A team of East End residents is preparing for a trip to the Greek island of Lesbos at the end of this month, where they will volunteer time and energy to the crowds of refugees fleeing war-torn Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria who are landing there after a cold and perilous sea crossing from Turkey.

Melissa Berman, a Montauk resident who had organized volunteers for relief missions in ravaged New York coastal areas after Hurricane Sandy under the aegis of a group called East End Cares, will be arriving on Lesbos with a handful of others on Thanksgiving.

Doug Kuntz, an East Hampton photojournalist who has spent much of the fall working and helping in Greece, expects, after a return to New York this week, to be there again as well. But even before the team arrives, others in the East Hampton community have been pulling together to help.

After a large boat carrying refugees capsized off Lesbos last week and many people, including a number of children, drowned, Ms. Berman heard from a medical team on the island, with which she keeps in touch, of a child that needed to be intubated, but could not be helped because the medics did not have proper equipment.

Ms. Berman contacted Kara Schiff, a medic from Connecticut, who agreed to set out for Lesbos with pediatric and other critical care equipment. There were only a couple of days before her departure, Ms. Berman said, so “we just basically worked around the clock to get her what was needed.”

Helping people who have just reached the beach on Lesbos after a six-mile trip over water primarily entails treating hypothermia, she said, as well as resuscitation. The Montauk Fire Department donated a “big bag of resuscitation supplies,” and J.T. Dunn of Common Cents E.M.S. Supply in Connecticut, a medical supply company, opened its offices on the weekend before Ms. Schiff departed to donate supplies. In addition, Brian Lydon, another Montauk resident who got involved in relief efforts after Hurricane Sandy and has done extensive volunteer work in the Philippines, arranged for the donation of a defibrillator.

Another Montauk resident, Joy Hear, organized a collection drive for wetsuits, needed by rescuers who spend hours, days, and nights wading into cold water to retrieve people and get them safely to land. The wetsuits had already been carried to Lesbos by another volunteer, so that when Ms. Berman heard again from the team in Greece that wetsuits were a key need, she was able to say they were already on their way.

“ ‘You’ve substantially improved our ability to help people,’ ” she said the team told her. “It felt really good to be able to hear that,” Ms. Berman said yesterday morning. “Our surf community just came together; they always do.” 

“We live on an island; we’re an ocean town,” said Ms. Berman, and as such, people here have skills and knowledge that are especially needed on the small Greek island. “The boats are coming around the clock,” she said.

Yesterday, Paddlers for Humanity announced that it would pay for Bob Miller of Montauk, a longtime member of the East Hampton Volunteer Ocean Rescue Squad and an ocean lifeguard for 20 years, to travel there later this month. Fred Doss of Paddlers, which raises funds through a Montauk-to-Block Island paddle, said the group was “very pleased to have the opportunity to support this effort.” Others with training similar to Mr. Miller’s would be welcomed. “They are so needed; they will be saving lives immediately,” Ms. Berman said. Those who are interested may contact her directly, she said.

Emma Newbery, a recent college graduate who grew up and lives in Montauk, will also be making the trip. She has always been drawn to volunteer work and helping others, she said, so when Ms. Berman mentioned the mission, “It wasn’t a question. It was a definite answer.”

She hopes that her decision will be an example to others. “I’m extremely discouraged by my generation,” she said yesterday. “My hope is that this inspires more people of my generation to see what’s out there and help people, to not think about themselves a little bit.”

Living here, a lot is taken for granted, she said. And young people who spend summers working hard at various tourism-related jobs are left with a certain feeling about the world and about others, she observed. “We all work in the service industry, but we’re not helping the people who need it.”

Ms. Newbery said she is preparing for both the physical and mental challenges of the trip, which will be the first time she is “in the crisis zone.”

“If I don’t expect it to shock me, then I’ll be in a worse position,” she said. The young woman is taking time out from her job at Montauk’s Naturally Good shop and cafe to volunteer. A May graduate of the State University at Purchase, she has a Bachelor of Arts degree in film and media studies. The future is unknown, but if  “volunteer work and helping people . . . is what I do for the rest of my life,” that will be fine, she said.

