Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has signed legislation that will require any future long-term financial agreements between the East Hampton Town Board and the Federal Aviation Administration to be subject to a permissive referendum, giving the community a voice in whether to accept federal money and regulations as it relates to East Hampton Airport.

Federal aviation grants can last up to 20 years, resulting in a long-term impact on the community when they are accepted. The law addresses this by entrusting authority to both the town board and residents. It allows the town board to hold a permissive referendum when considering state or federal assistance for the town-owned airport. It also gives residents the right to petition the town for a referendum, should the board accept a grant and withhold putting it out to a public vote. The petition must be signed by at least 5 percent of residents who voted in the last gubernatorial election and submitted within 30 days of the board having adopted the measure.

"I am pleased the governor signed this measure, which puts the decision-making power regarding F.A.A. funds back into the hands of the community," Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. said in a statement. "Town board members have terms that last only four years. Therefore, it's important that voters also have a say on these agreements that will impact them for years to come."

State Senator Kenneth P. LaValle also supports East Hampton's efforts. The new law, he said in a statement, "enables the residents to decide by referendum whether to accept financial assistance from other levels of government. The new decision-making ability would enable the community of East Hampton to chart their own course."

The law takes effect immediately.

While I have always enjoyed fishing on my own boat, I truly appreciate joining some friends on a charter trip. In short, it feels like a bit of a holiday for me. I do about half a dozen or so of these excursions every year and the benefits are many. No worries or pressure to find the fish, no concerns on securing bait and tackle, no hassle of cleaning the boat at the end of the day, and no need to clean and bag any of the fish caught. Those are just a few of the benefits of letting a true professional take all of the responsibilities off your plate for a day. For me, it’s a great way to put my feet up on the gunnel and enjoy a day on the water without an ounce of guilt. 

I can fully relax.

It was with this in mind that early on Friday morning I joined a group of friends who chartered a boat for a full day of bottom fishing out of Montauk. The boat of choice was the Oh Brother, run by Capt. Robert Aaronson, a captain I have known for over 30 years. A check of my fishing logbook can actually pinpoint my first day fishing with Aaronson. It was Nov. 14, 1986, when he was a mate that day for another fine fisherman, Capt. Michael Albronda of the charter boat Montauk. I still have pictures from that trip, when we caught more than our fair share of striped bass and bluefish on a blustery, sunny late fall day. It feels like it happened just yesterday.

The Oh Brother is a rather unmistakable boat. At 39 feet in length, the stout, BHM downeast-hull craft looks much larger and is clearly defined by its steel tuna pulpit that extends well beyond its bow. It’s a boat that can be easily identified from many miles away. To me, it’s a bit eerily reminiscent of the Orca, Capt. Quint’s boat featured in the movie classic “Jaws.” It has true character.

“I had the boat built to my specifications in Maine back in 1989 as a charter and commercial vessel,” Aaronson said of his boat, which can hold 10,000 pounds of fish in its insulated fish hold. “She also draws six feet of water. You give up some speed and economy with a heavy, deep boat, but we make that up by being able to safely go fishing in challenging conditions. She is a monster in heavy weather.” 

Such a well-built boat would come in handy that day.

Taking a ride to the south and east of the windmills off Block Island was a bit of a Coney Island Cyclone roller coaster experience, but the boat held steady in the following sea. A west wind gusting up to 30 miles per hour had developed the day before and whipped up the seas to eight feet in height, but thankfully my fellow crew members were hardy and seasoned veterans accustomed to some rough water. Upon arriving at the fishing grounds, we were greeted by an anchored Viking Starship that had a good number of similarly hardy anglers. Measuring 140 feet in length, the Starship looked like a Navy destroyer steadily bobbing up and down in the persistent swells, but you could see a constant stream of black sea bass being lifted by those fishing at its rails. 

With a good amount of freshly cut skimmer clams at the ready as our bait, Aaronson decided to drift instead of anchor. And the action was immediate. The bottom was alive with fish despite the challenging conditions, as the boat drifted true in the stiff wind. With the restrictions lifted on fishing in federal waters the week before, each of us could now possess eight sea bass measuring over 15 inches. (From yesterday through the end of December, anglers can retain 10 fish per day.) Keeping our balance in the stern cockpit was no easy feat, but Rudy Bonicelli, the first mate, another seasoned fisherman who has plied his trade for many years on the docks and boats of Montauk, was at hand ready to assist in removing the fish from our hooks and rebaiting them. For Bonicelli, it was just another day at the office. 

“Today was nothing,” he said about the conditions, with a shrug of his shoulder. “You should have seen it yesterday. It was 10 times worse.” Aaronson certainly knew what he was doing when he had this boat built nearly 30 years ago. Tough as nails.

For anglers focused on striped bass, the action has been good. “Still good fishing for stripers and bluefish here in Montauk,” added Aaronson. However, the captain said the warm waters have slowed the hunt for blackfish. “Need some cooler waters to get the bite going.”

