Organizacion Latino-Americana of Eastern Long Island has hired its first development and outreach associate. Itzel Nava, who grew up primarily in Southampton, is a recent graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in advertising and marketing comunications.

Ms. Nava will handle volunteer coordination, social media and marketing, community outreach, and event coordination for OLA. She joins Minerva Perez, the group’s first full-time executive director, on the staff.

Jill Malusky has been named the new executive director of the East Hampton Historical Society. She will succeed Richard Barons, who has served in that role for the last 11 years, on March 21. Mr. Barons, who announced his retirement last year, will continue in the role of curator during the transition.

Ms. Malusky is director of visitor engagement at the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill in Harrodsburg, Ky. She grew up on a historical farm in rural Ohio, and previously managed a medieval hall in England.

“I am honored that the East Hampton Historical Society has bestowed this role on me, to care for the community’s irreplaceable heritage,” Ms. Malusky said in a statement issued by the society. “I have a deep appreciation and intrinsic understanding of the importance of these things and how to preserve them for future generations. I am looking forward to discovering untold stories in the historical records, objects, and buildings to share with the community, to help them connect with hidden aspects of their heritage and draw in new audiences.”

“We are so excited to have Jill joining the staff,” Mr. Barons said in the same statement. “She brings such enthusiasm and a new perspective on promoting all of the educational possibilities for our diverse assortment of properties. Her expertise in collections and preservation is impressive and we all look forward to a great future for our past.”

Hollis Forbes, president of the historical society’s board, thanked Mr. Barons for his commitment to the society. “He will be missed, but we look forward to Jill’s joining us and the community. Exciting times are ahead of us.”

The third annual Tom Twomey Series, a program of discussions held at the East Hampton Library and honoring the late chairman of its board of managers, will commence on March 15 with “The State of Our Town,” a talk with East Hampton Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell. 

Topics covered in this year’s eight-part series are of strong interest to many residents and visitors to the South Fork: agriculture, water quality and groundwater protection, real estate and architecture, winemakers of the East End, and women’s suffrage. The series, which is free, will offer one discussion per month through October. 

Each one-hour program will take place in the Baldwin Family Lecture Room starting at 6 p.m. and including a question-and-answer session following the presentation. With the exception of the first one, all will be held on the third Thursday of the month. Reservations or tickets are not required. 

The second talk in this year’s series, on April 20, is “Farm to Table,” with Sybille van Kempen of the Loaves and Fishes food shop and Jennifer Pike of Pike Farms, both in Sagaponack. “Protecting Our Water Starts in Your Backyard,” with Edwina von Gal of the Perfect Earth Project, happens on May 18. On June 15, Diane Saatchi of Saunders and Associates, Peter Turino of Brown Harris Stevens, and John Gicking of Compass will participate in a real estate round table. 

“Leading Winemakers of the East End” will be held on July 20, featuring Kareem Massoud of Paumanok Vineyards in Aquebogue, Roman Roth of Wolffer Estate Vineyard in Sagaponack, and Kelly Urbanik Koch of Macari Vineyards in Mattituck and Cutchogue. Sarah Meyland, a water specialist and associate professor at the New York Institute of Technology, will lead “Saving Long Island’s Groundwater: Now Is the Time!” on Aug. 17. 

Anne Surchin, an architect and vice chairwoman of the Southold Landmark Preservation Commission, will discuss “From Big House to Bad House: How Authenticity Lost Its Way” on Sept. 21. The series will conclude on Oct. 19, when Arlene Hinkemeyer, a historian, and Antonia Petrash of the Long Island Woman Suffrage Association discuss “The East End, Long Island, and 100 Years of Women’s Suffrage in New York State.” 

Mr. Twomey’s sudden death, in November 2014, came just five months after the grand-opening ceremony commemorating the library’s $6.5 million expansion and renovation. A lawyer and civic leader, he had played an integral part in the years-long project, which added 6,800 square feet and houses the new children’s reading room as well as the Baldwin Family Lecture Room. 

Additional details about the series, as well as video of the 2015 and ’16 programs, are at tomtwomeyseries.org. 

The new executive director of the East Hampton Chamber of Commerce pitched two big ideas at meetings this week: a street fair on Newtown Lane in May and a Sunday farmers market on the lawn of the East Hampton Middle School this summer. 

They piqued interest but also sparked questions at the East Hampton Village and East Hampton School Boards.

The concept is good, but many details would have to be addressed if Newtown Lane were to be closed for a street fair in May, the East Hampton Village Board told Mr. Ringel last Thursday.

