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."

   A Federal District Court judge has dismissed two suits stemming from Jerry Della Femina's display of pumpkins three years ago outside his Red Horse Market - and his ensuing arrest on East Hampton Village zoning charges.

   The dismissal does not spell victory for either side. In fact, rather than base his decision on the merits of the cases, Judge Arthur D. Spatt dismissed the suits last Thursday because they were so confusing.

   "The Court, which is . . . frequently involved with litigation of a far more complex nature than the present two actions, is frankly confused by the plethora of criss-crossing and sometimes undelineated papers," Judge Spatt wrote.

Will Forge Ahead

   New legal papers are already in the works, according to William Esseks, Mr. Della Femina's attorney. Mr. Esseks said yesterday he expected them to be ready to file by early next week. They will have to conform to very specific instructions detailed in Judge Spatt's decision.

   He was not considering dropping the suits, Mr. Della Femina said yesterday. "They owe me money for my legal fees," he said.

   Mr. Della Femina has lodged two Federal suits against East Hampton Village. One challenges the constitutionality of its sign law, which prohibits advertising outside an establishment without a Design Review Board permit. The village contended unsuccessfully in local court that the pumpkin display constituted such advertising.

Jury Trial?

   In that suit he is joined by Della Femina's Red Horse Food Co., Bernhard G. Kiembock, the owner of Village Hardware, The East Hampton Independent News Company Inc., and Dan's Papers Inc.

   The second, a civil rights suit, pursued solely by Mr. Della Femina, seeks half a million dollars in damages for what the Manhattan ad man, local entrepreneur, and unsuccessful Village Board candidate claims was a false arrest and malicious prosecution. He has asked for a jury to decide his case.

   After being accused of 27 violations of the village zoning code for a pumpkin display in front of Jerry and David's Red Horse Market in October 1993, Mr. Della Femina and his partner in the Red Horse Market, David Silver, were arrested, handcuffed, and eventually prosecuted for the alleged violations.

First, The Federal

   Retired East Hampton Town Justice James R. Ketcham dismissed 23 of those charges, and the remaining four were thrown out by Southampton Town Justice Edward Burke after a change of venue.

   Mr. Silver is a former alternate member of the Village Zoning Board of Appeals. He was not reappointed in July 1995, Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. said at the time, because of his business relationship with Mr. Della Femina. Mr. Silver is not a party to the lawsuits.

   A separate case brought by Mr. Della Femina in State Supreme Court was discontinued in February of 1995, so that Mr. Della Femina and Mr. Esseks, of the Water Mill and Riverhead firm Esseks, Hefter & Angel, could concentrate on the Federal suits.

   Both Federal cases are being reviewed by Judge Spatt together, since his decision on the question of the sign law's constitutionality may decide the outcome of the civil rights suit.

   Arguments and affidavits crossing over from one legal motion to another seem to be what confused the judge. Nearly four pages of his 10-page decision are spent reviewing the history of the various motions made by both sides.

   "At this point this tangled procedural morass gets worse," Judge Spatt wrote at one point, before continuing his history of the cases' paperwork.

   "The parties have intermingled the papers and the arguments presented in their respective motions to a degree that undermines the clarity of the issues and frustrates resolution by the court," he wrote.

Not Over Yet

   "[T]he court will not exhaust any additional time or resources to attempt to discern the arguments in support of and in opposition to the issues presented in the various motions," Judge Spatt concluded. "In this Court's view, this burden should be borne by the parties."

   Mr. Esseks stressed yesterday that Judge Spatt's decision last week did not dismiss the suits themselves. "He's saying resubmit the papers," Mr. Esseks said, adding that they will be "the same papers, just put in different piles."

   Mr. Esseks also said the confusing paperwork was an "indication of the conduct of the attorney representing the village," Jeannine Bloomhall of the East Meadow firm Ciovacco & Campanella, who through her secretary yesterday said she would not speak to the news media on the matter. The judge's written decision seems to indicate he felt the confusion was both parties' fault, however.

   Johanna Caleca, the village attorney, declined to comment as well, citing pending litigation.

Village Stands Firm

   In a related issue, Mr. Esseks said yesterday that he and his client "still haven't gotten" transcripts of executive sessions in which board members discussed Mr. Della Femina. A Federal magistrate in June ordered the Village Board to turn them over.

   "I think they'll be coming in due time," Mr. Esseks added, however. "No one's going to resist this judge." The village has appealed the magistrate's ruling, and that matter is still pending as well.

   And is the village considering rewording its sign law, in light of Mr. Della Femina's lawsuits? No, according to Ms. Caleca, who did say yesterday, "We have reviewed it. At this point, we don't see anything glaring that needs to be amended."

   Mr. Esseks thinks the village should change it, however. "I've told them that before, in 1993, in 1994, in 1995," he said.

   When he dismissed the remaining charges against Messrs. Della Femina and Silver in December 1994, Justice Burke agreed. The village's sign law was lacking in "definition and standards" to such an extent that it was "subject to discriminatory enforcement," Justice Burke wrote in his ruling.

   Mr. Della Femina has claimed all along that he was singled out as an example. "There's been no other instance of anyone being prosecuted for vegetables," Mr. Esseks offered yesterday.

Not Again!

   An autumn display of pumpkins set up in front of the Red Horse Market last Thursday, when Judge Spatt's decision was dated, was pure "coincidence," Mr. Della Femina said.

   "I've had a display of pumpkins every year since that year," Mr. Della Femina said yesterday, acknowledging that he had not asked for permits, nor had he been charged with violating the zoning code.

   Florence Jansson lives in Montauk. One afternoon last spring, a contractor knocked on her door. He said he had just finished a paving job up the street and could pave her grass driveway with asphalt and bluestone, re-tar her flat roof, and replace a cracked concrete walkway, all in a day.

   Mrs. Jansson told her story last Thursday to members of the Town Licensing Review Board who were holding a hearing on whether to revoke Arrow Asphalt of Riverhead's town license. Police said similar stories were reported to them by Lois Landauer of East Hampton and Rebekah Fuchs of Springs. All of the women are over 80.

   Mrs. Jansson showed the board a canceled $2,300 check with which she had paid for the work and photos of the results: tar streaked along the side of her house under the roof, water damage in the kitchen during the last northeast storm, weeds through the gravel on the driveway, and cracks in the walkway, which, she said, had been whitewashed rather than replaced.

   According to Mrs. Landauer's statement to police, Nick Stanko of Arrow claimed to have material left from a recent job for the East Hampton Town Highway Department. Officials later said he never worked for the town. She said she had given him $9,010 in cash to pave her driveway, fix a subsequent drainage problem, and replace Bilko doors and some shingles damaged in the process.

   Mrs. Fuchs's statement said that Mr. Stanko had "confused" and "tricked" her. It stated that he had filled out several of her checks himself for various small amounts, saying that would save him taxes, and that he took her to the bank to cash them. Altogether, she paid him more than $11,400.

Stark And Beautiful

Glasgow, Mont.

September 17, 1996

Dear Star -

   Mother Hubbard made it to Montana, only to be confronted with the dreaded word "snow" in the places I want to go. I was warned - but I shall press on.

   The ferocious winds on the plains really pushed the motor home around - especially in North Dakota. The country is so stark and so beautiful. I am taking Route 2. I saw a herd of buffalo on the Fort Pick Indian Reservation.

   I took the Trans-Canada highway into Minnesota and saw a moose, a timber wolf, and a large fox. Unfortunately, all these animals had not looked both ways and were kind of spread out. But the moose was still huge.

   I've had my share of mishaps but have learned extensively and expensively from all my mistakes. The people I have met have gone out of their way to help me, and I'm finding the very best this country has to offer, which is ostensibly what my quest is about.

   For example, a retired school-teacher, Naomi Gibbs, traveling solo for 39 years all over the U.S. in her vintage motor home doing folkloric storytelling combined with sand painting, ventriloquism, and her balding Pomeranian, Toby, who wears costumes and plays different creatures in her stories. So many characters in this lifestyle.

   If I can get to Kalispell or Flathead Lake I'll stay there a week to rest the truck which I've lovingly named Tortuga and have my daughter, Sarah, send me my mail. After Kalispell I drop south and see everything there is to see until I end up in Baja, Calif., with the whales. You'll hear from me before then. If anyone wants to contact me, get hold of Sarah.

   I miss her, and my animals, and, of course, my babies who I normally take care of in the winter. But I'll be back for camp in '97 so we'll have a good time then. I also miss my beautiful town, my bay, and my ocean, but I'll be back before you know it. Nothing can compare to the beauty I came from.

Love to all,

JUDY HUBBARD

(Mother Hubbard)

Fate's Other Plans

Springs

September 22, 1996

To The Editor:

    The scene William Traybert describes in his letter to the Sept. 19 issue of The Star is quite accurate. I am the woman in the bathing cap, and the bird was a tern, but the story is a sad one.

   While I was swimming in to Landing Lane, I saw a crow repeatedly dive-bombing into the watery grasses. Being used to observing egrets and herons in that locale, I was surprised by the crow. In a matter of seconds there were six crows and they appeared to be attacking something in the wetlands.

   Then I saw a flash of white - a tip of a wing, perhaps - and, sensing a tragedy, I swam over there on the double. The crows left and I was met by a crippled tern. He couldn't talk, couldn't fly - but I was determined to save the poor thing from torturous death by those waiting crows.