Those making the trip will bring with them, to a limited degree, items that are needed for the rescue work. But Ms. Berman noted that a determination regarding just what sort of help, besides many hands, is needed, will have to wait until the group is in Greece, “to see who’s doing what, and what needs are being addressed, so you can see what needs to be done.”

Nonetheless, individual efforts to collect items for rescue workers and refugees can make a positive impact, Ms. Berman said, adding that those who wish to help should check several regularly updated lists to see what is needed and to make sure they sort items carefully before shipping them to Greece in order to avoid extra work for volunteers there. The list is posted at lesvosvolunteers.com/food-clothes-shoes-bags.

Alternately, items can be purchased from lists maintained by Amazon in the United Kingdom, which will ship goods to their destinations.  Links to them can be found at the East End Cares Facebook page.

One collection, of baby carriers and other children’s items, including children’s boots and socks, is under way on the East End and in Florida, spearheaded by Amanda Frazer, a former Montauk resident who is now in Miami. They will be sent to the Pikpa refugee camp on Lesbos, a stopping point for people who may wind up walking through several European countries on their way to a place where they can resettle.

There are drop-off points at White’s Liquors in Montauk, Coastal Home in Bridgehampton, the Sag Harbor Express office in Sag Harbor, and at the office of The East Hampton Star.

With the help of local businesses such as Buddhaberry, Gurney’s Inn, and Rosehip Partners Real Estate, Sunday school students at the Montauk Community Church have already packaged and sent hats, scarves, and gloves to refugees at a camp in Jordan, inserting handwritten, heart-shaped notes for a “Hats With Heart” project.

Ms. Berman said every effort is needed and appreciated. On Lesbos, she said, “there’s not some big, huge entity; there’s not some government, there’s not some aid organization” mounting the bulk of the effort to help the thousands of arriving refugees. “This whole thing is being held up by a very limited group of volunteers.”

“There’s not enough supplies, and there’s not enough human power to fill the need.”

Fund-raising efforts to pay for what’s needed in Greece are under way by East End Cares with another organization, DoYourPart.org. Tax-deductible donations may be made online at the Do Your Part website or through globalgiving.org/projects/direct-aid-to-syrian-refugees-in-lesvos-greece.

“Not great” was, in short, the disappointing assessment of the bay scallop harvest in the first days of the season, which commenced in New York State waters on Monday.

A survey of those in the know, including baymen and seafood retailers, pointed to a slow start to the hotly anticipated delicacy’s harvest, which is authorized in state waters on the first Monday of November. Waters under the jurisdiction of the East Hampton Town Trustees will open to the harvesting of scallops on the coming Monday.

“Horrible,” was Kelly Lester’s assessment, speaking from her family’s scallop house on Abraham’s Path in Amagansett at midday Tuesday. “No one has gotten their limit.” The state’s Department of Environmental Conservation sets a limit of 10 bushels per day for holders of commercial permits and 20 bushels per boat. In trustee waters, the limit for commercial permittees is five bushels per day.

Whatever the reason for the scarcity of scallops, Ms. Lester said, “something is not right.” Danny Lester, her brother, called the first day’s take in the state waters of Northwest Harbor “not that great,” compared to last year.

Amanda Hayward, who scallops with her father, Jim Hayward, owner of Commander Cody’s Seafood on Shelter Island, said that they too harvested fewer scallops on Monday than on the first day of last year’s season. “But they are out there,” Ms. Hayward said. “You’ve just got to work a little extra to get them.”

Barley Dunne, director of the town’s shellfish hatchery, had a mixed appraisal of the harvest’s first days. The extreme cold and ice of last winter, he said, led to poor survival rates of the shellfish he and his team seed in local waters, in contrast with the previous year.

That said, “I saw quite a few boats in Northwest” on Monday, which Mr. Dunne called a positive indicator, and he personally harvested a bushel in little more than an hour while snorkeling off Noyac on Tuesday, reporting a high density of the bivalves there. “It sounds like it’s spotty — just a few spots where it’s worth dredging,” he said. “I don’t think it’s going to be as stellar as last year, but I don’t think it will be a total loss either.”

