Skip to main content

Government

Leveling the Energy Playing Field

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed legislation on Dec. 23 giving the New York State Public Service Commission the authority to require the Long Island Power Authority and its service providers to implement recommendations made in any audit where fraud, abuse, or mismanagement is found.

Jan 7, 2021
Wind Farm Hearing Is Monday

The East Hampton Town Trustees will devote their meeting on Monday to hearing public comment on draft agreements with developers of the proposed South Fork Wind farm, to be constructed approximately 35 miles off Montauk Point. The meeting, which will be held virtually and broadcast live on LTV, will start at 6 p.m.

Jan 7, 2021
Carbon-Neutral Push Is On

East Hampton Town's energy sustainability committee concluded its work for 2020 with a recommendation to the town board that it adopt the NYStretch Energy Code, a statewide model for jurisdictions to use to accelerate the drive to carbon-neutral building.

Jan 7, 2021
East Hampton Town Trustees Consider Staggered Elections

Both in and outside of local government, there is a belief that the simultaneous campaigns of as many as 18 candidates is a confusing and clumsy exercise.

Jan 7, 2021
Zeldin in House of Representatives as Mob Entered Capitol

U.S. Representative Lee Zeldin of New York’s First Congressional district voted late on Wednesday against certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Jan 6, 2021
New East Hampton Covid Test Site to Be Open Daily

A drive-through Covid-19 testing site is scheduled to open at East Hampton Town Hall on Wednesday. The outdoor site, which will be open seven days per week from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., has been established in response to the surge in coronavirus transmission across Long Island and in New York State. 

Jan 4, 2021
Wind Farm Forum Coming Thursday

Representatives from Orsted U.S. Offshore Wind and Eversource Energy will take part in a virtual meeting to address questions and concerns about the turbine installation's onshore and near-shore footprint.

Dec 31, 2020
One Department, Nine Months, 57,300 Meals

By year's end, East Hampton Town's Human Services Department was on track to have provided around 57,300 meals, more than in the prior three years combined. It also makes thousands of wellness calls, coordinates with the Family Service League to provide free mental health counseling, provides virtual activities, and offers a support group via teleconference for those caring for a loved one, all in the service of keeping the town's senior citizens safe, nourished, and healthy. 

Dec 30, 2020
Once More Unto the Blowers

The East Hampton Town Board concluded its 2020 meeting schedule with public hearings on curbing the use of gas and diesel-powered leaf blowers, opponents of which decry the ubiquitous landscaping equipment's noise and environmental pollution.

Dec 24, 2020
'Soft Solution' for Beach in Montauk

With many parts of the Town of East Hampton at moderate, high, or extreme risk of flooding, the planned October start of the project's implementation was prominent in "Montauk's Coastal Resiliency and the Future of Our Beaches," a Dec. 16 webinar hosted by Concerned Citizens of Montauk.

Dec 23, 2020
Orsted Wind Farm Cable Survey Comes Ashore

The developers of the South Fork Wind farm will conduct site assessments and soil borings as part of survey work having to do with the wind farm's onshore transmission cable installation starting as soon as Jan. 4.

Dec 22, 2020
Plum Island Won't Be Sold at Auction

Federal lawmakers on Monday passed a $1.4 trillion general appropriations bill that includes a provision to halt the public auction of Plum Island, the pristine 840-acre island that is officially part of Southold Town but is owned by the federal Department of Homeland Security.

Dec 21, 2020
No More a 'Drive-Through' Hamlet?

Significant changes are in store in Wainscott, the "gateway" to the Town of East Hampton. One already visible manifestation of change is the Wainscott Green, the 1.1-acre park that was dedicated in a Dec. 6 ceremony to the late Rick Del Mastro, a former chairman of the hamlet's citizens advisory committee who died in April.

Dec 17, 2020
$29 Million Wind Farm Deal Ready for Its Close-Up

An agreement that would see the Town of East Hampton reap an almost $29 million payment from the developers of the South Fork Wind farm in exchange for allowing a 138-kilovolt cable to be buried under town highway rights of way, from Beach Lane in Wainscott to the Long Island Power Authority substation in East Hampton, was unveiled this week. 

Dec 17, 2020
State-Held Stocks Go Green

New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli announced last week that the state's $226 billion Common Retirement Fund will transition its portfolio to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040. A review of investments in energy sector companies is to be completed within four years, using minimum standards to assess transition readiness and climate-related investment risk.

Dec 17, 2020
Zeldin Signs on to Trump's Effort to Overturn Election

Representative Lee Zeldin, who as a member of Congress swore to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and 125 of his Republican colleagues in the House of Representatives filed an amicus brief last week supporting a lawsuit that asked the Supreme Court to disenfranchise some 20 million voters in four states.

