On Tuesday night, by a vote of 240 to 145, Bridgehampton voters decided to pierce the tax cap on a $12.3 million budget for the 2014-15 school year. 

Laura Spillane, the district’s treasurer, announced the news in Bridgehampton School’s gymnasium shortly after the polls closed at 8 p.m. The mood was celebratory, with members of the community loudly cheering and applauding. With 385 voters turning out, the budget passed by a 62 percent margin.  

Bridgehampton School put forth a $1.1 million, or 9.93-percent, spending increase over the current year’s $11.2 million budget. The $12.3 million spending plan translates to a $10.6 million tax levy, an increase of 8.8 percent. 

Under a New York State law that went into effect two years ago, the cap on increases in property taxes is either 2 percent or the Consumer Price Index -- whichever is lower. This year, school districts faced caps of 1.46 percent. 

Piercing the tax cap requires a 60-percent supermajority in order to pass. At 62 percent, Tuesday’s revote put Bridgehampton narrowly over the finish line. 

Originally, Bridgehampton was among the four districts across Long Island to put forth cap-busting budgets. Only East Hampton, with 73 percent of voter support, was successful during last month’s vote. Budgets in West Babylon and Sayville were similarly struck down. Though West Babylon and Sayville put forth drastically lowered budgets for this week’s revote, the Bridgehampton school board unanimously voted in support of the same $12.3 million budget. 

On May 20, by a vote of 134 to 113, Bridgehampton failed to gain the required 60-percent supermajority by a margin of 21 votes. With 247 residents casting ballots, only 54 percent were willing to pierce the cap. Had the budget gone down a second and final time, Bridgehampton would have been forced to adopt a contingency budget based on this year’s figures -- with cuts amounting to nearly $800,000 according to Ron White, the school board president, who blamed complacency and low voter turnout on the initial defeat.

The mood was tense on Tuesday night, as about a dozen residents of all different ages filtered into the school’s gymnasium to cast their ballots shortly before the 8 o’clock poll closure.  Lois Favre, the district’s superintendent, said she remained “hopeful” in the minutes leading up the vote count. 

Douglas DeGroot, who has served on the school board for the past four years, said Tuesday’s revote left him feeling vindicated. “A lot of people thought we were arrogant to go out with the same budget, but we cut as much as we could,” said Mr. DeGroot. “It’s great to finally get this community support.”

“I’m very happy,” said Tamara George, whose son is in the first grade. “This is a wonderful school.” 

Dorothy White, who has worked as a custodian for the past 20 years, also felt elated. “This is awesome,” said Ms. White, whose son is the president of the school board. A graduate of Bridgehampton School, her four children are graduates, in addition to two grandchildren who are currently enrolled. “As a hard worker, I just didn’t want to see anyone lose their job.” 

Voters in the Bridgehampton School District head to the polls Tuesday to decide, for a second time, whether to allow the district to pierce the tax cap. The polls open at the school gym at 2 p.m. and close at 8.

After the $12.3 million budget failed to gain the required 60-percent supermajority during the first vote last month, the school board unanimously voted to put forth the same budget.

Under a state law that went into effect two years ago, the cap on increases in property taxes is either 2 percent or the Consumer Price Index — whichever is lower. This year, districts faced a cap of 1.46 percent. The $12.3 million Bridgehampton spending plan for the coming school year translates to a $10.6 million tax levy, an increase of 8.8 percent.

The defeat, on May 20, was by a vote of 134 to 113, a margin of 21 votes. With 247 residents casting ballots, only 54 percent were willing to pierce the cap.



Should the budget go down a second time, Bridgehampton would be forced to adopt a contingency budget based on this year’s figures — with cuts amounting to $770,000, according to Ron White, the school board president, who said complacency was to blame for the defeat.

The Bridgehampton $1.1 million, or 9.93-percent, spending increase over the current year’s $11.2 million budget was said to be primarily due to contractual increases and unfunded state mandates. Had the board decided not to pierce the cap, the district faced not only layoffs, but also cuts to essential programs.



