East Hampton Trails Preservation Society Inc

Three years ago the Pussy's Pond Bridge had deteriorated to such an extent that the Town of East Hampton made the decision that the bridge and the associated walkway over he marsh was no longer for safe use by the students and hikers and had it removed.  The students of Springs School were devastated. With the help of their teachers they began a campaign to have the Town rebuild the bridge. Their first effort focused on the bridge design.  With the help of their teacher, Tracey Frasier and several volunteers the students created two bridge models.

These were presented to the town board with the pea that the board vote to provide the funds for the reconstruction. But the town was in financial turmoil and could not fund this project while at the same time they were defunding services to seniors and the after school homework program.

It is at this point that a small group of residents decided that because the bridge meant so much to the students and citizens of Springs , they would mount a energized fund raising project. The town of East Hampton has volunteered its Engineer and draftsman to ensure its safety and has complimented the fund raising effort.

Now one Ray Hartjen, who has brought many changes to the town since his retirement in ’96, has now agreed to spearhead this project.  Among his earlier contributions are; the design and construction of the Tanbark Creek Bridge (175’) at the headwaters of Three Mile Harbor,  the award winning proposal for the successful funding for the creation of three trail head kiosks and maps which brought in $65,000, spearheaded the creation of a map of the entire 250 miles of hiking trails in the east end, the video taping of all the footage for the creation of a 23 minute video of the east end trails, successfully spearheaded the gathering together of the residents of Gerard Drive to petition the Suffolk County Water Authority  to bring ‘town’ water to their homes, and finally as president of the East End Classic Boat Society he raised the funds ($450,000) for and supervised the construction by volunteers of a timber frame Community Boat Shop that was built on town land adjacent to the East Hampton Maritime Museum in Amagansett, New York.

Now Dr. Hartjen has agreed to oversee the fund raising, design and construction of the Pussy’s Pond Bridge.  The project could not be in better hands.  To have a major portion of the funds and volunteer effort cone from the citizens of Springs is of great importance.

The actual construction of the bridge will involve the coordination of volunteers from a variety of organizations including the Springs volunteer Fireman’s  Association, The East Hampton Trails Preservation Society and Town resources as the highway department and its parks and recreation department. One cannot leave out many eager young volunteers, the students in the company of their parents.

It is important to note that that no individual will receive any compensation for his or her services.  All funds raised will be used solely for the purchase of materials for the construction of the Pussy's Pond Bridge.

We ask you to come on board and become both a funder and a volunteer for this community based project.

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