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All About the Town’s Trails

All About the Town’s Trails

Detailed maps of the trails that run throughout East Hampton Town are available to the public through the town clerk’s office.
Detailed maps of the trails that run throughout East Hampton Town are available to the public through the town clerk’s office.
Joanne Pilgrim
By
Joanne Pilgrim

Two new, full-size maps depicting some 213 miles of trails within the Town of East Hampton are now available, after a comprehensive effort across several town departments that included trudging along just about every inch of the trails, through woodlands and meadows, cliffside and shore.

The maps, one covering trails from Wainscott through Amagansett and the other Napeague to Montauk, are on sale at the town clerk’s office for $10 each, or both for $15. They show the various town preserves, provide information about named trails as well as old woods roads and paved roads, and mark for hikers the locations of scenic views, cemeteries and other gravesites, historic sites, and the scattered glacial erratic rocks that recall the area’s geologic past. They also provide contact information for all the landowners and entities involved in preserving East Hampton’s open space, from the county and state to town agencies, the East Hampton Trails Preservation Society, and the Peconic Land Trust.

But while comprehensive and useful, the maps themselves represent only the tip of a data iceberg — a massive amount of information compiled over the last several years and collected in a database held by the town, which, after a bit more effort and time, will become open to and searchable by the public.

“It’s not just a paper map that has lines on it,” Bob Masin, who oversaw the recent mapping, said yesterday.

For each of the trails depicted on the maps, there is a wealth of collected information: its route, terrain it traverses, blazes used to mark it, mileage, points of interest along the way, and so on.

A geographic information system overseen by the town’s information technology department has been quietly gaining depth and breadth, thanks largely to the efforts of Barnaby Friedman, a G.I.S. technician, and Mr. Masin, a G.I.S. supervisor. Beginning about a decade ago, the technology experts have been creating “layers” of information, Mr. Masin said this week, inputting information maintained by the town as well as data provided by the state and private entities.

The information can be sorted according to numerous criteria, and the I.T. department uses it to create custom maps for other town departments — zoning and land-use maps, for instance, or, for the aquaculture department, maps showing the bay locations of shellfish growth areas, both past and present.

The G.I.S. system can link to another database used by the town, adding access to “tabular data,” Mr. Masin said, such as the property records kept by the town assessors or the building department.

Over the last few years, Mr. Masin has spent countless hours in the field, walking the trails with a G.P.S. device to collect accurate information for the maps. Andy Drake and Andy Gaites of the town’s land management department, whose work regularly takes them to preserves all around the town, joined the effort later and “accelerated the process.”

Information on the trails maps is up-to-the-minute, and the system is designed so that changes, such as trails being rerouted or new items of note, can be easily incorporated as new maps are printed. When the next phase is completed, Mr. Masin said, the public, using a mobile app, can access the maps, print their own if they like, and read through some of the extensive information that has been collected.

“It’s a lot of moving parts that you have to line up, get connected,” he said.

Sag Harbor Superintendent's Contract Extended

Sag Harbor Superintendent's Contract Extended

Katy Graves, the Sag Harbor School District superintendent, pictured here during a school event in March, received a one-year contract extension on Monday.
Katy Graves, the Sag Harbor School District superintendent, pictured here during a school event in March, received a one-year contract extension on Monday.
Christine Sampson
By
Christine Sampson

In the weeks after the public got word that the Sag Harbor School District had not yet voted to extend its superintendent’s contract past its June 2017 expiration date, parents and residents made it clear to the school board during the public comment sessions of its meetings that they wanted the superintendent to stay.

They got their wish Monday night, at least for one more year. After an executive session convened at the end of a regular business meeting to discuss personnel matters, the school board returned to open session and unanimously voted to extend Katy Graves’s contract through June 2018. Syntax Communications, the school’s public relations firm, made the announcement on Tuesday afternoon.

“As we approach the start of school, we look forward to working together with our superintendent of schools, Katy Graves, to ensure another productive and successful school year,” Diana Kolhoff, the school board president, said in a statement.

Ms. Graves said by phone Tuesday that she was “very happy to have the support of the board and our community.”

“I’m so happy that the focus is back on the opening of our school and our beautiful new spaces we’re going to have, thanks to our building project,” she said.

