Southampton Town Looks To Purchase Land From Westhampton Cemetery Association

The Southampton Town Board on Tuesday night closed a public hearing on proposed plans to use Community Preservation Fund dollars to purchase a nearly 2-acre landlocked Westhampton property for just less than $200,000, land acquired by the Westhampton Cemetery Association several years ago as part of a failed attempt to expand the burial ground.

Proceeds from the purchase, if it is approved by the town, will be redirected by the association and used to buy approximately 3 acres of the nearly 32-acre former Bailey’s Motel property in Westhampton, land that the town and Suffolk County intend to jointly purchase and preserve together. As part of the deal, the town agreed to sell a portion of the land to the association, allowing it to finally move forward with long overdue cemetery expansion plans.

At the hearing, Southampton Town Community Preservation Fund Manager Mary Wilson said the town intends to buy the property, which is landlocked and measures approximately 1.8 acres in size, for $185,000. Ms. Wilson said the town is interested in the property, which the most recent town assessment valued at $168,000, because it sits adjacent to 5 acres of protected wetlands.

On Tuesday, no one from the public addressed the board about the proposal, and the hearing was closed.

“This purchase achieves two of our goals,” Town Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst said. “Our preservation goal and assisting the Cemetery Association—I think it is a win-win for everyone.”

According to Ms. Wilson, if all goes as planned, the town will buy the land that is located west of Station Road, north of Lakeside Road and south of the railroad tracks from the Cemetery Association. Ms. Wilson said this week she does not foresee any problems with the sale going through.

Tom Betjemann, the president of the Westhampton Cemetery Association, said the money from the sale, once finalized, will be used to partially fund his group’s purchase of a small portion of the land that once made up the motel property. Both he and Ms. Wilson would not say how much his group is paying for the land because the deal is not yet finalized. He added that he is pleased that progress is finally being made on the sale.

Brian Tymann, a former Southampton Town Trustee, said he is happy to hear that the Cemetery Association has agreed to buy a part of the former motel property, noting that, in 2007, he suggested that very option to Gordon Werner, the owner of the Follett and Werner Funeral Home in Westhampton Beach who, at the time, served as a board member for the cemetery association. Mr. Tymann said his suggestion was not taken seriously by Mr. Werner because he wanted to acquire land that was adjacent to the cemetery. In 2007, the association spent $180,000 on the 1.8-acre parcel with the intention of giving it to the Town Trustees in exchange for another property that they own that is adjacent to the graveyard. The Trustees, however, said they never agreed to such a deal.

“The cemetery board showed basically no interest in working with us,” Mr. Tymann said this week. “Years later, I hear that one of our ideas was coming to fruition.

“I think it is sad—funny, but sad—that it took so long to come to a conclusion that could have been reached amicably a long time ago,” Mr. Tymann continued.

When reached earlier this week, Mr. Werner said that, at the time, acquiring a portion of the former motel property was not an option.

“I am going to politely disagree,” Mr. Werner said when asked about Mr. Tymann’s observations. “The proposal that we have presently, that property was privately owned and it wasn’t anticipated it would be available.”

Mr. Werner was quick to add, however, that he still is not thrilled with the deal. “I don’t think it’s the best solution,” he said. “But the solution provides cemetery grounds for the community for the future.”

In May, the town agreed to team up with the county and purchase 29 acres of the former motel property for approximately $6 million. The sale is still pending.

Mr. Betjemann said he hopes his group’s deal with the town will go through because the cemetery is pressed for space and needs land for expansion. He estimated that, at a minimum, the 3 acres could accommodate up to 2,000 new graves.

As previously reported in The Press, after the Town Trustees refused the make the land swap, the Cemetery Association attempted a similar deal with the town itself that involved a different property owned by the town and located on the south side of Montauk Highway, across from the graveyard. That deal could not be completed because the land was acquired using CPF money and was protected wetlands.

The latest deal does not involve a land swap; rather, the Cemetery Association will sell its property to the town and, later, buy a portion of the old motel parcel.

“I was trying to keep the cemetery going,” Mr. Betjemann said. “The only way to do that is to purchase more land. Otherwise, when you run out of land, you run out of graves and there is no income.”