Dec 17, 2020
Big Turnout to Debate Wainscott Village Proposal

Self-determination at nominal cost, or a transparent attempt to thwart an offshore wind farm’s planned cable landing? Both viewpoints were put forth at a Dec. 5 meeting of the Wainscott Citizens Advisory Committee, where advocates for the hamlet’s incorporation, and their consultants, made a case for the Village of Wainscott. 

Dec 11, 2020
Covid Looming Over Holiday Season, New York City Indoor Dining

Governor Cuomo’s announcement on Friday that indoor dining in New York City would be curtailed as of Monday is the latest manifestation of a worsening Covid-19 crisis in the state, which now has an overall positive infection rate of 4.9 percent, but he emphasized that “living room spread” represents the majority of new infections.

Dec 11, 2020
Raccoons Run Rampant, Repairs Required at Main Beach Pavilion

After beach season is over, raccoons, as well as feral cats from a nearby colony, access the beach pavilion. Mayor Jerry Larsen said he visited the building recently, and before entering, “You have to make a lot of noise to make sure the raccoons aren’t in the same room as you.” 

Dec 11, 2020
East Hampton Village Moves Quickly on Paid Parking

The East Hampton Village Board provided more details last Thursday about a proposal to charge for additional hours of parking in the commercial district, and approved the hiring of ParkMobile, a company that will provide the app-based system to collect the payments. 

Dec 11, 2020
A Call for New Climate-Oriented Building Restrictions

While the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act signed by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo last year provides a roadmap to a New York free of greenhouse gas emissions by midcentury, the window of opportunity to avert “dramatic and irreversible effects of climate change” is closing fast, the East Hampton Town Board was told on Tuesday. 

Dec 11, 2020
C.P.F. Revenues Set Record

An ongoing surge in home sales has produced a record-setting $102.61 million in revenues for the Peconic Bay Community Preservation Fund in the first 10 months of the year, Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. announced on Friday.

Dec 10, 2020
Airport Is Under Scrutiny

The East Hampton Town Board has hired Harris Miller Miller and Hanson, an environmental and transportation consultant, to review operations at East Hampton Airport and aircraft noise complaints from July 27 through Sept. 30 of this year.

Dec 10, 2020
Hearing on Oyster Farm Revisions

The Suffolk County Legislature will hold a public hearing on revisions to the county's Shellfish Aquaculture Lease Program on Tuesday at 2 p.m. The hearing follows the Dec. 1 introduction of a proposed resolution amending the county code pertaining to the program, under which parcels in Peconic and Gardiner's Bays have been leased for private commercial shellfish farming since 2010.

Dec 10, 2020
Suffolk Election Results Finally Official

Representative Lee Zeldin will serve a fourth term, his re-election in New York's First Congressional District having been certified by the Suffolk County Board of Elections last Thursday.

Dec 10, 2020
Tax Breaks for Amazon Facility

The developer of a proposed Amazon distribution facility at Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach, a depot that will enable the online retail giant to more quickly deliver packages to East End residents, won $2.3 million in tax breaks from the Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency last month.

Dec 10, 2020
Looking for Energy Answers

Long Island is typically second only to Hawaii in the cost of electricity, but only 5 percent of that electricity is derived from renewable sources, Suffolk Legislator Bridget Fleming, who chairs the county's community choice aggregation task force, told the Legislature's Public Works, Transportation, and Energy Committee on Monday.

Dec 10, 2020
Marram Montauk Denied Liquor License

The New York State Liquor Authority voted unanimously on Tuesday to deny a liquor license application from the Marram Montauk resort, a victory for the Town of East Hampton and neighbors of the former Atlantic Terrace motel, located in a residential area of the easternmost hamlet.

Dec 10, 2020
Goroff, Ahearn Concede After Absentee Ballot Count Wraps Up

Nancy Goroff, a Democrat who challenged Representative Lee Zeldin in New York's First Congressional District race this year, and Laura Ahearn, who ran for the State Senate seat being vacated by a retiring Kenneth P. LaValle, formally conceded their races this week after the absentee ballot counts were complete.

Dec 4, 2020
Town Signs Off on Beach Lane Cable Site

The Town of East Hampton has finalized an agreement with Orsted U.S. Offshore Wind and Eversource, the developers of the proposed 15-turbine South Fork Wind project, that grants the companies easements to land the installation's export cable and bury it on a path to the Long Island Power Authority substation in East Hampton in exchange for a nearly $29 million community benefits package.

Dec 3, 2020