The Sag Harbor Village Board brought its code in line with a state law on hunting last week, authorizing bowhunting on private property with the owner’s permission.

The Jan. 10 decision came after hunters challenged a bowhunting ban the board had enacted two years ago. On advice of counsel, the board decided against continuing the ban because it was inconsistent with New York’s Environmental Conservation Law. The Department of Environmental Conservation’s regulations on bowhunting allow the discharge of a long bow on private property as long as it is 150 feet from a house.

Also during its monthly meeting last week, the board approved a law that reduces the speed limit on most streets in the historic district from 25 to 20 miles per hour.

The Village of East Hampton is once again the recipient of an upbeat assessment of its fiscal health.

Michael Tomicich, director of governmental services at the accounting firm Satty, Levine, and Ciacco, reported his firm’s unqualified, or clean, opinion to the village board at its work session last Thursday.

“This means the financial statements present fairly the financial position of the governmental activities and each major fund of the village” as of July 31, the end of its fiscal year, he said.

In the fiscal year ending on July 31, revenues of $21.716 million exceeded budget projections by $1.654 million, with license and permit fees, fines and forfeited bail, and state and federal aid accounting for most of the difference, Mr. Tomicich said.

Expenditures were $21.079 million. “Most expenditures were less on each line” in the budget, he said. As a result of lower-than-projected expenditures and higher-than-projected revenues, the village was able to move $500,000 into its employee benefit reserve fund, Mr. Tomicich said, and transfer an additional $1.2 million to the capital projects fund.

The village’s unassigned fund balance is $5.796 million, $268,000 more than last year, Mr. Tomicich told the board. The village has a “very strong” unrestricted cash position of $6.586 million, he said. Restricted cash, which is reserved for capital projects and employee benefits, totaled $642,555.

The village lowered its debt by $850,000 in principal payments, which reduced the current serial bonds outstanding as of July 31 to $6.635 million, he said. Payments to retirees for health insurance last year totaled $611,462, with a total liability for postemployment benefits of $4.879 million over the next 30 years.

“We noted no transactions entered into by the village for which there was a lack of guidance. . . . There were no disagreements with management, and no difficulties encountered with the audit, as usual,” Mr. Tomicich said. Nor did his firm identify any deficiencies in internal control or financial reporting. “The village received clean opinion, and you’re in perfect shape,” he said.

“This is a compliment as to how the village conducts itself vis-a-vis fiduciary and fiscal matters,” Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. said at the conclusion of the presentation. He acknowledged Becky Molinaro, the village administrator, and accounting personnel. “We have always attempted to be very mindful of tax dollars as they’re derived, and other avenues of income, trying to put back out to the public we serve the very best product we can,” he said.

Also at the meeting, Ms. Molinaro told the board that LTV has agreed to film and broadcast meetings of the village’s planning and design review boards. The board had recently renewed the village’s contract with LTV but hoped to add coverage of those groups. In order to accommodate audio and video recording, the design review board will move its meeting site from Village Hall to the Emergency Services Building.

At its last meeting of the year on Friday, the East Hampton Village Board scheduled a public hearing next month on a significant amendment to the zoning code and other hearings on a few parking and traffic issues.

The proposed zoning amendment is designed to reduce the mass of houses on small lots, a change similar to amendments adopted in 2015 that were aimed at houses on parcels of one acre or more. The amendment is based on recommendations from the planning and zoning committee, which were detailed in a November presentation by Billy Hajek, the village planner.

According to the committee, a review of the zoning code revealed that alternative setbacks, which now provide some relief for owners of small or unusually shaped lots without the need for variances, are reducing the width and depth of properties, are subject to broad interpretation, and are difficult to calculate.

 Under the proposed amendment, alternative side and rear-yard setbacks for principal structures will be eliminated and setbacks will be calculated strictly on the size of each lot.

The legislation also introduces separate setbacks for accessory buildings that are less restrictive than those for a principal structure. These would allow property owners greater flexibility, in keeping with the legislative intent.

Also scheduled for public hearing are proposals that would add a one-hour limit for designated parking spaces on Pleasant Lane near Newtown Lane, and prohibit a left turn from Pleasant Lane into Newtown Lane. Another hearing will focus on the proposed reduction of the speed limit on King Street, McGuirk Street, Middle Lane, Mill Hill Lane, and Meadow Way from 25 to 20 miles per hour.