At the Tackle Shop in Amagansett, the proprietor, Harvey Bennett, was lamenting the defeat of his beloved Oakland Raiders to the Buffalo Bills (a team yours truly has backed since his days in college in western New York) on Sunday, as well as being on the short end of a $20 wager. Beyond the emotional and financial loss, Bennett was enthused about the striped bass reports. “White Sands in Amagansett has had some nice action on fish up to 20 pounds, while Flying Point in Southampton has been a good spot of late too.” Bennett added that porgy fishing remains good at the Navy dock in Fort Pond Bay in Montauk and that big bluefish can be taken at the rips at the north end of Gardiner’s Island.  

Sebastian Gorgone at Mrs. Sam’s Bait and Tackle in East Hampton was celebrating his birthday on Sunday when he proclaimed that the striped bass action on the ocean beaches was “Good . . . in most of the spots, in particular near the cut at Georgica.” 

“Stick with small diamond jigs and teasers, as the fish are feeding on small sand eels.” Gorgone said that small bass were also frequenting the area near Lion Head Rock on the bay side too. As for blackfish, while he has been selling plenty of green crabs, the waters remain on the warm side and keeper-size fish have been tough to come by, he said. “Hopefully it will get better soon. . . . We need some cold weather.” 

Finally, it’s time to get the scallop dredges out of the garage. The much-anticipated opening of the bay scallop season is Monday in New York State waters. State law limits the recreational harvest to a one-bushel basket of the tasty bivalves per day. Get the fry pan ready.

We welcome your fishing tips, observations, and photographs at [email protected]. You can find the “On the Water” column on Twitter at @ehstarfishing.

In addition to the supervisor’s race, Southampton voters are contemplating other contests, with two seats open on the town board and two incumbents hoping to hang on to their positions. 

Councilman Stan Glinka, a Republican, and Councilwoman Julie Lofstad, a Democrat, are the incumbent town board members. Joining Mr. Glinka on the Republican ticket is Thea Dombrowski-Fry, a newcomer who is a teaching assistant in the Southampton School District. Ms. Lofstad’s running mate is Tommy John Schiavoni, a teacher who is on the Southampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals and the Sag Harbor School Board. Town board members serve four-year terms.

Mr. Glinka is seeking a second term. “I think, probably, the most rewarding part of this job is being able to help people in different facets of the town, whether business owners or homeowners,” he said. After years of participation in civic organizations, it took some getting used to, he said, to have all the resources the town offers at his fingertips. 

Mr. Glinka has worked in banking for nearly 24 years. He is a vice president in the private banking division of the Bridgehampton National Bank. Given his career and his public service, he said he easily puts in a 70-hour workweek. With an office on Windmill Lane in Southampton Village, he said he was able to balance his time.

One of the biggest accomplishments of his first term, he said, was legislation for tax abatement for the revitalization of motels. The town adopted a hometown law that allows investors to put money into a motel, but pay taxes on only half the profit over the next decade, he said. 

Three motels in Hampton Bays, the area Mr. Glinka had in mind when crafting the legislation, have taken advantage of tax abatement so far, and more will follow, he said. 

A Southampton native, Mr. Glinka lives in Hampton Bays, one of several areas in town that have grappled with economic redevelopment and code enforcement. In his first term, he approached these issues hands-on, he said. He rode along with code enforcement officers to see what they deal with at first hand, and often attends the department’s weekly staff meetings. He has also taken officers to civic meetings to explain what is being done in their neighborhood.

However, he voted against the hiring of a new town code compliance and emergency management administrator, Steven Troyd. He said it had nothing to do with Mr. Troyd’s qualifications, but that the department needed “more feet on the ground.” For Mr. Troyd’s salary, two more officers could have been hired, he said. 

Asked about an effort in Hampton Bays last month that yielded 215 code violations, Mr. Glinka said, “All of that was already in play” before Mr. Troyd’s hiring. Asked if hiring Mr. Troyd had been a political stunt, Mr. Glinka just shook his head. 

Mr. Glinka and his running mate, Ms. Dombrowski-Fry, are looking toward becoming involved in the revitalization of Hampton Bays and the Flanders-Riverside-Northampton area, which they say are on the cusp of economic redevelopment. These areas are “the gateway to the East End. They need a shot in the arm,” Ms. Dombrowski-Fry said. 

Her name appears on the ballot as Thea R. Fry. She grew up in Water Mill, a second-generation American. A teacher’s assistant, she has worked in the Southampton School District for 22 years. If elected, she is not sure if she will retire. She lives in Hampton Bays and has spoken at town board meetings in favor of a condo development on Canoe Place Road. “I want development in Hampton Bays. I want businesses to come,” she said. She worries about whether her son, who is now 13, will be able to stay in town. She said that like most residents here she is managing a career and a family and paying high prices for groceries. “On Election Day, when you look in the mirror, I want you to see me. I am the average voter.”

