Government

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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 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.

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 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.

“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.

“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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

“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.

“Everything is on track to go from public to private use,” Bill O’Connor told the East Hampton Town Board on Tuesday.

An engineering project to alleviate chronic flooding on Stephen Hand’s Path near its intersection with Route 114 in East Hampton is projected to begin this fall and be completed in the spring of 2023.

The existing fields will be displaced by Stony Brook Southampton Hospital’s freestanding emergency department and imaging and diagnostic center, for which the town board previously approved a lease with the Southampton Hospital Association.

Neighbors of a potential two-story brewery and restaurant at 17 Toilsome Lane had argued that the village had misinterpreted the zoning code. Their appeal was denied.

Covid-19 pandemic-era exceptions to New York State’s Open Meetings Law, which allowed meetings to be held, and the public to participate, via video conference, can be made permanent, thanks to changes adopted with the state’s 2022-2023 budget.

Proposed changes to the East Hampton Town code would expand the definition of litter to include “gravel, loam, dirt, and other debris,” as well as prohibit “drag-out” of such materials onto public roadways and require that the contents of any vehicle containing yard waste be covered and secured. The motivation for the proposed changes includes complaints about drag-out of debris from commercial industrial sites such as sand and gravel mines.

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.

The wrecking ball is swinging, and the $1.4 million renovation and expansion project for the Lars Simenson Skatepark in Montauk is underway. The hope is that it can be finished by mid to late-summer.