Lisa Grenci, the chairwoman of the Montauk Citizens Advisory Committe for the last 15 years, dropped a bombshell at its meeting on Monday when she announced she was stepping down.

“I’m tired; I’m done,” she said to groans from members, who have re-elected her year after year, almost unanimously. Linda Barns, the committee’s secretary, added another unsettling note, saying she too would no longer run.

    Ms. Grenci said she travels every summer and, with three growing children doesn’t have the time to devote to the committee anymore. Asked after the meeting if she would consider staying on for one more year if no one came forward to run for the position, she said no.

    About 20 members of Montauk’s newest civic organization, Montauk Citizens Voice, attended the  meeting, which was moved from the Montauk School’s library to the multipurpose room in anticipation of a crowd.

    The group did not make a presentation, as had been expected, however. Carl Darenberg, a member of the advisory committee who is on the steering committee of Voice, said  afterward that the meeting had gone on too long to do so.  The new group has 40 members, it was reported and is open to anyone who wants to join. It meets on the last Wednesday of the month at Gurney’s Inn.

    Besides Mr. Darenberg, the other members of the steering committee are Dan Stavola, Chip Duryea, Michael Brosnan, and Paul Monte, president of the Montauk Chamber of Commerce and the manager of Gurney’s.

    Mr. Darenberg said the organization was formed to give  taxpayers an alternative way to get politically involved in environmental and business issues. “We want another voice in the community to be heard,” he said.

    During the meeting, Mr. Brosnan spoke about the traffic and parking problems at the west end of the business district. The citizens committee had previously discussed changes recommended by the Town Police Department at both the I.G.A. and 7-Eleven. The I.G.A. has complied with the changes, making the entrance to its parking lot one way, but 7-Eleven has not yet done so. The plan called for the entrance to its lot to be on the east and the exit to the west.

    But Lt. Chris Hatch of the department told the committee that the State Department of Transportation had just issued a plan that contradicts the department’s. The discussion is ongoing, he said.

    Talk turned to the Friends of Erin St. Patrick’s Day parade on March 25, which started this year at 10 a.m. instead of the usual 12:30 in order to discourage drunken revelers, who come off afternoon trains. The earlier start had worked, but some in the room said it hurt downtown business. “The downtown people were hurt by this, especially those that stay open year round and need that money,” Mr. Darenberg said.

    Lieutenant Hatch said consideration is being given to an 11 a.m. start next year. As a business owner and president of the chamber‚ Mr. Monte said it may take a few years to break the cycle of drunken visitors, which will eventually get families back to the parade.

     Members also discussed deer, whose numbers continue to grow.

    “Something has to be done yesterday. Lyme disease is a terrible issue here. You can’t even go into the woods anymore,” Carl Reimerdes, a committee member, said. He suggested that police be employed to cull the herd and said special gun permits should be granted to property owners who want to take matters into their own hands.

    When the town board’s liaison to the committee, Councilman Dominick Stanzione, said a study was under way, Mr. Reimerdes interrupted him. “Instead of studying these things it’s time to do something.”

    The Coast Guard has credited the  response of the Shamrock’s crew for saving the fishing vessel on Saturday morning. The boat’s design also helped keep her afloat. According to published reports, the wooden boat, based in New Bedford, Mass., had sprung a plank in 10 to 12-foot seas 70 miles south of Montauk.

    It took seven hours for the 70-foot Shamrock to reach Montauk escorted by the cutter Tiger Shark. She was so full of water by early Sunday morning she was unable to enter the harbor. Instead, a crew from the Montauk Coast Guard station helped get the flooding under control with pumps added to the two that had been lowered by a Coast Guard Jayhawk helicopter.

    Once the boat was dewatered and repaired to the satisfaction of the Coast Guard, she and her crew of four were permitted to continue on to New Bedford. Chief Petty Officer Jason Walters of the Montauk station said that as much as 20,000 gallons had been pumped from the Shamrock during the ordeal.

    A mayday had first gone out on Saturday morning and was relayed to the Coast Guard by other fishing vessels. The Bookie, a fishing boat out of New York City, stood by the Shamrock until the Coast Guard came on the scene at about 11:45 a.m. on Saturday. By then Shamrock’s crew had donned survival suits and had readied Shamrock’s lifeboat.

    Shamrock was reportedly built with chambered bulkheads, which helped keep her afloat. No injuries were reported.