The district hired Ms. Graves in 2014 and initially gave her a three-year contract, from July 1, 2014, through June 30, 2017. The extension goes through June 30, 2018, but the full details of it were not immediately available.

Larry Baum, a parent who has called Ms. Graves “our amazing superintendent,” said Tuesday he was pleased the school board “did the right thing.” However, he said, “I’m disappointed that they only gave her a one-year extension. They should have given her a two or three-year contract extension.”

In July, Ms. Graves was given a $4,187 pay increase, bringing her salary up to $224,562, but her contract was not extended at that time. Parents showed up in force at meetings to urge the school board to do so.

“They should have done that in June,” Mr. Baum said. “When you give someone a raise, which is basically an affirmation of the great work she was doing, then why would they not extend her contract? With everything I have heard, and everybody I have talked to, there is no issue at all with Katy Graves. That should be put in the paper.”

Progress in the War on Nitrogen

Progress in the War on Nitrogen

Water quality program tests free septic systems at 39 county properties
By
Joanne Pilgrim

A Suffolk County pilot program testing new septic waste management technologies is under way, as researchers, environmentalists, and public officials across the region have targeted nitrogen pollution from wastewater as the cause of continued and increasing problems with the quality of ground and surface waters. The program is part of a county Reclaim Our Water initiative focusing on eliminating nitrogen pollution.

“The first phase of the septic demonstration program has been extremely successful,” County Executive Steve Bellone said in an August press release.

Nineteen property owners were selected by lottery to participate. Six different types of septic systems, donated by four manufacturers, with values of up to $16,000 were installed for free at properties throughout the county and will be monitored and maintained at no cost to the property owners for five years.

County officials are expected to give a thumbs-up this fall for general use of one or more of the systems.

In a second phase of the test program, 20 property owners in 10 Suffolk County towns — though none in East Hampton — will have one of eight different types of systems by six different manufacturers installed. They are valued at up to $20,000 and are designed to reduce the total nitrogen in effluent released from the system to 19 milligrams per liter or less.

That standard is a “low bar,” Kevin McAllister, an Amagansett resident and the founder of Defend H2O, has said. He has been pressing East Hampton Town to adopt and enforce more stringent standards.

The Suffolk Health Department sets the rules for septic waste systems, and several weeks ago Mr. Bellone signed legislation that amends the county sanitary code and allows the Health Department to issue approvals for “innovative, alternate systems” in addition to the conventional septic systems that have resulted in excessive and problematic nitrogen emissions.

At an East Hampton Town Board meeting last month, County Legislator Bridget Fleming, who represents the South Fork, called it a “hugely, hugely important” law. And, she said, it was crafted in such a way as to make sure that the ability to use new, state-of-the-art wastewater systems would not open the door to development in locations where it has up to now been precluded.

“Local zoning always has to control,” Ms. Fleming said. On the East End, where municipalities have put great effort into controlling overdevelopment, there was concern that the approval of better septic waste systems could result in approvals for construction on sites where it would not have been allowed before.

“We addressed it head-on,” she said. “The fact that [on the East End] we are by and large not sewered has always been a brake” on development, she said, as Health Department regulations limit the density of development according to the ability to deal safely with sewage.

She and County Legislator Al Krupski, who represents the North Fork, pulled together a working group of local environmentalists, town planners, attorneys, and engineers to write the revisions to the law.

“We were able to make sure,” Ms. Fleming explained, that the revisions to the pertinent section of the county sanitary code “do not change the density provisions” in another part of the code that describe the maximum allowable development on parcels of land. In other words, she said by phone, the use of a better septic system that will reduce waste emissions into the environment will not change the Health Department’s standards of what is considered a “buildable lot.”

While new wastewater treatment systems can help to reduce future pollution from septic waste, their promise goes only so far as the degree to which they replace the traditional septic systems that seep nitrogen into ground and surface waters.

East Hampton Town’s water quality improvement plan, a list of efforts to be launched with funding from the community preservation fund — should voters approve the notion of using up to 20 percent of that money, traditionally earmarked for land preservation, on a ballot referendum this fall — includes a program that would underwrite the cost of upgrading septic systems for homeowners in sensitive environmental areas.

