Government Briefs 04.23.15

East Hampton Town

A Place to Meditate in Eddie Ecker Park

A 50-foot-wide stone path in the shape of a labyrinth will be constructed in a section of the Eddie Ecker Park, on Fort Pond Bay in Montauk.

With a vote last Thursday night, the East Hampton Town Board agreed to accept a donation from Twelve Women, a local group, to fund the installation and maintenance of the labyrinth, a cobblestone path leading in concentric circles. Walking a labyrinth is a traditional spiritual and meditative practice.

The Montauk Citizens Advisory Committee “overwhelmingly approved the idea,” Councilman Peter Van Scoyoc, the liaison to the group, said in an email this week. However, he said, the concept will be referred to the town’s division of land management for input before the labyrinth is installed.

Town Seeks to Buy Parcels in Springs

Springs will be the next focus of an East Hampton Town community preservation fund campaign to acquire land around water bodies and in watersheds, as well as parcels that can provide trail links and add to already preserved areas.

Scott Wilson, the town’s director of land acquisition and management, told the town board on Tuesday that about 130 tracts have been targeted; their owners will receive letters from the town asking whether they are interested in selling. The targeted areas cover about 350 acres, Mr. Wilson said.

A small number of the sites contain houses or other structures, which would be removed by the town, as would lawns. Development on environmentally sensitive lands has a direct impact on nearby waters such as Accabonac Harbor, Mr. Wilson said.

A similar outreach effort already undertaken, to preserve areas around Lake Montauk, has resulted so far in the purchase of 25 parcels, with more, potentially, to come. This is the first large-scale outreach to Springs property owners, Mr. Wilson said, and likely not the last.