Four Long Island districts put forth cap-busting budgets, but only East Hampton's $65 million budget received voter approval, with 73 percent. The West Babylon and Sayville budgets failed.

 

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

One of the "real treats" in his military career, General Hayden said, was being able to visit many of the places his father had been deployed during his service. He went on to recount his many experiences overseas in which people had shown "remarkable, subtle gratitude for what Americans had done." He mentioned a small village near Kraków, Poland, where an American aircraft was shot down in 1944 and was later turned into a monument by the people who lived there. The monument reads, in both Polish and English, "Here died 11 American airmen in a battle for Polish freedom."

General Hayden also spoke of Lance Cpl. Jordan C. Haerter of Sag Harbor, who died saving his comrades in Ramadi, Iraq, and was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross. Of Corporal Haerter's action he said, "Those of you who are veterans understand that we all freely fight for our country, but we die for our friends." In regards to Corporal Haerter's family and the families of other veterans and soldiers, Hayden said that, "We really need to think about the families who supported and endured. . . . We need to memorialize our families as well."

He concluded with an anecdote about Germany before the fall of the Berlin Wall. He told the audience about the plight of many people living in East Germany who were trying to escape, and recounted how many refugees went through Prague and were put on trains in the middle of the night, to be secreted away to West Germany with the promise of freedom. The story goes that, "in one of those trains, as the sun came up, one of the refugees had enough courage to raise the curtain." What he saw when he looked outside, the general said, was a mounted patrol of the seventh armored cavalry regiment of the United States Army. Apparently, he turned to the other people in the train car and said, "Look, there are the Americans; we're free.”

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

The East Hampton American Legion commander, Fred Overton, also gave a speech. The names of this year's recipients of the American Legion school awards were called, as were the names of the recipients of the Ladies Auxiliary’s school awards. The East Hampton High School band provided music, playing "You're a Grand Old Flag" and, of course, the national anthem.

Voters will head to the polls on Tuesday to decide on school budgets and elect school board members, and in two districts on the South Fork, voters are being asked to consider budgets that pierce the 2-percent tax cap.

Under a state law that went into effect in 2012, the cap on property tax levy increases is either 2 percent or the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower. This year's increase is capped at 1.46 percent.

Amagansett

The Amagansett School Board has proposed a $10.47 million budget for 2014-15, representing a spending increase of 2.5 percent over last year. The tax levy will increase by 1 percent, slightly under the state-imposed cap.

Along with the budget vote, three candidates -- Patrick Bistrian, Phelan Wolf, and Patrick Bistrian III -- are running unopposed for the school board.

A vote on the budget will be held at the school on Tuesday from 2 to 8 p.m.

Bridgehampton

Voters in Bridgehampton have big decisions — electing two new members to the school board and deciding whether to pierce the tax cap.

The $12.3 million spending proposal for the 2014-15 school year is an increase of $1.1 million, or 9.93 percent, over the current year's $11.2 million budget. Additionally, the district is proposing a $10.6 million tax levy, an increase of 8.8 percent, or $855,819, over the current year's $9.8 million levy.

The increase is due primarily to contractual increases and to allow the district to keep up with other required state mandates, according to the district. Had the board decided not to pierce the cap, it said the district would have to lay off at least four teachers.

Under the proposed plan, the tax rate is expected to rise 7.7 percent, from $1.55 to $1.67 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. For instance, homeowners whose properties are valued at $500,000 can expect to pay approximately $56.64 more in taxes.

Michael Gomberg, Jeffrey Mansfield, and Kathleen McCleland are in the running for two seats on the Bridgehampton School Board. The terms are for three years.

Mr. Mansfield is a familiar face, having just run, unsuccessfully, for Southampton Town Board last fall. A full-time father of three children who attend the school, he is the president of the Bridgehampton School Foundation, among his other community involvement.

Ms. McCleland is a Bridgehampton native and a former vice president of corporate event planning at Goldman Sachs. She works as a pastry chef.

Mr. Gomberg has two children in the Bridgehampton School and works in finance in Southampton.

Voting will take place at the Bridgehampton School from 2 to 8 p.m.

