Because the wind blew from the west for days after the attacks of Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, the acrid smoke from the still-smoldering ruins of the Twin Towers hugged the South Shore of Long Island. It was eerily redolent even in Montauk 120 miles away. For many in the community, the acrid wind continues to blow.

    Yesterday, five residents of Montauk went about their daily routines, but shared their thoughts about the approaching anniversary. One was preparing to leave for Spain today for a year’s study abroad.

    Tom Staubitser is an active duty New York City fireman with the 50th Battalion out of Jamaica. On Sept. 11, 2001, his outfit was sent first to Brooklyn, then to Manhattan to the home of the Second Battalion. He ran for his life when Building Seven came down.

    David Schleifer had retired just a few months before the attack on the World Trade Center. He served with the “five-truck” ladder company of the Second Battalion. The company, including the young fireman who had taken his place, was wiped out when the buildings fell. It lost 11 men.

    “I lost 60 friends,” Mr. Schleifer said. “I’m going in on Sunday. I’ll go to Mass and then lunch at the firehouse.”

    Though retired, he went to Ground Zero to help immediately after the attack and stayed for four days. “I was on top of the ‘the pile’ on that Friday. I found a helmet from the 22nd Engine company. We called the company and they got five guys out — dead. Our guys were right underneath.” In all, there were 25 firemen found in that one spot.

    Three hundred forty-three firemen were killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on New York City.

    “I was standing by your firehouse. It’s all a blurr. It seemed like a dream,” Tom Staubitser told Mr. Schleifer yesterday morning. They were on the beach at Ditch Plain, checking if the waves generated by Hurricane Katia had arrived. Both said it was the sense of unity and teamwork that grew in the wake of the disaster that has stayed with them.

    Mr. Staubitser worked on the fallen towers for a month following the attack. Only later did the immensity of the event take shape in his mind. He said the job to clear the rubble and search for victims “became part of our tour.” Firemen worked side by side with iron workers who were cutting through steel. “They were like gorillas,” he said with a laugh.

    Both firemen said rank and seniority dissolved along with the distinction between civilians and the uniforms during the work. That made a lasting impression on both of them. “We were all on an equal plane. Chiefs were like firemen,” Mr. Staubitser said.

    He remembers people showing up with clothes they wanted to donate. It seemed like a bother at first, he said, “but then I realized everyone just wanted to help.”

    Capt. Wayne King was taking his morning constitutional in Montauk yesterday as a light mist fell. He is a charter captain and a retired iron worker with Local 361. On Sept. 11, 2001, he was at sea with a charter aboard his boat, King Wayne. “They were F.B.I. guys. We were bassing, and they started getting calls. A private plane had hit one of the towers.” The cellphone calls got grimmer and grimmer, he remembered.

    Mr. King said that at least four of his fellow iron workers from Local 361 had died of lung-related disease in the past two or three years “from inhaling all that.”

    Mr. Staubitser said the fire department monitored the health of its members regularly. “They ask how long I was working here and there. I can’t remember. For me personally, it’s a blur.” So far, he has not experienced any health related problems, he said.

    “I’m a lucky person, a happy person,” Mr. Schleifer said. “Every day I thank God.” And he thinks of his fallen comrades often. “I talk to them a lot when I’m alone. I ask them for help when I need it.”

    Bryn Portella will turn 16 on Sunday, the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, and she will be in Spain. A student at Miss Porter’s School in Connecticut, she leaves today for a year of study abroad. Yesterday she was packing for the trip.

    On Sept. 11, 2001, she was attending the Children’s Workshop School on Manhattan’s Lower East Side when the planes struck the towers. Bryn and her parents, Dalton and Gabrielle Portella, were living in Brooklyn at the time and had a house in Montauk.

    “Oh yeah, I remember. It was my birthday, and it was the day we drove out to Montauk,” Bryn said. At school in Manhattan that morning, “Even though it was close, we didn’t have a clear view. Our window was facing the other way. It was quiet reading time. It was lasting too long. Kids were leaving and my mom came and took me out.”

    “They were trying to figure out how to get to Brooklyn. We got out of school early and played in the playground. A group of us lived near Williamsburg, so we walked together over the Williamsburg Bridge. We had a really clear view of the smoke from our loft. Late that night, we drove out to Montauk. At the time it was hard. I had really good friends in the city, but ultimately I’m glad,” she said.

