Ho Hum Beach reached full capacity on Saturday at 1 p.m. forcing the village to close access.

“On Saturday we had our Sand Castle contest there and a lot of boats moored outside of the dock area. Every dock slip was full, and I guess because of the contest publicity, people walked onto the beach,” explained Mayor Maureen Veitch. “We have a light footprint. Our capacity is 300. I got a phone call from the ferry captain and once we realized we were at capacity, we had to hold off bringing people to the beach.” 

Residents can dock their boats at Ho-Hum on a first-come, first served basis. They must have a slip at the marina.

Veitch explained there are two toilets in the ladies’ room and one urinal in the men’s room. “We check the septic capacity regularly,” she said. Three lifeguards alternate shifts at the lifeguard stand.

In a way, Veitch said, it emphasized the dilemma the village experienced when town supervisor Dan Panico and parks commissioner Ed Morris released a schedule inviting residents to register online for free Ho-Hum ferry passes over three weekends, offering a bus to pick up residents at Kreamer Middle School to transport them to the Bellport Marina. The Instagram message was sent without contacting the mayor.

“Right after his inaugural speech, (Panico) did call me,” she said of the January call. It was a nice phone call. We said we should talk. We met in February with my village clerk and it was a cordial meeting but there was no comment about `I’d like to come over to the beach 5 or 10 times with North Bellport residents.’ In June, Dan, Mike LoGuercio and myself were on an oyster trip. Again, no mention was made.”

Veitch said Panico sent Ed Morris to meet and work out a plan. “I said,`why don’t we work something out with a particular group, a youth group or teens. There were 118 kids from the Boys & Girls Club scheduled to come on August 22 and 23. We gave them two days but only 40 signed up. (Morris) didn’t realize we’d been arranging trips.”

Veitch said when she heard about the water taxis, she called the supervisor as well as Morris and texted both. There were no responses, she said, adding that dates and times of her town correspondence were documented.

“If you really want to bring more access. let’s do it in an organized fashion,” she said.  

Veitch added, “The good news is that reasonable people come together and try to work things out. We’re willing to hear them out. We offered to have more events and work through proper channels.”

Panico was asked via email the following questions on Tuesday. 

As town beaches have safety regulations as to how many lifeguards, bathrooms and volume, Panico was asked, why the town would encourage people via water taxi to go to Ho Hum Beach or any town beach that has limited resources for large volumes when it fronts the ocean?

Panico answered: Ho-Hum Beach is approved for 300 people by the Health Department. As per our chief lifeguard, it is rare for Ho-Hum beach to reach maximum capacity. According to our Parks Commissioner Ed Morris, the beach was closed on Sunday when our ferry was to run.

Panico was asked how many meetings there were with the mayor. “I met with the mayor and the village clerk for over two hours and we spoke a few times on the phone about this special program,” he said.  “The mayor was very receptive.” 

When asked if he was willing to reach out to the mayor and discuss the issue now, Panico said, “Absolutely. I am open to meaningful conversations. However, the fact that a village trustee would go online and sabotage a program put together aimed at helping the people of North Bellport is quite troubling to the town board. But I will reiterate that I am open to work together for the future.”