The composition of the East Hampton Town Trustees will remain largely unchanged following Tuesday’s vote. Unofficial results indicate that all seven of the incumbent trustees were re-elected. With absentee ballots yet to be counted, however, the winners of the final two positions on the nine-member board are yet to be determined.

       Diane McNally, the trustees’ clerk, was easily re-elected, with an unofficial tally of 3,131 votes. Stephanie Forsberg won 3,490 votes, Stephen Lester received 3,431 votes, and Timothy Bock, 3,045 votes. Nathaniel Miller won 2,965 votes, Sean McCaffrey received 2,836 votes, and 2,669 voters cast ballots for Deborah Klughers.

       All but Mr. Lester and Ms. Klughers ran on the Republican, Conservative, and Independence tickets. Mr. Lester ran with backing from the Democratic and Independence Parties, and Ms. Klughers ran on the Democratic and Working Families tickets.

       As for the remaining two seats, yesterday, pending a count of absentee ballots, the unofficial count had Brian Byrnes, on the Democratic and Independence ticket, winning 2,492 votes, and Dennis Curles, running with Republican, Conservative, and Independence Party backing, with 2,438. Brian Pardini, also with the Republican, Conservative, and Independence Party backing, was just 7 votes behind Mr. Curles, with 2,431 votes. Afton DiSunno, a Democrat, was within striking distance with 2,360 votes.

       Yesterday, Ms. McNally expressed relief at Tuesday’s outcome and called the result an affirmation of her colleagues’ efforts. As the present term concludes and with the town still addressing Hurricane Sandy’s aftermath, “what we’ve been doing to reaffirm trustee policies, although it caused a little angst to people, once they understood what was going on they supported us across the board.”

       Ms. McNally referred to the trustees’ assertion of their jurisdiction over the bottomlands of town waterways, and their move last spring to condense the 90 moorings set aside for large boats within an area of Three Mile Harbor, which angered some boat owners.

       “As an incumbent, you’re seeking confirmation that what you’ve done for your community is right. We’re all pleased and honored that we are adequately representing the people that voted for us,” she said.

       As the clerk, Ms. McNally holds a full-time position on the board and is effectively the face of the body, which has overseen the town’s common lands since the Dongan Patent of 1686 granted it that authority. “Being in that position,” she said of her role, “it’s great to represent my colleagues in a way that hasn’t cost them their position in the town.”

       The state of the town’s shorelines, Ms. McNally said, will remain an important issue on which trustees will assert their jurisdiction. The body has sought to prevent, with limited success, rock revetments from being constructed on beaches, and often clashes with beachfront property owners who erect fencing and other erosion-control structures. “I’m very interested to see how the new town board handles that,” she said.

Contractors and homeowners who for years have avoided paying dump fees by leaving building debris and household castoffs in the woods along Town Line Road and Merchant’s Path, north of Montauk Highway in Wainscott, might want to think again: Someone may be watching.

The East Hampton Town Board on Tuesday agreed to let Highway Superintendent Stephen Lynch purchase low-cost video cameras that they hope will catch illicit dumpers in the act.

“There’s some feeling that this is a dumping area,” said Councilwoman Theresa Quigley.

“There needs to be a concerted effort that this is no longer a no-man’s land,” said Councilman Peter Van Scoyoc.

The board also gave the go-ahead for the Highway Department to make signs announcing that the area is under video surveillance to thwart would-be scofflaws.

Supervisor Bill Wilkinson suggested the town “try to engage a private-public partnership to clean it up” that would involve enlisting the aid of Boy Scouts, high school students, and other community groups in a clean-up day.

“I’d also like to see violators do some community service,” said Mr. Van Scoyoc.

Zachary Cohen, chairman of the town’s nature preserve committee, said cameras would probably also record a large number of motorcyclists taking their bikes along trails in the area.

Mr. Wilkinson said the cameras might have yet another use.  “We’ll get a deer count, too,” he remarked.       

       Residents of East Hampton Village and the portion of Sag Harbor in East Hampton Town have apparently been getting off easy when it comes to paying their share of the costs for the Montauk Playhouse and other town projects that were financed by bonds in 2005, 2006, and 2008.

       The issue was brought to the town board’s attention last Thursday by Zachary Cohen, a former member of the town’s financial advisory committee who came within a whisker of defeating Supervisor Bill Wilkinson in 2011. Although Mr. Wilkinson, town budget officer Len Bernard, and Nawrocki Smith LLP, the town’s auditors, have often clashed with Mr. Cohen over his questioning of town finances, this time everybody is playing nice.