Ms. Lofstad was elected to the board in a special election in January of 2016 to fill the vacancy created when Councilman Brad Bender was arrested on drug-related charges and resigned. She is seeking her first full four-year term. 

In her 20 months on the board, she has found “the starkest contrast between being a community advocate and now being a public servant,” she said, adding that she does not call herself a politician. “When I was a community advocate, I had one specific goal in mind. . . . Well, now in this seat . . . you can’t just look at that one goal, you have to see what else that goal will affect, the unintended consequences or the unintended benefits,” she said. “I am not in this to be a career politician. I’m in this to help my town the best way that I can to make it a safer, healthier place for our residents, our visitors, hopefully for our kids and grandkids, who will live here as well.” 

She is most proud of having taken part in the board’s water quality initiatives; it has mandated advanced septic systems for new construction and in major remodeling in sensitive areas and is working to put more oysters in the bays — something her running mate is also interested in. 

A Hampton Bays resident, Ms. Lofstad runs a commercial fishing business with her husband. She has been keeping tabs on the proposed offshore wind project, saying, “I certainly support wind power, as long as it’s not to the destruction of our industry.” 

Looking ahead, she is interested in trying to tackle the South Fork’s traffic problems. The town is working with the Long Island Rail Road on increasing eastbound trains by 2019. She wants to look into finding a place where those  with trucks and equipment necessary to do their jobs can park overnight near the train stations and then take trains to and from Southampton. 

Mr. Schiavoni comes from a large, well-known Sag Harbor family, and his wife is Andrea Schiavoni, who is in her third term as a Southampton Town justice. They live on North Haven, where he has served as a village trustee. Mr. Schiavoni is the only candidate who lives east of the canal. Spreading representation throughout town is important, he said, especially when it comes to the community preservation fund and water quality improvement in the eastern part of the town. He supports a proposed deal by which the town would purchase waterfront property owned by developers in Sag Harbor Village with C.P.F. money so it can be turned into a proposed Steinbeck Memorial Park.  

Mr. Schneiderman appointed Mr. Schiavoni to the town’s zoning board in 2016. He is vice president of the Sag Harbor School Board, having joined that board in 2014, while continuing his career as a social studies teacher in the Center Moriches School District, where he also teaches college-credited courses. 

Asked why he decided to run for town board, he cited water quality and tick-borne illnesses among the biggest reasons. “What does this place look like in 75 years? I want our generation to be the one that says, ‘Okay, we turned it around.’ ” He said the town board had taken some good first steps with the septic rebate program, and he wants to see more done, such as possible cluster  sewage treatment systems. 

As for tick-borne diseases, Mr. Schiavoni wants to see the town be more involved. “In conjunction with the state, I’d like to see Southampton Town be one of the local leaders in the State of New York on what to do for this.” He also wants to assist Ms. Lofstad and the town with affordable-housing ideas that involve accessory apartments, and he also would like to explore setting up an equity-sharing concept, where residents and the town go in as partners on an affordable house. Residents would have an option to buy out the town over time, he said. 

Another reason why he chose to run now is that his school career is winding down, he said. If elected he will finish out the academic year and retire after 29 years. He also would step down from the zoning board before taking office in January, and would most likely retire from the school board. His term is up in the spring. 

Ms. Lofstad and Mr. Schiavoni also appear on the Independence, Working Families, and Women’s Equality lines. Ms. Dombrowski-Fry and Mr. Glinka were also endorsed by the Conservative Party.

Other Offices

Aside from the town board, Alex Gregor is seeking his third four-year term as highway superintendent on the Democratic ticket and will be challenged by Lance Aldrich, who used to work under Mr. Gregor. Mr. Aldrich had been the deputy highway superintendent under Bill Masterson, the former superintendent. When Mr. Gregor took office in 2010, Mr. Aldrich became the department’s general foreman and remained in that position for six years until it was eliminated at Mr. Gregor’s request. 

Mr. Gregor, a member of the Independence Party, is from East Quogue. Mr. Aldrich, a North Sea resident, does private consulting, and also works part time for the town as a land steward and maintenance mechanic in the Community Preservation Fund Department.

All five Southampton Town trustee positions are up in November. Four incumbents are seeking re-election, while the fifth, Eric Schultz, has chosen to step down. The incumbents are Bill Pell IV, who was cross endorsed, Edward J. Warner Jr., Bruce A. Stafford, and Scott M. Horowitz. The latter three have Republican nods, along with Donald T. Law, a newcomer. The Democratic candidates are Gary T. Glanz, Ann E. Welker, and Ronald A. Fisher.

The town clerk and town justices have all received cross endorsements. Sundy A. Schermeyer, a Republican first elected in 2006, is seeking her fourth four-year term as clerk. Deborah E. Kooperstein, a Democrat, and Barbara L. Wilson, a Republican, are the incumbent justices.

