Montauk group wants 'hard no' from parks trustees on land swap for wastewater facility

Opponents of a proposed wastewater treatment facility in Montauk on Thursday urged Suffolk County parks trustees to take a stance against the project and protect public parkland. 

The speakers, mostly members of the pro-environment group Coalition for Hither Woods, spoke at the beginning of a monthly meeting of the county's board of trustees of Parks, Recreation and Conservation in West Sayville.

East Hampton Town officials have proposed building the facility on parkland they hope to acquire through a land swap with the county.

The swap would involve trading Highland Meadows, an undeveloped 18.8-acre property on East Lake Drive near Lake Montauk, for the 14 acres of Hither Woods Preserve. Acquiring the property requires a process known as parkland alienation.

The parks trustees will make a recommendation on the proposal that the Suffolk County Legislature can consider during its review. The State Legislature also would need to pass legislation that the governor would have to sign for the land swap to be approved.

East Hampton officials say they have exhausted possible locations for the facility in Montauk, which they say is necessary to combat pollution caused by outdated cesspools. They've said the sanitary infrastructure in the densely populated downtown area of the hamlet is failing and threatening local water quality and public health.

The area also lacks adequate space to install high-tech alternative systems, according to town officials.

On Thursday the parks trustees didn't take action on the issue, but did hear comments from the public.

David Barnes, the board's chairman, said East Hampton Town officials presented an initial plan on the land swap in December. They tentatively were scheduled to return to Thursday’s meeting with an update, but Barnes said they told the board they needed more time to prepare.

“The board had a lot of questions about it — deed restrictions, how was it purchased, what is it going to look like, how much is going to be cleared,” Barnes said.

He reiterated at the meeting that the trustees merely will make a recommendation about the project and cannot approve or deny the land swap.

Robert DeLuca, president of Group for the East End pro-environment nonprofit, urged the trustees to protect public parkland and warned of the precedent it could set if the land swap went through.

“Our parks will inevitably become an easier target for private and government interests favoring expedient decisions instead of protecting the public trust,” he said.

Several speakers warned the wastewater facility — at a projected cost of $75 million — only aims to increase business development in downtown Montauk.

“This parkland is owned by everyone in Suffolk County,” said Montauk resident Tom Ruhle, vice president of Coalition for Hither Woods.

The coalition has pointed to a July 2022 report from H2M Architects & Engineers that projects the sewage treatment would reduce nitrogen loading of Fort Pond by 15%, a figure they say isn't worth the investment.  

The coalition has argued a full environmental review should be done under the State Environmental Quality Review Act prior to a land swap decision.

Barbara Grimes, also with the coalition, told trustees Thursday that the potential precedent of a land swap “cannot be easily reversed.”

She added: “We hope it is a hard no for parkland alienation.”