Letters

The Lake Agawam Conservancy has no interest in being enmeshed in village politics or the next mayoral election. Sadly, the village’s and the conservancy’s joint Gin Lane wetlands restoration project, which should be a cause for civic celebration, is now embroiled in controversy, including in letters to this paper and emails to village residents — proving that no good deed goes unpunished.

Here are the facts:

Since 2019, the conservancy has raised and spent millions to clean up the lake. Dr. Christopher Gobler reports that the lake is cleaner than in decades.

This fall, working with Mayor Bill Manger and the village’s superintendent of public works, a respected team of East End landscaping professionals installed a beautiful wetlands buffer along Gin Lane at a cost of more than $700,000, fully funded by the conservancy. The conservancy is installing a 1,000-foot grass walkway, so pedestrians don’t have to dodge cars. In the spring, the conservancy will plant fescue and perennials.

The conservancy will fund all maintenance costs for this buffer and seven other buffers/bioswales throughout the village, saving taxpayers over $100,000 annually.

This project was not approved in secret. With the strong support of Mayors Manger and Jesse Warren, the Village Board unanimously approved it at a public meeting. In April 2025, the village submitted a renewal application to the State Department of Environmental Conservation, which contained planting plans, and was approved.

Last month, right before $350,000 in plantings were to be installed, Manger advised me that Trustee Rob Coburn had pressed the village attorney to change the village’s nearly 40-year interpretation of its code to now require Architectural Review Board approval of wetlands projects, even though the village and the conservancy have been installing buffers without ARB approval for years.

The village attorney has not responded to my request for a written opinion supporting her new reading of the code, which would require residents to seek ARB approval before planting a tree or shrub in the historic district.

This project is not intended to block the view of homes on the lake’s western side. For decades, a massive wall of nonnative phragmites and knotweed blocked all views of the lake. If the goal was to block the view across the lake, the conservancy would have left this 10-foot-high wall of invasive plants in place. And the buffer is not a structure; it can and will be modified as it grows in.

Finally, the village and conservancy have expanded the project to install additional drainage along Gin Lane to fix a problem that has persisted for years after storms.

The conservancy wants to work with all village officials to achieve our goal of restoring the lake for the benefit of all residents.

Robert J. Giuffra Jr.

Chair

Lake Agawam Conservancy

Southampton Village