Bradley Stanley Marmon, the longtime owner of White’s Pharmacy, one of East Hampton’s oldest businesses, died on Sunday morning, some two weeks before he would have celebrated his 92nd birthday. Mr. Marmon was a resident of an elder care facility in Lakewood Ranch, Fla., having been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease about two years ago and he had had two strokes, his family said. 

Mr. Marmon bought the pharmacy and the building at 81 Main Street in East Hampton Village in 1954 from William White, whose father had owned the drugstore as well as another in Montauk. In East Hampton, the pharmacy was descended from the 19th-century E.B. Muchmore drugstore. 

Mr. Marmon’s wife, Betty L. Marmon, joined him in the business, taking the lead in expanding its services and stocking cosmetics from such companies as Estée Lauder and Revlon. The couple’s daughter Elise Marmon worked at the pharmacy for some 25 years, making it a family business. 

Ms. Marmon, who now lives in Needham, Mass., said her father was a generous man who “would drop everything to help someone in need.” As an example, she described an emergency call that came in the middle of the night from Gardiner’s Island. He got up, went to get the needed prescription at the pharmacy, and took it to the island on one of his boats.  

He was born on Nov. 15, 1925, the eldest of four children of John and Thelma Marmorstein. He grew up in the Bronx and in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. In 1943, he was a member of the third class to graduate from the Bronx High School of Science. While a student, he was chosen to work with physicists at Columbia University who were part of the Manhattan Project, which developed the use of uranium for the atomic bombs that devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II. He had no knowledge of the project’s goals and he won an Army commendation for his work.

During the war and before going to college, Mr. Marmon was an Army radio operator in the Pacific. The work engendered a lifelong interest in radio, and he eventually became a ham radio operator using the call sign KA1HR. Later, in East Hampton, he erected a tall transmission tower by the garage of his house on Mill Hill Lane.

In 1947, he returned from the war and was married. He enrolled at the Columbia University School of Pharmacy on the G.I. Bill, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in 1951. He worked at several pharmacies in New York City and Bay Shore before relocating to East Hampton.

In East Hampton, Mr. Marmon and his wife became members of the Jewish Center of the Hamptons and they renewed their vows at the Hedges Inn in 1998 after 51 years of marriage. Earlier, they served as co-chairs of American Cancer Society anti-smoking and cancer prevention fund-raising campaigns. Mr. Marmon joined the Masons, becoming a 32nd-degree member. He also was appointed to the East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals, serving for over a decade. 

Although he did some golfing and was one of the first members of the South Fork Country Club in Amagansett in 1959, fishing soon became a passion. He fished for over 25 years, first as a surfcaster in the Atlantic off the beaches here and then in Gardiner’s Bay after acquiring his first boat, the Rx, which was followed by larger vessels, the Refill and then the Therapy. His catches not only provided meals for his family and friends but also for two highly-thought-of restaurants, Chez Labatt in East Hampton and Gordon’s in Amagansett. He joined the Power Squadron and the Coast Guard Auxiliary, taking leadership positions in both, and spent many hours standing watch at the Coast Guard’s Montauk station. 

In 1998, he sold White’s Pharmacy, retiring and planning to travel with his wife. However, she had a rare form of lung cancer and died that year. After her death, he moved to Bradenton, Fla., where they had often vacationed. Mr. Marmon rediscovered golf and traveled extensively, visiting New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Hungary, from which his family had come. He also looked forward to visits by his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

In addition to his daughter Elise, he is survived by his daughter Nan Marmon Kaftan of Bradenton and his son Stephen Marmon of Pearl River, N.Y., as well as a sister, Hilary Marmon of Warwick, N.Y. He also is survived by four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. A brother, Lloyd Marmon, and a sister, Mona David, died before him. 

Rabbi-Cantor Debra Stein of the Jewish Center of the Hamptons will officiate at a service today at 1 p.m. at Shaarey Pardes Accabonac Grove Cemetery, 306 Old Stone Highway, Springs. The family will welcome visitors at the center from 2 to 6 p.m. today. Contributions have been suggested to the center, 44 Woods Lane, East Hampton 11937, or the Alzheimer’s Association National Office, 225 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago.

The Farrell Building Company’s plan to build an eight-bedroom, 4,627-square-foot house in the middle of Ditch Plain, a Montauk neighborhood known for its small lots and modest homes, has two neighbors seeing red.

The one-acre-plus property, at the dogleg corner of Caswell Road and Agnew Avenue, is one of the last undeveloped tracts in the Ditch neighborhood. In addition to the house, Farrell proposes to construct a 647-square-foot swimming pool and a small detached garage. Because the lot contains substantial wetlands — some 4,785 square feet — Farrell needs a special permit from the East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals, which held a public hearing on the plan on Oct. 24. 

Farrell has agreed to create a 14,162-square-foot easement to protect the wetlands, and the State Department of Environmental Conservation and the East Hampton Architectural Review Board have already signed off on the plan, with the latter approval being needed because the property is in the Montauk Association Historic District. Just behind it stands one of the so-called Seven Sisters cottages, designed by McKim, Mead and White.

