Sagaponack - "We have never been closer to our goal," John Halsey, president of the Peconic Land Trust (PLT) said this week as efforts to purchase the 7.6 acre parcel on Sagg Main that is home to Pike's Farm Stand progressed. In an unexpected turn of events, the contract price has been reduced from $8.23 million to $6 million. Sadly, the property's owner James "Jim" Hopping died on October 12.

Neighbors gathered at the farm stand to purchase fresh produce.

Hopping supported the Pike's cause quietly extending his support to the farm family and the PLT as he agreed to several extensions on the contract while fundraising progressed. The Land Trust is now just $950,000 away from its goal and has a matching $950,000 in pledges. They have received 251 donations from supporters who want to save the farm stand that is a fixture in the small village. "We are sorry Jim Hopping did not live to see this completed," the PLT said in a statement issued this week.

The PLT went into contract with the Hopping Family to purchase the land in April 2008 for $8.23 million. Halsey hoped to raise money to finance the purchase through an aggressive fundraising campaign that would enable the PLT to sell the property's development rights to the County and the Town of Southampton as a contract vendee and in turn pay the property's owners simultaneously at the closing table.

Pike and his wife offer pumpkins, vegetables and other items at this popular farm stand in Sagaponack.

The Town's dwindling Community Preservation Fund (CPF) as well as the County's reluctance to act made the purchase seem tentative several times as Halsey, undeterred, pressed forward with confidence.

"He's a very optimistic guy," Jim Pike said as he worked at his farm stand wondering about the weather and the whims of his landlord. Pike and his wife Jennifer have been farming for more than 20 years. They own only six of the 60 acres they farm in and around Sagaponack and could not afford to buy the Sagg Main property. The PLT hopes to eventually sell the 7.6 acres to the Pikes' at an affordable price. The land would remain in agricultural use in keeping with the sale of the development rights. Should the property come on the market again it would have to be sold at agricultural value to ensure that future farmers would have a chance to buy the land and continue to farm on the prime real estate.

All parties involved in the pending sale agreed to a lower price for both the property and the development rights in view of the current economic climate. Under the terms of the current agreement, the town and the county will contribute $4,326,800 of the $6 million purchase price. The $1,673.200 balance plus an additional $226,000 in closing costs will be paid by the PLT with money from its fundraising campaign. The PLT must raise the remaining $950,000 by December 31.

The PLT, founded in 1983, is a private non-profit organization with offices in Southampton, Amagansett and Cutchogue. The PLT has been involved in the preservation of more than 9,500 acres of land since its inception.

The Pike's predicament attracted widespread attention as the fate of the well known farm stand hung in the balance for more than a year. "This is still not a done deal yet," Yvette DeBow-Salsedo a spokesperson for the PLT said in a press release issued this week.

Anyone wishing to contribute to the PLT's fund to save Pike's Farm Stand should visit their website at www.peconiclandtrust.org or call 631-283-3195.