East Hampton

The East Hampton School District needs the support of 60 percent of voters who turn out on Tuesday in order to override the state-mandated 1.46-percent cap on tax levy increases for its $65 million budget.

The district is proposing a 1.3-percent increase in spending for the 2014-15 school year, and a 2.43-percent increase in the tax levy. Had it stayed within the tax cap, the school board told voters, the district would have had to lay off teachers and support staff and "cut deeply into our instructional programs."

Patricia Hope and Jackie Lowey, incumbents. are seeking their second, three-year terms on the board.

Voting takes place at East Hampton High School from 1 to 8 p.m.

Montauk

Two candidates are in a tight race for a seat on the Montauk School Board. Jason Biondo, who has three children in the district and owns Hammerhead Construction and the Antique Lumber Company, and Cynthia Ibrahim, who has a daughter in fifth grade, are running for the one five-year term that is open on the board.

Voters are also being asked to consider a 2014-15 budget proposal in the amount of $18.6 million, a decrease of about $100,000 from this year. The tax levy increase is .43 percent, under the state cap.

There is also a proposition on the ballot that would authorize the school district to spend $400,000 from its capital fund to replace two modular classrooms that were installed 40 years ago.

The vote is scheduled from 2 to 8 p.m. in the school gym.

Sag Harbor

The Sag Harbor School District has put out a $36.8 million budget proposal for the 2014-15 school year. The budget represents an increase of $1.3 million, or 3.83 percent, over this year's $35.5 million budget. Sag Harbor's cap on tax levy increases next year is actually 1.51 percent; the district is proposing an increase of 1.48 percent.

If the budget passes, taxpayers in the Sag Harbor School District, which straddles the East Hampton-Southampton town line, will pay an increase of about $5.80 per month for a house assessed at about $1 million.

Voters are also deciding between four candidates for three positions on the school board. Hoping to keep their seats, Theresa M. Samot, the current school board president, and Sandi Kruel are seeking their fourth terms in office, while Thomas C. Ré, an attorney and the father of a high school student, and Diana Kolhoff, a math educational consultant and former teacher who has two daughters in the elementary school, are looking for a seat at the table. The terms are for three years each.

The vote takes place in the Pierson High School gym on Tuesday from 7 to 9 p.m.

Springs

In Springs, the $26.6 million 2014-15 school budget proposal is a 4.9-percent increase over the current budget of $25.4 million. The tax levy would increase by 3.18 percent, which is under the state-imposed 1.46 percent tax cap after exemptions are taken into account.

In a separate proposition, voters are being asked to approve a $2 million capital reserve fund. The fund would allow improvements like classroom additions and renovations, a cafeteria, and numerous structural upgrades.

Owners of houses with a town evaluation of $400,000 would see a tax hike of $163. Properties valued at $600,000 would see an increase of $245; those valued at $800,000 would pay $326 more.

Elizabeth Mendelman, the board president, and Timothy Frazier, a current school board member who is the principal of the Southampton Intermediate School, are running unopposed for three-year terms.

Voters can cast ballots at the school from 1 to 9 p.m.

Wainscott

The 2014-15 budget proposed for the Wainscott Common School District is $3.1 million, a $345,370 decrease from this year. The tax levy will decrease 10.84 percent, and the tax rate is to go down 11 percent. Tax rates in the district continue to be among the lowest of the schools that send students to East Hampton School District.

David E. Eagan, the president of the Wainscott School Board, is running for re-election. He is facing personal legal trouble, having been arrested in late February on a tax fraud charge. He declined to comment.

On Tuesday afternoon, voters can cast their ballots from 2 to 8 p.m. at the Wainscott School.

A private investigator working for Jason Lee, a Goldman Sachs executive accused of raping a 20-year-old Irish woman in East Hampton last summer, met with the alleged victim on Wednesday, harassing and frightening her, according to Kim Shalvey, the prosecutor handling the case.

Appearing in county court in Riverside on Friday, Ms. Shalvey asked Justice Barbara Kahn to grant an order of protection for the alleged victim that would prevent any future contact. "She feels that everything she does is being watched," Ms. Shalvey said.