    As for her parents: “It was extremely traumatic to me knowing that if I hadn’t made a simple little choice [to stay in the city and run errands] I wouldn’t have been able to reach my kid,” she told The Star 10 years ago. “We just kept talking about what are we waiting for? That was the catalyst.”

    Now, Mr. Portella said yesterday, “I wake up across the street from the ocean.”

    Chris Coleman, a Montauk real estate agent, ran for his life on Sept. 11, 2001, from outside the New York Stock Exchange where he was working for Robertson Stephens, an investment banking firm. “I ran outside just when the second plane hit. Broken glass filled the sky. People were running and bleeding. I ran east toward the river,” he said not long after the attack. Yesterday, he sounded a bitter note:

    “Even with Bin Laden dead, we’re going to be suffering for a long time. He got off easy, shot and killed. I’d rather have seen him dragged down the L.I.E. by the people who lost on 9/11. Not just because of the U.S., but out of sensitivity to us. It happened in our own backyard. That’s in my heart.”

    Despite an impassioned plea, Councilwoman Julia Prince was unable to convince fellow East Hampton Town Board members on Tuesday to take an aggressive stand against Montauk bars and restaurants that are serial violators of town laws and move to shut them down.

    Places such as the Surf Lodge and Ruschmeyer’s, which was opened this year by the Surf Lodge owners, have been cited repeatedly for town code violations, Ms. Prince noted, but despite court appearances and fines nothing has changed. The owners simply see the fines as the cost of doing business, she said.

    Montauk residents who live within shouting distance of the watering holes have complained all summer about overcrowding, noise, clogged streets, and rowdy patrons.

    The hamlet, which has been under the unremitting gaze of the metropolitan media since before Memorial Day, has become a must destination for young people looking to see and be seen. On a recent weekend the Surf Lodge attracted a visit from the Trojan “Good Vibrations” truck, from which free condoms and vibrating rings are distributed.

    “I’ve just kind of had it with these establishments,” Ms. Prince, herself a Montauk resident, said on Tuesday. “It’s just not good enough. I think that the people who live here have suffered enough. Are we just going to allow it to happen, or are we going to give some kind of direction to the town attorney’s office? What is the next step? Why can’t we take another action? It’s not fair to the businesses who act legally.”

    “Is it a [State] Supreme Court action, or is it revoking music permits?” she said. The town code was amended several years ago to allow for the issuance of town permits for live music, which, said Ms. Prince, “changed every restaurant into a nightclub.”

    Police and ordinance enforcement officers have been doing their part, writing summonses when warranted, she said, to no avail. “It’s a drain on our resources,” the Councilwoman told the board.

    “If it’s in the court process, we can’t step in,” said Supervisor Bill Wilkinson. “I’m not stepping into the court process.”

    “They pay their fines. There needs to be another action,” Ms. Prince responded.

    “But that’s within the court system,” Mr. Wilkinson said.

    The town board could choose to approach State Supreme Court in Riverhead for an injunction to shut a place down, said John Jilnicki, the town attorney, provided it could show a record of summonses and code violations.

    “As a board member, that’s what I’m at this point saying,” Ms. Prince said.  “If you have the same establishment doing the same violations over and over and over again, isn’t there a next step when we say you cannot have all of this illegal activity — you can’t just keep operating your business illegally, and we’ll just keep writing fines?”

    “This community is going to shutter up after Labor Day,” Mr. Wilkinson said. “This is a tourism community. So where is the balance? We have never sat down to figure out the balance.”

    “But you know what?” Ms. Prince responded. “People coming out to get really drunk and leave is different from families coming out and people going fishing.”

    “The truth is, we all struggle with quality of life,” said Councilwoman Theresa Quigley. “There are certain groups that like one thing, certain groups that like other things.”

    “You’re choosing families,” she told Ms. Prince. “I enjoy seeing young single people. They come out to enjoy what the community has to offer.”

 “I get the frustration of the community,” Ms. Quigley added. “Having said that, it’s part of who we are.”     

    Both Mr. Wilkinson and Ms. Quigley maintained that the problems around Ruschmeyer’s, where the road has been so congested at times that emergency vehicles would have been unable to get through, has abated.