   Urging him into the water and swimming him across to safety was the only option. It was then that Mr. Traybert must have gotten his binoculars out. I did, as he observed, swim the bird across, sometimes giving him a little push toward shore.

   Sometimes, when he started to drift out into the bay, saying, "No . . . in . . . in . . . toward shore." Crazy perhaps - but it worked - we landed. The tern was put in a cat carrier and turned over to the exceptional skills of Helen at the wildlife rehabilitation center at the East Hampton Veterinary Group.

   For three days Helen put every effort into saving that one little life, but sadly fate had other plans. Our comfort could only be that he died in peace, not slowly pecked to death by a flock of crows.

   We must really appreciate a community that offers us a wildlife rehabilitation center with a caring and knowledgeable staff. Not every story ends happily, but they are there and they are trying.

Sincerely,

EMILY COBB

Who Is Michael?

Montauk

September 20, 1996

To The Editor,

    Montauk's Michaelmas daisies are in their glory. The 29th of September is the Feast Day of Michael the Archangel and the daisies never fail to bloom at the end of September.

   Archangels are no invention of fantasy or folklore. They have been with us since biblical times and across the centuries. Michael is the guardian of the Jewish people and has long figured prominently in the Christian tradition.

   Many times, when in need or trouble, we call upon our guardian angel for protection. Michael is the patron of servicemen, firemen, policemen, and, of course, our Montauk daisies.

GERALDINE MANZARE

Enclosed Dog Runs

Springs

September 19, 1995

To The Editor:

    I read the "Dog Liberation Day" [editorial] with a bit of dismay. The problem with dogs on the beach is that the first thing they do, at any time of the year, when they get out of the car is defecate in the 300-foot zone right in front of the parking lot. This is the area everyone has to transverse to and from the beach.

   Unfortunately, most dog owners do not clean up after their dogs, as is evidenced by the truly large number of piles to be seen on any given day in the fall and spring. Needless to say I find stepping on waste very distasteful. The real problem is that this is the area where all the children play!

   I love dogs. But I am really concerned about the health hazard their waste poses to my 14-month-old son and his buddies who play on the beach year round. I don't think it is the parents who should have to haul the kids way off to the side beyond the doody zone.

   As everyone knows, kids dig in the sand, so burying doesn't help much. The problem, of course, is that kids put things in their mouths, and parents cannot always be close enough to prevent that from happening. This is such a horrible thought it is hard to imagine. We should not wait for this to happen to come up with a solution.

   Enclosed dog runs, or at the least fenced corridors (beach fencing that blends with what is already there), to the area 300 feet away from the "kids zone" should be in place year round.

KRAE VAN SICKLE

 

Out Of Context

Montauk

August 8, 1996

To The Editor:

Last week, a letter appeared in The Star by Richard Adler of the Montauk Shores trailer park at Ditch Plain attacking comments I made regarding the mobile home community as "hurtful and mean-spirited." Unfortunately, Mr. Adler was not present at the deliberation in which the comments were made. Had he been, he would certainly realize how grossly out of context the comments have been taken.

   The Montauk Shores Condominium Association approached the Zoning Board of Appeals for a natural resources special permit to allow the placement of "marine mattresses" along the beach in front of the park. These plastic and rock structures were designed to protect the beach from erosion due to the large volume of water draining onto the beach from the trailer park.

   Several board members felt that the structures could cause additional erosion problems, would interfere with pedestrian use of the beach, and would tarnish the scenic beauty of the area. These members felt that the drainage from the park should not be going directly onto the beach and that a more comprehensive solution should be found. I weighed out these concerns - as well as the need to address the immediate problem of the drainage. I considered the financial hardships associated with costlier measures. I supported a five-year temporary permit to allow the marine mattresses.

   It is ironic that Mr. Adler is attacking me, one of the two members who supported the application. The Star's article to which Mr. Adler referred did not recount the entire discussion. Taken out of their proper context, I can understand how my words were misconstrued. My comments were simple and I am not retracting them. Instead, I will just place them in the context in which they belong.

   "The park is a planning disaster." - The park arguably violates the principles of sound planning. The Federal Emergency Management Association has determined the park to be located in a high velocity flood zone. It is unwise to place temporary structures, such as mobile homes, in areas prone to rapid flooding.

   Additionally, many of the trailers are precariously close to the eroding bluff. Public health and safety is paramount in planning considerations. Many of the trailers border a large wetland system to the east. The town recognizes the importance of protecting wetland systems and has established a 100-foot minimum setback to do so.

   The density of homes is twice that allowable for the area, under current zoning requirements. High density leads to increased environmental impacts including contamination caused by runoff and septic effluent. These problems are exacerbated by the impermeable clay soils upon which the trailer complex rests.

   Lastly, the park creates planning coordination problems because it is not owned by a single entity - but instead consists of nearly 200 individual property owners.

   "The park shouldn't be there, but it is." - From an environmental standpoint, to place so many homes so close to the ocean and so close to fragile wetlands is a poor idea. Today, you would not be able to lawfully construct such a trailer park. Nonetheless, I realize that the park has existed there for many years. I have made acquaintance with many of its residents. I applaud the efforts of the Montauk Shores community to improve the property through the years, and indeed, they have been very successful. The grounds are nicely maintained, and they have managed to solve many of their problems.

   In my comments, I was beseeching the board not to penalize the park because of all the problems it has due to the symptoms of past overdevelopment (i.e., inadequate mechanisms to cope with drainage) and instead to sympathize with the homeowners in an effort to help alleviate their current problem.

   I hope this letter serves to clarify my remarks. I certainly did not intend to offend any of the good people of the trailer park. I remain sympathetic to the needs of the mobile home community, and I will be happy to meet with representatives of the association to discuss this or any other matter further.

JAY SCHNEIDERMAN

Chairman

Zoning Board of Appeals

East Hampton Town Much Misunderstanding

East Hampton

August 11, 1996

Dear Helen:

    I was astonished by Joyce and Nelson Kissam's letter of July 29 [The Star, Aug. 8] supporting the proposed move of the A&P from the center of East Hampton Village to the former Stern's site on the Montauk Highway: It is quite an achievement to have squeezed so much misunderstanding of the realities of town planning and traffic, not to mention such misreading of the history of East Hampton, into a mere 10 paragraphs.

   The basic premise of their letter seems to be that the natural course of development and progress is really pretty good, and that it is both foolish and unrealistic to fight it. We have bad traffic, the Kissams tell us, because the so-called bypass highway was never built, implying that if the expressway had been built, we would all be spending the summer in tranquil, traffic-free villages.

   The simple fact is that we have heavy traffic because we, like every other desirable oceanfront community, have an enormous summer population. Martha's Vineyard, Cape Cod, Nantucket, and the Jersey Shore are no different. Would our situation have been better with an expressway? Every study of traffic dynamics ever made - anywhere, so far as I know - has concluded exactly the opposite. New roads do not satisfy existing traffic demand; they create new demand.

   It is nothing but fantasy to think that the bypass road would have served only the existing volume of cars and thereby solved our traffic problem. What it would have done, instead, is bring even more cars. Every such road always has, and there is no reason to think that the laws of traffic dynamics would be different in East Hampton from the rest of the world.

   The Kissams then bring in various other situations that have turned out to be not so bad as critics have feared, as a way of arguing that the fuss over the A&P is also wrongheaded: the East Hampton Post Office, Amagansett Square, and the Bridgehampton mall. All three are different from each other and different from the A&P; putting them together proves nothing and only confuses the complex issues here.

   I agree that Amagansett Square was widely feared and has turned out to be quite benign, but what of it? It is nothing like the proposed A&P; if anything, its modesty more resembles the tone and feeling of the old Stern's store, which was designed to prove that commerce could coexist with a rural setting. Paradoxically, the success of Amagansett Square argues the very opposite of the Kissams' point; it is evidence for keeping the Stern's site as a modest development, not for turning it into a 24-hour superstore of a scale more fitting to Sayville or Islip.

   As to the Bridgehampton mall, the best even the Kissams can manage to say is that "somehow we have managed to survive." Not exactly high praise. Is that all we want for East Hampton - that it "somehow manages to survive"? Bridgehampton can do what it pleases; I would like to think that we aim for something better here. In East Hampton, we know that short-term convenience is often worth sacrificing for long-term benefits - and, indeed, we know that if we are not willing to give up something in short-term convenience, we may destroy the very thing we cherish.

   Yet the Kissams seem to believe that we will give up nothing. They state with assurance that if the A&P is built, "the rural quality of the Montauk Highway will not be spoiled, nor will it cause worse traffic than what we now have on Newtown Lane." Huh? By whose measure? I'd love to see the evidence for this assertion. No urban planner I know will agree with it. All professional expertise suggests that the exact opposite of their assertion is true, that traffic will also grow worse, and that the rural quality of this section of East Hampton will be destroyed forever.

   That is what, in the end, is so troubling about their letter: its unfettered belief in the values of "progress," its certainty that natural growth would bring prosperity, ease, and convenience while preserving what we cherish, if only we would stop complaining and let it happen. Sorry, but there is no free lunch here. Laissez-faire will not give us the town we want, unless the town we want resembles the Sunrise Highway in Hempstead. Towns, like gardens, need to be cultivated, not allowed to grow wild.

