Dear Quogue Residents,

It is hard to believe that Labor Day is around the corner, and that the school year is about to begin!  We have been blessed this summer with spectacular weather, with the unfortunate consequence that the entire South Shore of Long Island being “upgraded” to severe drought status.  Please follow the SCWA’s guidelines for adjusting your irrigation schedule.   A related consequence is that Suffolk County is under an extreme high risk of fire.  The conditions are similar to August of 1995 when  a firestorm erupted in the Pine Barrens following a hot month with no rain.  Please exercise extra caution when firing up your grills!

With respect to our beaches, as in prior years, we are about to embark on a few days of “beach scraping” to reinforce the dunes on the eastern stretch of our Village.  We are still subject to plover restrictions as the Town of Southampton bird monitors have identified one remaining piping plover chick that is still too young to fly (or fledge).  They are estimating that the fledge date will be August 27^th if you want to mark your calendars.  Also, please remember that if you have a locker at the Village Beach, it needs to be emptied out before you leave for the summer and no later than September 18^th.

The Village is also about to embark on annual maintenance of our roads.  This is a two-step process.  The first phase will begin right after Labor Day with a smooth layer of asphalt being spread to fill in holes and cracks and to level the streets.  The second phase will take place the following week (weather permitting), when blue stone will be laid down with a liquid emulsion.  This needs to be done in the early fall when the weather is still warm enough for the blue stone to bind properly.  After a few days, our Highway Department will then sweep up any remaining loose stones.

Some modifications to the intersection at the east end of Quogue Street and Montauk Highway are about to be underway.  We have been notified by Suffolk County that their highway crews will be in Quogue in the coming weeks to repaint all of the markings at that intersection.  New signage is also on order and should be installed in the fall.

And now for a few announcements:

The Quogue Junior Theater Troupe’s younger show The Little Mermaid Jr. opens tonight, August 23^rd and runs through Friday, August 26^th.  You can purchase tickets at https://qjtt.org/

On Saturday, August 27^th, from 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm, the Quogue Library is organizing an outdoor concert with The Sunnyland Jazz Band – light refreshments will be served, and on Sunday, August 28^th, from 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm, the Library will be hosting their final program in this year’s Summer Author Series with Adele Myers.

As previously announced, an informational meeting will be held next week on the Fire Island to Montauk Point (FIMP) beach nourishment project.  The meeting will take place in the Community Hall at 11:00 am on Wednesday, August 31^st.  More information will be posted on the Village Website.

Our Police Department is hosting a free child car seat education and safety check on Sunday, September 4^th at the Fire House.  There will be an instructional seminar from 9:00 am – 9:30 am followed by car seat safety checks from 9:30 am to 12:00 pm.

Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman will be returning to Quogue on Saturday, September 10^th, at 10:00 am to give a “State of the Town” presentation on the Village Green.  The event is being hosted by the Quogue Association and will be Jay’s first return to Quogue since before Covid came to town .

That same day, at 7:30 pm, Quogue Chamber Music is hosting a concert in the Community Hall by Members of Manhattan Chamber Players.  Tickets can be purchased at http://quoguechambermusic.org/

Finally, we will be commemorating the anniversary of 9-11 at a ceremony at the Fire House beginning at 10:00 am.

Enjoy the final days of summer!

Robert Treuhold
Mayor, Village of Quogue
631-653-4498 (office)

I am pleased to announce that we will be holding an informational meeting on the Fire Island to Montauk Point (FIMP) Project in the Quogue Village Community Hall at 11:00 am on Wednesday, August 31^st.  Representatives from the US Army Corps of Engineers and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation will provide an update on the status of the Project, and representatives from the Town of Southampton will give an overview of the next steps involved in obtaining the required easements from the owners of the properties where the work will be performed.   Attendees will have an opportunity to raise any questions or concerns they may have about the process.  Property specific questions will be entertained during individual meetings at a later date.  I hope you will take this opportunity to join us to learn more about the Project.

 

Robert Treuhold

Mayor, Village of Quogue

631-653-4498

Dear Quogue Residents,

Having now been your Mayor for three weeks and experienced first-hand the range of “stuff” that crosses my desk, I now appreciate fully how lucky we have been for these past many years to have benefited from Peter’s hard work and wise leadership.  Hats off to Peter!