But in recent comments, two East Hampton environmental watchdogs have pointed out that a county policy of grandfathering wastewater systems that were approved years ago, and are not up to current standards, allows substandard waste systems to remain in use.

“The Health Department’s internal policy has allowed restaurant expansions and redevelopment to occur without meeting state sewage treatment standards,” Mr. McAllister charged in a press release last week.

He provided an example: a 1960s-era motel on almost three acres of waterfront land that he said was replaced by 23 condominiums. The projected flow of septic waste from the condos would result in a release of nitrogen that far exceeds current state standards, but, he said, the Health Department grandfathered the older septic system meeting 1960s standards, allowing it to stand instead of requiring advance sewage treatment.

“Enough sidestepping the issue; grandfathering is a contradiction to water quality protection efforts and it has to end without delay,” Mr. McAllister said in his press release.

Jeremy Samuelson, the president of  Concerned Citizens of Montauk, made the same point at a town board meeting on Aug. 18.

The town planning board has recently reviewed a number of “large-scale redevelopment projects,” he said, and while that site plan review allows the town to hold property owners to the latest standards regarding things such as lighting or parking, “there is no ability on the part of the town to go back and ask for an upgrade to the septic system,” he said.

According to a survey included in the town’s recently completed comprehensive wastewater management plan, there are more than 400 septic systems in the town “that would fall into that category,” Mr. Samuelson said.

He said he had discussed the issue with Peter Scully, a former State Department of Environmental Conservation staffer, now the deputy county executive, who has been tapped by Mr. Bellone to steer water quality improvement efforts. Mr. Scully recognized the issue, said Mr. Samuelson, and asked for a letter from town officials describing the concerns.

“We will do it,” Supervisor Larry Cantwell told him. “The county needs to change their regulatory requirements; there’s no doubt about it,” he said, “so that when this kind of reinvestment is made in a property, its waste system is also updated to the best available technology.”

Georgica Harvest Ban Is Lifted

Georgica Harvest Ban Is Lifted

Following sustained low levels of blue-green algae, the East Hampton Town Trustees voted to reopen Georgica Pond to the harvesting of crabs and other marine life this week.
Following sustained low levels of blue-green algae, the East Hampton Town Trustees voted to reopen Georgica Pond to the harvesting of crabs and other marine life this week.
Morgan McGivern
Concentration of algae drops, but two trustees abstain from vote, urge caution
By
Christopher Walsh

A prohibition on the harvesting of crabs and other marine life from Georgica Pond, which has been in effect since July 1 because of the blue-green algae bloom that appeared in June, is being lifted this week, as the East Hampton Town Trustees voted on Monday to remove the signs warning against its consumption or exposure to the pond’s water.

The vote, 5 to 0 with two abstentions, gives the trustees’ clerk authority to close the pond without a vote by the trustee body in the event of a spike in the algae, also called cyanobacteria, as occurred last week. That surge was short-lived and was quickly followed by an equally steep decline to one microgram per liter or less, a condition that persisted as of yesterday.

The vote followed a discussion by the trustees, who manage many of the town’s waterways, bottomlands, and beaches on behalf of the public, as to whether to reopen the pond, which has been closed for varying duration during the last three summers.

“Right now it seems to be fine, it’s holding,” Francis Bock, the clerk, or presiding officer, said of the cyanobacteria bloom.

“We’re now in the third week of August,” said Jim Grimes. “The sun is lower in the sky. The opportunity to create the conditions for this is diminishing, literally by the day.”

Two of their colleagues, Brian Byrnes and Tyler Armstrong, advised a more cautious approach. “It’s risky to make a call,” Mr. Armstrong said, given concern for public health. “I’d like to see the longest period at which it was at zero or a negligible level.”

But the trustees do not meet again until Sept. 12, and “We have the advantage of live data,” Mr. Bock said, referring to the telemetry buoy that is transmitting measurements of cyanobacteria as well as temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, and other statistics in 10-minute intervals.

Mr. Grimes rescinded an initial motion to table the discussion, instead moving that the trustees open the pond. Five of the seven members present voted in favor, with Mr. Byrnes and Mr. Armstrong abstaining.

