Atilla Ozturk now leads the Montauk Locals surfcasting tournament with a 33-and-a-half-pound striped bass he caught on Sunday, a day that also had him casting alongside tuxedoed members of a wedding party that had been interrupted by a blitz of big bass on the beach at Gurney's Inn, Montauk.

The bride reportedly was formerly on the staff of The Fisherman magazine, so it would follow that members of the wedding party might be distracted by the sight of bass in the 25 to 30-pound range being dragged onto the beach by surfcasters. Fred Galofaro and Tom Melton, both editors at The Fisherman, were said to be among the well-dressed casters.

For Mr. Ozturk, it had begun earlier at Gurney's, where he works. His shift was over and his replacement called to beg for some more time. He made the mistake of saying that he needed a little extra time as the bass were thick in front of the Surfside Inn. Mr. Ozturk's answer was "no."

Wedding Distraction

Instead, he headed for the bass himself, arriving at the beach in front of Surfside to see a young girl beach a 30-pound fish. A few casts later he had his 33-and-a-half-pounder, which he placed on the roof of the veteran surfcaster Jack Yee's truck. There it stayed, flapping around occasionally, as Messrs. Ozturk and Yee traveled west with the school of fish until they reached the beach in front of Mr. Ozturk's workplace.

Before long the wedding party caught wind of the exceptional bass fishing and was distracted. As of yesterday, Fred Kalkstein's 30-and-three-quarter-pound striper and Paul Melnyk's 30 and-a-half-pounder lined up second and third behind Mr. Ozturk's wedding-day bass.

Super Surfcasting

In other news, the Walker's Cay Chronicles crew was expected to arrive in local waters this week in hopes of capturing some of the East End's red-hot fall fishing on film. The Chronicles, which appears on cable networks, is considered the most popular sportfishing show in the country. Bob Popovics, creator of the popular silicon flies he calls "surf candy," is scheduled to join the show's host, Flip Pallot, in search of bonito and false albacore off Montauk.

Freddie's Bait and Tackle in Montauk reports "just super" surfcasting this week on both the north and south sides of Montauk, especially the south side. A mix of bass and bluefish were hitting the beach on Tuesday morning from Montauk to Indian Wells, Amagansett. Blues were in the six to eight-pound range. The bass were of similar size with some bigger ones in the mix.

On Sunday, evidence of the feeding schools could be seen along Montauk beaches in the form of four-inch silver, green, and blue anchovies scared out of the water and left high and dry.

On the bay side, Harvey Bennett of the Tackle Shop at Skimhampton reported piles of bass south of Barnes Landing whenever the wind blows from the east. He added that a friend fishing on the ocean side near White Sands (on Napeague) caught a 37-pound striped bass on the weekend.

Seining For Science

The continuing success of the Lazy Bones party boat seems typical of the great fishing that boating fishermen are experiencing around Montauk Point. The Bones reports working on bass and bluefish in the rips off the Point, with bass up to 33 pounds being taken on the diamond jig.

For the ninth year in a row, Victor Vecchio of the State Department of Environmental Conservation is collecting bass via ocean seine for an ongoing striped bass population study. The seining is being done by Jens Lester and his crew. The crew has made 10 sets since beginning this year's survey on Sept. 24 and has 44 more to go.

As usual, bass caught in the survey seine are measured, weighed, and tagged. Scale samples are taken to determine age and the fish are returned to sea. This season, the team is sampling weakfish as well. So far 70 weaks in the 24 to 28-inch range have been tagged and released.

Altenkirch's Precision Outfitters in Hampton Bays reports surfcasters using live bait - porgies and eels on the east bar outside the Shinnecock Inlet. Offshore of the Inlet, sea bass and porgies are being caught. Inside the inlet itself anglers can still find some flounder and some small blackfish.

   “It’s easy to do budgets when you have a lot of money to work with,” Sagaponack Village’s mayor, Donald Louchheim, said Monday after being thanked for his hard work by Joy Sieger, a board member. Following a public hearing at which there were not only no comments, but no attendees aside from the press, the village’s 2013-14 budget was passed unanimously.

    It is the “seventh consecutive year that the village has had either no increase or a slight drop in the property tax rate,” according to a written statement from the mayor. An $81,000 increase in spending was balanced by an increase of $84,000 in non-tax revenues, he said, which will come “primarily from higher anticipated revenues from Building Department fees and state mortgage tax receipts.”

    Road improvement projects and new data processing software make up a good deal of the next fiscal year’s total projected spending of $789,612, which compares to $708,059 in the current budget.

    “The village remains in excellent financial shape,” the mayor wrote, with a capital reserve fund of over $1 million  and a separate reserve fund for the maintenance and replacement of street trees added this year. Yet another reserve fund has been created to plan for assuming direct responsibility for services now performed by Southampton Town and charged to village residents in their town tax bills.