It has been a busy month, with a special surprise visit last Wednesday of a juvenile great white shark on our beaches.  The press frenzy this garnered brought back images from the release of the movie Jaws in the summer of 1975.  I certainly did not anticipate any comparison to Mayor Vaughn of Amity Island.  On a positive note, our Village Beach life guards are in regular contact with all of the local beaches and have received heightened training for shark surveillance.  The Town of Southampton is also activating a centralized notification system in coordination with all of the South Fork communities.

In another positive development for beach safety, I am pleased to report that the Westhampton War Memorial Volunteer Ambulance Corp, which provides EMS response to the Villages of Quogue, Westhampton Beach, Westhampton Dunes, along with five additional hamlets, is adding a water rescue team to their life saving services.  This new service will be activated in the coming weeks and is intended to provide coverage for unprotected waters. The Westhampton Ambulance Volunteer Water Rescue Squad will consist of experienced certified ocean rescue lifeguards, who will be dispatched to swimmers in distress along the ocean front and other bodies of water within the Westhampton Ambulance District.  Two of our own Police Officers, Ronan Seltenreich, and Scott Hickerson, are members of the Water Rescue Squad.

Staying focused on the beach front, as Peter noted in his “Final Words” letter, the Fire Island to Montauk Point (“FIMP”) beach nourishment project is moving forward, although the work that will directly affect our beaches is not slated to begin until the Fall of 2023.  We are coordinating with the Town of Southampton on the next steps involving obtaining the required easements.  An informational meeting will be held in the coming weeks for all interested residents to provide further details of the FIMP project.  Stay tuned.

One more beach related item – the Village has been coordinating with Relic Sustainability relic-sustainability.org to arrange for the installation of “Beach Cleanup Stations” at the Village Beach and the other beach clubs in Quogue.  Relic is the group that has sponsored the “Flupsy” (Floating Upwelling System) at the Village Dock in coordination with the Moriches Bay Project morichesbayproject.org.  The Flupsy is a system to nurture hundreds of thousands of oysters, which are then seeded throughout the bay to help clean our waters.

And a few reminders of some of the multitude of upcoming events in the month to come:

On Sunday, July 31^st, from 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm, the Quogue Library will be hosting the next program in its Summer Author Series with Anna Pitoniak.  Please consult the Quogue Library’s website for their rich offering of fun and educational events: www.quoguelibrary.org

The Quogue Junior Theater Troupe’s production of Chicago is coming to the stage in the Village Community Hall on August 2^nd– 5^th.  One of the fun benefits of having an office in the Village Hall is listening to the QJTT rehearsals.  The annual QJTT Summer Benefit is being held this coming Friday, July 29^th in the Village Community Hall at 7:00 pm.  You can purchase your tickets on line at qjtt.org

Our Village Police will be participating in a “Coffee with a Cop” event which will be held at Beth’s Café on Saturday, August 6^th, from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm.  Please stop by for an opportunity to meet members of our police force in an informal setting.

And then on Sunday, August 7^th, from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm is the annual Fire Department’s Open House – a must attend event for one and all. www.quoguefiredepartment.org

The Quogue Historical Society’s annual art show will be held on the Village Green on Saturday, August 13^th, from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.  On Friday evening, August 12^th, from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm, QHS is hosting an Art Talk Benefit (and cocktails) also on the Village Green.  Tickets can be purchased through the QHS website:  https://quoguehistory.org

The Hampton Theatre Company is hosting their annual benefit on August 20^th from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm.  Tickets can be purchased at: www.hamptontheatre.org

The Quogue Association’s annual Beach Party will be held at the Village Beach on August 20^th beginning at 6:00 pm. https://quogueassociation.org

Apologies if I have overlooked any other events in our busy season.

Have fun and stay safe!

 

Robert Treuhold

Mayor, Village of Quogue

631-653-4498 (office)

 

 

Dear Quogue Residents,

Thank you to all who came out to my toasting event on the Village Green last Friday afternoon.  I appreciate very much everyone’s time and effort to be there, and I certainly enjoyed myself.  (Who does not like nice things being said about them, even if somewhat exaggerated?)  I would like to send my special thanks to the organizers of this send-off event, Randy Cardo, Ted Necarsulmer, Bob Treuhold, Sarah Adams, Kathy Lomas, Jeanette Obser and Barbara Sartorius.  I am very grateful.