    Ms. Quigley said it was “arrogant” of the Surf Lodge owners to park a food-vending truck on-site (for which they have been cited), but “that doesn’t mean we focus in on one organization and say we’re out to get them.”

    “I wasn’t suggesting playing favorites,” Ms. Prince said.

    She said the hamlet was no longer the community it once was. “The only way it’s going to stop is if someone says, hey, listen, party’s over. You can’t operate all these illegal parts of your business, and pay fines, for three years.”

    Driving past some of the party spots in the early morning, she said, “it’s disgusting. The roads are disgusting. Seeing naked people laying at the train station at 6 in the morning is not the community I want to live in.”

    “What we did say, about six meetings ago, is we’re going to control that open space, and try to quantify that for a number of people,” said Mr. Wilkinson, referring to discussions about setting a maximum number of occupants at an establishment, not only for indoor areas but for the property over all. That provision is being worked on, Ms. Quigley said.

    Odor emanating from East Hampton Town’s septic waste treatment plant often permeates the air along Springs-Fireplace Road. In recent weeks, the smell has been stronger and more stomach-churning, according to those who happen to be nearby.

    “As the owner of a food store, you can imagine what my thoughts are,” Bill Hall, who operates the One Stop Market just across the street, told the East Hampton Town Board at a meeting on Tuesday. “It’s really bad. When you have weather like this, it’s particularly bad,” he said on a hot August morning.

    Mr. Hall said the plant had “been an ongoing problem for 20 years. It hasn’t worked efficiently since it went in.” Recently, making a stop at his own store for a bite to eat, Mr. Hall said, the smell was staggering. “I was sick to my stomach.” He urged the board to take a stand and shut the treatment plant down.

    The town pays a private contractor, Severn Trent, almost $80,000 a month to operate the plant. In May, the town was cited by the State Department of Environmental Conservation for discharging wastewater into the ground that exceeded established limits and given a deadline of June 23 to submit a corrective action plan.

    According to a certified letter from the D.E.C. to Town Supervisor Bill Wilkinson dated May 23, monitoring reports covering February 2008 through March 2011 indicated excessive levels of nitrogen, mercury, iron, and other elements. The violations “appear to be an ongoing problem,” William H. Spitz, the D.E.C. regional water manager, wrote. State law sets a maximum penalty of $37,500 for each violation, which can compound daily, he noted.

    Four times in March, discharge from the plant had exceeded the parameters for mercury, iron, total suspended solids, and “biological oxygen demand.” According to Neal Sheehan, the former head of East Hampton’s Sanitation Department, who is now with the Town of Huntington, the measurement can be an indication of the degree to which the septic waste has been treated.

    At the request of the town board last year, the town’s budget and financial advisory committee had studied the operation of the scavenger waste plant and alternatives for the future. Its preliminary report was given to the town board in March, and in April the board acted on one of the committee’s primary recommendations: It put Severn Trent on notice that its contract would not be continued when the term expires in November.

    Just what might happen to the plant if Severn Trent’s contract is out has not been determined. Mr. Wilkinson said Tuesday that he had just asked the Planning Department to provide the board with information about the town’s options.

    The board must decide, the supervisor said, “whether we put in incremental dollars, whether we lease it to somebody, or whether we shut it down.” Among the considerations, he said, would be the impact on residents if cesspool pump-out companies have to drive out of town to dump septic waste, which would likely result in a cost increase.

    The town had received a separate letter from the D.E.C. in May for failing to submit annual documentation on time. Neither May letter was discussed in public, with D.E.C. violations cited as the topic of an executive session.

    Johnson Nordlinger, Mr. Wilkinson’s assistant, said yesterday that the town had now engaged Cameron Engineering, a consultant, to develop the corrective plan demanded by the D.E.C. It is to be submitted by Aug. 23.            

    Speaking at Tuesday’s meeting, Mr. Hall said the smell not only affects the complex of shops across the street, but neighboring residential communities. And, for the residents of Springs who travel past the plant repeatedly, “that’s not a welcome sign for Springs and for the people of Springs.”

    Mr. Hall said he had called the town’s attention to problems at the plant in the 1990s but “nothing has been done since then.”

