Villages

Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. of East Hampton Village is on an indefinite leave of absence for medical reasons. The mayor announced his leave, effective yesterday, at the conclusion of the village board’s work session last Thursday. He is to undergo knee-replacement surgery.

“I am going to turn the reins over to our deputy mayor, Barbara Borsack, who with her colleagues will make sure that everything is done with due diligence,” Mr. Rickenbach said. “Hopefully I’ll be back on the scene sooner than later.”

The community is raising money to support two children orphaned last week when their mother, Darcy Rodriguez, died of cancer at the age of 48.

Colin Rodriguez, 13, and Katalina Rodriguez, 11, are being cared for by one of Ms. Rodriguez’s longtime friends, Carla Gagliotti of East Hampton, which had been their mother’s wish. Ms. Rodriguez was diagnosed with lung cancer in September, by which time it had metastasized, leaving little time to make plans. 

Since the Rev. Thomas Patrick Murray arrived in Montauk on June 25 as the new parish priest at St. Therese of Lisieux Catholic Church, he has made quite a few new friends. He credits the Monsignor, a chubby yellow Labrador retriever, for that. “Everyone greets the Monsignor,” he said from his new office at the parish center.

The long drawn-out process by which the Maidstone Club received approval to upgrade and expand the irrigation system on its golf course was concluded on Friday when the East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals announced its satisfaction with 10 conditions it had attached to its approval in July. Two of the conditions required additional submissions.

Those arriving at the Montauk Firehouse on Sunday for the political debate sponsored by Concerned Citizens of Montauk had no doubt that State Senator Lee Zeldin was going to be there. Dozens of Zeldin for Congress signs were being waved at the entrance and a big bus in the parking lot carried the message. Once inside, the audience was peppered by those wearing Zeldin for Congress T-shirts. The event was well attended, with more than 100 prospective voters on hand.

Ghosts and goblins, not to mention princesses and Spider-Men, have plenty of places to go in the coming week. With All Hallows’ Eve falling on a Friday this year, there are two entire weekends chock full of frightful gatherings and trick-or-treating.

Tomorrow’s Tricks

A Montauk couple playing the New York Lottery’s Break the Bank scratch-off game last week did just that when they purchased a $1 million winning ticket from a vending machine at Montauk Wine and Liquors.

On Saturday, hiking enthusiasts will mark South Fork Trails Day with a presentation about the more than 200 miles of trails in East Hampton Town.

Describing a summer on the beaches characterized by few serious mishaps, a lack of unruly crowds, and no extreme weather, Ed McDonald, the East Hampton Village beach manager, said, “Dull is good,” as he summarized the season’s activities and revenue at a village board meeting Friday. He noted that no one had drowned and said the Main Beach lifeguards, led by Eric Bramoff, deftly and professionally handled two incidents in which bathers suffered neck injuries.

October in East Hampton is officially Recycling Awareness Month. During this inaugural observation, the East Hampton recycling and litter committee has a bevy of activities to raise awareness about the benefits of recycling.

The rain on Saturday postponed the Montauk Chamber of Commerce’s fall festival and turned what was supposed to be a fun day into a nightmare for chamber officials, said Laraine Creegan, the chamber’s executive director.

The chamber had to reschedule its volunteers and all involved with the festival, which was moved to Sunday and Monday. But when the sun came out on Sunday, so did the people, making it the busiest, most well-attended fall festival in the event’s history, she said.

Skeet, trap, rifle, and pistol shooters have been invited to the Maidstone Gun Club’s annual turkey shoot on Sunday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be an air-rifle division for children.

The club is off Daniels Hole Road, a short distance north of the East Hampton Airport. The public has been invited. No animals will be harmed in the event; gift certificates for turkeys and chickens will be awarded to the category winners. Refreshments, including hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, and soda, will be available.

Evelyn and Bill Bates of Springs will reach a milestone on Wednesday, as they celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary. The couple, who lived in East Hampton in earlier years, have three grown children. 

Mr. Bates was active in the East Hampton Fire Department, and his wife was president of the department’s ladies auxiliary for a time. He started Bates Electric, which a son now runs. She taught Sunday school at the Springs Presbyterian Church for many years and established Red Hat Ladies groups in Florida and Springs, according to a friend, Susan Flaherty.

The Montauk Chamber of Commerce will host its annual fall festival on Saturday and Sunday on the downtown green from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Montauk Chamber of Commerce is still short $4,000 for a fireworks display scheduled for Saturday at 7 p.m. as part of the fall festival. The expected cost of the display is $16,000. The chamber issued a challenge two weeks ago to business owners, who, according to Laraine Creegan, the chamber’s director, were not too excited by it. The Montauk Fire Department and the Atlantic Terrace Motel have both donated $5,000, she said.

