Sag Harbor Village officials are moving ahead with a plan to tear down the blighted, storied house at 6 Union Street. Following a renewed recommendation from the building inspector last month that the abandoned house be demolished, the board has scheduled a necessary public hearing for later this month.

Health and safety issues have been raised for years, but in a March report Thomas Preiato, the chief building inspector, asserted that the house, formerly owned by the Morpurgo family, had fallen into disrepair. The Federal-style house, about 210 years old, is in danger of collapse, he said. Parts of the ceilings and roofs have already collapsed, there’s an open septic tank, the porch is falling apart, and sections of exterior walls are missing altogether.

Without compliance from the current owner, recently identified as the Captain Hulbert House, a limited liability corporation, the village could deem the house a health and safety hazard and have it demolished. Costs would be passed onto the property owner in the tax bill.

A hearing must be held first. The board had planned to hold one on Tuesday, but it was postponed on a technicality involving proper notice and will instead take place during the final meeting of the village’s fiscal year, May 31 at 10 a.m.

Some residents who attended a board meeting last month were dismayed to hear that the house, once a prime example of a whaler captain’s residence, would be demolished, and asked that it be preserved. On Tuesday night, one member of the audience questioned why the board was deciding to tear it down without an engineer’s report.

Robby Stein, the deputy mayor, said the village could not send an engineer onto the property without the owner’s permission, but added that the real issue was safety. “It’s not just an eyesore, it’s also a health hazard.”

“I don’t know that an engineer would make me change my position,” Mr. Preiato told the audience. “It’s a health and safety issue when you can look through the wall and see the basement.” Whether parts of the building could be salvaged was not the primary concern, he said. “It is sad, but somebody getting hurt is much sadder.”  

Despite efforts last year, the board and its attorneys have been unsuccessful in getting the current owner to clean up the property, which was not only in the midst of foreclosure but was also involved in former Suffolk Legislator George O. Guldi’s mortgage fraud scheme. Mr. Guldi is currently serving prison time. The mortgage lender did place a fence around the property, but was reportedly barred from doing any further work until the proceedings were finalized.

“I’m personally done with this building,” Ed Deyermond, a village board member, said Tuesday night, adding that it had been the opinion of several building inspectors that it come down. “I think it’s got to go.”

In other village business, the board granted, as it does annually, outdoor dining licenses for Sen, Wolffer Kitchen, LT Burger, and Page at 63 Main, as long as their representatives sit down with village officials to address any outstanding issues. Mr. Deyermond said he has put aside two days next week to meet with the restaurants and go over such concerns as sewer utilization documents, outstanding fines and permits, certificate of occupancy, and fire safety issues. The building inspector and code enforcement officer will be brought into the meetings as well.

Only one of the restaurants, Sen, was represented at Tuesday’s meeting, to the dismay of Mr. Deyermond, who remarked that restaurateurs think “this is a given. I think this is a gift that we do this. It’s great for the village, but it can cause a lot of problems.”

East Hampton Town Police, along with code enforcement officers, raided a Springs-Fireplace Road residence on May 4 and arrested two men. Nine people, including the two, were given tickets to appear in court on a variety of charges related to the illegal conversion of a residence into a multi-unit dwelling.

Carmen Rocio Yamba Tenezaca, 30, Jaimo Uzcha Namina, 31, Wilson Guillca-Satian, 30, Melida Yamba Tenezaca, 33, Jose Donaie, 40, Angel Uzcha, 32, Angel Maza-Namina, 32, Rafeal Felix Llauri, 23, and Mancayo Arnulfo Rivera, 27, were charged with multiple violations of the town code, including exposed wiring, lacking smoke or carbon monoxide detectors in residential spaces, illegal change of use, overcrowding, lack of building permits and certificates of occupancy, litter and debris on the premises, and more, 39 citations in all. Besides the nine adults, four children were found to be living in the house.

