East Hampton Town property tax bills for 2013-14 will be mailed tomorrow, with the first half  due on Jan. 10. The second half will be due by the end of May.

    Property owners who wish to pay their taxes before receiving the bill may do so by visiting the office of the town tax receiver at 300 Pantigo Place, or by calling that office. Payments may also be made by phone or online using a credit card.  The address is officialpayments.com and the phone number is 800-487-4567. Those doing so will be asked to enter a jurisdiction code, which is 4216.

    The company providing these services will charge a fee based on the amount of taxes paid. The taxpayer will be advised of the amount before finalizing the payment, and a confirmation number will be issued.

    Four East Hampton Town Board hearings next Thursday on requests for changes to the town zoning code are expected to draw a crowd. Petitions have been circulating against all of the proposals.

    Two of the projects, however — including the most controversial, the proposed 555 Amagansett 79-unit senior citizens housing development — are unlikely to gain traction in the face of a thumbs-down issued last week by the Suffolk County Planning Commission.

    A town board must have a majority-plus-one vote to act counter to the commission’s advisory vote against a zoning request. Two of the board’s five members — its Democrats, Peter Van Scoyoc and Sylvia Overby — have already taken a stance against both the 555 project and a proposed downzoning of 19 acres of farmland along Cedar Street in East Hampton, from a five-acre minimum lot size to a one-acre minimum. The two voted against holding hearings on the requests.

    Putnam Bridge, the developers behind 555, have asked town officials to create a new zoning category, a senior citizens housing overlay district, and to place their land, the 24-acre former Principi farm on Montauk Highway, into it.

    John Talmage, through a limited partnership called Diamond T, has requested a zone change on his family’s Cedar Street land so that 16 house lots could be created, with 25 percent of the property to become an agricultural reserve. Under the current zoning and a farmland designation, the site could contain only four house lots, with 70 percent of it set aside as an agricultural reserve.

    Mr. Talmage has been appealing to the town board for months, arguing that  a classification of the farmland as “prime soils” — the basis for two upzonings to date — was erroneous. Therefore, he has said, the parcel should be returned to its original one-acre residential zoning.

    Town officials have expressed concern that doing so would set a precedent that could be applied to other East Hampton farmlands, resulting in the loss of those areas for farming.

    The third proposal scheduled for a hearing next Thursday is on a proposal to change the zoning classification on a property at the corner of Amagansett’s Main Street and Hedges Lane from a half-acre residential zone, with limited business uses allowed, to a central business designation, adding the potential for more commercial uses. The property, which is in the Amagansett Historic District, had until recently been the location of Balasses House Antiques.

    Yesterday, inconsistencies came to light in the language of the resolution passed unanimously by the town board setting the hearing on the rezoning, and it had not been determined by press time what course of action must legally be taken.

    As of early this week, close to 1,500 people had signed an online petition, at change.org, against all of the rezonings, and organizers were hoping to increase that number to 2,000, according to an e-mailed appeal.

    The petition calls the proposed zoning code changes a “last minute raid on our zoning code [that] increases overdevelopment,” being perpetrated by the outgoing town board Republicans’ “Wilkinson majority . . . as their last act before stepping down from power.”

    “They could immediately adopt zoning regulations contrary to the goals of our comprehensive plan,” the petition says.

    By far the deepest concern has centered on the so-called 555 project, which as proposed is not allowed under current zoning. The 79-unit complex would include both houses and apartments for persons aged 55 and up to be sold at market rates, except for eight apartments to be marketed as “affordable” housing, at $550,000.

    The county planning commissioners, in their 11 to 2 vote against the proposal on Dec. 4, said that the development is counter to several goals of the town comprehensive plan, echoing advice by town planners to the town board. Commissioners noted that the 555 plan lacked affordable housing, that appropriate environmental review of the proposals had not taken place, and that it would allow development on prime agricultural soil, saving virtually none of it. The allowable development of the site under current zoning would require preservation of 70 percent of the farmland.