   No one pretends that this is an easy problem, or that the A&P's present situation on Newtown Lane is ideal. It is not. But destroying a rural site that had once represented a national model for sensitive commercial development is no solution. All it will do is push East Hampton one more step toward a kind of suburban sprawl that may be what the Kissams seek, but is what most of us came to East Hampton to get away from.

Sincerely,

PAUL GOLDBERGER

   Mr. Goldberger is the chief cultural correspondent for The New York Times. Ed.

No Information

East Hampton

August 6, 1996

To The Editor,

    As a longtime resident of Settlers Landing, I have been observing the activity connected with the laying of the pipe for the Landfall project. Each week I have eagerly looked at The Star, hoping to learn more about the project and, in particular, whether residents of other Northwest communities would be able to participate in the project. Each week I have been disappointed to find no coverage of the project.

   I depend on The Star for community information, and I become concerned when such a visible and important issue as the Landfall project gets no coverage.

   Last week I contacted the East Hampton Water Authority and was told politely but firmly that no information concerning the Landfall project would be available for three months.

   Is there some reason why no press coverage is being given to the project? If there is no blackout on information, can The Star run an article which will give in good newspaper parlance the who, what, when, where, and why of this situation?

JOHN GANLY

   The Star has covered this subject extensively. Our most recent story, in last week's edition, noted that construction had begun and that the town had borrowed $1.9 million to pay for it. Ed.

Another Chance At Life

Springs

August 6, 1996

Dear Editor,

    Our department was recently called to the home of a young woman who was in cardiac arrest. Upon my arrival, it was very encouraging to see that the much-needed care of this victim was already put into play by East Hampton Town Police Officer Steven Grabowski.

   I believe that because of his quick actions and exceptional professionalism, this woman now has another chance at life. Officer Grabowski should be commended for a job well done.

Very truly yours,

CHRISTINE M. FITHIAN

EMT3-CC

Springs Fire Department

Ambulance

Nothing But Disdain

Amagansett

August 5 ,1996

Dear Mrs. Rattray:

    Don't know if these panoramic photos of Kure Beach, N.C., will reproduce. If so, I hope your readers will look at them every time they think the East Hampton Zoning Board is too stringent. This is the third and most unattractive resort of North Carolina's barrier islands I have visited. Are people blind, or does the area just have the best publicity campaign in America?

   Attending a wedding in July at Kure Beach, I thought I was at Coney Island in the 1940s. Tiny bungalows crammed cheek by jowl, honky-tonk boardwalks, a residence jammed between a souvenir shop and a surf shop. Not a tree in sight.

   22 Knowing that the Outer Banks looked very much like East Hampton at one time, I came away with nothing but disdain for humankind - thinking, we are the most foul creatures inhabiting the planet.

   Some people refer to East Hampton as "the land of no." Don't consider that statement a pejorative; empirically, as we all well know, it is easy, and amazingly quick, to destroy - but difficult to protect and preserve.

Sincerely,

JULIA C. NASH

This Important Show

Sag Harbor

August 12, 1996

Dear Helen,

   My congratulations to Phyllis Braff on her splendid exhibition of work by Surrealists and their colleagues. The show she has organized for Guild Hall Museum makes a major contribution to our understanding of the regional art community's history and development and brings together an outstanding group of relevant pieces.

   One historical detail was overlooked, however - not in the exhibition itself, but in Henry Korn's catalogue introduction. When I became consultant curator of Guild Hall Museum in 1982, I proposed the exhibition to the then director, Annabelle Hebert, who enthusiastically approved it. In 1983, we applied successfully for a planning grant from the New York State Council on the Arts. I researched the show and scheduled it for 1985; a national tour was also planned.

   For various reasons, primarily financial, the show was postponed and eventually relegated to a pending status familiar to all museum curators. As two subsequent directors told me, some day we'll get the implementation grant. Thanks to Phyllis2s scholarly reputation, additional planning funds were awarded by the N.Y.S.C.A., and the National Education Association came through with enough support to pay for crucial loans from Europe, as well as other key components of the show.

   220 I am delighted to see my original idea so beautifully realized and urge all your readers not to miss this important show.

Sincerely,

HELEN A. HARRISON

Things Are Hopping

East Hampton

August 12, 1996

Dear Helen:

    Things over on Gingerbread Lane Extension are really hopping at this point. Even Ben Franklin would have been impressed with the cheer that was raised by the workers last Friday when the electricity was turned on in the building. This week the water should begin to run, and we can finish installing the bathrooms.

   And speaking of running, this year the Learning Center (East Hampton Day Care) is the recipient of the funds from the Great Bonac Foot Race to be held on Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 2. This will be the 19th year for the race, and the proceeds will be especially important to add to our building fund since we still need about $200,000 to complete the project.

   Applications for the race can be obtained by calling us here at the center (324-5560). Many thanks.

Sincerely,

H. DAVID WILT

Administrative Director

East Hampton Day Care Center

Dear Mrs. Rattray,

    Ten years have passed since the East Hampton High School class of 1986 graduated and moved on to their adult lives. In order to celebrate all of our accomplishments since then, we are planning a reunion - to be held on Saturday, Oct. 12. The party will be held at the James Lane Cafe in East Hampton, and the cost per person is $65. We would like to inform any member of the class who has not been contacted regarding the reunion to please notify Nancy Miller, by mail at 32 McGuirk Street, East Hampton, or by phone at 324-5984.

    Unfortunately, there are quite a few members of the class that we have been unable to contact. We hope that this letter will help us locate a few more people. Following is a list of the people who we know for certain have not received the reunion information: Tracy Adams, Frank Bickley, Stephen Dean, Kristina Drolet, Charlotte Eichhorn, Annette Greene, Erica Hyman, Carlson Jacobs, Kristina Lear, Antwoine Petty, Marie Pharaoh, Novella Pharaoh, Denise Reid, Lisa Reatherford, Robert Rogers, John Scerbo, Henry Schuck, Geoffrey Selhorst, and Anthony Steinberg.

   The reunion committee looks forward to seeing all the members of the class of 1986 at the James Lane Cafe in October!

Very truly yours,

NANCY MILLER McMULLAN

Not A Good Location

Sag Harbor

August 9, 1996

To The Editor,

I am writing as one of the concerned neighbors of the skateboard park scheduled to be built on Montauk Avenue in Sag Harbor. We are a very small, quiet neighborhood and feel it is not a good location for the park. There will be too much noise and traffic for such a small street.

   I am not against the children having a skateboard park. Under the proper conditions, it is a good outlet for their unleashed energy. I think it belongs in Mashashimuet Park. This park was given to the children of Sag Harbor for their use. I understand the park does not want them.

   I hope next year when the budget is being voted on, the people of Sag Harbor will vote no for additional funding for the park. If they are not helping our children and are catering to special interest groups, they do not deserve the taxpayers' support since the park is not being used as it was intended to be.

Sincerely,

KATHLEEN A. SCHWESTKA

An Old, Effective Trick

Montauk

August 6, 1996

To The Editor:

    It was quite disturbing to receive a phone call from a former member of the League of Women Voters and to hear that the so-called "debate" between the pros and cons of incorporating Montauk was a farce. It was all planned to favor the town and the Coalition Against Incorporation. Strangely, the league was referred to as the League of Women Vipers.

Telephone conversations between the Town Supervisor and the league were frequent, and a format was devised to allow two speakers from each group to answer questions submitted in writing. The questions were to be chosen at random, but, the caller said, the questions would be "screened" to prevent duplication. An old, but effective trick to favor one side or the other.

   The league did not provide for any debate, and the pros and cons - especially the cons - did not have to prove any of their statements. The pros proved their statements with a budget. Not so the cons.

   In future letters to the editor, each budget item will be addressed by the committee. The proposed village budget is a composite of 22 successful villages.

DONALD T. FOLEY

Peconic County

Albany

August 6, 1996

Dear Mrs. Rattray,

    The movement to create Peconic County has been forging ahead for nearly two years now, due in large part to the efforts of several hundred average, hard-working citizens. They have done research, attended meetings, spoken to civic groups, and even traveled to Albany to achieve their goal of creating a new county. In this space of time, they have accomplished a lot.

   A highly professional feasibility study which has stood up to intense scrutiny has been completed, which shows that county property taxes would be cut by 50 percent if the new county were created. A successful lobby-day in Albany was held, which significantly increased awareness and good will in Albany for Peconic County. A not-for-profit group, known as Peconic County Now, has been created to educate the public about Peconic County. A brochure, bumper sticker, pins, and other items have been made to promote the idea.

   Further, a citizens speakers bureau is being created, and a charter committee is hard at work to write a draft constitution for the new county. It has been my honor as an elected official to work with such dedicated and involved members of our community.

   Despite this hard work and the fact that Peconic County has been shown to be both feasible and desirable, legislative efforts to create the new county have been blocked by one man: the Speaker of the Assembly. Regardless of the Speaker's political motivation, the fact is that he alone has prevented the democratic process of self-determination from moving forward.

   I have been asked by both elected officials and Peconic County volunteers if there is some way to have a local advisory referendum on the issue of Peconic County to demonstrate to the Speaker of the Assembly the importance of this issue to the East End. Important to the continued momentum of the Peconic County movement is the need to allow the public to voice its opinion on the work that has been completed to date.

   In short, advocates of Peconic County believe that only the collective voice of the East End, in the form of a referendum, can succeed in moving the Speaker to action. In essence, the theory is that where the people lead the leader will follow.