       Mr. Bernard said this week that Dave Tellier, a partner with Nawrocki Smith, will meet with town officials on Friday to review Mr. Cohen’s concerns and begin to make the necessary corrections.

       The biggest error involves some $6 million in expenses for the playhouse that were included in bonds issued in 2005 and 2006, according to Mr. Cohen. Those bonds should have been paid for out of the whole-town fund, which covers projects that theoretically benefit all town residents. Instead, they have been paid out of the part-town budget, which covers expenses that do not benefit residents of the incorporated villages.

       Mr. Cohen said that if the playhouse error is not corrected, going back to when the bonds were first issued in 2005 and extending forward until they are all paid off in 2026, residents outside the villages will end up paying more than $2 million in principal and interest that rightfully should be paid for by village residents.

       To date, according to Mr. Cohen, residents outside the villages have improperly paid an estimated $750,000 in taxes for projects that benefited everyone in town.

       The good news, according to Mr. Bernard, is that correcting the errors will have a negligible impact on tax rates. It will mean, though, that the town will have to shift surplus from its whole-town fund to the part-town fund to account for the mistake. That would leave the town with about $8 million in surplus in the whole-town fund and $3.5 million in the part-town fund, up from about $1.5 million, which Mr. Bernard said would be a healthier position anyway.

       He said Mr. Cohen’s findings were aftershocks from the administration of former Supervisor Bill McGintee, which amassed nearly $30 million in unaccounted-for deficits by the time he left office.

       In attempting to unravel the finances, the town and its representatives, as well as officials from the state comptroller’s office, went over hundreds of bonded items and agreed in February 2011 that it appeared that all bond payments were properly assigned, based on the findings of Nawrocki Smith, Mr. Bernard said.

       But, he said, minor problems were still to be expected. “When things pop up, you deal with it, and things will be popping up for years.”

       Mr. Bernard said it was likely a simple mistake — an assumption that village residents would not use the facility — that led to the playhouse bonds being assigned to the part-town fund. “But the playhouse can be used by anybody, like the beaches,” he said. “Whether you live in the village or not, you can use the town beaches.”

       Mr. Cohen, a self-described financial wonk, said he first uncovered the errors in 2011 when he was running for supervisor and planned to correct them if elected. He said he revisited the issue this year and chose to bring it to the town board after the election so it would not become a campaign issue.

       He said he hoped the town would be able to correct the errors before it officially adopts its 2014 budget on Tuesday, but if not it could still make the correction in the form of internal transfers after the new year.

       The East Hampton Aviation Association, the group that has vociferously defended East Hampton Airport against what it says are unreasonable efforts to limit its use and even shut it down, last week asked the East Hampton Town Board to delay a hearing on the airport capital plan until after the administration of Supervisor-elect Larry Cantwell settles in.

       Gerald Boleis, the association’s president, made the request in a letter to Town Supervisor Bill Wilkinson dated Nov. 9. It requests that the hearing, originally set for next Thursday, be postponed “until at least February 2014 to provide the new administration an opportunity to review the plan prior to the public hearing.”

       The move might appear to be an olive branch to airport opponents, but Mr. Boleis said yesterday that it was simply in recognition of the slow pace of the political process.

       “Realistically, nothing is going to happen between now and the end of the year,” he said. “Whatever resolution they do now, the board could change next year.”

       The current Republican majority on the board has been friendly toward the airport and could reasonably be expected to pass a capital plan to its liking before turning off the lights and passing its office keys to the new Democratic majority.

       Mr. Cantwell said during the campaign that he doubted accepting Federal Aviation Administration grants would have an impact on town efforts to impose reasonable restrictions on the airport. Fred Overton, who will be the lone Republican on the new board, supports seeking federal funding. Incoming Councilwoman  Kathee Burke-Gonzalez, who like her fellow Democrats, Sylvia Overby and Peter Van Scoyoc, has expressed concerns about the airport, said she would favor holding off on seeking additional F.A.A. funding until the town is assured it will be allowed to clamp down on noisy helicopters and other annoyances. That could result in a majority that could block efforts to obtain federal grants.

       Airport opponents have expressed fear that if the town moves to accept additional grants from the F.A.A., efforts to impose a curfew and limits on the type of aircraft that can use the airport will be in vain.

       Mr. Boleis disputed that notion, saying that the shutdown of the federal government was still having ripple effects. “Even if the town asked the F.A.A. for money, the government is not going to be writing a check between now and the end of the year,” he said.

       A unanimous town board in 2012 adopted an airport master plan and requested F.A.A. funding for the construction of a deer fence around the airport, he recalled.