    “We have passed through the entire month of March without seeing a single flake of snow,” Richard G. Hendrickson, the United States Cooperative weather observer in Bridgehampton, wrote in his monthly report for March.

    It’s not the first time, but it is uncommon. According to Mr. Hendrickson, there was no snow in the month of March in 2008 and 1983, and only a trace of it in the Marches of 1946, ’54, ’66, ’71, ’72, ’79, ’86, ’95, and 2002.

    “Such is the variation in weather during the month of March on eastern Long Island,” Mr. Hendrickson wrote.

    The warmest days last month were the 21st and 22nd, when it was 70 degrees. On the coldest days, March 6 and 11, it was 23 degrees. Nighttime temperatures dropped to freezing or below on nine nights.

    Rain for March was scarce, with just 1.28 inches recorded, close to 2 inches less than the long-term average. “We need much more rain to keep our sandy loam Long Island soil moist,” he wrote. “We hope spring rains will give us ample soil moisture to help plants through the summer.”

    Though there was little rain, there was considerable fog on five days last month.

    Mr. Hendrickson recorded westerly winds on 17 days last month, as well as 19 clear days, 3 partly cloudy, and 9 cloudy.

    April’s warmer weather should bring ample rain, some fog, and more southerly breezes, Mr. Hendrickson guessed, predicting a high of 80 degrees this month.

    “As the winters come and go, I feel that many of us think and realize that we are in a warming climate trend,” Mr. Hendrickson said. “Our years are warmer and we are going to have warmer years in the future. They are part of the slow but inevitable change that is taking place all over in our present day world. So, if we have excellent ice-skating next winter, you may ask, where is that warming trend that weatherman was writing about?”

    It will take years for the weather to change completely, said the observer, who has been taking his measurements at his Bridgehampton weather station since he was a teenager, “but change it will. Our ocean is warmer and rising. Wait and see. Waterfront homes? Many of us will have to just wait and watch the natural slow changing weather.”

The Great War’s Legacy

With the 100th anniversary of the end of the Great War coming later this year, the John Jermain Memorial Library will present “Legacies of World War I” on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. The program will examine America’s role in the war and its aftermath, and the conflict’s subsequent effect on geopolitical boundaries and the nature of war itself. Registration is required.

An advocate from the Suffolk County Office for the Aging will be at the library on Tuesday from 1 to 3 p.m. to answer questions on a one-to-one basis about programs available to senior citizens. Sign-up is first come first served. 

Medicare counseling will be available on Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Half-hour appointments can be made to speak individually with a representative from the county’s Health Insurance Information Counseling and Assistance Program by calling the library.

The library’s weekly Wednesday at 1 p.m. film program will screen “Loving Vincent,” a hand-painted animated biographical drama about the life of Van Gogh and the circumstances of his death. Each of the film’s 65,000 frames was an oil painting on canvas, a feat accomplished by 125 artists from more than 20 countries.

Parents for Megan’s Law and the Crime Victims Center are offering a crime prevention education workshop for parents, 12th graders, and the general public next Thursday at 7 p.m. at John Jermain. The workshop will focus on how to keep children, teenagers, and adults safe from sexual abuse and assault. Registration is required.

Bridgehampton

Those who wish to document their lives, for themselves or their loved ones, will have a chance to learn how at the Hampton Library, beginning Tuesday, from 5 to 7 p.m., and continuing weekly through May 8. The workshop involves reading, group discussion, research techniques, writing exercises, and marketing information. People of all ages and all levels of writing ability have been invited. The fee for six sessions is $70.

Egg Hunt

The Hampton Library’s annual egg hunt is planned for Saturday at 10 a.m., for children 8 and under, who are asked to take their own baskets. The event will begin with a story time, followed by a hunt on the library’s back lawn. The rain date is April 7.

Workshop

The South Fork Natural History Museum has announced a time change for the nature photography workshop to be held there on Saturday. Beginning at 11:30 a.m., the adult program will welcome those 12 years of age and older to learn from Jim Levison, a nationally recognized photographer. Mr. Levison will discuss introductory digital imaging and composition with participants, who have been asked to take a camera, and a tripod if they have one. A $7 fee for nonmembers will be collected.

Lecture

At Bridge Gardens Scot Medbury, the president of Brooklyn Botanic Garden, will give a lecture on sustainability Sunday at Bridge Gardens from 1 to 3 p.m. The talk is free for members; a $15 donation will be requested from non-members. Seating is limited, and reservations have been suggested via e-mail at events@ peconiclandtrust.org. Sunday is also opening day for the gardens, which will be open on weekends only through May, with new plants, vegetables, and bed designs to explore.

