Government

In the wake of the federal government’s announcement last week that utilities will be required to reduce levels of toxic “forever chemicals” in drinking water to almost zero, residents of Wainscott are using that news to press opposition to both the South Fork Wind farm and the proposed Wainscott Commercial Center.

A boisterous group of 40-plus ambulance volunteers, many from the East Hampton Village Ambulance Association but some "mutually aided" from nearby departments, showed up at the East Hampton Village Board meeting on Friday to speak out against a plan that would have the ambulance association come under village control.

Most waters under East Hampton Town Trustee jurisdiction were usually healthy in 2022, the trustees were told on Monday, but the consequences of land use continue to impair some water bodies in the form of excessive nitrogen via ground and surface water runoff.

Nearly a quarter of the East Hampton Village Ambulance Association’s volunteer corps has resigned since the East Hampton Village Board introduced a plan on March 2 to create a new Department of Emergency Medical Services to oversee the ambulance service.

The East Hampton Town Planning Board was left with two bad options for a cell tower at the tiny St. Peter’s Chapel in Springs, and a litigation-imposed mandate to choose one by April 24. Cingular Wireless, operating as AT&T, requires approval of a special permit from the board to go ahead with construction.

The East Hampton Town Board will not vote on a resolution regarding a May turkey hunt before April 6, the board said on Tuesday.

The East Hampton Historical Society is seeking a special permit and several variances from the village zoning board of appeals to bring 2023-level technology to a new barn at the Mulford Farm that would house its growing collection of historical artifacts.

History is repeating itself on Montauk’s ocean shoreline, where erosion has once again prompted officials in East Hampton Town’s Land Management Department to recommend a landward rerouting of bluff trails in Shadmoor State Park and the adjacent Rheinstein Nature Preserve.

The proposed Wainscott Commercial Center has had a series of setbacks in recent weeks, most recently and perhaps most importantly on Tuesday night, when the East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals was unanimous in its decision that a special permit was required for the planned industrial park proposed for the spent sand mine.

East Hampton Town is about to solicit participation in a public survey regarding the town’s goal to derive communitywide energy needs through renewable sources by 2030.

After two stop-work orders were either ignored or slow-rolled earlier this year, the Town of East Hampton is suing The Landings in Montauk, a marina-condo complex located at 408 West Lake Drive, alleging that the complex has exceeded construction-related approvals and committed other violations of the town zoning code.

Richard Whalen, an Amagansett attorney and the founder of the Coalition for Hither Woods, told board members the group will continue to support the town in its efforts to improve Montauk’s environment, but will oppose any encroachment on the hamlet’s parks.

Three weeks after the East Hampton Town Board heard from residents urging it to opt out of the May turkey hunting season announced last year by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, some 30 people were in the main meeting room at Town Hall Tuesday, many of them applauding speakers who urged the board to opt in.

Owners of one of the two dozen 1700-1850 timber-frame landmarks in East Hampton Village have been called to task after making renovations affecting protected aspects of the structure. “It’s egregious, and they knew what they were doing, that’s the most upsetting aspect of this," the mayor said.

Lee Zeldin, who represented New York’s First Congressional District from 2015 through 2022 and was the Republican Party’s nominee for governor of New York in the November election, has launched a political action committee to support Republican candidates “who are committed to advancing" his "efforts to grow the diverse coalition of first-time Republican voters” who helped to make the race for governor so close in 2022.

The long-planned improvement to the navigational channel in Montauk Harbor remains on track for completion this fall, representatives of the federal Army Corps of Engineers told the East Hampton Town Board, but a delay to fall 2024 is possible.

Legislation introduced at last week’s East Hampton Village Board to create a standalone Ambulance Department “to provide a municipal paid and volunteer general ambulance service in the village and contracted-for areas of the Town of East Hampton” so alarmed a faction of the ambulance corps that it scheduled an emergency meeting. The law will be the subject of a public hearing on March 17.

The rough road near the Rough Riders Landing housing complex in Montauk has a smooth future ahead of it: Last week the East Hampton Town Board approved the issuance of $285,000 in bonds to pay for improvements to Tuthill and Fort Pond Roads.

The East Hampton Village Board is seeking ideas for the future management of the 13 Sea Spray Cottages at Main Beach, and has already received several submissions, including one from a West Palm Beach, Fla., company, and others from current tenants.

The long-awaited completion of a town-approved plan to rehabilitate the commercial fishing dock on Star Island in Montauk, which has been beset by delays and add-on costs, took a step forward last week as the East Hampton Town Board voted to amend two contracts and allocate additional money.

The East Hampton Town Planning Board had one clear message for the owners of Rita Cantina at its March 1 meeting: Clean up your act before the season begins.

While it’s still a mystery as to who actually founded the organization Political Transparency — which has been running ads in The Star and on social media that are highly critical of the current East Hampton Town Board — a spokesman for the related StopEHTownBoard.com did offer some insight into the organization and its goals this week.

Marcos Baladron, who has served as East Hampton Village administrator for just over two years, will receive the Hon. Paul F. Rickenbach Distinguished Service Award from the Suffolk County Village Officials Association next month. If he weren’t so modest, he might admit to feeling vindicated.

In their deliberations to date over proposed new special permitting rules, town board members had emphasized the recent uptick in outsize parties taking place at town beaches and how to rein them in while not spoiling the sun-soaked fun for would-be revelers. But one caterer wondered if such parties were a concern at more isolated beaches.

Candidates for Suffolk County’s elected offices have officially been nominated by the Republican and Democratic Committees, with Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine and Dave Calone leading the Republican and Democratic tickets, respectively, for the county executive seat. Manny Vilar of Springs, a Republican, and Ann Welker of Southampton Town, a Democrat, are running for the County Legislature.

An East Hampton Town proposal to build a sewage treatment plant in Montauk appears to be dead in the water for now following a unanimous 8-to-0 vote by Suffolk County Parks Commission trustees last week to reject a proposed town-county land swap that was key to the project’s getting off the ground.

The Suffolk County Republican Committee has nominated Manny Vilar of Springs, a retired state parks police officer who is the chairman of the East Hampton Town Republican Committee, to run for the Second Legislative District seat.

A “dot” on a town map of a Springs-Fireplace Road property was a hot topic at last Thursday’s town board meeting as the board discussed a controversial car-wash plan proposed there. It is now up to the town board to decide whether to amend the underlying Urban Renewal map that “currently requires that access for the lot be taken directly from Springs-Fireplace Road,” said Eric Schantz, assistant planning director.

The East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals voted unanimously at a Feb. 14 work session to reopen a hearing concerning the Shagwong Tavern in Montauk a week after upholding a determination that it was operating as a nightclub, in violation of the town code.

Suffolk County Legislator Bridget Fleming announced Thursday that she will not seek re-election to the Second Legislative District this year, and that she is endorsing Ann Welker of the Southampton Town Trustees to succeed her in office on the Democratic ticket.