Andrew Lankler, who joined Edward Burke Jr. as co-defense counsel for Mr. Lee several months ago, said that the investigator who contacted the alleged victim was "an experienced female," whom his firm had vetted through a service in England.

"We took every precaution" he told Justice Kahn, explaining that the visit to the Irish woman's house was made at 11 a.m. "The complainant was provided a picture of an injury of a preexisting nature. She said she did not want to go forward with the matter," he said. "There was no harassment."

Ms. Shalvey painted a different picture of the woman's reaction to the visit, saying that she had immediately contacted Ms. Shalvey, apparently traumatized. She said the injury in the photograph was not the same as those allegedly caused by Mr. Lee during an early morning attack on Aug. 20 at a Clover Leaf Lane house. She said that a witness who was at the party where the alleged attack occurred was contacted by another agent for Mr. Lee "who was wearing a wire."

The party started when Mr. Lee and a friend from the Bronx met several students at Georgica restaurant who were celebrating the end of their summer jobs and their upcoming return to Ireland. Mr. Lee was accused of raping the woman in a bathroom after the party had moved from the restaurant to the hot tub and pool at the house.

When Mr. Lee was first arraigned in East Hampton Town Justice Court on Aug. 21, Dan Cronin, the prosecutor that day, did not seek an order of protection for the alleged victim, normally a routine event in cases where a defendant is accused of a violent crime, such as rape in the first degree, one of the charges Mr. Lee faces. Such orders prohibit not only direct contact, but also "third person contact." The reasoning for not requesting the protective order, Ms. Shalvey explained, was that the woman was due to leave the country the next day, and an order was thought not necessary.

Justice Kahn said, "There is nothing improper with a defense attorney contacting a claimant." She said she would rule on the request at Mr. Lee's next court appearance.

Mr. Lee, a managing director at Goldman Sachs, has been on leave since the arrest.

 

A temporary restraining order issued against Cyril’s Fish House in State Supreme Court last month prohibits the Napeague hot spot from using its outdoor bar and patio pending electrical and structural inspections of the site.

In a finding issued on April 11 following a two-day hearing, Justice Joseph Farneti ruled that the owners of the restaurant and bar and their employees may not open the premises to the public in any form except that which existed in 1984, which is itself based on a certificate of occupancy from 1969. Justice Farneti’s ruling allows Cyril’s to use only 40 seats in a 300-square-foot structure with a 120-square-foot deck.

Further, a stop-work order issued by the town on Jan. 28, when two 2,000-gallon underground fuel storage tanks were removed without permits, essentially freezes any work being done in front of the bar and restaurant. Cyril’s owners appealed that order to the town’s zoning board, which held a hearing on on April 22.

Justice Farneti gave three conditions that could cause him to lift his temporary order — an electrical inspection of the site, a structural inspection report of the front patio area near where the underground tanks were removed, and a structural inspection of the roadside bar — “so that nobody is sitting up at night wondering if this building is going to fall on top of people or if I’m going to be seeing a picture in Newsday of a giant sinkhole with revelers with their umbrellas in their little drinks 10 feet underground. Just a point I’d like to make on the record.”

Joseph W. Prokop acted as special counsel for the town at both hearings. In front of Justice Farneti, he called three witnesses, the town’s chief building inspector, Tom Preiato, David Browne, the town’s fire marshal, and Scott Rodriguez, a code enforcement officer. Dianne Le Verrier, attorney for the landowners, Michael Dioguardi, Robert Dioguardi, Cyril’s Fish House, and Debra Lakind, did not call any witnesses but did present an affadavit from the contractor who removed the tanks and then filled the holes.

Mr. Preiato, whose testimony and cross-examination took a full day at Supreme Court, expressed concern for the safety of the public during the hearing. According to a court transcript, he said that when he arrived on Jan. 28, the tanks, which had been used to storegasoline when the site had a gas station on it decades ago, were already out of the ground.

“I have not had an opportunity to see that the soil is properly compacted, that it is capable of bearing weight,” Mr. Preiato told Mr. Prokop during questioning.