    With ongoing questions as to responsibilities shared with the Town of Southampton, Eric Schultz, the president of the Southampton Town Trustees, was in attendance as an invited guest to address the board.

    “We are concerned with what is going on the beach here,” Mayor Louchheim told Mr. Schultz. “We have some geo-cubes here.” The mayor was referring to large sand-filled bags buried on the beach to protect against erosion. “Are they permanent or temporary?” he asked.

    “They are supposed to come out when the emergency is over,” Mr. Schultz responded, to which the mayor asked, “When would that be?”

    Mr. Schultz took note of that concern and others, which included rising ocean levels and jurisdiction of the parts of the beach that have survived Hurricane Sandy. “We’re trying to do a townwide surveillance,” Mr. Schultz said, of where the actual “rolling easement” begins. Public property extends from the dune,  which is “always moving northward,” he said.

    “And when there is no dune,” the mayor asked, “under what authority are you operating?”

    Mr. Schultz went into a lengthy historical explanation with the answer ultimately being that a colonial patent guarantees that the public should have free use of the beach.

    “If we don’t do something, we’re derelict in our duty,” Mr. Schultz said.

    With a choice between saving a beach or a house, Mayor Louchheim said, “most would opt to save a beach.” He wondered if the beach would have dunes created by bulldozers every spring.

    Lee Foster, the village’s deputy mayor, said she observed clay being excavated along with sand when Sagg Pond being dredged. There seemed to be “little care as to the depth” of the dredging, she said.

    William Barbour, a board member, worried about the potential for sinkholes that could lead to children drowning. Mr. Schultz suggested the trustees could put up signs.

    Failure to control traffic over the dunes at Sagg Main Beach was also a concern of Mr. Barbour, who said that vegetation is starting to be replanted on the dunes. “People ignore the fencing along the perimeter of the parking lot, he said, or “tear it down and burn it in a bonfire.” 

    With the beach’s maintenance being a responsibility of the Southampton Town Recreation Department, the mayor asked Mr. Schultz if the town could be more vigilant, while also adding “they are doing a much better job with garbage.”

    Also on Monday, the board unanimously adopted a law clarifying the definition of assemblies. Previously, the village required permits only for outdoor assemblies of 50 or more people. Now, the village will require permits for any type of gathering on private property of 50 or more people, whether indoors or out.

    The addition of a permit requirement for yard sales was discussed, inspired by continuous complaints from a resident whose neighbor has been holding yard sales on a regular basis for years. The board members agreed that most other villages require permits and will discuss the matter in May.

    The board also considered a ban on the planting of bamboo. “It’s hellish,” said Ms. Foster. Mayor Louchheim agreed, and said he will not ask those who have the invasive species planted currently to remove it unless it has invaded their neighbor’s property. Draft legislation will be prepared for a public hearing next month.

Fulfillment

Church is guilt. Food is guilt. Wouldn't it be easier if they had a combined menu so one could make a manageable decision about which burden to wrestle with?

Now that the holidays are said and done, I've observed something about my seasonal behavior. I didn't participate in a single religious event and I overate.

But I'm still eyeing that size eight Oscar de la Renta chartreuse bathing suit with hope, and, if I'm being honest, I'm still on a mission for spiritual fulfillment, which is what I'm addressing today.

Once A Catholic . . .

In my diet group, we always start off with goals, so if I think about my ideal religious experience, I guess it would be to click with the Unitarians. Fat-free church. No lipids. Option to work out, or not to work out. It's all good.

This would be the exact opposite of how I was raised. My religious upbringing was analogous to an Italian sausage appetizer, washed down with a glass of buy-it-by-the-gallon table wine, as the lasagna baked in a bed of ricotta cheese, the scent reaching down into my newly lined stomach. This was finished with an array of jumbo cannolis, and other puffed pastry demons.

I was Catholic. And what they say about once a Catholic, always a Catholic is true. My low-cal recipes are my rosary beads, and I'm always reminding myself, "Thou shalt not eat that doughnut whilst I remember the personal trainer bill this month."

Guilt-Free Diet

My friend, Elsie, is a Buddhist. Ha, now there's a crash diet for you. Just fast, my friend. Sure, no guilt, but as I pass out on the floor realizing how tedious the whole ordeal is, will Elsie revive me with promises to take me to Maxim's before I die? Because, honestly, I'm no damn saint, and the chances of me reaching enlightenment are slim to none, so why wonder?

And all those cults. Well, I can tell you now, there's no way I could engage in whatever on-the-sneak business they do. I mean, that is one big midnight, fatso-in-the-refrigerator-lights experience. Ben and Jerry. Ring Dings. Ho Hos, the big no-no's. Uh uh.