The owner of the property, Leslie Cooper Life Estate, was also charged with 39 counts. All are scheduled for arraignment on June 13.

Mr. Namina and Mr. Rivera were taken into custody. Mr. Namina was charged with violating a court order of protection held by one of his housemates. Mr. Rivera was said to have failed to appear in court in answer to a drunken-driving charge. Both were later released on bail.

“This morning’s coordinated efforts by our public safety departments uncovered deplorable conditions inside a single-family house that was being used as a multi-family residence,” Betsy Bambrick, head of code enforcement, said in a release last week.

The nine individuals named, along with the property owners, will also be charged under the town’s new rental registry law. “The self-inspection checklist that is required as part of the rental registry process would have identified all the health and safety deficiencies at this house,” Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell said. “The landlord’s failure to go through the process and register their rental property put all these tenants at risk, which is something the town will not countenance.”

Amagansett School Board meetings are typically quiet and quick affairs, but on Tuesday at the district’s budget hearing a handful of residents grilled the school superintendent and school board on its tax-cap-busting budget proposal.

Citing both rising costs on the one hand and a need to preserve all current programs and services currently offered on the other, the district has proposed a 2016-17 budget of $10.47 million, which increases year-over-year spending by just .34 percent but carries a tax levy increase of 3.74 percent. That exceeds the state-imposed limit on tax levy increases, so a supermajority of at least 60 percent voter approval is needed to pass the budget.

Eleanor Tritt, the school superintendent, said Tuesday that the district’s auditor and accountant have projected an alternate financial future for the district if voters decide not to pierce the tax cap. Should the school then be forced to rely more heavily on its reserves, she said, there is a chance it could experience a budget deficit by the end of the 2017-18 school year.

The proposed budget is not sitting well with some residents, who cited a 2014 audit by the New York State comptroller that found the district overbudgeted for several years in a row, between the 2009-2010 and 2012-13 school years, and as a result had too much in its surplus funds. By state law, a district may have up to 4 percent of its budget left over at the end of a fiscal year, and anything over that amount is to be returned to taxpayers or placed in reserves that must be approved by voters through ballot propositions.

The auditors found that the district overestimated budgets by $4 million over those four years, and called its budgetary practices “ineffective.” Ms. Tritt called the comptroller’s report “boilerplate,” saying many districts in the state receive the same evaluation.

The disaffected residents asserted that Amagansett has plenty of money in its reserves, which it should have tapped, they said, to bring down a budget gap of about $327,390, which led to the attempt to pierce the tax cap. Combined in nine different reserve funds, some of which are restricted to uses such as retirement payments, building repairs, and workers compensation, the district has about $4 million in reserves.

“Why would you not take a little bit off these reserve funds so that you’re not piercing the cap? That’s a lot to ask for in this community,” Rona Klopman said.

“If we’ve already paid that money in taxes, why are you asking us to pay it again?” Christine Sciulli, a parent, asked.

The budget does include plans to take $140,000 from the retirement reserve, which has close to $625,000 in it, and $20,000 from the worker’s compensation reserve, which has $132,757.

Ms. Tritt said the reserve funds each address a different purpose or liability. She called them “your only way of preparing for a whole lot of unknowns.”

“If those reserves were returned to the taxpayer this year, the following year you would then have to make up that money out of the general fund,” she said. She then explained that the district’s auditor and accountant have said drawing down on the reserves in this way, so as not to pierce the cap, would leave Amagansett in the red by the end of the 2017-2018 school year.

“I think it’s bad that you’re piercing the cap. Doing that is putting your budget in jeopardy,” Ms. Klopman insisted.

If there is less than 60 percent voter approval on Tuesday, when school budget votes take place statewide, the district would have to either submit the same budget for a revote or present a revised budget; that second vote would be held on June 14. Should the budget fail a second time, the district would operate on a contingency budget, which means zero tax levy increase — and, said Ms. Tritt, the potential for more than $300,000 in cuts.

