The possibility of bus service in Montauk this summer moved close to reality on Tuesday when East Hampton Town Board officials agreed to advertise for proposals from transportation companies to provide it.

Officials hope to institute a bus that would shuttle between the downtown area and the resorts on Old Montauk Highway, as well as between downtown and the beaches, and run in a continuous loop with stops at the Long Island Rail Road Station, the dock area, and downtown.

Vincent Corrado of L.K. McLean Associates, who is to draft the request for proposals from the companies, said at Tuesday’s town board meeting that frequent service would be a must in order to make bus service a viable alternative to private cars.

The service would be linked to an app through which riders could hail a bus, in much the way ride-hailing taxis are summoned, and through which the location of buses and their arrival at designated stops could be tracked.

East End officials have been working with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for some time on plans for a South Fork shuttle train to be provided by the Long Island Rail Road. Local buses are envisioned as key to such train service. Though the start of shuttle trains on the South Fork is some time away, East Hampton Town officials, concerned about summer crowds in Montauk, consider a local bus there this year a pilot program. Eventually its schedule, stops, and service could be modified to coordinate with shuttle train arrivals and departures.

A $100,000 state grant is available to help the town get local bus service going this year, Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell said at Tuesday’s meeting.

The Montauk buses are to run for 12 hours daily, town board members agreed, and begin, if possible, in late June. While an outside contractor will be selected to provide the buses at the start, the board expects to assess whether it would be better and more cost-effective for the town to run the bus service itself in the future. “I think the kind of bus plays a role in this,” Mr. Cantwell said.

Marketing and branding the service will be important in its success, Mr. Cantwell said. Laraine Creegan, the director of the Montauk Chamber of Commerce, agreed. A well-known, established route, and a promotional campaign will be important, “because people do not want to give up their cars,” she said.

Mr. Corrado will outline criteria for the service this week in the request for proposals, and town officials will then assess  what the companies propose.

The next trip to Washington, D.C., for Honor Flight Long Island on Saturday will include not only World War II veterans but Korean War veterans, as well. Honor Flight Long Island, which has escorted over 1,300 veterans to view the war memorial for the first time over the past 10 years, has been expanded to include the Korean War veterans.

Priority is still being given to the aging World War II population, but applications are now being accepted for those who fought in Korea. Funded by donations, the not-for-profit organization takes the veterans to the nation’s capital for free.

Applications can be picked up in the Human Services office at Southampton Town Hall, or by calling 631-702-2423. Applications are also available online through honorflightlongisland.org.

Guardian-volunteers are needed to escort the veterans to D.C. Volunteers are asked to make a donation of $400 to Honor Flight to assist with expenses. Applications are also available through the town office or online.

The late Christopher Cosich, an Amagansett resident and fitness coach, founded the Long Island chapter of Honor Flight in 2007.

Organizacion Latino-Americana of Eastern Long Island has hired Gabriela Cabrera for the newly created position of civic engagement coordinator.

Ms. Cabrera, a child of Ecuadorian immigrants, was born and raised in the South Bronx. She is the first in her family to graduate from college, having earned a bachelor’s degree from Stony Brook University. She has two children.

She moved to the East End in 2007, and for the past five years has been a family advocate with Bridgehampton Head Start, a day-care center. Her part-time position with OLA is funded privately.

“Gaby is a natural advocate and will help OLA to expand on important nonpartisan civic work that will educate, energize, and activate our East End Latino voters in a way not previously seen,” according to a statement from OLA. The organization intends to focus efforts on local elections starting with school board, village board, town justice, town board, and up to the congressional level.

A day of films, fun, and conversations about water quality, sustainability, and conservation is set for Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Guild Hall.

Let’s Talk About Water: East End will follow a formula that Linda Lilienfeld, who developed the program, created several years ago to communicate global water issues through film and approachable discussion.

The program will start with a screening of “Wall-E,” a family-friendly computer-animated film depicting a contaminated and abandoned Earth and a robot left behind to clean up all the garbage left by humans, at 10 a.m. “H2O MX,” a documentary about the problems of water management in landlocked Mexico City, will be screened at 2 in the afternoon. It describes a metropolis of 22 million people where drinking water is transported into the city from a distance despite an abundant supply and regular flooding from the surrounding mountains.