Singing Benefit

Children 7 to 15 will sing songs by the Beatles on Sunday to benefit Katie’s Courage Fund and Go 4 the Goal. The benefit will begin at 3 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist meetinghouse.

Southampton

Tonight from 5 to 7, the Southampton Chamber of Commerce will gather at the Publick House for networking. There will be door prizes, a raffle, appetizers, and a cash bar. The guest charity in attendance will be Kites for a Cure, and the entry fee is $15.

Short Stories

An evening of storytelling will take place at the Rogers Memorial Library on Monday at 7 p.m. Those interested in telling a tale have been asked to choose an experience that can be shared in five minutes or less. On Wednesday at the library at noon, Rudy Horenstein of Hampton Bays will share details about his teenage life in Warsaw, during the city’s bombing in 1939 at the beginning of World War II. Reservations are requested for all events at the library and can be made by phone or online at myrml.org.

Grant Just In

Southampton Hospital has announced a $50,000 grant that has been awarded to provide “state-of-the-art medical records management” at the Shinnecock Indian Health Clinic. The grant comes from the Long Island Community Foundation, which includes the Greentree Foundation and the Henry Shepard Fund. The hospital has worked with the satellite facility for the Shinnecock Nation since 1995, to provide health care and dental services, and said it felt that their paper records were inefficient. The community foundation identifies current and future community needs, and with generous donors, builds permanent endowments to address these needs.

Springs

Collectors Gather

The Springs Historical Society has invited people with collections — as the society puts it, hobbyists, collectors, and yard sale junkies — to talk about their obsessions at Ashawagh Hall on Sunday. The free program starts at 2 p.m. Those who collect decoys, coins, playing cards, stamps, books, autographs, or other items have been asked to take along a few samples or photos. Refreshments will be served.

On the Shelves

Recent additions to the Springs Library’s collection include “Catch Me” by Lisa Gardner, “The Translation of the Bones” by Francesca Kay, “Victims” by Jonathan Kellerman, “Ghost Hero” by S.J. Rogan, and “Celebrity in Death” by J.D. Robb.

Amagansett

St. Peter’s Catholic Church, the Amagansett outpost of Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in East Hampton, will hold a Palm Sunday service at 9 a.m.

The American Legion Ladies Auxiliary is laying down the welcome mat on Wednesday at 7 p.m. for anyone interested in becoming a member. The ladies will hold their regular monthly meeting and welcome any new or possible members.

New books to borrow this week at the Amagansett Library include “Stay Close” by Harlan Coben, “All There Is: Love Stories From Storycorps” edited by Dave Isay, “The Song of Achilles” by Madeline Miller, “Blue Monday” by Nicci French, and “That Woman: The Life of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor” by Anne Sebba.

At the Amagansett Presbyterian Church, palms will be distributed during the 11 a.m. Palm Sunday service. Next Thursday, Maundy Thursday, washing of feet will take place at the church’s 7 p.m. service. And Good Friday, Friday, April 6, there will also be a service at 7 p.m.

Palm Sunday observance at St. Michael’s Lutheran Church will take place at the 11 a.m. service. A Maundy Thursday seder will be held at 5 p.m. next Thursday with a communion service at 6, and a Good Friday service will be at 5 p.m.

    In the final days before the world premiere of his new documentary, “They Come to America,” at Guild Hall on Saturday, Dennis Michael Lynch was “bombarded with requests for tickets,” he said.

    In the film, Mr. Lynch offers both a local perspective on the illegal immigration debate, and a view of conditions along the United States-Mexico border.

    He shut his Web site down at 3:25 p.m. on Saturday so there would be a few tickets left for those planning to buy them at the door, but could not please all of those who stood in line. Many were turned away, and expressed their disappointment. The theater was at capacity, and people were sitting on folding chairs. “The response was more than I expected,” he said.

    The evening’s post-screening Q and A, moderated by John Roland, a former Fox News reporter, resulted in some heated discussions among audience members, and panelists as well.

    Knowing the passions of Mike Cutler, a retired member of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and Bill Streppone, an immigration attorney, both on the panel, Mr. Lynch had predicted that the two could only contain themselves for so long.

