Government

It’s big, it’s controversial, it’s before the town planning powers that be.

The East Hampton Town Board authorized an emergency appropriation of $30,000 to local food pantries, due to the continued shutdown of the federal government and the impending loss of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.

“We want folks to know that we’re listening, and we want to work with the community to improve the system,” East Hampton Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez said at a town board work session last week, in a discussion about ways to efficiently process building permits. 

The opening of scallop season in state waters is Nov. 3. In town trustee waters the date is Nov. 9. But the harvest may not be very good.

Monday’s Amagansett Citizens Advisory Committee meeting saw an appeal for support from a resident of Further Lane whose new neighbor at number 370 has planted a double hedge along the lane, blocking a cherished vista. ACAC members were sympathetic.

The East Hampton Town Board reported that work was imminent on two long-awaited projects in Montauk: the Ditch Plain dune reconstruction and the dredging of the Lake Montauk Inlet.

It’s been nearly a year since East Hampton Town asked builders to submit proposals to design and build houses for the affordable housing subdivision called Cantwell Court. All the estimates they got back were too expensive.

From the Building Department to the senior center, contrasts were drawn between the town board’s Cate Rogers and Ian Calder-Piedmonte, incumbent Democrats, and J.P. Foster, their Republican challenger. 

In Suffolk County, early voting runs from Saturday to Nov. 2, locally at Windmill Village on Accabonac Road.

East Hampton Town’s projected cost of renourishing the sandy beach created by the Fire Island to Montauk Point coastal storm risk management project will be about $28 million over 30 years, according to a project partnership agreement discussed by the town board this week.

At long last, Harry Macklowe has received variance approval from the East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals for illegal improvements made to his Georgica Pond-fronting property years ago.

The New York State Supreme Court authorized the Maidstone Gun Club to begin steps to "demolish the rifle range, conduct environmental remediation, and engage in safety measures," according to the East Hampton Town attorney.

Representative Nick LaLota took questions from callers in an Oct. 8 “tele-town hall” during which he repeatedly blamed Senate Democrats for the government shutdown, defended provisions in the Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill, and ignored a Jeffrey Epstein question.

“I am going to run for town supervisor,” East Hampton Village Mayor Jerry Larsen told a room full of supporters last week at Si Si, the restaurant at the EHP Resort on Three Mile Harbor, not only confirming his 2026 candidacy but also revealing a key part of his strategy. 

“People have a perception of me as a fighter, but my way of tackling a problem is to bring as many voices as possible to a table. I love a big table. I look at the science behind issues and spend time analyzing data and trends," said East Hampton Town Councilwoman Cate Rogers, who is running for re-election.

The East Hampton Town Board voted Tuesday to end its relationship with R2 Architecture, the joint venture it had chosen in 2022 to design a new senior citizens center on Abraham’s Path in Amagansett, and said it would re-evaluate its plans for the facility.

The East Hampton Town Board appears poised to move forward with legislation that will allow parcels as small as a half-acre to be designated affordable housing overlay districts.

It seems that journalists aren’t the only people who watch town meetings — scammers do as well. And the information they collect has apparently been used to send invoices to applicants seeking approval for building projects before the town planning board or the zoning board of appeals.

East Hampton Village announced this week that the current occupant of the village-owned concession at the Main Beach pavilion, Susan Seekamp’s Beach Hut on Main, won the bid to continue operating for five more years.

Michael Hansen, a Democrat, and Jeff Miller, a Republican, made their pitches to Wainscott voters as they run to succeed Carole Brennan as town clerk, while Cate Rogers and Ian Calder-Piedmonte of the town board addressed issues of local concern.

The East Hampton Town Board awarded Bistrian Materials the bid to provide sand for the Ditch Plain dune restoration project. The company’s bid of $1,215,000 was the lowest received.

For the second straight year, the East Hampton Town budget will pierce the state-mandated 2-percent cap, shooting to nearly $110 million.

“I don’t feel like anybody can put me in a box,” said J.P. Foster, the sole Republican candidate for East Hampton Town Board this year. “I don’t feel like I fit in a Democrat or a Republican box. I fit in an East Hampton box. If there was an independent box, that’s where I’d be.”

The East Hampton Town Board was cautiously supportive this week of placing further restrictions on short-term rentals. “We are looking at commercial investments in our residential districts by investors who only seek to make profit and are not looking at being part of this community at all,” said Councilwoman Cate Rogers.

Suffolk County Legislator Ann Welker, a Democrat who is seeking a second term in the 2nd District, and her Republican challenger, Raheem Soto, spoke of their records and policy agendas in a debate hosted by the League of Women Voters on Monday.

In the first of three profiles of candidates running for East Hampton Town Board, The Star talked with Ian Calder-Piedmonte, an incumbent Democrat seeking his first full term after first being appointed and then winning a special election in 2024.

The brilliant early-autumn weather provided a perfect backdrop for Saturday’s dedication of Rickenbach Park, the expansive lawn bordered by Pantigo Road, Accabonac Road, Methodist Lane, and Hook Mill Road in East Hampton Village, named in honor of the village's longest-serving mayor, Paul F. Rickenbach Jr.

The East Hampton Village Board accepted the resignation of Sarah Amaden and appointed Jason Tuma to fill her seat. At the same meeting, the board acknowledged the retirement of J.P. Foster, a public safety dispatcher for more than 35 years.

The closure of Montauk Airport will lead to more traffic at East Hampton Town Airport. The big question is “How much?” That question was left unanswered at last week’s planning board meeting, as Montauk Airport Inc. got a preliminary review of its proposal to turn the airport into four large residential lots.

Crows, foxes, dogs, trucks, truck tracks, people. Oh, and ghost crabs. These have been some of the threats to East Hampton Town’s piping plover population in 2025 (ignoring habitat loss), according to Samantha Schurr, an environmental analyst in the Natural Resources Department.