       “It’s been two years and nothing has been done. It is disappointing, but we think nothing will happen [next Thursday] either.”

East Hampton Town

Town Vehicles Up for Grabs

       East Hampton Town has placed a number of vehicles for sale online at auctionsinternational.com,  where bids will be accepted through Dec. 2.

       The cars and trucks include pickups, dump trucks, former police cars, and more.

Deer Project Collaboration

       With a 3-to-1 vote on Tuesday, the East Hampton Town Board opted to participate in the Long Island Deer Project, a collaboration between the Long Island Farm Bureau and the United States Department of Agriculture to reduce the deer herd in the five East End towns. The town expects to join East Hampton Village in allowing a deer-killing effort to be undertaken; the cost to each municipality is expected to be $15,000.  Town Councilman Dominick Stanzione, who has advocated for the town’s participation, was absent from the vote; Councilwoman Sylvia Overby voted against the resolution, saying additional information was needed.

New York State

Grant for Fuel Facility

       Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. announced last week that East Hampton Town and Village have been awarded $400,000 from the state’s Local Government Efficiency Grant Program for construction of a new joint fuel facility, which will replace and relocate aging facilities.

       A town-conducted feasibility study had concluded that a joint facility would save money through a reduced per-gallon cost for fuel, allow for state-of-the-art inventory control and billing, and reduce environmental impacts. The facility will be equipped with a generator and safety measures to ensure the site is operating according to local, state, and federal requirements for toxic and hazardous materials.

       The Local Government Efficiency Grant Program, administered by the New York Department of State, provides technical assistance and competitive grants to local governments for the development of projects that will save money and improve municipal efficiency through shared services, cooperative agreements, mergers, consolidations, and dissolutions.

      While the East Hampton Town clerk waits for delivery of a vault to store town records, to be placed in or adjacent to the new Town Hall building that opened four years ago, a storehouse of official records is moldering in the basement of the old Town Hall.

       Abandoned and left shuttered, unheated and uncooled, the old building, which had occasional mold problems that were quickly dealt with when it was occupied, has become so infected with mold that employees, after going there to fetch files, have complained to Ed Michels, the town’s safety officer, of headaches and sinus problems.

       Mr. Michels said this week that the chief fire marshal, Dave Browne, has been asked to inspect the building and consider posting keep-out signs.

       While the building was still in use, its courtroom was sealed off and condemned due to a leaking, crumbling ceiling.

       The building has been targe ted for an overhaul and renovation to create a “European office landscape” — an open floor plan accommodating numerous town departments that would be moved from their present sites, including the nearby Pantigo Place office complex — using a $536,425 New York State Local Government and Efficiency Program grant awarded to East Hampton in June. The grant rewarded efforts from 2010 to 2012 under Supervisor Bill Wilkinson’s administration to reduce and reorganize the town staff and to establish better financial controls.

       The open work space design envisioned for the renovated old Town Hall is “intended to provide a more collaborative and humane work environment,” according to the grant application submitted to the state by the town, and “a more conducive work environment [that] will create greater work flow efficiencies and positively impact employee confidence levels.”

       Mr. Wilkinson, whose two terms in office conclude in six weeks, did not respond to questions this week about how the mold problem in the building might affect the renovation plan.

       According to Carole Brennan, the assistant town clerk, who will take office as town clerk in January succeeding incoming Councilman Fred Overton, the historic records contained in a vault on the main floor of the old town hall building are intact.

       With a larger vault accessible to the clerk’s office at its new site, in which the majority of the town records could be stored, she said she would be better able to serve members of the public seeking historical information.

       The town recently announced the receipt, with East Hampton Village, of a second state grant, for $400,000, to be used for a joint fueling facility for official vehicles.

       In a press release, Mr. Wilkinson credited the town’s chief auditor, Charlene Kagel, and grants administrator, Nicole Ficeto, for the successful application. “This is an example of how municipal governments can cooperate through a shared services model that benefits the taxpayers of both jurisdictions.  As you know, this now totals over $900,000 in Local Government Efficiency Awards this administration has received in 2013 alone and is a clear template for future administrations to follow,” he wrote.

       Representing the owners of Balasses House, who have applied to change the classification of the Amagansett antiques shop and gallery from limited business overlay to central business, allowing a broader use that he called “general retail,” Rick Whalen, an attorney, sought the support of the Amagansett Citizens Advisory Committee on Monday night.

       The building, at the corner of Main Street and Hedges Lane, is in the heart of the hamlet’s business district, Mr. Whalen pointed out, opposite the Amagansett Square complex and across from the stores on the north side of the street. It is in a residential half-acre zone, but has been used commercially, he said, since “at least the ’70s.”