Mr. Ringel, who succeeded Marina Van as director in November, described a “spring celebration” with approximately 40 booths for artists and nonprofit organizations, a stage, particularly for bands, and a children’s activities area. He proposed May 20 as the date and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. as the hours.

Among the plans Mr. Ringel outlined: Newtown Lane would be closed to vehicular traffic between Main Street and Park Place, the access to the Reutershan parking lot; half of the 10-by-10-foot booths would be free to nonprofits, and the other half would be offered for a nominal fee to local artists who could sell only their own work.

“It would be a community event, for people to come down and see each other and learn about nonprofits that are available to them that they may not know about,” Mr. Ringel said. No food or alcoholic beverages would be offered, he said. “The point is to support the businesses and bring people downtown,” rather than compete with existing businesses, he said. 

Placing booths in the center of Newtown Lane would highlight the street’s brick-and-mortar shops, as opposed to a more typical setup in which booths are positioned at the sidewalks on either side. “It encourages people to shop, eat, and go to businesses,” and they, in turn, would be encouraged to offer sales and discounted meals.

Mr. Ringel said that emergency personnel and Michael Tracy, the acting chief of the Village Police Department, and all the merchants he had spoken to reacted positively. “Everyone thought it would be great to stimulate business as long as it didn’t happen during peak season.”

Emphasizing that he was speaking for himself, Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. delivered a lukewarm response. “I don’t think I or this board want to dampen your enthusiasm,” he said, but “we’re leaving the gate a little bit too early with respect to what you’d like to do at the very outset vis-a-vis the chamber.”

Mr. Ringel’s proposal that parking be prohibited on Newtown Lane during the fair, with the East Hampton Middle School parking lot open and a shuttle taking people to and from farther lots, was problematic, the mayor said, calling parking in the commercial district “a key element” for its merchants. He also wondered about village code restrictions. “I think some of these things have to be talked out a lot more,” he said. “The concept is good, but let’s start small and build on that.”

Barbara Borsack, a longtime board member, liked the idea, but wondered why May instead of the fall, “because we locals are so busy in May.” Mr. Ringel said previously scheduled events precluded other dates.

Richard Lawler, another board member, was also open to the idea, but wanted “to be sure that the entire business community that’s directly affected is on board with it.” He and Ms. Borsack agreed to serve on a committee with chamber officials to, in the mayor’s words, “make something like this work for the benefit of everyone.”

At an East Hampton School Board meeting on Tuesday, Mr. Ringel presented his proposal for a Sunday farmers market, which would run for 15 weeks starting in June. There is already a farmers market in East Hampton on Fridays in the Nick and Toni’s parking lot on North Main Street, but that is outside of village limits. The Springs farmers market has been traditionally held on Saturdays, and Bridgehampton’s Hayground School market on Fridays.

According to Mr. Ringel, the idea is to bring the community together in the heart of the village — something Montauk has successfully done with its weekly Thursday market on the downtown green. Vendors would be restricted to local farmers who “sell what they grow,” he said. As at the street fair he has proposed, there would be booths made available for nonprofit organizations.

The proposal had first been presented to the district’s superintendent, Richard Burns, and had received enthusiastic feedback.

Perhaps the biggest hook for the school board was what Mr. Ringel described as “an excellent opportunity for East Hampton students to get involved in the running of the market and in doing so, gain valuable experience in marketing, business, and commerce.”

Board members and school officials agreed they would need to investigate the proposal in detail to ensure a farmers market on school property complies with the school’s policy guidelines. Several members cited potential traffic jams on Newtown Lane during the busy summer months.

Mr. Ringel does not believe that traffic would be an issue on a Sunday. He also assured the board that the Chamber of Commerce would absorb all liability costs and that a portion of booth fees would go to the school district. Furthermore, he promised that the site would have “a lot of trash cans and a lot of [portable] bathrooms.”

The board was noncommittal, and though Mr. Ringel said he was disappointed, he intends to keep the conversation going.

February, that coldest of months, is the perfect time for chili. On Saturday afternoon, a big heaping cup sure to keep you warm will also raise money for the Springs Fire Department.

Angie Mendez, a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician, has organized a meal for which members will cook up their chili recipes between noon and 3 p.m. at the firehouse. At last count, 11 firefighters had agreed to offer up their dishes, ranging from chicken chili to spicy green to one called Bonac chili. All will be available to eat in or take away.

The $15 admission gets you two cups, and the price includes toppings, bread, and one soda or bottled water. For take away, $15 will buy one pint. The volunteers running the dinner can either pick a chili for you, or you can pick your own.