“And with regard to the easterly side of the premises, is there anything that you described that you considered to be a danger to public health and safety?” Mr. Prokop asked.

“Well, the structure itself. I don’t know how it is actually standing,” Mr. Preiato responded.

Mr. Preiato said the existing restaurant is much larger than the 300-square-foot one that the site’s certificate of occupancy describes.

In the second day of the hearing, Ms. Le Verrier attempted to demonstrate that the town had allowed the operation to continue under present-day conditions for many years. The justice cut her off.

“I have a building falling into a hole, based on the uncontested testimony from chief Preiato yesterday,” Justice Farneti said.

“Any of the fire, health, and safety hazards that have been raised have not been addressed by the town’s own officials in the form of issuing any violations with regard to these items,” Ms. Le Verrier responded.

The justice also cited Mr. Preiato’s testimony to Ms. Le Verrier regarding possibly dangerous wiring, concluding, “I haven’t heard anything from the defense to contradict one syllable of that testimony.”

Ms. Le Verrier had argued that town permits were not needed for the removal of the tanks because Suffolk County and New York State permits would supersede the need for town permits.

“I understand there was a county permit,” the justice said, adding that he had heard “very clear testimony from chief inspector Preiato yesterday with respect to the other commercial tank removal sections under the town code. No permit, no application. That very activity caused what I perceive to be the imminent danger.”

“You may have become aware for the first time during Mr. Preiato’s testimony yesterday that apparently as a result of the excavation of the tanks, the structure of the bar . . . the facade has moved,” Justice Farneti told Ms. Le Verrier. “It tilted into the depression created from the excavation from the tank.”

Justice Farneti pointed out that the proper legal path for removal of the stop-work order would be to first go before the town’s zoning board, which the owners did on April 22.

During his final argument, Mr. Prokop said, “With these defendants, the goal every day is just get to the next day. Just to have the premises there off-season, have it there during the season, have it open and get to the next day. The next day turns into the next day that turns into a week, we get to the next week, we get to the next month, and that is their goal.”

Ms. Le Verrier pointed out that many items the town had objected to on the property had been removed. The justice also allowed a direct, off-the-record exchange between Ms. Le Verrier and Mr. Preiato to determine the exact steps needed to obtain permits for the patio and brick deck.

The justice told Ms. Le Verrier he was familiar with the long, contentious history between the town and the restaurant. He said he wished he could examine the East Hampton Justice Court file “so that I could actually see what happened with the six-month conditional discharge,” referring to a stop work order issued last year.

“We have a longstanding business that either makes or breaks itself in June, July, and August,” he said, adding that he had to balance economics against public safety.

Ms. Le Verrier said via email yesterday that there is a conference scheduled with the justice today to update him on what has been done since the hearing, and that she could only comment after the conference.

 

The death of Anthony Drexel Duke, a founder and president of Boys and Girls Harbor, a summer camp in East Hampton and year-round organization in Manhattan, was announced on Wednesday on the Boys and Girls Harbor website. He was 95 and had cancer.

"The entire Harbor community, while grieving Tony's death, will observe his passing by celebrating his extraordinary legacy," the website stated, noting that over 50,000 young people had attended the harbor in its 77-year history.

Mr. Duke established the camp for inner-city boys in 1937. The organization grew from a small summer camp to a multidisciplinary education and arts organization that serves more than 1,000 students from Harlem and surrounding communities each year.

The early camp was on Duck Island, an area on Jessup's Neck overlooking Peconic Bay. Many early counselors were Mr. Duke's friends, including Senator Claiborne Pell, New York Mayor Robert Wagner, and Bishop Paul Moore.

The camp moved to Three Mile Harbor, off Springy Banks Road in East Hampton, in 1954, the same year he opened its first office in New York City as a means to support campers throughout the year. In 1960, the organization added the performing arts, tutoring, and counseling programs. It now also provides day care and social services.