Reincarnation

Now, the Congregationalists, they're an interesting bunch. Their menu looks something like this: For a starter, we'll have the baby greens, with a lite lemon vinaigrette. Our entree this Sunday morning will be a roasted saffron chicken, finishing with a raspberry torte. There are a lot of Congregationalists at my spa and they seem well-balanced. I might give that a try.

But, thinking about Buddhism, there is that chance for reincarnation, so maybe the starvation is worth it. God knows I have my order placed in that department. I'd like to come back in a sleek body, no winking cellulose dimples, and where there is mush, I'd like it to be firm, like a nice hunk of Jarlsberg atop a roast beef sandwich.

Heather Won Tesoriero teaches language arts at the Ross School, where she is writer-in-residence. She has previously contributed to The Star.

Fourteen countries from North, Central, and South America and the Caribbean last month signed the first-ever international agreement to protect sea turtles. All sea turtles that inhabit U.S. waters are classified as either endangered or threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act of 1973.

Turtle conservation programs are expected to be established in countries party to the Inter-American Convention for the Protection and Conservation of Sea Turtles.

The agreement also requires the use of turtle excluder devices on nearly all shrimp trawl vessels.

It's National Wildlife Refuge Week (Oct. 5 through 13), which is timed to coincide with the annual autumn bird migration. The 2,400-acre Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge, on Smith Road in Shirley, will be open to the public on Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The birding should be good.

The Group for the South Fork has organized a three-mile hike in the Long Pond Greenbelt for Saturday between 9 and 11 a.m. It will feature autumn colors around freshwater ponds and wetlands. Red maples, black tupelos, and blueberry shrubs will be identified by Steve Biasetti, the leader. For reservations, hikers are asked to call the Group at its Bridgehampton offices.

Also on Saturday, the Group is hosting a forum on groundwater at Pierson High School in Sag Harbor between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. A panel of groundwater experts will talk about the origin, quality, and future threats to East End drinking water resources. A brown bag lunch is suggested. Again, the Group can be called for reservations.

The South Fork Natural History Society's vice president, Jim Ash, will lead his annual walk to see passerines (small songbirds) during their fall migration. Participants can expect to see warblers, finches, and sparrows, as well as oceanic migrants. The walk is scheduled from 7:30 to 10:30 a.m. Birders are asked to bring binoculars and a field guide and can call the society's headquarters in Amagansett, or its Natureline, to make reservations. The guided hike is free for members, $3 for non-members, $5 for families.

The Wild Bird Crossings shop has scheduled a birdwatching walk through the Morton Wildlife Refuge for Saturday. Birders interested in witnessing the fall bird migration are asked to meet at the shop at Bridgehampton Commons at 7:30 a.m. The shop asks that participants call to make reservations.

Gale and Bob O'Gorman have a lot of dogs currently living at their Springs house. Twelve, to be precise. But only one of these dogs, an Irish wolfhound, is actually theirs. The other 11, all greyhounds, are temporary residents awaiting permanent homes.

Several years ago, Mr. O'Gorman owned a part-share in a racing greyhound. While spending time at the dog track the plight of dogs retired from running became apparent to

Mr. O'Gorman laments the faddishness that has begun to accompany greyhound adoptions, which seem to have become the "politically correct" dog to own.

him. Unlike racehorses, who can go on to a number of other careers after retirement from the fast lane, racing greyhounds don't have a lot of options.

In fact, there is only one option open for these dogs - adoption into private houses as pets. For the past six years, the O'Gormans have worked tirelessly to find homes for these canine retirees and to promote public awareness about the considerable virtues of greyhounds as companion dogs.

Gentle And Loving

"They make wonderful pets," said Mr. O'Gorman. These strikingly beautiful dogs are well-known for their gentle, loving dispositions. What isn't as well known is how easy they are to live with. Perhaps because of their racing heritage, people often assume the dogs are hyperactive, but actually nothing could be farther from the truth.

Mr. O'Gorman points out that greyhounds are sprinters, not marathon runners. "If you let them run for 10 to 20 minutes in the morning, they'll go home and sleep for the rest of the day," he said.

The shorthaired, sleek coat of the greyhound requires little maintenance. And, over all, greyhounds, at least those bred for racing, are free from the array of genetically transmitted diseases that plague so many other breeds. These dogs were not bred for good looks, though they certainly have them, but for ability to perform on the racetrack. Physical soundness has been of the highest priority in the development of the breed.

Whether hunting live prey or a mechanical rabbit on the track, greyhounds have raced throughout history. An Egyptian carving dating back 4,900 years clearly proves the antiquity of the breed. Their influence as a foundation breed can be seen in the borzoi, Irish wolfhound, Scottish deerhound, and whippet, to name a few.

