Because parking is limited in the Village of East Hampton, where the majority of Hampton International Film Festival events will take place, the Film Festival and the Hampton Jitney will provide transportation to all sites holding festival activities.

   On opening night, Wednesday, transportation will be provided between the East Hampton Cinema and the V.I.P. tent at Nick and Toni's restaurant on North Main Street.

   Starting next Thursday and running through Oct. 20, the bus will loop through East Hampton from 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. each day, with the following stops approximately every 20 minutes: the long-term parking lot behind Herrick Park off Lumber Lane, the East Hampton Cinema, the festival's "hospitality center" at the Huntting Inn, the Maidstone Arms, Guild Hall, and the East Hampton House motel on Pantigo Road.

   On the closing night, Oct. 20, Nick and Toni's will be added to the loop between 8 p.m. and 1 a.m.

   A separate Sag Harbor loop will be offered on the days that panel discussions are held at the Bay Street Theatre. Next Thursday and on Friday, Oct. 18, the shuttle will leave the Huntting Inn at 10 and 10:30 a.m. and return from Bay Street at 12:30 and 1 p.m. On Oct. 19, it will leave the Huntting Inn at noon and 12:30 p.m., leaving the Sag Harbor theater at 2:30 and 3 p.m. And, on Oct. 20, the shuttle will leave the Huntting Inn at 3 and 3:30 p.m., leaving Bay Street at 5 and 5:30 p.m.

   Tickets go on sale today at the Film Festival's box office, at the Fotouhi Cramer Gallery on Newtown Lane, East Hampton, which will be open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tickets, which often sell out quickly, are available through the day before the screening or event. Last-minute tickets may be available on a per-seat basis 10 minutes before the starting time.

   Individual film screenings cost $8, with the opening and closing-night films and parties costing $100 each. The panel discussions are $15 each or $50 for all four.

   The tribute to Alan J. Pakula and tickets to "A Conversation With . . .," whose guest is not revealed until the very last moment, cost $25 each. A film buff pass costs $400, and a founder's pass may be had for $1,000.

   As the days shorten and the nights get longer, it is only natural that many of us draw the curtains and concentrate on the comforts in our own private lives. It is easy amid the plenty that surrounds us to forget that others have to struggle to pay the rent or buy clothes for their schoolchildren.

   That struggle gets tougher once cold weather comes in, what with fuel bills and diminished work opportunities. But this year bodes to be worse than usual as a result of the drastic cutbacks in public assistance being approved by the Federal Government.

   The Government's cutoff of benefits to legal immigrants will seem particulary harsh on the East End, as our population has become increasingly diverse. Human Resources, the East End's largest food pantry, based in Southampton, recently reported a 20-percent increase in the number of families needing its help.

   We urge South Fork residents to pay heed in the months ahead to appeals from organizations that help the needy, many of which rely on quiet written appeals rather than splashy fund-raisers.

   One of these organizations, the East Hampton Town Community Council, which assists residents facing financial emergencies and helps provide equipment for the sick, has just begun its annual fund-raising drive. Residents also can help by contributing their time. Many of these organizations are in serious need of volunteers to help manage their increasing workload.

   Other local organizations also are deserving recipients of time and money, including, to name but a few, Meals on Wheels, which provides food to shut-ins; the various local food pantries, including East Hampton's, which has just moved to new quarters behind St. Luke's Episcopal Church; Catholic Charities, which has an office in Bridgehampton; East End Hospice, a Westhampton agency that provides care to the terminally ill, and the Long Island Association for AIDS Care.

   It's hard to beat the Good Book for moral imperatives.

   "If thou has vast abundance, give alms accordingly: if thou have but a little, be not afraid to give according to that little."

   Golfers who show up this month at Montauk Downs State Park wearing T-shirts without collars or cutoff shorts have a big surprise coming. As of next spring, they are being warned, New York State plans to institute a required dress code at all its public golf courses. On Long Island, besides Montauk Downs, Sunken Meadow and Bethpage State Parks will be affected.

