Dan's Papers - January 30, 2009 - Letters to the Editor

I am a professional mariner and resident of Noyac. I work as a navigation officer aboard large ocean going vessels, which takes me throughout the world. I just recently got back home after a three-month journey aboard a US flagged ship, which delivered US Army cargo to Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates.

I had the opportunity to snap a quick picture of your paper in the Suez Canal. I figured it would be a good visual for your readers to get an idea of how far Dan's Papers and residents of the East End get around the world.

Enjoyed the story about Fishhook Mulford.

Best account I have ever read.

Kept pickpockets away while visiting in London. - D.R.

When I read your article about the revenge of the Subaru, I was puzzled about the ending when you mentioned finally getting to New Hope. To me it was out of the way coming back from Pittsburgh. The answer was in your next column. You wrote about one of our favorite getaways - The Wedgewood Inn. My wife and I discovered the Wedgewood by accident in the summer of 1982 when Carl and Dinie had been open for only a few months. No room phones, no TV except in the parlor but always the hospitality of the innkeepers.

I knew about New Hope from my previous wife who came from Bucks County. The Inn was the perfect escape from my job - no phone calls, cell phones were not common then, my pager was out of range. We started taking the kids and the dogs. We were never bored. Try the carriage house next time. First floor is a kitchenette, great room and sleep sofa. Second floor is a bedroom. Very private. Kids and dogs cannot bother anybody.

We'll leave the kid and dog there, and stay in the main house. - S.G.

If members of Long Island's Congressional delegation want to preach about how they disagree with a pay increase for themselves, then they should lead by example and donate the increase to charity. If members of Long Island's Congressional delegation believe in the redistribution of wealth then they should lead by example and redistribute their own wealth to those less fortunate.

These are tough economic times and while Congress passes bail out package after bailout package, our nation's debt and overall financial stability get weaker by the day. While members of Long Island's Congressional delegation state that they oppose salary increases, they accept the pay, support bail out packages adding up in to the trillions, all while the rest of us on Main Street continue to suffer. Enough is enough.

As a new Congress is sworn in, I pray that these members don't provide just more of the same. It is time for more fiscal discipline on Capitol Hill. Step 1 is for members to either rescind their pay increase or donate it to charities. Step 2 is for Congress to put the blank checks away and stop wasting taxpayer dollars.

The September bailout package was a disaster from the start and for the members that argued otherwise they should not be receiving a pay check at all.

Send those extra bucks to me. - D.R.

Once again I leave it up to you to decide whether to publish the following:

Two corporate realtors are currently advertising two properties for sale in Sagaponack that highlight the differences among agricultural reserves.

One forty-acre property comprises an agricultural reserve plus eight building lots. Since the property is located in a two-acre zoning district, twenty houses could have been built on the forty acres. However, it appears the number of buildable lots was reduced to eight to create a 24-acre reserve. (Ref: Prudential - Web# 44155).

The second property is comprised of 7.6 acres with three buildable lots plus a "50% Agricultural Reserve." (Ref: Brown Harris Stevens Web #5349) Since this property is also located in a two-acre zoning district, the three building lots encumber six acres, leaving only 1.6 acres. It appears therefore that the three houses are being clustered on smaller-than-two-acre lots to create the "50% Agricultural Reserve." However, the act of clustering houses does not "free-up" open space to create an Agricultural Reserve that may be sold as a separate parcel.

Therefore property owners in Southampton and East Hampton have a right to know whether the "50% Agricultural Reserve" may be sold as a separate parcel, and if so, then someone should explain the legal basis for allowing it to be sold separately.