Katie Osiecki of Due East Planning, representing the applicant, told zoning board members that while swimming pools are unusual in Ditch, there are six in the neighborhood.

Lisa D’Andrea, the town planner overseeing the application, stressed the importance of the wetlands. Besides the area already documented, she said, there is another part of the lot that the town investigated as possible wetlands, though it fell short of qualifying. The presence of wetlands in Ditch is vital, Ms. D’Andrea said in her memo to the board, describing the property in question as typical of the area, where soil is hard rather than sandy, and drains poorly. Much of the runoff flows toward Lake Montauk, she noted, and increased development has led to higher nitrogen levels in the lake.

Maria Sidorff and her late husband, Michael Sidorff, built their house east of the Farrell property in 1968. They were public school teachers at the time. Ms. Sidorff, now an archaeologist, had just returned from Europe when she saw a sign on the neighboring property announcing the public hearing, she said, adding that she had never otherwise been notified of the Farrell proposal. 

Rick Whalen, the lawyer representing the applicant, said that notice had been sent to Ms. Sidorff via certified mail. That, it turned out, was the problem. The town has Ms. Sidorff’s Florida address as her mailing address. Because the letter is certified, and requires a signature, it was not forwarded to her Montauk address. 

Ms. Sidorff warned of flooding, which she said is prevalent in the neighborhood. Mr. Whalen countered that the undeveloped property is not in a flood zone. Ms. Sidorff also expressed concern that overdevelopment was causing degradation of water quality in the hamlet.

The neighbor to the west also spoke out against the proposal. Abigail Monahan told the board that her mother, Lili Adams, the owner of the Ditch Witch food truck, and her father, Thomas Monahan, were unable to attend the meeting, but wanted their objections heard. They were not against development of the property, she said, but felt that the proposed building envelope was far too large.

The zoning board agreed to close the public hearing but keep the record open for two weeks, to allow a more accurate survey to be filed.

Also on Oct. 24, board members approved Robert DeNiro’s plan to tear down his almost-3,000-square-foot Old Montauk Highway residence in Montauk and replace it with a slightly smaller modern structure. The property, almost an acre and a half, faces the ocean, and the existing house pre-dates zoning. Mr. DeNiro, the star of such films as “Mean Streets,” “Taxi Driver,” and “The Godfather Part 2,” needed a permit to proceed because of the proximity of bluffs. The two variances granted will allow the new house and decking to be closer to the toe of the bluff than town code allows.

Celebrities usually hide their identities behind mysteriously named limited liability companies, but not Mr. DeNiro. On Sept. 26, when the public hearing on his application was held, he walked into Town Hall accompanied by the architect, Pamela Glazer, and they took seats in the front row center.

Mr. DeNiro was not present on Oct. 24. Cate Rogers, a board member, said that his current house dates mostly from the 1950s and has cracks in the foundation, and called the new septic system, which will be installed between the new house and Old Montauk Highway, a “significant” improvement. She noted that the new structure will be as far from the bluff line as possible. Board members then instructed their attorney, Elizabeth Baldwin, to draw up an approval for the proposal.

Jay Schneiderman is hoping for a second term as Southampton Town supervisor, saying there is a long list of his accomplishments, while Ray Overton, who was tapped by the Southampton Town Republican Committee to run for the top spot, is pointing to infrastructure quality and spending. 

Mr. Overton, a former town trustee, is not closely related to Fred Overton, an East Hampton Town Board member. “I think there are a lot of people who are disappointed in the supervisor,” he said in a recent interview. “I think there are a lot of people who feel he is nothing but a politician.” 

Mr. Schneiderman, who lives in Southampton Village, is endorsed by the Democratic and Independence Parties. He has been a member of the Independence Party, but recently announced that he had filed paperwork to switch to the Democratic Party although that will not be effective until after the election. He is a former county legislator, former East Hampton Town supervisor, and a former member of the East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals. He had been a longtime resident of Montauk, where he is the co-owner of a motel.

Summarizing changes during his tenure as supervisor, Mr. Schneiderman said Town Hall is in better shape than when he took office and that the town has a AAA rating from Moody’s, in addition to Standard & Poor’s, which it had before he became supervisor. The town has lowered its outstanding debt by $12 million and cut the tax rate by 3 percent — both over two years — as well as proposing a 1 percent decrease in the 2018 budget, he said. He also said the town was investing in infrastructure, from police to paving roads.

Mr. Overton said he was unhappy about the current administration’s priorities. “There’s been an awful lot of town facilities I have seen in poor condition,” he said, naming a few in Westhampton, like the old American Legion Hall, which the town owns, and the town dock, which was damaged in Sandy. 

“As I look more and more through the town, what got me is that we have these town facilities, continue to accumulate them, and not provide for them,” he said. “If a private citizen was doing this type of thing and leaving it as is, they would be fined.”