Greyhounds are tall dogs, measuring between 27 and 30 inches at the shoulder. But with their lean, deer-like physiques they usually weigh considerably less than the much shorter Laborador retriever. The coat of the greyhound comes in many colors. In fact, said Mr. O'Gor man,"They come in every color except gray!"

The name of the breed is actually a corruption of the Anglo-Saxon word grie, which means fine or beautiful.

These graceful, sweet creatures can pose certain challenges to their owners. Greyhounds are sight hounds, which means they are genetically hardwired to respond to visual stimulation by chasing after it.

Hard To Train

Bred for thousands of years to work independently, greyhounds are not the easiest of dogs to obedience train. But it is possible. Mr. O'Gorman notes that in recent years greyhounds have been showing up and placing at obedience trials.

Training a greyhound not only requires persistence but also great gentleness. Though not high-strung, these dogs are exceptionally sensitive. Mr. O'Gorman knew of one greyhound trainer who banned all staff members from arguing in the kennel within earshot of the dogs. This trainer insisted that raised, angry voices so disturbed the greyhounds that their ability to race successfully was compromised.

With their incredibly strong chase drives, some greyhounds can be a menace to cats, small dogs, and other pets. The vast majority of these dogs are fine with other animals, but it is wise to introduce them to one another in a controlled environment so that, in the unlikely instance that mayhem does ensue, it can be quickly nipped in the bud.

Cause Celebre

The plight of ex-racing dogs has become somewhat of a cause celebre. And though this attention has been a help in finding homes for some of the animals, Mr. O'Gorman feels the unsubstantiated and unfounded ac cusations of cruelty to the dogs at the track leveled by some individuals has alienated many racing professionals, which is ultimately counterproductive to the welfare of the dogs.

He knows a trainer who vowed never to work with greyhound rescue groups again after reading an article containing sensational descriptions of supposed abuse at the track leveled by the owner of an adopted greyhound. The trainer knew the accusations to be untrue since the dog had come out of his own kennel.

The PC Dog To Own

According to Mr. O'Gorman, the National Greyhound Association has very strict bylaws about breeding, kenneling, and care of greyhounds, far stricter than the laws upheld by the American Kennel Club or the United States Department of Agriculture, the agencies that monitor the breeding of most other breeds of dog. The N.G.A. also enacts sanctions against anyone convicted of cruelty and bars them from participating in greyhound racing.

Mr. O'Gorman also laments the faddishness that has begun to accompany greyhound adoptions, which seem to have become the "politically correct" dog to own. "There are people who adopt these dogs to make a statement about what animal-loving crusaders they are. But then the glamour wears off and they're returning the dogs to me after four months."

What these dogs need, he said quite practically, are not people with well-meaning but grandiose plans to save all greyhounds but people who want to give a good home to a good dog.

And good dogs they are indeed, if Miller and Daisy, two racing dogs just months off the track, are any indication. Very good dogs! The two lovely doelike creatures swept lithely along the windblown beach, thrilling onlookers with their tremendous speed and grace.

However, excess steam blown off, they quickly decided that schmoozing was a higher priority than sprinting and spent the remainder of our visit standing at our feet soliciting affection and adulation. Clearly, dogs this trusting and affectionate have always been treated with respect and consideration, and with the O'Gormans on their side, they always shall. Anyone interested in giving one of these splendid creatures a home can contact the O'Gormans, who live on Lilla Lane, East Hampton.

A Sag Harbor man and the company he worked for were cleared of wrongdoing Friday after a two-week trial in County Criminal Court, by a jury that found they were not responsible for the death by carbon monoxide poisoning of the tennis great Vitas Gerulaitis.

Bartholomew Torpey and East End Pools Inc., which is owned by Hank Katz, a physical education teacher at Pierson High School, still face a civil suit brought by the Gerulaitis family.

Mr. Torpey, beaming but subdued, said softly that he was "very happy, and glad it's finally over" to a contingent of TV cameras and reporters, and quickly left the building.

"We never felt we were responsible," said Mr. Katz, a resident of Southampton.

"Scapegoats"?

The defense attorneys, John O'Brien and David Clayton, had suggested the accused were "scapegoats." Not a single defense witness was called; instead, Mr. O'Brien and Mr. Clayton successfully shot holes in the testimony of prosecution witnesses.

They maintained their clients had been arrested to short-circuit a probe that might have targeted Martin Raynes, the millionaire Southampton homeowner on whose estate the tennis star died. Prosecutors said afterward, however, that they still believed the charges were warranted.

The Suffolk District Attorney and police investigators determined lethal carbon monoxide had escaped from a faulty pool heater in the basement of the pool house into the room where Mr. Gerulaitis was sleeping. Mr. Torpey and East End Pools were accused of installing the heater improperly.

