After a brief public hearing, the East Hampton Village Board adopted a $20.29 million budget for the 2014-15 fiscal year on Friday.

The budget represents a spending increase of $550,000 and results in a tax increase of 2.14 percent, a rate comparable to the average over the last seven years.

The proposed spending increase required the board to vote to authorize an override of the property tax cap, which it did last month.

In introducing the tentative budget at that time, Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. said that the creation of two new programs — one to supplement the volunteer ambulance corps with paid emergency medical services and one to control the deer population through sterilization — made a spending increase necessary.

Increases to the village’s snow removal budget and workers’ compensation insurance premiums are the other primary factors in the spending hike. Equipment for the Public Works Department, roadwork, roof repairs to multiple Sea Spray cottages at Main Beach, which the village own, and drainage repair at the Emergency Services Building account for additional expenditures. The spending increase, however, is almost .5 percent less than in the prior two years, the mayor said last month.

The village’s contribution to the state retirement system and its debt service will decrease in the upcoming fiscal year, which begins Aug. 1. Refinancing of two outstanding bonds will yield more savings in the future. There is also an increase in non-property-tax revenue resulting from increases in the mortgage recording tax, sales of beach parking permits, increased building permits, and rentals of village property.

Upon the board’s unanimous vote to adopt the budget, the mayor complimented Becky Molinaro, the village administrator, the department heads, and his colleagues on the board. “We feel it’s comfortable with respect to the services we are going to render, and we are moving ahead in that fashion,” he said. “Thanks to everyone that was involved.”

Joan Osborne, chairwoman of the Village Preservation Society of East Hampton, criticized the board for its $30,000 allocation to the deer sterilization program, which she called “woefully inadequate.” Earlier this month, the society launched a program to raise a hoped-for $100,000 toward a sterilization program, and previously pledged $5,000 to the village to that end.

The cost of sterilizing a doe is $1,000, Ms. Osborne said. “We were hoping,” she said, “and we’re expecting the village to come forth with more than the $30,000.” Village residents, she said, “are being inundated with deer,” which she said destroy property, carry disease, and cause motor vehicle accidents. “I would implore the village to increase that to at least $50,000 in your budget . . . so we can hopefully go forward with this project in the fall,” she said.

Mayor Rickenbach responded that if additional money is needed for a sterilization program, “we will make the appropriate transfer from other line items within the operating budget. We hear you.”

In a four-way race for two seats on the Sag Harbor Village Board, Robby Stein and Sandra Schroeder were victorious in Tuesday’s election, which saw a high turnout of 515 voters.

Mr. Stein, the only incumbent running this time around, was the top vote getter, with 308 votes, including 30 absentee ballots. Kevin Duchemin, who had served one term, did not run for re-election.

Ms. Schroeder, a former village clerk who retired in 2010, was elected with 270 votes, 14 of which were by absentee ballot. She worked for the village for 21 years, but came out of retirement to run for mayor last year, losing by 11 votes to the incumbent, Mayor Brian Gilbride.

Mr. Stein and Ms. Schroeder will each serve a two-year term.

John Shaka, a Save Sag Harbor board member who has lived in the village for 15 years, received 219 votes, which included 28 absentee votes. Bruce Stafford, a former board member who was ousted in a three-way race with Mr. Stein and Mr. Duchemin in 2012, finished last with 124 votes, 3 of which were by absentee ballot.

Mr. Stein said he was thankful to be re-elected for what will be his third full term. “I’m glad because I want to concentrate on these open projects and start the other things that are just beginning. I really did think that both John and Sandra, in particular, were good candidates. I’m hoping John stays involved,” he said.

“I am just thrilled. I’m so glad the people put their faith in me,” Ms. Schroeder said. She is looking forward to taking office on July 1 and getting to work on issues she mentioned during her campaign, such as a capital plan and water quality and drainage.

She expects it to be an easy transition when she joins Mayor Gilbride and Mr. Stein, as well as Ed Deyermond and Ken O’Donnell, both of whom supported her. “I know everybody. Other than Kenny I’ve already sat there with every one them.”

Mr. Shaka said he was disappointed, but enjoyed the experience. “I wanted to win but I’m really happy with the campaign I had,” he said. “The good news is that Sag Harbor has two really good people in there.” He said he intends to remain involved in village government, including the traffic calming project he has helped to spearhead.

Mr. Stafford could not be reached for comment.

