In a release issued Tuesday, Representative Tim Bishop vowed to protect the mortgage interest and charitable contribution tax deductions that are slated to end next year.

Mr. Bishop said that curtailing or eliminating the mortgage interest deduction would reduce the value of housing nationwide, put more homeowners under water, and take the wind out of the recovery.

Citing a study estimating that eliminating the charitable contribution deduction would mean the loss of as much as $150 billion in annual giving, he said social service organizations are already strained by government budget cuts and increased demand for services, and the deduction should be kept in place.

Mr. Bishop, a Democrat, criticized a Republican plan to scale back or eliminate deductions, credits, and exclusions. He specifically found fault with House Republican Paul Ryan’s 2013 budget plan, which he said would extend the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts and lower taxes for the wealthiest Americans while providing virtually no tax cuts for lower-income families.

Mr. Bishop recently proposed an amendment that would have preserved the mortgage interest and charitable contribution deductions in a tax-reform package, but the measure was shot down along party lines.

    In preparation for the coming hurricane season and other potential emergencies, Southampton Town Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst has urged residents by press release to sign up for the town’s emergency communications services. The goal is to establish methods of contact for the dissemination of important and time-sensitive information.

    Individuals and businesses in the Town of Southampton can log on to a secure server through the town’s Web site, SouthamptonTownny.gov, and add or update their contact information. Those without Internet access can call the Suffolk County Office of Emergency Management to supply their information over the phone. Ms. Throne-Holst has promised that the data collected will be used only in emergencies and other instances when communication is vital.

    Portions of the town’s Web site are being overhauled and will soon have links to Facebook and Twitter accounts, so that “friends” and “followers” can access real-time updates regarding emergencies as well as less critical happenings.

    A recent six-hour traffic backup from the closure of two lanes of County Road 39 was cited as an example of how the town needs to be able to send updates via social media regarding detours or closures resulting from road work, accidents, or special events.

    CodeRED, on the other hand, is limited to emergency situations. Residents who register for notification by way of it will be able to receive customized prerecorded messages at home and work or by cellphone. The service can deliver millions of calls, e-mails, and text messages, or it can single out specific neighborhoods, ZIP codes, or commuters.

    In praising the emergency preparedness measures, Southampton Town Councilwoman Bridget Fleming said William Wilson, the chief of police, did a “stand-up job” during Hurricane Irene last year, especially amid budget and staff cuts. She said town leaders got out ahead of the storm and made the rounds. With regard to evacuations, shelters, and communications, she said, “the town is extremely effective.”

    The East Hampton Zoning Board of Appeals had a busy session Tuesday night at Town Hall, holding three hearings for variance and special-permit applications  and handing down two decisions.

    One hearing was somewhat unusual: a request for a variance from the town code to allow a house with a second floor that does not have access from inside. This is at odds with a code provision, aimed at preventing illegal apartments, that reads, “There shall be at least one common entrance on the ground floor, through which every room, other than a utility room, shall be readily accessible by passage through the interior of the residence.”

    Such is not the case in a Napeague house at 90 Shore Road.

    Glen Pushelberg and George Yabu, prominent Canadian interior designers, are “ninety-nine-point-nine  percent finished” with the construction of a house that has separate entrances for the first and second floors, said their attorney, Richard A. Hammer. Instead of an interior access, there is a wide spiral exterior staircase.

    Mr. Hammer recalled that he had first gone before the Z.B.A. in 2009 to present the original plans for “what was essentially a knock-down and rebuild.” He pointed out that the plans clearly showed the exterior staircase.

     “It was missed by the planning department, the zoning board, the architect, and the building inspector,” said Mr. Walter.

    “It is basically a series of off-set boxes,” said Mr. Hammer, adding that the downstairs has no kitchen facilities.

     “It is a beautiful house, there is no doubt about it,” said Mr. Walter. “But at the end of the day, there is an outdoor kitchen. What is to prevent somebody from renting the downstairs as a separate entity?”

     “That is not the intent of the current owner,” Mr. Hammer replied.

    “We all know that [the design] stays with the house, not the current owner,” Mr. Walter said.

    “Unfortunately, we just missed this,” Mr. Hammer said.