   No longer will tank tops, cutoff or "muscle" shirts, halters, short shorts or running shorts, torn pants, or work boots be considered "proper attire" on the course, and any duffer so clad will not be allowed to play.

   According to Edward Wankel of the Long Island State Park and Recreation Commission, the new policy is not really new, it's just being newly enforced. Similar restrictions have been in effect at county parks, including Indian Island in Riverhead, for three years, having been imposed by the self same Mr. Wankel during his tenure as Suffolk Parks Commissioner.

   What's going on? The state, or at least Mr. Wankel, is trying to legislate taste, good or otherwise, and moving into a realm where it simply doesn't belong.

   John Updike, musing in his latest book, "Golf Dreams," upon "Golf As a Game of the People," writes of "the daily mob, costumed in tank tops and cut-offs, sneakers and baseball hats." The "mob," says the Pulitzer Prize-winning author, "leaves the rough downtrodden and turns grass tees into dust bowls."

   But the barbs, it turns out, are chiefly tongue-in-cheek. Comes the stinger:

   "What a harvest of pleasure springs from acres so democratically exploited!"

    When push comes to shove, or in this case putt to cup, what's really important is not what golfers wear but how they behave. In that, golf is just like any other game. In fact, it's just like life.

   What a letdown. The Federal Government has axed the money it would have appropriated next year to buy Shadmoor, a breathtaking 98-acre tract on the ocean in Montauk.

   The Senate already had earmarked $2 million. The House chose not to earmark anything. But the Nature Conservancy and other parties still expected the funding would survive negotiations in Congress. It did not.

   Perhaps because they needed to look fiscally conservative in an election year, members of Congress decided to hold the line on such land purchases nationwide, and to give New York State only one of two high-priority purchases on its list. The Sterling Forest, a 20,000-acre watershed on the New York-New Jersey border, beat Shadmoor out.

   Ironically, the Federal money would have come from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, a repository of royalties from privately used public resources that has been largely diverted to non-conservation purposes. Furthermore, to get the overall parks bill saving the Sterling Forest through the Senate last week, President Clinton had to agree to extend a logging lease in Alaska's Tongass National Forest and to ease development restrictions on some of Florida's barrier islands.

   The lesson, perhaps, is that nothing comes without a price. It hurts indeed when our corner of the earth is the one to pay it.

   A more pragmatic lesson is that Congress could avert "this kind of natural areas conservation cannibalism," as Sara Davison of the Nature Conservancy puts it in a letter to The Star today, if the Land and Water Fund were used exclusively for the purpose for which it was named.

   Shadmoor is habitat to one of the last populations in the world of a snapdragon called the sandplain gerardia. Thus, the Nature Conservancy can be expected to continue to pursue Federal funds from the 1998 budget.

   In the meantime, however, the East Hampton Town Planning Board has given Shadmoor's owners preliminary approval for its development. Let's hope something can be worked out before the bulldozers arrive.

   Despite an owner's plea for a shore-hardening structure to protect a King's Point Road, Springs, property, the East Hampton Town Planning Department recommended last week that Dora Barmack's request for a rock revetment be denied.

   A planner, Brian Frank, told the Town Zoning Board of Appeals Sept. 17 that it should require an environmental impact statement on the project.

   That would allow the board "to better assess the impacts" on the subject as well as adjoining properties and the beach in front, Mr. Frank said, as well as give an opportunity to explore alternatives.

   Dora Barmack, who owns the Gardiner's Bay property with her fam- ily and who hopes for a nat- ural resources permit to build a 180-foot-long stone revetment with a 20-foot return at its western end.

Domino Effect

   This is the most recent of a string of similar requests that the board has faced. This winter, the Z.B.A. approved a similar revetment for Paul Frahm at his Gerard Drive, Springs, property, but only after the board wrestled with the fact that each time it approves a shore-hardening structure, other requests from adjoining neighbors follow since the structures block the natural flow of sand.

