A beach restoration project undertaken by the new owners of the East Deck Motel in Montauk could be extended east and west of the former motel in Ditch Plain, with 1,000 cubic yards of sand added to public property there at private expense, Kim Shaw, East Hampton Town’s director of natural resources, said at a town board meeting on Tuesday.

The East Deck property owners, an ownership group called ED40 L.L.C., whose principals have not been named, have offered to extend the dune being recreated in front of the motel along the town’s Ditch Plain beach to the west, and in front of an adjacent town parking lot, known as “dirt lot,” to the east, Ms. Shaw said.

A continuous dune would be established, she said, along the beach, stretching east to the area where a rock revetment, installed by Montauk Shores Condominiums, will be scaled back according to a recent order by the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation, which found that it had exceeded what was permitted.

“This will fortify that whole area,” Ms. Shaw said, calling it a “great project.”

The Town Highway Department will repair and extend the dirt parking lot, and a pedestrian access to the beach will be created there. The East Deck owners have proposed to install beach plantings on the new dunes, as well as sand fencing, Ms. Shaw said.

The natural resources head said she has been monitoring and photographing the East Deck dune project, and that she would make sure that the work to be done on the town properties is done correctly. Sand already on site for the ongoing project will be used, she said.

“I see this as an opportunity,” Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell said. “The whole Ditch Plains beach area is still suffering the effects” of recent severe storms, he said, and “this is an offer and an opportunity that works well, because it’s consistent with the objectives that the town has already outlined.”The proposal, said Councilman Peter Van Scoyoc, is a “great opportunity to get some additional sand on the beach and build our dunes.”

In addition, Ms. Shaw said, approving the dune restoration will show “that the town also supports a soft solution to beach restoration, when a lot of people are calling for armoring.”

‘The East Hampton Town Board will seek the public’s opinion on banning drinking during the daytime hours when lifeguards are on duty at Atlantic Avenue and Indian Wells Beaches in Amagansett, where large crowds of unruly and drunken beachgoers have gathered in recent summers.

Councilwoman Sylvia Overby said at a town board meeting on Tuesday that the board must act in response to ongoing complaints about Indian Wells, in particular, by those for whom it has been a traditional summer gathering place. “It’s very upsetting,” she said, “to have families say ‘I’m just not going there anymore.’ ”

“It’s different,” she said, “than just taking a beer down, and having a cold beer on a hot day. The behavior is drinking to oblivion.”

The excessive drinking by beachgoers, Councilwoman Kathee Burke-Gonzalez said, creates a problem for lifeguards, and could put them at risk.

Ms. Overby spearheaded the institution last year of a host of changes to beach management at Indian Wells, including limiting access to the parking lot by large vehicles and those lacking the resident parking permits needed to park there. Additional changes will be instituted this year. The changes were said to have been effective at making the parking lot area safer, and decreasing a sense of chaos at the beach. But some have suggested the problems will not really abate unless drinking is banned. “It’s time now to hear from the public” about the idea, Ms. Overby said Tuesday.

Councilman Fred Overton asked whether the ban at the two Amagansett beaches might just prompt the crowd to find a new beach party destinations.

That, Ms. Overby conceded, “raises the question about banning alcohol on all beaches.”

“This is a start,” she said. “At least those who have been using Indian Wells, and to a lesser extent, Atlantic Avenue, will know that we have taken notice.”

“This is in response to a specific problem,” said Councilman Peter Van Scoyoc. “We have had a lot of complaints about these areas,” Mr. Overton agreed.

“You always wonder, if you take an action, what the reaction will be,” said Supervisor Larry Cantwell. “It’s hard to regulate conduct, but clearly we’re trying to address a specific issue here. It certainly bothers the heck out of me that a local family beach like Indian Wells is so severely impacted in a negative way.” 

The hearing has not yet been scheduled.

A recent restructuring of debt through the re-funding of $14.6 million in bonds issued in 2005 will save East Hampton Town $3.3 million over the nine-year life of the bonds.