   Such a referendum is possible. It is in the hands of our town boards, and time is short. They must authorize a referendum by Sept. 5 and must have begun the process by Aug. 13.

   Some would argue that we will just make Albany angry by having our own referendum this November. But, after several attempts and years of talk and no action on Peconic County by the Albany political leadership, we have no place to go but up. Second, if a community which does its homework on a new county - and then asks its own citizens for input in a referendum before returning the issue to Albany - makes the Albany leadership angry, then there is more broken in Albany than the state budget process, which produced the latest budget in the history of the United States.

   We should not waste the two years of dedicated work by our citizen volunteers. We should not let Albany politics-as-usual discourage us. We should leave no stone unturned on this issue. We should return to Albany next January armed with the results of a five-town referendum on Peconic County. Let the people be heard. Put Peconic County on the ballot this November.

Sincerely yours,

FRED W. THIELE JR.

Member of Assembly

Stop Its Reactors

East Hampton

June 28, 1996

Dear Helen Rattray,

    I recently made use of your letters to the editor to describe why the Methodist Church awarded my nonprofit Radiation and Public Health Project a pilot grant to undertake independent clinical surveys of the radioactivity in the water, fish, wildlife, and humans in Suffolk County.

   Such radioactivity and the extraordinary high local male and female cancer rates are an issue in the ongoing, billion-dollar lawsuit against the Brookhaven National Laboratory brought by families living near the lab.

   The Channel 11 newscast of Friday, July 12, included an interview with one of the plaintiffs - Randy Snell of Manorville, and his 4-year-old daughter, who has just been diagnosed with an extremely rare form of cancer of the throat and tongue. As an epidemiologist, I have calculated that the probability that this would be due to chance or genetic factors is infinitesimal.

   I have the permission of Channel 11 to show this news clip, which is as moving as those portraying the plight of the children of Chernobyl, at a series of East End private, fund-raising cocktail parties. I can now report the receipt of four matching grants from the Samuel Rubin Foundation, the Global Resource Action Center for the Environment, the Friedson Family Fund, and the Alida Brill and Stephen Scheuer Foundation, all from concerned East End families. I, along with Bill Smith of Fish Unlimited and Dr. Helen Caldicott, will be available to describe our detailed plans at such private parties over the next three months.

   While Brookhaven officials have accused me of having a "hidden agenda," I can declare that our ultimate goal is to stop Brookhaven from operating its reactors, which are discharging radioactive waste into the Peconic River. We want to force Brookhaven to use its annual $400 million budget to start cleaning up its waste and to develop sorely needed, safe, and inexpensive solar energy sources to an area that, because of the $5 billion Shoreham debacle, has the nation's highest electric power rates.

   I would welcome calls from interested parties in the form of faxed messages to 324-5070.

JAY M. GOULD

Plant A Tree

Sag Harbor

August 4, 1996

To The Editor,

    If you don't like the weather - plant a tree.

   Plant a lot of trees. Help your neighbors plant trees. See that your community plants trees; insist on a tree canopy over every parking lot and highway. Pass ordinances that require trees taller than the buildings built under them. Preserve forests. Prohibit buildings in woodlands. Eliminate clear cutting in Maine, Oregon, and South America.

   So how do we bring the sun back to the Hamptons? What is the connection between trees and the weather? It is as simple as the element carbon. Trees are reservoirs of carbon. Forests are huge reservoirs of carbon. Civilization has spent the last 200 years taking the natural carbon reservoirs of coal, oil, gas, and trees, oxygenating the carbon, and putting it into the atmosphere where weather is made.

   Global warming is the result of loading the atmosphere with carbon. Wind is the atmosphere trying to keep a stable air temperature by pushing warm air to where cold air is. The result is unusual weather, the unthinkable - a cool, rainy, Hamptons summer.

   While we are busy planting trees to pull the carbon out of the atmosphere, we should be equally busy seeing to it that no more carbon gets into the atmosphere. So bike, walk, and Rollerblade to actually get places. Open the windows and unplug the air-conditioning, we don't need it this summer, anyway. Invest in renewable energy and methane cars. Reduce, reuse, and recycle; creating new houses, cars, and clothes uses more energy than reusing, recycling, and renovating.

   80 This is not a far-out theory. Scientists worldwide link deforestation with climate change. In his book "Earth in the Balance," Al Gore recognizes the importance of reforestation.

So plant a tree, and return the sun to the Hamptons.

JUDY ROYLANCE

On The Internet

East Hampton

September 30, 1996

To The Editor:

   I enjoyed your article on East End Web sites ("Local Websters See the Sites"). The article compliments the sites that Peconic Online has created for the Hamptons International Film Festival, Photographic East, East Hampton Chamber of Commerce, Sag Harbor Chamber of Commerce, Gosman's Dock, and East Hampton Point. Peconic Online is proud of the work that we have done to represent the East End on the Internet, and we ap pre ciate being recognized by The Star.

   Many of our clients have found that the Internet has been a tremendous vehicle that benefits not only their business but the area in general. We receive E-mail on a regular basis from as far away as New Zealand, thanking us for information that is available on our home page. E-mail has also allowed our Internet access customers to stay in touch with friends, family, and business associates throughout the world. Peconic Online looks forward to the continued benefits that the Internet will bring to our community.

   Once again, thanks for including Peconic Online in your "Websters" article.

Sincerely,

CHRIS HALL

Hailed As Pioneers

East Hampton

September 30, 1996

To The Editor:

Congratulations on The Star's new Internet Website! Now in the esteemed company of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, Time magazine, and many others, The Star can Shine for All those traveling the information highway!

   While there's been much hype and criticism of the Internet, The Star's new site exemplifies the way it should be done - old and new co-existing so well, reflecting both The Star's proud heritage and the edge of today's technology.

   As the owner of a Web development firm here in East Hampton, I was obviously pleased to see the article "Local Websters See the Sites," and I think all those courageous local businesses who have already put a site on line are to be hailed as the pioneers they are. They are making an investment in the future of communications and a way of doing business that will richly reward them down the road. Practically no business investment delivers immediate payback, but [they do] plant seeds for the future.

   As the price of entry drops (and it is) and the availability of a stable, fast, Internet "appliance" (not necessarily a computer as we now know it) becomes a reality, probably within six to eight months, the growth will be explosive.

   I do feel that the writer of the article was somewhat unfair as to the "static" nature of most of the sites. In some cases, I'm sure enthusiastic business owners put up a page or two and have yet to fully absorb the need to keep current, since, unlike a print ad which only lives a few days, pages on the Web are there until changed.

   By and large, though, the excellent sites hosted by Hamptons Online (42 listed in its directory) are interesting, dynamic places to visit and offer an excellent taste of their sponsors' places of business. And they are offering a taste of the Hamptons to Web visitors all over the country and many in foreign countries.

   The Internet offers the capability today to retrieve information on any subject you can think of, from libraries and publications located most anywhere in the world. One can only imagine the resources our children will have at their disposal as they begin their careers.

   Last fall, in the tiny (pop. 1,650) town of Lusk, Wyoming, a forward-thinking Mayor in a dying town rewired the community and offered high-speed Internet access to everyone who wanted it. It kept at least three large employers from moving out, instead remaining there and prospering owing to the new communications avenue.

   East Hampton faces no such threat, but, as we embrace the future, we will maintain the essence of our beloved town only as local businesses prosper and so-called "big business" is kept at a suitable scale. So let's encourage progress, albeit carefully monitored.

   In these times, opportunity no longer knocks, it blows right by.

MARSHALL BARRETT

At One Inc.

First Website

Sag Harbor

September 30, 1996

To The Editor:

   I read the article on the Internet. I have been intrigued by the possibilities of the World Wide Web for many years. George Heine Realty was the first real estate company to create a Website in the Hamptons - http://www.peconic.net/realty/hamptons/heine/ .

   When we discussed the creation of our site with Peconic Online, I was uncertain that it would yield immediate results. I am pleased to report that, within six months of its debut on the Web, we sold a home that was found by Web browsers from the outside area.

   The consistent quality of Peconic Online's presentation of our marketing program has reaped a positive flow of information from clients and customers. I am happy to say that the decision to advertise on the Internet has been a profitable one.

Thank you,

GEORGE HEINE

The Hamptons Web

Amagansett

September 30, 1996

Dear Mrs. Rattray:

I read with great interest Irene Silverman's front page article on the Internet in the Hamptons entitled "Local Websters See the Sites" (Sept. 26), and I congratulate The East Hampton Star on its very attractive new Website.

   However, early into the article, I began to be concerned by the lack of any mention of the Hamptons Web. The Hamptons Web is certainly the oldest and largest Hamptons-related site on the Internet.

   Although both Peconic Online and Hamptons Online had been offering excellent on-line services to the area, they became Internet providers quite a while after they had become general on-line providers. When these two services entered the world of the Internet, I met with Chris Hall and Ray Sanchez of Peconic Online, as well as Bob Florio of Hamptons Online, to introduce myself and to welcome them onto the still-very-young and exciting Internet. Both Peconic Online and Hamptons Online have created very fine Websites, which I consider to be better than most of the regional sites which I have explored over the past few years.

   The more I read into the article, the more upset I became. By the time I had read the entire piece and realized that the Hamptons Web was not mentioned at all, I was highly agitated. The accompanying box entitled "URLs of the Hamptons" also left us out.

