From Coastal Waters to North Main Street
Taking a stand against the Trump administration’s plan to allow offshore oil and gas exploration and drilling in New York’s coastal waters, the East Hampton Village Board unanimously adopted a resolution on Friday supporting the state’s application for an exemption from the National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program, which was introduced in January by Ryan Zinke, the secretary of the interior.
“It is not in the best interest of Long Island to allow for drilling offshore in search of fossil fuel,” Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. said this week. “Our ecosystem is too fragile, and we already worry about island-wide water quality.”
The resolution was one of a series of environmental concerns at the meeting, including littering, Georgica Pond, and the restoration of a scenic easement near Main Street.
Littering was the focus as the board held a public hearing and ultimately adopted a proposed law to allow retail stores to prepare and serve takeout food and beverages. The law makes explicit that takeout food stores must be equipped with an adequate number of waste receptacles that are regularly emptied by store personnel. Richard Lawler, a board member, underscored that provision.
Jodi Giglio, acting as a representative for Robert Pollifrone, the owner of the Buoy One seafood market on Race Lane, who wants to open a Hamptons Coffee Company branch in a space next to his shop, strongly supported the law, as did Lisa Blinderman, the owner of the Second Nature market, which plans to start preparing fresh juices and smoothies.
Georgica Pond was on the agenda as the board gave the Friends of Georgica Pond Foundation, an organization working to restore the health of the pond, permission to occasionally deposit algae and other plant material it removes from the pond onto village property at the end of Cove Hollow Road.
The village also passed a resolution related to a nearly six-year effort to restore a scenic easement at 105 Main Street, where John and Suzanne Cartier have a house. In 2010, the Cartiers sought to relocate and reconfigure their house and build a second one on the two-acre site. They received permission to do so from the zoning board in 2012, but the village board sued, arguing that a scenic easement granted to the village when the property was subdivided in 1975 did not permit a second house. An agreement between the village and the Cartiers has now been reached.
Becky Molinaro Hansen, the village administrator, explained that the agreement allows a second house to be built as long as the scenic easement is restored. “The resolution approved Friday gives an extension to the Cartiers to move structures that were in a conservation easement,” said Ms. Hansen on Monday. “The extension was granted due to weather conditions that impeded timely completion of the work.”
In other business, the board accepted a bid from Keith Grimes for demolishing a house at 8 Osborne Lane; the site is to become a parking lot. Ms. Hansen said the work would be completed some time after the summer. The board also scheduled a public hearing on the village’s 2018-2019 budget for June 7.
At the end of the meeting, John Geehreng, the commander of the local Veterans of Foreign Wars post, asked for approval to install a memorial on North Main Street honoring William Patrick Flynn, an Army private first class, who was “East Hampton’s only fallen hero from the Vietnam War.” The memorial is to be a rock with a plaque commemorating Mr. Flynn, who died in combat on May 28, 1968, at the age of 20.
Highlighting the significance of the location, Mr. Geehreng said Mr. Flynn, who was known as Pat, had lived at 144 North Main Street when he was growing up.
--
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly said that a bid was accepted from South Fork Asphalt to extend the sidewalk on the west side of Toilsome Lane, connecting it to an existing wheelchair ramp opposite Meadow Way. A resolution to that effect was on the agenda for that meeting, but it was not voted on.