All Ticked Off

Southampton Town officials have dropped the ball when it comes to Iron Point Park in Flanders.

The park is nearly inaccessible due to poor road conditions and a constantly flooding entrance. Residents feel unsafe going to the park because of its poor reputation as a setting for drug and criminal activity. And the park is dangerously infested with ticks.

The park, once home to the former Flanders Little League before it was folded into the larger Riverhead Little League, features a ball field with lights and a scoreboard, a playground, and access to the Peconic River.

While town lawmakers say the conditions at the park are on their radar, the proof is in the pudding. Improvements to the park are coming, but they seem to be the result of the dedicated and hard-working members of the civic groups in the area, not of any actions taken by town officials.

And that’s been typical for the Flanders, Riverside and Northampton neighborhoods, the seeming red-headed stepchildren of Southampton Town, long ignored in favor the tonier hamlets to the south and east.

Vince Taldone, president of the Flanders, Riverside and Northampton Community Association, or FRNCA, called the park a “wasted treasure.” He appears to be correct. And he’s poised to do something about it. He and his organization applied for and received $83,000 in community block grants to fix the roadway leading to the park. Hopefully, that will result in a larger attendance. Volunteers also took it upon themselves in 2013 to build a playground at the park, with the $34,000 price tag mostly coming from donations.

But people have to feel safe in the park once they get there. The town needs to take charge of the tick situation, and to pressure the public safety departments to make sure the park is rid of any criminal elements. The town also should be encouraging the area Little League groups to use the park — the ball field is its biggest and best feature.

Southampton acquired the park in 2001, and promises were made for improvements, including hiking trails, boat and kayak launches, and tennis courts. But as so often is the political reality in the Flanders and Riverside area, those promises were never kept.

Southampton Town Parks Director Kristen Doulos said this week that Iron Point Park is on the town’s “radar screen.” That’s good news. But until an overall plan to improve and redevelop the park is devised, and funding is secured and allocated, community members need to maintain pressure on the town to turn a buried treasure into the true gem that it has the potential to become.

Town officials need to pick up the ball and hit it out of the park for a community that has long been relegated to the cheap bleacher seats.