    The board explored with the attorney possible remedies, but Mr. Hammer pointed out that a lot of steel had been used in construction and the cost of bringing it into compliance would be prohibitive. “It is a one-of-a-kind house. Anything you do would be to its detriment,” he said.

    Tyler Borsack of the town planning department said the department took no position on the matter. The board kept the hearing open for three weeks to allow comment from the East Hampton Town Trustees, who own the land on which the house is built.

    Another appeal, also for a structure already standing, came from Lauren and Neal Rose of 12 Ocean Lane in Amagansett’s Beach Hampton neighborhood. The Roses have a 160-square-foot deck on their 12,000-square foot property that sits too close to wetlands at 86 feet away, 14 feet short of the standard. It is also 10 feet closer to side property lines than required.

     “It’s my fault,” Mark Lazarovic, the father of Laura Rose, told the board. Mr. Lazarovic, a builder, said he did not realize he needed a permit for the small deck area.

    Don Cirillo, a board member, observed that the area in question was not visible from neighbors’ houses. No one spoke in opposition.

    Tuesday’s third hearing involved a request from Inergy Propane, which, according to Bloomberg News, is a billion-dollar propane distribution business that recently purchased both Pulver Gas and Schenck Gas, to place a 256-square-foot mobile trailer on their industrially zoned Montauk property at 72 Second House Road, also known as Industrial Road. The land already has two 30,000 gallon  propane tanks on it. The trailer would sit 57 feet from wetlands, where 100 feet is required.

    John Ryan, speaking for the company, explained that when it purchased Schenck Gas (it did not purchase Schenck Fuels, which is still an independent company) it expanded its work force by five, leading to the need for a base in Montauk, one with self-contained sanitary facilities but no cooking facilities and no sleeping quarters.

    “It’s like a locker room,” Mr. Cirillo said. The board is expected to rule on that application and the Roses’ on Tuesday.

    Also this week, the board okayed two applications, neither of which was controversial. Elisa and Frank Burriesci of Cedar Drive in Springs will be able to keep their pool, despite its being too close to the property lines, provided that if they sell their house they must move their pool equipment. Several neighbors had written to support their request.

    Joel Horowitz of Montauk will be able to put a 387-square-foot addition on his historic West Lake Drive property to accommodate his growing family, as he had asked. The house is near wetlands, but a neighbor who is an environmental activist, Richard Kahn, endorsed the plan on the grounds that, when combined with a planned new septic system, it would benefit Lake Montauk. The town planning department also recommended approval.

    With a unanimous vote last Thursday night, the East Hampton Town Board approved the $1.1 million purchase of a 1.2-acre parcel of land at 427 Cranberry Hole Road in Amagansett, which officials envision as a public access to the beach along Gardiner’s Bay.

    The vote came after a hearing at which a number of neighbors voiced concerns about the ultimate use of the land, particularly whether vehicles would drive onto the beach.

    Although details of a management plan — a document created to guide use of specific public lands — have not been worked out, Councilwoman Theresa Quigley assured the speakers that “it will stay pretty much natural other than a pathway down to the water.”

    The board is also seeking to purchase, for $775,000, a 1.4-acre parcel on the other side of Cranberry Hole Road, which, Ms. Quigley said, would work “in tandem” with the waterfront site, to provide an unpaved area where people could park their cars so they could walk down to the water.  A hearing on that purchase will be held next Thursday at 7 p.m. at Town Hall.

    The site approved for purchase is owned by Linda Edwards Baker, and the second, on the landward side of the road, is owned by Lynda Edwards, a relative.

    After Joan Mackall, who owns land in the area, asked the board if “driving access” to the beach would be allowed, Ms. Quigley reminded her that the East Hampton Town Trustees have jurisdiction over most of the town’s beaches, excluding Montauk, and allow beach driving.

    “Would you grant access by cars across your land?” Ms. Mackall asked. “I think there’s a possibility,” said Supervisor Bill Wilkinson, who often takes the opportunity, during such discussions, to describe his regular habit of taking his truck on the beach.

    “Driving on the beach has really become out of control, and it’s just so unnecessary,” Ms. Mackall said. She and others pointed out that the area is subject to severe erosion, and fragile.

