Government Briefs 03.10.16
East Hampton Town
Photos Wanted
East Hampton Town is redesigning its website, and is seeking photographs for it. The idea is that visitors to the website would get a look at landscapes, people, activities, parks, culture and art, nature and animals, and so on.
Local professional and amateur photographers willing to donate their work have been asked to contact Nicole Ficeto at [email protected] before March 22. The photos should be submitted on a disc, at a minimum resolution of 72 d.p.i., and at least 2,200 pixels, or 1 MB.
Restaurant Seating
Restaurants in East Hampton Town should be allowed to set up tables and chairs outside, using the public right of way, as long as there is ample room for pedestrians to pass, members of East Hampton Town’s business advisory committee told the town board at a meeting on Tuesday. The hitch is that restaurants would have to reduce the number of seats indoors in order to remain within their overall allowable capacity.
The committee has recommended allowing such outdoor dining with a seasonal permit. Tables and chairs would have to be taken in by midnight and set out no earlier than 7 a.m., and the area to be used limited to the space directly in front of the restaurant. While the recommendations regard only full-service restaurants, the committee intends to also examine outdoor seating at establishments like delis and takeout shops.
Food Truck Bidding
The town Purchasing Department will accept bids through the end of the month from vendors interested in leasing sites at town beaches for food trucks.
Leases up for bid this year include those for the spots at Gin Beach, Kirk Park, and at the western parking lot at the Ditch Plain beach in Montauk, and at Albert’s Landing in Amagansett. The lease period will be three years.
Specifications are available from the Purchasing Department.
Permanent Drinking Ban
A ban on drinking at Indian Wells Beach in Amagansett on weekends in the summer season, which was put into effect on a trial basis in 2014, became permanent with a vote of the East Hampton Town Board last Thursday, following a hearing on Feb. 25.
Alcoholic consumption will not be allowed on the popular gathering site during the hours when lifeguards are on duty on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, from the Saturday before Memorial Day to Sept. 30 each year.
Question C.P.F. Buy
A proposed $475,000 purchase by the town of .85 of an acre at 33 Cross Highway in Amagansett, owned by Patrick Bistrian Jr. and Britton Bistrian, was put on hold after a hearing last Thursday when questions were raised. The purchase would be made with the community preservation fund.
David Buda, a Springs resident, objected to the manner in which a possible purchase was brought to the town’s attention — by Ms. Bistrian, who at the time was about to buy the site — and to the price, which he said was excessive for a lot containing wetlands. He claimed the property owners were “flipping” the land, trying to sell it for profit after recently buying it.
But, according to the town’s director of land management, Scott Wilson, Ms. Bistrian, with partners, had purchased two adjacent lots, and the prices had been transposed in legal documents. The cost to Ms. Bistrian of the lot in question was $500,000, not $352,500, as Mr. Buda noted, Mr. Wilson said, adding that an appraisal commissioned by the town had set the value at $475,000. Mr. Wilson also explained that the wetlands in the area drain into Fresh Pond and that properties within such watersheds are targeted for preservation.