According to Beth Kamper, the village clerk, 468 people voted by machine, while 43 sent in absentee ballots. There were also 4 write-in votes, 2 for Scott W. Smith, 1 for Mary Anne Miller, and 1 for Margaret Bromberg.

Elbert Edwards and Bruce Siska were easily re-elected to the East Hampton Village Board on Tuesday. When the polls closed at 9 p.m., Mr. Edwards had received 55 votes; 53 votes were cast for Mr. Siska. Three write-in votes were cast, with two for Michael Elinski and one for John Wessberg.

The incumbents were re-elected to four-year terms. Mr. Edwards, the board’s senior member, was first elected in 1977. Mr. Siska is the newest member, having been appointed in 2011 to replace David Brown, who served from 1992 until his resignation. He was later elected to complete the remaining period of Mr. Brown’s term.

Moody’s Investor Service has upgraded East Hampton Village’s bond rating from Aa2 to Aa1, indicating a very strong capacity to meet financial commitments.

The provider of credit ratings and risk analysis cited the village’s sizable and affluent tax base and modest debt burden as strong indicators of its financial position.

The upgrade, according to a release issued by Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. and the village board, followed the village’s decision to refinance a series of bonds, resulting in savings of almost $225,000.

The village’s general fund balance continues to increase, the release states, due in part to a rise in building department revenues and improved collection of court fines and fees.

Two seats on the East Hampton Village Board will be filled on June 17, when voters go to the polls from noon to 9 p.m. The Emergency Services Building on Cedar Street is the polling place.Elbert Edwards and Bruce Siska, incumbent board members, are up for re-election and are running unopposed.

Board members are elected to four-year terms. Mr. Edwards, the senior member of the board, was first elected in 1977. Mr. Siska was appointed in 2011 to replace David Brown, who served from 1992 until he resigned. He was later elected to complete the remaining period of Mr. Brown’s tenure, which is now concluding.

The third annual re-enactment of the 1942 Nazi saboteur landing on Atlantic Avenue Beach in Amagansett will take place tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. The action will begin and end at the former Life Saving Station, the 1902 structure on Atlantic Avenue that is undergoing extensive renovation as a museum and community center. Admission is free.

Like last year’s re-enactment, this year’s event will include costumed actors and props in telling the story of how a plot to destroy New York City’s transportation system and terrorize Americans at home as World War II raged overseas was thwarted. Hugh King, the director of Home, Sweet Home Museum and East Hampton Village historian, who leads tours as the “town crier,” will direct Sonny Sireci, Carl Irace, Evan Thomas, Ted Hults, and Samantha Ruddock as local residents, American coast guardsmen, and saboteurs.

Tomorrow’s re-enactment is exactly 72 years from the day that four Germans came ashore on the beach at Amagansett from a submarine. A 21-year-old coast guardsman stationed at the Amagansett Life Saving Station, John Cullen, was patrolling the beaches when he encountered the four men on the beach to the east of the station. The saboteurs offered him $400 to keep quiet. Mr. Cullen took the money, but ran back to the station and reported what had happened. The four made their way to the Amagansett railroad station and, from there, to New York City, where they were captured.

Three of the saboteurs were executed following a trial by a military tribunal; the fourth, who tipped off the F.B.I., received a 30-year prison term. Their story and that of four other would-be saboteurs, who came ashore near Jacksonville, Fla., at the same time, have been the subject of two books. 

In a letter to The Star in 2011, the late Capt. Milton Miller, who was in both the Coast Guard and the Navy before and during World War II, wrote that, “If John Cullen had been killed and his body buried behind a sand dune, or at sea, no one would have ever known what happened to him. New York City would have been destroyed, and it would have affected the whole nation.”

The brothers Richie and Jacob Nessel are probably the most reluctant oldtimers to be honored tonight at the annual Old Timers dinner hosted by the Montauk Chamber of Commerce.

“I’m not old,” said Jake Nessel.

“It’s wonderful. Can I leave now and go home for dinner?” asked Richie Nessel when the two met with a visitor for a photograph on the docks near the Ebb Tide, the boat Captain Jake runs.

They may not consider themselves old, but they have been fishing commercially for more than 50 years, mainly in Montauk. Richie Nessel’s boat is called the Nasty Ness, and he also mates on other Montauk boats.

In a release, chamber officials called the brothers fishing activists, record-holders, and legends in Montauk’s harbor community.

