Bill Would Expand Waterway Jurisdiction
The East Hampton Town Trustees gave formal support on Monday to a state bill that would grant the Village of Sag Harbor authority over waterways beyond the present 1,500-foot boundary, expanding its jurisdictional reach into areas that fall within East Hampton Town.
The bill, introduced in the State Legislature by Fred W. Thiele Jr., who is the Sag Harbor Village attorney as well as an assemblyman, passed the Senate but has not been voted on in the Assembly. Its intent is to regulate moorings and anchored vessels in the area outside the Sag Harbor breakwater, which can number as many as 70 in summer.
Such vessels have caused havoc, with some sinking and washing up on the breakwater or Havens Beach and spilling debris, fuel, or other contaminants. Many of the boats outside the Sag Harbor harbormaster’s jurisdiction are also improperly discharging sewage, John Parker of the village’s waterways advisory committee, said.
A joint committee comprising Mr. Parker, John Shaka, chairman of the village’s Harbor Committee, a number of East Hampton trustees, and Richard Whalen, the trustees’ attorney, came up with wording to be inserted in the bill asserting the trustees’ continued ownership of waterways and bottomlands within the town’s boundaries while granting expanded jurisdiction to the village.
Mr. Parker said on Monday that while language in the bill may still be altered, “the principles here are more important than the exact language.” The bill asserts that the trustees can offer advice on management of the area and stipulates that the joint committee can offer additional concerns and recommendations.
Mr. Whalen told the trustees that the language to be inserted includes an assertion of present and future ownership of the lands to which the bill would apply, and that “any regulations that the Village of Sag Harbor implements under this act would be uniform between the residents of the Village of Sag Harbor and the Town of East Hampton.”
He recommended that the trustees discuss the bill with Mr. Thiele or State Senator Kenneth P. LaValle, a co-sponsor, and ask that they be notified of any changes as well as its progress in the Assembly. “This language is fine from our point of view, but it can be changed,” Mr. Whalen said. “If it is changed, we’d like to know if they took out the things we’re interested in.”
The seven trustees at the meeting voted unanimously to support the village’s expanded jurisdiction. “I think this is a win-win for the trustees and Sag Harbor,” Francis Bock, the trustees’ clerk, said as he commended the joint committee for its efforts.
The trustees also voted, over the objection of one of the members, Tim Bock, to support the East Hampton Town Board’s recent action making what had been a seasonal ban on alcoholic beverages at Indian Wells Beach in Amagansett permanent. A majority of the panel’s nine trustees had already decided to support a permanent ban prior to the town board’s formal resolution on March 3. It is in effect on weekends and holidays during lifeguard-protected hours from the Saturday before Memorial Day through Sept. 30.
“The word that keeps coming up — permanent — sounds like it’s forever,” Pat Mansir told her colleagues. “But this means it doesn’t have to be brought up every year.”
“If you’re turning it over to the town board, it will be permanent,” Mr. Bock said angrily. “It’s our beach. I’ll support what it was last year, but not permanent. . . . I think they should come back to us. It’s our jurisdiction.” His was a minority opinion, as the board voted 6-to-1 to support the town’s decision.
Also at the meeting, Tyler Armstrong, a trustee, said that Christopher Gobler of Stony Brook University, who conducts annual water-quality monitoring for the trustees, will present his 2015 findings at Town Hall on April 18 at 6 p.m. The trustees voted on March 14 to renew their contract with Dr. Gobler and appropriate approximately $39,000 for this year’s program.