    The waterfront lot approved for purchase is only 180 to 200 feet wide, said Scott Wilson, the town’s director of land acquisition and management.

    Tom Knobel, a former town councilman who worked on the town’s local waterfront revitalization program plan, said the plan, adopted after a long drafting and discussion procedure, calls for obtaining an access to the water in that area for baymen in their vehicles. “You shouldn’t out of hand dismiss it as an access point,” he told the board. “Obviously, the management plan is everything.”

    “How do you control it, from being an access for some wonderful local fishermen to becoming a parking lot on the beach?” a speaker asked.

    Katie Sisson, a Cranberry Hole Road resident, asked if a proposed management plan would be subject to an environmental review. And, she asked, if the other property is not also purchased, would beach parking go on the water side?

    “One thing to keep in mind,” Councilman Peter Van Scoyoc said, “is there won’t be a house built there.”

    “The purpose, to me, is to gain an access for the public, and without a place to park, how are they getting access?” Ms. Quigley said.

    Others raised concerns about the second parcel as well. “That property, and the property across the street, is loaded with native plants,” Dave Sullivan said.

    Mr. Van Scoyoc said that the entire board had agreed to pursue the purchases. The area “is very important environmentally — very sensitive land,” he said, and key to “having access for our local fishermen, in an east wind, to get to their traps.”

    “You’re either protecting the area, or tearing up the area,” said Debbie Mackall, noting that the board was acknowledging the sensitivity of the land while also talking about vehicular access.

    Many property owners along that shorefront have spent money to bolster the eroding shoreline, Joseph Gottesman told the board, asking if the town has a plan to fight erosion on the parcel it is buying.

    If not, another speaker said, “That would mean that you have no idea before you buy the property if you’ll have to spend more money to deal with erosion on the property.”

    The money for the purchase — as well as for that of the second parcel, if approved — will come from the town’s community preservation fund, said Ms. Quigley. The fund, which comes from a two-percent tax on most real estate transfers, also can provide money for land stewardship, she said.

    “I only see a trail there,” she said, “so there would be no big ‘management’ issues — just forces of nature.” 

    “I’m sure all your comments will be considered in any management plan, going forward,” Mr. Van Scoyoc told the concerned residents.

    The new control tower at East Hampton Airport will begin operating Friday morning at 7. Air traffic controllers will direct planes coming into and flying out of the airport from 7 a.m. till 11 p.m. daily, through October.

    Town Councilman Dominick Stanzione said yesterday that he worked for a year to get the control tower, a temporary trailer-like structure, up and running, and to obtain the required Federal Aviation Administration permission.

    The federal agency published a notice officially designating a radius of 4.8 miles from the airport, and up to 2,500 feet, as controlled airspace during the tower’s operating times.

    The ruling creates a “cylinder of control,” Councilman Stanzione said, in which routes for approaches and takeoffs — and minimum altitudes — will be dictated by the air traffic controllers on duty.

    “The first and principal responsibility of the air traffic control tower is to increase safety, and provide a controlled airspace,” he said. However, “it is hoped and anticipated that having professionally controlled airspace will make a real contribution to noise mitigation, through radius and altitude restrictions, and enforcing what are now voluntary rules,” added Mr. Stanzione.

    He expressed “a tremendous amount of appreciation” toward Town Supervisor Bill Wilkinson, as well as the existing and previous town boards, both of which provided “unanimous support for this effort.”

    Jim Brundige, the airport manager, along with town attorneys and workers who installed electrical and communications connections, “made a Herculean effort to get the thing hooked up,” he said.

    In an e-mail to airport users, Mr. Brundige said there will be a meeting at the airport terminal on Saturday at 10 a.m. to brief everyone on tower operations and give them a chance to meet the controllers.   

    Paper lanterns made of rice paper and bamboo, which float gracefully skyward when lit on fire until burning themselves out, are becoming popular amusements, but they are dangerous and are prohibited under state law, the East Hampton Town Fire Marshal’s office advised this week.

     David Browne, the chief fire marshal, said in a release that numerous complaints about the lanterns have been received, and that several fires related to them have been reported.

     According to Supervisor Bill Wilkinson, who proposed a law banning the lanterns at a town board work session on Tuesday, one of them recently landed on the roof of the Albatross Motel in Montauk and started a fire. It was quickly squelched.