    The issue elicits strong opinions, and audience members wanted to voice theirs, too. Some who took the microphone had statements of opinion, rather than questions, but Mr. Lynch made it a point to answer every question asked, even from those he felt were attacking him. “Everyone is entitled to answers,” he said.

    All the money raised from sales of both of his film DVDs “King of the Hamptons” and “They Come to America” on Saturday evening — $750 — was sent to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Mr. Lynch said Tuesday.

    The filmmaker’s next stop was Washington, D.C., on Monday. “I was contacted by the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration,” he said. He went to meet Emily Sanders, a White House staff member, in person to discuss her idea of showing the film to members of Congress and staff, and organizing a roundtable discussion afterward.

    Since the premiere, Mr. Lynch said he has been flooded with e-mails and has been asked to organize more local screenings. The film is scheduled to be shown in Arizona tomorrow through next Thursday, and then in Florida and Kentucky.

    A roomful of people, including East Hampton Town Supervisor Bill Wilkinson and Theresa Quigley, a town board member, listened on Friday as the East Hampton Village Board voted to reduce the allowable size of real estate and contractor signs from 7 square feet to 18 by 18 inches.

    Local brokers and builders have until at least June 1 to roll out the smaller size, and also to post them parallel to properties, instead of perpendicular.

    A few people at Friday’s meeting spoke against the sign shrinkage and the new placement, including Margaret Turner, executive director of the East Hampton Business Alliance, who felt that signs parallel to the property “could create a safety issue, as people stop in the roadway to read the signs.”

    Kathy Cunningham, director of the East Hampton Village Preservation Society, supported the smaller sign law, calling the many signs “a visual blight” on the East Hampton landscape.

    However, she was against the parallel, one-sided signs, also citing the safety issue.

    The board passed the law as written.

    A new law to have stairwells and ceilings over 15 feet high counted twice  toward a property’s gross floor area was also the subject of a hearing on Friday. Ms. Turner spoke on behalf of the Business Alliance  again, citing concerns about pre-existing properties.

    “If this will retroactively apply, some properties will become nonconforming, and this is unfair,” she said. “It’s especially unfair for those who have designed and built since the village’s regulations went into effect in 2004.”

    She also brought up “possibly harmful consequences for businesses, which may need to provide more parking.”

    “The point is to have a discussion today,” Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. said. “We have to sometimes come up with ways to possibly tweak it.”

    Andrew Goldstein, chairman of the East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals, spoke in favor of the law. “It is well-founded,” he said. “We’re all for grand staircases, and I don’t think this statute will affect the large properties that will still be able to accommodate those.”

    It was on small parcels, he said, when sometimes houses can loom over neighbors, where this proposed law was the most needed.

    “People scratch their heads on some of these and come to us and say, ‘How did that get built?’ ” he said. “I urge you to pass this law.” The board did.

    A resolution was also approved to allow the village board to pierce the state’s  2-percent cap on property tax levy increases, if necessary. The mayor called the move “preemptive and proactive.”

    “We’re not assuming it’s going to happen,” he said. “We just felt we needed that in-house protection.”

Groundbreaking Day

    East Hampton Library has set a date for a groundbreaking ceremony for its new children’s addition. Shovel will meet dirt on April 14 at 10 a.m.

    It’s been a long road to this point. The library went to court in an attempt to overturn an East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals denial of permits and variances for the 6,800-square-foot expansion. Last May, the New York State Supreme Court decided in favor of the library, and a recent appearance in front of the village design review board brought a much-anticipated approval for the final site plan.

    Dennis Fabiszak, East Hampton Library’s director, deemed the groundbreaking ceremony a “historic event.”

    It only took five minutes on March 7 for the East Hampton Village Design Review Board to end the East Hampton Library’s nine-year wait for site plan approval so that it can finally begin construction of its new children’s wing.

“All we need now is a building permit,” Dennis Fabiszak, the library’s director, said after the meeting. “That will probably take a couple of weeks.”

The new wing, designed by Robert A.M. Stern, encompasses approximately 6,800 square feet, half of that below ground, as well as an expanded parking area and all associated walkways and landscaping.

The library’s project was halted when the East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals denied its application for a special permit in July of 2010. However, the determination was reversed last May by the State Supreme Court. The zoning board was forced to grant the permit, but set several conditions for it, mostly related to parking and traffic control.

Last week the design review board still had some concerns about the outside lighting and whether it was sufficient for the parking area. A separate lighting plan will be submitted by the library, but it would not hold up the okay from the board, according to the chairman, Stuyvesant Wainwright III.

