Government

Tensions ran high last month as the East Hampton Town Planning Board discussed a proposal that would see the 70.4-acre reclaimed sand and gravel mine in Wainscott divided into 50 commercial parcels. Known as the Wainscott Commercial Center, it is the largest development proposal to have come before the planning board for quite some time and one that the board believes could have significant environmental impacts.

Anthony Figliola, a former deputy supervisor of Brookhaven Town, has announced his candidacy for the Republican Party’s nomination to represent New York’s First Congressional District.

East Hampton Airport will transition to a model that would require aircraft operators to obtain permission in advance to “have full operational use of a runway, taxiway, apron, or airport facility/service," Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc announced this week.

Continuity was on the agenda when the East Hampton Town Trustees selected officers and staff during their organizational meeting on Monday night.

East Hampton Town’s purchase of a parcel adjacent to Herrick Park in East Hampton Village using community preservation fund money has hit a snag over the future use of the property.

In his State of the Town address on Tuesday, East Hampton Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc spoke about the acute shortage of affordable housing here, renewable energy and sustainability, planning, the town’s finances, and building projects. On housing, which he said is “threatening to unravel the fabric of our community,” he announced an “All Hands on Housing” initiative.

Ed Michels, East Hampton Town’s senior harbormaster, will shift to part-time service in 2022.

A deteriorating bulkhead on Lake Montauk and lingering questions about a large yoga pavilion are the main sticking points for a proposed “artists’ retreat” that would involve the complete reconstruction of 17 cottages and a large single-family house at 31 East Lake Drive in Montauk.

Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation on Dec. 22 that is intended to clear a path for community choice aggregation programs in the Long Island Power Authority’s service territory. The new law is to go into effect 90 days after the bill’s signing.

East Hampton Town’s governing bodies will hold organizational meetings for 2022 next week, and some new elected officials will be sworn in on Friday.

As Covid-19 cases have risen, demand for testing has too, with long lines reported at East Hampton Town’s test site at its Center for Humanity on Stephen Hand’s Path, run by CareOne Concierge, and the town warning that results may be slower in coming — and that testing materials are in short supply. The facility was closed Thursday to patients seeking tests for that reason.

Consultants to the town who have spent the last few months fact-finding on the future of East Hampton Airport reported to the town board on Tuesday about community support and opposition, and the economic implications of closing the airport or, alternatively, imposing certain restrictions.

Projects that will protect or improve ground and surface waters may be eligible for funding under the water quality portion of East Hampton Town’s community preservation fund.

A local law that would give East Hampton Town regulatory powers over mining, mulching, and composting operations and require the monitoring and reporting of any impacts to groundwater drew strong support from environmental advocates at a public hearing last Thursday. Representatives of a local business engaged in such operations, however, vigorously criticized the proposal.

With water levels at Town Pond noticeably low, and residents beginning to wonder whether the situation is related to a recent dredging, the village board voted last week to ask the town for $163,985 more from the community preservation fund to rectify matters.

After hearing a report from Christopher Gobler of Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences on the impact of wastewater on the village’s drinking water and water quality in Georgica and Hook Ponds, the East Hampton Village Board voted on Friday to create a central sewer committee with Mayor Jerry Larsen as its chairman.

By an 8-to-1 vote on Dec. 15, the Long Island Power Authority’s board of trustees approved a new contract with PSEG Long Island, which operates and maintains the electrical grid on its behalf.

Supporters and critics alike called the new Operation Service Agreement an improvement over the previous contract, though the critics say it falls short, particularly in setting the utility on a path to becoming a fully public power authority operated and managed directly by LIPA.

The new owner of the former Rick’s Crabby Cowboy Cafe in Montauk has big plans for the property, but they are far too big, the East Hampton Town Planning Board told his attorney last week.

With a Sag Harbor moratorium on waterfront building set to expire in February, the village board said last week that it intends to vote on a proposed waterfront zoning overlay district at its Jan. 11 meeting.

With the East Hampton Town Board’s unanimous vote on Tuesday to approve an agreement to put an emergency communications tower at the Camp Blue Bay property on Flaggy Hole Road in Springs, a collective sigh of relief could be heard elsewhere in the hamlet as residents’ five-month struggle to prevent the tower from being erected in a wooded area in their neighborhood had officially succeeded.

Citizens for the Preservation of Wainscott asked the New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division on Monday to block the installation of a transmission cable connecting the South Fork Wind Farm to the electric grid until the court ruled on the group’s appeal of what it calls the state’s improper approval of its route through the hamlet.

The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has completed its environmental review of potential impacts from offshore wind energy leasing activities in the New York Bight, off New York and New Jersey, and has issued a finding of no significant impact.

Starting Monday, Dec. 20, East Hampton Town's Covid-19 testing will move to the East Hampton Center for Humanity, the former Child Development Center of the Hamptons, at 110 Stephen Hand's Path.

Suffolk County

Commuting, Vector Bills Introduced

Suffolk County Legislator Bridget Fleming introduced and co-sponsored several pieces of legislation during the Dec. 7 general meeting of the Legislature. Of particular interest for East Hampton among the bills awaiting County Executive Steve Bellone’s signature are those concerning vector control and the South Fork Commuter Connection.

As it had signaled following a public hearing in October, the East Hampton Town Board voted on Tuesday to ban the sale of balloons filled with helium or any other type of lighter-than-air gas. The prohibition will take effect on Jan. 1.

State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. and State Senator James Gaughran have introduced joint legislation to restructure the Long Island Power Authority as a fully public power authority, operated and managed directly by LIPA.

The East Hampton Town Board voted unanimously to opt out of allowing cannabis retail dispensaries or on-site consumption licenses on Dec. 2.

Neighbors, members of the public, and members of the Long Pond Greenbelt made their voices heard last Thursday as the Southampton Town Planning Board reviewed a Verizon application to locate a 153-foot communications monopole on land owned by the Village of Sag Harbor off the Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike.

The Sag Harbor Village Board heard the pros and cons of allowing cannabis sales within village limits, and despite the vocal support of many callers who favored “opting-in,” the board unanimously voted against dispensaries and lounges, for now.

The Suffolk County Board of Elections issued the official results of the Nov. 3 election on Monday, adding the count of absentee ballots to the certified totals. The nearly six-week delay between the elections and their certification was due to a hand count of ballots in Southampton, Southold, and Shelter Island Towns, officials said last week.