“H2O MX” will be followed at 3:30 p.m. by a panel discussion about harnessing the power of science, government, and the community to help preserve water quality on the East End. County Legislator Bridget Fleming, Christopher Gobler of Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, and Sara Davison, executive director of the Friends of Georgica Pond Foundation, will be among the panelists.

Let’s Talk About Water events are typically held in conjunction with the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, a research organization representing American universities and international water-related groups, and take place at colleges and universities in this country and Europe. Ms. Lilienfeld, who started coming to the South Fork in the late 1970s and bought a house in Sag Harbor around a decade later, said on Tuesday that she realized the program should be shared here after reading about pollution in ponds and watersheds in The East Hampton Star.

“I realized we need a bridge between scientists and the larger public,” she said. “The whole idea for Let’s Talk About Water was to go to university campuses, work with students, and put together an event using film as a platform so that everyone is on the same page in the experience.”

“What do policy makers need to be informed to make decisions?” Ms. Lilienfeld asked. “How is scientific information made accessible in a simple way? That’s key to the project: having scientists simplify information so a wider array of people can use it.” Ms. Fleming, she said, “was ahead of the curve” in this field, while Dr. Gobler “has done methodical research and makes it accessible. That combination, I feel, has made the East End almost a model project for how to come together to solve the problem.”

A film and picture researcher specializing in science and history, she worked on “Global Warming: Understanding the Forecast,” a temporary exhibition that was staged at the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan in 1992 and other museums and science centers in subsequent years. It was a life-changing experience. “I didn’t understand why people weren’t tearing their hair out” over the looming climate crisis, she said, “and decided to devote the rest of my career to this.”

“I thought water was the best entry point to people understanding global warming,” Ms. Lilienfeld said. “People become emotionally connected to a place that’s home, and watersheds give you a bounded area in which to understand.”

Southampton Town’s spring cleanup begins today. Highway Superintendent Alex Gregor said leaf bags and brush placed on the side of the road will be hauled away as highway workers make their rounds. All residents, regardless of age or disability, must use biodegradable paper bags. Leaves cannot be mixed with other material and cannot be left in loose piles. Branches less than three inches in diameter, left in a separate pile next to bagged leaves, will also be picked up. Workers will pass each road only once. 

Residents may also haul leaves and brush to the transfer stations themselves and leave them free of charge until May 31.

Further information is available through the leaf program hotline at 631-702-2585. East of the canal, biodegradable paper bags are available at hardware stores in Sag Harbor Village and Southampton, as well as Stop and Shop in Southampton.

Charlotte Binstead and Derek Smith, who met at the Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett, were married in February more than 3,200 miles away, in Barrow-in-Furness, a town in Cumbria in the northwest of England, near the bride’s childhood home.

Their Feb. 24 wedding was at Abbey House and Gardens, with Debra Jessett officiating. There was a reading by Ms. Binstead’s brother Andrew. Megan Leese sang “Your Song” for the couple.

Ms. Binstead had two bridesmaids, her cousin Angela Harris and a friend, Eva Lyne, both of whom live in England. The flower girls were Emily and Connie Binstead and Aviana Harris. Finley Harris was the pageboy.

Mr. Smith’s brother, Scott Smith of East Hampton, was his best man. The groomsmen were Paul Jones of East Hampton and Ben Simpson, Shane Steinhilber, and Michael Dollar of New York City.

Ms. Binstead is the daughter of Elizabeth Williams of Barrow-in-Furness and Richard Binstead of Great Clifton, England. She is the director and global head of oncology communications for Pfizer, the pharmaceutical company, in New York City.

Mr. Smith is a son of Helen Giles Smith and Larry R. Smith of Glade Road in Springs. He works in retail wine sales in New York City.

The couple live in Brooklyn. They are planning a wedding trip at a future date.

Going through a jam-packed agenda last Thursday that focused on the near future, the East Hampton Village Board received word that the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority may designate the village a “Clean Energy Community,” agreed to issue a bond for the construction of a much-anticipated roundabout at Buell and Toilsome Lanes and another bond for the purchase of property for a parking lot, and announced that a firm had been chosen for the reconstruction of the mill cottage on the James Lane Gardiner property.