   At the time of Mr. Frahm's revetment was approved (his revetment is under construction this week), the board agreed to ask the East Hampton Town Board for better defined policies on shore-hardening structures. The Town Board earlier this month held a hearing on the Waterfront Advisory Committee's report on controlling flooding and erosion, which was finished just after Mr. Frahm's approval.

   Yesterday, Supervisor Cathy Les ter said she wanted to see the report adopted into the Town Code and would direct deputy town attorney Richard Whalen to start drafting an amendment to the code.

   At last week's hearing, Roy Haje of En-Consultants of Southampton told the Zoning Board that the bluff on the Barmack property is eroding, mostly from surge tides during storms, and scalloping around the return on the adjacent property to the east.

Devastated By Storms

   Mrs. Barmack's daughter, Laura Kaiser, a part-owner of the property, said her late father had always favored "soft solutions" because he liked the beach natural, but that now her family has no choice.

   In the 1980s they started to see erosion of the property, Ms. Kaiser said. Then, in 1991, Hurricane Bob and the Halloween storm "devastated the property." She estimated from 900 to 1,400 square feet, or eight linear feet, of property have been lost since her family bought it in 1969.

   Their neighbor's bulkhead makes it "infinitely worse," she added. "Some properties are forced to be vulnerable while others are protected. I submit to you that this is an injustice."

Actually Accreting

   A differing view was offered by Mr. Frank, who told the board that the Barmack property has not undergone severe erosion in the last few years, and that in the bigger picture, that area of King's Point Road, roughly between the eastern jetty of Hog Creek Inlet and Hog Creek Point, is actually accreting.

   Some of the erosion on the property was "self-created, even if it was inadvertent," Mr. Frank added. Sparse vegetation, a patio at the bluff's edge, and a stairway and landing over the face of the bluff were all contributing to erosion there, he said.

   The Barmack house is set about 80 feet from the edge of the bluff, and is no immediate danger from storms.

   The rest of King's Point Road, continuing in a southeast direction, is heavily armored with bulkheads and revetments, and in some places the beach has all but disappeared. To the west of the Barmack property, until the jetty that helps maintain an open inlet to Hog Creek, the properties are unarmored.

Soft Sell

   Mr. Frank said the Barmack property was a reasonable place to deny a revetment request and stop the so-called "domino effect" these structures create. He noted that the flooding and erosion report suggested looking at the shoreline of a whole region when assessing its protection and recommended no hard structures be allowed in the immediate area where the Barmack property is.

   "You have enough information to deny it right now," Mr. Frank concluded. He suggested the Barmack family try a soft solution, such as adding sand and plantings to provide natural protection, instead.

   Mrs. Kaiser countered, however, that her family had tried a soft solution and that it didn't work; letters of support from six neighbors agreed with her. Mrs. Kaiser told the board that a vegetation plan begun the day before the December 1992 storm was wiped out.

Revised Plan

   "This is $13,000 of soft solution that lasted 26 hours," she said. "The storm took it out."

   Mr. Frank pointed out that plant ings need time to become established and need to be maintained to provide any meaningful protection.

   According to Mr. Haje, the proposed revetment before the board last week was revised from an earlier plan, which the State Department of Environmental Conservation had said would cause "physical loss of beach," the town engineer had called "excessive," and the East Hampton Town Trustees had called "too drastic."

   They have yet to review the new proposal, but Mr. Haje said conceptual approval had been given by the D.E.C. The board will seek the opinion of the Trustees and the engineer on the new design.

   There is no question that customers aboard the Viking Starship party boat caught school-size bluefin tuna during a two-day trip offshore Sept. 12 and 13. What the National Marine Fisheries Service wants to know is whether they were caught prior to the start of a special 46-and-a-half-hour opening that began at 1 a.m. on the 13th, and whether the catch exceeded the daily "bag limit" specified for the opening. The regular school-size bluefin season had been closed on Aug. 17.

