Government

South Fork veterans will get a bigger break on their property taxes soon and, depending on where they live, could see decreases in their school taxes as well.

Air quality problems in the pool area at the East Hampton Y.M.C.A. RECenter are to be addressed soon with a two-pronged approach, thanks to fund-raising by the Hampton Lifeguard Association and the center’s board of managers.

The East Hampton Town Planning Board discussed applications from three cellphone companies on Jan. 27, all at different stages of the site plan review process. Two of the proposals call for placing antennas on existing structures; the third involves erecting a new monopole tower.

Members of a new committee that will serve as a liaison to East Hampton Town’s Latino community are to be appointed tonight by the East Hampton Town Board. The move is an “effort to communicate and educate, but also to have a dialogue,” Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell said.

The town is “trying to find a way to reach out and better communicate with” its Spanish-speaking residents, he said, and wants to “provide educational material and information from the town to an important part of our community.”

Days after he was asked to co-sponsor a bill that would ban methoprene, the mosquito larvicide that is suspected of harming nontarget species including lobster and crabs, in coastal areas, State Senator Kenneth P. LaValle did just that.

Legal bills were on the town board’s agenda last Thursday night as the board resolved to hire outside lawyers as counsel in matters related to the East Hampton Airport.

Two Democratic hopefuls who will face off in a June primary to determine that party’s next Congressional candidate for eastern Long Island’s First District will discuss the issues at a forum in Amagansett on Wednesday.

Kevin McAllister’s campaign to ban methoprene, a mosquito larvicide that is believed to harm lobsters, crabs, and other nontarget species, is proceeding, in the face of the Suffolk County Legislature’s approval of its continued use this year.

The program had been described as an oyster garden and approved by the East Hampton Town Trustees in early fall.

A hearing will be held before the East Hampton Town Board tonight on a request to change the zoning on 4.2 acres of oceanfront property in Montauk — the East Deck motel site at Ditch Plain — from resort to half-acre residential zoning so that it may be subdivided into four house lots.

NancyLynn Schurr Thiele, who is married to New York State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr., is to be appointed as an assistant town attorney by the East Hampton Town Board tomorrow night.

With East Hampton Town’s rental registry law to go into effect before the summer season, landlords can learn about how to obtain the required registration number, and more about the law, at a pair of upcoming workshops organized by town officials.

The Friends of Georgica Pond Foundation, a consortium of shorefront property owners, has launched a website, friendsofgeorgicapond.org. The not-for-profit group, with a stated mission to preserve the pond’s ecosystem through science-based, watershed-wide policy and restoration, has asked the public to visit the website to learn about the organization and the restoration efforts.

The time has arrived for Southampton Town voters to select a new member of the town board, and make it whole again after the abrupt departure of Brad Bender, who resigned amid drug charges in late November.

Protecting ground and surface waters, and repairing damage already done by pollution from things such as septic waste and road runoff, has risen to the top of East Hampton Town officials’ agenda.

A proposal to build a large beachfront house on Napeague, at 22 Shore Road just west of the White Sands resort, was rejected on Tuesday by the East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals.

A proposed subdivision of 36-plus oceanfront acres in Wainscott which is before the East Hampton Town Planning Board, has pitted two executives of major corporations who are neighbors against each other.

Patti Leber, a Montauk resident, real estate professional, and onetime town board candidate who has been serving on the architectural review board, will replace Bob Schaefer on the planning board.

The requirements of East Hampton Town’s recently enacted rental registry law, and what landlords must do to comply with the new regulations, will be reviewed at two information sessions later this month.

A planned expansion of decks at 39 of the 40 units at the Ocean Colony Beach and Tennis Resort on Napeague would violate the East Hampton Town Code, according to a split decision signed by the zoning board of appeals on Dec. 21.

After deciding earlier this month to enact a rental registry in the Town of East Hampton, officials are developing the system through which landlords can file with the town and obtain the registration number required before a property can be rented.

East Hampton voters will have an opportunity to weigh in next fall on whether to authorize the use of up to 20 percent of the town’s community preservation fund for projects that would improve water quality.

Over objections from members of its nature preserve committee, the East Hampton Town Board last Thursday adopted an altered management plan for the South Flora preserve on Napeague, omitting parking along the preserve.

Demand for electricity on the South Fork has far outpaced the rest of Long Island, with particularly high usage in the summer and on weekends and holidays.

The nine-person board will include five new members when it reconvenes next month.

East Hampton Town

Pay Taxes Online

Town of East Hampton property owners can pay their property tax bills online for the first time this year. The option, which allows access to current bills and prints receipts, will be available starting Dec. 14. Payments will be accepted by credit card or by electronic check, for a fee.

A committee established to review East Hampton Town wastewater management has recommended accepting a plan developed by Pio Lombardo of Lombardo Associates and using it as “a basis for moving forward” on water quality protection initiatives.

Army Corps contractors who had been expected to complete the construction of a 3,100-foot sandbag seawall on the downtown Montauk beach by the end of January have reported that the project is unlikely to be completed before “sometime in March,” East Hampton Town officials reported this week.

A request for an update on what one Montauk Citizens Advisory Committee member called “the big dig” prompted a heated hourlong discussion that had tempers flaring at a committee meeting.

The owner of Rick’s Crabby Cowboy Cafe received approval to dredge the 22 slips at his Lake Montauk marina.