Municipalities receiving the NYSERDA designation become eligible for grants for energy efficiency projects, Becky Molinaro, the village administrator, told the board at its work session. In order to receive the designation, a municipality must meet 4 of 10 “high impact items,” she said, going on to describe them.

“We are currently part of a ‘solarize’ campaign with the Town of East Hampton,” Ms. Molinaro said, referring to a program deemed high impact, in which they publicize grant opportunities for residential solar installation. A program to convert streetlights to energy-efficient LED technology is another high-impact item, she said.

A third high-impact item is the planned installation of an electric vehicle charging station in the village long-term parking lot. The village has applied to the State Department of Environmental Conservation for a grant that would cover half the $32,000 cost of the station, Ms. Molinaro said. In addition, code enforcement officers have begun training for implementation of the state building code as it pertains to energy efficiency, she said.

The village could also adopt a “bench­­marking” program, which is jointly administered by NYSERDA and PSEG Long Island, in which the energy used at village-owned properties of 1,000 square feet or more would be tracked. Ten properties would apply, Ms. Molinaro said, explaining that “NYSERDA will help us track that usage over the next few years to see . . . if any building is not performing efficiently.” The board would have to adopt a resolution to participate in the program.

Also under discussion is a solar-permit application form, which the Town of East Hampton has adopted and is now using. Ms. Molinaro said it would streamline the process of residential solar panel installation. Doing so “would be another high-impact item that would allow us to earn the clean energy designation,” she said.

“We’re all in sync,” Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. said of the Clean Energy Communities program, “and I believe it’s the appropriate thing for this board to move ahead with. . . . Given what’s happening out there in the field of energy delivery, I think this is great.”

Moving on to the roundabout, the board unanimously voted to authorize a $1.4 million bond for its construction, although the cost is expected to be reduced to $700,000 by a matching state grant. The roundabout is intended to control and make traffic safer at what is called the five corners intersection. Permits from the State Department of Transportation are pending, Ms. Molinaro said after the work session, with construction anticipated in the fall.

Plans call for approximately 3,800 square yards of roadway to be relocated to accommodate the 100-foot-diameter roundabout. It is to include a landscaped center island, pedestrian safety islands amid multiple crosswalks, and the relocation of one utility pole, as well as new sidewalks, signs, landscaping, and drainage.

The second bond the board agreed to issue is for $989,000 for the purchase of property at 8 Osborne Lane for a new parking lot. Carol Baker, the owner of the parcel, has agreed to sell it to the village, Ms. Molinaro said after the work session, and the house on the property will be demolished at the village’s expense. Demolition will not happen before the next fiscal year, which begins on Aug. 1, she said.

Robert Hefner, the village’s director of historic services, told the board that the town was on the cusp of formalizing a contract with Strada Baxter Design/ Build to restore the Gardiner mill cottage to its 1880s appearance.

At the request of the village board, the Town of East Hampton bought the Lion Gardiner home lot, which includes the 1804 Gardiner windmill as well as the cottage, in 2014, using money from the community preservation fund. In December of that year, the municipalities agreed that the village would have sole responsibility for the lot.

The town had sought bids on the work and Strada Baxter was both the low bidder and high scorer among four submissions due to its qualifications and experience, Mr. Hefner told the board. At its own meeting last Thursday, the East Hampton Town Board formalized a contract with the firm.

Plans call for the removal of nonhistorical additions, including porches and dormers, and the reconstruction of its 1880 porch. A kitchen wing is to be reconstructed, providing an entrance and bathroom complying with the Americans With Disabilities Act.

“They’re committed to starting in the second half of April and working on the project until it’s completed,” Mr. Hefner said. “That’s something we have been waiting for, for a long time.”

The work should take less than a year to complete, he said. Once the renovation is complete, the timber-frame saltbox structure is to become a museum devoted to 19th and early-20th-century landscape paintings. A grant from the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation is to go toward acquisition of part of the East Hampton Wallace Gallery’s collection of art.

Organizacion Latino-Americana of Eastern Long Island has hired its first development and outreach associate. Itzel Nava, who grew up primarily in Southampton, is a recent graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in advertising and marketing comunications.