Faulty Venting

Mr. Raynes, a high-profile Manhattan real estate executive, is married to Patti Davis, the daughter of Marvin Davis, the Texas oil mogul. He owns the Meadow Lane estate with his mother, Beatrice Raynes.

Both, along with the defendants in the criminal proceeding, have been named in the $63 million wrongful-death suit filed by the Gerulaitis family. So has Teledyne Laars Inc., the manufacturer of the pool heater, and Synergy Gas, which has an office in Southampton.

Testimony during last week's trial revealed that Mr. Torpey installed the pool heater in April 1995, and that it had been vented improperly.

The defense argued that the pool house in which Mr. Gerulaitis died, on Sept. 18, 1995, had been used by guests all summer, and that a Teledyne Laars technician had worked on the heater just three days before the tennis star arrived at the estate.

Pipe Was Pivotal

The jury chose to focus on a pivotal venting pipe. Mr. Torpey installed the pipe, agreed Mr. O'Brien, but did not afterward cut it the 12 inches or so that allowed a basement door to close properly. The prosecutor, Edward Heilig, maintained it did not matter who cut it, because the gas escaping was toxic whether the pipe had been trimmed or not.

Last Thursday, the jury requested readbacks of testimony given by Jeffrey Ketchman, an expert hired by the Rayneses. He had testified that cutting the pipe by a foot or so would have a "negligible effect" and "wouldn't have made a difference" in the carbon monoxide flow into the basement.

However, during cross-examination the defense forced Mr. Ketchman to admit he had not actually tested to see whether, at the pipe's original length and with the door open, there would have been fumes. After the jury asked to rehear similar testimony by a civil engineer, the mood of the defendants brightened considerably.

The Verdicts

After almost two days of deliberation, the verdicts came back Friday just before lunch: Mr. Torpey, innocent of the charge of second-degree criminally negligent homicide, the pool company acquitted of the same charge, as well as of second-degree manslaughter.

The focus now shifts to the civil case, where a jury - if it gets that far - needs only to determine that a "preponderance of evidence" exists in order to find the defendants guilty, as opposed to guilt "beyond a reasonable doubt."

Drew Biondo, the District Attorney's director of communications, claimed that the fact the jury deliberated for two days validated the charges.

D.A.'s Rebuttal

"There were substantive issues that had to be addressed," he said, pooh-poohing the charge that the arrests were made to protect the Rayneses.

"The Rayneses didn't install the heater, they merely purchased it," said Mr. Biondo. "They relied on professionals to install it. The installation created a dangerous situation - not just for someone sleeping in the house, but for anyone. It could have harmed someone who went in there to change his clothes."

The matter of the cut pipe was not addressed by the prosecution. Mr. Biondo said that was because carbon monoxide is heavier than air, and would have been sucked back into the basement by the air-conditioning unit regardless of whether or not the metal louver door to which the heater had been vented was open.

Teledyne Technician

Mr. Biondo acknowledged that James Cosmano, the Teledyne Laars technician who was on the scene three days before the death, was granted immunity from prosecution in return for his testimony.

The defense team, and some of the jurors, said Mr. Cosmano's presence three days before the tragedy aroused the reasonable doubt necessary to acquit the accused.

However, said Mr. Biondo, "Mr. Cosmano didn't install the unit. It was the installation that was done improperly."

Mr. O'Brien countered that people had been staying in the pool house most of the summer, and that things went awry only after Mr. Cosmano "tinkered" with the system.

Jurors' Deliberations

One juror, Charlene Azzara, said the majority favored acquittal on the first day, and that the others were convinced after hearing the readbacks and hearing Justice Richard Klein reread elements necessary for conviction.

Justice Klein instructed the jury, just 10 minutes before the verdict was delivered, that to find the defendants guilty their action "must be a cause of death." They could not be held responsible, he said, "if an act by another intervenes."

Ms. Azzara said the jury felt Mr. Cosmano's presence a short time before the tragedy made it impossible to be sure what had happened, though she said the jurors agreed Mr. Torpey had done a "sloppy" job.

Charlotte Reatherford, a friend of Mr. Torpey's, said he still had significant legal bills to pay, and will have more if the civil suit moves forward.

"It's disrupted his life. It was nerve-racking," Ms. Reatherford said.

"It hurt him. He's just about tapped out," said Mr. O'Brien. Mr. Torpey left the pool business at the end of 1995 and now works for a construction company.

Two million dollars earmarked to preserve Montauk's Shadmoor property was cut out of the Federal budget last week, despite more than a year of lobbying to obtain the funds. The cut jeopardizes efforts to purchase the sensitive oceanfront land before it is developed.

In a Senate-House budget conference, $2 million specifically bound for Shadmoor was usurped to fund a larger purchase of Sterling Forest, a 20,000-acre watershed area on the New York-New Jersey border.