   After I had received a few, very upset phone calls from some of my advertisers, I realized that I might be facing a professional disaster in the making. I called Irene Silverman, who had come into my home several weeks ago to interview me and to research the Internet. She apologized, explaining that the article was supposed to be about local providers (which I am not), not local sites (which I am). I told her that the article had not left that impression with me or with my concerned advertisers, especially since "URLs of the Hamptons" listed only one provider, but listed 14 sites which were not providers. She then suggested that I write this letter to clarify the situation.

   The Hamptons Web is located in Amagansett. It is not an access provider because it does not provide a telephone number for home or business computers to dial in. For dial-up access, Peconic Online in East Hampton and Hamptons Online in Southampton should certainly be the services of choice for anyone in the Hamptons because they are not subject to the intense traffic which prevails on national services, such as America Online or Compuserve.

   However, the Hamptons Web is a site provider. This means that we, as well as Peconic Online and Hamptons Online, can host sites for other companies, stores, and services. And, in spite of Irene Silverman's statement that "no one to date has figured out how to profit from the Inter-net. . . ," the Hamptons Web and its counterparts make money doing it.

   Anyone using Alta Vista or Lycos (major "search engines") to search the Internet for the word "Hamptons" will find that the first listing is the Hamptons Web. If they useWebcrawler, the first 40 listings are pages which are part of the Hamptons Web.

   The Hamptons Web offers information about the Hamptons which other local services do not. Our Dining Page not only lists local restaurants, it reviews and rates them. No other local site gives access not only to local papers, but to other U.S. and international newspapers and magazines. We offer links to most universities in the United States. We have pages on local beaches, boating, fishing, galleries, local government, accommodations, nature, nightlife, real estate services, shops, activities, weather, and wineries.

   Anyone with access to the Internet can see our site at http.//www.hamptonsweb.com/ . In describing the local sites, Irene Silverman says, ". . . the majority of their sites are static." We will let others judge whether this is accurate. I am disappointed that we were omitted, and I fear it will be a long time before The Star features another Internet article on its front page.

Sincerely,

WILLIAM R. SAGAL

Webmaster, The Hamptons Web

By E-mail

In Tern Language

Springs

September 27, 1996

To The Editor,

While I did admit that I was probably crazy to talk to the tern I was rescuing, I really didn't expect him to talk back to me! What I wrote was "he couldn't walk, couldn't fly" - doubtless he had a huge vocabulary . . . in tern language.

Sincerely,

EMILY COBB

   Construction on the East Hampton Housing Authority's affordable apartment complex on Accabonac Highway, East Hampton, has ground to a halt, following the disclosure that the project was improperly put to bid four years ago.

   "Personally, I think we dug a very deep hole for ourselves," Larry Zimmerman, the Authority's vice chairman, told his fellow board members Monday. "The progress on this project is going to be nil for quite some time."

   Work was suspended shortly after the quasi-public agency fired the project's architect, William Clemency, on Sept. 15, and has not resumed since then.

   "Now we have to go through the bidding process again," Mr. Zimmerman said. "Then we're getting into the winter . . . this budget, the timing we have for this project is out the window."

Bidding Mix-Up

    The general contracting part of the project and subcontracting for heating, electricity, and plumbing were to have been put to bid separately, as is required under laws governing bidding on municipal projects of this sort, said the Authority's attorney, Scott Allen.

   However, it appears that no primary subcontractors were ever asked to submit separate bids. The fault, according to Mr. Allen, appears to lie with Mr. Clemency, who handled the 1992 bidding process.

   Meanwhile, the Housing Authority owes its construction firm, Landmark Builders of Hicksville, close to $300,000.

   "We're being told we can't pay him. The [State Housing Authority] law voids his contract," Mr. Allen told the board members on Monday. The law stipulates, he added, that "if anybody would release taxpayer funds on a contract that is void, that person becomes personally responsible for the funds."

Lawsuits Foreseen

    "We're going to be in litigation with all the parties," Mr. Allen predicted to the East Hampton Town Planning Board last week.

   "The best way to litigate this is: You have the checkbook," responded Gary Swanander, a member of the Planning Board, meaning, apparently, that the Authority should not pay for work it thought had been done incorrectly, rather than going to court.

   By Tuesday, however, after representatives of the Authority met with officials of the contracting firm and its lawyers, Mr. Allen was playing down the numerous-lawsuits scenario. "Either it's a free-for-all in suits or we work it out," he said.

   The day before, the Authority had discussed several options for getting construction back on track. So far, the site has been cleared, foundations poured, and preliminary road and drainage work done.

Modular Housing?

    Mr. Allen suggested prefabricated modular housing as an alternative, built to specifications to be approved by the Town Planning Board.

   "The only way to work through the winter might be to do something like that," he said.

   If the Authority went with that option, it would still have to take bids from modular companies and from subcontractors in the three prime trades - heating, electricity, and plumbing.

   Modulars are less costly, but once the low bidder was selected there would be production time to consider, Mr. Zimmerman pointed out.

   He favored coming to an agreement with Landmark rather than starting over with an almost entirely new plan. "At this point," he said, "I really feel we are changing horses in midstream. It's going to cost us a lot more to get on that other horse."

Landmark, Authority Meet

    Mr. Zimmerman asked Mr. Allen if plumbing, heating, and electrical work could be taken out of Landmark's contract and put out for rebid.

   Between the foundation and the scenic easement, there is now what some Housing Authority members describe as a six-foot cliff.

   separately. If Landmark was the low bidder, then its contract would essentially remain intact.

   Otherwise, said Mr. Zimmerman, the site would probably be quiet until spring.

   The group agreed to look into both options.

   On Tuesday, following the meeting between the Authority and Landmark, both Mr. Zimmerman and Mr. Allen were optimistic an agreement could be reached to insure work begins soon.

   It appears Landmark will continue as the general contractor and the three trades will be put out to bid on their own. Mr. Allen is to determine whether the Authority would be within the law if it follows this course.

Would Pay Contractor

    "They're not at the point that not having the trades is going to hold them back," Mr. Zimmerman said. He pointed out that the Suffolk County Water Authority is ready to come in next month to put in the water main, which would mean a savings of nearly $100,000, over the cost of a private company.

   "A major portion of the extras on the job would be offset by this," Mr. Zimmerman said.

   An agreement with Landmark, assuming one is reached, would involve payment of the money currently owed the construction firm. There is some question about whether to pay for certain foundation plumbing, Mr. Allen said.

   The pace of construction has been of concern to the Housing Authority throughout the summer. Mr. Allen's appearance before the Planning Board last week was apparently a plea for help.

Two Foundations Too Low

    The most serious issue at this point involves two foundations that were poured too low, creating problems with road, drainage, and scenic-easement requirements.

   'We want the fill back. If you can't do that, then come to us and tell us why.'

Henry Clifford

Chairman

Planning Board

    "[One of] the foundations looks deep down in this hole," Mr. Allen said to the Planning Board. "The Housing Authority, being lay people, relied on the clerk of the works [Steve Bianchi], who was fully aware, was becoming aware, that something wasn't matching between the road elevations and the elevations of the building."

   Thousands of cubic yards of excess fill were generated, the attorney said.

   "Why would they want to generate fill?" wondered Pat Mansir, a Planning Board member. "Money," was the quick answer from Lisa Liquori, director of the Town Planning Department. In other words, to sell it.

Truckloads Of Fill

Mr. Allen said Mr. Bianchi took pictures of truckloads of fill being taken off the site. The Housing Authority is investigating whether this was legal and whether it was charged for the removal of fill.

   Between the foundation and the scenic easement, there is now what some Housing Authority members describe as a six-foot cliff.

   "In lowering the foundations, [the architect was] going to need to exceed the clearing limits that were previously approved," Vincent Gaudiello Jr., the town's engineering consultant, told the Planning Board.

   The new, unapproved plan was to push the fill off into the scenic easement area, which would wipe out 75 to 100 trees, Mr. Allen said. "The architect wrote a letter to the contractor - which wasn't sent to the Housing Authority - telling the contractor he had . . . received no objections . . . to do exactly that, to start pushing this dirt into the woods," the lawyer said.

The Red Flag

    That, said the Planning Board, was out of the question.

    The elevations of the building were placed in such a way that the roadbed was going to be forced to match it, rather than the other way around, said Mr. Gaudiello. When James Cavanagh of the Town Environmental Resources Department went out to investigate neighbors' complaints about the activity on the site, he saw the lower elevations, the engineer told the Planning Board.

   "That's when the red flag went up," he said.

   The architect reportedly told the Housing Authority that the changes were necessary because the elevations in the original survey were incorrect. The revisions, however, were never submitted to the town building inspector, and as it turned out, the reduction in elevation meant big trouble for the scenic easement area.

"We Want The Fill"

    Before further work is done, the Planning Board urged the Housing Authority to get a survey of the site as-built. The board also recommended that the foundation be blocked up, to meet the original plans.

   And, said the Planning Board chairman, Henry Clifford, "We want the fill back. If you can't do that, then come to us and tell us why."

   Asked why the Housing Authority had gone before the Planning Board, Mr. Allen said the group simply wanted direction.

   "In a case like this that is a public project, we don't have any experts, because this is being headed by a board not having experience," Mr. Allen told the planners. "We rely on the contractor and architect, but if those people step out of line, there's no one for this board to turn to besides the other town boards."

   "People who don't farm have all these conceptions about what bothers farmers and what doesn't."