In town waters, Napeague Harbor “looks pretty sparse,” Mr. Dunne said, “but the gulls are finding them — they’re dropping them on our barge.” He said that he had seen “a fair amount” in Three Mile Harbor in East Hampton, and has heard anecdotes pointing to a healthy harvest there. “But I don’t think any place is necessarily carpeted like in the last few years.”

Bay scallop sales were “not a lot” as of Monday evening at the Seafood Shop in Wainscott, said Alex Fausto. While some 40 bushels, harvested from Orient Harbor and Peconic Bay, were waiting to be shucked, Mr. Fausto estimated the sale of about 40 pounds’ worth, a figure he said was less than half of a first day’s take in previous years.

More inquiries had come on Sunday, the first of the month, Mr. Fausto said, which he believed stemmed from confusion as to the date that scallops could be harvested. “It’s not like previous years,” he said, but added that “last year was kind of quiet at the beginning, then we got more and more” buyers.

“They’re very scarce,” said Charlotte Sasso of Stuart’s Seafood Market in Amagansett on Tuesday. The market was due to receive its first delivery of bay scallops, from the North Fork, on Tuesday night. “Everybody is so hungry for them,” Ms. Sasso said of her customers, but early reports were “not promising.”

Bay scallops would be available as of yesterday morning, she said, “and we’ll have them regularly as best we can, whatever we have to do.”

The harvesting season ends on March 31, though both the D.E.C. and the trustees extended the season through April this past year to accommodate harvesters whose income had been affected by the harsh winter conditions.

“People will get their scallops, but I don’t think it’s going to sustain itself into the New Year like a few years ago,” Mr. Dunne said. “These things are naturally cyclical, so we might be in a bit of a trough. Hopefully it will pick up again next year or the year after.”

With Reporting by Taylor K. Vecsey

A fire ripped through one of the buildings at Hartman’s Briney Breezes Motel in Montauk early Friday morning, but firefighters stopped flames from spreading to other buildings in the complex and those next door.

The East Hampton Town fire marshal’s office ruled the cause accidental, blaming it on electrical malfunction caused by a loose connection at the pole.

“It was a very violent, very fast incident,” said Tom Baker, a fire marshal who was on the scene to investigate. There was no one inside the rooms on the first floor or second floor, where the fire began. “If this was Fourth of July weekend, depending on the number of people in the fire room, people would not have been able to get out,” Mr. Baker said.

He said a groundskeeper was asleep with his wife in a legal basement apartment when a sound woke him up. “He said it sounded like someone was dragging something very heavy. He jumped out of bed, looked out the window, and saw the flames above him.”

• For more photos, click here.

The groundskeeper called 911 at 4:25 a.m. as he ran to the nearby house of the owner, John Hartman, who also called 911.

When Montauk Fire Department first responders arrived at the Old Montauk Highway complex, the two-story building was engulfed in flames, according to Chief Joe Lenahan. He knew it was bad even from a distance away. “When I crested Flamingo Hill on the other end of town, I could see the flames,” he said.

With the groundskeeper and his wife out and no guests staying in that building, firefighters turned their attention to evacuating the other motel buildings. About 10 people were found and taken to a safe place on the west side of the complex.

The roof was already on fire. Firefighters poured water on it from both the ground and from ladder trucks. The chief called for additional help from the Amagansett Fire Department’s rapid intervention team, brought in to back up interior firefighters, and the East Hampton Fire Department, which brought its tanker and aerial ladder truck. Tankers from Amagansett and Springs were also brought in. There were at least 120 firefighters in total, the chief said.

Firefighters worked hard to prevent the flames from spreading to other buildings, both in the complex and next door. The building ablaze, the second on the east side of the complex, is near several other commercial structures and on a sloping site overlooking the ocean.

Engine companies and water supply trucks were also given the task of protecting the nearby buildings, which were in danger thanks to a strong westerly wind. The flames burned hedges and bushes on that side, but there was no damage to any other buildings. “It was a great stop,” the chief said. “Everybody did an incredible job.”

The fire was fully extinguished in about an hour. Firefighters remained on the scene another hour looking for pockets of flame. No injuries were reported.