"It was not a happy Monday for me," said Stuart Lowrie, the director of the Nature Conservancy's Peconic Bioreserve. "I was hoping for better news." The Nature Conservancy has been spearheading efforts to preserve the 98-acre property, along with the East End's Congressman, Michael P. Forbes, who helped get the Federal dollars into the budget.

Vying For Dollars

As part of an omnibus parks bill adopted by Congress last Thursday, $17.5 million was authorized toward Sterling Forest. The funding comes at the expense of Shadmoor and several other smaller projects all vying for limited money from the Federal Land and Water Conservation Fund.

The Nature Conservancy had counted on the $2 million as the building block in a partnership among the Conservancy, East Hampton Town, and the Fish and Wildlife Service that would negotiate an acquisition.

With the Federal money gone, a purchase may not be possible before the bulldozers arrive. Shadmoor's owners, Robert Bear and Peter Schub, have been willing to sell the property for conservation, but they are unlikely to put their long-planned subdivision on hold while other funding sources are sought.

Prefer Conservation

The Town Planning Board has already agreed conceptually with the subdivision plan and accepted a lengthy environmental impact statement. Mr. Bear and Mr. Schub propose to split the parcel into four large lots. In the process, public access to the property would be lost and two historic, World War II-era bunkers would be removed.

"Like me, the owners have a long-term view for the property," said Mr. Lowrie, who spoke with them after the news of the funding cut. "They've had this property for 15 years now. They would prefer to make a conservation sale, but, like any good businessmen, if it doesn't look likely, they want to make a return by selling individual lots."

"The feeling," Mr. Lowrie continued, "is they're going to go forward with all the speed necessary [to get subdivision approval], and their understanding is that we'll go ahead with all the speed we can in bringing to them a fair-market offer."

Down The Road

Subdivision approval is still far down the road. A formal application with final maps, drainage plans, easements, and other specifics has not yet been submitted. Additionally, the Town Zoning Board of Appeals must grant a natural resources permit for the subdivision road, which would abut wetlands.

Lisa Liquori, the town's planning director, said it was hard to estimate how long the process would take, but "it's certainly unlikely to happen before the end of the year." Much of it depends on the speed of the applicants, she said, noting a lot of the work had already been done.

"The best option for the property would be for it to be acquired," said Ms. Liquori. "But if it doesn't get purchased. . . the town and the Planning Board have done everything we could to get a good subdivision plan, and we'll help in that process."

Appeal To Babbitt

Mr. Lowrie said the Nature Conservancy would appeal to the Secretary of the Interior, Bruce Babbitt, for funding through the Land and Water Conservation Fund's emergency account. "We're still exploring other avenues to get Federal funding," he said.

Senator Alfonse D'Amato has also given assurances that Shadmoor would be returned to the budget next year, Mr. Lowrie said. In the meantime, the Nature Conservancy will also seek funds through the state's proposed $1.75 billion Clean Air/Clean Water Bond Act. The bond act is up for a referendum vote next month, as is East Hampton Town's proposed $5 million open space bond issue.

The Nature Conservancy this week criticized the administration of the Water Conservation Fund, saying not enough of it was being used for its main intent - land acquisition - and that the lack of funds encouraged needless competition between equally important projects.

At Others' Expense

"Sadly, the 'victory' for Sterling Forest comes at the needless expense of other critically imperiled wild areas in our region," wrote Sara Davison, the executive director of the Nature Conservancy's South Fork-Shelter Island Chapter, in a letter to this week's Star.

The Land and Water Conservation Fund is a trust fund that is fed through royalties collected from offshore oil concessions. Of the $900 million available from the fund this year, only roughly $150 million was allotted for land acquisition, divided between four agencies. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was allotted $44.5 million for the coming year.

   Looking into the future, a citizens committee working with the East Hampton Town Planning Department has drawn up a long list of what it calls "opportunities" to enhance recreation in the town, with a special focus on the waterfront.

   The list includes 11 new accesses to the water, a park complete with a swimming pool, tennis and basketball courts, a Rollerblade run on town-owned land near Montauk's recycling center at the eastern edge of Hither Woods, and other pools at Maidstone Park in East Hampton and at Camp Hero in Montauk.

   Access, access, access is one way to sum up the recommendations in a comprehensive report on recreation that the ad hoc committee to develop a Local Waterfront Revitalization Plan has completed.

Project And Policy

   The 100-page report was discussed at a special meeting of the Town Board on Sept. 25 and will be presented to the public at 4 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 18, at Town Hall. The recommended accesses to the waterfront are mostly for pedestrians and would require the purchase of land.

   Copies of "Recreational Resources - Inventory and Analysis and Policies" are available at the offices of the Town Clerk or Planning Department. The report is the latest segment of the Waterfront Revitalization Plan, which is being done in compliance with state guidelines and with state funding.