    “I consider it a health hazard,” he told the board. “It has to affect my business.” One Stop has been successful, he said, “but sometimes I wonder how successful I could be if people got out of their car and still had an appetite when they got to the door.”

    Mr. Wilkinson acknowledged the problem. “I went up there one day, after a complaint,” he said, “and it took me two weeks to get rid of the headache.”

    “The fix to that is basically a few filters that we have to pay for,” Councilwoman Julia Prince said. She had already brought up the odor problem at a board meeting on Saturday.  “I would love to solve the problem,” Councilwoman Theresa Quigley said. But, she added, “I don’t even know if we know definitively what the cause is.” 

    “I’ve called there several times; they say it’s operating at their required performance level,” Mr. Wilkinson said.

    In addition to recommending that Severn Trent be put on notice, the advisory committee’s report asked the town to evaluate environmental conditions at the plant. Mentions of possible environmental violations prompted the town board to ask Arthur Malman, the committee member delivering the report at a board meeting in early spring, to discuss it in executive session.

    Although questions were raised about whether an executive session was appropriate under the state open meetings law, the town attorney told the board the matter should not be discussed in executive session with Mr. Malman, but could discuss operation of  the plant privately with a technical adviser from Cameron Engineering.

    Proposals from vendors interested in selling food at a variety of East Hampton Town beaches have been reviewed by a committee of four town residents. Points were tallied based on a town board-designed matrix that weighs elements such as community ties, business experience, and the type of food to be sold, as well as the amount of money offered for exclusive concession rights to a particular site.

    Jeanne Carrozza, a town purchasing agent, gave the board a list of the highest-scoring bidders at a work session on Tuesday, and concessions are to be awarded formally at a board meeting tonight.

    Ms. Carrozza said no bids had been received for a number of potential concession sites: South Lake Drive and Kirk Park in Montauk, Albert’s Landing, Little Albert’s, and Fresh Pond Beaches in Amagansett, Barnes Hole Road in Springs, the Maidstone Park section of East Hampton, and Sammy’s Beach in Northwest. Those sites will remain open to licensed itinerant vendors.

    The bids expected to be awarded tonight are to Turf Lobster Rolls, for Otis Road in Montauk, which would replace the popular Ditch Witch wagon run by the Monahan family; Montaco for Ditch Plain main parking lot, and the Paddy Wagon for West Lake Drive, both in Montauk, and the Dune Doggie for Indian Wells Beach in Amagansett. No other vendors will be allowed to sell within a prescribed distance of those locations.

    The board solicited bids for exclusive concession rights for the first time this year, to avoid what was shaping up to become turf wars among an increasing number of vendors looking to set up shop at the most lucrative spots in town.

The lineup of 18 bands slated to perform at the MTK: Music to Know festival to be held in East Hampton Town on August 13 and 14 was announced on Monday night at a kick-off event at Town Line BBQ in Sagaponack.

Organizers have two permits from East Hampton Town authorizing the event to be held either in Amagansett or at the East Hampton Airport, which has emerged as the preferred location. Permission from the Federal Aviation Administration is still needed; it is said to be pending.

Vampire Weekend will be the Saturday night headliner. Chris Jones, a founder and organizer of the show, with his partner, Bill Collage, said Vampire Weekend is "probably the brightest and best new band emerging." Its performance here, he said, will be one of few upcoming appearances in the United States. The band had reportedly turned down gigs at Lollapalooza, as well as the Glastonbury festival in the United Kingdom.

The main event on Sunday night will be a performance by Bright Eyes, a group from Nebraska that will head to the East End just a week after opening for Cold Play at the Lollapalooza festival. Bright Eyes has sold out two Radio City Music Hall shows.

A number of the bands booked for the festival will be familiar to those who follow the festival circuit or keep tabs on up-and-coming indie music.

"We wanted to get the most critically acclaimed, coolest thing going," said Mr. Collage on Monday night. "We hope that in 10 years, people will say, 'Those are the bands that define this era.' "

"Part of the fun of this was . . . when you write up your list, there are guys who you really want," he said. "You pursue, and you pursue, and sometimes you get a little irrational in your pursuit." The Limousines, for him, was one such band.

Of Francis and the Lights, a New York City–based band that will also perform, he said, "We wanted to be the one who really blew them up, but they blew up before us." Mr. Jones described them as "Peter Gabriel meets Depeche Mode."