After sifting through the debris, Mr. Baker found a couple of burned electrical outlets on the second floor and then discovered that one of the refrigerators in the efficiency rooms had a hole in the back, caused by what he believes to be a “drop neutral,” a term for when the voltage fails to divide into electrical breaks. Appliances that only get 110 volts electricity, for example, would end up with 220 volts. “It really just blew this refrigerator apart,” he said.

Early in his investigation, he said he noticed “a glow” coming from the top of the electrical pole at the street. It turned out to be a small fire caused by a loose connection, he said, which is not uncommon, particularly down on the Old Highway along the water, due to the wind.

Jeffrey Weir, a spokesman for PSEG-Long Island, said that the electrical company was unaware of any issues at the pole. “On the night of the fire, we responded and made it safe for the fire department to extinguish the fire,” he said. “Service is still running and providing electricity to parts of the complex there that were not impacted by the fire, and when we receive the report from the fire marshal, we will investigate.”

A hotel manager declined to comment, and a message left for the owner was not returned.

Mr. Baker said the groundskeeper and the motel workers had not reported any malfunctions, such as lights flickering or a strange odor, leading up to the fire. In fact, the electricity in the groundskeeper’s apartment continued to function. However, Mr. Baker noted, “dropped neutrals can happen fast.”

The first two floors of the building were destroyed, and with the basement suffering water damage, the building will likely be torn down, according the fire marshal. “There’s not much there to save,” he said.

Opponents of a rental registry law proposed by the East Hampton Town Board, which will be the subject of a public hearing on Nov. 19, have set up a website, a Facebook page, and an online petition to advocate against the law, which would require property owners to obtain a registry number from the town before offering their houses for lease.

According to town officials, the registry will help deter repeated short-term rentals, overcrowding, summer share houses, and the like.

The law would require lessors to provide information to the town about lease terms and number of tenants, pay fees to obtain and update their registrations, and certify that properties comply with current building and maintenance codes. Opponents say it is intrusive and will unfairly burden homeowners and that it will not necessarily improve enforcement of the code. That can be achieved with better enforcement of existing laws, they say.

The petition, on Change.org, had 780 supporters as of Tuesday. On that site, the opponents, who describe themselves as “taxpayers, homeowners, business owners, visitors, tourists and shoppers,” and “residents, parents, retirees, farmers, fishermen, artists and good law-abiding members of the East Hampton community,” say that the registry “opens the door for intrusive home inspections” and will cause economic harm.

“Local residents and second-home owners rent their homes to cover expenses, mortgages, college educations, retirement, and to just make ends meet. The rental registry law will add a layer of bureaucracy that discourages all renting, which will cause substantial hardship,” the petition says. “Serious housing problems in East Hampton are mostly due to a minority of unscrupulous landlords. Affordable housing is scarce due to escalating real estate values. A rental registry cannot solve these problems.”

The anti-rental registry movement has prompted advocates of the proposed law to do some outreach themselves. In recent days, its supporters have expressed their opinions in letters to the editor and mounted an email campaign.

The Nov. 19 hearing will be held at the American Legion Hall in Amagansett, which has more space than Town Hall. A large crowd is expected.

At several previous hearings held by the town board on the registry idea, those opposed far outnumbered those in support. The board recently revised the law in an attempt to address some of the concerns raised at those hearings.

Before Tuesday’s election, rental registry opponents posted signs around town urging voters to support the Republican candidates for town supervisor and town board. The Democratic incumbents, along with the other two members of the sitting board, support the proposed law.

On the website stoptherentalregistry. com, opponents note that a house owned by Councilman Peter Van Scoyoc and his wife is listed for rent on VacationRentals.com. The listing, for a new, four-bedroom house in Northwest, offers the house for a minimum seven-night stay, with several periods, such as next year’s entire summer season, and May and September 2016, blocked off for much longer stays. The town code does not limit rentals of two weeks or more; shorter-term rentals are allowed only two times within a six-month period.

Stoptherentalregistry.com also includes a list of quotes said to be from opponents of the law, though they are not attributed. In emails to The Star, the anti-registry contingent has declined to provide a spokesperson or the names of group organizers.