Mr. Schneiderman said he had inherited a crumbling infrastructure, and the town was doing its best to fix it within its means. “I’m not going to raise tax rates. I’ve got to work with what I’ve got.” The town has put $1 million into Dune Road, to raise it 2.65 feet above sea level and money has been set aside for a new heating and ventilation system for Town Hall and the Ponquogue Pavilion in Hampton Bays. 

  Mr. Overton also is concerned about the supervisor’s proposed 2018 budget despite the decrease in the tax rate. Spending is increasing, he said, and the tax rate is decreasing only because of the increase in assessed property values. 

“The spending we’re doing is repairing our infrastructure that was neglected for a long time,” Mr. Schneiderman said. He called it “wise spending.” He noted the addition of five police officers over the last three years, which was funded with $1 million in additional sales tax revenue for the town, which he said he had secured as a county legislator. 

Mr. Overton took exception to the supervisor’s proposal to increase his own salary by 8 percent, to $117,000, while town board members are to have a 2 percent increase. “It’s not my budget to pass. If it’s mine to pass, my own salary will go back down,” he said. 

Mr. Schneiderman said the supervisor’s salary had been lowered during the economy’s downturn and had never been readjusted. “I don’t think it’s a ridiculous salary,” he said, and then added, “The town board can change it. I’m not going to object to them changing it.” 

Mr. Overton is a Westhampton Village resident and grew up there. He has a degree in economics and returned to Westhampton after college, where he developed management experience in construction and financial services. From 1990 to 2005, he lived in Vermont, before returning to the area. He also is the former director of operations for the Ross School, where he oversaw maintenance, security, boarding houses, and capital improvements from 2012 to 2014. He is the general manager of Mulco Plumbing and Heating. 

While he agrees that improving water quality is imperative and thinks the town’s decision to mandate new septic systems for new construction and major remodeling is a good first step, he wants the town to be more aggressive. He said the town should home in on particularly sensitive properties. “If we wait for them to come to us, they will still have an archaic septic system.”

Mr. Overton also said he would offer a different style of leadership. He believes there have been mixed messages from the supervisor’s office, particularly when it has come to the controversial issue of planned development districts, like the Hills in East Quogue, and whether to get rid of such districts altogether. “They are a tool in the shed. It is up to the town board to have a spine.”

Another idea, he said, was to make town departments that interact a lot with the public more efficient. “It kills me to see people standing in line at the Building Department,” he said. He would like property owners and contractors to make appointments online. “If you can get the Department of Motor Vehicles to be efficient, you can get the Building Department to be efficient,” he said.

When asked about this, Mr. Schneiderman said it was not a bad idea and agreed the process needed to be streamlined. He pointed to other improvements in the way people interact with various town departments, citing a new portal where people can log on and get permit information for specific properties with a few clicks, instead of filing a Freedom of Information request. He also noted the creation of Southampton Online Solutions, a new platform where complaints and requests can be filed and tracked. 

Looking toward a second term, Mr. Schneiderman said he wants to do more on affordable housing. He considers the approval of the Speonk Commons complex an accomplishment, in that it started as a strongly opposed 51-unit complex but with his help was changed to 38 units. “At the final public hearing the same people who were vociferously opposed to it spoke out in favor of it. It was a real transformation.”

Mr. Schneiderman also created a Housing and Community Development Department in his first term. He said the town was working on a new model for affordable housing — getting away from high-density construction to put it in the least affordable areas where labor is at highest demand, for the most part east of the Shinnecock Canal. Another answer is allowing accessory apartments in such buildings as garages, or converting sections of existing houses. 

Both candidates agree that a focus in 2018 needs to be on improving pedestrian and traffic safety in Bridgehampton — using $700,000 in grant money is being planned — and to work with railroad and state officials for shuttle trains to help ease traffic on County Road 39.

Without doubt, Suffolk County will have a new sheriff regardless of the outcome of November’s election. Lawrence M. Zacarese, an assistant chief of the Stony Brook University police, and Errol Toulon Jr., a former New York City deputy corrections commissioner, are vying for the position in what has shaped up to be one of the most lively county races of the year.

Mr. Toulon is the first African-American to be nominated for sheriff or any other major county office, such as executive, clerk, or district attorney. (DuWayne Gregory became the first person of color to be elected as presiding officer of the Suffolk County Legislature in 2014.)

After receiving Reform Party endorsement in June, Mr. Zacarese won a Republican primary in September against Phil Boyle, a New York State senator. Despite having no law enforcement experience, Mr. Boyle had received nominations from the G.O.P., Conservative, and Independence Parties, and was expected to get the Democratic nod as well. Dan Caroleo, the Democrats’ original candidate for sheriff, dropped out in June, and Stuart Besen, a former Huntington Town Board member, had been considered as a place holder for Mr. Boyle going into the primary.