A new green space in which to sit, enjoy lunch, and watch the boats come and go will grace Sag Harbor next summer if a recently revitalized project maintains momentum.

The Montauk Citizens Advisory Committee discussed the quality of the sand to be used in the Army Corps of Engineers’ repair of the downtown beaches with County Legislator Jay Schneiderman and East Hampton Town Councilman Peter Van Scoyoc for over an hour on Monday, during a two-hour meeting.

Drivers have smoother roads to look forward to, but they should expect some delays when the state implements lane shifting later this month for its project to repave 15 miles of Montauk Highway between East Hampton and Montauk.

The $13.8 million New York State Department of Transportation project to repair the road between Route 114 in East Hampton and South Etna Avenue in Montauk is already under way, with drainage systems being cleaned and repaired. Resurfacing the distressed pavement with new asphalt and fresh pavement markings will begin the week of Oct. 20.

Tyler Valcich, a Montauk resident who died at age 20 in May, will be remembered by his friends and family with a Tyler Valcich Auto Show, set for Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the American Legion Hall in Amagansett. Proceeds will benefit the Tyler Valcich Memorial Fund within the Greater East Hampton Education Foundation, which provides educational opportunities to students from Montauk to Sagaponack.

Peconic Baykeeper, the not-for-profit advocate for protection of the Peconic and South Shore estuaries, has named Brady J. Wilkins as the organization’s baykeeper. Mr. Wilkins succeeds Kevin McAllister, who had served in that position for 16 years, until March.

The 2015 budget for the John Jermain Memorial Library in Sag Harbor was passed overwhelmingly on Monday.

In a 198-to-32 vote, residents of the Sag Harbor School District said yes to the approximately $2.4 million budget, which includes a 5.8-percent increase from the current budget, or a $128,723 increase over all. Taxpayers can expect about a $12 rise in their tax bills.

The East Hampton Town Trustees’ 24th annual Largest Clam Contest is set for Sunday at noon at the Donald Lamb Building in Amagansett.

The Chelberg-Battle Post of the American Legion in Sag Harbor celebrated its building’s 60th birthday on Monday night with a party, which included the dedication of a bench to a former member who helped the legion secure a home.

A fourth traffic lane and pedestrian crosswalks on Newtown Lane, along with repairs and changes on Railroad Avenue and Race and Gingerbread Lanes, were the primary topics at the East Hampton Village Board’s meeting on Friday. The design review board was also presented with an award for its effort to preserve historic buildings.

A project to resurface nearly 15 miles of Montauk Highway between East Hampton Village and Montauk is set to begin on Sept. 29. Eileen W. Peters, a spokeswoman for the New York State Department of Transportation, said the project is separate from but similar to one completed before Memorial Day in which 8.2 miles of the highway were repaved between County Road 39 in Southampton and Stephen Hand’s Path in East Hampton.

A John Jermain Memorial Library board election and vote on the library’s 2015 budget will be held Monday in Sag Harbor.

Six are running for three seats, each three-year terms starting Jan. 1. Jackie Brody, who now serves as board secretary, and Ann Lieber want to keep their seats, while Caleb Kercheval, Anne Sutphen, Susan Sabin, and Robert Hooke are challenging them. Tony Spitz, an incumbent, is not seeking re-election.

A historic property in a historic district was before the East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals at its meeting Friday when it considered an application from the Presbyterian Church for variances to add 11 parking spaces and realign its driveway. The applicant also seeks permission for the continued existence of four air-conditioning units along the rear wall of the church.

Voters from the East Hampton, Springs, and Wainscott School Districts will be eligible to vote Saturday on the 2015 East Hampton Library budget. The polling will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the library.

Next year’s spending plan of just over $2.2 million contains an $85,500 increase in expenses over 2014, a total increase in taxes of $104,000. The largest growth, about $76,486, is for salaries, benefits, insurance, and related staff costs. Facilities costs, including building and grounds keeping, rise by about $19,000.

Having seen an onslaught of development and redevelopment in recent months, the Sag Harbor Village Board passed a moratorium at its meeting Tuesday night temporarily halting construction on single-family house lots and wetlands permits for 180 days while existing laws are re-examined. The moratorium, which had been introduced last month, applies only to applications submitted after Aug. 1, and does not affect commercial properties.

For over two hours on Monday, the Montauk Citizens Advisory Committee and a slew of other residents went over the problems that have dominated conversation here this summer, mentioning the “horror” of taxicabs and the need for code enforcement. They praised the new online complaint form on East Hampton Town’s website, which Betsy Bambrick, the director of the Ordinance Enforcement Department, who attended the meeting, said was unbelievably effective. Members also heard promising reports about new taxi legislation and town efforts to solve some parking problems.