    Residents opposed to the large-scale development feared that the outgoing Republican majority might vote after the hearings, which are set for the board’s last scheduled meeting of the year, to approve the developer’s request.

    A new Democratic board majority will take office next year, which would make approval of the controversial zone changes highly unlikely.

    According to David L. Calone, the planning commission chairman, the entire incoming town board – four Democrats and a Republican — wrote to the commission asking it to reject the project.

    Health insurance costs for East Hampton Town employees will rise next year under the New York State Health Insurance Program much less than town officials had feared, just 1.8 percent.

    In preparing the 2014 budget this fall, before the state program had tallied its costs for next year, Supervisor Bill Wilkinson included enough money in the employee insurance budget to cover an increase of up to 10 percent. Before the budget’s adoption late last month, the amount was dropped about $500,000, at Mr. Wilkinson’s request, to cover an increase of only 5 percent. New projections, he said at the time, indicated that the costs would not be as high as at first anticipated.

    Under state law, town budgets must be adopted by Nov. 20. However, NYSHIP did not confirm its cost figures for next year until Nov. 29.

    The $500,000 change was made over the objections of Councilwoman Sylvia Overby and Councilman Peter Van Scoyoc, the town board’s two Democrats, and of Len Bernard, the town budget officer, who advised budgeting for at least a 7-percent increase.

    Leaving the budget as originally proposed, Mr. Van Scoyoc said, would prevent a possible shortfall. He suggested that any funds collected from taxpayers for the health insurance premiums in excess of their cost could be set aside for future insurance costs.

    The disagreement resulted in both Democrats voting on Nov. 19 against the adoption of the $69.4 million budget.

    On Dec. 3, Mr. Wilkinson introduced a resolution calling for the surplus  between the approved budget and the actual insurance cost to be transferred into the “employee benefit reserve,” and “used to offset future expenses related to employee benefits.”

    Mr. Bernard, who has been tapped by incoming Democratic Supervisor-elect Larry Cantwell to stay on as budget officer, expressed some confusion last week about the resolution, which was, he said, prepared by Mr. Wilkinson without consulting him. Its purpose and specific intent were unclear, he said in an e-mail, and “I have not received any clarification on the resolution or its intent.”

    “We have no general ‘employee benefit reserve’ as referred to in the resolution,” Mr. Bernard wrote. Pursuant to fiscal regulations applied to East Hampton under a state-approved deficit correction plan, the town has established reserve funds earmarked for employee retirement costs and accrued benefit payouts.

    The budget officer also noted that “we do not yet have surplus for 2014 because we are still in 2013, and surplus cannot be generated when we have not even collected revenue or sent out tax bills. Normally surplus (and the existence of the cash that composes surplus) is something you identify at the end of the fiscal year and at that point use it to fill reserves.”

    Mr. Van Scoyoc and Ms. Overby voted against the Dec. 3 resolution, which passed along party lines by a 3 to 2 vote.

    After the NYSHIP announcement of next year’s rates, Mr. Wilkinson sent out a press release touting his “zero-based budgeting” practices.

    “From a budgeting point of view,” he said in the release, “we are glad we reduced the current and future tax liability for our residents. Absent of insisting on maintaining the financial disciplines which saved us in the first place, history could very easily repeat itself,” he said, referring to the financial disarray he inherited when he took office in 2010. 

Beginning next Thursday, the New York State website through which hunting and fishing licenses are bought and big-game and turkey kills recorded will be unavailable while the system is overhauled.

Joe Martens, the commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation, said in a release that the move is part of a statewide effort to consolidate licensing operations. The changeover is expected to last one to two weeks.

The website blackout means that those planning to get licenses to hunt or fish in New York State must do so before Wednesday. The current sales page can be accessed via dec.ny.gov.

Hunters are required by law to report deer and turkey harvests within seven days of killing the animal. During the blackout period, hunters will not be able to report their harvest. They will be given a seven-day grace period to report their kills once the new system is functional.