All of the proposals, which are scheduled for Jan. 20 hearings, had been discussed in prior board meetings.

In other business, the board heard a summary of recent East Hampton Town Anti-Bias Task Force activities, presented by Councilwoman Sylvia Overby. Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr., who is a member of the task force, said the group “represents the fact that both East Hampton Town and East Hampton Village are inclusive communities, not exclusive. I give every assurance of my continued support.” Ms Overby’s presentation is covered on page A14.

The mayor concluded the meeting with holiday greetings. “Looking to the New Year, may it be a much better year for all of us,” he said.

Craig Dershowitz, the founder of Artists 4 Israel, a nonprofit that uses the arts to “beautify the land, uplift the people, and enhance the understanding of Israel through creative humanitarian aid projects,” according to its website, will talk about his organization’s work in a public program on Sunday at 10 a.m. at the Jewish Center of the Hamptons. 

Artists 4 Israel partners with a variety of artists, with a focus on “contemporary, urban, and disruptive arts,” to achieve its mission while showing support for Israel and Israelis affected by the ongoing conflicts there, particularly along the Gaza border. 

Mr. Dershowitz received a special commendation from the prime minister of Israel and has been awarded the key to the City of Sderot. 

Among the organization’s projects is an effort called Healing Ink, which takes tattoo artists from around the world to Israel to tattoo wounded Israeli soldiers to cover scars caused by war or acts of terrorism or violence. Another initiative has graffiti artists lending their talents to decorate homes, schools, and community centers damaged in violent conflict. 

After Mr. Dershowitz’s talk for adults on Sunday, children in the Jewish Center’s Gates of Learning Hebrew school will help assemble Healing Arts Kits for Artists 4 Israel to distribute in Sderot. That town, according to Edina Segal, the center’s director of Jewish education and family engagement, is the one most traumatized by the ongoing conflict along the Gaza border. The kits were developed by Mr. Dershowitz with mental health professionals, art therapists, parents, and teachers to allow children suffering from trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder to express themselves and heal through creative projects. 

The heavily tattooed founder of Artists 4 Israel may not seem the typical speaker for the Jewish Center, but Ms. Segal is confident that adults who come to hear him as well as the young people who work with him afterward will be impressed. “He does incredible work,” she said on Tuesday. 

Ms. Segal, a dual Israeli and American citizen, came to the Jewish Center this summer and has set about enlivening its youth and family programming over the past several months. “It’s not your grandmother’s religious school,” she said. “If you ever want your child to be uninterested in Judaism, just send them to your grandmother’s Hebrew school.” 

The center’s religious school is now teaching not only prayer book Hebrew, but modern-day conversational Hebrew. Children are learning the Hebrew alphabet through yoga poses and how the concepts of yoga relate to Judaism and vice versa.

“Another strong aspect of what we’re doing is taking the weekly Torah portion and helping students apply them to their daily life,” Ms. Segal said.

A light breakfast will be served during Mr. Dershowitz’s talk from 10 to 11 a.m. 

The East Hampton Village Board is poised to lower the speed limit on five streets from 25 to 20 miles per hour, following a discussion at its work session last Thursday. 

Village officials had asked Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. and State Senator Kenneth LaValle to sponsor legislation that would allow the village to reduce the limits on certain roadways below 25 m.p.h., which only the state can do. Last month, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed the bill, which also applies to Sag Harbor Village. 

The five streets where the limit would be lowered, following a public hearing, are King Street, McGuirk Street, Middle Lane, Mill Hill Lane, and Meadow Way. In Sag Harbor Village, the streets under consideration are Main Street, Bay Street, Madison Street, and Jermain Avenue.

Barbara Borsack, a member of the board, asked if Main Street could have been included in the law. It is a state highway, said Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr., and “we’d have a lot of difficulty there.” 

The state, said Becky Molinaro, the village administrator, had balked at allowing a municipality the authority to lower the speed limit on any roadway it chose, instead asking for specific streets. “These were ones that the board had discussed and has asked the state to look at,” she said. “They wanted specific streets, and they wanted those streets where traffic-calming measures could not be implemented. . . .” She said that the board could ask Mr. Thiele about including Main Street when the Assembly reconvenes in January. 

Mayor Rickenbach told the gathering that the board had received a letter inquiring about reducing Main Street to two lanes from four in the central business district. “I know that there is some resistance with respect to some members of the board to allow that to happen,” he said, but he recommended commissioning a traffic study and asking Chief Gerard Larsen of the Police Department for accident statistics. “I think we owe it to the public to at least have that discussion,” he said. 