   Rameshwar Das, a Springs activist who chairs the citizens committee, described the new report as more "project oriented" than "policy oriented." He said he considered the 11 additional accesses recommended "a relatively small number."

Concern Described

   "We were more concerned with cleaning up, or opening up, those that have been closed off unnecessarily. As an example, he noted a sign placed in front of an access to the water at Lazy Point in Amagansett that reads "private property" when "it's not."

   Lisa Liquori, town planning director, said this week that the larger projects in the report, such as the one near the Montauk recycling center, should be seen as "generalized opportunities."

   For more to happen, you would have to have a "site-specific plan, a feasibility plan, perhaps a grant. There is no time-frame," she said, observing that the development of the former Montauk landfill, though town-owned, would be restricted by the state for the foreseeable future.

Buses To Beaches

   During the Sept. 25 presentation, Supervisor Cathy Lester and Ms. Liquori agreed that many of the town's beaches were lacking in public access.

   "This report lets people know what accesses there are, and it will help figure out alternative plans," said Ms. Lester.

   Although the report recommends buying land for additional parking at some beaches, Ms. Lester said that in the long run shuttling people back and forth to public beaches would be preferable to paving over beach and dune land for parking.

   Town Councilman Tom Knobel pointed out that the report did not resolve the issue, however.

Legal Constraints

   Ms. Liquori said later that the busing-rather-than-paving suggestion was a policy born of legal constraints. She noted that the United States Supreme Court had made it clear that private developments were not required to provide public access to public lands, such as beaches and harbors.

   The report divides the town into 12 reaches, as was done for the plan's segment on flooding and erosion, and it identifies existing resources and opportunities in each of them.

   In the Montauk Bluff reach, for example, the report recommends public acquisition of two beach accesses - one at Camp Hero, the other in the Sanctuary development. For the area around the north end of Lake Montauk a need is seen for better pedestrian access to the Town Dock and all along the docks - at Montauk Fish Dock, Tuma's Dock, Salivar's, the Viking Dock, and on around through Coon's Foot Cove.

Shadmoor Access

   Public access should be acquired at Shadmoor, the report states, and Rheinstein Park needs its wetlands restored. The report suggests additional parking and toilet facilities, among other amenities, for town land at Navy Road and states that the public needs a way to walk to the beach at Culloden Point.

   On Napeague's north side the suggested improvements include a canoe-kayak campsite at Hither Hills near the Walking Dunes. The launching ramp at Napeague Harbor Road needs fixing, and toilet facilities are needed on Trustee-owned land at Lazy Point.

   On the ocean at Napeague, the report recommends the purchase of land for public access at Sea Breeze Estates, near the Lobster Roll restaurant, and parking, bike racks, and toilet facilities for town land formerly owned by the Church of God.

Other Accesses

   At the Double Dunes Preserve at Bluff Road, Amagansett, additional land should be purchased, or easements obtained, to create a contiguous ecosystem.

   In the area of Accabonac Harbor, wetlands and the launching ramp at Landing Lane Road need restoration. Bike racks are recommended for Gerard Point and Louse Point.

   A new pedestrian access is recommended on the west side of Three Mile Harbor at Hedges Banks Drive. The road end at Old House Landing Road needs to be restored, and a path near Springy Banks Road needs an access for off-road vehicles. In addition to a swimming pool at Maidstone Park, it could accommodate tennis courts.

   Public access should be acquired at the Hopping parcel on Georgica Pond, and at Mathews Road there, and a launching ramp is suggested for low-draft boats onto Georgica Pond at the state access at Montauk Highway.Also listed among improvement opportunities are parking and wetland restoration at Cedar Point Park, and the elimination of phragmites in Alewife Pond.

Beach-Driving Bias

At the Sept. 25 meeting, Councilman Knobel said the report showed a bias against beach driving. Mr. Das and Ms. Liquori denied such a bias.

"We're not intending to tell the board what to do. What we did note is what's on the books, and where it doesn't jibe with what's on signs et cetera," said Ms. Liquori.

Throughout the report, there are recommendations for amenities such as benches, picnic tables, bicycle racks, and the like. The report considers "water-dependent" recreation, such as boating and swimming, and "water-enhanced" ones, such as trails, golf courses, and tennis courts with a water view.

A section deals with hunting and fishing, and multiple-use problems are identified for each location, as are environmental concerns and those recreational uses that are considered compatible with new private development.

Potential Conflicts

Two kinds of conflicts also are identified. One type is between different kinds of recreational uses. The other kind of conflict is between the desire for recreation and access to it and the need to protect the resources that provide it.

Listing existing and potential conflicts was important, Ms. Lester said on Sept. 25, because someday, "We will need to say which is the highest and best use." Jet Skis were given as an example of an activity which many see as interfering with swimming, boating, and fishing.