Ra Ra Riot, an indie rock band with a string section that is part of the Brooklyn music scene, is "one of the ones we're most excited about," Mr. Collage said.

The Tom Tom Club, originally established as a side project by members of the Talking Heads, will provide some "heritage hipness," according to concert press materials -- "a tip of the hat to what was going on 30 years ago," Mr. Collage said Monday. "What we want to do is tell a storyline, from the birth of indie rock 30 years ago . . . and the rediscovery . . . to bringing them out here."

Also performing will be Matt & Kim; Dawes, a roots-rock band, the Naked and Famous, an indie electronic band from New Zealand; Nicos Gun and Fitz and the Tantrums, both of which have played at the South by Southwest festival; Cold War Kids; Chromeo; M. Ward, who will also appear at the Newport Folk Festival; We Are Scientists; Young Empires; and Tame Impala, with music described as "psychedelic, hypno-groove melodic rock."

Expected to play, but still unsigned, are a Canadian band called the Young Empires, and Montauk's own Suddyn.

"You're probably looking at the two most elated people in the room here," said Mr. Jones, as he and Mr. Collage prepared to list the bands for the crowd gathered for the announcement on Monday night. "We're absolutely thrilled."

Also to be featured at the festival are "Fashion and Lifestyle to Know," with retailers on site, and "Eats to Know," with samplings from gourmet food trucks from around the United States.

Tickets went on sale through the festival's Web site on Monday night shortly after the announcement. Local residents can purchase discounted tickets ($175) at 668 the Gig Shack in Montauk, Sylvester & Co. in Sag Harbor, Indian Wells Tavern in Amagansett, and Khanh's Sports in East Hampton.

General admission tickets are $195, plus tax and a $6 service charge. East Hampton residents may also purchase V.I.P. tickets at a base price of $695 each that will provide access to two V.I.P. food and drink tents, as well as to two viewing areas with special fashion shows and musical performances, air-conditioned restrooms, and free parking. Admission for children under 6 is free.

Additional fees for parking, either on site or off, with shuttle service provided, will range from $30 to $80 for the weekend. All tickets will provide access to the grounds on both days of the festival, with events from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day. No tickets will be sold on site.

A list of local charities that will share a $100,000 donation from the MTK festival was also announced this week. They are Phoenix House, the Retreat, East End Hospice's Camp Good Grief, the Surfrider Foundation, the East Hampton Library, the Living Water Food Pantry, and the Katie's Courage scholarship for students at Pierson High School in Sag Harbor.

On Chester Avenue in Bridgehampton, a little dogleg of a back street just north of downtown, the old cottages have been steadily replaced by new, and far larger, construction. Now in another blow to what the street once was, one of those cottages had a fire rip through it Thursday morning. 

"We got water on it within the first 10 minutes," Bridgehampton Fire Chief Chuck Broadmeadow said later that day. The call came in a little after 10 a.m. "It was inside. We contained it to one room. We were there for about one hour and 45 minutes." 

The department had two engines on the scene, with help from the departments in Sag Harbor, East Hampton, and Southampton. Southampton also sent an engine to stand by at the Bridgehampton Firehouse.

"Nobody was in the house," Chief Broadmeadow said. Peter Timmins is listed as the owner. "It's a single story, an older house," built in 1960 and not unfamiliar to the chief, as he's lived on that street for nearly 30 years.

The Southampton Town fire marshal is investigating the cause. The fire was said to have started in the attic.

"There was a lot of smoke and water," Chief Broadmeadow said. "Yeah, it could've been worse, but it was bad enough. They may have to tear the house down, but we don't know."

After the street had been reopened, a busted-out front plate-glass window and a darkened interior could be seen from the curb.

A man whom prosecutors had referred to as the “gatekeeper of the ill-gotten proceeds of the largest narcotics distribution ring in and around Montauk” was sentenced to three to nine years in prison Wednesday.

Antonio Ramirez-Gonzalez, a 30-year-old from Puerto Rico, was busted along with 17 others in August. Police found $30,000 in cash bundled in different denominations and clearly marked, as well as narcotics, during a search warrant in his room at Zorba's Inn on West Lake Drive in Montauk.  