Richard Janis asked the board if a stop sign could be erected at the intersection of King Street, where he lives, and Railroad Avenue, which he called narrow, congested, and hazardous to pedestrians, including children walking to and from school. “Anything we can do, in addition to the 20-miles-an-hour sign, to slow it down would be great,” he said. The mayor said that the board would consider his request and discuss it with the police and public works departments. 

The board also voted to execute a new two-year agreement with LTV, which broadcasts meetings of the village board and the zoning board of appeals. The contract took effect as of last Thursday. 

Ms. Borsack asked whether LTV might expand its coverage to include the planning and design review boards. The design review board meets at Village Hall, where there is no audio-video infrastructure, so recording and broadcasting its meetings might require a move to the main meeting room at the Emergency Services Building, where audio-video is in place. The planning board presently meets in the ambulance meeting room at the Emergency Services Building. 

The board could ask LTV to include coverage of those bodies, Ms. Molinaro said, but “I would anticipate, if they are going to be doing more coverage, that would be for an additional fee.” Mayor Rickenbach asked her to look into the added coverage, for which the board would have to authorize an addendum contract.

Representatives of the Maidstone Club continued to press the contention that constructing a wooden bridge spanning a narrow section of Hook Pond north of Dunemere Lane is essential to public safety when the East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals met on Friday. 

The private club seeks permits and variances to construct a 352-foot-long bridge to connect the second tee to its fairway, David Dubin, an attorney representing the club, told the board. He said the shared use of the existing stone bridge on Dunemere Lane by motor vehicles, bicyclists, pedestrians, golfers, and caddies is particularly unsafe in the summer. Citing traffic counts and a letter in support from East Hampton Village Police Chief Gerard Larsen, he called the proposed bridge, which would be approximately 140 feet north of Dunemere Lane, “the most logical, functional, and safest solution for a very dangerous condition.” 

Drew Bennett, a consultant for the club, said the club’s plan to clear 2,490 square feet of vegetation and construct gravel paths for golf carts had been abandoned. In response to concerns about an adverse environmental impact on the pond, he said stainless steel would be used to attach the bridge’s timbers. 

Widening the existing bridge, which is owned and maintained by Suffolk County, is not viable, Mr. Bennett said. “Once you begin to modify a bridge like that . . . you will likely trigger requirements to modernize the bridge,” he said. “In summary, we found it is a very complicated project” that “may have some unintended impacts.”

Constructing a bridge abutting the existing one, as some board members had suggested, was not possible, he said, as an abutment of rocks or riprap supports it. At a minimum, he said, the new bridge would have to be 17 feet north of the existing one. 

Rob Herrmann, an environmental consultant to the board, said that the proposed location, over a narrow span of the pond, was “almost exactly where you would put it” if minimizing impacts on the freshwater marshland was the sole criterion. But he also told the board that the bridge’s 42 pilings would displace some wetlands and that its construction would disturb adjacent vegetation. The bridge could also prevent sunlight from reaching the vegetation beneath it, he said. 

Should the board approve the project, Mr. Herrmann recommended it prohibit pressure-treated wood, from which toxins could leach into the water. “In an area like this without tidal flushing, that would be of particular concern,” he said. He also suggested the board require limited disturbance and a revegetation plan.

Some board members continued to oppose the proposal, worrying about the permanent effect on the vista and the potential impact on wildlife in and around the pond. The board received several letters both supporting and opposing the proposal, but many of the former were from members of the club. “Getting a club member who’s a golfer to write a letter and say things like, ‘The bridge will not interfere with or in any way disrupt the natural habitat of the life of Hook Pond’ is a little bit suspicious,” said Lys Marigold, the Z.B.A. vice chairwoman. She identified the author of a letter in favor of the project as “a lawyer in New York that does deals between mining companies” and “not exactly somebody who would influence me that it won’t disrupt it in any way.” 

Dianne Benson, chairwoman of the Ladies Village Improvement Society’s nature trail committee, likened the area to “a zoo without cages and keepers, a botanic garden without gardeners,” and read a letter from Dell Cullum, a village resident and wildlife removal specialist. 

