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Community Corner

East Quogue CAC Notes: Leaf Pickup has Residents Irked

East Quogue CAC members debated the ubiquitous question: What's going on with the leaf pickup?

For residents living in Hampton Bays, Quogue and East Quogue the subject of has become a very heated topic.

Back in December, the Southampton’s fall leaf collection was suspended due to snow. Trucks, which are normally used to collect fall foliage, were converted into salting and sanding vehicles for snow cleanup, resulting in ice-packed leaf mounds on almost every neighborhood street corner for most of the January and February.

Now mid-March with no snow in sight, East Quogue CAC members are wondering why the leaves have still not been picked up. They discussed the issue during their monthly meeting last week.

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“Well they are not filling pot holes,” said Carol Combes, East Quogue CAC member. “So, what are they doing?”

Voicing their frustrations with the seemingly failed fall leaf cleanup, several members went on to share stories about spending time and money on preparing for the leaf collection in November, only to have to spend time redoing it.

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“I think everybody is very tired of seeing leaf piles everywhere,” said Hughes.

After a lively leaf removal debate, East Quogue resident and meeting attendee Vito Gentile offered to inquire about the leaf removal program’s status.

“I called over to Highway Department,” said Gentile via telephone interview Thursday morning, “and they said the leaf pick program resumed as of February 15.”

Barring any future snowstorms, leaf removal is expected to continue through spring with the trucks finishing up the removal in Flanders then moving into East Quogue, according to Gentile.

The Hills

Also during the CAC meeting, President Joan Hughes informed members that the met last week to discuss The Hills development project, with four out of five members voting in favor of the development.

“I was the lone dissenter,” said Hughes, “they are not interested in trying to preserve the land.” 

When asked the reason why East Quogue Civic Association might have voted to support The Hills development, Hughes responded, “members feel like East Quogue has already been given enough land for preservation.”

According to property’s developers, East Quogue Partners LLC, The Hills will feature 82 homes with majority of the homes clustered onto ¾-acre lots near the bottom of Spinney Hills, off Lewis Road.  Due to zoning regulations, of the 428 acres that are owned by the developer, 268 acres would be preserved for the town. However, East Quogue Partners LLC has disclosed that it would prefer to sell all of the acreage to the town for $35 million­, thus securing the entire parcel for preservation.

Hughes explained that she had sent a letter to the planning board stating that the East Quogue CAC is in agreement with East Quogue Partners LLC’s preference to preserve the land.

There is still no date set for the next The Hills pre-application hearing before the planning Board.

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