       General retail, Mr. Whalen explained, includes both “dry and wet retail,” “wet” meaning uses such as a grocery store or deli and “dry” referring to, for example, a clothing store or a bank. A restaurant, he said in answer to a question, would not be an allowable use.

       The building’s coverage is now 5,000 square feet, which could be doubled under the central business classification. Two separate uses are permitted on a commercial lot.

       “They are looking to enhance the value of the property,” said Kieran Brew, the committee’s chairman, who is a real estate broker. The property, which is in the hamlet’s historic district, was said to be for sale for $2.65 million.

       The East Hampton Town Board scheduled a hearing on the proposal for Dec. 19, the same night it will hold two hearings, expected to be contentious, on the controversial 555 senior citizen project in Amagansett. The advisory committee’s discussion of that project is reported elsewhere in this issue.

       Jeanne Frankl, a member of the committee, said the Balasses House proposal ought not to have been included with the other two. “At a hearing that takes up a matter of profound seriousness to us, this hearing has been sandwiched in. It isn’t right. It isn’t fair. They should postpone it.”

       Mr. Whalen said he had had “no idea” that it would be scheduled on that night.

       There is apparently some confusion with the application. “There was delay, delay, from the Building Department” before it issued a new certificate of occupancy granting limited commercial use in September, said Councilwoman Sylvia Overby, the committee’s town board liaison. “I’d like to get a correct planning memo, based on the new C of O, before the town board makes any decision,” she said. “That may delay it again.”

       “None of us is saying, if they postpone it we’ll go for it,” Mr. Brew told Mr. Whalen.

       East Hampton Town Supervisor-elect Larry Cantwell announced on Sunday that he will reappoint Len Bernard as the town’s budget officer in January.

       “While it is the supervisor who makes this appointment, I have consulted with all members of the town board who will hold office in January and they all agree with this appointment,” Mr. Cantwell said in a press release.

       Mr. Bernard served under Supervisor Bill Wilkinson and was the budget officer during Jay Schneiderman’s two terms on the job as well.

       “Len Bernard helped spearhead the financial recovery of the town, reorganized the Finance Department, and developed strong working relationships with the New York State comptroller’s office and the financial professionals who advise the town,” Mr. Cantwell said.

       “While we may be loyal members of different political parties, Len and I agree there is no room for party politics when it comes to the financial health of the town.”

       Mr. Cantwell, a Democrat who ran unopposed, has been holding transition planning meetings in preparation for taking office in January, and said on Sunday that those have included not only his running mate Kathee Burke-Gonzalez but also Fred Overton, both of whom will be new members of the town board.

       Come January, the town board will have a 4-1 Democratic majority, with Mr. Overton as the sole Republican.

       “With the support of the Democrats on the new town board, I have invited Fred and he has agreed to be a full partner in our transition planning,” Mr. Cantwell said.

    Martin Drew of Springs, a political gadfly and frequent writer of letters to the editor, announced last Thursday that he would run a write-in campaign for East Hampton Town supervisor.

    A semi-retired contractor and real estate investor, Mr. Drew, 47, said he was undaunted by the prospect of trying to defeat Larry Cantwell, the popular former East Hampton Village administrator, whose name will be the only one on the ballot, under the Democratic, Independence, and Working Families lines.

    “This is a democracy,” he said. “I think my chances are excellent if the people who are concerned get off the couch.”

    Mr. Drew said that the number of unaffiliated voters in East Hampton outnumber registered Republicans. He suggested that the only way for Republicans and unaffiliated voters to stave off a de facto takeover by the Democrats would be for them to join forces to form a new coalition.

    Recently appointed to the Springs Citizens Advisory Committee, Mr. Drew announced his campaign during the public comment portion of last Thursday’s town board meeting.

    Mr. Drew, who offered a laundry list of problems in the town, said enforcement of the law would be a priority. “With 20 percent of the budget going to the police, I find it odd that enforcement is an issue in our town.”

    It was mostly quality-of-life issues in Montauk that were discussed at a candidates forum hosted by the Concerned Citizens of Montauk on Sunday at the Montauk Firehouse. The current East Hampton Town Board administration was harshly criticized for everything from approving the Shark Attack Sounds party permit for almost 4,000 people at the Montauk Yacht Club over July Fourth weekend to not hiring a coastal engineer to analyze the erosion issue in downtown Montauk.

    Larry Cantwell, who is running unopposed for town supervisor, said that the current town board has hastened the hamlet’s degradation. “When you issue a permit for 4,000 people you’re contributing to the problem. We have to establish limits and that hasn’t been done. These things have got to come to an end,” he said, and received several rounds of applause from a sometimes-angry crowd.