Construction of a new bridge, he wrote, “interferes with the nesting areas of ducks, swans, herons, and more,” and “could destroy the habitat of turtles, frogs, and salamanders.” The section of the pond, Ms. Benson said, is also a favorite spawning location for carp and a habitat for muskrats. “To jeopardize what little natural habitat we have left just to serve the needs of golfers . . . seems to be almost incomprehensible,” she said. “Most every nature and environment enthusiast that I have talked to in this village feels the same.” 

Christopher Minardi, a member of the board, asked for further exploration of widening the existing bridge rather than constructing a new one. “Most of us wouldn’t be here to see it,” John McGuirk, a member of the board, said, referring to how long it would take the county to act should it agree to do so. “My kids would be,” Mr. Minardi replied. 

Frank Newbold, the board’s chairman, said the hearing would remain open pending receipt of more realistic renderings of the bridge, a revised site plan and details of any design modifications and a revegetation plan. 

In other business at the meeting, five applications were approved. David Geffen, the film and music executive, was granted variances allowing extensive work at 199 Lily Pond Lane, including alterations to the principal residence and a cottage, expansion of a patio, construction of paved areas, alterations to decking, and installation of pool fencing and new retaining walls. Mr. Geffen also received a variance allowing the floor area in the principal residence to exceed the maximum in the village code by 790 square feet. Conditions included compliance with architectural, vegetation, construction, erosion control, and drainage plans, and submission of a survey to demonstrate that the dune topography was maintained. 

The board granted variances to Michael Fisch, the chief executive of American Securities, allowing construction of retaining walls,  landscape blocks, regrading, and landscaping within and south of the 25-foot setback from the 20-foot contour line of the ocean dune at 174 Further Lane. Mr. Fisch must implement a revegetation plan and cannot install irrigation or apply fertilizers or pesticides within the revegetated area. 

Edward Conard, a former managing director of Bain Capital, was granted variances and a wetlands permit to remove and plant vegetation, regrade,  and alter and construct retaining walls within required setbacks at 30 West End Road. Mr. Conard must comply with a buffer landscaping plan and forego the use of pesticides or fertilizers in the buffer. 

The board granted Arthur Ganz of 26 Gay Lane variances allowing two air-conditioning units to remain within side and rear-yard setbacks. Lastly, a Nassau County developer called Becca Real Estate Holdings was granted a variance to allow a slate walkway to remain within the front property line at 181 Montauk  Highway. 

The federal government has selected the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to compete for the right to develop a new wind energy site off Long Island’s coast, a move Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo called a significant development in the state’s goal to generate 50 percent of its electricity supply from renewable sources by 2030.

A 79,000-acre designated wind energy site is approximately 12 miles south of Long Island, off the Rockaway Peninsula. The site’s developer will be selected through a Dec. 15 lease auction that will be administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. If NYSERDA is selected as the developer, the area will be studied and characterized, and then bundled with a power purchase mechanism with a project developer through a competitive selection process. 

“The development of Long Island’s vast offshore wind resources will further strengthen New York’s place at the forefront of the clean energy revolution,” Mr. Cuomo said in a statement issued on Friday. “NYSERDA’s selection as a qualified bidder for the development of these resources is a testament to our efforts to not only effectively provide residents with clean, affordable energy, but also build a thriving economy off the development of that power.”

The agency will ensure that any offshore wind developed in the state will be at the lowest possible cost for consumers, according to the statement, while protecting the environment and considering and communicating with stakeholders, including the fishing and maritime industries. 

Mr. Cuomo announced the state’s intention to put forth a comprehensive offshore wind strategy in his 2016 State of the State address, which included development of an Offshore Wind Master Plan to coordinate involved agencies. The state’s Offshore Wind Blueprint was released in September to establish a framework for the responsible development of offshore wind energy generation. The entire plan is expected to be completed by the end of next year.

NYSERDA was one of six states and organizations awarded $592,683 by the U.S. Department of Energy’s State Energy Program last year to advance offshore wind market development through multistate cooperation. 

Historic structures were afforded greater protection when the East Hampton Village Board adopted a code amendment on Friday, and two long-serving members of the community were honored. 

Following a public hearing, the board gave unanimous approval to an amendment that will tighten the design review board’s oversight of the demolition of all or part of designated historic buildings. The amendment refers to pre-1880 timber framing, which would have to be maintained in any renovation. 

East Hampton’s first settlers brought the craft of timber-frame construction from England in 1648, Robert Hefner, the village’s director of historic services, said, explaining that it continued here for more than 200 years.

