Government Briefs 05.14.15

East Hampton Town

New Summer Event Fees

As the summer season of social events draws near, the East Hampton Town Board set new fees last Thursday for gatherings held on public properties or at commercial establishments. A $100-a-day application fee will be charged for parties, fund-raisers, and the like. A sliding scale was established for parades, marathons, triathlons, races, and similar events that use the town’s roadways.

Application fees for events with 50 to 99 registered participants were set at $100 a day; those with up to 499 attendees, at $500, and so on, up to $4,000 for events with 2,500 or more people participating. Residents throwing parties on private properties will be exempt from the application fees, as will charitable organizations (though, depending on the number of guests, gathering permits may still be required).

In addition, an “impact fee” will be calculated based on costs to the town for traffic control and any other municipal services that might be required for the event. That fee could be waived by the town board for charitable groups.

A security deposit, on a sliding scale, will be required for use of public properties: $100 for gatherings of 50 to 100 people, up to $1,000 for events with more than 1,000 guests. Residents will not be charged a deposit for gatherings of 100 people or fewer. Event sponsors will, in addition, be required to pay the costs of site cleanup, even above and beyond the security deposit amount, should they fail to meet that responsibility.

Picked for Town Hall Redo

L.K. McLean Associates, a Brookhaven engineering firm, will be hired to develop plans to revamp the Town Hall campus, which will include the future of the old Town Hall building. After soliciting proposals for the architectural services, the town board voted last week to pay McLean $345,000 to do the work.

Food Truck Bids Awarded

Bids were awarded last week to food truck vendors who will gain exclusive rights to set up shop at several public beach locations. The Ditch Witch will pay $38,475 for a three-year contract to remain in the Otis Road location near Ditch Plain Beach in Montauk, where it has operated for a number of years. Scott Bogetti was awarded a three-year, $34,050 contract for a spot at the Ditch parking lot. Kona Ice will set up at Indian Wells Beach in Amagansett, paying $31,500 for three years, and Matthew Meehan got the vending spot at Gin Beach in Montauk and will pay $9,000 for three years.

Indian Wells Alcohol Ban

Alcohol will again be banned during certain days and times at Indian Wells Beach in Amagansett this season, according to a vote of the town board last week. No drinking will be allowed within 1,000 feet of the road ending at Indian Wells during the hours of lifeguard protection on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays through September.

Parking and C.P.F. on the Table

The town board will hold a number of hearings at its Thursday night meeting next week. On the table for discussion will be a parking prohibition along a 1,375-foot stretch of Oakview Highway in East Hampton, on both sides of the street, and allowing East Hampton Town to waive the need for hunters to obtain a State Department of Environmental Conservation permit.

Several hearings will be held on proposed property purchases using the community preservation fund. The properties include Theresa and Hugh Quigley’s 6.4 acres on Swamp Road in East Hampton, at $2.5 million, where a house would be removed and the land returned to its natural state; a 2.75-acre tract at 30 and 32 Three Mile Harbor Road in Springs owned by Jonathan Miller Jr., for $1 million, for open space, and a lot of just over half an acre on Gerard Drive in Springs, owned by the estate of Dorothy King, for $900,000. It also has a residence that would be removed.

The hearings will begin at 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall.

Four Preservation Purchases

After hearings last week, the board authorized the acquisition, with the preservation fund, of Mark Vernazza’s 6 South Genesee Court, Montauk, property, a .42-acre vacant lot, for $295,000; of vacant lots totaling 6.5 acres on Sycamore and Cedar Drives in Springs, owned by the Fireplace Road Corporation, for $2.6 million, for open space; of Marilee Foster’s property on Town Line Road in Wainscott, five acres for $600,000, also for open space, and of Mary Marin’s third-acre lot at 54 Lincoln Road in Montauk, for $250,000