Shield 75 Joins the Force
A new police officer was introduced at a brief meeting of the East Hampton Village board on Friday, and the Long Island Power Authority’s application for an excavation permit to upgrade its transmission grid was discussed.
“We are going to welcome into the ranks of the East Hampton Village Police Department our newest member,” Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr., standing at the lectern with Richard Lawler, a trustee, told the assembled.
Mr. Lawler then spoke: “It’s my pleasure today to be able to able to present Jennifer Dunn with her police shield.” Ms. Dunn, who Mr. Lawler said was a relative, graduated from the police academy. “I can tell, from personal experience, that that’s very rigorous and demanding training, and she should be very proud of her accomplishments,” he said.
Mr. Lawler invited Ms. Dunn and Chief Gerard Larsen to the lectern, where the chief lauded the new officer for her outstanding performance as a dispatcher over the last eight years for the village’s emergency communications department. “She’s one of the best dispatchers that we have,” he said. “We’re looking forward and are excited about her joining this department.”
“On behalf of the mayor and entire village board, I want to present you with your East Hampton Village Shield number 75,” Mr. Lawler said. “Congratulations!”
Among the items on the board’s agenda, all of which were approved without debate, were Ms. Dunn’s employment, effective next Tuesday at a starting salary of $66,790, and that of Richard C. Sperber as a part-time police officer, at $22 per hour. The board also approved paving projects on North Main Street, Hook Mill Road, Methodist Lane, and Accabonac Road, totaling $101,026, and a milling project on North Main Street for which $23,100 is allocated. “Ladies and gentlemen, that is a budgeted item, so it is in the operating budget,” the mayor said.
The board also voted unanimously to approve LIPA’s application for an excavation permit. As reported in these pages last week, the authority plans to expand and upgrade its power distribution system in response to increased demand.
The project includes the installation of 68 utility poles, 51 of which will replace existing poles, along a 6.2-mile span between LIPA’s East Hampton substation, on Cove Hollow Road, and its Amagansett substation on Old Stone Highway. The new poles, most of which will be installed in the village, are needed to accommodate new transmission lines that will increase reliability to meet increasing loads. They are built to withstand winds up to 130 miles per hour.
Affected streets in the village include Buell Lane Extension, East Hampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike, Toilsome Lane, Gingerbread Lane, King Street, McGuirk Street, and Cooper Lane. Outside of the village, poles will be replaced along Cedar Street, Collins Avenue, Accabonac Road, Town Lane, and Old Stone Highway.
The new utility poles will range in height from 40 to 70 feet, though most will be 50 or 55 feet tall; the existing poles are 35 and 40 feet tall. The new poles will be 16 inches wider, at ground level, than the existing ones.