Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has signed legislation granting the Village of Sag Harbor authority over waterways beyond the present 1,500-foot boundary, expanding its jurisdictional reach into an additional area in East Hampton Town waters. The legislation’s intent is to regulate moorings and anchored vessels in the area outside the breakwater.

The East Hampton Town Trustees, responding to a request from representatives of Sag Harbor Village’s harbor committee, gave their formal support to the bill in March after agreeing on wording to be inserted into it asserting the trustees’ continued ownership of waterways and bottomlands within the town’s boundaries while granting expanded jurisdiction to the village. State Senator Kenneth P. LaValle and Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. sponsored the legislation.

John Parker of the village’s waterways advisory committee had told the trustees that the area had become chaotic because of a large increase in the number and variety of transient vessels, with some sinking and washing up on the breakwater or Havens Beach and spilling debris, fuel, or other contaminants. Boats outside the harbormaster’s jurisdiction had also been improperly discharging sewage, Mr. Parker said.  

East Hampton Village’s zoning board of appeals is likely to grant a freshwater wetlands permit to the East Hampton Town Trustees allowing the trustees to use village-owned property at the end of Cove Hollow Road for access, staging, and dewatering the spoil from a proposed dredging of the Georgica Cove portion of Georgica Pond, following a brief hearing on Friday.

But securing a wetlands permit from the State Department of Environmental Conservation, which is also required, is not going as smoothly, the trustees complained at their meeting on Monday.

The pond has suffered from blooms of cyanobacteria, or toxic blue-green algae, in the past several years, prompting the trustees to close it to the harvesting of crabs and other marine life for much of the summer. The proposed dredging of approximately 378 cubic yards of material from the Georgica Cove section of the pond has multiple objectives: to improve water circulation, remove excess nutrients that are believed to promote harmful algal blooms, and restore access for baymen and recreational users.

Bruce Horwith, a conservation biologist who acted as agent for the trustees before the zoning board, said that the collected sediment, or spoil, would remain at the dewatering site for about a month before it could be transported offsite for disposal. He told the board that the Friends of Georgica Pond Foundation, a group of pond-front property owners, would pay for the dredging project and restore the area as needed after its completion. Project-limiting fence would be installed between the dewatering pile and the pond, he said.

Mr. Horwith provided the board with illustrations of the low-ground-pressure machinery to be used, “but the reality is that we don’t know when this work will be done or what the condition of the pond will be at that point,” so different equipment could ultimately be used. The work would not be performed between April 1 and Sept. 1, he said.

Frank Newbold, the zoning board’s chairman, said that the board shared his concern for the health of the pond, and before the hearing was closed asked if the project was likely to happen before the fall of 2017. “There’s no reason, at least on paper, that it couldn’t still be done this year,” Mr. Horwith replied, but the D.E.C. is “slow to respond.”

A D.E.C. spokeswoman provided a letter yesterday stating that the permit application is complete and a technical review has begun. The agency sent a notice of the completed application to Mr. Horwith, as agent for the applicant, last Thursday, instructing him to publish it in The Star next week, as public comment must be solicited. A final decision will be rendered following proof of publication, the letter said. 

But Mr. Horwith and Francis Bock, the trustees’ clerk, expressed frustration that requests for an on-site meeting with D.E.C. officials have been rebuffed. Such a meeting would be useful to bridge what they feel is a disconnect between the D.E.C.’s understanding of the application and the proposed excavation’s objectives.

Mr. Horwith cited a stand of phragmites that has clogged the upper reaches of the cove, which the agency classifies as a tidal wetland. “They seem to be treating this as if it’s primarily a project whose objective is to remove phragmites — that is definitely not our main objective,” he said of the D.E.C. “I’m not sure why they’ve focused on treating this as phragmites removal which, from our point of view, is incidental.”

Regardless of its classification, “We’re not disputing whatever the D.E.C. claims it to be,” Mr. Horwith said. “The issue is, they’re saying because of the fact that there is vegetation in this ‘tidal wetlands,’ as they designate it, and vegetation is preferable to no vegetation, they’re not disposed to approve a project that removes phragmites and doesn’t replant vegetation in its place. That makes sense if you’re talking about clearing phragmites on the shoreline, but it makes no sense if you’re trying to open a channel.”