   Ralph Dayton, a Sagaponack farmer, was musing more about the social and economic climate on the South Fork than the weather on a rainy day last week. "You can't reason with Mother Nature; she does what she wants to," he said. "You can reason with landlords and neighbors - in theory, but it's just in theory. Those things bother me and, I think, most other farmers."

   Mother Nature has laid out a test for local farmers this season. The cool, damp weather made growing and harvesting more challenging than at any time in the past three years, which were essentially drought years. Hands down, most farmers prefer to have it dry.

No Stringing In The Rain

   "When it's damp, too many things can go wrong, and just about all of them did," said David Szczep an kow ski, speaking about his string bean crop. He also farms potatoes, sweet corn, and vegetables on land in Sagaponack and Water Mill.

   Fungus and mildew are among the problems that can plague crops and slow harvesting. Both Mr. Szczepankow ski and Mr. Dayton had trouble with string beans, because they can't be harvested when it's wet. Even a morning dew can cause them to mildew in the box before long.

   There were times this summer when Mr. Dayton couldn't bring in string beans for a week. Even though conditions were poor, however, prices for beans were great and he did very well, he said, with his 100 acres.

Problems With Corn

   The market for corn, another of his main crops, was a different story. Last summer he was one of the only farmers on the South Fork, he said, to irrigate his sweet-corn fields. Where he was getting as high as $16 a bag for corn then, this year it was a mere $5 or $6 a bag.

   With fields so wet, there were plenty of times Mr. Dayton couldn't get his harvester in to gather the corn. Instead, he hired workers to hand-pick 300 to 500 bags each day. When it turned dry enough to send the harvester out he kept the extra men on the payroll, for insurance when the rains came again.

   "We're losing a few crops because of it," Larry Halsey said. "Some sections of the field have been underwater for two or three days." Crops on Mr. Halsey's Green Thumb organic farm in Water Mill are more susceptible to bugs and fungus in general, because he doesn't use chemical pesticides and fungicides and, as anyone who's spent time outside knows, bugs are faring well in the damp climate.

Ferocious Weeds

   The Green Thumb has had one unintended bumper crop - weeds. "They've been ferocious," Mr. Halsey said. On the other hand, vine crops at many farms in the area haven't done well this summer. Mr. Halsey's late tomatoes aren't growing well and summer squash, pumpkins, cucumbers, and winter squash could have been better, too.

   Jim Pike, a Sagaponack farmer, said much the same. His tomato plants got early blight. Caused by a fungus, the blight defoliates the plant. "It doesn't completely ruin the crop, but it shortens the season."

Grapes: No Pickings

   The raspberry crop was "terrible." His sweet corn came in late, but did well. The warmer the season, the longer it is and the faster the vegetables grow. That translates into more money for the farmer. "Those two weeks can really make a difference," Mr. Pike said.

   The season has been anything but ideal for local vineyards. After three outstanding dry summers, Roman Roth spent early September with his fingers crossed that the sun would shine for the next four or five weeks. It hasn't.

   As cool and wet as it's been, the grapes will have to have 100-percent maturity or more for vineyards to have what qualifies as a good crop, reported Mr. Roth, the winemaker at SagPond Vineyards in Sagaponack.

   It wasn't warm enough for an early harvest, so vineyardists are still waiting to pick their first grapes. The problem is, the longer they wait, the greater the chance of frost.

   Last year and the two before it were excellent for SagPond, but this year will likely be just average. Attention will turn to finding an outlet for what they have. "In a year like this, we'll make a good sparkling rose," said Mr. Roth.

Quail Hill Farm

"Farmers are a pretty grumbly lot," Scott Chaskey chuckled. Mr. Chaskey is the executive director of the Quail Hill Farm, an organic community farm in Amagansett owned by the Peconic Land Trust.

   Unlike other farms in the area, Quail Hill is not involved in producing crops for the market. "The whole thing we're doing is different from what other farms are doing, it's a different style," said Mr. Chaskey.

   As he saw it last month, the growing was good. "It's a miracle that it happens every year." The farm had bumper years for eggplant, celery, and tomatoes, he said, and brought in its biggest harvest yet of potatoes.

   In July potato farmers on the South Fork were afraid they might lose their crops altogether after hearing a few potato fields on the North Fork had been hit by late blight, a fungus that affects the whole plant from leaves to tuber. Late blight can spread from one plant to an entire field and beyond, or from one contaminated potato to a storage barn full of them.

Late Blight

   "Once you find late blight, you can't drive anything in or out of your fields without the Government there to see you do it all by the book," Mr. Szczepankowski commented.

   That means investing in a special fungicide to spray on the crops every two weeks, and hosing down trucks before and after they go into the field. One farmer whose fields were hit told Mr. Szczepankowski the extra costs meant he would not break even, even if he got twice per hundredweight what he did last year.

   The specter of late blight passed over the South Fork, however, and most of the North Fork too.

   "Everybody I know is digging big, beautiful potatoes," Mr. Szczepankowski said with more than a little relief.

   "Ultimately it was a very odd year," Mr. Chaskey said. He paused, then added, "But what is normal when it comes to nature?"

Fewer Fresh Vegetables

   Consumption of fresh vegetables was down this year, too, Mr. Dayton said. "Damp days, the Olympics, the plane crash. A lot of people weren't inclined to vacation here," he ventured. "Nobody was in the mood for fresh vegetables. Everybody I was dealing with said the same thing."

   He sells his crops to farmers' markets, Schmidt's market in Southampton, and larger grocery stores like King Kullen and the I.G.A. Usually he has 40 big customers that take all his sweet corn. This year, said Mr. Dayton, he "had to really hustle to get 50 or 60 customers," and had to rely on the markets in New York City and Boston more.

   "Usually when you have to rely on the market, it's when everybody else does, which is exactly when you don't want to," he said.

Farm Stand A Goner

Mr. Szczepankowski trucks most of his produce to the Bronx Terminal Market. The smaller vegetables go to his farm stand on the corner of Stephen Hand's Path and Montauk Highway in East Hampton.

   'That's the most painful part of farming. You just don't know from year to year if you'll be able to lease the same land again.'

Ralph Dayton

   But business there was down this summer, said his wife, Susan. "People won't stop if it's raining."

   This summer was the last in that spot for the familiar Szczepankowski stand. The State Department of Transportation plans to widen the road and make a turn lane onto Stephen Hand's Path, so the farm stand will be nudged out.

   "I grew up running that farm stand," Mr. Szczepankowski said. He has been out there since he was 13.

Not So Friendly

   The roads have changed a lot since then, the farmer said.

   "Now maybe I'm more cynical, but people just aren't as friendly anymore," he lamented. "They don't care where the product comes from. As long as it's cheap and looks good, it doesn't matter if it's local."

   People used to admire his produce and love that it was local, he said. That meant something. Now, he said, they ask the price, then say they can find it for less at the supermarket.

   The Szczepankowskis haven't decided what they'll do for a farm stand next year, but in ways, this summer was the end of an era for them.

What About Next Year?

   As Mr. Dayton said, the weather can get a farmer down, but that kind of uncertainty goes with the territory. The broader questions, like the one the Szczepankowskis are confronted with, weigh more on a farmer's mind than the weather report.

   When harvesting is over for the year, South Fork farmers lose sleep wondering whether they'll be able to rent the same fields next year or see them subdivided and ready for development, and thinking about the future of farming in general.

   Many of the farmers who spoke to The Star lease the land they farm on. "The problem right now," said Mr. Pike, sitting at the edge of one of his Sagaponack fields, "is that land is getting more scarce."

The Cost Of Land

   He recalled that in the early 1980s the real estate market slacked off and at the same time potato growers were phasing out of potatoes. There was more usable land than there was demand. Not so today.

   Mr. Pike counts himself among the lucky. He's only lost a couple of acres to development, but, he said, "it's difficult to expand; all the good farmland is spoken for."

   With property values as high as they are, he said, it just doesn't make sense to buy land with the intention of farming it, unless it is reserved for agriculture, and even that is very expensive.

   "Farming will never be that profitable that we'll be able to pay $100,000 for an acre of land," Mr. Pike said.

Babinski Farm

   Mr. Szczepankowski rents the land he farms, including most of Anthony Babinski's old farm. Mr. Babinski, a long-time Water Mill farmer, left the South Fork for Missouri last year and is in the process of selling the property that his family farmed for generations.

   It's in contract now, and Mr. Szczepankowski isn't sure if he'll be able to use it next year.

   "Obviously it's a problem for me. If it does get sold, I'll have to find another place."

   Mr. Dayton knows the worry well. "That's the most painful part of farming. You just don't know from year to year if you'll be able to lease the same land again or if you'll have to farm the funny-shaped little pieces. Nobody wants to give you a long-term lease. They say, 'Whoa, no way, I don't know what I'm going to do with it next year.' "

The American Way

   Mr. Dayton trained as a lawyer and practiced law briefly before quitting to become a farmer. For the past five years he has been learning the lessons of farming head-first, and despite its worries, he said he wouldn't trade the farming life for anything.

   He worries through the winter and it isn't until spring that there is some certainty. "This year I was saying, 'I can't wait until the plow is set in the ground.' Then everything is spoken for, it's static."

   Still, he doesn't blame somebody if they develop a piece of land. "That's their right, it's private property, that's the American way."

   He asks the new owner if he or she would be good enough to rent him the land that is "ag reserved." What gets him is when houses are built next door and the new owners complain about dust, noise, and spray, or pump their pools out onto his fields.

