East Deck Rings Removed

Work briefly came to a halt at the East Deck motel in Ditch Plain, Montauk, last week after Tom Preiato, East Hampton Town’s chief building inspector, issued a verbal stop-work order after receiving a report that concrete drainage rings were being installed on the beach there.

The property’s new owner, a limited liability company headed by Scott Bradley, had received a go-ahead from the zoning board of appeals to add up to 6,000 cubic yards of sand to buttress the five-acre oceanfront property’s dune and bluff crest.

According to Michael Sendlenski, a town attorney, work was halted and the unauthorized rings removed as soon as the order was issued.

Mr. Bradley took full responsibility for the error yesterday, saying he thought he was allowed to add the rings, which were incorrectly identified in some reports as being for septic use. “We got a phone call, and the next day, we took care of it and did exactly what we were asked to do,” he said.

Mr. Preiato agreed, saying on Tuesday that Mr. Bradley and his company had been fully cooperative and that he had rescinded the stop-work order.

“From now on,” Mr. Bradley said, “before we do any work, I am consulting with Tom Preiato.”

Mr. Bradley said he did not see any other work happening in the near future except for dune building and the revegetation of native species. “Finishing this beautiful dune and then starting on the dunes to the east and west of us” are this year’s goals, he said. The East Deck, which will not be open for business this year, will keep its old familiar name.

The new owners — Mr. Bradley, a Lawrence Sanford, and an outside investor whom he declined to identify — are “passionate” about working with the town to protect not just their property but the greater Ditch Plain neighborhood, Mr. Bradley said.