Mr. Duke and his family lived for many years on a 57-acre site next to the camp, which was sold in 2003 to East Hampton Town and Suffolk County for $12 million. The 26-acre camp site, from which annual midsummer fireworks shows over Three Mile Harbor were staged as a benefit, often with George Plimpton as narrator, was sold to the town and county for $7.3 million in 2011. The proceeds were used to found the Tony Duke Founder's Path.

In 2006, when the summer camp closed, Luly Duke, Mr. Duke's wife, presented the fireworks for several years until 2009, when Rossetti Perchik, the founder of the Clamshell Foundation, a nonprofit that assists community groups and awards scholarships to East Hampton High School seniors, took over.

Mr. Duke had worked over the years for several family-owned businesses, including the Duke International Import/Export Company, where he served as vice president, and A.D. Duke Realty, where he was president. He also served as a director of the American National Bank.

His charitable work was widely praised and he was named a "living landmark" by the New York Landmark Conservancy. He also received several presidential citations for the work at Boys and Girls Harbor. Locally, Mr. Duke was also a founder of the East Hampton Healthcare Foundation.

"Though I have been called a philanthropist, I never felt that word fit," Mr. Duke once said. "It suggests someone who donates wads of money from afar. I was involved in everything at the Harbor."

Speaking of Mr. Duke at a time when he was being honored, former President Bill Clinton said, "America's strength as a nation always has depended on individuals who have been willing to work for the common good. From his brave service in World War II to his tireless advocacy on behalf of our youth, Tony Duke has epitomized this fine tradition."

Fuller obituary information will be appear here and be published in the May 8 edition of The East Hampton Star.

Three fire departments responded to a Dune Road, Bridgehampton, house fire early Saturday morning.

The Bridgehampton Fire Department was dispatched at 5:48 a.m. after an alert from the oceanfront house's automatic fire alarm. Heavy smoke was reported coming from the two-story structure.

Fire chiefs called for the Rapid Intervention Team from the Southampton Fire Department. They also asked for an engine from the Sag Harbor Fire Department to stand by at Bridgehampton's headquarters and then asked for that engine to assist at the scene.

An engine from the East Hampton Fire Department and an ambulance from the Sag Harbor Volunteer Ambulance Corps were called to stand by at the Bridgehampton firehouse.

Officials asked PSEG Long Island to shut off the electricity to the house. 

Update 7:27 a.m.: Additional assistance was called from the Amagansett Fire Department.

Update 2:55 p.m.: The Suffolk Arson Squad was investigating what was described as a suspicious fire at 187 Dune Road in Bridgehampton.

No one was in the home upon the arrival of Southampton Town police and Bridgehampton Fire Department chiefs.

Firefighters were on scene until about 12:30 p.m. They had broght the fired under control by about 10 a.m.

The East Hampton, Sag Harbor, Amagansett, North Sea, Southampton, and Hampton Bays fire departments responded, as did Southampton Volunteer Ambulance.

Detectives from the arson squad and Southampton Town police remained on the scene, along with the Southampton Town fire Marshal's office, Saturday afternoon.

One firefighter suffered heat exhaustion and was transported to Southampton Hospital, where he was treated and released.

East Hampton officials drew the line last week at some of the work being done here by PSEG Long Island as part of its electrical transmission line upgrade and issued a stop-work order to halt land clearing and construction at a power substation on Old Stone Highway in Amagansett, claiming that a building permit and site plan approval from the planning board are required and had not been obtained.

The utility company is striking back and, Jeffrey Weir, a spokesman, said yesterday, will go to court tomorrow morning to seek a temporary restraining order and permanent injunction to stop the town from interfering.

“It is our understanding that LIPA is not required to obtain a building permit for substation work,” said Mr. Weir. PSEG Long Island, a subsidiary of a New Jersey company, was designated by New York State as the Long Island Power Authority’s service provider at the start of 2013.

The company will ask the court for a declaratory judgment agreeing with that stance, said Mr. Weir.

 The substation, once a clutch of little-noticed machinery set back from the road and surrounded by dense shrubs and trees, is now an open industrial site with no screening and a concrete pad, its perimeter marked by a chain-link and barbed-wire fence. A building was constructed without permits, the town’s chief building inspector, Tom Preiato, said earlier this week.