He pleaded guilty to conspiracy in the first degree, a B felony, on Feb. 6. Before State Justice Timothy Mazzei handed down the prison sentence, he asked Mr. Ramirez-Gonzalez, who was wearing a green prison uniform, if he had anything to say. He responded with a simple no. 

Known as Tete, he has been held on bail since his arrest. 

Mr. Ramirez-Gonzalez's attorney, Walter Zornes of Hampton Bays, said his client has a substance-abuse problem and is eligible for New York State's Shock Incarceration Program, which is offered at certain prisons. It is a boot camp, military-style discipline with very structured days, including drills and work. "In New York State, the program is designed to provide a total learning environment that fosters involvement, self- direction, and individual responsibility," according to information online. 

"He does need help," Mr. Zornes told the judge.

Gilberto Quintana-Crespo, "a key member" of the narcotics distribution ring who had a role in securing postal packages containing the drugs, was also sentenced Wednesday to one year in the Suffolk County jail. He had pleaded guilty to a lesser felony, fourth-degree conspiracy, on Feb. 6. He had been facing as much as eight and a third to 25 years.

The judge also asked Mr. Quinta-Crespo, a 32-year-old known as Jimmy, if he had anything to say before sentencing. "That I regret it," he said though an interpreter.

The cases against Geraldo Vargas-Munoz, 37, who had been seen as the kingpin in the operation, and Elvin Silva-Ruiz, who allegedly had sold half an ounce of cocaine to an undercover officer and arranged for the shipment of cocaine and oxycodone, are still pending. Both men remain in custody. 

Mr. Silva-Ruiz's case was on Justice Mazzei's docket on Wednesday, as well, but was adjourned until April 16. While court officers said he had been taken from the jail to the courthouse, his attorney, Chris Brocato, said he was not supposed to be transported then because he gets dialysis on Wednesdays. In fact, when the prosecutor and the defense attorney were deciding on his next court appearance, they made sure it did not conflict with his dialysis schedule. 

In August, his attorney said the 40-year-old, known as Pito, was undergoing chemotherapy for leukemia and was on dialysis.

Mr. Vargas-Munoz, known as Chelo, who allegedly sold drugs and also supplied others with narcotics to sell, pleaded not guilty in addition to felony charges in a 33-count indictment, including operating as a major trafficker and conspiracy in the second degree. He faces 25 years in prison. His next court date is April 18.

Several others charged as part of the conspiracy or with drug possession have already pleaded guilty, as previously reported.

William Miller, an East Hampton native with cancer who had been reported missing by his family last week, has been found. 

Samantha Schreiber, his daughter, said Monday that her father, 57, was found in South Carolina, where he had last called a family member nearly three weeks ago. He is in a medical facility, she said. No other information was immediately available.

"I am grateful for everyone's help in locating my father," Ms. Schreiber said by Facebook Messenger on Monday.

The search began after Ms. Schreiber and other family members saw a Facebook post saying that her father had died. Ms. Schreiber, who is deaf and lives in Pennsylvania, and her family called police departments from the South Fork to South Carolina in search of information. Mr. Miller, known as Billy, is homeless and had been living in a tent behind a cemetery in Hampton Bays most recently.

The 2019 slates announced by East Hampton Town’s political parties in recent weeks have set up a three-way race for supervisor in November and blurred political affiliations as minority parties strive to overcome a sizable Democratic majority in both town government and voter registration. 

The East Hampton Independence Party chose David Gruber, who lost a primary Democratic challenge to Councilman David Lys last year, as its 2019 candidate for town supervisor, and Bonnie Brady and Betsy Bambrick, the Republicans’ picks for town board, as its candidates for the two board seats on this year’s ballot.

The announcement on Monday followed the Independence Party’s convention held on Friday and Saturday at Ashawagh Hall in Springs and comes on the heels of East Hampton’s Democratic and Republican Committees’ announcements of their respective candidates last month.

Republicans named Richard Myers as their candidate for supervisor. Mr. Gruber and Mr. Myers will face Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc, a Democrat who is seeking a second two-year term. 

A former Democratic Committee chairman, Mr. Gruber, a persistent critic of the town board, ran for supervisor in 2001. Last year, as a candidate for the Reform Democrats, a group he has described as a caucus within the Democratic Party, he lost a Democratic primary challenge to Councilman David Lys, who is seeking re-election this year. Mr. Lys went on to defeat the Republicans’ candidate, Manny Vilar. Mr. Vilar is now chairman of the Republican Committee. 

