Government Briefs 05.11.17
East Hampton Town
Future of the Coastline
A public forum on the ongoing effort to develop a coastal assessment resiliency plan for East Hampton Town will take place on Tuesday from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Amagansett Presbyterian Church’s Scoville Hall, on Meeting House Lane. Representatives of GEI Consultants, who are working with a committee appointed by the town board, will discuss sea level rise, erosion, and potential storm impacts throughout East Hampton.
In developing a resiliency plan, which is referred to as CARP, the working group has been studying different locations throughout the town to determine those that are most vulnerable to flooding, now and in the future. The consultants will review preliminary findings and modeling that show what might happen in the various areas. They will also seek comments from the public.
The goal is a plan containing recommendations on how to plan for, mitigate, or avoid, if possible, future problems along the coastline.
Hamlet Plans Come Into Focus
Consultants hired to develop recommendations for the downtown areas of East Hampton Town’s hamlets will be on hand in early June to present their draft reports. Various presentations will focus on segments of the town as well as the overall hamlet study plan.
A presentation centered on Springs and East Hampton will take place on June 1 at 3 p.m. at East Hampton Town Hall.
On June 2 at 10 a.m., also at Town Hall, the consultants will present a summary of the hamlet study, which, according to a press release, “is intended to provide recommendations to the town board for the implementation of a plan to assure the harmonious development of nonresidential properties in a manner which complies with the town’s adopted 2015 comprehensive plan.”
At 7 p.m. on June 2, at the Montauk Firehouse, the planning consultants will discuss their recommendations for the Montauk downtown and dock areas.
Wainscott will be the focus of a meeting at 9 a.m. on June 3 at the LTV Studios. It will be followed with a 1 p.m. session on Amagansett at the American Legion Hall in that hamlet. J.P.
Southampton Town
Land Buy in Bridge
The Town of Southampton will buy a vacant parcel totaling .74 acre on Montauk Highway in Bridgehampton, near the Bridgehampton Commons and Mercado restaurant. The board voted Tuesday to purchase Charlton D. Halsey’s property for $600,000 using the community preservation fund. The parcel is in a designated wetlands preservation target area, next to Little Long Pond, and is adjacent to other preserved lands, according to Mary Wilson, the town’s community preservation manager.
And Another Along 39A
The purchase of 1.4 acres on County Road 39A in Southampton Village will assist in the widening of the highway should the county choose to do so in the future. The town board agreed to buy the vacant parcel from the estate of Edward D. Sidorowicz on Tuesday, at a cost of $1.4 million.
Mostly C.P.F. money will be used, except for a 12-foot-wide strip along the road. That portion of land will be viewed as a donation, according to Ms. Wilson. If the county chooses to widen the road, it would take the strip through eminent domain. If that portion had been purchased with C.P.F. money, it would pose a problem, town officials said. The 1.4 acres adjoins a town-owned property. An agreement with the village is in the works for a community garden.
A Way to Bury the Lines
The town board has voted to support proposed legislation before the State Assembly and State Senate that would allow the town to establish a special tax district in communities looking to bury power lines. New transmission lines are a concern to some residents who fear they will disturb the natural beauty of places like Long Beach in Noyac. Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. and Senator Kenneth P. LaValle proposed the bills.
A similar bill for underground utility improvement districts was already passed for the Town of East Hampton.
Renewable Energy 2025
The town board has established a goal of meeting 100 percent of the town’s electricity consumption through renewable energy sources by the year 2025. Councilwoman Christine Scalera abstained from the vote because, she said, she felt it was a goal without a specific plan as to how to achieve it.
The town’s previously adopted Sustainability 400+ Plan looked for the town to become carbon neutral by the town’s 400th anniversary in 2040.
T.K.V.