     State law does not ban the lanterns outright, but categorizes them as “recreational fires,” which must be constantly attended. Therefore, Mr. Browne wrote in his memo, the use of sky lanterns is a violation of the state fire code, unless they are anchored or tethered.

    Patrick Gunn, a town attorney who is the public safety division administrator, informed the town board on Tuesday that it could not adopt a law that differs from state law without first obtaining a variance from the state. Mr. Wilkinson suggested that the town pursue that permission. “It’s pretty, it’s a nice aesthetic, but I don’t think the risks associated are worth allowing them to continue,” he said.

    Meanwhile, town fire marshals will begin enforcing the state fire code and citing those who release sky lanterns. Violations could result in a $1,000 fine, Mr. Gunn said on Tuesday.

    Mr. Browne is recording a public service announcement that will be broadcast on the Sag Harbor radio station WLNG by the end of the week, Mr. Gunn told board members Tuesday, and will issue a written notice about the law to businesses selling the sky lanterns.    

    The Cornell Cooperative Extension’s marine program has received two grants, one to further its work to bring back this area’s scallop industry, the other to determine if there is more than a single monkfish population along the East Coast.

    In 2005, in cooperation with Long Island University, Cornell Cooperative Extension’s marine program created protected areas that have helped to increase the success of bay scallops’ spawning seasons.

    Last week, the extension received a $182,900 grant to expand the scallop spawner program. The grant was part of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s regional council initiative. The program has the support of the Long Island Regional Economic Council and the Empire State Development Corporation.

    Before a series of brown algae tides killed off scallops and other shellfish beginning in the mid-1980s, the Peconic scallop fishery kept between 400 to 600 baymen and shuckers busy. The Peconic scallop industry, the largest in the nation at one time, contributed an estimated $10 million to the Suffolk County economy before the fall, and after the economic multipliers were added.  

    Cornell Cooperative Extension has also received a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s cooperative research program to study genetic variations in monkfish.

    The study, which will sample monkfish stocks from Newfoundland to North Carolina, aims to determine whether the coastwide population is comprised of one or more separate stocks. Monkfish make up a valuable contribution to the New England and Mid-Atlantic seafood industry. In 2010, landings had a market value of nearly $19 million.

    The project, with its fishermen collaborators, will evaluate sampled monkfish using sensitive D.N.A. markers. New York University and Rutgers University are participating in the study. The Cooperative Extension does not receive direct funding for the study. Rather, NOAA allocates a number of fish from the overall monkfish quota that are sold to finance the research.

    The former chairman of an East Hampton Town computer committee spoke to the town board on Tuesday about upgrading some of the town’s information technology services, regardless of a recent board deadlock over a plan to seek proposals from outside companies to take over some of the town I.T. Department’s duties.

    “All I want to see . . . is some progress on something that I think is achievable,” Paul Fiondella told the board. “The public doesn’t care if you get along or not. We just want you to move forward,” he said.

    One way to begin addressing a technological upgrade, Mr. Fiondella said, is to develop a Web-based payment system through which residents can apply and pay for town permits, needed for beach parking or the recycling centers, for instance.

    Councilwoman Theresa Quigley told him that is something she would like to do, “but I can’t get the board to agree.”

    Ms. Quigley and Supervisor Bill Wilkinson supported a resolution to seek proposals on outsourcing information technology services, but the other three board members did not.

    Mr. Fiondella suggested seeking compromise where it might be possible. “Why not move forward with one area you can agree on?” he asked. A request for proposal could focus on just the services needed to set up an online payment system, he said, which would be a convenience for taxpayers. “It’s not an issue of all or nothing,” he told Ms. Quigley. “You have to start with consensus.”

    “This town does not have a good track record in dealing with big issues,” he said. But Ms. Quigley said that there are other areas she feels are “just as much needed” as online bill paying — wireless Internet at Town Hall, for instance. Not being a town employee, she told Mr. Fiondella, he is unaware of the extent of the town’s problems with technology. For example, she said, “I can’t open my e-mail.”

