Government

Representative Lee Zeldin and his challenger, Nancy Goroff, answered questions posed by climate and environmental activists in an online forum on Tuesday night, three weeks before Election Day and 11 days before the start of New York State's early voting period. 

After demolishing a house, garage, and sewage systems on a property on Hook Pond in East Hampton Village that was purchased last year with community preservation money, the town and village may restore it to natural meadow and use it, in part, to show waterfront homeowners how wetland buffers can be used to stop nitrogen from running into water.

Voters in Suffolk County can weigh in on two propositions on the ballot this year, one to change the term of office for county legislators from two to four years, and the other to transfer excess money in the county's sewer assessment stabilization reserve fund to the taxpayer trust fund.

Democrats on the East End are turnign to a new voter base: second-home owners. According to the Suffolk County Board of Elections, 876 people with mailing addresses in New York City were registered to vote in East Hampton Town as of August 2020; 672 were Democrats.

South Fork Wind proposal gets prominent backing, dealing a blow to opponents in Wainscott, who complain of environmental impact and counter with an alternative.

After detecting a spike in coronavirus infections in Suffolk County during the first week of October, when more than 100 new cases were reported in a single day for the first time since mid-July, the county reported far fewer new cases this week, but noted an increase in Covid-related hospitalizations.

The New York State Health Department has charged In the Know Experiences, the concert promoter involved in the Chainsmokers concert held in Water Mill in July, with violating public health law. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced last week that the state will seek $20,000 in fines for holding a "nonessential gathering" and failing to enforce the wearing of face coverings.

Wainscott United, a group of residents who oppose village incorporation efforts, on Saturday questioned the validity of a petition to incorporate being circulated by a citizens group.

Friday, Oct. 9, is the deadline to register to vote in the November general election. Here is how to make sure you can do so, be it in person or by absentee ballot.

The New York League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, Citizens Campaign for the Environment, and Students for Climate Action will co-host a virtual town hall event with the candidates for New York’s First and Second Congressional Districts on Tuesday from 7 to 8:30 p.m. 

East Hampton Village Police Chief Michael Tracey presented the village board with a proposal to change parking regulations on several village streets at a board meeting last Thursday. 

On the north side of Newtown Lane, from Osborne Lane to the Long Island Rail Road tracks, he recommended extending the time limit for parking from one hour to two. The change would benefit businesses in the area, including a barbershop and hair salon whose customers, he said, often find themselves exceeding the one-hour limit.

East Hampton Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc released the town's tentative 2021 budget on Sept. 30, an $82.68 million plan that would see a spending increase of around $700,000, or .86 percent, over last year's budget and a tax levy that stays below the state-mandated tax cap by about $9,000.

Citizens for the Preservation of Wainscott, a group that is fighting South Fork Wind farm's plan to land its export cable at Beach Lane, accused town board and the town trustees of a "duplicitous sell-out."

An outside counsel retained by East Hampton Town has questioned the State D.E.C.'s conclusion that a former sand and gravel pit in Wainscott should not be listed as a Superfund site.

The East Hampton Town Trustees unanimously approved signing on to the joint proposal submitted two weeks ago by Orsted U.S. Offshore Wind and Eversource Energy to the New York State Public Service Commission in support of the proposed South Fork Wind farm, to be situated approximate-ly 35 miles off Montauk Point.

In an election year that is anything but normal, gone are the traditional in-person events like door-to-door canvassing and gatherings for fund-raising and enthusiasm-building. Instead, people eager to help their respective parties are working phone banks and text banks targeting voters in battleground states, distributing mail-in ballot applications and lawn signs, and making sure people where, how, and when to vote.

New York State is forming an independent advisory task force of scientists, doctors, and health experts that will review every Covid-19 vaccine authorized by the federal government and advise on its safety and effectiveness.

Because of a booming real estate market, revenues for the Peconic Bay Region Community Preservation Fund in August were $11.16 million, an increase of more than 85 percent from same month last year, Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. announced on Monday.

"The increase in revenue continues to be fueled by the exodus from New York City and other population centers to the East End," Mr. Thiele said.

A political action committee has added $550,000 to its advertising buy in New York's First Congressional District, where Nancy Goroff is challenging Representative Lee Zeldin.

A proposal to impose a moratorium until March 1 on commercial redevelopment in Sag Harbor Village's waterfront areas moved one step closer to becoming a reality on Wednesday, when the village board voted in a straw poll to approve the measure once it has been approved by the Suffolk County Planning Commission.

The Suffolk County Aquaculture Lease Program's 10-year review advisory group will hold a public meeting on Wednesday from 4 to 6 p.m. via Zoom. Members of the public will have the ability to comment.

The Painters Union political action committee has endorsed Representative Lee Zeldin's re-election campaign.

Without federal assistance, the county will be forced to make significant reductions in transit services in the 2021 budget, and could eliminate 19 bus routes, including the 10C, which loops between East Hampton and Montauk, and the 10B, which loops between East Hampton, Springs, and Bridgehampton.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo delivered some of his sharpest criticism of President Trump and his administration’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic on Thursday, repeatedly calling the federal government’s response incompetent and accusing the president of politicizing and lying about the crisis. 

In his first week in office, Jerry Larsen, who ran on a platform to bring change to the village and won in a landslide in the Sept. 15 election, discussed his new proposals for parking, the renovation of Herrick Park, sidewalk repair, police reform, and more.

Following the Sept. 15 elections for mayor and two seats on the East Hampton Village Board, Mayor Jerry Larsen and his NewTown Party running mates Chris Minardi and Sandra Melendez, the newly-elected trustees, were sworn in at the village board meeting on Friday.

Temperatures are cooling and concern over the coronavirus persists as fall begins, but restaurants in the Town of East Hampton may have an opportunity to extend an unprecedented tourist season by continuing to offer as much as 100 percent of their seating capacity outside.

The developers of the proposed South Fork Wind farm filed a joint proposal with the New York State Public Service Commission last Thursday in support of an application for a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need under Article VII of the Public Service Law. 

After having wrapped up 20 years of service on the East Hampton Village Board, and following an unsuccessful run for mayor in last week's election, Barbara Borsack, who was the first woman to be elected to the board, said she is now deciding how best to apportion a sudden surplus of free time.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has announced that the plastic bag ban will be enforced as of Oct. 19.