A Tete-a-Tete

    The Veterans Day holiday and the lingering impact of Hurricane Sandy were blamed for an attendance of precisely two at Monday night’s Amagansett Citizens Advisory Committee meeting.

    One of the two was East Hampton Town Councilwoman Sylvia Overby, the town board liaison to the committee. The other was the committee’s vice chairwoman, Sheila Okin, who was to have run the meeting that night for the chairman, Kieran Brew.

    Ms. Okin asked Ms. Overby whether, in light of the extensive damage and delays in restoring electrical and telephone service, the town board had pressed the state or the Long Island Power Authority to bury transmission lines underground. Ms. Overby said it was an infrastructure issue that affects everyone, noting that most of Long Island’s power lines are above ground, as they were a century ago. The expense of burying them on such a large scale would be a primary issue and likely impediment, she said.

    “I do feel that East Hampton was spared,” the councilwoman added. “The wholesale destruction was to the west of us.”

    But, said Ms. Okin, “It could be us next time. We need to have a better handle on what these superstorms are doing to the coastline.”

    Ms. Overby reported that the fund-raising concert held at LTV Studios on Saturday night was a wonderful experience with a lot of positive energy, and raised a considerable sum for hurricane relief. “It was such a good effort. Your faith is restored sometimes,” she said.