East Hampton property owners who have spoken out against the registry at the recent town board meetings include Gregory Gordon and Tom Steele, and a letter to the town board opposing it from an Amagansett attorney, Elaine Harris, is posted at the anti-registry website. She raises issues about the law’s constitutionality, and requests the formation of a citizens committee to redraft the proposal.

Also posted on the website this week was a link to a YouTube video that allegedly shows someone removing political signs from among a group of campaign signs on a street corner. Opponents are said to suspect a Springs woman who has been a vocal supporter of the registry of being the person in the video. East Hampton Town police are reportedly looking into the matter.

Update, 10:45 p.m.: Just as all of the districts in East Hampton Town reported in, Tom Knobel conceded in the race against Larry Cantwell for town supervisor and on behalf of his Republican running mates in the town board race.

"I wish the new incumbent town board the best," Mr. Knobel said from Indian Wells Tavern in Amagansett, where the Republican candidates gathered to watch the results come in Tuesday night. 

Mr. Cantwell received 67.69 percent of the vote, and Mr. Knobel received 32.15 percent, according to the unofficial results. 

The supervisor's running mates, Peter Van Scoyoc and Sylvia Overby, were also victorious in the election, each winning second four-year terms. Mr. Van Scoyoc finished up with 3,146 votes, and Ms. Overby took in 2,922 votes. 

Lisa Mulhern-Larsen, a political newcomer, received the third most votes with 2,178, followed by Margaret Turner with 2,108 votes. Ms. Turner, a familiar face at Town Hall, said, "I'm disappointed, but I will absolutely still be an active voice in my issues, and Lisa and I will look forward to working together on some things." 

Ms. Mulhern-Larsen, said she would be active in town issues going forward. "Obviously, we wish the outcome was in our favor, but it was interesting. It was a great experience. I wish them all the best." 

At Rowdy Hall in East Hampton, the incumbent Democrats thanked their supporters, whom they called "an outstanding team of people."

"We have something great here" in East Hampton, Mr. Van Scoyoc said. "We still have an awful lot of work to do." 

Mr. Cantwell said they were going to have to fight hard on upcoming issues. When he referred to the $375,000 spent against them, Kathleen Cunningham, the chairwoman of the Quiet Skies Coalition, yelled, "We showed them!" Someone else in the crowd yelled, "Blackhawk down!" which garnered a lot of laughs. 

At about 10:45 p.m., Mr. Knobel made a quick appearance at Rowdy Hall to congratulate Mr. Cantwell. 

• RELATED: Dramatic Shift on East Hampton Town Trustees

For results in the Suffolk County Legislature race, click here, and for results in the Southampton Town race, click here. 

Originally: Even as early results trickled in on Tuesday night, Larry Cantwell, the Democratic incumbent East Hampton Town supervisor, called it "an overwhelming victory for all of us." 

While no concessions had been made yet, Mr. Cantwell seems to have handily won a second two-year term. With 15 of the 19 districts reporting at about 10 p.m., Mr. Cantwell had received over 70 percent of the vote, while his opponent Tom Knobel, the East Hampton Town Republican Committee chairman, took in just under 30 percent. 

Meanwhile, Mr. Cantwell's running mates, Sylvia Overby and Peter Van Scoyoc also secured the most votes for East Hampton Town Board, with 15 of 19 districts reporting, leads that seemed unlikely to be overturned. Mr. Van Scoyoc had received 2,652 votes and Ms. Overby had 2,446. 

The Republican candidates, Margaret Turner received 1,627 votes and Lisa Mulhern-Larsen received 1,672. At Indian Wells Tavern in Amagansett, where the Republicans gathered, they were quiet as they watched the results come in. 

Check back for more information as it becomes available.

Jay Schneiderman, an outgoing Suffolk County Legislator and a former East Hampton Town supervisor, has been elected the next Southampton Town supervisor. 

Mr. Schneiderman, who moved from Montauk to Southampton and had reached the term limit in the Suffolk Legislature, got 56 percent, according to unofficial results with all 42 districts reporting in. An Independence Party member, he also ran on the Democratic ticket. Mr. Schneiderman served as the supervisor in East Hampton for four years before joining the Legislature 12 years ago. He considered running for the top spot in East Hampton two years ago.

