A Quarter Century of APC!!!
Hard to believe, but true! Twenty-five years have passed since a stalwart group of neighbors banded together in an effort to defend Accabonac Creek from the ever-looming threats of overdevelopment, poor planning, ignorance, greed and other forms of human folly. Armed with the formidable weapons of education, committment, determination and most of all, love of the natural diversity and harmony and beauty of Accabonac, these few became many and slowly but surely have continued to make progress toward the protection, restoration and preservation of that creek and its surroundings that we all hold so dear.
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A spectacular day dawns over Accabonac. Photo by Julia Latham.
The following list from our newsletter five years ago has been embellished to update (and brag a bit about) our history. It’s a fairly complete list of APC’s accomplishments since our inception in 1985. Many of these were group efforts, of course, but we played a significant, often leading, role in getting these done:
• Land Acquisitions: Weitzman, Kligman, parcels on Gerard, small lots throughout Springs now including Dodge, Filipelli, Nivola, and Potter (see Nancy Kane’s article for more on these)
• Creating a plan, and gaining Town approval, for preservation of Louse Point and Gerard Point, including removal of asphalt and roadbed, planting to arrest erosion, installation of attractive fencing to establish appropriate foot paths, and erection of signs to identify the Points and encourage positive behavior. We have since contributed to the creation of the Nature Preserve Management Plan for Louse Point.
• Persuading Town to establish No Driving zone on Louse Point Beach
• Contributing to first Open Marsh Water Management project, giving ongoing OMWM support.
• Fighting bad Vector Control mosquito abatement policies and practices, bad development attempts, and bad behavior.
• Urging Town to offer tax incentives to facilitate replacement of old underground oil tanks, and similar approach for replacement of old septic systems
• Pushing to have Harbor Protection Overlay District enacted (and we continue to lobby for upgrade, to include the entire watershed)
• Producing forums to educate the public on issues of concern such as the upcoming forum on May 21: Are We Losing Our Coastline… and Accabonac
• Conducting water quality testing for two years under guidance of Cornell Coop Extension & EH Natural Resources Dept.
• Numerous plantings for erosion control on Gerard Point and Louse Point. Also “unplantings” to help remove noxious invasives (See Cile Downs’ article “Meet Miscanthus” and watch for her video, “Invaders in Paradise” in the LTV series “Long Live Accabonac!”)
• Among the first and longest ongoing Adopt-a-Roads (Louse Point Rd & Gerard Drive and now Landing Lane as well)
• Participation in all Great East End Clean Ups, and International Beach Clean Ups, & Co-producing “Springs Spring Cleanings” since 2004. This year’s SSC will be on May 15th —check the 2010 Schedule of Events for the others.
• Involving local school groups, from elementary to High School, in plantings and clean-ups.
• Participating in the 1st “A Day In Springs” festival with our Anything that Floats Regatta
• Participating in every Fisherman’s Fair (August 14th this year), with our ever-popular quiz game to “test your Creek IQ”.
• Supporting Community Preservation Fund and all other open space initiatives
• Supporting creation of opening on Gerard, now the Miller-Wood Culvert
• Contributing to Comp Plan, Peconic Estuary Program, and establishment of Peconic Baykeeper
• Creating & distributing brochures on Public Water, Mosquito Spraying and How to Live Responsibly Within HPOD
• Supporting Natural Resources and Group for the East End in Japanese Knotweed removal and replanting with beach grass at Louse Point
• Requesting Nature Preserve Committee to prevent further erosion at Pussy’s Pond by replanting grassy area and designating other parking area.
• Recommending Weitzman purchase be renamed Barbara Hale Reserve, and urging that it be maintained as meadow, a valuable and rapidly disappearing ecosystem. The DEC permit for specified clearing has just been acquired.
• And just in this past year, the creation of a series of video programs titled “Long Live Accabonac!” currently airing on LTV.
In many of these and other efforts, we have acted in coalition with other organizations such as Group for the East End, The Nature Conservancy, the EH Town Nature Preserve Committee, Southfork Groundwater Task Force, Concerned Citizens of Montauk, Springs Improvement Society, Springs Citizens Advisory Committee, EH Trails Preservation Society, Peconic Baykeeper, and Save the Peconic Bays, and LTV.
Our deep and abiding thanks to all of these groups for their ongoing hard work, and also to the EH Town Departments of Parks and Recreation, Natural Resources, Marine Patrol and the Harbor Master’s office for their partnership in keeping Accabonac vital and beautiful. Those past and present Town Board members and Trustees who have been responsive to our concerns and have taken action to help preserve and maintain this unique place have our utmost respect and gratitude.
But it is you, our members, numbering nearly a thousand, who continue to take an active interest in all of APC’s concerns, that have kept us going for these first 25 years, and we will continue to rely on your active and moral (and occaisionally financial) support for the ongoing success of our mission!