Future Looks Grim

   Larry Halsey is numb to a lot of that, now. It's frustrating when he can't get the tractor through the traffic to his fields north of the highway, but he has come to expect that kind of reception.

   "Farming? It's almost finished here, isn't it?" he asks rhetorically. He has been farming all his life and his ancestors have been farming on the South Fork since the 1600s, but he has grown cynical about the future of the industry.

   Wall Street prices are up so high, even the land that is reserved for agriculture goes into horse farms, he said. "Time is moving on for the farmland situation. When you go to Town Hall and see what's being developed and then see what's slated for development, it's even more scary."

   He would like to see more wealthy private individuals taking a hand in preserving farm land. "They could buy it and take the tax deduction, but they don't, and we're losing a lot of our land to developers."

Landscapers

   The return is just too low on farmland. Nevertheless, it commands more rent these days than it used to, and there is more competition for the land, too; not just from farmers but from landscapers or nurseries.

   Landscapers, Mr. Szczepankowski said, can get a long-term lease and grow trees on the land, which yields a pretty good profit. "They can pay $200, $300, or $400 an acre for rent; for a farmer, that's exorbitant," he said.

   The going rate per acre is around $150 a month. Mr. Szczepankowski said he knew someone in landscaping who's paying $500 a month for acreage on Long Lane. A farmer in competition for the land offered $200 per month.

   The landowner took the higher offer. Who wouldn't?

The Sharper Edge

   "The thing about farming that's most difficult to learn is, you can be friendly with your neighbor who's a farmer, but you have to accept they can be your competition as well. You're competing in the same arena all the time, so there's always that edge," said Mr. Szczepankowski.

   The edge is sharper when the clamor for land and the pressure for development is as intense as it is on Long Island. It's hard to ignore the changes turning the South Fork from rural enclave to suburban hotspot.

   With traffic to a minimum and fall crops still to be picked in his fields, the pulse that seems to drive the Hamptons in the summer didn't seem so far away to Jim Pike.

   "It's not as though we're out in Kansas," he said. "We're in the Hamptons and we happen to be farming."

   Saying she inherited a fiscal legacy that left little choice but to propose across-the-board tax increases for 1997, East Hampton Town Supervisor Cathy Lester handed in a tentative budget Monday calling for spending to jump from the $27.6 million anticipated this year to $29.5 million in 1997.

   An overall 10.84-percent increase in the tax rate on properties outside East Hampton and Sag Harbor Villages, which covers about 80 percent of the town, and a 14.28-percent increase for properties inside the villages is anticipated.

   That means the owner of a house in Springs assessed at $7,000, considered "typical" by town assessors, would pay $17.57 for each $100 of the house's assessed value, or roughly $1,230 in town taxes next year. This is an increase of $120 from $1,110 this year.

Echoes From The Past

   The owner of a similarly assessed house in East Hampton Village, which levies its own taxes for police, highway, and other services, would pay $8.07 per $100, or $565 altogether, a $71 increase.

   Supervisor Lester said her first budget for the town was in some respects the result of budgets crafted for the last nine years by former Supervisor Tony Bullock, her colleague and fellow Democrat.

   "Tony was a tight budget manager, and I agree with him that you shouldn't artificially pad the budget. You can't ask people to pay higher taxes so that you can carry a fund balance from year to year," said Supervisor Lester.

No Padding

   Because the 1996 budget had so little padding that the town now has to borrow $500,000 to cover certain deficits, Ms. Lester explained that additional revenue to pay back the loan would have to be raised in 1997.

   Filed with the Town Clerk late Monday afternoon, Supervisor Les t er's budget will be worked over by the remaining four Town Board members, three of them comprising the Republican majority. Five budget review sessions are scheduled, the first on Monday at 1 p.m. in the Town Hall conference room. By law, the Town Board must hold a public hearing in time to adopt a final budget by Nov. 20.

   "I want to hear Cathy explain her rationale and her priorities and her calculations, and I think you will probably see some alternative proposals come later," said Councilman Len Bernard, who has served at times as the majority's numbers cruncher.

Sanitation And Police

   Mr. Bernard hinted that this year he would again find fault with the Democrats' philosophy on recycling spending.

   He claimed that the budget request from David Paolelli, who runs the recycling and composting plants, did not include new workers, while Police Chief Thomas Scott had asked for four new police officers. Ms. Lester's budget would give the Sanitation Department six additional workers. The Police Department would see only two, plus two new dispatchers.

   Councilman Bernard said he also would inquire about an increase in pay for the town budget officer, Michael Haran. It represents a five-hour expansion of his workweek, when many other town workers would still be paid for a 30-hour week, Mr. Bernard said.

   "There appear to be certain programs that are fair game for substantial increases and others that aren't. I'd like her to explain why," he said.

   "Chief Scott, like most department heads, came in asking for more than they need," said Supervisor Lester, adding that the chief's idea of increased police patrols in Wainscott and Northwest Woods could be "phased in over a couple of years."

   Again with an echo of Mr. Bullock, Supervisor Lester called hers a "no-frills" budget. She agreed with Mr. Bernard that Chief Scott had made a compelling argument for more officers, but said some restraint was needed.

   Her budget message noted there had been no additions to the number of police since 1987 while calls for help had gone up 11 percent.

   Sanitation and Police Departments aside, Ms. Lester said she followed Mr. Bullock's example by denying requests for more full-time workers but granting some money for part-timers and expanded work weeks, which avoids the cost of benefits and overtime.

Solid Waste Debate

   A major component of the tax increase are those recommendations in the Supervisor's budget that comply with the Town Solid Waste Management Plan. The total 1997 appropriation for recycling and composting would be $5.1 million and the increase in the townwide garbage tax would be a hefty 40.66 percent.

   The second largest nugget in the budget is for the Highway Department. The Supervisor expects it to need nearly $3.4 million next year compared to this year's $3.2 million. The highway tax, included in the town tax, would represent about $2.63 per $100 of assessed value, outside the villages.

   The Solid Waste Management Plan, adopted in Mr. Bullock's administration, has been dismantled to some degree by the Republican majority on the Town Board this year, in part by not replacing fired workers and by cutting back on the baling of recyclables, in order to save money. As a result, the amount of recyclable material the town is able to sell has diminished. Market prices have also decreased.

Deficit Explained

   Not only revenue from the sale of recyclables has continued to go down, but revenue from carters' so-called tipping fees. The board will borrow $400,000 to plug the latest recycling deficit. (The additional $100,000 to be borrowed will cover last winter's overspending for snow removal.)

   Mr. Haran, the town budget officer, said the recycling deficit also came from renting equipment for the composting plant when the Town Board was hesitant to buy it and from trucking compostables out of town for three months when the plant was closed for repainting.

   Through the end of this year, total solid waste spending was expected to be about $4.3 million. Add to that a $200,000 shortfall in revenue and the same in unexpected costs and you have the current $400,000 operating deficit, said Mr. Haran.

   The solid waste district covers the recycling and composting plants off Springs-Fireplace Road and the Montauk transfer plant, paying off the roughly $10.5 million debt for their construction and the ongoing and equally expensive task of permanently closing the two landfills.

   What's to keep all eyes glued to movie screens at the East Hampton Cinema Oct. 16 through Oct. 20, when the Hamptons International Film Festival will stage its fourth annual event?

   Besides 19 world premieres, 32 U.S. premieres, works by students, by American independent filmmakers and contemporary international ones, documentaries, shorts, restored and archival films, panel discussions, and gala parties?

   Well, this year there will also be a day devoted to Australian cinema, a composing award, documentary shorts in addition to full-length movies, and short films before some feature-length films, and a composing award.

   The program was announced formally on Tuesday at the Water Club in New York.

More To Learn

    "I'm delighted with everything in the lineup," Sam Maser, the festival's program director, said. "It should offer something for everyone."

   Details about who will lead the Conversation With . . . event - always a mystery until the last minute - and who will win the Distinguished Achievement Award have yet to be announced but will be forthcoming. Last year they were Isabella Rossellini and John Schlesinger, respectively.

   What the topics of the panel discussions would be and which archival films would be screened were not announced yet either.

American Independents

    The 10 films selected for the American Independents Showcase will compete for the Golden Starfish, a juried award of goods and services worth about $100,000, as well as for the new composing award and two audience awards for most popular film and best director. Many films are their maker's first stab at writing and directing a feature-length work.

   In this category, those films making their world premiere in East Hampton will be "The Bible and Gun Club," directed by Daniel J. Harris; "The Cottonwood" by Steven Feder, who produced and co-wrote "The Big Gig," which won the audience award for best short in the 1993 Film Festival; "Layin' Low" by Danny Leiner; Michael Bergmann's "Milk & Money"; Jay Chandraskehar's "Puddle Cruiser"; "Shooting Lily" by Arthur Borman, and "Wedding Bell Blues."

   "Wedding Bell Blues" is the only film in this category directed (Dana Lustig) and written (Annette Goliti-Gutierrez) by women.

   "Breathing Room" by Jon Sherman and "Driven" by Michael Paradies Shoob will be making their premieres in the U.S. The 10th film in this category is "Mugshot" by Matt Mahurin.

   Each year the Film Festival highlights several contemporary feature films from one country. This year six films from Down Under, including four making their U.S. debuts, will be highlighted on Oct. 19, Australian Cinema Day. Five are narrative features and one is a documentary.