“They don’t know the pond,” Mr. Bock told his colleagues on the trustee board. “To them, it’s a drawing on a map.”

The proposed renovation of a historic timber-frame house opposite Town Pond drew mostly praise from members of the East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals on Friday. 

Frank J. Jackson is seeking a freshwater wetlands permit and variances to renovate the Isaac W. Miller House at 223 Main Street and install a new septic system, which would be closer to the pond than is permitted by code. He also needs variances to convert a portion of a garage and potting shed that straddles the rear-yard lot line into a pool house.

The architect Aymar Embury purchased the house, which is more than 300 years old, in 1927, according to Robert Hefner, the village’s director of historic services. Embury added a brick porch on the south wall and a small rear wing that would presently be removed and replaced with a larger addition. The renovated house would retain many important features, but would be 378 square feet larger than the maximum permitted by code.

In a July letter to the village’s design review board, which would also have to approve the project, Mr. Hefner called the house “a historic building of the first order of significance,” one of three in the Main Street historic district to retain its 18th-century saltbox form, along with the Mulford Farm and the Home, Sweet Home Museum. It is adjacent to the Thomas Moran House, the home and studio of the renowned artist and a National Historic Landmark that is itself undergoing renovation.

On Friday, Frank Newbold, the board’s chairman, agreed with Leonard Ackerman, representing the applicant, that the proposed project represents “a very positive step for the village, to adapt a 300-year-old dwelling for the lifestyle people live today.”

The new septic system would replace one installed in 1927. It could be placed in a conforming location toward the rear of the property, Mr. Newbold said, but the applicant would like to restore a historic garden there. The size and shape of the converted garage would remain the same, said David Hottenroth, the project’s architect.

Larry Hillel, a board member, worried that the variance allowing excess floor area, combined with a portion of the basement that would be used for living space, would add undue density to the house and neighborhood. But on balance, Mr. Ackerman said, “granting a 367-square-foot variance is not detrimental in terms of what the community and the village is going to end up with,” while Mr. Newbold said the house was on a very constrained lot and that its owner had agreed to protect the original timber frame.

His colleagues agreed. The hearing was closed, and a determination is likely at the board’s next meeting, on Oct. 14.

A new hearing on a prior application, one on which the board had cast a more skeptical eye, was this time warmly received.

David Geffen, the music and film executive, had sought extensive alterations, all seaward of the coastal erosion hazard area line, to his two-acre oceanfront property at 199 Lily Pond Lane. He purchased the property for $70 million from the estate of Josephine Chaus in March, and was planning to spend another $1.9 million on renovations, including converting a covered patio into a finished cellar, adding a 1,045-square-foot garage with a roof terrace onto the house, expanding a swimming pool patio, constructing walkways, patios, steppingstones, pool fencing, and retaining walls, replacing existing air-conditioning units and adding another unit, and filling and grading the land.

His proposed renovation still requires a coastal erosion hazard area permit and multiple variances to make alterations to decking and allow lot coverage and floor area greater than permitted by code, but Mr. Ackerman, also representing Mr. Geffen, detailed the new application’s significantly reduced plans.

In response to the board’s request, all the existing air-conditioning units, pool equipment, and a surrounding wood wall will be removed, Mr. Ackerman said, and native vegetation will be planted in the area. The proposed attached garage has been reduced so that it will not expand beyond the perimeter of the main residence, a pool patio has been cut back from 365 to 107 square feet, and the walkways have been withdrawn from the application.

Wary of the illegal conversion of accessory structures to habitable space, the board had objected to a garage, attached to an existing cottage on the property, that has French doors, no driveway, and gardens in the path of vehicle access. The gardens have been removed, Mr. Ackerman said, while the garage doors will be replaced and vehicle access maintained.

A proposed deck platform leading to the beach has been reduced to four feet in width, and a pool fence will be moved 15.6 feet landward and beach grass planted between it and the edge of the dune.