The Reform Democrats did not endorse a candidate for supervisor in a release dated Sunday, but Mr. Gruber said an announcement might be forthcoming.

“You might assume that they would automatically endorse me, as I am a member of the caucus, but that is not necessarily the case with an otherwise joint effort where it is important to support one’s partners and to work together toward a common goal,” he said in an email on Tuesday. “It is prudent in my opinion for them to take more time to consider that, with a decision perhaps next week.”

The Reform Democrats are offering a slate they call the Fusion Ticket that comprises six Republicans, five Demo crats, and one unaffiliated candidate. In the statement, Ilissa Loewenstein-Meyer, the vice chairwoman, likened the caucus to former Congressman and New York City Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, who, she wrote, “united Republicans, reform-minded Democrats (from whence the East Hampton Reform Demo­crats take their name), and the American Labor Party in an anti-corruption campaign against the powerful New York City Democratic political machine, Tammany Hall. . . . At this critical time in our civic life, the East Hampton Reform Democrats, inspired by La Guardia’s example, are proud to join this year with the East Hampton Republican Party and the East Hampton Independence Party endorsing a common slate of candidates, including eight incumbents” in the Nov. 5 election.  

Ms. Brady, a Democrat, and Ms. Bambrick, who is unaffiliated with a political party, will challenge Councilwoman Sylvia Overby and Mr. Lys, both of whom are seeking re-election on the Democratic ticket. 

For town trustee, the Independence Party nominated all nine of the candidates chosen by the Republicans, two of whom will also run on the Democratic ticket. The Independence candidates are Susan Vorpahl and Jim Grimes, both incumbent Republicans; Dell Cullum and Rick Drew, incumbents who were elected as Democrats; David Talmage and Stephen Lester, both former trustees; Rona Klopman and Mike Havens, both former candidates for trustee, and Fallon Bloecker-Nigro, the daughter of a former trustee.

Both the Democratic and Republican Committees endorsed Mr. Grimes and Mr. Drew. Mr. Cullum did not receive the Democrats’ endorsement. Ms. Klopman ran last year as a Democrat and is affiliated with the Reform Democrats. 

The Independence Party and Reform Democrats endorsed Lisa R. Rana, the longtime town justice, for re-election. She will also appear on the Republican ticket. Also getting the Independence Party and Reform Democrats’ nod is Stephen Lynch, the longtime incumbent superintendent of highways, who will be on the Republican and Democratic tickets. 

Two longtime incumbent assessors, Jill Massa, a Republican, and Jeanne Nielsen, a Democrat, received the Independence, Democratic, Republican, and Reform Democrats’ nods.

Every member of the Independence Party’s committee is opposed to the South Fork Wind Farm, a project initially proposed by Deepwater Wind, Elaine Jones, the party’s chairwoman, told The Star on Monday. In a statement also issued on Monday, Ms. Jones said that, “We believe these candidates will fight for East Hampton against the Deepwater Wind project, not only to protect our fishermen but also for the hamlet of Wainscott and the upheaval that Deepwater will cause.”

Deepwater Wind was renamed Orsted U.S. Offshore Wind after its fall 2018 acquisition by the Danish energy company Orsted. Commercial fishermen oppose the project, as do many residents of Wainscott, where Orsted plans to land the transmission cable for the 15-turbine installation.

In its statement, the Independence Party said it hopes its candidates “will jumpstart a sleeping town board,” and believes that they will “work to promote clean, healthy water,” “affordable housing for our young people and senior citizens,” and “job opportunities for our young people who are forced to leave.” It chose candidates it believes will fight to fix airport noise and work to complete a new senior citizens center.

The Reform Democrats’ nominees “share a longstanding devotion to the local community and the will to address critical local needs,” according to the caucus’s statement, including water quality, emergency communications, and affordable housing. The caucus also opposes the South Fork Wind Farm.

Crime is down in East Hampton Town, following a nationwide trend, Police Chief Michael Sarlo told the town board in presenting his annual report on Tuesday. Property and personal crimes — burglary, larceny, criminal mischief, harassment — dipped and are all at five-year lows. 