    Through it all, outgoing East Hampton Town Supervisor Bill Wilkinson sat quietly in the back row with a stern look on his face.

    One by one the candidates, who included Suffolk County Legislator Jay Schneiderman and his opponent, Chris Nuzzi; Mr. Cantwell; Town Councilman Dominick Stanzione; the town board hopefuls, Job Potter, Fred Overton, and Kathee Burke-Gonzalez; the town justice candidates, Carl Irace and Steven Tekulsky; the incumbent town assessor, Eugene DePasquale, and his opponent Joe Bloecker, both from Montauk; and Diane McNally, who is running for re-election to the town trustees, touted their accomplishments and plans for the future.

    Mr. Schneiderman, who has served five terms as a legislator, said he hopes to serve a sixth and final term. Mr. Nuzzi said it was time for new leadership.

    Outlining all the places he has been campaigning, Mr. Cantwell said, “I’m not taking this for granted. One of the most important things you can do in a campaign is listen to the people.” He said that the town is facing some very serious issues moving forward, with coastal erosion the most pre-eminent.

    He is disappointed that the current administration has not engaged a coastal engineer and said — to a round of applause — that it is something he would have done a while ago. He said it would be a tragic injustice if downtown Montauk is not maintained and worried about the time frame of the Army Corps of Engineers federal funding. “Do we want a beach under construction next summer?” he asked.

    He also said that the town should be focusing on erosion on the north side of the hamlet, and added that a conversation about climate change, sea-level rise, and a catastrophic event must be considered. “We should be thinking about mitigation and restoration, and we haven’t done that yet,” he said.

    Mr. Stanzione said he has worked on deer management, wastewater management, and taxi legislation. An audience member stood and asked Mr. Stanzione to pledge not to support rezoning a high-priced multiple housing development called 555 in Amagansett, not to agree to support a plan for the Montauk shoreline unless he has the support of the rest of the community, and not to accept Federal Aviation Administration money for the East Hampton Airport along with his “lame duck” administration.

    “Those are three great questions and I’m going to answer no. I’m not going to sit on my hands for the next few months. I am a supporter of F.A.A. funding and I am not going to sit on my hands to wreck that project,” he said.

    Mr. Stanzione was asked by Jeremy Samuelson, the executive director of the Concerned Citizens of Montauk, if he thinks the Beach House, a new boutique hotel in Montauk, should have required site plan review. “I don’t know,” Mr. Stanzione said.

    A woman in the audience asked him why the town board has not taken action on all the alleged illegal club expansions that have recently gone on in the hamlet. She cited the Memory Motel’s outdoor beer garden and a V.I.P. motel room and other issues at Ruschmeyer’s and the Surf Lodge.

    Mr. Stanzione said the board was using a tool — pre-existing nonconforming status — in which these types of businesses usually go away. “But it failed; they didn’t go away,” he said.

    He announced at the forum that he wants to create a capital fund for restoration of the Ditch Plain beach, which the Army Corps seemed unwilling to include in the major downtown beach restoration project it is planning for the hamlet. If his proposal is approved after being vetted by the full town board and the public, it could be added to next year’s capital budget.

    Mr. Potter, who previously served eight years on the town board before stepping down, said that the Beach House should probably have required site plan review but, he said, there are many places that have opened without town review. He spoke of his involvement with the town’s preservation fund during his earlier tenure on the town board, saying that 23 parcels had been saved. He held up charts of the parcels that are now undeveloped, and said there is unspent money in the fund that needs to be spent to preserve them.

    Ms. Burke-Gonzalez said that from listening to constituents she is aware of the proliferation of quality of life issues in Montauk. “Montauk has really changed and we have to rectify that and do something about it,” she said. Asked later in the forum if she would agree to a sand-covered stone wall on the beach if the Army Corps recommended one or would let the available funding pass, she said, “I would agree to it. I would not lose out on the funding.”

    Mr. Overton said Sunday that he thinks the best solution for shoring up the downtown beaches would be by using movable sand-filled geotextile tubes, and it is a project that should get moving as quickly as possible, he said. He had earlier favored the sand-covered stone approach.

    He added that code enforcement in Montauk must be “beefed up” and that town officials must think outside the box to find the funding to do so. “If it requires new legislation then I’m willing to do that,” he said.

    Almost all of the candidates agreed that more code enforcement officers must be hired. Ms. Burke-Gonzalez said they should be equipped with investigative skills to work closely with the Police Department. “It needs to be a priority and you have that commitment from us,” she said.