Large trees and more vegetation were cut last Thursday in a swath outside the fence on the north side of the site.

Mr. Preiato issued the stop-work order on Friday. He said this week that he was approached about a year ago with questions about erecting a fence at the substation site, and had indicated that a permit was needed.

Work has been under way at the substation for months, and initial inquiries by community members about the clearing surrounding the machinery led Town Councilwoman Sylvia Overby to initiate discussions last fall with PSEG representatives about replanting around the site.

Ms. Overby said Tuesday that she learned of the full scope of the work being done there through comments made by a PSEG horticulturist at a meeting last week. He had indicated to her, she said, that he was unsure when replanting could take place because of the construction work at the site.

Ms. Overby, a former planning board chairwoman, said that all companies — including utilities and quasi-governmental groups — are subject to site plan approval and other town codes, according to East Hampton regulations. For example, she said, both the Suffolk County Water Authority and LIPA, PSEG Long Island’s precursor, have applied for town approvals in the past.

“This ensures a level playing field. I’m glad the stop-work order was issued,” she said yesterday.

The substation work is connected to the overall power system upgrade, which has prompted intense negotiations between local and regional elected officials and PSEG.

Residents and officials have called for a stop to the installation of new, large poles along a six-mile route from East Hampton Village to the Amagansett substation that will hold high-voltage lines, and for an agreement between the town and village and the utility to share the cost of installing the new transmission lines underground.

PSEG has declined to continue discussions until a funding plan, with locals bearing 100 percent of the cost, is provided, and has insisted on finishing the installation of the overhead lines.

“It’s important that the work not be delayed, and is completed on schedule so that the town will have reliable service this summer,” said Mr. Weir. By shutting down the substation work, he said, “the town is creating a significant reliability issue for the town.”

Some 200 people, including State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr., East Hampton Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell, and East Hampton Village Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr., gathered at the Hook Mill green in East Hampton Saturday afternoon for a rally to demand that PSEG bury the lines, sponsored by Save East Hampton: Safe Responsible Energy, a group of residents who have led the efforts against the utility project.

Mr. Weir, the PSEG spokesman, took aim yesterday at Mr. Cantwell. “It is both disappointing and surprising that Supervisor Cantwell is taking these steps to oppose a much-needed infrastructure project, when he was directly involved” in the review and approval process for it in his former capacity as East Hampton Village administrator, Mr. Weir said.

The project was originally outlined for village officials last spring, before Mr. Cantwell stepped down on July 31. However, Mr. Cantwell said this week, though he attended an initial meeting with other village officials, he was not present in September when a formal public presentation was made, nor involved in an October decision to issue a village permit to install the utility poles. Neither was Mr. Cantwell in town office when the previous town supervisor, Bill Wilkinson, met with utility representatives and instructed the highway superintendent, Steve Lynch, to issue a town permit for the poles.

Public officials spoke at the rally on Saturday of East Hampton’s history of successful fights against other controversial utility and energy projects — from the Shoreham nuclear power plant to offshore oil drilling — and vowed to continue their efforts to see the power lines buried and the new, taller poles removed. Mr. Thiele and Mr. Cantwell voiced strong criticism of PSEG, and of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo for failing to respond to East Hampton’s concerns. Mr. Rickenbach said the protesters had the full support of the village board.

The village board members Barbara Borsack and Richard Lawler and town board members Peter Van Scoyoc and Ms. Overby were also in attendance. The Ladies Village Improvement Society, which recently announced its support for burying the lines, was well represented, too. The L.V.I.S. cares for East Hampton’s street trees and is angry at how the utility has handled tree trimming near the power lines.

Mr. Cantwell said Tuesday that Audrey Zibelman, the chairwoman of the state’s Public Service Commission, which has advisory authority over PSEG, had visited East Hampton last week. After meeting with officials, he said, she promised to respond to the questions and concerns that were raised in writing. “I’m hopeful that she will be actively engaged in reviewing this project, and alternatives,” he said.

