East Hampton Town

Deer Management Online

Deer management in East Hampton Town is now the subject of a new page of the town’s website, at ehamptonny.gov. Included on the page are the deer management plans adopted by the town and by the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation, aerial deer population survey results, a guide for hunters and landowners who might wish to allow hunting on their properties, information about local venison donation, and links to information about numerous deer-related topics such as tick-borne illnesses and the environmental impacts of deer.

Recent state legislation has reduced the required setback from buildings from 500 feet to 150 feet for bow hunters, which will add to the areas where hunting may take place, with landowners’ permission. In a recent press release, both Town Councilman Fred Overton, the liaison to the town’s deer management advisory committee, and Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell underscored the importance of hunting in controlling the deer population.

Capital Plan Adopted

With a vote last Thursday, the town board adopted a three-year capital spending plan with close to 100 projects totaling $12.9 million.

 The projects in the 2014 through 2016 plan, which must be individually approved and bonded for, include repairs to several town buildings and sports facilities, the purchase of Police and Highway Department vehicles and equipment, a vault for town records, the digitization of records, and new public garbage cans.

Because some existing debt is due to be retired, the town’s overall indebtedness will go down by approximately 20 percent, despite the new borrowing, Supervisor Cantwell said Thursday, while allowing the town to accomplish some needed work.

Seek Contractors for Affordable Housing

Through May 1, the town housing office agent will accept proposals from contractors interested in building affordable single-family houses on two town-owned lots.

The town board will choose an approved contractor, who would then be hired by those next in line on a waiting list for affordable housing maintained by the housing office. The future homeowners would pay for construction of a house. The town will maintain ownership of the lots.

Information and proposals packages will be available beginning Monday from the Office of Housing and Community Development in Amagansett, which will hold a pre-proposal conference for contractors on April 23 at 10 a.m.

Stanzione on Energy Committee

Former Town Councilman Dominick Stanzione was appointed to the town’s energy sustainability committee through a resolution approved by the town board last Thursday. Mr. Stanzione had served as liaison to the group during his time in office.

A second new appointee to the committee added last Thursday is John Franceschina, a representative of PSEG Long Island.

The East Hampton Town Board will hold hearings next Thursday on three potential property purchases, including the 19 acres of Amagansett farmland where a luxury housing development had been proposed, as well as on new legislation governing the establishment of chain stores in the town.

The new zoning law, if enacted, would limit the possible locations for chain, or “formula” stores — those with 10 or more locations worldwide — to central business zones, excluding spots within or within a mile of historic districts, or within a half-mile of a designated historic building.

Planning board approval, after a specific review process and issuance of a special permit, would be required, and limits would be placed on the size and appearance of the formula business.

In addition to hearing from the public on the legislation, the town board will receive a memo about the idea from the planning board, which discussed the code addition at a recent meeting.

The acquisition of the Amagansett acreage is proposed not only to preserve open space and vistas, but also to enable the town to help foster agriculture by leasing the acreage to a farmer. The cost of the site, which is held by a limited-liability corporation called Amagansett Farms Holdings, is $10.1 million, which would come from the community preservation fund.

The plan by the landowners, also known as a Connecticut company called Putnam Bridge, to put up 79 housing units, and their appeal to the prior town board to change the zoning code to allow them to do it, created controversy in the community.

The town’s proposed purchase would include the majority of the land, which is on Montauk Highway at Amagansett’s eastern edge. Putnam Bridge would retain 4.5 acres with highway frontage, which is zoned for affordable housing.

Another subject of a hearing next week will be four parcels on Napeague Harbor Road on Napeague owned by the Bistrian Land Corporation. The cost would be $1.1 million, also to be borne by the preservation fund. The property would be purchased for open space.

The board will also take comments at next week’s hearing on the purchase of an almost half-acre lot on Waterhole Road in Springs from William Kuhl, for $225,000, using the community preservation fund.

The hearings will begin at 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall.