Richard Tortora of Capital Markets Advisors, a financial advisor to the town, and Len Bernard, the town budget officer, said in a joint release this week that the recent offering drew “an extraordinary amount of investor interest,” from 11 different banks and securities firms. In addition to providing a low 1.8-percent interest rate, the winning bidder, Jefferies, a Manhattan limited liability corporation, will pay the town a $2.26 million premium to purchase the bonds.

The premium will be used to reduce the value of the bonds to be issued to $12.45 million, helping to lower the town’s overall long-term indebtedness.

Mr. Bernard said the demand for East Hampton’s bonds “portends well for the future, seeing that one thing that rating agencies like Moody’s look for in evaluating our credit is the demand for our debt.”

An analysis by Moody’s prior to the sale “showed its continued faith in town management,” said Mr. Bernard, promising that the new administration will continue to improve the town’s financial condition.

“Len Bernard and the finance team deserve credit for their outstanding work improving the town’s financial standing,” Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell said in the release.

East Hampton Town

Eye Federal Dollars for Lazy Point

Federal grant money made available through the Department of Agriculture and the Natural Resources Conservation Service after Hurricane Sandy could be used to purchase property in the floodplain area of Lazy Point on Napeague, Randy Parsons of the Nature Conservancy told the East Hampton Town Board on Tuesday. The goals of the program, to protect wetlands and habitats and reduce development in flood-prone areas, are compatible with the town’s land-acquisition goals, Mr. Parsons said.

The program would allow the purchase of properties from willing sellers, a number of whom have already indicated interest, Mr. Parsons said. The town would own the underlying land, while the federal government would hold the development rights on purchased properties. Funding could be provided for removing buildings and restoring sites.

Board members agreed that Mr. Parsons should continue to work with town staffers to submit an application for the federal money.

Seeking Hearing on Light Trucks

Town Councilman Fred Overton has proposed holding a hearing on the insertion of a definition of “light truck” into the town code, to clarify just what type of vehicles are permitted to be parked overnight on residential lots. The code currently allows only cars and “light trucks,” but does not define that term.

It is difficult, therefore, for ordinance enforcement officers and the town court to cite people who violate the intent of the code, which is to prevent residential properties from becoming parking areas for large commercial vehicles or from being used as business sites. Residents, particularly of Springs, have made numerous complaints to town officials about work trucks on neighborhood properties.

Under the proposal, outlined by Mr. Overton at a town board work session on Tuesday, trucks up to 14,000 pounds would be allowed, and larger trucks, as well as box trucks of any size or weight, would be prohibited. Mr. Overton suggested instituting an appeals process, or delaying the effective date of a new law, to accommodate small-business owners who could be affected by the restrictions. The final details of the law could be adjusted by the board based on public comment, Mr. Overton said.

       The Springs Citizens Advisory Committee has recommended against the purchase of a 16-acre woodland tract on Neck Path, which was the subject of a town board hearing last month.

       The proposed $2.7 million purchase would be made using the community preservation fund, and the site designated for recreation and the preservation of open space.

       In a resolution passed at a meeting of the committee on Feb. 24, and provided last week to the town board, the group expressed its opinion that adequate open space would be maintained should the property remain in private hands, and a pending three-lot subdivision proceed.

       The subdivision calls for an eight-acre reserve at the back of the property. It would create a 4.5-acre lot with an existing house and pool, and two additional lots of 1.9 and 1.5 acres.

       The property is owned by Catherine Lederer and Rodney Plaskett. The pool would be removed, according to the town’s plans, but the house could remain and be used for public programs.

       Taking that house, and the others that would be built in the subdivision, off the tax rolls would cause a loss of tax revenue, the advisory committee told the town board.  And, it said, “if the house were to remain standing, the town would then become responsible for its maintenance, which over time would be considerable if properly maintained.”

       The group suggested that, should the subdivision proceed, the town could then purchase the two smaller properties “at a fraction of the cost of buying the entire property.” 