The low level of cyanobacteria persists despite new blooms reported this week in Mecox Bay in Southampton Town, as well as in Riverhead and Calverton.

On the same subject, Sara Davison, the executive director of the Friends of Georgica Pond Foundation, told the board that the effort to remove macroalgae from the pond with an aquatic weed harvester is concluding. The project is intended to determine if removal of the macroalgae, which release nitrogen and phosphorus as they decay, is effective in discouraging cyanobacteria blooms.

“I think we can conclude preliminarily that it was a success,” Ms. Davison said.

The craft will be removed from the pond on or around Sept. 12, she said. Should the foundation ask the trustees’ permission to resume the effort next year, they would use a smaller boat, as it was difficult to maneuver the craft in shallow coves, where the macroalgae growth was densest.

“We did get a little bit of bycatch in the boat,” she added, a concern the trustees had expressed prior to the project’s launch, but said that almost every crab, snapping turtle, and eel swept onto the harvester’s conveyor belt was released unharmed.

Ms. Davison also informed the trustees of groundwater testing at the north end of the pond. Nitrogen is being measured, she said, in preparation for installation of a permeable reactive barrier, a vertical trench filled with wood chips or sawdust that would intercept it before it reaches the pond. By the spring, a year’s worth of data will be compiled and the barrier installed.

“Depending on the findings there, we hope to be able to put up some more around the pond,” she said. “It’s new technology, but results elsewhere have shown that 80 to 90 percent of the nitrogen can be intercepted where groundwater travels through that barrier.”

In an effort to educate property owners as to the effects of fertilizer and pesticide use, the foundation, in partnership with the Perfect Earth Project and the Nature Conservancy, will hold a workshop on low-impact landscaping in watersheds on Oct. 1 at the conservancy’s Center for Conservation in East Hampton. Ms. Davison invited the trustees to attend.

They’re With Hillary

They’re With Hillary

Clinton’s South Fork fund-raising tour, now as nominee
By
Christine Sampson

Hillary Clinton, who reportedly took in $52.3 million in contributions last month, will look to grow her presidential campaign fund during a visit to the South Fork this week.

Her campaign has at least seven parties planned between tomorrow and Tuesday including events in East Hampton, Sag Harbor, Southampton, Quogue, and Sagaponack, all of which are close to being sold out, according to Barbara Layton of East Hampton, a Clinton activist. With tickets starting at $1,000 and rocketing all the way up to $100,000, this promises to be a lucrative visit for Mrs. Clinton and Democratic political committees. In July, according to NPR, she raised $15.6 million more than her Republican opponent, Donald Trump. An Aug. 20 Newsday analysis showed Mrs. Clinton had raised $17.8 million in New York State alone last month, including $353,800 from Long Islanders, compared to just over $751,000 across New York and $209,452 on Long Island for Mr. Trump, who paid a visit of his own to the South Fork two weekends ago.

Monetarily, Mrs. Clinton will do well here, “that’s definitely a given,” Ms. Layton said, “but what will also happen as she is here through this next week, week and a half, is people will get a firsthand experience of who Hillary Clinton is. They’ll get a sense of this leader. I think people are really excited about that.”

While this will be her first time here since winning the Democratic nomination for president, Mrs. Clinton and former president Bill Clinton have been frequent visitors to the South Fork, renting houses for part of August for several years running, most recently in Amagansett. She counts a number South Fork residents as close friends, advisors, and longtime supporters, among them Judith Hope, a former East Hampton Town supervisor and chairwoman of the New York State Democratic Committee, who helped organize Mrs. Clinton’s Senate campaign in 2000.

“I’ve spent a lot of time with her,” said Ms. Layton. “Getting to know her is a thrill. You leave a conversation with Hillary and you roll up your sleeves and say what’s next, lets go.” Ms. Layton’s East Hampton restaurant, Babette’s, has proven a favorite stop for the Clintons year after year, and the people who know how involved Ms. Layton is with the campaign “come into the restaurant literally every day or call on the phone and say, ‘What can I do?’ There’s a lot of passion for this election for the obvious reasons. I know firsthand on the South Fork, but I think generally speaking as well.”