The East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals gave a Wainscott property owner unanimous approval Tuesday night for a second house on a single property, an apparent first since two houses on one site are prohibited by the town code. Members not only approved the proposal but praised it, although one, Don Cirillo, questioned the sincerity of one of the applicant’s stated goals, the preservation of a historic farmhouse.

Jeff T. Blau, the chief executive officer of Related Companies, which Wikipedia calls the largest developer of luxury residences in New York City, bought two adjoining parcels on Five Rod Highway, a town trustee road off Wainscott Main Street, in the summer of 2012 for about $25 million. He plans to create what will essentially be a three-house compound there.

The smaller lot is 2.7 acres and has a house on it which is to be torn down and replaced with a much larger one. The larger parcel, which contains the farmhouse, is largely an open field of just under 11.8 acres. Mr. Blau will build an even larger house there, on the southeastern corner of the property, forming a triangular cluster of three houses. This house will require its own variances, but on Tuesday the board was only considering whether to allow two houses on the larger of the two lots.

Denise R. Schoen, an attorney for Mr. Blau, told the zoning board during an April 1 public hearing that the old house belonged to the Wainscott Topping family and dates to as early as 1660. It is to be moved to the northeastern corner of the property, where it will become a guesthouse, with a section converted to a gym and a tennis court, pavilion, and walkways surrounding it. Ms. Schoen told the board that the house would be preserved for future generations.

Although Mr. Cirillo voted with the majority, he pointed out Tuesday that the house would not be visible from nearby roads. Nor was it to be open to the public. “Better than nothing, I suppose,” he said. “I am not so sure that turning it into a gym is preserving it. I think it would be a nice gesture to allow people into the house once a year.”

Bryan Gosman asked his fellow board members Tuesday if the owner could “mow down the house” at a future date. Cate Rogers, one of the board’s newer members, gave him an emphatic yes.

Although an application to build a second house on a single property has rarely, if ever, been seen in East Hampton, both the town’s lead attorney, Elizabeth Vail, and the attorney for the Z.B.A., Elizabeth Baldwin, said on Monday that such a request was legal.

The 11.8-acre parcel was part of a larger Topping parcel that was subdivided in 1983. Because it is now zoned for five-acre minimum house lots, Mr. Blau’s desire for two houses might have been achieved through another subdivision. However, the land is also in an agricultural district where 70 percent of the land would have had to be set aside. Mr. Blau has promised to leave 70 percent of the lot open in return for the second house.

Alex Walter, the board’s chairman, called the property dazzling on Tuesday. “It is an excellent proposal. I am very much in favor of preserving this historic house,” he said.

     A toll-free telephone number at which residents could register complaints about construction and landscaping noise was one outcome of the East Hampton Village Board's ongoing discussions on restricting the offending activities.

     At its meeting last Thursday, the East Hampton Village Board moved closer to reducing the hours in which construction and landscaping work could be done, and continued to debate restrictions on parking in municipal lots. But a hearing on the former debate was closed and reopened after representatives from the affected industries pressed for clarification of the proposed new rules.

     Barbara Borsack, the deputy mayor, said that she, Richard Lawler, another board member, and Becky Molinaro, the village administrator, had met the day before with representatives of the construction and landscaping industries and the Village Preservation Society. At the meeting, which she described as "very constructive," it was agreed that construction and landscaping work must conclude by 6 p.m. on weekdays and 3 p.m. on Saturdays between June 1 and Sept. 15. Such work by anyone other than a tenant or homeowner is prohibited on Sundays. It was also agreed that radios would be banned from work sites.

     The starting date in which the restrictions would be in effect was moved from May 15 to June 1 "so they could get through Memorial Day, because that's when the big push is to get everything done," Ms. Borsack said.

     A 7 a.m. start time for construction on weekdays was allowed to stand, as representatives of the industries insisted it was essential. "They felt it would be a huge hardship to start at 9," as the board initially proposed, Ms. Borsack said.

     Regarding commercial use of gas or diesel-powered landscaping equipment, the board proposed a start time of 8 a.m. on weekdays and Saturdays from June 1 through the second Friday in December, the latter date coinciding with the conclusion of the village's leaf pickup service.