His opponent in this race, Richard W. Yastrzemski, a longtime Southampton Village Board member and the deputy mayor there, received 44 percent of the vote in the Town of Southampton. 

Mr. Schneiderman will succeed Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst, who chose not to seek re-election and instead is mounting a campaign in the First Congressional District against Representative Lee Zeldin in 2016.

He will be joined at the dais in Southampton Town Hall by his running mate John V. Bouvier of Westhampton and by Christine Scalera, the Republican incumbent. Councilwoman Scalera, an attorney from Water Mill, received the most votes, with 5,235, and Mr. Bouvier took in 4,808. 

In a four-way race for two seats, the other Democratic candidate, Julie R. Lofstad of Hampton Bays came in third with 4,698 votes. Damon A. Hagan, an attorney from East Quogue who ran on the Republican line with Ms. Scalera, finished last with 4,365 votes.

Bridget Fleming did not run to keep her seat on the town board, instead running a successful campaign for a seat at the Suffolk Legislature. She defeated Amos Goodman on Tuesday night. 

Update, 3:45 p.m.: The man whom East Hampton Village police were looking for was located at Havens Beach in Sag Harbor, and the lockout has ended, according to Chief Gerard Larsen.

The man, whose name wasn't released because he wasn't charged with a crime, was found without a weapon. Sag Harbor Village police transported him to Stony Brook University Hospital for observation. 

Update, 2:28 p.m.: As dismissal time nears for students in the East Hampton School District, the administration is configuring a plan for students to leave the building, despite the current lockout, if the police investigation does not resolve itself shorly. After-school activities and sports games have been canceled, but Project MOST is still on for this afternoon.

In an email to parents, Charles Soriano, the middle school principal, said students taking the bus or being picked up by parents would be let go at 2:40 p.m. Students won't be allowed to walk home alone, though. "Students who walk home will be asked to gather in the auditorium," he said. "We do not want kids walking around town."

Update, 2:14 p.m.: The Y.M.C.A. East Hampton RECenter will be closed for the rest of the day, according to an email that was sent out to patrons on Wednesday at about 2 p.m.

Originally, 1:16 p.m.: Students and staff in the East Hampton School District are in lockout mode Wednesday afternoon due to a police investigation in the area. 

Village Police Chief Gerard Larsen said Wednesday afternoon that the schools were not targeted, but that they were put on lockout as a precaution. His department is searching for a suicidal subject, armed with a knife. They have reason to believe he may go to the Y.M.C.A. East Hampton RECenter, located on Gingerbead Lane near the John M. Marshall Elementary School. "So for precaution we put the RECenter and the schools on lockout," he said. 

Lockout means the doors are locked and no one can come and go from the building. Classes continue as usual, though students are kept off the playground. It was unclear if the lockout would impact dismissal Wednesday afternoon.

The school district declined to comment. Elementary school parents received a call from the district shortly after 1. Emails were also sent out. 

Patrons at the Y.M.C.A. were being turned away Wednesday afternoon. Glenn Vickers, the executive director, said he couldn't comment. 

With Reporting by Christine Sampson

Eothen, the oceanfront property on the eastern end of Montauk known as the Warhol Estate, is in contract to be sold to Adam Lindemann for close to $60 million. The purchase does not include the pasture known as Indian Field, which remains listed at $25 million, according to Paul Brennan of Douglas Elliman.

Mickey Drexler, the C.E.O. of J. Crew, purchased the 30.4-acre property in 2007 for $27 million. With houses in Bridgehampton and Westhampton, as well, he hardly used the Montauk compound, but spent the month of August there. It includes the 5.7-acre parcel Mr. Lindemann is buying, with a main house and six smaller cottages, all oceanfront, and the 24-plus-acre pasture.

The entire property was put on the market for $85 million about six months ago, Mr. Brennan said. Mr. Lindemann, a billionaire art collector with a gallery on Madison Avenue in New York City, already owns a house just a stone’s throw away from Eothen, which is reportedly on the market for $29.5 million.

