At Wiborg’s Beach in East Hampton Village, a 300-square-foot bathroom, the first ever at that beach, is proposed to be built. Vincent Guardiello, a principal the Raynor Group, a civil engineering firm, presented the plan to the village board at its meeting on Friday.
Deputy Mayor Chris Minardi had announced in January that lifeguards and bathrooms would be coming to Wiborg’s by the summer. “We took a look at the building at Two Mile Hollow Beach, and are proposing something similar for here,” Mr. Guardiello told the board.
In making his recommendations, Mr. Guardiello, with Marcos Baladron, the village administrator, and David Collins, superintendent of public works, “looked at the conditions” in Wiborg’s parking lot. Two parking spots would be lost under the present plan.
Where to locate the bathroom was the question: in the northeast corner of the lot or the northwest? The engineers favor the northeast, citing traffic flow as the decider. “Vehicles entering the lot from Highway Behind the Pond are directed to veer west, so there are more conflicts there than with the northeast corner,” Mr. Guardiello said. By the time a car arrives at the northeast corner, it’s “leaving the facility,” he noted, “as opposed to being anxious to get to the beach.”
Because of grade differences between the dunes and the lot, retaining walls will be necessary. The walls, he said, will have a “decorative look, as opposed to pouring a concrete structure there.”
“The retaining walls are for the dune?” asked Rose Brown, a board member.
“Yes, to keep back the grade,” was the answer. “The building would be tucked into that.”
A new septic system, public water, and electrical service are included in the proposal. Two outdoor showers would be built on the east side of the building, with a drinking fountain between the two restrooms. To the west, there would be a small storage area for lifeguard equipment and mechanicals.
The showers would drain into a dry well created to capture roof runoff. “The health department doesn’t permit us to drain into the sanitary system,” Mr. Guardiello explained. “Any drain in that area is susceptible to a storm event filling it up. They don’t want you draining that into your treatment system.”
“And the building is A.D.A. accessible?” said Ms. Brown.
“Absolutely.”
The village building inspector, Tom Preiato, wanted assurance that there will be enough space between the bathroom and the retaining walls so “a firefighter could walk around there.”
“We have a minimum separation of the building to the wall, to create maximum distance from the property line to the building,” Mr. Guardiello replied. “But we need to make sure we meet fire code requirements.”
With the approval of the board, the Raynor Group will proceed to the next step, to ask the Suffolk County Health Department to sign off on the proposed septic system.
In other business Friday, the board approved nearly $15,000 in plantings from Buckley’s for what is being called “the Tesla lot,” at the corner of Newtown and Osborne Lanes, where Tesla has installed numerous chargers for electric cars.
“Is this going to cover the Tesla lot?” asked Tiger Graham, a board member.
“The plan is, with the Tesla lot, to surround that basically with high hedge, let’s say,” said Mayor Jerry Larsen. “And we’re also going to take out the second curb cut there. So everything will enter through the building department curb cut, and then into the Tesla lot. So, driving by, you will not even see the Tesla parking lot.”
“Is that what this money is for?” Mr. Graham repeated.
“The site plan will be presented at the next board meeting,” Mr. Baladron answered.
Mr. Graham persisted. “This money is for those plantings?”
“Yes, if the board chooses to go ahead with the site plan,” said Mr. Baladron.
“Can we do the plantings at the Tesla lot to block the electric units whether we change the configuration of the lot or not? I thought it was part of the proposal that there was landscaping, shielding," Ms. Brown said.
Mr. Larsen stopped her. “You’ll see the site plan at the next meeting,” he said. “Passing from the outside of the lot, you will not see those electrical panels. You’ll see them from the inside.”
But, said Ms. Brown, wasn’t Tesla supposed to “manage” the lot, add landscaping, and, as had been announced at a November board meeting, be responsible for “98 percent of the costs”?
“Tesla was certainly prepared to put in some shrubs to block the equipment, but this is really just in case it’s not to the board’s satisfaction,” said Mr. Baladron. “I wanted to at least make sure that we had this in place.”
The board turned next to a brief discussion of Town Pond, where the water level is still not where it should be. An additional $5,750 will go to the pond, this time in the form of a new well. Mr. Collins reminded the board that Gregor Well Drilling, which was called in to consult, had deemed the present well “not salvageable.”
Mr. Collins received two quotes for a new well, and the board awarded the contract to a Calverton company, Casola Well Drilling.