   The four premieres are the documentary, "Billal," directed by Tom Zubrycki, which tells a Lebanese family's story about racially motivated violence; "Dead Heart" by Nick Parsons; "Hotel de Love" by Craig Rosenberg, and Geoffrey Bennett's "Turning April."

   The other two Australian films are "Lilian's Story" by Jerzy Domaradzki and "The Quiet Room" by Rolf de Heer.

France Rules

    In the Contemporary International Cinema category are 27 films from Iceland, Austria, the U.S., Denmark, Ireland, Spain, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Yugoslavia, India, and Korea, and one of mixed "parentage" representing Tunisia, France, and Belgium. Many will be making their U.S. premieres.

   In this category, the country with the most films is France (other than the U.S.), which has four films, three of them making their debuts in the U.S. at the festival, and including Patrice Leconte's "Ridicule," which opened this year's Cannes Film Festival.

   The international category also includes the festival's first Indian film, "The Square Circle," also called "Daayraa," directed by Amol Palekar.

   Of three films from the United Kingdom, one is "The Leading Man," directed by John Duigan and starring the rocker-turned-actor Jon Bon Jovi, and another is "Indian Summer," directed by Nancy Meckler, whose first film, "Sister My Sister," had its U.S. premiere at the 1994 Film Festival.

Stranger Than Fiction

    Among the eight American films in the international lineup are Keith Gordon's adaptation of "Mother Night," a novel by Kurt Vonnegut, who lives in Sagaponack, and "Bastard Out of Carolina," the directorial debut of Anjelica Huston.

   Truth Is Stranger. . . is the title of the Film Festival's documentary section, which this year will comprise six full-length documentaries, including one world premiere and two U.S. premieres, plus seven documentary shorts. Making its world premiere is the American film "Queens of the Big Time," which is Adriani Trigiani's directorial debut.

   "Anna," by the Academy Award-winning Russian director Nikita Mikhalkov, will make its premiere in this country, as will "Soul in the Hole," directed by Danielle Gardner. Of the others, two focus on music and one, "Paris Was a Woman," is Greta Schiller's distinctly female look at the literary scene in Paris in the 1920s.

Short Films

    The documentary shorts include one making its U.S. premiere, "Never Again Forever," which is Danae Elon's look at the inner workings of the Jewish Defense League.

   Seven programs of short films, plus a number of shorts to be screened before feature films, will be shown for the "In Brief. . ." section of the festival. Each program will range from three to eight films each.

   Among the shorts are 11 world premieres and seven U.S. premieres. Culled from more than 300 submissions are "Present Tense, Past Perfect," directed by Richard Dreyfuss, and Rob Lowe's directorial debut, "American Untitled," both making their world premieres.

   A program of Irish shorts will also be screened, and another program will include two short films - the world premiere of "The Long Journey" as well as "The Grey-Bearded Lion," which won the grand prize at the recent St. Petersberg Film Festival - by Andrei Khrjanovski, the acclaimed Russian animator.

Student Winners

    Also this week, the Film Festival announced the winners of its juried student film competition. Each will receive $2,500, and the winning undergraduate and graduate films, five of each chosen from more than 150 entries and ranging from three and a half minutes to 30 minutes long, will be shown during the festival.

   Highlighting the student films is "Love Child," produced, written, and directed by Patrick Sisson, a graduate student at New York University who is also the winner of the festival's RKO/Ted Hartley/Dina Merrill prize for the "best told story." The film "recreates the era of disco, leisure suits, and 'Love American Style,' " according to a release.

   Also notable among the student films is "The Money Shot," a film about the travails of a documentary filmmaker written and directed by Matt Mailer, a New York University undergraduate and the son of Norman Mailer, and "Only Child," co-directed by two Loyola Marymount University undergraduates, David Ogden and Christopher Landon. The latter is the son of the late director, producer, and actor Michael Landon.

Bookend Galas

    The remaining student films are "A Garden for Rio" by Lance Mungia, another Loyola Marymount undergraduate; "My Dingaling" by Brad Abelson, an undergraduate at the University of Southern California; "Seasons Greetings" by Michael Dougherty, an undergrad at N.Y.U.; "Passage" by Matthew Marshall, a graduate student at the same school; "Flux" by Patrick Stettner, a graduate student at Columbia University, "Covenant" by Jason Wulfsohn, a graduate student at U.S.C., and "What Became Known As . . . The Eleanor Affair" by Ginger Rinkenberger, a graduate student at N.Y.U.

   As The Star announced earlier this month, "Some Mother's Son," an Irish film directed by Terry George, will be screened on opening night. Dinner and a party under a tent next to Nick and Toni's restaurant on North Main Street in East Hampton will follow.

   On closing night an American film directed by Nick Cassavetes, "Unhook the Stars," will be shown, followed by another party at Nick and Toni's. In a departure from tradition, the closing night party will feature not only the cuisine of Nick and Toni's executive chef, Paul Del Favero, but also samples from a number of East End chefs.

   The festival's office, in the Newtown Mews off Newtown Lane in East Hampton, can be called for more information, and a schedule will be included in the Oct. 10 and 17 issues of The Star. Individual tickets, at $8, will go on sale Oct. 10, but those who would like "film buff" or "founder" passes ($400 and $1,000 respectively) can call the festival office earlier.

Peconic Coast

103 Montauk Highway

East Hampton

324-6772

Open for dinner daily

Peconic Coast, now in its third year, has quietly established itself as one of the East End's most consistent and enjoyable restaurants. In a random quiz of a dozen people I ran into on Monday, all but one named it as being among their top five out here.

It's true that, as the former muses of the Laundry, the proprietors carried a faithful clientele with them when they moved, but they took over a notoriously jinxed spot - with Montauk Highway almost passing through the middle of the dining room, no less.

Would they make it, or would the whisper "Indian bones" soon be heard?

Well-Designed

Well, they're obviously here to stay. It isn't just that the food is reliably good, it's that the staff is particularly welcoming and the almost Zen-like calm of the dining room offers that increasing rarity: a comfortable space where you do not have to raise your voice to carry on a conversation.

You don't notice at first how well-designed the place is. You notice warm brick and stretches of brick-colored paint and little pink spotlights strung on wires across the room. What sinks in after a while is that the room is very large, yet every table seems intimate, no easy task to achieve.

There are different levels, which helps, but perhaps the magic touch is the strategic use of black, which leaves the dining room floating in a space without fixed boundaries.

There's a long snaking bar that does a thriving trade in summer. Less so in winter, maybe, which makes sense - "I don't want to see 'The Sopranos' in front of the fire, dear, I'd rather go out into the cold, have a beer, and watch other people eating."

Dishes that stand out in my mind from previous visits were a ravishing salad of frisee and goat's cheese, perfect bay scallops, and breasts of Muscovy duck in phyllo pastry. But time and again I have chosen the calf's liver, served with black grapes, because nobody does it better.

On this occasion we presented the added challenge of telling the staff we wanted to make an 8:30 movie. They'd have made the deadline, too, but we were having such a good time that we decided not to go.

Range Of Choices

Two of us took advantage of the $25 three-course prix fixe menu. This is highly recommended, not only because it is a very good value but because, unlike many such menus, there is a wide choice of dishes.

On the á la carte menu, appetizers range from $4.50 for soup to $20 for a seafood platter of clams, oysters, shrimp, fresh Maine sea urchin, and lobster salad: Does that sound good, or what?

Entrees cost from $12 for a burger to $32 for a rib eye steak, so your basic meal could cost you $16.50 for soup and a burger or $52 if you just sold Amazon high. Or there are barbecued ribs at $9.50, which are quite enough for an entree. Peconic Coast can be expensive, but there are enough choices that it doesn't have to be.

Salmon And Peas

There's an impressive wine list and wines by the glass from $6.50 to $8. Both the Chilean cabernet sauvignon and the Beringer California merlot were the perfect answer to a cold night and a lingering cold.

The mixed green salad had some very superior green stuff in it, by no means straight from the plastic box marked mesclun, but it paled beside the terra-cotta dish of wood-oven- roasted calamari in a spicy sauce.

Also recommended is the lively salmon cake, which was almost outshone by the sea of little garlic-butter-coated peas that surrounded it.

Layered Scallops

Salmon was also a choice for an entree. It was the daily fish special and I was a little dubious about the idea that, at this time of year, it would be accompanied by a fresh tomato sauce. I don't know what they did to it, it was basically just diced tomato, but it was wonderful. The salmon itself was as good as I anticipated, as was a side dish of very lightly cooked spinach.

Another prix fixe dish, pounded chicken breasts with mushrooms in a marsala sauce, tasted remarkably like veal.

The winning entree was an astonishing vertical dish of sea scallops with seven samurai sauce, the browned scallops interwoven between layers of cellophane noodles and crisply fried squares of wonton wrappers.

Two Mousses

Try the thin, treacly pecan square for dessert, though the two kinds of chocolate mousse were also great. The creme of the fine tasting creme brulee was a little too chilly for my taste, but I'm just nitpicking - we really had no complaints.

They don't take reservations. At a small, busy restaurant, this can be annoying enough to keep you away from the place forever. But Peconic Coast is big enough that this has only once been a problem in the times I have dined there, and that was on a summer Saturday night. Even then, it was a pleasant wait on comfortable sofas, drinks in hand, so we hardly noticed.

So here's a toast - Peconic Coast.