluntary effort than we seemed to have at our disposal. Nevertheless, there has been continuing evidence that Sagaponack residents are eager to have some formal means of expressing their local concerns and this was the inspiration for exploring peopleís interest in forming an association following the successful model of nearby Remsenburg.

3) The objectives of the Sagaponack Association were stated in the membership solicitation letter, repeated here: ì[to] provide a forum for residents and property owners of the Sagaponack area to discuss concerns regarding the interests of our community, to reach consensus about appropriate responses to community problems and to act as a lobbying vehicle for the community in the larger context of the township, county and state. In contrast to the CitizensíAdvisory Committee (CAC), which serves as an extension of Southampton Town government ñ and plays an informational role in that capacity ñ the SAGAPONACK ASSOCIATION would be a dues paying membership organization with an independent voice.î



A second purpose of the Association is to function as a watchdog for possible changes that could affect the interests of our community and its members, to keep the membership alerted to these, and to mobilize for action as the membership may determine.

It is understood that village incorporation remains a long term goal for which the Association will place us in readiness should activation of this objective once again become urgent.

The Association, of course, could do other things of general community value such as mobilizing volunteer efforts for beach cleanups and the like.

4) There was extended discussion at the meeting of possible by-laws for the association. A summary of Remsenburgís by-laws had been circulated in the original association mailing and formed a starting point. Key points emerging from this discussion are:

-- It was agreed there should be at least one and preferably two general meetings  per year to be held on weekends so that part time residents can attend.  Obviously, there is no time than can please everybody. Sunday early afternoon seems to be a time that does not interfere too much with peopleís weekend plans and yet enables weekenders to attend. Unless there is a
objection to this proposal, we will plan the next meeting accordingly early this coming summer. Notice of the meeting will be posted 30 days in advance.

-- Patrick Guarino (Esq.) volunteered to work on formal by-laws and the filing for tax exempt status. Bruce Kaplan (Esq.) has suggested that a board of five directors be elected from a slate of volunteer candidates and that they elect from among themselves the offices of President, Secretary and Treasurer to serve for a term of two years. The slate of volunteer candidates for office --including any new names who wish to stand -- will be submitted to the the membership for election. Until that is accomplished, Clay Dilworth will continue as acting president and Ana Daniel as acting treasurer (positions for which we volunteered in the incorporation effort).

The directors will develop association responses to community issues as they arise and communicate their reasoning and conclusions to the membership at large.

-- It was agreed that the association should have a website and that members should be encouraged to communicate with the association by e-mail. This is an excellent idea as mailings consume hours and hours of volunteer time and cost over $500 for each mailing. In additions, we want to encourage maximum member participation. For the present, the association has an e-mail address: sagassoc@hamptons.com. A website is under development* (website: www.sagassoc.com is up as of 7/1/02).


5) The tally of responses on issues of concern to the membership was presented (see list and count of responses in the attachment). In order of number of mentions, the top five issues are: limiting house size and development, maintaining a rural atmosphere in the hamlet and preserving farmland, lowering speed limits, parking ñ especially at beaches, and road conditions in general. On these topics, the following updates were offered at the meeting:



-- The present Southampton limit on house size is 20,000 square feet. Accessory building would be in addition to this ìlimitationî. If the Sagaponack community wants this size limit lowered for the hamlet, or otherwise to alter the local zoning, we will have to organize to petition the to petition the town.

-- Preserving the hamletís character is a very complex issue but it boils down to what the community is willing to support and what individuals are willing to contribute if property rights are to be respected. However, progress was made at the town level this year when agreement was reached with the farming community on farmland subdivision and abatements. We were honored to have Lee Foster speak to our gathering on this achievement. Details have been reported in the Southampton Press.

-- There has been recent repair work done on Sagaponack roads. The town is
reportedly working on the speed limit matter. Both these issues are being
actively pursued by the Sagaponack CAC.

6) Ana Daniel gave a treasury report (see attachment). The Sagaponack Association for
Village Incorporation had a balance of $4740 when the association membership solicitation went out. Recipients were asked whether they wished to have their proportionate share of this balance returned to them or to have the funds carried over to the Sagaponack Association. No one asked to have funds returned to them. As of the meeting date (Nov.25), we had collected $2550 in membership dues Accordingly, the association had a balance of $7290 in November 2001.
 

The following people signed in at the meeting:

Ana Daniel**
Clay Dilworth**
Joe Dilworth
Liz Peyton*
Lee Foster
Louis Meisel
Myles Tintle*
Carol Tintle
Eleann Bromberg
Yvonne Dunleavy*
Joost Scheireck*
Andy Skov*
Murray Slimowitz & Mrs. Slimowitz
David Mulligan
Bruce Kaplan**
Partick Guarino**
Catherine Guarino*
Emily Aspinall
Arnold Ginsberg
Joyce Ginsberg
Barbara Albright
Alfred Kelman**
Donald Sacher*

 *willing to volunteer, **willing to serve as directors.



Sagaponack Association Questionnaire Issues (11/08/01)

                                                                                  # of mentions
1. House size: limit development............................................. 29
2. Maintain rural atmosphere, preserve farmland .....................23
3. Reduce speed limits .............................................................22
4. Parking (esp. re: beaches) ....................................................15
5. Road conditions ...................................................................12
6. Beach cleanliness/garbage containers ...................................8
7. Limit commercial activity....................................................... 7
8. Stop Poxabogue ....................................................................6
9. Light pollution .......................................................................4
10. Better police protection .......................................................4
11. Beach erosion ......................................................................3
12. Environmental (chemicals) ...................................................2
13. Protect open views ...............................................................2
14. ìHome ruleî ..........................................................................2
15. Weekend meetings................................................................2
16. No rezoning or variances.......................................................2

OTHER (1 mention each)
Noise
Est. aesthetic code
Clan roadsides
Good schools
ìOwner consentî for landmarks
Mail delivery
Natural gas for all
Bridge repair/detour
Llocal voting rights for those registered elsewhere

Total number of members........................................................114


Members who are interested in serving as officers of the association board or as worker bees on behalf of the association are encouraged to send in their names.

ALL CORRESPONDENCE SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO:
The Sagaponack Association
P.O. Box 589
Sagaponack, NY 1196
e-mail: sagassoc@hamptons.com

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