The Fire Department raises money through prime rib dinners, pancake breakfasts, and the annual Great Bonac Footrace, but this is its first chili dinner.

“We thought it would be another way to raise money for the Fire Department and a way to meet the local firemen,” Ms. Mendez said.

While money will go into the general fund, Ms. Mendez hopes some will also go toward a new public address system in the firehouse in memory of a late member, William W. Bates.

East Hampton Village is considering charging for some private parties and mass gatherings that use village beaches and other public property.

“The beach is a public beach, and we’re trying to move away from the thought process that the beach, or the Main Beach pavilion, is a catering hall, which is what we’re seeing more and more each year,” Becky Molinaro, the village administrator, told the village board last Thursday.

Ms. Molinaro recommended a $100 fee for gatherings of more than 50 people on village property, and a $500 fee for mass gathering applications from nonresidents, caterers, or other commercial applicants. “And believe it or not, we do get a lot of requests from private homeowners to use the village beach parking lots for overflow parking for their private events.”

She also proposed that anyone who asks to use a beach parking lot in that way be charged $250. Residents seeking a permit for gatherings of fewer than 50 people would not be asked to pay a fee.

“We’re now into the year 2017,” Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. said, “and as time moves forward it’s just going to become more and more incumbent on the village to have a closer handle on certain of these mass assemblage and public gathering events.”

Also at the meeting, Ms. Molinaro recommended that $250,000 from the village’s existing fund balance be moved to the compensated absence reserve fund, which allows the village to set aside money for payouts due to employees when they leave village employment, and at least $300,000 be moved to the capital reserve fund.

“If you remember,” Ms. Molinaro said of a report last month from the village’s auditors, the fund balance “increased by over $1.1 million.” That allows the village to appropriate money to the two funds, as it did last year, Ms. Molinaro said. “If you want to discuss amounts over the $550,000 between those two funds, certainly feel free to do so. But those would be the minimum amounts that I would recommend.” The board accepted her recommendation and plans to vote on it at its Friday, Feb. 17, meeting.

The board also voted to accept Obron Farber’s resignation from the planning board and to appoint Arthur Graham as the planning board’s vice chairman.

As the South Fork population and summer visitors’ numbers continue to grow, pressure on the natural environment builds. An expert panel of environmentalists and farmers assembled by The East Hampton Star’s East magazine will consider how policymakers and individuals are responding to the challenges next Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at the Mandala Yoga Center for the Healing Arts in Amagansett Square.

The central questions for the participants are whether the South Fork is a paradise lost and, if it is not quite lost yet, what can be done to save it.

On the panel will be Scott Bluedorn and Linda James of the East Hampton Town Energy Sustainability Committee, Scott Chaskey of the Peconic Land Trust’s Quail Hill Farm, Brendan Davison of Good Water Farms in East Hampton, Bill Chaleff, who is an environmental advocate and sustainable-design architect, and Bob DeLuca, president of the Group for the East End. David E. Rattray, the editor of The East Hampton Star, will be the moderator, with an introduction by Biddle Duke, East’s founding editor. Refreshments will be served..

North Haven Village residents and officials are gearing up to fight taller utility poles that PSEG-Long Island plans to erect as part of a federally funded project to strengthen the electric grid across Long Island. The village mayor has called for the utility company to bury the lines instead, and has asked for work to be suspended until the options can be weighed.

Mayor Jeff Sander announced this week that PSEG plans to replace the poles and equipment, not only on North Haven, but also in Noyac and on the Long Beach causeway between the two. It is part of a $730 million, three-year project using money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that was secured following Hurricane Sandy, when 1.1 million Long Island residents lost power. Similar projects have been completed in the Rockaways and in East Hampton.

According to Jeffrey Weir, a spokes­man, PSEG identified the poorest performing circuits across the system based on customer interruptions. “One circuit identified for mitigation was North Haven,” Mr. Weir said on Tuesday. 

Vulnerable poles along the circuit, he said, will be replaced to post-Sandy standards, with poles three to five feet taller than existing poles. They will be installed deeper into the ground to withstand up to 135-mile-per-hour winds. They are expected to last 40 years. He was not sure how many new poles would be put up, but Ed Deyermond, the village clerk, said PSEG told the village the poles would run from the South Ferry all the way across Long Beach and into areas of Noyac.

These newer poles and updated equipment, including the installation of automated switching, will help decrease the number of customers impacted by outages, too.