Approximately 70 buildings in the village have 18th and 19th-century timber frames, he said, constituting the most outstanding collection on Long Island. “This is one of East Hampton’s oldest and most distinguished craft traditions,” he said. 

The board had adopted a historic preservation ordinance and designated the Main Street historic district in 1986. Mr. Hefner said it had proven inadequate, however. “It was assumed that if a building were maintained and not torn down, that it would essentially remain in its entirety. No one foresaw the trend, that is just developing now, 30 years later, for the renovation of a designated 18th and 19th century building to include removal of substantial parts of the timber frame.”

  Such a renovation, he said, can result in “an empty shell that looks from the outside like the same building, but has really lost its meaning, its history, and its authenticity.” Now is the time, he said, to clarify that “demolition includes removal of all or part of a structural timber frame of these early buildings.” 

It was noted that the village’s zoning board of appeals had granted approval of a major renovation of the Isaac W. Miller House at 223 Main Street on Oct. 14, attaching a condition that the design review board be involved in decisions about removing or replacing any timber framing, which the property owner agreed to retain.

 Mr. Hefner said after the meeting that in the course of reviewing that application, “the board realized that the kind of clarification the amendment achieves would be very helpful in review of future projects.” 

At the beginning of the meeting, a moment of silence was observed for Elbert T. Edwards, a village board trustee who died on Oct. 6. Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. read a statement honoring him as “a valued member of our village family” whose legacy “cannot be expressed in words. . . . We cherish his friendship and numerous contributions, which have made our lives much more fulfilling.”

An obituary in which Mr. Edwards was praised by colleagues for his almost 40 years on the board appeared in The East Hampton Star on Oct. 13. The mayor is expected to appoint an interim trustee next month, who would have to stand for election in June to continue in the post. 

The board also recognized Ruth Appelhof, who recently retired after 16 years as the executive director of Guild Hall. Andrea Grover succeeded her last month.

With Ms. Appelhof on hand, the mayor described a “wonderful working relationship the village has always had with ‘Dr. Ruth,’ ” calling her “extremely professional, very proficient, at the same time sprinkled with a lot of common sense.” In the words of a proclamation he then read, the mayor expressed “gratitude for the dedication and vision put forth by Ruth Appelhof throughout her tenure at Guild Hall.”

Ms. Appelhof called her years at Guild Hall an “amazing experience” and said, “I have never had a better time in my life.”  She noted that Enez Whipple, who preceded her, “called Guild Hall an adventure in the arts and it certainly has been for me.” 

She thanked Guild Hall’s staff, several of whom also were in attendance, as well as the village board and the community, all of whom she said were “instrumental in our success.” The cultural center’s staff and budget had tripled since her arrival, she said, “and our programming has been enriched.” 

“The future of Guild Hall is in all of your hands, and in the hands of this fair Village of East Hampton,” she said.

The people who run the East Hampton Food Pantry, who were notified earlier this year that the pantry would have to vacate its headquarters at the Windmill Village housing complex on Accabonac Road in East Hampton, have announced a move to the Hampton Country Day Camp at 191 Buckskill Road, also in East Hampton.

The move will begin on Saturday, and the pantry will open on Nov. 1. Distribution of food will happen on Tuesdays from 1 to 6 p.m. until May 2. Pantry representatives are seeking donations of food as well as money as they anticipate a significant need throughout the coming winter.

A grand opening of the temporary headquarters is scheduled for Nov. 1 at 12:30 p.m. Donors, volunteers, and other members of the community have been invited to attend.

A free workshop on sustainable practices for house and garden will be held on Sunday at 10 a.m. at the Nature Conservancy on Route 114 in East Hampton. The Perfect Earth Project has organized a program that will include a chance for individual conversations about one’s own landscape needs with leading designers and plant specialists.

Those taking part will learn how to design and maintain their properties without synthetic pesticides and fertilizers dangerous for human health and the environment. There will be information on toxin-free landscaping, nitrogen-reducing septic technology, and other steps homeowners can take to improve water quality. Copies of a free guide to watershed-wise gardening will be distributed.

One-on-one consulting will be available from Ed Hollander, Abby Lawless, Tony Piazza, Geoffrey Nimmer, Jim Grimes of Fort Pond Native Plants, and Edwina von Gal. Registration has been requested by phone at 631-907-9040 or at perfectearthproject.org.