The Warhol compound was built in 1930 as a fishing camp for the Church family, the makers of Arm and Hammer baking soda. In 1972, Paul Morrissey purchased the property for $225,000. In a phone interview several years ago, Mr. Morrissey said Andy Warhol was never an owner of the compound, but stayed there and entertained such guests as Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, John Lennon, Halston, Elizabeth Taylor, and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. In 1993, a portion of the property was donated to the Nature Conservancy. Now known as the Warhol Preserve, it is visited by schoolchildren and other groups and individuals by permission.

It abuts the Amsterdam Beach preserve, and several years ago when a trail opened near the property, armed guards could sometimes be seen patrolling its perimeter, keeping the curious away from the private residence.

When Mr. Drexler bought the place, he continued to allow the horses from Deep Hollow Ranch to graze on the pasture, which is zoned for agricultural use.

Asked if Suffolk County, which owns Deep Hollow Ranch, had shown an interest in purchasing the pasture, Mr. Brennan laughed and said, “I don’t think they could afford it.”

Whether to allow new dredging at the slips in an East Lake Drive marina on Lake Montauk was debated at an East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals last week. At the end of the session, the waters for the applicant, Richard A. Gibbs, were somewhat murky, with the window for dredging closing on Jan. 14.

According to town records, the first building permit for the property was issued in 1957 for what became the Sea and Sky Motel and restaurant. Mr. Gibbs’s name first appears on town records in 1996, when he applied to the architectural review board for signs for the 2,400-square-foot restaurant, now renamed Crabby Cowboy Cafe.

The property, opposite the Montauk Airport, consists of two parcels: one slightly under four acres between East Lake Drive and Lake Montauk, the other a bit less than seven acres totally underwater. Certificates of occupancy were issued in 2002 for the motel and restaurant as well as for a one-family house and a horse barn. Not included, however, Brian Frank, the East Hampton Town Planning Department’s chief environmental analyst, told the board this year, was the 22-slip marina.

Mr. Gibbs already has a permit from the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation for multiyear maintenance dredging, though within narrow parameters, but he needs a town permit as well. He was represented at the meeting by Drew Bennett, an engineer.

The Z.B.A. had approved a similar application from Mr. Gibbs in 2006, allowing him to dredge up to 1,000 square feet of sediment to a depth of six feet below mean low water and to make several other improvements.

The problem, according to Mr. Frank, is that Mr. Gibbs far exceeded the dredging the board had approved, and Mr. Frank said it was done in a way that ignored mitigating conditions the board had required in 2006. He said the board had called for a 25-foot-wide vegetated shoreline buffer, and he added that in some cases the slips had been dredged down to 10 feet in 2010. 

Mr. Bennett criticized Mr. Frank, saying that he was “not flexible enough” because major events, such as hurricanes, can radically alter the depth of sediment and change what is required for maintenance. Mr. Gibbs had received building permits for the work, which remained open, but never obtained certificates of occupancy.

John Whelan, the Z.B.A. chairman, told Mr. Bennett that if the board were to approve his application, it would only be after the remaining issues, such as the missing buffer, as well as nonconforming lighting and parking now on the site, were corrected.

An apparent practice of obtaining extensions of time for building permits rather than final certificates of occupancy drew the ire of another speaker at the meeting, Jeremy Samuelson of Concerned Citizens of Montauk, however.

“Why are we considering this application?” he asked. He said that the “endless extensions” of time for building permits were a way of avoiding needed compliance and conforming to approved site plans, which certificates of occupancy entail.

“In addition to ignoring the 2006 requirements,” he said, the 2010 operation drew some of the largest fines for dredging violations in the history of the state. He said those fines were in the area of $150,000. “They didn’t even bother to update their survey,” he told the board, concluding, “Please move slowly.”

The board agreed to keep the record open until Nov. 10 to allow an updated survey to be introduced, and for Mr. Bennett and Mr. Frank to go over the proposal together.

Another application on the agenda on Oct. 27, came from the Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons, which is proposing the addition of three buildings on its 22.5-acre property on Daniel’s Hole Road in Wainscott. The project calls for a 8,860-square-foot dog training center, as well as two 4,771-square-foot sanctuary buildings, one for cats and one for dogs.

The cats, in particular, will be very appreciative of having separate facilities from the dogs, Sara Davison, who recently announced her retirement as director of the organization, told the board.

