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Government Briefs 06.16.16

By
Star Staff

Southampton Town

To Improve Crosswalks

Officials have secured $700,000 for improving pedestrian safety in Bridgehampton through crosswalk and lighting enhancements. Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. announced this week that he obtained $500,000 from the state and municipal facilities program, on top of $200,000 that State Senator Kenneth P. LaValle had secured.

The money will be given to Southampton Town to administer. The idea is that the funding will be used for crosswalks and lighting along Main Street or the streets that feed into it. Anna Pump, a chef, cookbook author, and owner of the Loaves and Fishes shop, died after she was hit by a car while crossing Main Street near the Bridgehampton Post Office one night last October. Mr. Thiele’s office said her death heightened awareness of the problems along the busy corridor, but that plans to make improvements there had been in the works long before.

Engineering will have to be done in conjunction with the state’s Department of Transportation, since Main Street is part of Montauk Highway, a state road.

 

Police Chief Search

Interviewing for a new Southampton Town police chief will begin later this month, as yesterday was the final day for applications to be submitted. The committee the town board established in April will meet tomorrow to review the résumés submitted by 17 applicants and to develop a protocol for the interviews, according to Frank Zappone, the deputy supervisor, who is on the search committee.

While Mr. Zappone declined to name the candidates so far, East Hampton Village Police Chief Gerard Larsen has said he is among the applicants. Mr. Zappone said a little more than one-third of the applicants are from within Suffolk County. “I’m very impressed with the number of résumés we have attracted,” he said. “I thought we’d do well, but . . . I’m sort of impressed that the response is so broad and far-reaching.”

Robert Pearce, the current chief of the Southampton Town Police Department, is retiring at the end of September. Interviews are expected to continue into July, with the committee making a recommendation to the town board by early August.

 

Art Hamptons Parking Restricted

In anticipation of Art Hamptons, an art fair at a farm at 900 Lumber Lane in Bridgehampton that will take place from next Thursday to June 26, the Southampton Town Board approved parking restrictions in the area, as well as the use of six town police personnel. Hampton Expo Group will have to reimburse the town $6,109 in overtime pay.

No parking will be allowed on either side of Brick Kiln Road from Fair Hills Lane to Scuttlehole Road during the opening night next Thursday from 4 to 9. No parking will be allowed on the north side of Scuttlehole Road from Butter Lane to within 1,000 feet of the intersection with Brick Kiln Road, nor will it be allowed on either side of Lumber Lane from Scuttlehole Road south 2,500 feet during those same hours.

 

Farmland for Food Production

Three public hearings have been set for July 12 at 1 p.m. on the acquisition of enhanced development rights for two properties in Water Mill through the community preservation fund. The first is 25.4 acres on Cook’s Lane owned by C.R.W., L.L.C. The others, owned by members of the Rogers family, are 37.6 acres on New Ground Lane and 62.4 acres on Scuttlehole Road, said to be in Water Mill. The town has purchased several enhanced development rights on properties recently to ensure that farmland is used for food production and not other agricultural uses, such as a winery or horse farm.

 

Putting the Brakes on Boats

The Southampton Town Board is looking to slow down boats as they near shore. The board will hold a hearing on July 12 at 1 p.m. on a law amending the town code to prohibit any vessel from being operated in excess of five miles per hour within 500 feet of shore, in order, according to the legislation, to protect beach bathers and kayakers.

The provision would not apply to the channel running east of the Ponquogue Bridge in Hampton Bays or the area of the Quantuck Bay navigational channel from Quogue Canal to just east of the Beach Lane Bridge.

 

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