What does this mean? What does it mean to incorporate the Village of East Quogue? Watch this short video or read the below to learn more about the possibilities for the Village of East Quogue.
We envision a Village like the Village of Sagaponack. A small non-partisan, unpaid Village Government of East Quogue, elected by the people of East Quogue. This would include a Mayor, Four Trustees and Three Appointed Volunteer Boards.
The Village of East Quogue would be a thin layer of local government, but with significant local control like the Village of Sagaponack, which was successfully formed in 2007.
Most services would continue as they are now, like the Police support through the Southampton Town Police Department. Any inefficient services would be reviewed to see what improvements can be made, thus keeping costs for Village residents as low as possible. A careful review of area Village budgets suggests that we can have this local control for $.10/$1,000 of assessed valuation or less. That means that the average taxpayer in East Quogue will pay about $50 a year for local control of the Village.
-We will have a strong voice in the Town of Southampton
-Local press will have to pay attention to our Village
-We will have direct community outreach and local presence
-We will have support from State and County Village Mayor Associations
-We can have direct communications with Albany/NYS
We will have a say in what happens in East Quogue, inside and outside of Southampton Town.
Southampton Town only controls the zoning of unincorporated areas, including Hampton Bays, East Quogue, Remsenburg, Speonk, Noyac, Bridgehampton and other others outside of Village Territories. These are the areas where they can change the community character through zoning decisions, including density increases or change of use.
Only the Villages are in control of their planning and zoning. The Villages are organized and they are getting the majority of Town investments from the Town’s Community Preservation Funds. East Quogue is getting nothing.