“You’ve been very responsive to all of our concerns,” Mr. Newbold said. In an application such as this one, he said, “we’re wanting to do everything we can for the health of the dune. I think your client has made mitigation in exchange for the variances requested.” The hearing was closed.

Two determinations were announced at the meeting. Munib Islam, who owns the adjoining lots of 40 Lee Avenue and 90 Georgica Road, was granted variances to allow a tennis court, pergola, steps, and a retaining wall at the latter property, despite the parcel having no principal building as required by code. The board also granted Mr. Islam variances allowing construction of a 10,962-square-foot house on the Lee Avenue parcel, where 9,283 feet of floor area is the maximum permitted, as well as a pool house that falls within side and rear-yard setbacks. The house will replace one that is being demolished.

The board granted the Jonathan Alan Sawyer 2008 Irrevocable Trust and the Linda Sonia Sawyer 2008 Irrevocable Trust a wetlands permit and variances to convert an accessory building to a pool house within the wetlands setback at 122 Georgica Close Road. The pool house will be larger and taller than permitted by code. As a condition, no indoor shower may be installed in the pool house.

Voters in Bridgehampton and Sagaponack on Saturday approved the Hampton Library’s 2017 budget of approximately $1.67 million. The final tally from Bridgehampton voters was 40 to 3 in favor, while those in Sagaponack approved it 17 to 0.

On the table was a $15,880 tax levy increase for Bridgehampton residents and a $15,103 increase for Sagaponack residents, which will amount to an average tax increase of $2.76 per household for the entire year, according to the library. The largest spending increases come from programs and personnel costs, including what has been described as a “modest raise” for employees. They will be partially offset, however, by savings in buildings and grounds expenditures, which the library has achieved following the installation of a new, more efficient heating and ventilation system.

Four people running unopposed were elected to the library board: Sandra Ferguson, Matthew Rojano, Tom White, and Sarah Stenn.

Lovers of clams and clam competitions take note: The East Hampton Town Trustees will host their annual Largest Clam Contest on Oct. 2 at noon at the Donald Lamb Building on Bluff Road in Amagansett. The rain date is Oct. 9.

From Saturday through Oct. 1, adults and juniors ages 4 to 14 can take mega-clams dug from Lake Montauk, Three Mile Harbor, Napeague Harbor, or Accabonac Harbor to any of four seafood markets to be entered in the contest. They are the Amagansett Seafood Store, Gosman’s Fish Market in Montauk, the Seafood Shop in Wainscott, and Stuart’s Seafood Market, also in Amagansett.

Winners will be selected for the largest clam taken by both adults and juniors from the four water bodies, as well as the largest clam over all. A clam chowder competition is also in store, with judges set to determine the best red, white, and overall concoction. Winners will receive prizes donated from sponsoring shops and restaurants.

The trustees are still accepting donations, such as gift certificates for merchandise or services, from local merchants. Rules for the contest are available at the trustees’ office at the Lamb Building.

As in years past, East Hampton Town Councilman Fred Overton will serve his renowned Bonac chowder, and there will be free clams on the half shell as well.

  Also at the contest, Barley Dunne, director of the East Hampton Town Shellfish Hatchery, will explain the hatchery’s work. Members of the East End Classic Boat Society, which meets at the Hartjen-Richardson Community Boat Shop near the trustees’ office on Bluff Road, will display the Pooduck skiff it constructed this year. Members of the society will sell raffle tickets for the 12-foot, 10-inch skiff, which includes a trailer.

“I’m thrilled to be organizing this year’s Largest Clam Contest,” Tyler Armstrong, a first-term trustee, said on Monday. “It’s a way to bring the community together, both young and old, to celebrate an important part of our local heritage, as well as the bounty of East Hampton’s waters.”

Last year’s contest was held in November, after a six-week postponement due to Hurricane Joaquin. Susan Ceslow was the overall winner as well as the adult winner for Napeague Harbor, where she harvested a 2-pound, 6.3-ounce behemoth. Ethan Stillwach, a winner in previous contests, won in Napeague Harbor’s youth category.

