Would Extend Dog Ban

Man's best friend may be kept off East Hampton Village beaches at all hours next summer, if the Village Board has its way.

The Village Code bars Fido, as well as cats and other animals, from beaches from the second Sunday in May to Sept. 30 - but only from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. What the Village Board wants to do now is keep them off the beach 24 hours a day during that period.

The season's crowds had barely disappeared when board members, at a work session last Thursday morning, reviewed the law that deals with such matters with the intention of revising it. Before any change is made, the board would be required to hold a public hearing, although that probably won't occur before Oct. 17.

Majority Rule

Only three board members, Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr., Elbert T. Edwards, and Edwin L. Sherrill, were on hand for last Thursday's meeting, but they would constitute a majority even if the other members, William C. Heppenheimer 3d and David H. Brown, disagree.

"There has been a proliferation of dogs on the beach this summer," the Mayor said, and "many calls with complaints about them."

Larry Cantwell, the Village Administrator, confirmed increasing complaints to his office about dogs over the past five years - mostly at Wiborg's and Main Beach - but he said the number of calls this summer had not reached a dozen.

"You do see a lot of dogs on the beach before 9," Mr. Cantwell said. He added that the complaints were not so much about the dogs per se, but about "what they have left" behind.

Pooper-Scooper Law?

Mr. Cantwell said some beachgoers inquired about the possibilty of a "pooper-scooper" law such as New York City's, requiring owners to clean up after their pets, but he said that would not be "practical, or enforceable" here.

In addition to the proposed ban on dogs on beaches all summer long, board members asked Linda Riley, the village attorney, to draft other changes to the Village Code governing dogs. The additions would, if an agreement can be reached, allow the town dog warden to impound dogs causing problems in the village.

Without such a law, and lacking an agreement between the two municipalities, the only violation for which the town dog warden can pick up a dog in the village is an infraction of the State Agriculture and Markets law requiring that dogs wear licenses.

Authority Lacking

In one instance this summer, for example, Betsy Bambrick, the dog warden, said, residents on Meadow Way repeatedly reported menacing behavior by a "pitbull mix," but she had no authority to act.

The town adopted its dog control law in June 1993. The village law, as does the town's, would stop short of a requirement that owners keep pets on leashes off their property.

Some of the provisions in the town law which the village may include are prohibiting dogs from being "at large" and "disturbing the comfort, peace, or repose" of a vicinity. The law also would hold owners accountable for failing to provide proper shelter for their animals and would bar anyone from beating or ill-treating an animal.

Metered Parking

In other village news, Mr. Cantwell reported last week that, to his chagrin, the computerized parking meter installed several weeks ago in the long-term Lumber Lane parking lot still was not up to snuff. The device, which was to have issued receipts to nonvillage residents, who must pay $5 a day to park their cars for more than 23 hours, was collecting water inside its mechanism instead of data, he said.

The makers of the device, Amtar of White Plains, had dispatched repair workers five or six times in the last month, and, as of last week, "it was operating," Mr. Cantwell said, but "still not right." Mr. Cantwell said the village had not yet paid for the $15,386 device.

Village police, instead of ticketing offenders, have been leaving warnings on windshields. Nonetheless, Village Police Chief Glen Stonemetz estimated that the number of cars was "down by a third" from previous use.

To date, the village has issued 47 permits for long-term parking to nonresidents, which cost $165 each and are good through Dec. 31.

In other action, the board appointed C. Howell Scott of Windmill Lane, a retired banker, to replace Ted Borsack on the Village Design Review Board. Mr. Borsack resigned recently. Mr. Scott has lived in East Hampton for about four years.

The board also:

-Authorized payment of $16,975, half the cost of resurfacing the Herrick Park tennis courts. The East Hampton School District will pick up the other half.

-Accepted the low bid from Versandi Construction Corporation of $197,512 to renovate the bathrooms at the Main Beach pavilion.

-Decided to pay Orient Express Motorsports of Southampton its low bid of $13,073 for a new utility vehicle for the Police Department.