“We have programs that people are happy with,” the superintendent said. “We don’t have to have an after-school program, a summer program, pre-kindergarten three, or pre-kindergarten four. Some districts don’t have full-day kindergarten.”

A car wash on Montauk Highway in Wainscott was one of several proposals before the East Hampton Town Planning Board on April 27. It is the second time a car wash has been proposed for the site, slightly more than an acre at the intersection of the highway and East Gate Road, although an initial 2012 proposal never came to fruition.

The proposal met with a mixed reception from the board and from members of the public who spoke at the meeting. The facility would replace a dilapidated discotheque at the site, which had been known most recently as the Star Room and was once the East End’s longest-running nightclub, the Swamp.

The plan calls for a 4,435-square-foot steel and glass building with vacuum stations, a detailing area, an 18-space queuing line, and nine parking spaces. The facility would have solar panels. Access  would be via the highway, with a second access on East Gate Road. An application for site plan approval was before the board for the first time; it had already been vetted by Eric Schantz of the Planning Department. His memo to the board called for a traffic study and noted that proposed curb cuts would require New York State Department of Transportation approval. “The parcel is situated on the largest and most heavily traveled road in the town,” Mr. Schantz told the board.

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In another memo to the board, from Thomas D. Talmage, the town engineer, it was said the turning radius proposed for vehicles going through the car wash cycle was too tight. “This may prohibit some of the larger vehicles,” he said. Mr. Schantz pointed out that while the property is zoned for business use, the area to the north on East Gate Road is residential, raising concern.

Eric Bregman of Farrell Fritz, the applicant’s attorney, told the board that he was eager for a traffic study. More than anything else, he said, he was there to listen to the board for direction. The applicant is Jim Golden of JJG Management L.L.C.

A series of doubts about the proposal were raised by board members. “Is this a good place for a car wash?” Job Potter asked. He called the visual aesthetics of that part of the highway, which might be considered the gateway to East Hampton, a mess.

“I could not make a left turn” onto Montauk Highway from East Gate Road, Patti Leber told her fellow board members. “That was mid-week,” she added, expressing concern about the impact of the facility, which could handle up to 125 cars an hour during the summer, according to Mr. Schantz.

Seeming to loom over the discussion, as well as over the highway, is the HomeGoods store, a few properties to the east. The store’s site plan was approved by the planning board in 2012.

“It is very important that the building be set back” off the highway, Philip Young, a neighbor, said. “HomeGoods does not do that.” He asked that any traffic study be done during the summer season. “The worst thing you could do is to allow a car wash at this location.”

“We don’t want to make the same mistake as we did with HomeGoods,” said another neighbor, Jose Arandia, a member of the Wainscott Citizens Advisory Committee. He asked that no decision be made until the hamlet study now under way for Wainscott is completed.

In the end, the board asked the applicant for further details on operation, noise control, landscaping, and screening.

In other action, the board unanimously rejected a request from the Suffolk County Planning Commission to require a traffic study for the proposed East Hampton Indoor Tennis recreational complex on Daniel’s Hole Road at East Hampton Indoor Tennis, which is to include a bowling alley, miniature golf course, and bar. 

“I was surprised and I thought it was a bit unusual,” Ian Clader-Piedmonte said. The commission had said traffic on South Breeze Drive, one of the accesses to the site, was a concern. But board members said the Planning Department as well as the town engineer had already weighed in and found traffic acceptable.

The board also agreed, in a split decision, to require AT&T to do an environmental assessment under the State Environmental Quality Review Act, as recommended by Mr. Schantz, before considering approval of an antenna on the wind turbine tower at Iacono Farm on Long Lane.

