Letters

We have read with great interest your coverage of our response to the Conscience Point Shellfish Hatchery’s unauthorized commercial activities on our land at the Conscience Point Historic Site and Nature Walk. The title of your December 4 editorial was “Stop Digging.” Instead, we ask everyone to dig a little deeper into the facts and circumstances.

First and foremost, the Southampton History Museum is a nonprofit educational organization chartered by the New York State Board of Regents and incorporated under the New York State Education Department. We simply cannot host regular commercial activities unrelated to our educational mission on our property without jeopardizing our nonprofit status and charter. We explained this to the CPSH many times, to no avail.

The CPSH enjoyed a rent-free lease based upon our agreement that their work was restricted to use as a shellfish hatchery and educational facility. We originally agreed to allow a portion of our land at Conscience Point to be used by the Sea Scouts (a program of the Scouts of America), to create a hatchery to foster education and support for restoring critical marine ecosystems in North Sea Harbor. The CPSH nonprofit organization was created as part of this original mission. All shellfish raised at the hatchery were to be donated to the Southampton Town Trustees for shellfish restoration and not for commercial shellfishing.

The CPSH became increasingly focused on raising shellfish for commercial purposes, including sales to retailers, private clubs, consumers and for-profit growers. Additionally, the CPSH wrongfully sublet to commercial businesses. Applications also were submitted to the Town of Southampton and other agencies to further develop our land for commercial activities without our approval.

Commercial shellfishing is not the same as shellfish restoration. The museum was compelled to stop the unauthorized commercial use and end our tenancy with the CPSH.

We are deeply concerned by seemingly coercive threats to our public funding by certain members of the Southampton School Board, apparently to pressure us to allow the unauthorized commercial uses to continue [“Southampton Historical Museum Could Lose Budget Proposition on Southampton Schools Ballot as a Result of Ouster of Shellfish Hatchery,” 27east.com, December 18]. Our funding should not be threatened because of our efforts to protect the integrity of our mission and compliance with federal and state law.

Each year, for over a decade, the museum has requested from voters, and gratefully received, vital funding that comprises a significant part of our operating budget. Loss of this support would be catastrophic for the children, families, students, and so many others who visit our four different museum sites.

Although we cannot host commercial shellfishing on our land, we welcome ideas for educational programs at Conscience Point. Together, we’re sure we can find new ways to advance the preservation of Southampton’s historic and natural resources for generations to come.

Sarah Kautz

Executive Director

Southampton History Museum

This letter was sent on behalf of the Southampton History Museum Board of Trustees — Ed.