There was an overall drop in calls for service — the first significant drop in such calls after a steady increase over the past 10 years, Chief Sarlo said. In 2018, police answered 18,079 calls, as opposed to 20,005 a year earlier. In 2016 and 2015, there were 19,689 and 19,683, respectively. 

Accidents dropped to below 900 for the first time since 2013. There were 877 accidents in 2018, as opposed to 955 the year before, though there was a rise in accidents that resulted in injuries, from 129 to 155, according to the chief’s report. 

There were two fatal accidents last year. “Any more than zero is obviously too many,” Chief Sarlo said. 

The department saw a 10-year low in drunken-driving arrests in 2018, with 139. There were 214 the year before. Only three of the department’s 45 officers made 10 or more D.W.I. arrests last year. As 26 of its officers have less than 10 years on the job, the chief said in the report, it is imperative that the department remain committed to enforcing those laws. 

With the exception of its top three officers, the department averaged 2.1 D.W.I. arrests per officer last year. “Given the rural, dimly lit, and winding roadways within our town, the number of accidents and the high volume of traffic, we must remain focused on deterring citizens from drinking or taking drugs and then driving,” he said. 

The opioid epidemic is also a focus, as it was in 2018. A major narcotics investigation in conjunction with the Suffolk County district attorney’s East End Drug Task Force, the Postal Service, and the Drug Enforcement Administration resulted in the arrest of 17 people in connection with a major drug ring in Montauk. 

The chief told the town board about Arthur Scalzo, the department’s officer of the year, calling him “instrumental in taking the Montauk narcotics investigation over the finish line.”

Chief Sarlo recently lent his voice to a public service announcement about the opioid crisis. (It features other local police chiefs as well and can be seen at FindHelpSouthampton.com.) He hopes to do more. 

Despite these and other efforts, there was the same number of overdoses in 2018 — 10 — as in 2017, as well as the same number of fatal overdoses — three. Using Narcan, officers rescued three overdose victims who otherwise would have died. 

The department hopes to increase community outreach and enforcement efforts. Chief Sarlo said he is looking at establishing new protocols for investigating overdoses and incidences of Narcan administration, as well as improving training for officers handling mental health issues during patrol duties. He would also like to increase public information campaigns regarding prescription drug deposit boxes. Just yesterday a new box was installed at the Montauk police precinct thanks to a donation from Stony Brook Southampton Hospital. 

Last year, the department collected 260 pounds of unwanted medications during two Drug Take Back Days it hosted and in its collection boxes at police headquarters in Wainscott, at the town senior citizens center, and at the Pantigo health care facility. 

The department also made an effort last year to have police officers enforce the town code regarding litter, parking, uncovered loads, taxicab laws, and noise, for instance. Data showed that town code summonses decreased from 759 to 566 from 2017 to 2018, perhaps because the number of complaints made decreased. Even noise complaints, both residential and commercial, were at a five-year low. 

“Our hope is through consistent presence, enforcement, and public awareness, we’ve made a significant impact on reducing the incidents of these offenses,” the chief told the board.

Still, he continued, his department would remain vigilant, particularly in Montauk and the Amagansett commercial business district during summer weekends. 

A townwide upgrade to the radio emergency communications system remains a top priority for the department. The project, which has been ongoing, will improve radio efficiency for police officers in the town, the village, and Sag Harbor Village, as well as for the fire departments and emergency medical ser­vice agencies. Stages of the project will be completed in the spring and fall, Chief Sarlo said. 

Another goal for 2019 is to increase the department’s presence in schools to improve safety and security while continuing to build trust and relationships with students, parents, and faculty.

In 2018, the department met its goal of increasing safety on the roads through high-visibility enforcement efforts and a public information-sharing campaign. There was a concerted effort to use social media to highlight school bus safety and the dangers of using hand-held devices while driving and driving while intoxicated. 

The number of vehicle and traffic violations issued dropped 17 percent over all. “We will continue to evaluate the effectiveness of these initiatives in an effort to determine efficiency of department patrol work,” the chief said. 

Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc said the board was grateful for the officers’ professionalism and dedication, which is showing in the statistics. The drop in crime was no accident, he said. “That’s through great leadership, dedication. Very proud of our force here. . . . Thank you all.”

With Reporting by Christopher Walsh