Wayne Fenelon took the honors for largest clam harvested from Accabonac Harbor, while Evvy Rattray’s entry won in that harbor’s youth division. Cliff Keyes was a winner in Three Mile Harbor’s adult category, and Richie Maio was the youth winner. In Lake Montauk, Gwen O’Donnell took the adult honor and Curran O’Donnell was tops in the youth category.

A chowder created by Ken Dodge of Amagansett was honored as the contest’s finest last year, with honorable mention going to Bob Kostalek.

The East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals appears likely to grant a variance allowing the owner of adjacent properties to construct a tennis court, retaining wall, and steps on a parcel that does not have a principal building, which the village code requires.

At its meeting on Friday, the board considered an application from Munib Islam, a partner at the investment firm Third Point, who owns 40 Lee Avenue and 90 Georgica Road. It also heard from representatives of the real estate investor Eric Rudin, of 96 Georgica Road, a neighbor who argued against it.

Mr. Islam also needs variances to construct a 10,962-square-foot residence at the three-acre Lee Avenue parcel, where 9,283 square feet of floor area is the maximum permitted, and to construct a pool house partly within the required side-yard setback. The tennis court, retaining wall, and steps are planned at the adjacent, 1.2-acre Georgica Road parcel. The retaining wall and steps would also be within the side-yard setback.

The Lee Avenue parcel has a pre-existing nonconforming residence, which will be torn down, as well as a detached garage, swimming pool, and pool house that is almost 900 square feet and contains a kitchen and two full bathrooms. It also has two accessory cottages. All are nonconforming, and “virtually all of these nonconformities will be removed in connection with the redevelopment of the property,” said Andrew Goldstein, an attorney representing Mr. Islam who is a former chairman of the board of appeals.

While Mr. Islam’s 1,679-square-foot variance request for the proposed house is “fairly substantial,” Frank Newbold, the board’s chairman, said, the overall coverage will be reduced. Elimination of the cottages, each with three bedrooms and three bathrooms, and the pool house, which is almost four times larger than the maximum permitted for accessory structures other than garages, “goes a long way in terms of mitigation,” he said.

The adjacent lots are owned by affiliated corporations under Mr. Islam’s control. A tennis court on a lot without a principal structure “is not unknown to this neighborhood,” Mr. Goldstein said, citing two instances in which the board permitted one despite the code. The board approved those applications because “the evil associated with a tennis court on a property without a house” — its use by people unaffiliated with the property — “was not going to happen” in the village, he said.

Mr. Islam’s alternative, Mr. Goldstein said, was to build a house on the vacant property, negating the need for a variance. He will not do that, Mr. Goldstein said, emphasizing the village’s call for less density.

Karen Golden, representing Mr. Rudin, saw it differently. Mr. Islam, she said, “wants to put a tennis court there now and say, ‘We’re conforming with the village’s reduction-in-density program, but at any time we choose we can erect a primary structure there.’ Therefore this argument fails.”

She said the application should be for a use variance rather than an area variance. “They’re trying to put an unaccepted structure on a vacant parcel. It seems to me they’re trying to have their cake and eat it too, in trying to take a vacant parcel that is intended for residential use . . . and keep it separate for the sole purpose of retaining the ability to sell it in the future.”

Mr. Islam could merge the properties and have his tennis court, she said. “To do it in this manner is, in my opinion, looking to change and set precedent in this neighborhood and this area as to how people can manipulate their property.”

Mr. Newbold disagreed. He said Mr. Islam would like to keep the parcels separate to retain greater value. “It has existed as part of this compound this way for decades,” he said, and “the applicant has the right to put a substantial house and a tennis court there. They’re saying, at the moment, just a court.” As members of the board and the village, “if we have an opportunity, at least temporarily, to reduce density, we’re eager to grab it.” 

Lys Marigold, the board’s vice chairwoman, emphasized to Deborah Kooperstein, an attorney also representing Mr. Rudin, that the applicant is giving up two pre-existing nonconforming cottages on the Lee Avenue property, which she said “is really quite major.”

