Villages

Kevin McAllister, who served as Peconic Baykeeper for 16 years until his dismissal in March, has formed a new group aimed at restoring and protecting ground and surface waters on and around Long Island.

Defend H2O, comprising Mr. McAllister, Skip Tollefsen, the former owner of Lobster Inn in Southampton, and Mike Bottini, a naturalist and writer, will advocate for the enactment of stronger water quality standards, sewage management reform, an end to use of the insecticide methoprene to control the mosquito population, and wetlands protection.

For those who know little to nothing about the Long Island Rail Road in Sag Harbor, an exhibit at the Sag Harbor Historical Society’s Annie Cooper Boyd House through October offers a good introduction to why the village was one of the first on the East End to rally for a railroad connection.

“The Long Island Rail Road Years in Sag Harbor, 1870-1939” tells the story, from start to finish, of one of the L.I.R.R’s first branches on the East End.

One Montauk resident might say to another, “I’ll meet you at the Circle,” and be understood. They and the U.P.S. delivery man would know that the non-descript address “the Plaza” was in fact the same as the circle of businesses located in the downtown section of their hamlet, the same circle designed by the developer Carl Fisher in the 1920s. So why not gussy up the address with a little history?

The Maidstone Club’s application to expand and modernize its irrigation system, which the East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals is likely to rule on this month, has prompted the creation of a group to focus on the ecological health of Hook Pond. Frank Newbold, chairman of the village’s zoning board, described the new group at the board’s meeting on Friday.

Interns studying water quality in Montauk’s Big Reed Pond for the Third House Nature Center presented their findings to a small group at the Montauk Library on Friday.

Conrad Kabbaz, Daisy Kelly, and Serrana Mattiauda explained that a contaminant called cyanobacteria, otherwise known as a blue-green algae bloom, has choked the freshwater pond of its oxygen, killing off plant life and several species of fish, including large-mouthed bass and whitefish. The bacteria can be toxic to people and to animals, who may sip from the water or as they walk around its edge.

After a brief public hearing, the East Hampton Village Board adopted a $20.29 million budget for the 2014-15 fiscal year on Friday.

The budget represents a spending increase of $550,000 and results in a tax increase of 2.14 percent, a rate comparable to the average over the last seven years.

The proposed spending increase required the board to vote to authorize an override of the property tax cap, which it did last month.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has warn?ed that cyanobacteria, which is informally known as blue-green algae, has been found in Big Reed Pond off East Lake Drive in Montauk and could be hazardous to people and animals, especially dogs that take a dip in the pond or even walk too close to its edge. Big Reed Pond, as well as Lake Agawam in Southampton and Marratooka Lake in Mattituck, has been declared off-limits for people and dogs by the D.E.C.

Elbert Edwards and Bruce Siska were easily re-elected to the East Hampton Village Board on Tuesday. When the polls closed at 9 p.m., Mr. Edwards had received 55 votes; 53 votes were cast for Mr. Siska. Three write-in votes were cast, with two for Michael Elinski and one for John Wessberg.

In a four-way race for two seats on the Sag Harbor Village Board, Robby Stein and Sandra Schroeder were victorious in Tuesday’s election, which saw a high turnout of 515 voters.

Mr. Stein, the only incumbent running this time around, was the top vote getter, with 308 votes, including 30 absentee ballots. Kevin Duchemin, who had served one term, did not run for re-election.

Kaitlin A. Ganga and Jeremiah L. Overton were married in the field behind the American Legion Hall in Amagansett on May 17, a date that marks both of their birthdays. East Hampton Town Justice Steven Tekulsky officiated.

The bride is the daughter of Megan Ganga of Glade Road and Anthony J. Ganga of Neck Path, both in Springs. Mr. Overton’s parents are Leon and Suzanne Overton of Three Mile Harbor Road, East Hampton.

Wondering where your prescription and over-the-counter medications may end up when tossed in the trash or flushed down the toilet? The answer is an important one: our drinking water, bays, and harbors.

The third annual re-enactment of the 1942 Nazi saboteur landing on Atlantic Avenue Beach in Amagansett will take place tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. The action will begin and end at the former Life Saving Station, the 1902 structure on Atlantic Avenue that is undergoing extensive renovation as a museum and community center. Admission is free.

The brothers Richie and Jacob Nessel are probably the most reluctant oldtimers to be honored tonight at the annual Old Timers dinner hosted by the Montauk Chamber of Commerce.

“I’m not old,” said Jake Nessel.

“It’s wonderful. Can I leave now and go home for dinner?” asked Richie Nessel when the two met with a visitor for a photograph on the docks near the Ebb Tide, the boat Captain Jake runs.

Moody’s Investor Service has upgraded East Hampton Village’s bond rating from Aa2 to Aa1, indicating a very strong capacity to meet financial commitments.

The provider of credit ratings and risk analysis cited the village’s sizable and affluent tax base and modest debt burden as strong indicators of its financial position.

The upgrade, according to a release issued by Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. and the village board, followed the village’s decision to refinance a series of bonds, resulting in savings of almost $225,000.

The East Hampton Town Board will form three committees to grapple with erosion in the downtown Montauk beach area, Councilman Peter Van Scoyoc told the Montauk Citizens Advisory Committee Monday night.