“She has shown support for a lot of the local issues we are concerned with, from the environment and climate change to children’s issues and economic issues,” said Hilary Leff. Ms. Leff and her husband, Elliot Groffman, hosted a fund-raiser for Hillary Clinton last summer at their house in East Hampton. “Hillary was inspiring,” Ms. Leff wrote earlier this month. “Her command of the issues on both a macro and micro level was dazzling.”

“She’s the best candidate,” Ms. Leff  said. “The idea of a Donald Trump presidency is so frightening. Despite all the stuff we’re hearing on television about the emails and overlap between the State Department and the Clinton Foundation, I think none of that affects what a fabulous president she will be.”

This year’s fund-raiser schedule begins tomorrow with an evening party with Chelsea Clinton at Wolffer Estate Vineyard in Sagaponack. Tickets to that event are $1,000, $2,700, or $10,000. Mrs. Clinton herself is to be on hand at fund-raisers on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.

The first of these is an afternoon garden party on Sunday in Sag Harbor hosted by Barbaralee Diamonstein Spielvogel, chairwoman of the New York State Council on the Arts, Carl Spielvogel, former U.S. ambassador to the Slovak Republic, and Adam Sender, a hedge-fund manager and art collector. Family pass tickets, which cost $10,000 and include a photo with the candidate, have already sold out and are now waiting-list-only, according to the event website. Remaining tickets cost $2,700, $33,400, or $100,000 for a “host.”

Also Sunday, Mrs. Clinton will offer remarks at a cocktail reception at 6 p.m. in Southampton at the estate of Marcia Riklis, a philanthropist and former advertising executive. Tickets start at $1,000, but those who spend $33,400 and up are included in a special reception with the candidate.

Mrs. Clinton will appear Monday at an East Hampton event at the home of Karen and Charles Phillips, the C.E.O. of Infor Global Solutions, a software company, who served on President  Obama’s economic recovery advisory board. That party is co-hosted by Susan and Alan Patricof, longtime Clinton supporters. Mrs. Clinton will head to Quogue that evening for a dinner hosted by Jeff Levine, a developer who serves as national president of the Jewish National Fund, and his wife, Randi.

Mrs. Clinton will be back in Sagaponack on Tuesday afternoon for a cocktail party at the home of Jonathan Sheffer, a composer and conductor. Tickets went for $5,000, $10,000, $33,400, or $100,000.

The finale will be dinner and dancing on Tuesday night at Jimmy Buffett’s North Haven house. Mr. Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band and Jon Bon Jovi will perform, and “other special guests” are said to have plans to attend. Tickets for this one start at $10,000, but “changemakers” who give $100,000 get dinner, premium seating, and a private reception with the candidate.

  With Reporting by Carissa Katz

Town Puts Brakes on Illegal Club

Town Puts Brakes on Illegal Club

The basement of this Muir Boulevard, East Hampton, house was transformed into a nightclub complete with bar, disco lights, and live band performances, according to town officials, who got a court injunction on Friday to shut it down.
The basement of this Muir Boulevard, East Hampton, house was transformed into a nightclub complete with bar, disco lights, and live band performances, according to town officials, who got a court injunction on Friday to shut it down.
T.E. McMorrow
D.J., dancing promised in basement party spot
By
Joanne Pilgrim

Town officials on Friday got a court injunction against an East Hampton property owner who has allegedly been operating an illegal nightclub in the basement of a house at 7 Muir Boulevard.

Luis H. Farez, the property owner, was issued an appearance ticket by the authorities last weekend and was expected to be charged with code violations including business use of a residence, overcrowding, and lack of a mass gathering permit, which is required for parties of more than 50 people.

After neighbors complained, police discovered more than 200 people at a party in the basement of the house. Officials claimed the attendees were charged a $30 entry fee and that drinks were being sold at a basement bar.

A video advertisement for the party — an “Ecuadorian Independence Festival” at the El Tunel (The Tunnel) club, with the 7 Muir Boulevard address posted — appears on the Facebook page for the Watermill Deli, which says the business is a sponsor of the event. The lively ad promises performances by an Ecuadorian band, Acustica, and Maria de los Angeles, a singer, and dancing at the event to music by LI-DJs Entertainment. It gives two numbers for reservations.