   Disgruntled customers aboard the Starship reported the ship's captain, Steven Forsberg, to the Federal agency. They were reportedly angered when he ordered the 18-fish catch over the side after learning, by radio, that the former one-fish-per-angler limit that had applied before the regular season closure had been changed to one-fish-per-boat for the limited opening.

   Captain Forsberg was not commenting this week on advice of counsel. James Greenbaum, the Viking Fleet lawyer in this case, is arguing that the government's failure to properly notice the opening, and its rules, was responsible for the confusion.

Shut Out

   Capt. Joe McBride, an advocate for the party and charter boat industries, said he understood that Mr. Forsberg had not caught the bluefin outside the short opening. He said that Captain Forsberg properly ordered the 18 fish dumped, because possession of them would surely have been an illegal act - "no different than when draggers dump extra fluke."

   The ongoing investigation is the latest episode in an unhappy bluefin season for local charter and party boat owners and customers. For the second year in a row, the Fisheries Service shut down the season for school-sized bluefin (27 to 47 inches long) before the migrating fish ever made it to the Northeast. The annual coastwide quota had once again been filled by southern anglers. The Aug. 17 closure effectively took away the popular bluefin fishery from local fishermen.

   After a general hue and cry from fishermen and from Rep. Michael Forbes, the Fisheries Service admitted mismanagement and allowed two brief openings.

   Closer to shore, the striped bass and false albacore fishing is described as nonpareil. The action around the point is fast and furious. Bill Beasley of Freddie's Bait and Tackle in Montauk said there were plenty of bluefish and bass around for last weekend's tournament. The weights were impressive.

   Paul Melnyk of Montauk took top honors in the striped bass competition with a 29-pound, 8-ounce fish. The second-place winner, Jeff Chu, caught one weighing just under 28 pounds. Brian Jones took third with a 27-pound bass. In the bluefish division, 11-year-old Eugene Ross Jr. was lucky he wasn't pulled in. His blue weighed 15 pounds, one ounce. The heaviest bluefish weighed 15 pounds, six ounces, the second heaviest, four ounces less.

   Mr. Beasley reported unbridled fly-fishing excitement close to shore in Montauk early this week. False albacore inundated the coves from Turtle Cove to Caswell's. "We started at Shagwong [on the north side of Montauk] and worked our way around to the south side - all albacore," he said.

"Monstrous Runs"

   Harvey Bennett, too, was bubbling about the "falsies." Taking a break from the rigors of getting his new shop in shape on Montauk Highway, East Hampton, on Tuesday, Mr. Bennett said he first took his boat off of Napeague in search of the lightning fast falsies. He found them farther east at Quince Tree near Hither Hills.

   "They weren't in deep water, maybe eight feet. They were so close to shore chasing bait, I pulled the boat up and caught them from the beach. I caught three on a fly rod, three more on a spinning reel. The terminal gear, in the latter case, consisted of a Crazy Charlie fly kept on the surface by way of a small float."

   "After a while, they get finicky so you have to change. I changed to a little tin with no tube," Mr. Bennett said, going on to describe "monstrous runs" by the albacore.

   "When they're in shallow water they run far, not deep. One spooled me so bad, I had to chase it with a boat. I barbecued and ate it. People say you can't eat them. The secret is to use the belly meat, marinate it, and put it on the grill. The next day, it makes the best tuna salad."

Today it's almost inevitable that when a group of gardeners gets together the conversation will turn, at one point or another, to deer and how to keep them out of the garden. Quail Hill, the cooperative farm in Amagansett, has resorted to an electric fence. It works, but would not be suitable for most home gardeners or residential areas.

