Amagansett Fire District Referendum Passes

The to purchase the parcel of land next door to the Amagansett Fire Department passed 140-102 on Tuesday night.

Fire district commissioners had signed a contract and needed the approval of the voters to go forward with the purchase.

A total of 242 voters turned out to cast a ballot, according to Terrence O'Riordan, the district secretary.

"I'm extremely happy for the whole district and department and everyone," said Dan Shields, the chairman of the board of commissioners.

Jack Emptage, who spearheaded the project, said, "I think we would have had a greater number of yes votes had there not been misinformation out there."

The two-acre property is to the west of the firehouse on Montauk Highway and had been on the market for $4 million recently. It was initially listed for nearly $8 million. 

Commissioners said the property was needed for several reasons, most immediately parking and a training facility. In the future, the district said it hoped to build an ambulance bay to accommodate a third ambulance in its fleet, to meet the increasing needs of the emergency medical service, and to possibly usher in some sort of paid service.

The tax impact, according to the commissioners, was projected at less than $100 per year on a house with a market value of $1.5 million, and an assessment of $11,100 in the Town of East Hampton. Though an interest rate could not be locked in until after the vote, the numbers were calculated using a 4.25 percent rate. 

Commissioners touted .

Some criticized the district for the lack of details about any future building project on that property that would require more money. The quick-turnaround from the time of the announcement in early September to the vote on the first Tuesday in October was all criticized by some as the district "trying to rush through" the purchase.

Commissioners said the seller only allowed them 85 days to float the bond and that did not afford them enough time to do anything but try to approve the purchase as legally required.