Late Friday State Supreme Court Justice Joseph C. Pastoressa issued a temporary restraining order to stop Mr. Farez from operating the club, prohibiting him, the Watermill Deli, and LI-DJs Entertainment from using the house for commercial purposes and overcrowding the residence. The court order is a result of a town investigation into numerous events on the property, including those of last weekend.

Mr. Farez is due to appear in East Hampton Town Justice Court on Sept. 12.

The property had previously come to the attention of town authorities, and citations were issued for illegal multi-family occupancy and bedrooms in the basement, along with safety violations such as lack of required smoke detectors. Those charges were resolved in court, and a certificate of occupancy was subsequently issued for construction of a recreation room in the basement.

East Hampton Cops Say She Drove Drunk With Kids in Car

East Hampton Cops Say She Drove Drunk With Kids in Car

Julia Moffett was led into East Hampton Town Justice Court for her arraignment on Thursday. Her lawyers said "there is no evidence that my client has done anything wrong."
Julia Moffett was led into East Hampton Town Justice Court for her arraignment on Thursday. Her lawyers said "there is no evidence that my client has done anything wrong."
T.E. McMorrow
By
T.E. McMorrow

A visitor to East Hampton who lives in Nairobi, Kenya, was arrested by town police Wednesday night for allegedly driving while intoxicated with her twin 10-year-olds in the car.

Under Leandra’s Law, named for an 11-year-old killed in a drunken driving accident on the Henry Hudson Parkway seven years ago, driving drunk with a child 15 or under in the car is an automatic felony.

Police said Julia Moffett, 47, was driving a 2007 Toyota S.U.V. without the headlights on at about 9:40 on Wednesday night on Pantigo Road near the intersection of Spring Close Highway. Stopped by police, she reportedly told the officer that she was coming from a party on Shelter Island, where she said she had had two glasses of wine, at about 6 p.m. She failed roadside sobriety tests and was arrested on a drunken driving charge as a misdemeanor, along with the felony charge. Her twins were in the backseat of the car, according to the arresting officer.

After she was arrested, she agreed to allow police to draw blood to determine the level of alcohol in her body, which was done a little over two hours later.

According to Rudy Migliore, an assistant district attorney who handled the arraignment in East Hampton Town Justice Court on Thursday afternoon, once she was told she was under arrest, she resisted, kicking a police officer as she was being placed in the back of a patrol car. This resulted in an additional charge of resisting arrest.

Ms. Moffett, the former head of strategic planning in the Clinton White House and the National Security Council and a former vice-president at NBC News, told the court that she is a director at the Equity Group Foundation in Nairobi. The organization is a not-for-profit bank in Eastern Africa, dedicated to fighting poverty. Bill and Chelsea Clinton visited the organization last year.

Mr. Migliore pointed out to East Hampton Town Justice Lisa R. Rana that Ms. Moffett, who cried several times during the process, had no ties to East Hampton, asking bail to be set at $10,000. She had been staying with her parents in Stony Creek, Conn.

Daniel G. Rodgers, Ms. Moffett’s attorney, strongly objected, questioning the people’s case. He pointed out that police had taken a breath test at the side of the road, but the result of that test was not included in the paper work he had received. He also said that Ms. Moffett had offered to take a breath test at police headquarters, but the police, instead, waited for the blood test. The blood test is considered the most reliable indicator of the level of alcohol in the blood.

Ms. Moffett told Justice Rana she had planned to return to Kenya on Saturday, but the justice ordered her to turn over her passport. She also issued an order of protection for the two children that allows her to be with her children but requires that she refrain from any “injurious behavior” toward them. Mr. Rodgers strenuously objected to these actions. “I have never ever seen a case so serious lacking so many details,” he said. “There is no evidence that my client has done anything wrong,” he said. “If I was in the same position she was in, being taken away from my children, I would have put up a hell of a fight, too.” He called the accusatory document “boiler plate,” and said “There is zip” evidence.

“I’m not trying the case now,” Justice Rana said as she set bail at $5,000. “Other than the fact that she has friends on Shelter Island, she has no ties to this community,” she said.

It will be several days before the results of the blood test are in. She is due back in court Sept. 29. If her blood test comes back with a reading of .08 of 1 percent or higher, the legal definition of intoxication, the case will be presented to a grand jury for indictment and would be moved to county court.

