As wind and cold settled over East Hampton last Thursday, Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez delivered a positive 2025 State of the Town Address at the annual organizational meeting, and also appointed chairmen to the town’s advisory boards, naming a new one for the planning board and reappointing the chairmen of the zoning board of appeals and architectural review board.
Ed Krug was sworn in as the planning board’s new chairman, replacing Samuel Kramer. After learning he would no longer be chairman in December, Mr. Kramer opted not to serve the final year of his seven-year term on the board.
Roy Dalene will again serve as the zoning board’s chairman and Chip Rae will continue as chairman of the A.R.B.
“Ed Krug brings invaluable expertise to the role of planning board chair, with years of dedicated service on the A.R.B. and the planning board since 2018,” read a statement from the town. “All appointments are made by the entire town board, and we are confident Ed is the best person to lead the planning board in 2025. We thank Sam for his years of service and respect his decision to step down, wishing him all the best in his future endeavors.”
Mr. Krug had just finished his first seven-year term on the board and had served as vice chairman since October, when Sharon McCobb stepped down. Before being appointed to the planning board, he served for three years on the A.R.B.
“I’m a consensus builder,” said Mr. Krug, who also serves as the chairman of the board of the Peconic Land Trust. “I believe it’s important to hear everyone who has an opinion. The chair collects input, helps bring everyone to a consensus, and hopefully to a solution.”
Mr. Rae joined the A.R.B. in 2020, and was first appointed chairman in January 2024. After spending a career on Wall Street, he said in a text that “This job is sort of a homecoming for me.” The position allows him to use his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in architectural history from the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Rae also attended Columbia University’s historic preservation program.
Later, at the board’s regular meeting, Tina Vavilis-LaGarenne, who had been the town’s acting planning director since Jeremy Samuelson’s departure in August, was promoted to planning director. Ms. Vavilis-LaGarenne has been with the department since August 2022, when she was hired as a principal planner. She graduated from Binghamton University with a degree in environmental studies and has over 20 years of experience as an environmental planner. “I found it fascinating. I realized it was an important field. The natural landscape is such an important part of the town’s fabric,” she said in a phone call, adding that one of her first jobs was interning for the town while she was in college.
In her State of the Town address last Thursday, Ms. Burke-Gonzalez said, “The test of any government is not how popular it is with the powerful, but how honestly and fairly it deals with those who must depend on it.”
“Local government, at its best, listens to the voices of all its residents, works for equity, and builds a foundation of trust,” she said.
She highlighted successes from 2024, chief among them town board efforts to create more affordable housing. Two projects, Cantwell Court, which will add 16 new homes, and a project on Route 114, which will add 50 rental units, are advancing, while a third, the Green at Gardiner’s Point, developed by the East Hampton Housing Authority and Georgica Green Ventures, recently celebrated its completion. “In 2025 we will address this need with even more urgency using the community housing fund, which has collected over $10 million so far.”
The supervisor also touted some environmental achievements, like the Army Corps’s completion of the Fire Island to Montauk Point project, which pumped 500,000 cubic yards of sand to replenish Montauk’s downtown beach. “FIMP is more than just sand — it’s a shield for our economy and our infrastructure,” she said. Additionally, the town is working with New York State to rebuild the dunes at Ditch Plain Beach in Montauk. The board also passed a series of zoning code amendments, which helped close loopholes long exploited to build larger structures than typically allowed.
Ms. Burke-Gonzalez also addressed the 22,000-square-foot senior citizens center, also known as the Center for Modern Aging and Human Services, to be built on seven acres at 403 Abraham’s Path in Amagansett, which she said will be “a place of joy and connection.” Some have criticized the town board’s controversial, split decision to exempt the project from town zoning laws. “Our current senior center is over 100 years old, and our Human Services staff is housed in a trailer in the parking lot. For many years this arrangement served us well, but it is no longer sufficient to meet the needs of our growing senior population,” she said.
Going forward, she said the town would continue to emphasize public safety and well-being with beach improvements and the opening of the new Stony Brook Medicine East Hampton satellite emergency department. Traffic-calming measures, such as a new roundabout at Stephen Hand’s Path and Long Lane in East Hampton, are also on the to-do list for 2025.