East Hampton Town

Hunting Deadline Tomorrow

    Applications to hunt deer on East Hampton Town lands are due in the town clerk’s office on Pantigo Road by 4 p.m. tomorrow. Permits for individual hunters will be awarded in a lottery-type drawing. The 2014 deer-hunting season will open on Jan. 6 and last for the month, excluding Saturdays and Sundays. Guidelines are available from the clerk’s office.

New York State

D.E.C. Website Blackout

    Beginning next Thursday, the state website through which hunting and fishing licenses are bought and big-game and turkey kills recorded will be unavailable while the system is overhauled. Joe Martens, the commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation, said in a release that the move is part of a statewide effort to consolidate licensing operations. The changeover is expected to last one to two weeks.

    The website blackout means that those planning to get licenses to hunt or fish in New York State must do so before Wednesday. The current sales page can be accessed via dec.ny.gov. Hunters are required by law to report deer and turkey harvests within seven days of killing the animal. During the blackout period, hunters will not be able to report their harvest. They will be given a seven-day grace period to report their kills once the new system is functional.

       It will soon be harder for business owners to park their commercial vehicles overnight on the streets and in the driveways of residential neighborhoods.

       On Tuesday, the East Hampton Town Board agreed to adopt a resolution banning the parking of big work trucks and other heavy equipment from residential streets between the hours of midnight and 6 a.m.

       The decision came in response to months of appeals from residents of Springs, who had complained that large trucks and other construction and landscaping equipment parked on neighborhood streets were causing a safety hazard and devaluing their property.

       Board members concurred that tougher restrictions were required for big trucks, excluding pickups and vans, but had some misgivings. Councilwoman Theresa Quigley, who later in the meeting unveiled a study showing that two-thirds of the businesses in town are located in a nonbusiness zoning district, said she did not want to make things more difficult for business owners. But she said the board could not ignore a situation where contractors’ trucks block narrow residential streets.

       Councilman Dominick Stanzione expressed concern that if a homeowner were having a project done and a contractor found it necessary to leave a truck at the site overnight, it might be unfairly ticketed. After some discussion with John Jilnicki, the town attorney, the board agreed that residents who faced such a situation could call police and explain their predicament.

       Mr. Stanzione also wondered where business owners who do not own or lease commercial property elsewhere and have no space for their trucks on their own property would park them.

       The East Hampton Town Democratic Committee feted its own during a holiday party at the Palm restaurant in East Hampton on Friday, honoring retiring Justice Catherine A. Cahill for her 20 years of service to the town and saluting a number of committee members for their work on this year’s campaign.

       Among the crowd of 95 guests were Supervisor-elect Larry Cantwell, Councilwoman-elect Kathee Burke-Gonzalez, and Steven Tekulsky, who was elected to take Ms. Cahill’s place on the bench.

       Andrew Harris of Montauk, a committee member, was named the Democrat of the Year, in part for his “countless hours and effort to the tasks of fulfilling the duties of a committeeman as well as bringing new energy and vitality to the Montauk Democratic community.” Betty Mazur, the committee’s vice chairwoman, got a nod for her “tireless management of the Democrats’ get-out-the-vote project year after year,” and Christopher Kelley, chairman of the campaign committee, was proclaimed “Major Domo Campaign 2013.” Both have the T-shirts to prove it.

       Also at the party, Arlene Coulter, another committee member, announced the creation of a new student internship in memory of the late Phyllis Madan, a member of the Democrats’ executive committee.     

       If all goes according to plan, solar panels could be cropping up next year on a number of vacant parcels owned by East Hampton Town.

       On Tuesday, the town board, acting at the request of Councilman Dominick Stanzione, agreed to seek bids from solar contractors to lease as many as 14  town-owned parcels, from Wainscott to Montauk. Mr. Stanzione said the project was the first step toward realizing a far-reaching objective adopted last summer by the town’s energy sustainability advisory committee, to which he is the liaison.