 

Seek ID of Man Who Put Phone Under Woman's Skirt

Seek ID of Man Who Put Phone Under Woman's Skirt

East Hampton Town police are looking for this man who was caught on surveillance video at HomeGoods in Wainscott.
East Hampton Town police are looking for this man who was caught on surveillance video at HomeGoods in Wainscott.
EHTPD
By
T.E. McMorrow

East Hampton Town police, in conjunction with the Suffolk County Crime Stoppers division, are offering a cash reward for help in identifying a man who put his cellphone under a woman's skirt at the HomeGoods store in Wainscott earlier this month.

Police said that the man, described as white and about 40 years old, with paint stains on his hands and shorts, surreptitiously put his phone under a woman's skirt, without her realizing it, at about 3 p.m. on Aug. 10, apparently to take photos. The woman's friends noticed what he was doing. He then fled the store.

Crime Stoppers offer rewards at various levels, up to $5,000, to those who help police solve crimes. Anyone with information is asked to call 800-220-TIPS (8477.) All calls will be kept confidential.

 

C.P.F. Revenues Down on the East End, Except in East Hampton

C.P.F. Revenues Down on the East End, Except in East Hampton

By
Taylor K. Vecsey

With the summer real estate market drawing to a close, the Peconic Bay Community Preservation Fund revenues are down nearly 6 percent for the first seven months of 2016 as compared to 2015, though East Hampton Town has shown an uptick.

The C.P.F. is showing $54.85 million so far in 2016, down 5.7 percent from last year, according to Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. At this point in 2015, the 2-percent real estate transfer tax had brought in $58.19 million.

East Hampton is the only town on the East End where revenues are up by more than 1 percent. In fact, they are up 9.5 percent, from $17.23 million in the first part of 2015 to $18.87 million so far this year. The only other town to see an increase is Southold, where revenues are up a modest .9 percent, from $3.19 million at this point in 2015 to $3.22 million so far this year.

Southampton Town's C.P.F. revenues are down 13.3 percent, from $34.73 million to $30.12 million. Shelter Island Town showed the biggest -- 20 percent -- and Riverhead Town's revenues are down 7.9 percent.

In July alone, C.P.F. revenues totaled $8.69 million; they were over $9.91 million in July of 2015.

Mr. Thiele said that July was the fifth consecutive month that C.P.F. revenues were less than the same month in 2015, even though C.P.F. revenues are on pace to exceed $90 million for the year. There has been a 16.1 percent decline over those five months. 

Cops: Drunken Driver Arrested, Passenger Seriously Injured in Springs Crash

Cops: Drunken Driver Arrested, Passenger Seriously Injured in Springs Crash

The Land Rover that crashed into the woods in Springs on Wednesday morning was taken away by a tow truck and impounded.
The Land Rover that crashed into the woods in Springs on Wednesday morning was taken away by a tow truck and impounded.
By
Taylor K. Vecsey

An East Hampton man was arrested on drunken driving charges after crashing a sport utility vehicle into a tree, seriously injuring his passenger, in Springs early Wednesday.

East Hampton Town police said Mark M. Wesnofske, 37, was driving a 2002 Land Rover south on Three Mile Harbor Road when he lost control, veered across the street, and into the woods, hitting a tree near the intersection of Squaw Road at 2:52 a.m.

Mr. Wesnofske was able to get out out of the Land Rover on his own, but his passenger had to be extricated, according to Darrin Downs, the second assistant chief of the Springs Fire Department. His passenger, whose name is being withheld until family can be notified, was airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital with serious injuries. The Springs Fire Department's ambulance personnel treated her at the scene and took her to the East Hampton Airport to meet the Suffolk medevac helicopter.

Mr. Wesnofske was arrested at the scene and charged with misdemeanor driving while intoxicated. However, a Springs ambulance took him to Southampton Hospital with a head injury, police said. He was released on an appearance ticket and will be arraigned at a later date in East Hampton Town Justice Court. 

The Land Rover was impounded for a safety inspection. Police, who are performing an accident reconstruction, said the investigation is continuing. They are asking anyone with information to call 631-537-7575.