So my ears perked up when I recently overheard Edwina von Gal, a landscape designer and the author of "Fresh Cuts: Arrangements with Flowers, Leaves, Buds and Branches" (Artisan, 1997), say that no deer have come into her cutting garden in a large meadow in Sagaponack since she installed a double four-foot-high fence four years ago. At the time she created the garden, the meadow was host to many deer.

I was particularly interested, because friends who live on a corner lot in Springs have been driven to distraction trying to resolve their dilemma. They learned that any fencing in front of the house extending along both streets could be no higher than four feet.

Most gardeners are aware that deer can leap as high as 10 feet, and sometimes even higher. A four-foot fence would accomplish nothing. Unhappily and begrudgingly, my friends have been wrapping vulnerable trees and shrubs in unsightly chicken wire cages.

It is only recently that I've begun to hear people talk about town regulations on fences. They've been on the books since before 1984, according to the Town Building Department. But it may be that changes in 1996 to the town code regulating berms, fences, and walls, as well as the increased population of deer, have made it an issue of concern for many.

Tangle Of Bureaucracy

Expressed in simple terms, fences extending from the house to the sides of the property can be six feet high. Fences along the side and rear can also be six feet, but in front of the house facing the street, the fences can be no higher than four feet. The regulations for corner lots are more complicated, prohibiting any fencing of a sizable triangular slice of land near the corner.

Any fence over six feet along the sides and rear and over four feet in the front must be approved by the architectural review board. Applications can be obtained from the Building Department. The completed application should be returned with six copies, an application fee of $25, two copies of a survey or site plan showing the location of the proposed fence, existing buildings on or near your property, proposed landscaping, if any, and photographs of the fence, if already erected. This is enough to make a gardener weep, scream with frustration and fury, or take to one's bed.

All of which makes Ms. von Gal's fence something of more than passing interest. Ever optimistic and creative, she did not come up with the idea herself, but can't remember where she read about it.

While her herb and cutting garden has been carved out of a large field, the concept can easily be adapted to almost any residential plot. Ms. von Gal insists that metal rabbit or turkey wire should be used; in her experience deer push through plastic.

Adirondack Style Fence

General guidelines call for the double row of fencing to be four feet high, snugly touching the ground, with the two rows four to six feet apart. You will need at least one set of gates. Whether it is true or not, common knowledge has it that deer have bad depth perception and that is what makes the double rows effective. The deer are confused and won't risk the jump.

Now for Ms. von Gal's touches of creativity and charm: The fence supports are of unpeeled Virginia cedar trunks, as are the gates, in the Adirondack style. At the main entrance, the outer gate is topped by an arch, planted with fragrant honeysuckle and clematis. In another section three compartments for compost in varying stages of ripeness are built into the fence. Nearby, inside the garden is an Adirondack-style work and potting area with a seating area behind it.

The four-to-six-foot area between the two rows of fence is planted with shrubs, most of which are deciduous. At the main gate are fragrant plants, including a winter-flowering shrub honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima), some fragrant Rugosa roses, and deciduous viburnum. On another side are shrub willows, some with winter stems of bright yellow, orange, and deep burgundy. A good many of the young shrubs were wearing the familiar yellow labels printed in green of Forestfarm, a mail-order nursery in Oregon (www.forestfarm.com) that is an indispensable resource for many of the best gardeners I have met.

Once the shrubs mature, it is hard to anticipate how effective the fence will be during the summer. But deer are said to be creatures of habit. Time will tell, and meanwhile you can adapt these ideas for your own deer-free garden.

   No charges had been filed by press time in connection with the disappearance of more than $85,000 - over a third of the total state aid for 1995 - from the Bridgehampton School District, although the Bridgehampton School Board accepted the resignation last week of an official responsible for keeping track of district funds for the past three years.

   That tens of thousands of dollars were unaccounted for and that the matter is under investigation by the County District Attorney's office was reported last week.

   John Edwards, District Superintendent, said he believed three of a total of 14 state-aid checks had been taken. Their diversion was discovered during an annual independent audit in July.