When launched over 10 years ago, the Waterfront Plan included six separate focuses of study: fish and wildlife habitats, flooding and erosion, public access, scenic and historical resources, air and water, and development policies. Since then several areas of concern were consolidated.

Flooding And Erosion

The need for new policies to deal with flooding and erosion to better address the increasing number of applications for bulkheads and other approaches to erosion control got priority. This section of the plan is the only one so far to have been the subject of a public hearing. It took place in August.

A second meeting at which amendments to the report could be approved, the adoption of a final version, and the drafting of laws based on that version are supposed to be part of the process. It was noted, however, that the work of this section of the plan was completed during a Democratic administration, while the Town Board majority, which has been Republican since January, could be expected to seek its re-examination.

Toward New Laws

Supervisor Lester began the Sept. 25 meeting by announcing she would like the town attorneys to begin drafting laws to implement the flooding and erosion recommendations. "Let's move along, the Zoning Board of Appeals has the need," she said.

Ms. Liquori said turning recommendations into law was a prerequisite to state review, and state approval of the entire plan was the goal. She said planners and the committee hoped to finish all components of the plan by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, Councilman Knobel informed his colleagues that the Town Trustees were about to release their proposal, which they are calling a "manifesto," for supplanting the Z.B.A. in waterfront areas.

"They are concerned the Local Waterfront Revitalization Plan will take them out of decisions," Mr. Knobel said. "You have to decide what to do about them before the flooding and erosion plan is adopted," Mr. Knobel said.

The next sections of the plan to be addressed are those dealing with flora, fauna, and fisheries. A special meeting to present these to the Town Board will be held at Town Hall on Oct. 28 at 10 a.m.

The iron heart that kept its familiar "ta PA ca, ta PA ca . . ." rhythm on the banks of Fort Pond Bay since April 1, 1939, stopped beating over the weekend. An era ended with it.

It was one of the last of its kind. The Atlas model 1929 Imperial mechanical-injection diesel engine had powered the ammonia compressor at the Perry B. Duryea and Son ice-making plant on Tuthill Road for nearly 60 years. It has been retired, and will not be replaced.

It was the old Imperial's exhaust system that produced the distinctive sound that was so much a part of Montauk life that longtime Montaukers no longer heard it. "I only noticed it when it was not running," Perry (Chip) Duryea 3d said on Monday.

Before The Atlas

His grandfather, Perry B. Duryea Sr., bought the Atlas in 1939 in order to supply ice to fishermen more consistently. His company had offered ice since the early 1920s, but it was nature's ice, not compressor made, and mined from nearby Tuthill Pond. The ice harvest usually took three days and a crew of 35 men and horse.

First the horse was fitted with "caulks" or cleats for traction. It was walked back and forth pulling a tool that cut a furrow in the ice for the sawblades to follow. After the sawing, blocks weighing 300 pounds each were lifted onto a roller conveyor and pulled into the ice houses for storage.

The Duryea ice houses were destroyed in the hurricane of 1938. For several winters prior to that storm, a warming trend had made the ice harvest undependable. It was therefore decided to supply the rebuilt facility with the Atlas-Imperial.

Recipe For Ice

It was a big, slow-turning engine that chugged along at only 360 revolutions per minute. The shaft was turned by three eight-inch-bore cylinders that produced 55 horsepower. The 800-pound flywheel rumbled on its large bearings.

Powered by a stainless steel shaft, the compressor turned ammonia gas to a cool liquid, which then stole heat from a calcium chloride brine piped through an ammonia chamber before being returned to the cold pool under the building. Metal molds filled with fresh water were lowered into the cold brine. Ice was made.

The Atlas-Imperial did all this - making 10 tons of ice a day while burning only 72 gallons of fuel.

Ice-making at Duryea's was geared to the fishing season. During the summer, the old Imperial ran 24 hours a day to supply ice for local shippers of fish, and for the Duryeas' lobster delivery trucks.

Collector's Item

On Tuesday, Chip Duryea said the Atlas-Imperial had simply outlived its usefulness. "The whole rationale of the 300-pound block ice was to bring them to the harbor to be crushed. Most boats have their own ice-making capability," he explained. And so, the grand old machine will not be replaced by newer equipment.

It will keep on chuggin' however. Mr. Duryea said it had been donated to a collector of antique machinery who has pledged to keep the Atlas-Imperial going.

As for the ice-house, it will be converted to a retail shop pending the approval of an overall plan now before the East Hampton Town Planning Department. The wholesale lobster business will continue into the foreseeable future, Mr. Duryea said, as would the Lobster Deck restaurant.

The overall plan before the town includes an expanded restaurant and deck, and several retail shops.