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Citing a rebellious faction within the organization, the Greater Westhampton Dune Road Civic Association unanimously voted to dissolve on Labor Day.
Olivia Casriel, who had been president of the association for the past five years, said a small contingent within the 350-member group had been very argumentative over the past few years, which eventually led to the disbanding of the group that was founded in 1960. Members agreed to go their separate ways during their annual meeting on Monday, September 7.
“We were having a lot of stress with this contentious group and didn’t want to have it anymore,” Ms. Casriel said. “The negative activities within the organization was going to prevent us from doing good work.”
The small faction, which included fewer than 10 people, had questioned why, a few years ago, the association’s bank account had dropped from $32,000 to $17,000 in one year, said Harvey Blumberg, who sat on the group’s board of directors. The faction implied that the money might have been stolen, he said.
“They were very angry people,” said Mr. Blumberg, who declined to name those members who suggested that money had been mishandled. “There was no point in dealing with them.”
Joseph Prokop, the lawyer for the Greater Westhampton Dune Road Civic Association, said the questioning over the group’s finances arose from a typo in the minutes of a board meeting. No money was ever missing from the organization’s bank account, he added.
At the direction of the board of directors, Mr. Prokop hired an independent accountant to review their books. Steve Lyon, the accountant, concluded last year that the association’s finances were in order and all of the money was accounted for, Ms. Casriel said.
“Everything was fine in the books,” Mr. Prokop said this week.
The dissenting group was not the only reason the association decided to disband, according to Ms. Casriel. “We’re all getting old. We had a long run and it was an awful lot of work,” she said. “We decided it was just time.”
The board of directors had actually adopted the resolution to dissolve on May 13. That motion was amended at an August 19 meeting. The Greater Westhampton Dune Road Civic Association will be officially dissolved in a few weeks, according to Mr. Prokop.
The association, which has $10,189.20 remaining in its account, plans to donate about 80 percent of those funds to the Westhampton Free Library. The remaining 20 percent will be donated to the Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead and the Westhampton Beach Historical Society, according to the minutes of the Labor Day meeting.
The Greater Westhampton Dune Road Civic Association has traditionally contributed funds to many local organizations, including the Riverhead hospital and the Air National Guard’s 106th Rescue Wing whose members are stationed at Gabreski Airport in Westhampton, according to Ms. Casriel.
Members of the association were also active in homeowner and quality of life issues affecting members of the group, the majority of whom live on Dune Road in Westhampton and Westhampton Beach. For example, group members encouraged the Westhampton Beach Village Board to amend its building zoning code to limit overbuilding on 75-foot-wide lots. Association members also instructed property owners on how to file their tax grievances with Southampton Town.
Additionally, waterfront homeowners were helped by group members in obtaining information on homeowner insurance, group rentals and noise pollution. The association was also involved in the passage of a law that bans construction crews from working in Westhampton Beach Village on Sundays in July and August.
“We’ve accomplished an awful lot,” Mr. Blumberg said.