“The fact that one could build a house with a tennis court in this location,” without the need for a variance, “takes some wind out of the argument, frankly,” Mr. Newbold said. The hearing was closed.

Two decisions also were announced at the meeting. In one, the board modified a condition of a September 2014 determination so that landscaping can be maintained at the former Gardiner estate at 127 Main Street, which is owned by Shahab Karmely. The determination concludes an application that was granted in 2014 but reopened this year when the Building Department found landscaping had not been in accordance with the 2014 approval.

A dispute with Mr. Karmely’s neighbor at 121 Main Street, Kenneth Kuchin, has been put on hold because the property  has been sold.

The board also granted variances to the Polly Bruckman Trust and the Donald Bruckman Trust to allow two air-conditioning units, a shed, and swimming pool equipment to remain within required side-yard setbacks at 117 Lily Pond Lane.

The Sag Harbor Village Board will allow two houses larger than 4,000 square feet to move forward in the planning process, members decided on Tuesday night.

Last month, the board said it would green-light the application for a house with a gross floor area of 5,263 square feet house at 48 Lincoln Street in Ninevah Beach, making it the first special-permit request the board had granted since it adopted new gross floor area limits in March. Any proposals over 4,000 square feet require an exemption from the board to be reviewed.

With a determination in writing from its attorney, the board officially approved the special permit for Bruce Bronster’s proposed house on Lincoln Street in a 4-1 vote, with James Larocca dissenting. Mayor Sandra Schroeder said that the only reason she was voting in favor was because there would be one septic system instead of two. The house is being built on two merged lots that total 44,751 square feet, where two houses could have been built. It now requires a certificate of appropriateness from the board of historic preservation and architectural review.

The board also approved a permit for a house with a gross floor area of 6,500 square feet at 10 Cove Road in Redwood, on a 1.78-acre lot, by a 3-1-1 vote. Mayor Schroeder voted against the project, and Mr. Larocca recused himself. 

A hearing was held in July, and a decision was expected last month, but Christy Ferer’s attorney asked that it be tabled because the full board was not present. Ms. Ferer had originally proposed a 7,000-square-foot house, but the building inspector, Tom Preiato, calculated the maximum legal floor area for a lot of her size at 6,776 square feet. The proposal will now be reviewed by the harbor committee, and a wetlands permit will be required.

In both determinations, the board said it found the sites to be “particularly suitable for the location of such use in the Village and the proposed use will in fact be compatible with its surroundings, with the character of the neighborhood, and of the community in general, particularly with regard to visibility, scale, and overall appearance.”

In other news, the board received an update from Mr. Preiato about the dilapidated house at 6 Union Street, which officials have considered tearing down, calling it a health and safety hazard. It was sold at auction in June, but the new owners were unable to close within the month because a woman filed court documents claiming ownership of the property.

Mr. Preiato told the board he had heard from Mitch Winston of Amagansett, who bid $1.325 million to purchase the former Morpurgo house and has promised to restore it, and was told that the new closing date is Oct. 5.

The court issued summary judgment on behalf of Mr. Winston and his partners. The woman who claimed ownership has until this week to file an appeal, said Ed Deyermond, a village board member who said he had also spoken to people involved in the deal. “No one thinks that’s going to happen, but who knows?” he said.

Mr. Deyermond told the board he had no problems with waiting until Oct. 5 to see if the high bidder can take ownership and then secure the property. However, the next village board meeting is the week after, on Oct. 11. “On the 11th? All bets are off,” he said.

Also on Tuesday night, the village board approved the resignation of Joseph Tremblay, a member of the harbor committee who stepped down as of Aug. 9. John Parker, an alternate member, will replace him. Mr. Parker’s term will expire in July 2019. Herbert Sambol was appointed as the new alternate.

With the nation’s first offshore wind farm set to begin operation in November, but the Long Island Power Authority’s formal support for a larger installation 30 miles off Montauk still on hold, a consortium of developers, environmental groups, and others have formed the New York Offshore Wind Alliance to pressure state officials to make a long-term, large-scale commitment to offshore wind power.