Treasurer Resigns

   Lyllis Topping of Halsey Lane, Bridgehampton, the district treasurer, and a former member of its School Board, offered the board her resignation as a part-time secretary in the school's main office and as treasurer of both the district and the Parent Teacher Organization last Thursday. The board accepted it at a special meeting Friday morning.

  "It is my practice if someone wants to resign, I don't refuse their resignation," Mr. Edwards said. He said there had been no other resignations in the past week. John O'Brien, Ms. Topping's attorney, would not comment.

   "It's just speculation that she is the one involved. I wouldn't have put her on the top of the list," said John Wyche, the School Board president, of Ms. Topping. He maintained that more than one person may have been involved. "I'm going to be very disappointed when the individuals are named," he said.

In Same Bank

   The D.A.'s Public Integrity Bureau reportedly has sent its own auditors to the district to review the records. Officials at the D.A.'s office would not comment, but Kevin Seaman, the district's attorney, said it appeared the funds had been deposited in a Parent Teacher Organization account at the same bank the district uses for its funds.

   "Out of that," he alleged, "she wrote checks to herself and whoever else." Since the P.T.O. is "not even a part of the school district," Mr. Seaman said he was surprised that the bank hadn't picked up on what was occurring.

   Mr. Edwards declined to comment on whether the "she" to whom the attorney referred was Ms. Topping or to say whether Ms. Topping was under investigation. He said only that she had handed him her resignation voluntarily. Mr. Seaman said yesterday "the individual came forward" when the district was in the process of figuring out where the missing checks had gone.

Admitted Involvement

   According to the school's attorney, the prime suspect in the case has been forthright in admitting involvement, but has not offered an explanation. "No one asked her as to the psychology of it, but it was clear she had to know this would be uncovered. . .it was just a matter of time," he said.

   The individual apparently said the missing funds totaled over $90,000. "Maybe there's some other amount there that hasn't been discovered yet," Mr. Seaman said.

   Mr. Wyche said he had "a lot of confidence," in all the individuals who could possibly have been involved in the misappropriation of funds. "It's a whole list of people I trust," he said.

   Mr. Edwards said the former treasurer had always been very pleasant. She was active in the Bridgehampton School community for nearly 10 years, first as a member of the School Board.

Restitution

   The Superintendent said he expected felony charges to be brought and complete restitution sought. Those who handle public money for the district are insured and bonded against losses or misappropriations. If restitution isn't made, Mr. Edwards said, the bonding company would go after the person involved for some kind of repayment.

   "Even if full restitution is made there still have to be some consequences. You can't screw around with the public trust and not expect a consequence," Mr. Edwards said.

   "It's a small district and we feel like a family, but I guess family members can go astray," Mr. Wyche said. He added that people in Bridgehampton seemed concerned but had been fairly quiet about the alleged embezzlement. He also expressed relief that the taxpayers wouldn't be affected.

   "It's like everything else in this community - a basketball player hurts his ankle, a teacher is pregnant and everybody holds their breath those nine months hoping everything's okay. But, there are problems too. A good egg can go bad."

   Amazon Deck bills itself as an exclusive hotspot for the ultra cool. However, its landlord paints another picture - of tenants who don't pay their rent and of a haven for "hotheads."

   Patrick E. Malloy 3d, who owns the Long Wharf complex that houses the Sag Harbor club, is suing to evict his tenants. He's also suing the Village of Sag Harbor, trying to force it to join the eviction suit.

   Shimon Bokovza, a principal in Kaxinawa Inc., the club's owner, has other problems - he was arrested Monday, by Sag Harbor police, and charged with failing to pay fines related to Fire Code violations alleged by a Southampton fire marshal.

   Mr. Malloy said Mr. Bokovza signed a five-year lease which expires in February but gives the club an option to renew.

Melee Cited

   "There is an eviction proceeding pending," he said this week. "They were running a disco until 3 in the morning." The eviction papers were filed in June.