       Councilman Peter Van Scoyoc pointed out at a recent town board meeting that the tax dollars needed to pay for the education of even one student living on the property must be weighed against any incoming revenue.

       Scott Wilson, the town’s director of land acquisition and management, said at the hearing that the land was in the “Accabonac Harbor critical environmental area,” in the watershed of the harbor, and in a critical area designated by Suffolk County.

       “Reducing development has the potential to positively impact the quality of groundwater and surface waters by reducing contaminants carried into the harbor,” he said.

       The site is adjacent to other town-owned preserved woodlands. “The protection of large blocks of woodland is essential for the preservation of wildlife resources, especially forest interior birds,” Mr. Wilson said. It could provide “an important trail link” between the parcels, and a connection to the Paumanok Path and Jacob’s Farm trails, he said.

       The town board has not publicly discussed the purchase since the Feb. 20 public hearing.

       A new Federal Aviation Administration rule going into effect in early May will be a “significant consideration” in East Hampton Town’s decision-making regarding the town airport and whether to continue taking F.A.A. money, Town Councilwoman Kathee Burke-Gonzalez, the airport liaison, said in a press release this week.

       The ruling will add a new “Stage 3” class of helicopters to the existing Stage 1 and Stage 2 categories, which are based on noise standards. Direct F.A.A. approval is not required for the town, as the airport owner, to restrict access by the noisier (Stages 1 and 2) helicopters. But restrictions on Stage 3 helicopters will not be allowed without F.A.A. approval at airports supported by federal grants, such as East Hampton’s.

       Acceptance of federal airport grants comes with a set of obligatory “grant assurances,” standards which the town must follow in airport management. Pursuant to a lawsuit settlement, several obligations that accompanied acceptance of prior grants will expire at the end of this year.

       That, airport noise advocates have said, will give the town more latitude in enacting restrictions designed to lessen the impact of aircraft noise. Aviation interests disagree, pointing out that overarching F.A.A. requirements will remain in place.

       The town’s airport counsel, Peter Kirsch, has advised the town board that both things are true. However,  in a memo last year he noted that the new helicopter classification could have a significant effect on the town’s ability to put its own airport-use rules in place.

       In a memo this week to the East Hampton Aviation Association, which wants the town to accept F.A.A. money, David E. Schaffer, an aviation attorney engaged by the group, offered his opinion on the effect of the new rule. “F.A.A. approval will be required even if the East Hampton Airport is not receiving grants from the F.A.A.,” he said.

       “With this new rule, the F.A.A. has now imposed an additional hurdle for grant-obligated airports,” Ms. Burke-Gonzalez wrote in the release. “As the town considers whether to remain grant-obligated after Dec. 31, 2014, when grant assurances 22 (a) and (h) expire, the latest F.A.A. rule will be a significant consideration.”

East Hampton Town

Board Suspends Testing

       The East Hampton Town Board agreed Tuesday to suspend $4,000-a-month chemical testing at the scavenger waste plant, which is shut down and serving only as a transfer station for septic waste that is trucked elsewhere for treatment. Testing of the liquids coming into the plant is no longer necessary, Pio Lombardo, a consultant who presented a report on the plant, told the board last month, because no liquids are being released into the ground. Along with the suspension of several other wasteful practices, Mr. Lombardo recommended abandoning all operations at the plant.

Committee Assignments

       Councilwoman Kathee Burke-Gonzalez will serve as liaison to a new senior services committee.By town board resolution onMarch 6, the group will assess “the diverse needs and desires of a senior population that spans three generations,” look at what services are offered by the town and other institutions, and “develop a plan to provide a coordination of services.” Members include private individuals and town staffers as well as representatives of the Y.M.C.A. East Hampton RECenter, East Hampton Library, and East Hampton Healthcare Foundation. In addition, an advisory board on affordable housing has been re-established. In a resolution sponsored by Councilwoman Sylvia Overby, seven members were appointed to the board, which willmake recommendations for establishing affordable housing using the town’s community housing opportunity fund. The group will include Michael DeSario,Katy Casey, Jeanne Frankl, Michelle Thompson, John Lycke, and Barbara Jordan, with Tom Ruhle, the town’s director of housing and community development, and Marguerite Wolffsohn, the planning director, as ex officio members. Job Potter, a former town councilman who did not win election when he ran for a seat on the board last year, will be the chair.