In Newsday’s endorsement of Mr. Zacarese last week, the editorial board said, “Everything people hate about politics in general, and Suffolk County politics in all its dirty particulars, was wrapped up in last month’s Republican primary for county sheriff.” 

Mr. Toulon jumped into the race as a Democrat after the primary.

In recent years, the sheriff’s office was involved in a federal investigation into political corruption in Suffolk that led to the conviction of Edward Walsh, the former corrections lieutenant under the outgoing sheriff, Vincent DeMarco. 

Mr. Walsh had also been the leader of the Suffolk Conservative Party and a minority party is usually highly influential in county politics and elections. He was convicted in 2016 on federal charges of wire fraud and theft of government services, after spending time on politics, golfing, and gambling while saying he was at work in the sheriff’s office. 

Following September’s primary, Suffolk Democrats ditched Mr. Boyle and nominated Mr. Toulon, 55, of Lake Grove. Mr. Toulon also received the backing of the Conservative and Independence Parties. And Mr. Boyle will appear on the Independence Party line as a judicial candidate for State Supreme Court.

“No disrespect to Senator Boyle, but he was selected as a backroom deal . . . and it didn’t sit well with voters,” Mr. Zacarese said in an interview this week. “No disrespect to Errol, but he was their fourth candidate.” Mr. Zacarese said the sheriff’s position was too important, affecting “people’s general sense of safety, to have a candidate just show up 30 days before an election.” 

The Suffolk sheriff is responsible for running and maintaining county jails — a maximum-security facility in Riverside and a medium-security facility in Yaphank. Both candidates said their job should not end with the custody of inmates, but should include implementing programs to help them successfully transition when they are released. 

Gang violence, including the rise in violent crime connected to MS-13 in western Suffolk and the opioid epidemic have direct ties to the inmate population. Despite seeing less of it on the South Fork, both candidates agree residents here must not turn a blind eye to the epidemic. “The gang and the drug problem is Zipcode agnostic,” Mr. Zacarese said.

While drug users are behind bars, the sheriff’s office needs to find a way to help them through treatment. Not to do so “would be doing the community a disservice,” Mr. Zacarese said. “They will make their way back into the correctional system.”  

Mr. Toulon has attacked Mr. Zacarese’s lack of corrections experience, while Mr. Zacarese said Mr. Toulon was part of the problem when he worked at the Riker’s Island correctional facility. “Putting politics aside, running a jail, running for sheriff’s office, is something that should be run by someone that is qualified and not someone that is going to need on-the-job training,” Mr. Toulon said. 

Mr. Zacarese, 42, a lifelong Long Islander who lives in Kings Park, worked for the New York City Police Department for 11 years, rising to the rank of sergeant and working with in emergency services and street narcotics enforcement. He is a former firefighter and certified paramedic. In 2009, he joined the Stony Brook University police department and while in that job earned a law adegree. He also is director of the county office of emergency management.

Mr. Zacarese defended his experience, drawing a parallel to being in charge of the safety and health of 50,000 people at Stony Brook, the region’s largest university and medical center, to the care and custody of inmates at another large institution. “It’s not just about putting people behind bars. Broad-based experience” is also necessary, he said.

The sheriff’s office handles landlord-tenant disputes and eviction and oversees the pistol-permit process for residents of the five East End towns. The sheriff works closely with law enforcement agencies on the local and federal levels, and also works with the community on gang resistance, bullying awareness, and distracted driving programs, among others. 

Mr. Toulon said his experience “makes me more than qualified to walk in on day one and really start to transform the office.” He served two stints with the New York City Department of Correction, the first 22 years as a corrections officer, retiring as captain, and the last three years as deputy commissioner of operations before resigning in January. In between those posts, he served as assistant deputy county executive under Steve Bellone, working on public safety. 

He said jail is different than prison — people are there for shorter terms, either while awaiting trial or on year sentences. Riker’s, while larger, is similar to Suffolk County jail in that respect, he said. 

Mr. Toulon has ideas about creating a resource map for those leaving jail so that they know how to get mental health, housing, and employment help. “We want to ensure they have an opportunity to live a normal and productive life. The last thing we want is someone falling back into that addiction. We want to ensure those people aren’t a risk to the community.” 

He also wants to work with the courts on an ankle-bracelet system for low-level offenders and an expediter program through which offenders with low bails could be released. When it comes to staff, he wants to ensure they get consistent training annually to keep up with cardiopulmonary resuscitation, first aid, and firearms training. 

Mr. Toulon has a master’s in business administration and a doctorate from Dowling College. He has taken leadership courses at Harvard and has a post-graduate certificate in homeland security management. He ran for office twice before, losing to John Kennedy for county legislator in 2009 and two years later dropping out of a race against State Sen. John Flanagan. 

“The sheriff is one of the most important and the least known law-enforcement agencies in Suffolk County,” Mr. Zacarese said.

A spreading infestation of southern pine beetles in Northwest Woods in East Hampton prompted East Hampton Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell to declare a state of emergency on Thursday.