       The goal is to reduce the town’s energy consumption by 20 percent over the next decade. Leasees would pay the town an annual fee and make a profit by selling the electricity generated back to the Long Island Power Authority. 

       The program is being offered in conjunction with LIPA, which wants to expand solar power production on the island by 100 megawatts in the coming years through its Clean Solar Initiative, Mr. Stanzione said. LIPA has targeted the five eastern towns for up to 40 megawatts, with individual projects limited to 3-megawatt solar arrays.

       The Sag Harbor Village Zoning Board of Appeals, which has spent the better part of the past three years reviewing an application to expand the Harbor Heights gas station on Route 114, announced at a work session on Monday that it needs a little more time before making a decision.

       After a 90-minute review of the plan, which seeks variances for the reconstruction of the existing building there into a 718-square-foot convenience store, the addition of gas pumps, and landscaping along neighboring property lines, the board agreed to schedule another work session, tentatively set for Jan. 10 at 2 p.m., at which it expects to hammer out a decision. It is to be formally adopted at the board’s Jan. 21 meeting.

       “It’s difficult because there so many weird, esoteric considerations,” the board’s chairman, Anthony Hagen, said yesterday. “We have had so much material thrown at us, some of which is not relevant.”

       Over the years, the project, proposed by the property’s owner, John Leonard, has been scaled back considerably. It now requires only three variances, but opposition has remained fierce, with neighbors and other Sag Harbor residents arguing that the expansion would over-commercialize a residential neighborhood and mar a gateway to the village.

       Mr.  Hagen said the Z.B.A. had yet to take a straw vote on whether it will come down in favor of or against the application, or somewhere down the middle. “We’re still jelling,” he said.

       The East Hampton Town Republican Committee looked to a familiar face for its new leader when it elected Tom Knobel as its chairman on Dec. 11.

       Mr. Knobel, a former town councilman and trustee, was the committee’s vice chairman. He will replace Kurt Kappel, who stepped down after a two-year term. Mr. Knobel previously served eight years as the G.O.P. chairman before giving up the post in 2005.

       The committee will elect a vice chairman in the coming weeks, Mr. Knobel said.

       “I’m stepping up to provide both continuity and consistency,” said Mr. Knobel. Although the next town election will not be until 2015, Mr. Knobel said “the big Congressional race will certainly draw a lot of attention.”

       The First Congressional District seat is now held by Representative Tim Bishop, a Democrat. State Republican Senator Lee Zeldin has already announced that he will challenge the six-term incumbent in 2014. Mr. Zeldin ran against Mr. Bishop in 2008.

       “We have to attempt to turn people out and alert folks to the way things should be run in Washington,” Mr. Knobel said.

       Although Republicans lost their majority on the East Hampton Town Board, saw their majority shrink on the trustees, and lost the only other two contested elections, for town justice and assessor, Mr. Knobel refused to categorize the 2013 election, in which the party failed to field a supervisor candidate, as a failure.

       “Our clerk candidate and highway superintendent candidate flat-out won, and we split the council race,” Mr. Knobel said, referring to Carole Brennan and Steve Lynch, Republican candidates who ran unopposed and were cross-endorsed by Democrats and the Independence Party for town clerk and highway superintendent, and Town Clerk Fred Overton, who won one of two seats on the town board.

       The Republican cause was hurt when County Legislator Jay Schneiderman, a former supervisor, expressed interest in running for his old job again, but then changed his mind last spring.

       “He waffled about his interest in being supervisor. He indicated he wanted it and then he didn’t,” Mr. Knobel said. “We would have loved to have a supervisor candidate. That colors the whole thing.”

       The race for supervisor was further complicated when the Democratic candidate, Larry Cantwell, declined a last-minute Republican effort to cross endorse him.

       “That part was interesting. I have not seen a whole lot of political candidates who refuse cross endorsements,” said Mr. Knobel.