Seeking Diverse Bids

       Bids will be accepted until 3 p.m. on March 27 by the town’s Purchasing Department from those interested in running the food concession at Atlantic Avenue Beach in Amagansett. Bids are also being sought for the purchase of a vehicle for the town police that will be designated for “hostage negotiation.” They will be accepted until 3 p.m. next Thursday.Bid specifications are available from the department office.

A.D.A. Inspections

       Businesses in East Hampton Town will be checked to see if they are instituting “readily achievable” changes allowing easier access by the handicapped, in keeping with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, Councilwoman Kathee Burke-Gonzalez reported Tuesday.

       The town fire marshal will check businesses for compliance at the same time annual fire safety inspections are made. Previously, the councilwoman said, inspections were done only when there were complaints.

       Dave Browne, the town’s chief fire marshal, will send a letter to businesses with information about the basic, “readily achievable” changes they are expected to make. It will be accompanied by a letter from Glenn Hall, a member of the town’s Disabilities Advisory Board, describing what it is like for the handicapped to encounter obstacles in accessing public places.

       The town will also begin making some changes, Ms. Burke-Gonzalez said, by installing handicapped-accessible doors at Town Hall, the Montauk Playhouse, and the Y.M.C.A. East Hampton RECenter.

Tax Receiver Leave of Absence

       A leave of absence granted to Monica Rottach, the town tax receiver, under the Family and Medical Leave Act, was recently extended by two weeks, through Friday.

       Ms. Rottach went on leave early this year after extensive problems came to light regarding annual property tax bills. Nearly one-fourth of town property owners did not receive their bills, which had not been printed, and the mistake was not caught until taxpayers began to make inquiries. Neide Valeira, a town accountant, has been made interim tax receiver.

Repairs to Start at Fort Pond

       Town Councilman Peter Van Scoyoc announced this week that repairs to Fort Pond House in Montauk have been mapped out and that numerous residents and groups have offered to help with labor, donations, and supplies.

       The four-acre waterfront site provides the only public access to the pond,Mr. Van Scoyoc noted at a meeting on Tuesday, adding that the house will provide “a great place” for meetings. The board voted unanimously on March 6 to issue a $75,000 bond to repair the house and clean up the property. Replacement of the roof is expected to start immediately, Mr. Van Scoyoc said.

       The previous town board majority’s decision to sell the site had prompted a public outcry and several lawsuits, and the house had been left in disrepair for several years while the property was for sale.             J.P.

Suffolk County

Tick Advisory Board

       The Suffolk County Legislature last week unanimously passed a resolution creating a tick-control advisory committee to work with the county’s division of vector control on a plan to reduce tick-borne illnesses in the county. The resolution, sponsored by Legislator Jay Schneiderman of Montauk, sets up a 12-member committee that will be led by a member knowledgeable about tick control. Also on the committee will be the director of the division of vector control, the county executive, the Legislature’s presiding officer and deputy presiding officer, DuWayne Gregory and Mr. Schneiderman; the chairmen of the Legislature’s public works and health committees, and the Suffolk County Parks Commissioner. Representatives of an environmental group, of the East End Supervisors and Mayors Association, and of the Cornell Cooperative Extension will also be on the committee. Creation of the committee follows 2013 legislation sponsored by Mr. Schneiderman that calls on vector control to submit an annual plan to reduce instances of Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses.

       Walkers will have an opportunity tomorrow to explore a 57-acre woodland site in East Hampton during a guided hike at 10 a.m. being offered by the East Hampton Trails Preservation Society. Those interested have been asked to meet along Springy Banks Road in front of the former Duke property, where a sign marks the public land, located at the intersection of Hands Creek and Springy Banks Roads.

