Government

The East Hampton Town Board voted on Tuesday to adopt an amendment to the town code that expands the definition of litter to include soil, loam, dirt, gravel, and sand; prohibits drag-out of such materials onto public roadways, and requires that the contents of any vehicle containing yard waste be covered and secured. The vote followed an April 7 public hearing on the proposed amendment.

A group working on implementation of the Wainscott hamlet study took a close look at the possibility of burying the power lines on Montauk Highway when it met last week. 

East Hampton Town’s Water Quality Technical Advisory Committee recommended to the town board on Tuesday the funding of five projects with $545,543 from the portion of the community preservation fund allocated to water quality improvements.

The effort to preserve the Springs house and studios of the late Abstract Expressionist artists James Brooks and Charlotte Park had another boost yesterday with the announcement that the National Trust for Historic Preservation has included the site on its annual list of the 11 most endangered historic places in the United States.

The installation of the temporary “cell on wheels” that is to be sited on Gann Road in Springs until a permanent emergency communications tower is designed and constructed elsewhere in the hamlet has been delayed because of “supply chain issues,” the East Hampton Town Board was told on Tuesday.

Following the New York State Court of Appeals ruling last week that the Democratic-controlled State Legislature’s redrawing of congressional and State Senate districts violated the State Constitution, New York’s primary elections will be postponed from June to August 23 as a neutral expert draws new district maps.

Fishermen on the South Fork are angered by the placement in August of several dozen 500-pound concrete blocks on the ocean floor off Wainscott, moorings for the telemetry devices in use for the South Fork Wind Fisheries Study Work Plan that was a condition for the East Hampton Town Trustees’ lease agreement allowing the South Fork Wind farm’s transmission cable to make landfall on a beach under their jurisdiction.

The currently projected range of sea level rise “will transform East Hampton into a series of islands with permanent submergence of low-lying areas as early as 2070.” That is the ominous conclusion that leads a draft of the town’s Coastal Assessment and Resiliency Plan, issued last week.

The East Hampton Village Board received an update on Friday on an Osborne Lane parking lot leased by Tesla and talked about plans for screening, lighting, and parking enforcement there.

The East Hampton Town Board voted to amend the town code to create a pilot program for outdoor dining, a move that could permanently relax outdoor dining rules for restaurants.

The East Hampton Village Board approved a $6.8 million bond appropriation bill on Friday, with the bulk of the money — roughly $4.6 million — going to new fire trucks to replace an aging fleet, with some trucks approaching their 30th year.

The Federal Aviation Administration has approved East Hampton Town’s application to provide “special procedures” for instrument landings at the private-use East Hampton Town Airport that is to open on May 19 on the site of the existing East Hampton Airport.

The East Hampton Town Trustees plan to make permanent the allowance of “hybrid” meetings, in which video conferencing would enable both in-person and remote participation of the board and its committees.

News that the South Fork Wind farm’s developers planned to use a privately owned commercial-industrial property on Tan Bark Trail as a site for storing soil and treating groundwater sparked confusion this week among opponents of the project as to whether excavation to install the wind farm’s onshore transmission cable will cause the movement of hazardous perfluorinated chemicals, known as PFAS.

A last-minute addendum to the East Hampton Village Board meeting, a resolution to amend the concession agreement to allow the Beach Hut at Main Beach to serve alcohol on the premises, providing it secures a New York State wine and beer license, sparked more debate than a $6.8 million bond appropriation bill, and it wasn’t even listed on the official agenda.

Three entities continue to seek a preliminary injunction to prevent the planned May 17 closure of the East Hampton Airport and its reopening two days later under strict new rules.

Forgivable loans, income tax credits, and property tax exemptions are among the carrots that two bills introduced by Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. would dangle before property owners in an effort to encourage them to create accessory dwelling units to help ease the region's afforable housing crisis.

The East Hampton Town Trustees are considering renaming their Captain William J. Rysam Scholarship Fund, which presents awards to high school graduating seniors each year, following the revelation that the scholarship’s namesake both owned and traded slaves.

An official of East Hampton Town’s Natural Resources Department recommended that the town board hire a consultant to develop a road map for its goal of achieving 100 percent of its energy needs from renewable sources.

The East Hampton Town Board took initial steps this week toward a permanent allowance of “hybrid” meetings, in which video conferencing would enable both in-person and remote participation of the board and its committees.

A proposal to change Home Sweet Home, the Wainscott moving company that has been in operation there since the mid-1960s, to a self-storage facility with 443 units, hit a couple of significant snags when the East Hampton Town Planning Board met on April 6.

“An overwhelming percentage” of users of Blade Air Mobility, which allows users of its app to book seats on scheduled helicopter and airplane flights, will fly “into or out of other sites on the East End” if the aircraft they are taking to the Hamptons is prohibited from landing at East Hampton Airport, the company promised this week. 

The Hero Beach Club, the Montauk resort with the winking smiley face on its exterior, finally saw some positive reaction to its hopes of serving food to its guests, at the March 23 meeting of the East Hampton Town Planning Board.

Members of the East Hampton Town Board on Tuesday voiced a willingness to consider natural grass and dirt at the Little League fields to be constructed at 110 Stephen Hand’s Path in Wainscott.

The fastest-growing sport in America — pickleball — is also the noisiest, according to a survey conducted by sound engineers hired by the Village of Sagaponack. As a result, the village board will recommend requiring new pickleball courts to be built with larger setback from adjacent properties.

A project at 33 Lily Pond Lane in East Hampton Village, with a 15-year history of court battles and angry neighbors, and tens of millions of dollars at stake, may have met its match in the Covid-19 pandemic.

A lawsuit seeking to stop the installation of an underground electric cable serving the South Fork Wind Farm was rejected by a federal judge last week.

“We did make an offer, it was rejected,” said Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman in a phone conversation last week about the town’s attempt to purchase 2 Main Street in Sag Harbor using community preservation fund money. The building’s current owners, who bought it in 2018 for $18 million, are said to be interested instead in developing it as residential property.

“It’s hard to keep track” of all the local road work projects happening now, said the South Fork’s state assemblyman, Fred W. Thiele Jr. of Sag Harbor, for whom a drive along Route 114 is a frequent occurrence. Long an advocate for the total repaving and repairing of that road, Mr. Thiele assured his constituents this week that the inconvenience of the project will be worthwhile.

The findings were mixed at the East Hampton Town Trustees meeting on Monday, when Christopher Gobler of Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences delivered an annual report that emphasized how human activity on land influences the health of the waters around it.