Ms. Nava will handle volunteer coordination, social media and marketing, community outreach, and event coordination for OLA. She joins Minerva Perez, the group’s first full-time executive director, on the staff.

The East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals, meeting on Friday, was adamantly against allowing an outdoor patio at the Service Station restaurant to continue to be used for dining, as it has been for many years. 

The restaurant, at 100 Montauk Highway, has had several names and owners over the years. Located in a residential district, it was built before the zoning laws were enacted. The owners of nearby properties housing restaurants — the Highway Restaurant and Bar and the now-defunct Players Club — have been before the board in recent years, and the board took a similarly hard line last year when it compelled the former to remove some seating from its deck and eliminate dining entirely from a smaller patio. 

Shane Dyckman, a partner in Service Station, which opened last year, told the board that “there always was outdoor seating there over the course of its existence,” and that the partners hoped the use could continue. Many restaurants in the village offer outdoor seating, he said, adding that for the financial stability of his business it was essential, particularly given the brevity of the tourist season. 

Service Station is open daily and serves lunch and dinner year round, Mr. Dyckman said, “and we give a nice, inexpensive option to all the local families.” The owners signed a 20-year lease on the property, he said, and “we really created a nice, special, local eatery.” To the best of his knowledge, there have been no complaints about the outdoor seating, he said. 

But, said Frank Newbold, the board’s chairman, “there is a history with the zoning board . . . with this particular property.” The lot once included a house, and when it was subdivided, Mr. Newbold said, a stipulation was included specifically prohibiting outdoor dining. In 1977, the owner sought permission for outdoor seating and was denied, and a 1986 determination included the provision that “there shall be no outside dining permitted on the property.”  

“So they’ve just been doing that illegally for 30 years?” Mr. Dyckman asked, incredulous. 

That was a question for the building department, Mr. Newbold said. “As far as we are concerned, it’s an illegal use, an illegal expansion.” Further, there have been complaints, he said, describing “a very articulate letter accompanied by pictures” from an adjacent neighbor who also expressed concerns about the restaurant’s outdoor lighting and parking. 

The board is also mindful of precedent. The building housing Cafe Max, a restaurant across Montauk Highway from Service Station that recently closed, is being renovated, Mr. Newbold said. Its owners “are watching this application to see if they can also apply for outdoor dining in a residential neighborhood,” he said. 

“But they were dining for 30 years out there,” Mr. Dyckman repeated of his own site. That didn’t make it right, said Lys Marigold, the board’s vice chairwoman. “It’s very clear in the code, and we’ve been very strict with the Highway Restaurant,” she said. 

The hearing was closed, and the board will issue a determination at a future meeting. 

The board announced one decision. Michael Eisner, the former chief executive officer of the Walt Disney Company, was granted variances to legalize the construction of a shed at 99 Main Street, a parcel that does not contain a principal building; to let the shed remain at 320 square feet (250 square feet is the maximum allowed for accessory structures other than garages), and to allow it to remain within the rear and side-yard setbacks. Mr. Eisner owns the adjacent lot at 97 Main Street, which does have a principal structure, and the parcel in question is landscaped with paths and gardens. The shed is used for storage of bicycles, outdoor furniture, and other property, and is not visible from the street.

In January, the board granted Mr. Eisner variances to construct an addition to the house at 97 Main Street that will result in more floor area than the maximum permitted under code. In that determination, Mr. Eisner was also granted variances to allow alterations and legalize patios, a slate walkway, and a garbage bin situated within required setbacks.

The aquatic area at the Y.M.C.A. East Hampton RECenter closed on Sunday for repairs and is expected to reopen on May 13. The RECenter will remain open for use of the other areas of the building.

A new dehumidification system is to be installed and repairs are to be made to damaged steel columns in the pool area, East Hampton Town Board member Kathee Burke-Gonzalez said this week. The work is expected to improve the air quality in the pool area, which has been the subject of complaints.

East Hampton Town, which owns the building and contracts with the YMCA to operate the center, issued a $750,000 bond for the new dehumidification system and the replacement of the heating system, which took place in August, and a $200,000 bond for the column repairs.