Bridgehampton National Bank coming to Shelter Island

Bridgehampton National Bank is planning to locate a branch on Shelter Island.

Bank officials have been scouting for a Shelter Island location “for a while,” according to James Manseau, executive vice president and chief retail banking officer.

Bank officials think they have identified a site that could work but aren’t ready to go public about the specifics.

“We’ve heard a steady drumbeat” from Island residents wanting a BNB branch, Mr. Manseau said. “Shelter Island is not a huge money-maker for BNB,” he said, but accommodating what he called an under-served community is the bank’s mission, he said.

Two banks currently have branches on the Island, Chase and Capital One.

Mr. Manseau visited one site last week and walked around the property, determining that it could accommodate the bank’s needs, he said. The only thing the site wouldn’t accommodate is a drive-through window, he said. Otherwise it would be a full-service bank branch with an ATM machine, he said.

Assuming he’s able to negotiate a lease, the next step would be to seek regulatory approval for a new bank branch, an effort Mr. Manseau said he didn’t think would take much time.

Getting a building permit for work that would be needed to convert the space for bank use is the wild card in the timetable, Mr. Manseau said. That could take “anywhere from six months to six years,” he said.

Once the lease is negotiated, he said he would be concentrating on the building permit. Specific plans for the conversion haven’t yet been released.

First word that a Bridgehampton National Bank branch might be in the works for Shelter Island came at a meeting with bank executives with Times/Review Newsgroup editorial staff in the Mattituck office last Thursday. They were there to talk about the bank’s fourth quarter earnings when Mr. Manseau mentioned the plan.