       The property was purchased from the Duke family by the town and county in 2003. An adjacent 28 acres, the site of the former Boys Harbor camp, is also owned by the county and town. 

       A management plan outlining allowable public activities on the property is being developed and was discussed on Tuesday by the East Hampton Town Board.

       Some trails crisscrossing the property are to be rerouted, so as not to end at private land, said Andy Gaites of the town’s land management department. Trail loops will be created so that hikers will pass by elements of interest, such as glacial erratics or lopped trees.

       Although East Hampton Town normally allows bicyclists to use its hiking trails, Mr. Gaites said that county officials initially resisted that idea, as there have been conflicts between those two user groups on other county lands. An agreement was reached, Mr. Gaites said, to allow both uses at first, but reserve the right, in the management plan, to designate certain trails for either walkers or bikers in the future should problems arise.

       Another question, Mr. Gaites told the board, is whether camping should be allowed. The town’s nature preserve committee has recommended issuing permits to youth groups, such as the Boy and Girl Scouts, to stay overnight, and to have campfires, but the county is against the idea.

       That question “has got to be vetted more,” Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell told the board. “We certainly don’t want to invite overuse of this property in any way,” he said.

       He asked Mr. Gaites to gather more information and return to the board. One suggestion, to be discussed with county representatives, is to allow camping on the adjacent Boys Harbor site instead, but that would require amending that property’s management plan. But, said Councilman Fred Overton, the board should determine what facilities the town would have to provide if camping is to be allowed.

       Water access is another issue. Traditionally, baymen and others have gotten to the shore over a bit of private land. That will likely continue, but, said Mr. Gaites, the nature preserve committee has suggested that the management plan reserve the right to create another, new access to the water on the other side of the property.

       Board members agreed that maintaining public access to the water is a key goal of the land preservation program.

        A campaign to stop PSEG Long Island from completing its installation of 45 to 65-foot-tall poles and high-voltage electrical transmission lines along a six-mile route in East Hampton Town, from a substation at Cove Hollow Road in East Hampton to another at Old Stone Highway in Amagansett, is continuing even though the work is almost done.

       Residents have called for the numerous poles already installed to be removed and for the 33,000-volt lines to be buried underground. Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s intervention is seen as key to stopping the project and forcing the utility to work with the village and town on alternatives. A meeting was held yesterday afternoon in Town Hall with PSEG representatives, aides to State Senator Kenneth J. LaValle and Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr., and local officials. A story about their discussion appears on The Star’s website.

       The governor was reportedly not sending a representative, and he was not likely to get involved, according to Helene Forst, an organizer of the citizens’ group Save East Hampton: Safe Responsible Energy. In an email on Monday, she said that Scott Martella, the governor’s regional representative, had indicated in a phone call that he did not intend to stop the installation.

       Nevertheless, Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell remained hopeful on Tuesday that Albany might intervene. At an East Hampton Town Board work session, he said Mr. Cuomo’s office was “getting that message” and trying to get PSEG to examine alternatives.

       Members of the East Hampton Town Board had agreed earlier this week to follow letters sent to the governor by Supervisor Cantwell and East Hampton Village Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. with one of their own, attached to a “sense of the board” resolution expected to be passed tonight. Councilwoman Kathee Burke-Gonzalez reported Tuesday that she had made her own call to the governor; she and Mr. Cantwell suggested that all those concerned do the same.

       The poles tower over older, 35-foot-tall poles as well as houses, and the transmission lines have caused concern not only over their visual impact, including the severe tree trimming that has been done, but also about safety, should they fall in a storm, as well as any potential for negative health consequences caused by proximity to the high-tension lines.

       The project is part of an upgrade needed to curtail frequent electrical outages and to make the system more resistant to future storms, PSEG has said.

       The utility presented details at a public meeting in September, and said then that burying the lines was cost-prohibitive.

       Ms. Forst and several others attended a meeting last week of the trustees of the Long Island Power Authority, which handed over control of Long Island’s electrical grid to PSEG early this year. Though one trustee moved to have the East Hampton project suspended for two weeks, he was reminded that PSEG is in charge of the work and that LIPA lacks the authority to suspend it.