Such a commitment, Liz Gordon, the group’s director, said in a statement, is essential to the state’s Clean Energy Standard, a mandate requiring that half of New York’s electricity come from renewable sources by 2030. The consortium’s specific objective is a commitment from the state to develop 5,000 megawatts of offshore wind power by 2030. It plans to build support for that goal through advocacy and public education.

Deepwater Wind, the Rhode Island company that recently completed construction of the 30-megawatt, five-turbine Block Island Wind Farm and seeks to build a 90-megawatt, 15-turbine wind farm east of Montauk, is on the Offshore Wind Alliance’s steering committee. The Long Island Power Authority was set to formally accept Deepwater Wind’s proposal for the latter installation, but postponed the move hours before a July 20 board of directors meeting at the request of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

Officials of NYSERDA, according to a statement issued at the time, wanted to examine the proposal “in the broader context of the Offshore Wind Master Plan” the agency was preparing. A draft blueprint of that plan would be completed “in the next few weeks,” according to the July statement, but Dayle Zatlin, the agency’s assistant director of communications, said on Tuesday that a date for its release has not been set. “We do expect it to be soon,” she said.

“We have been obliged to postpone the vote on that issue until the blueprint is actually out there,” Sid Nathan, a LIPA spokesman, said on Tuesday regarding Deepwater Wind’s 90-megawatt wind farm proposal. “We are still anticipating it will be on NYSERDA’s blueprint.”

Renewable Energy Long Island, an East Hampton advocacy group, is also a partner in the Offshore Wind Alliance. The alliance, said Gordian Raacke, ReLi’s executive director, “came about because it’s pretty apparent that the U.S. will, at last, start building an offshore wind industry and tapping into the huge offshore wind power potential. Now that we have the first offshore wind project almost up and running, it’s pretty clear that this is a turning point, and offshore wind will become a major part of our energy supply.”

Still, “there is a lot more work to be done,” Mr. Raacke said. “It’s about building an industry.” Europe, he said, has been generating energy from offshore wind for decades, while “the U.S. is just getting started.”

The alliance, he said, “is a way to educate people about the benefits of offshore wind and advocate for tapping into that potential in a big way.” He cited the goal of 5,000 megawatts by 2030. “We’re going to push hard for that.”

LIPA’s next board of trustees meeting is scheduled for Wednesday. “We’re not going to let up” in pressuring the utility to meet Long Island’s electricity demand with renewable sources, Mr. Raacke said.

Staff at the Elizabeth A. Morton National Wildlife Refuge in Noyac and the Amagansett National Wildlife Refuge have thanked visitors for respecting the beach closures that helped increase nesting shorebirds’ protection from disturbances during this year’s nesting season, which officials called a success.

During the 2016 nesting season, the Morton refuge provided habitat for three pairs of piping plovers listed as threatened by the federal government and approximately 28 pairs of least terns. One pair of plovers and 22 pairs of least terns nested at the Amagansett refuge this season. The Jessup’s Neck peninsula at the Morton refuge and the beach at the Amagansett refuge, which is south of Bluff Road and to the west of Atlantic Avenue, have been reopened to public access.

The two refuges are part of the larger National Wildlife Refuge system, which includes 565 sites throughout the United States. The Long Island National Wildlife Refuge complex encompasses 6,500 acres and consists of seven such refuges, two refuge subunits, and one wildlife management area. The refuge complex was established to conserve habitat for migratory birds, protect threatened and endangered species, enhance and restore habitat for native flora and fauna, and provide wildlife-dependent public uses where appropriate and compatible.

The East Hampton Town Trustees’ attempt to open Georgica Pond to the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday was abandoned for the time being, said Francis Bock, the trustees clerk. In the morning, an incoming tide hindered the effort; a second attempt at low tide “established a nice flow,” he said, but the cut closed naturally overnight.

A date to establish the traditional fall opening, which will raise the pond’s salinity and eliminate the blue-green algae bloom that has persisted since June, has not been determined, Mr. Bock said yesterday.