ARF needs to obtain variances for coverage and clearing before it can proceed. If approved, coverage would exceed the 80,000-square-foot code limit by about 11,600 square feet. Because the property is zoned for residential use and is in a water recharge overlay district, clearing is limited to about one acre, while ARF is asking to be allowed to have total clearing at well over four acres. The property was originally zoned commercial industrial, and had been cleared to a bit over 14 percent. In 2005, it was rezoned to five-acre minimum house lots.

ARF also has a site plan before the town’s planning board, which cannot act until the matter of  variances is settled, although the planners had already sent the Z.B.A. a letter indicating support.

Ms. Davison told the board that ARF has a no-kill mandate for the animals it takes in, hence the need for more space. She explained that all animal waste is hauled away from the facility.

Students from the Springs and East Hampton School Districts got their feet wet — some in the literal sense — as citizen scientists taking part in a Day in the Life of the Peconic Estuary, an annual program that brings together hundreds of students to work collectively to create a snapshot of life in the bay.

Students worked in small groups on Oct. 23 alongside environmental educators at sites including Northwest Harbor County Park, Louse Point, and Lazy Point to record data and make observations. They stood on the shores and measured aspects of water quality such as acidity, temperature, and oxygen level, and studied sedimentation and tidal activity. Some even donned waders and pulled seines through the water to catch fish and shrimp, allowing the groups to build a biodiversity inventory.

“The entire Peconic Estuary is an estuary of national significance,” said Robert Schack, a science teacher whose East Hampton High School classes participated in the event. “It does have its water quality issues for sure, but it’s one of the most intact ones that there is. The entire study that’s going on is a sample of what’s happening right now at this moment in time, something that’s very difficult for a small number of scientists to do, but citizen science can do a lot at once.”

The event’s numerous sponsors, including the Central Pine Barrens Joint Planning and Policy Commission and the Suffolk County Water Authority, described it as “not just a mere field trip.” At the Springs School, the mission resonated with Sean Knight’s fifth-grade science classes and Robert Walker’s seventh-grade science classes.

“We got to dig our hands through the mushy sand and water and try to find life, like fishes, clams, and shrimp,” said Alma Chacon, a fifth-grade student. “It was so much fun.”

“It was different because it was more than just the teacher and you,” said a classmate, Jameson Grant. “It was a group project. We all had to work together. . . . “

It was the second year that Mr. Knight’s students participated in the program. “When they go out there, they realize they are doing it for a purpose,” he said.

In the weeks leading up to the day in the bay, the teachers taught their students how to use some of the instruments involved in collecting information. Some teachers, like Mr. Knight and Mr. Schack, have aquariums in their classrooms that could be used by students to practice their measuring skills. The project had those fifth graders throwing around science phrases like “pH balance” and “dissolved oxygen,” which affects the water’s acidity, tand “range of tolerance,” meaning the various conditions under which organisms can thrive or merely survive.

Mr. Schack said the project gave his classes a deeper appreciation for the local environment and, specifically, perspective on Northwest Harbor, a place the kids have most likely been to for swimming or recreation.

“It’s beautiful, and they’ve played here, most of them, but they don’t know about the creatures who live here,” he said. “It’s the baseline for the rest of the year. So now, instead of studying the chemicals and it being this nebulous, foreign concept, we start out with the ecosystem. We’ve measured these things, so we can explain how these things actually have an effect.”

In the weeks leading up to the East End students’ day on the Peconic Bay, students from UpIsland school districts were busy doing the same activities at places along the Carmans River, Connetquot River, and Nissequogue River. All of the students’ measurements can be seen on a web page hosted by Brookhaven National Laboratory, portaltodiscovery.org/aday/.

“If you think your way through and apply good science, which is what this is, we can fix these problems,” Mr. Schack said. The broader spectrum is that if there is a problem here . . . we know how to fix it, address it, and preserve the biodiversity as well.”

Emily Kennedy, a fifth-grade Springs student, expressed a similar sentiment. “I feel like I can go home and do my own experiments,” she said. “My favorite part was that it was a hands-on project. It let us know what we have to do to change the environment in a good way.