While taking a break from the formidable task of cleaning out my office for Mayor-Elect Bob Treuhold, I had occasion to look over some of the emails I wrote to residents over the last couple of years.  There were plenty of terms used in those emails that are a little depressing and I would just as soon forget.  Here are some examples that you will no doubt recall: “essential business,”  the dreaded “non-essential business,”  “New York Pause,”  “New York Forward,”  “social distancing,”  “six feet apart,” “gathering limit,”  “yellow, orange and red zones,”  “micro-cluster focus,”  “New York State Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative,”  “Andrew Cuomo,” “Phases 1 through 4” of the reopening,  “quarantine,”  “self-isolate,” “non-contiguous state,” and  “vaccine hub.”  There are many more, of course.

There were also some words of advice for Quogue residents (exhortations, really):  walk and run on the left, cycle on the right, clean up your  dog’s poop and take it with you, always wear a shirt while on a public street in Quogue, U-turns (both conventional and creative) are prohibited on Jessup Avenue, Village Lane is one way (like the sign says), shop local (as in many other things, the old adage “use it or lose it” applies), do not leave your key fob in the car (putting it under the seat does not work anymore) and have the electrical connectors and grounds checked on your pool if they have not been for a while lest electrical current gone astray shock a swimmer.

And there was one comment from Friday, November 6, 2020 that actually turned out to be quite prescient, though understated as it turned out:  “As of Friday morning, some battleground states are still counting, the President is litigating and pretty much everyone with a microphone is talking, but the chances are pretty good that Joe Biden will be moving into the White House next January 20. High drama between now and then is highly likely.”  Who could have guessed, however, that the events of January 6^th would transpire and the 2020 election would still be front and center in June 2022?

Here are just a few items of current interest:

Bob Treuhold, running unopposed for Mayor, and Sally Beatty and Kim Payne, running unopposed for two Trustee seats, were all elected on Friday, June 17^th.  Thank you to all of them for taking on the responsibilities and also to the more than 130 voters (and 7 who took the trouble to submit absentee ballots) who turned out to vote in these uncontested elections.

The engineering maps for the part of the FIMP project that directly affects Quogue were released recently by the Army Corps of Engineers.  The work is anticipated to be accomplished in the fall of 2023. The basic project specification is for a beach height of 9.5 feet and a dune height of 13 feet.  The maps show the sand placement in Quogue from the eastern border extending westward just past the Quogue Beach Club. The Town of Southampton has the responsibility for arranging for surveys of the properties involved—supposedly 125 between Hampton Bays, East Quogue and Quogue–with about 60 in Quogue—and for obtaining storm damage reduction easements from the affected parcels that will allow the work.   Meetings will be arranged for this summer, according to the information that we have received.

The due date (July 1) for payment of Quogue Village fiscal year 2022-2023 property taxes is on Friday.  If you misplaced  your bill or think that you did not get one, you can find out the amount due (and pay from your bank account) by clicking on the “Pay Your Taxes” button on the Village website, www.villageofquogueny.gov.

The Village leaf blower law, which went into full force and effect on May 15 and can be found at Section 111-4O of the Quogue Village Code (https://ecode360.com/6195081), seems to be working pretty well—landscapers are getting the word as a result of the many warnings and some summonses that have been issued.  Remember that our law is not a total ban.  This time of year, however, gas powered leaf blowers have to be of the quiet variety (no more than 65db(A)).  If you think that you are witnessing a violation (your ears may tell you), please report it to the police.  Do not approach landscapers on your own.

The Moriches Bay Project, which maintains a floating platform known as a “Flupsy” at the Quogue Village Dock for nurturing oysters that when grown will be relocated about the bay to help clean our waters, is holding an event at the dock on Friday, July 8^th.  Please see the details below:

The north of the highway dwellers like me will appreciate that Scrub Oak Road and the rest of the concrete portion of Jessup Avenue are next on the list of major road projects to be completed.  Planning is well underway, and we are expecting to start work in the fall.

This will be the last of these missives from me.  Thanks to all of you who provided encouragement for me to write them and more broadly for all the support that you provided to me as Mayor.  I know that you will do the same for the new Mayor and Trustee, particularly while they are getting their legs under them.  I have every confidence that they will do a superb job.

I hope that it has come across loud and clear over the years that I believe that the greatest assets that the Village has are its employees and volunteers.  Throughout my tenure, I have relied so heavily on them to do their jobs, and they have delivered superbly.  It has been a pleasure to serve alongside them.

Enjoy the summer!  I know that I will.

Peter Sartorius

Mayor