“I want to thank the board for keeping track of this,” Mr. Wainwright said just after the determination. “And Linda [Riley, the village attorney] for writing draft after draft after draft.”

“I also want to thank the library for being so flexible,” he said. Construction is expected to begin sometime in April.

    Tomorrow’s East Hampton Village board meeting will offer people a chance to air their opinions on the new proposed law limiting the size of real estate and contractor signs, and two other issues.

    For purposes of aesthetics, the village has proposed reducing the allowable size of real estate signs from seven square feet to two and a half square feet, and requiring that those signs be placed parallel to properties for sale or lease rather than perpendicularly. Other municipalities close by — including Shelter Island and Westhampton Beach — have already adopted a similar, or even more restrictive, law.

    Also up for discussion is a change in the way gross floor area is calculated, stipulating that stairwells and interior spaces with a floor-to-ceiling height of more than 15 feet, be counted twice toward floor area. The purpose of enacting this law would be to regulate the mass and size of buildings in the village.

    In addition, the village has proposed to pierce the state’s recently enacted 2-percent cap on property tax levy increases. The board needs a 60-percent majority of its body to allow for the override, which would be the first step toward the construction of a new budget for 2012-13.

    Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach, when reached yesterday, said that the village board is not anticipating the need to go above the 2-percent tax cap, but called tomorrow’s meeting “a pre-emptive hearing,” a necessity prior to entering into budget discussions.

    The mayor expressed his frustration over the new law, although he believes most municipalities support the intent.

    “The state legislature, in its infinite wisdom, made this into law,” he said. “I would like to see Albany adhering itself to the same standards that have been mandated for the rest of us.”

    The public hearings will commence at 11 a.m. in the Emergency Services Building at 1 Cedar Street.

    A public meeting to discuss possible changes to parking requirements and restrictions in the village will be held next Thursday at 7 p.m. in the same location.

    Further discussion about an upcoming change to the laws governing the size of real estate and construction signs was eclipsed at Friday’s East Hampton Village Board meeting by a preliminary talk about placing cameras in the Reutershan parking lot behind Main Street.

    The cameras, said Lt. Anthony Long of the village police, “would help us perform our duties more effectively,” assisting the traffic control officers by recording license plates that enter and leave the parking lot, and automatically mailing a summons to those who loiter longer than the prescribed two-hour limit.

    Lieutenant Long spoke to the board about starting a pilot program in July “to see how it goes,” but the board, and the audience, had many questions.

    “What about people who park two hours, go around the block, and then park again for another two hours?” asked Barbara Borsack, the deputy mayor.

    Mary Ella Moeller, a frequent attendee at board meetings, brought up another point. “What if you have a handicapped sign you hang over your rear-view mirror?” she asked. “That lets you park for three hours.”

    “Right off the bat you’re hearing the concerns of the board,” Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. said to Lieutenant Long. He suggested that a full presentation be made at a later date.

    The proposed law on the size of signs had been amended from an earlier incarnation. Real estate signs and contractors’ signs are currently limited to seven square feet, which the village board finds “unnecessarily large,” according to the new draft of the legislation.

    “The posting of such large signs, together with what has become a proliferation of such signs, detracts from the aesthetic appeal of the village as a whole,” reads the law.

    It points to other nearby municipalities — like Westhampton Beach and Shelter Island — which have enacted new laws to limit those signs. The new law would limit the size to 18 by 18 inches, and signs would have to be square.

    Only one-sided signs would be permitted, and they would have to be displayed parallel to the street, rather than the current method, with two-sided signs hanging perpendicular to the street and several smaller signs hanging below. Those add-on signs would be banned under the new law.

    A hearing on the proposed law will be held on March 16 at 11 a.m.

    Another amendment, this time to the definition of gross floor area, will also be put to a public hearing on the same day. The new law would require that stairwells and interior spaces with ceilings higher than 15 feet be counted twice toward the total allowable area, as if those high-ceiling areas were two stories.

    Larry Cantwell, the village administrator, gave an update on Georgica Beach and road-end work there. “Now we’re thinking that the road reconstruction can start in April, with a completion date of June 15,” he said, adding that there would be “some blackout dates,” like Memorial Day weekend.

    The beach, which was severely eroded by Hurricane Irene and again by a January squall, will be restructured “pretty simultaneously,” Mr. Cantwell said, with a planned completion date of May 15.