       At that meeting, and in a letter to Ralph Suozzi, the LIPA board chairman, Ms. Forst said that the PSEG project is counter to the East Hampton Town Comprehensive Plan, which calls for underground utility lines and the protection of scenic vistas and the environment.

       Historical precedent in East Hampton Town for the placement of electrical lines underground was discovered recently by Kieran Brew, a member of the Amagansett Fire Department, who was doing research about the department. An April 17, 1914, item in The Star reported that the East Hampton Electric Light Company was to begin extending its service to Amagansett and that the cables would be laid in conduits under ground.

       “We commend the progressive spirit of our sister hamlet to the eastward in insisting upon having the electric light wires laid underground,” it said.

       Meanwhile PSEG has announced another increase in the power supply charge on Long Island electric customers’ bills, the sixth hike in that many months of the charge, which accounts for about 50 percent of the bill.

        A public presentation of the East Hampton Town Trustees’ 2013 water quality test results will be delivered on March 19 at 6 p.m. at Town Hall. Dr. Christopher Gobler of Stony Brook University, who assisted in the testing, will present the report. The presentation is open to the public.

       Stephanie Forsberg, a trustee, announced the upcoming presentation to her colleagues at the trustees’ Feb. 25 meeting. Ms. Forsberg earned a doctoral degree in marine biology from Stony Brook in 2012.

       The trustees, who manage the town’s beaches, waterways, and bottomlands on behalf of the public, tested waters under their jurisdiction, including Napeague Harbor, Fresh Pond, Accabonac Harbor, Hog Creek, Three Mile Harbor, Northwest Creek, Georgica Pond, and Hook Pond. In the biweekly tests, between the spring and fall of 2013, the trustees looked for harmful algal blooms and coliform bacteria.

       In September, Ms. Forsberg reported to her colleagues that cochlodinium, or rust tide, had been discovered in Three Mile Harbor, Northwest Harbor, and Accabonac Harbor. Cochlodinium is not harmful to humans when ingested but can be fatal to shellfish and finfish.

       In November, the State Department of Environmental Conservation reclassified approximately 15 acres of Hand’s Creek and about 14 acres in Accabonac Harbor, prohibiting the harvesting of shellfish from the areas on a year-round or seasonal basis. A D.E.C. spokesman said that the reclassifications resulted from analyses demonstrating increased levels of fecal coliform bacteria and the potential for shellfish harvested from the areas to cause illness if consumed.

       “I think it’s a great project to continue in 2014,” Ms. Forsberg said of the water quality testing.

       In other news from the meeting, the trustees will support and participate in a workshop to restore eelgrass meadows in Napeague Harbor. Officials of the Marine Meadows Program of the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County, which has received funding under a grant from the Atlantic Coastal Fish Habitat Partnership, hope to host a hands-on workshop on the site on May 18, Deborah Klughers told her colleagues.

       The trustees had issued a letter in support of such a plan a few years ago and have participated in two such events in recent years, with last year’s workshop taking place at the East Hampton Sportsmen’s Alliance Expo at the Amagansett Firehouse. “We wanted to set up a day and have the public come to the beach and do the eelgrass restoration,” Ms. Klughers said.

       The Marine Meadows Program is the newest component of the Cornell Cooperative Extension’s long involvement in the study and restoration of eelgrass, which has declined globally because of pollution and other factors.

       Should the workshop take place as planned, Marine Meadows Program staff will provide equipment and materials and set up assembly stations on the day of the event. After a short presentation and tutorial, participants will help to weave eelgrass into biodegradable burlap discs. Divers from the Cornell Cooperative Extension will then plant the discs.

       Diane McNally, the trustees’ clerk, asked Ms. Klughers and Nat Miller, a trustee and bayman, to select a site for the event.

       “I’d like to have it at the beach,” Ms. Klughers said on Tuesday. “We also were thinking, instead of putting [the eelgrass] in a new space, putting it in meadows that are already there.”