The beetles had been identified earlier this month as killing an estimated 800 trees on a six-acre tract in East Hampton, after aerial photographs and on-site inspections revealed dead and dying trees and other signs of infestation.

Since then, a number of property owners in the area have reported that their trees have been infested. More than 2,000 pine trees are now believed to be infested, according to a press release by Mr. Cantwell on Thursday.

Until now, East Hampton has been spared a widespread outbreak of southern pine beetles, which chewed through forests in the Southeastern United States and Long Island's Pine Barrens.

Signs of an infestation include clumps of resin visible on the exterior of pine trees, holes and tunnels in the bark, and reddish-brown dead needles.

Under the emergency declaration, the town's Department of Land Acquisition and Management is authorized to cut down infested pine trees on both public and private property with landowners' permission. Town staff is also authorized to enter private property to inspect trees, as well as to hire private contractors to augment town staff to deal with infected trees.

The Department of Land Acquisition and Management had already planned to seek state funding for a pine beetle containment program that would have begun in January.

Property owners who would like more information or to report an infestation have been asked to contact the town's Department of Land Acquisition and Management.

Conditions on eastern Long Island are expected to deteriorate as the winds pick up and the rain continues to fall Sunday evening.

Winds are intensifying, forecasted at 30 to 40 miles per hour and with wind gusts expected to reach 65 m.p.h., according to the National Weather Service. 

Torrential rain will continue through the evening, with a thunderstorm possible, then taper off after midnight. An intensifying low-pressure system along the mid-Atlantic coast is tracking north across the lower Hudson Valley Sunday evening, the National Weather Service said.

A high wind warning is in effect until Monday at 6 a.m. In the early evenings, an east wind will blow 24 to 29 m.p.h. becoming southeast at 36 to 41 m.p.h. after midnight. Winds could gust could as high as 65 m.p.h.

Downed trees and power lines are expected. Travel will be difficult, especially for high profile vehicles. PSEG-Long Island said it is prepared to respond quickly to outages with all of its employees on standby. As of 5:30 p.m., there were 33 outages on Long Island, but none were on the East End.

With a steady rain all day Sunday, a flash flood watch is in effect through late Sunday night and a coastal flood advisory is in effect until Monday at 9 a.m.

Monday's forecast is calling for a 50-percent chance of showers before noon. Cloudy skies will become mostly sunny with the temperature falling to around 54 by 10 a.m. But it will still be fairly windy, with a west wind of 25 to 28 m.p.h., with gusts as high as 50 m.p.h. 

Update, Nov. 2 (as it appeared in print): A Montauk man died following a one-car accident on Star Island Road in that hamlet on Sunday afternoon, according to East Hampton Town police.

Detectives are investigating what caused Dennis O’Grady to crash the 2005 Mercedes-Benz he was driving near the Montauk Yacht Club at around 1 p.m., Detective Sgt. Daniel Toia said. The station wagon veered off the road and hit a fire hydrant and then a tree.

Mr. O’Grady, who was 50, lived on a boat at the Montauk Yacht Club, where he also repaired boats, according to friends. He was the only person in the car at the time of the accident, and no other vehicles were involved.

The Montauk Fire Department’s heavy rescue squad extricated Mr. O’Grady through the back of the station wagon in less than 10 minutes, Chief Vincent Franzone said. He was taken to Southampton Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

Mr. O’Grady was alert and conscious at the scene, but took a turn for the worse en route to the hospital, Detective Toia said, adding that he likely had internal injuries.

A passer-by called 911 shortly after the accident. Detective Toia would not comment on whether drugs or alcohol were involved until results from a toxicology report are returned. As of press time, the cause of the accident had not been determined.

The Mercedes-Benz was impounded for a safety check, and the investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information has been asked to call the Police Department at 631-537-7575. All calls will be kept confidential.

Mr. O’Grady was a yacht captain and diesel marine engineer who had lived in Montauk for 25 years. He grew up in Northport, and a funeral service will be held at the Nolan and Taylor-Howe Funeral Home there tomorrow from 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 p.m. Words of remembrance will be said at about 8 p.m.

Originally, Oct. 27, 8 p.m.: A Montauk man died following a one-car accident on Star Island Road Sunday afternoon, East Hampton Town police said.

East Hampton Town police detectives are investigating what caused Dennis O'Grady to crash the 2005 Mercedes Benz he was driving near the intersection of Star Island Road and West Lake Drive around 1 p.m. The station wagon veered off the road and hit a fire hydrant and then a tree.

Mr. O'Grady was 50 years old. He was the only one in the car. No other vehicles were involved.

The Montauk Fire Department's heavy rescue squad extricated the driver from the Mercedes through the back of the station wagon in less than 10 minutes, according to Chief Vincent Franzone. He was taken to Southampton Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. 

The Mercedes-Benz was impounded for safety checks. The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information has been asked to call the Police Department at 631-537-7575. All calls will be kept confidential.