Cutchogue Civic meet and greet with purpose

While the Cutchogue Civic Association billed their summer get together as only a gathering, the group had bigger intentions for Tuesday evening. Yes, first and foremost, the plan was to enjoy a selection of wine at McCall Wines in Cutchogue and good conversation, but they also brought their latest community survey results with the intention to expand on them.

According to a recent civic newsletter, the survey yielded a whopping 75% response rate, answering how they can better serve the community. It was a “what do we get right and what is going wrong” situation.

Outside of those answers, the newsletter said the survey showed that “the topics most important to respondents were land use, zoning, development and the environment. Additionally, there is interest in local government/regulations, maritime and waterfront issues, and housing.”

Attendees of Tuesday’s meet up, some of which were members of the Cutchogue Civic Association and some of which were area residents, posted within the broad topics the questions they’d like to see answered or topics of interest within the issues. Rich Parlini spearheaded the initiative and will sum up the comments from the survey and gathering in a column from the civic association to be published in the near future.

Ron Breuer, longtime resident of East Marion and Cutchogue, said he has witnessed an “awful lot of development” in the area over the last five years. He posted his note to the survey results under affordable housing. “I think they ought to recycle older properties before they develop new ones,” he said.

Meanwhile, Miranda Beeson, who grew up at the end of Moores Lane, wondered about the Community Preservation Fund. “There’s a lot of wealth coming into this community. That’s 2% on people who are all of the sudden buying property,” she said, citing a recent $12 million purchase. She mentioned that she doesn’t see a lot of press on how the money is being spent. “Where is that money going to?” she asked and then expanded, “Can the civics get together and have some input on whoever is distributing that money?”

More discussion was had regarding the role that civic associations play in the community. Bill Flinter, board member of Mattituck-Laurel Civic Association; Dave Bergen, board member of the Cutchogue Civic Association; and Mike Tiner, government liaison for Cutchogue Civic Association, remarked that although there is often pressure for civic associations to advocate for certain measures or issues within the communities they serve, the main purpose is actually to inform and educate.

Mr. Bergen said that a common perception is that if a high percentage of the civic association agrees on a certain decision within the town, then it’s expected of them to advocate for it with Southold town officials. He and Mr. Flinter agreed that not taking a side has cost their groups some members. They also noted mistaken notions that the civics lean right or left politically or that they are anti-business and development.

“Our response [to criticism of civic associations] is always, ‘Come to the meeting,'” Mr. Tiner said. The tool the civic associations use most is that of connection, to bring people together like they did on Tuesday to educate and discuss.

“The civics are getting together with each other,” Ms. Beeson said. “That is creating a lot better dialogue. I think that’s a very powerful thing.”