One committee will deal with the Army Corps of Engineers, the second will work on creating a tax district to fund beach-restoration projects, and the third will help devise a post-storm recovery plan.

“If we have a catastrophic storm, we’ll have a plan and make ourselves more resilient,” he said.

Southampton Hospital will host a panel discussion on tick-borne illnesses on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at the Parrish Memorial Hall on Herrick Road in Southampton Village.

The panel is the first event offered by the hospital’s recently launched Tick-Borne Disease Resource Center, a place to go for education and facilitated access to medical care related to tick bites. An advisory panel consists of nine different medical specialists who address the spectrum of issues associated with the different diseases ticks are known to carry and transmit.

Two seats on the East Hampton Village Board will be filled on June 17, when voters go to the polls from noon to 9 p.m. The Emergency Services Building on Cedar Street is the polling place.Elbert Edwards and Bruce Siska, incumbent board members, are up for re-election and are running unopposed.

Gen. Michael Hayden, a former director of the National Security Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency, was the guest speaker at Monday’s Memorial Day parade and services in East Hampton. Mr. Hayden, a retired Air Force four-star general, began his speech by mentioning his father, who will be 93 in 10 days, and whom he called “the real veteran in the Hayden family.”

An Isuzu box truck struck the overpass on Accabonac Road in East Hampton, less than 24 hours after the Long Island Rail Road repaired damages from a truck strike at the North Main Street bridge.

    The Amagansett Fire Department’s annual Classic Car Show will have a special purpose this year. Proceeds from the event, which happens on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., will benefit a July 12 parade that will mark the department’s 100th anniversary. The rain date is Sunday.

    Twelve trophies, including one for a people’s choice award, will be conferred upon the winning vehicles in various categories, said Steve Graboski, a member of the fire department and chairman of the car show. Nat Raynor III, also of the department, will head the panel of judges.

    Larry Zimmerman of Springy Banks Road and Ellen Zimmerman of Sherrill Road, both in East Hampton, have announced the engagement of their daughter, Marti Laran Zimmerman, to Stephen Kenneth Lynch Jr. He is a son of Stephen K. and Regina Lynch of East Hampton.

    Ms. Zimmerman graduated from Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla., and is a manager at the Gap in Bridgehampton. Mr. Lynch, a 2001 East Hampton High School graduate, became a partner in the family contracting business after high school. His father is now head of the East Hampton Town Highway Department. 

As expected, the East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals voted on Friday to grant variances and a special permit for AT&T to install 12 antennas on a 44-foot-tall oil storage tank at the P.C. Schenck and Sons facility on Newtown Lane. The hearing had stretched over several months during which neighbors had voiced concern about noise and potential health impacts of radio frequency emissions. 

Events through Friday, May 16

The National Association of Letter Carriers will hold its annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive on Saturday, and “participation couldn’t be easier,” the president of the association said on its website.

Postal patrons have been asked to do their part by placing bags of nonperishable food by their mailboxes before their letter carriers’ scheduled pickup time on Saturday. The bags will be collected and delivered to food distribution charities. This is the 22nd year for the food drive, and letter carriers across the country are taking part.

Members of the Montauk Citizens Advisory Committee let it be known on Monday that they are not too happy with the fix the Army Corps of Engineers announced last week to curb erosion on downtown beaches.

Richard Malik Atkinson, 20, became an Eagle Scout, the highest award in scouting, at a ceremony on Sunday at the Montauk Firehouse.

Boy Scouts who reach that level must create a project that will benefit the community. Mr. Atkinson built and erected 20 bat houses, which could mean fewer bothersome insects in Montauk this summer. Bats catch mosquitos, spiders, flies, and other insects.

The Rev. Robert Stuart, pastor emeritus of the Amagansett Presbyterian Church, will be honored on the occasion of his 80th birthday on Sunday following the 11 a.m. worship service. The Rev. Steven Howarth, the church’s present pastor, has invited Mr. Stuart to preach in the pulpit.

Mr. Stuart served as pastor in Amagansett for 17 years, retiring in 1998. Born in Minneapolis and raised in suburban St. Louis, he earned a master’s degree in American history at the University of Wisconsin before graduating from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1962.

East Hampton Village Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. presented a tentative  budgetof almost $20.3 million for the fiscal year, which begins on Aug. 1, at a village board meeting last Thursday, which would pierce the state-imposed 2-percent increase in property taxes. If the budget is approved by the board after a public hearing on June 20, spending would increase by 2.75 percent, or $542,870.

The Save Second House committee, a brand-new arm of the Montauk Historical Society, has four members and some big ideas for restoring the run-down building, which houses a museum.

The committee includes Honora Herlihy as its chairwoman, Nora Franzetti as secretary and treasurer, Lawrence Cooke, who has been working to establish an Indian Museum on the north side of the property, and Kathryn Nadeau, who replaced Elizabeth White last month as president of the historical society.

The Montauk Fire Department is looking for people willing to train as volunteer emergency medical technicians for its ambulance squad. An informational meeting will be held at the firehouse on Wednesday at 7 p.m. to explain what the position requires and how much training is needed for certification.