   Mr. Malloy pointed to what he called a "riot" at the club in the summer of 1995 that left a police officer injured, the Sag Harbor police station vandalized, and several people under arrest.

   A half-dozen men were arrested following the melee, according to police reports, and East Hampton and Southampton police had to aid village police during the episode, which began on the club's deck and spilled onto Long Wharf.

   "Having hotheads there is not conducive to the environment of Sag Harbor," Mr. Malloy said. He drew the village into the matter, he said, because a disco "is against the zoning."

Fire Matters

   "We run as clean an operation as is imaginable," said Andrew Boracci, a spokesman for the club. "They had a little trouble last year," he acknowledged, but last summer's operation ran "very smoothly," he said.

   He was not aware of an eviction proceeding, he added.

   According to Southampton Town Court records, Mr. Bokovza and/or the Yellowfin, his restaurant at the same spot, have been cited several times for alleged fire code violations dating back to 1994.

   His arrest Monday was the result of a warrant issued last February after he allegedly failed to pay $600 in fines. Mr. Bokovza then paid the fines and was released, but is due back in court later this month to answer six charges lodged by fire marshals at the Yellowfin on Aug. 1.

   "They cite you for loose lightbulbs and stuff like that," Mr. Boracci said. "He went in and paid the fine and that's all there is to it."

Legal Or Not?

   William Esseks, Mr. Malloy's attorney, said he filed suit in County Supreme Court in an attempt to force Sag Harbor Village to join his client in the eviction proceedings.

   "It's Mr. Malloy's position that discos are not allowed because they violate the Village Code," Mr. Esseks said. "The suit asks the court to direct the village to enforce the ordinance."

   "Why should we join the suit?" asked Mayor Pierce Hance. "We don't have any violations on file. We told them to come in and file a complaint. Next thing we know we're being sued. We couldn't figure out why."

   Mr. Hance said he was not aware of any violations of the Village Code at the club.

   Yesterday Mr. Boracci made a statement on behalf of the club's ownership. "They have had differences with Mr. Malloy in the past, but as far as we're concerned they are virtually resolved. They plan on being there another five years."

   As far as the hothead label, Mr. Boracci noted that a Big Band East weekly gig drew "middle-aged couples," and that the reggae bands performing outside on weekend afternoons played to "bright, young people."

Marina Hurt?

   In the court papers Mr. Malloy contends that the business was leased for restaurant use, and that the Village Code stipulates "any form of live entertainment or dancing for guests" is prohibited.

   However, bars are also allowed in the Long Wharf area, which is designated as "village business" in the Zoning Code.

   Because Kaxinawa used the prem ises "as a discotheque," Mr. Malloy argued, its lease "has been terminated and it has no legal right to remain in possession" of the site.

   "It's a nice place. We had a very successful season, and I might add a trouble-free season," Mr. Boracci said.

   And although Mr. Malloy also charged the club owner was "not paying the rent," Mr. Boracci said he wasn't aware of any delinquent payments.

   Mr. Malloy said he would prefer an "upscale" restaurant at the Long Wharf site, "a place everyone in the village could enjoy." He said the loud music and late hours at the Amazon adversely affect his other businesses on the Wharf, including the Waterfront Marina.

   The East Hampton Town Licensing Review Board, which has functioned without much ado for nine years, is becoming the court of first resort for a growing number of homeowners who claim to have fallen victim to unscrupulous contractors. As a result, Review Board members find themselves considering more than minor disputes and they have begun testing the limits of their authority.

   The case of Nick Stanko, 40, a drive way contractor arrested last month and accused of bilking three elderly women of a combined $22,000, for example, had members, who expect to be able to revoke his town license, wondering last Thursday night about the maximum penalties they could mete out.

Seeking Punishment

   Electricians, carpenters, plumbers, and other home improvement contractors doing business in East Hampton are required to have a town license. The board can revoke or suspend licenses, limit the scope of a contractor's work, or levy fines of up to $500, explained John Jilnicki, a deputy town attorney.