Richie Nessel recently received the International Game Fish Association’s Chester H. Wolfe Outstanding Sportsmanship Award at the annual Shark’s Eye tournament, a tag-and-release event in Montauk that promotes the conservation of sharks. He was also instrumental in easing this year’s state fishing regulations and catch limits, specifically addressing the summer flounder restrictions in New York as compared to other states.

He got in touch with Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and invited him out for a day of fishing on his boat. The governor accepted his invitation and the visit resulted in heightened awareness of problems with the regulations and changes in the daily bag limits by the State Department of Environmental Conservation, which fishermen hope will have a positive effect on charter and party boat business this summer.

Captain Jake began fishing with his father in 1951. When he was 15 in 1955, he started working as a deckhand on party boats out of Montauk on weekends and summer vacations. He spent the next 15 years running the Marlin III, IV, and V boats. He purchased his own boat, the Sportfisher, and fished from that for two years.

Since 1996, he has captained the Ebb Tide party boat, formerly the Marlin V. Highlights of his career include landing two 18-pound fluke and helping a woman land a world-record 55-pound codfish. He is the current world record-holder for a codfish weighing in at 85 pounds. He also won the Montauk Marine Basin Shark Tournament in its first year, landing a 320-pound mako.

Phil Hewitt, a lifelong friend of the brothers who now lives and captains boats in Florida, sent a statement to the chamber to be read at the dinner, recalling that when the Nessel family first moved to the hamlet a bunch of local fishermen got a quick lesson from them.

He said Jake is the guy with all the skills and intuition to be a successful fisherman in a highly competitive area. “He proves his ability every day, and has a good dose of normal luck,” Mr. Hewitt said.

But Richie Nessel, he said, takes luck to a whole new realm. “Just like Jake, he has the skills to load the dock with fish on a regular basis. But in Richie’s world the golden starburst of luck seems to perpetually glitter.”

He mentioned one fishing trip with Richie Nessel in which a spotter plane was used to locate swordfish. Mr. Nessel’s back was to the water, and he kept asking what the pilot was yelling about. Mr. Hewitt and another mate shouted in unison, “Turn around!” and as he did he saw a massive fish slipping under the boat. Quick of hand, Mr. Nessel flipped the harpoon like a garden rake and made a direct hit, said Mr. Hewitt. Soon the 476-pound swordfish was flopping about on the boat’s deck.

At tonight’s party there will be a roasting of the two brothers before dinner, which comes with beer or wine. A cash bar will be available. Tickets cost $40, but only a few remain. Guests without tickets have been invited to arrive at 5 for the cash bar and the roasting.

The East Hampton Town Board will form three committees to grapple with erosion in the downtown Montauk beach area, Councilman Peter Van Scoyoc told the Montauk Citizens Advisory Committee Monday night.

One committee will deal with the Army Corps of Engineers, the second will work on creating a tax district to fund beach-restoration projects, and the third will help devise a post-storm recovery plan.

“If we have a catastrophic storm, we’ll have a plan and make ourselves more resilient,” he said.

 There is still no timeline for dune stabilization project that the Army Corps has promised, the councilman said, adding that variances, some significant, must be obtained from property owners near where the sand-filled geotextile bags will be placed. In some cases, the variance would be needed for work on just a sliver of land, but in others it could be more, he said.

The town continues to press the Army Corps “for how much we can get from them and we’re going to keep pressing them,” he said, later adding that the town is also pressing the Corps to extend a sand-replenishment project to the Ditch Plain beach.

Once the sand is delivered, residents can expect at least 1,600 truckloads crossing the Montauk Highway to the downtown beach area, Councilman Van Scoyoc said.

He also discussed the Lake Montauk Watershed Management Plan, a study that started in 2008 to identify and address pollution in Lake Montauk. The report is just a draft and full of redundancies, he said. However, he detailed the most significant sources of pollution in the lake, one of which is boaters dumping human waste in the lake, which is prohibited by law but occurs nonetheless. Robbie Rosen, a licensed boat captain who also lives near the lake and visited the meeting as a guest, said he has seen and smelled boaters dumping their waste into the lake.

The Lake Montauk watershed encompasses areas from Ditch Plain in the east all the way to downtown Montauk, explained Julie Brunn, a committee member who has worked with the town on the study. Motels, clubs, and marinas were found to have the most problematic of the septic systems in the watershed, she said.

Other pollutants come from stormwater runoff, geese and other animal droppings, pesticides, poor drainage systems, and tick-control measures. The study notes that the town has the opportunity to work with Suffolk County to address concerns regarding pesticide input into the lake and the best management practices to minimize pesticide impact in cases of tick-control spraying.