In addition, he said, both Mr. Thiele and Representative Tim Bishop, who was in town on Monday on another matter, will work with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to clarify whether funding to bury the lines is available through the agency’s grant for electrical system resiliency upgrades on Long Island.

At a town board meeting on Tuesday, Kathleen Cunningham, the executive director of the Village Preservation Society of East Hampton, thanked Mr. Cantwell for the issuance of the stop-work order, “for drawing the line in the sand. That took courage and conviction,” she said.

Jeremy Samuelson, the executive director of Concerned Citizens of Montauk, echoed that view. “We intend to actually stand up for what we see as due process here,” he said. “That requires them to come back to the table,” he said of PSEG.

Ms. Cunningham suggested that the board adopt a resolution establishing a local version of the “earth hour,” at which time East Hamptoners would just shut off their electricity. “Let PSEG feel it in the pocketbook,” she said. The action would be a way, she said, to protest the company’s “travesty . . . in a community that has planned so carefully for its future, particularly in protecting its trees and its vistas.” It would be a way to tell the company, she said, “that we are not going to lower our expectations, simply because corporations are doing that — over all these things. We cannot stand for lowered expectations,” Ms. Cunningham told the board. “And I urge you, as you go forward, to apply that same rubric on every quality-of-life issue.”

A fund-raiser for Save East Hampton and its efforts to have the new utility poles removed and the transmission lines buried will be held on Sunday at Babette’s restaurant in East Hampton, from 5 to 7 p.m. A $25 admission will include cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. There will be a 50-50 raffle, live music by the Complete Unknowns, and “celebrity speakers.” Tickets are available at Babette’s, Alan Court & Associates, or through Save East Hampton members.

With Reporting by Carissa Katz

When Linda Haugevik, an agent at Sotheby’s International Realty, put North Haven’s six-acre Strongheart estate on the market in July for $65 million, there were those who accused her of being on “hallucinogens,” she said.

In other words, even though the property belonged to the actor Richard Gere and his wife, Carey Lowell (who have since filed for divorce, according to the tabloids), it was perceived by some as overpriced. Nine months later, the price has been reduced to $56 million.

It’s not that Ms. Haugevik was trying to pull a fast one. “It’s tough to price high-end properties,” where comparable sales are few and far between, she said. The six-acre bayfront property with a historic manor house built in 1890 flanked by two guest houses, each on its own lot, is not as easy to peg as oceanfront.

“I spent an enormous amount of time pricing what it would be in a good market, bad market, south of the highway,” she said. Comparing it to Tyndall Point, a nearby 55-acre property that sold for $36 million in 2011, she concluded that the larger parcel was “all woods and no house,” whereas Mr. Gere’s property was “six acres manicured to the inch.”

The price had to reflect not only the property’s beauty and enviable location on Actors Colony Road, but also the quality of the expansion and renovations of its structures, which she said were by Ed Bulgin of Bulgin and Associates in Southampton. The firm “starts at $1,000 a square foot,” according to Ms. Haugevik.

As part of her research she also showed the house to Sandy Gallin, a former Hollywood talent agent who, as a sideline, sold more than 40 properties in Los Angeles (including a house to Frank Sinatra) before settling in Amagansett. “When I asked him what he thought I should price it at, he came up with the exact same number as me: $65 million.”

Does the fact that the property is owned by a movie star factor into the price? Not at all, according to Ms. Haugevik. “I’ve never capitalized on his name,” she said. But it’s certainly no secret to whom the spread belongs.

Even now that the price has come down, Ms. Haugevik is sticking to her guns and not second-guessing her original price. “You have to price it a little higher,” she said. There’s the negotiating factor on one hand, on the other hand “you don’t want to sell yourself short,” she said.

Now that there’s a reasonable comp in the neighborhood — a similarly sized property sold on nearby Roberston Drive in February for just under $32 million – Ms. Haugevik decided the time was right to go lower. Also, her sales efforts were hindered by an unrelenting winter. “The 1 percenters were not flying out here in the snow; they were someplace warm,” she said.

She feels she has a good shot at selling it in the spring. “There’s a lot of magic there. How do you price magic?”