   "You mean there's no section that permits capital punishment?" asked Kevin Murphy, a longtime member and former chairman, who seemed to be only half joking. Mr. Murphy and other board members said they thought Mr. Stanko and his company should get the harshest possible penalties.

   Because the license was issued to Arrow Asphalt, the Riverhead-based company owned by Mr. Stanko's family, the board cannot take action against him as an individual, the attorney said.

   The White Collar Crimes Bureau of the County District Attorney's office is investigating the possibility of bringing criminal charges against the corporation, said Drew Biondo, a spokesman for the D.A., James Catterson.

Prior Convictions

   Mr. Stanko was charged with scheming to defraud, offering a false instrument, and two counts of grand larceny, all felonies, after complaints were made to police by Florence Jansson of Montauk, Rebekah Fuchs of Springs, and Lois Landauer of East Hampton. He was freed on $25,000 bail to await trial.

   Mr. Stanko pleaded guilty in 1994 and '95 to grand larceny and possession of a forged instrument and both times was sentenced to five years probation, with a 90-day jail term added on his second conviction, said Mr. Biondo.

   He added that, if convicted again, Mr. Stanko would be likely to face a prison sentence, and town officials said they hoped the court would also order him to make restitution to the victims.

On Application

   The charge of offering a false instrument was the result of alleged misinformation on Arrow Asphalt's town license application. The grand larceny charges were for allegedly obtaining money from the elderly "by trickery and under false pretenses," according to court documents.

   Mr. Stanko had been invited to tell his side of the story during the Licensing Review Board's hearing last Thursday, but he did not show up. His lawyer, Gerald Lotto of Bohemia, did not return The Star's telephone calls.

   Roy Dalene, a builder who is the board chairman, said that while the charges against Mr. Stanko were by far the most serious, other recent complaints had forced the board to take tougher stands. Mr. Jilnicki added that members were talking about ways to "strengthen" the board's licensing standards.

Three To One

   For many years, "our main concern was to see the problem corrected and the homeowner leave happy. To us, that was a better way of handling it," Mr. Dalene said this week, adding that recent events had raised "the frustration level" among board members.

   "Now, we have to talk about stopping this kind of thing. We don't want this in our town," he said.

   Known as the Home Improvement Licensing Review Board until this year, when the town added garbage carters to its jurisdiction and dropped the first two words of its name, the board consists of a retired New York City health inspector, an electrician, two builders, one of them semi-retired, and an architect.

Other Complaints

   Mrs. Jansson's complaint against Mr. Stanko resulted in the third hearing the board has called so far this year. Such hearings, where the homeowner and the contractor air their dispute, is a legal prerequisite for censure. There were none last year. Last Thursday night, she called Mr. Stanko "Stinko," and "a thief and a liar."

   So far this year, the board has brought one flooring contractor into Town Justice Court. Robert Stoppelli of Medford's American Renovation and Hardwood was fined $250 for working without a license.

   A pool contractor, Robert McCall of B&L Pools, who admitted he did less than a complete job on a major reconstruction during the second of last Thursday's two hearings, will see his license restricted for six months to the installation of new pools. The members of the board said he had an excellent reputation for new pools but also had many complaints about repair jobs.

   The board also has been monitoring completion of a building project by Robert Schmitter, after calling him to a hearing a couple of months ago, and heard a number of complaints about the work of DeDona Enterprises, on which a hearing is expected to be called before the end of the year.

Words Of Caution

   The case of United Chimney Corporation, which allegedly charged a local woman to clean an oil burner and wood-stove chimney but did not do the work, also could go to a hearing soon, said Mr. Dalene.

   Mr. Dalene cautioned homeowners that some contractors who solicit work by telephone or by going door-to-door are not trustworthy.

   "The board is most concerned about the seniors. They're the prime targets and should always be on guard," he said.