    “I am not willing to stop there,” she said of Mr. Fiondella’s suggestion. “Dealing with minutiae is not a way to run government. And so to back down because of political pressure — either it’s a choice that we deal with this issue, or we back down,” she said.

    “It’s a very limited and narrow focus, and I think it’s a great approach,” Councilman Peter Van Scoyoc told Mr. Fiondella. Councilwoman Sylvia Overby agreed.

    To address the bigger picture about information technology services, she said, analysis is needed. “Maybe we need to expand our existing I.T. Department,” she said.

    “I appreciate the fact that you’re pointing out that we can make progress on small issues,” Mr. Van Scoyoc said. “There won’t be a deadlock. When you take on a huge, huge topic, you’re not going to agree on everything.”

    Mr. Van Scoyoc said that WiFi is slated to be installed at Town Hall this week. Ms. Quigley said that was due to efforts by her and Mr. Wilkinson.

    Mr. Wilkinson addressed only the issue of the proposal to seek outsiders to provide information technology services. In private business, he said, “you mandated that your employees perform at the same level or better” than others who could perform the same duties. “That’s performance. We don’t have that option here.”

    He said Ms. Overby’s stance that the board should solicit information from other town departments about what is needed by them as far as technology before making wholesale changes to the Information Technology Department, or outsourcing duties, “scares the hell out of me. It becomes a plethora of a ‘want list,’ and it’s financially irresponsible,” he said.

Cost-Saving Efforts

    Efforts to reduce overtime and compensatory time costs have been effective, Councilwoman Theresa Quigley reported to the East Hampton Town Board on Tuesday. After issuing a directive requiring town department heads to give prior approval to employees before overtime or “comp time” hours are accrued, the town has saved close to $500,000 in a year on those payments to staff, Ms. Quigley said. “It’s been very effective,” she said.

East Hampton Town

Lifeline for Life Saving Station

    Exterior repairs and restoration of the historic Amagansett Life Saving Station will be done gratis by Ben Krupinski, an East Hampton resident and contractor.

    After attending a recent re-enactment of the Nazi landing on nearby Atlantic Avenue beach during World War II, Mr. Krupinski offered to do the work, which will include installing authentic window replacements.

    The life-saving station, which was a private residence off Bluff Road for many years, was donated to the town by the Carmichael family and moved to its original location on Atlantic Avenue. A committee has been formed to raise money so that it can be restored and opened to the public.

Sloppy Tuna in Trouble

    The East Hampton Town Board will hold a hearing on Aug. 14 on whether to suspend a music permit issued to the Sloppy Tuna in Montauk, which has received its fourth citation for violating the town noise ordinance this summer.

    The town code calls for a mandatory hearing to occur after a fourth alleged violation. Members of the public may attend and comment. The hearing will be held during a regularly scheduled town board work session at the Montauk Firehouse, which begins at 10 a.m.

    The Amagansett Citizens Advisory Committee was pretty much talked out Monday night after a long discussion about crowds at Indian Wells Beach, but not so much so that the perennial subject of public bathrooms in the parking lot behind Main Street did not come up for an airing.

    Bathrooms were promised there as long as 12 years ago, and a $225,000 bond was floated, but nothing has come of it; and now the necessary County Health Department permits have expired and the application process must start all over.

    Over the 10-day stretch surrounding July 4, said Michael Cinque of Amagansett Wines and Spirits, at least three or four people a day asked to use his bathroom.

    At the Amagansett Library, the need was so great that one of the two toilets overflowed, “which usually doesn’t happen until August,” said Cynthia Young, the library’s director.

    “We can count on it, on a busy weekend,” Ms. Young said. “The year before last we had people lined up out the door to use the bathroom. As much as we would like to, we would never turn anyone away, but it does have an impact on the quality of life.” She said she had spent “well over $100 on toilet paper in the last two weeks.”

    Ms. Young waded in herself to help clean the bathroom. “If I could just get an allowance for shoes,” she said. “I’ve lost a couple of pairs cleaning up in there.

    Mr. Cinque also said, as he and others have before, that the parking lot behind Main Street was full to overflowing for the entire holiday and beyond, and that a single traffic control officer had boasted of writing 40 tickets, $80 apiece, for cars parked at the the end of the lot facing the field, where there are no white lines.