     "We talked about decibel levels," Ms. Borsack said. "We talked about phasing in new equipment for leaf blowers. I think that's going to take some investigation on our part. . . . We may want to make that a separate issue."

     Joe Morgano of Power Equipment Plus, which sells and repairs landscaping and construction equipment, told the board that Stihl, a manufacturer of such equipment, "is working with me, and they work with other towns and cities across the country, to help with this problem." Mr. Morgano also suggested that landscape companies "need to train their help." A handheld leaf blower, he said, is quieter than those incorporating a backpack and should be used for smaller jobs, for example.

     Margaret Turner of the East Hampton Business Alliance applauded the institution of a hotline for complaints. "That's important to hear the data," she said, "and get some statistics as to where the problems are, perhaps help the village focus in on where the problems lie."

     Kathy Cunningham, speaking on behalf of the Village Preservation Society, told the board that homeowners have to do their part in policing the noise issue. "This can only work collaboratively if there's a functioning hotline, and homeowners need to understand that they need to hire contractors that are observing these rules and regulations."

     "We'll go through the mechanics to get that in place," Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. said of the telephone hotline, "and to make appropriate notification to the public."

     The hearing was closed, but later reopened when Michael Tuths, a landscaper, told the board that a group of his colleagues in attendance were still unclear on how the proposed legislation would affect them. How would the new rules apply to a landscaper who is building a patio, he asked. That is construction, Linda Riley, the village attorney, responded.

     Declan Blackmore of Summerhill Landscapes in Sag Harbor said that 70 percent of his business is construction. "I'm a landscape contractor, but we build gardens," he said.

     "Construction has a starting date and an ending date," Ms. Borsack said, "whereas landscaping is all the time . . . . Supposedly, if you're constructing a patio, it's going to be done, you're not going to be doing it week after week."

     "We're trying to reach agreement between those that don't want the noise and those that have to create some noise to do their work," Mr. Lawler told Mr. Blackmore. "We're not targeting landscapers, we're trying to target the problem."

     The board also continued to seek a solution to the shortage of parking in the village. Its most recent proposal would restrict parking in municipal lots to two hours between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. from May 1 through Dec. 31, and on Fridays, Saturdays, and federal holidays from Jan. 1 through April 30.

     Mayor Rickenbach asked Scott Fithian, the superintendent of public works, for input. Mr. Fithian suggested limiting parking in some or all of the spaces directly behind Village Hardware in the Barnes-Schenck lot to 15 or 30 minutes. "I've had a lot of people complain about getting into the hardware store," he said. Capt. Mike Tracey of the village police said that Chief Gerard Larsen had suggested imposing a 15-minute limit to the spaces adjacent to Waldbaum’s in the Reutershan lot.

     The board also discussed the efficacy of signs in the section of the Reutershan lot designating it exclusively for compact cars. Mary Anna Morris, general manager of the Ladies Village Improvement Society, told the board that, "As someone who is right there every day, that is absolutely not enforced." Sport utility vehicles, she said, regularly occupy spaces there. Many volunteers at the nearby L.V.I.S., she said, are senior citizens and have stated that they would not volunteer their time if they must park in the long-term lot near Lumber Lane during the winter months. "Please keep the local population's needs in mind," she said.

            The mayor said that the board should come up with a definition of a compact car. He asked Mr. Fithian to study that section of the Reutershan lot to see if it could be reconfigured so that the overall lot could accommodate more vehicles. "We have a finite number of parking spaces within the central commercial business core in the village," he said. "We're doing our best to deliver a product that works for everybody."

The supervisors of East Hampton and Southampton Towns will be the guests of the League of Women Voters of the Hamptons in an informal public forum at 7 p.m. Monday at the Hampton Library in Bridgehampton.

East Hampton Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell and his counterpart, Anna Throne-Holst of Southampton, will talk about their plans and priorities. Among the topics will be the possibility of shared municipal services and how that might result in state aid tied to a property-tax freeze. Residents of both towns have been invited to attend and ask questions.

Refreshments will be served before the presentations.

        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.”

        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.

       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.

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.

       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.”