“The same objective could be achieved if we bury the lines,” Mayor Sander said in a letter that was distributed by Save Sag Harbor, a community organization. There is particular interest in having the lines buried on Long Beach Road.

Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman said he supports burying the lines, particularly in scenic areas like Long Beach. “You really should not mar it with giant poles. I’m completely sympathetic to North Haven’s concerns. It’s bad enough already. Don’t make it worse; make it better,” he said of the poles.

Mayor Sander called a meeting for tomorrow at 11 a.m. to discuss the project and his proposal with PSEG officials at North Haven Village. Mr. Schneiderman and State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. have been invited to attend. Mr. Weir confirmed the meeting and said it will give PSEG representatives a chance to explain the project. While the public may attend, it did not seem there would be an opportunity for public comment.

The mayor did not return a request for comment. Mr. Deyermond said he was out of town.

Farming in East Hampton is increasingly taking center stage, and there are opportunities for those interested but new to the field to get involved.

Share the Harvest Farm in East Hampton, which was formerly known as the Food Pantry Farm since it distributes produce to local food pantries, is taking applications for interns for the 2017 season and is launching a Young Farmers Training Initiative for high school students interested in organic farming.

Internship applications may be found at the farm’s website, sharetheharvestfarm.org. Those interested in the program have been asked to contact Melissa Mapes by sending an email to [email protected].

The Amagansett Food Institute, which promotes farming and food production, will match potential apprentices with local farms or food businesses. Both those looking to apprentice and those in need of such assistance can apply through the institute website at amagansettfoodinstitute.org. Through the East End Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training, or CRAFT, the organization provides support and educational opportunities for farming apprentices. Events include tours of member farms and related ventures such as vineyards, orchards, and shellfish hatcheries, along with lectures and demonstrations.

The East Hampton Village Board reduced the speed limit from 25 to 20 miles per hour on several streets and adopted a few uncontroversial laws at its first regular meeting of 2017 on Friday. However, it took no action on proposed zoning code changes.

With no public comment, the board was unanimous in voting to prohibit left turns from Pleasant Lane onto Newtown Lane and to add a one-hour time limit in designated parking spaces on Pleasant Lane. The streets that will now have 20 miles per hour speed limits are King Street, McGuirk Street, Middle Lane, Mill Hill Lane, and Meadow Way.

Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. confirmed the delay in enacting the zoning changes, saying the hearing would remain open “because of the specific content and the volume of the new language as it relates to definitions and the legislative intent.”

The three primary objectives of the proposed zoning amendments, according to Bob Hefner, the village’s director of historic services, are to create separate side and rear-yard setback requirements for accessory buildings and structures that are less restrictive than those for a principal building. The setbacks would be doubled, however, for accessory buildings and structures deemed “noise makers,” such as playing courts, swimming pools, pool equipment, and pool houses.

“This change recognizes the historical development pattern of the village, where garages and sheds are often spread out on a property, closer to the rear and side property lines than the house,” Mr. Hefner told the board. “In addition to allowing development that reflects existing neighborhood character, these new setbacks for accessory structures will greatly diminish the zoning variances sought for quite minor improvements.”

On the recommendation of the village’s planning and zoning committee, the amendments would also create a new method of calculating setbacks for narrow and shallow lots. The new method is intended to be easier and to yield more consistent results. The committee had found that current alternative setback regulations were subject to great interpretation, were difficult for the average resident to calculate, and artificially reduced the width and depth of properties, allowing too much relief for construction of principal buildings.

The amendments would also exempt parts of a house that do not contribute to its mass from the principal setbacks for a residence, instead making them subject to the proposed accessory structure setbacks. With this change, most window wells, cellar stairs, Bilco doors, exterior chimneys, stoops, and open porches would be permitted to extend beyond the principal structure’s setbacks.

“Overall,” Mr. Hefner said, “these changes make the zoning code clearer, more uniform in its application, and more reasonable.”

The mayor invited the public to comment using written or electronic correspondence. Becky Molinaro, the village administrator, said after the meeting that the board would accept comment until its next  regular meeting, on Feb. 17.

Also at the meeting, the board scheduled a special election on June 20 to fill a one-year term on the board of the late Elbert Edwards. The mayor had appointed Philip O’Connell to the post, but because Mr. Edwards died in the midst of a four-year term, Mr. O’Connell must stand for election.

The board also voted to accept the retirement of Dan Reichl, a code enforcement officer. Mayor Rickenbach spoke of Mr. Reichl’s “sterling record of 13 years of service” and called him “a hard act to follow with respect to the discipline and the caring” that he brought to his work.