The report suggests establishing attractive and eye-catching signs announcing the entrance to the Lake Montauk Watershed in highly visible areas to help increase awareness, something the advisory committee has been suggesting for years. Members said and the report concludes that the worst area of pollution is the south end of the lake, a public beach where many families and children go to swim. Ms. Brunn said the beach at South Lake tested high for fecal matter. She also said that commercial septic systems are supposed to be inspected every three years, but that this rule is barely enforced.

 A sign posted at South Lake Beach says swimming is prohibited because there is no lifeguard on duty. But members said no one should swim there because of pollution, and that the town should quickly post a sign, as the swimming season has started. The report will soon be made public on the town’s website and public input will be sought.

Southampton Hospital will host a panel discussion on tick-borne illnesses on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at the Parrish Memorial Hall on Herrick Road in Southampton Village.

The panel is the first event offered by the hospital’s recently launched Tick-Borne Disease Resource Center, a place to go for education and facilitated access to medical care related to tick bites. An advisory panel consists of nine different medical specialists who address the spectrum of issues associated with the different diseases ticks are known to carry and transmit.

This week’s panel will include George Dempsey and Gerald T. Simons from East Hampton Family Medicine; Rajeev Fernando, the director of infectious disease at the hospital, and Anthony Knott, a doctor with Meeting House Lane Medical Practice in Montauk. The title of the panel is “Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease: The Signs and Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatment, Prevention.”

The panel is free, but space is limited. Reservations can be made by contacting Karen Wulffraat at [email protected].

Gen. Michael Hayden, a former director of the National Security Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency, was the guest speaker at Monday’s Memorial Day parade and services in East Hampton. Mr. Hayden, a retired Air Force four-star general, began his speech by mentioning his father, who will be 93 in 10 days, and whom he called “the real veteran in the Hayden family.”

One of the “real treats” in his 40-year-long military career, General Hayden said, was being able to visit many of the places his father had been deployed during his service. He went on to recount his many experiences overseas in which people had shown “remarkable, subtle gratitude for what Americans had done.”

He mentioned a small village near Krakow, Poland, where an American aircraft was shot down in 1944 and was later turned into a monument by the people who lived there. The monument reads, in both Polish and English, “Here died 11 American airmen in a battle for Polish freedom.”

General Hayden also spoke about a friend of his, Gen. Chuck Boyd, who had been a prisoner of war for seven years in Vietnam. General Hayden said, “Imagine what the nation asked of him, and what he gave in response, during all that time. Of course, more recent veterans are out here, veterans of wars in South Asia and Southwest Asia, Gulf war one, Gulf war two, the global war on terrorism.” He then mentioned Lance Cpl. Jordan C. Haerter of Sag Harbor, who died saving his comrades in Ramadi, Iraq. He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for extraordinary bravery. Of Corporal Haerter’s actions he said, “Those of you who are veterans understand that we all freely fight for our country, but we die for our friends.” In regard to Corporal Haerter’s family and the families of other veterans and soldiers, General Hayden said, “We really need to think about the families who supported and endured while men and women went forward into harm’s way.”

General Hayden spoke about how he felt when awarding a Purple Heart to one soldier. “I was at a loss; what do you say awarding the Purple Heart to someone? Congratulations on being wounded? Thanks for taking a bullet for the country? . . . And then it struck me. As heroic as the man I was honoring was, his family was more heroic still.” He then went on to say to all the veterans in the crowd at the Hook Mill green, “You know when you’re in danger, you know when you’re not in danger. . . . The people back home don’t know that and they are on high concern about you from the time you step aboard that aircraft until you come back. So we need to memorialize our families as well.”

He concluded with an anecdote about Germany before the fall of the Berlin Wall. He told the crowd about the plight of many people living in East Germany who were trying to escape, and recounted how many refugees went through Prague and were put on trains in the middle of the night, to be secreted away to West Germany with the promise of freedom. The story goes that, “in one of those trains, as the sun came up, one of the refugees had enough courage to raise the curtain.”

What he saw when he looked outside, the general said, was a mounted patrol of the seventh armored cavalry regiment of the United States Army. Apparently, he turned to the other people in the train car and said, “Look, there are the Americans; we’re free.”

“That equation of American arms with human freedom is what you veterans have created. All of us thank you for that,” General Hayden said.

The parade was sponsored this year by the Veterans of Foreign Wars.