Diana Weir disagreed with Mr. Schantz’s SEQRA determination. “When somebody told me there was a windmill there, I had to drive up and down Long Lane to see it,” she said. Mr. Schantz had given several reasons why such an assessment was needed. “The Planning Department finds that the proposed action presents a potential for a significant adverse impact on the existing community character,” he wrote. “This is a farm. I don’t understand. This is not a public resource, this is a private farm,” Ms. Weir said. Mr. Schantz said that the proposal would impact a “historically significant” rural area.

Mr. Potter disagreed with Ms. Weir, saying that if the applicant were allowed to proceed with adding the antenna to a tower approved for generating electricity for agricultural use, “I would be reluctant to approve any more wind turbines.” He was joined by Kathleen Cunningham and Ms. Leber in asking for the study, with Ms. Weir joined by Mr. Calder-Piedmonte and Nancy Keeshan.

Reed Jones, chairman, broke the deadlock. “This is absolutely an avoidance area, and it is precedent setting. We all know what is going on in the town. Cablevision is kicking off wireless providers” from their tower on Springs Fireplace Road, he said.

John Huber, representing AT&T, said the company would complete the assessment requested.

Voters will go to the polls on May 17 to choose new school board members or return incumbents to their posts

Below are brief biographies of candidates in the East Hampton, Sag Harbor, Bridgehampton, Springs, and Amagansett School Districts. Reports on candidates from the other districts will appear next week.

East Hampton

In the East Hampton School District, four candidates are running for three seats on the school board.

James Foster, the current president of the East Hampton School Board, is running for a second term on the board. Mr. Foster, who is known as J.P., works as senior supervising dispatcher for East Hampton Village and as a real estate agent with Town and Country. He has lived in East Hampton for about 27 years and has two children at East Hampton High School.

First elected in 2013, Mr. Foster was involved in many key decisions over the last three years, including the negotiation of five-year contracts with East Hampton’s sending districts, the institution of bilingual board meetings, talks with the town about affordable housing, and exploring construction of a transportation depot for the district. He said he was running to ensure that the East Hampton School District continues to offer “the best we can give for the kids at the best financial expenditure for the community.”

Rich Wilson is also running for a second term on the school board. He is a retired teacher who taught science in the Sag Harbor School District for 30 years, and owned a toy store in East Hampton Village for about 18 years and one in Amagansett for 3 years. His three children went through East Hampton schools and he has four grandchildren in the schools here now.

Mr. Wilson said he was instrumental in bringing the current science program, the Fully Operational Science System, into the John M. Marshall Elementary School before his first term on the board, and last year helped launch the Invention Convention at the school. He has also been known to speak with businesses and college admissions offices to find out what qualifications they look for in high school graduates. He supports the district’s exploration into making the senior year of high school more challenging.

Wendy Geehreng is also seeking a second term on the school board. She is a pediatric nurse practitioner at Stony Brook Long Island Children’s Hospital, and has worked in the field for about 16 years. She has four children, including two who attend East Hampton schools and two who attend Blair Academy in New Jersey. She is a native East Hampton resident who has lived here for 35 years.

Ms. Geehreng is running to retain her seat because “we have such momentum now that I just want to bring it forward,” and believes she can help East Hampton continue “to do more with less” in light of the tax cap constraints. She was also involved in many key decisions over the last three years, such as the recording of board meetings by LTV. She said she supported bringing some form of Spanish language education back to the elementary school.

Alison Anderson, who served on the school board from 2010 to 2013, is seeking to return for a second three-year term. A lifelong resident of East Hampton, her past community involvements include teaching religion at the Most Holy Trinity Catholic Parish and serving as a PTA president at East Hampton’s high school and middle school. She studied business at Suffolk County Community College and the State University at Cobleskill.

In a written statement, Ms. Anderson said she was running because she cared about “the quality of education for all children in our diverse community, the working conditions for our educators and school staff, and the financial challenges of our taxpayers.” She said she aimed to be a “positive team player,” hard worker, great listener, and someone who works with other board members to “create a healthy learning and working environment.”

Sag Harbor

Four candidates are vying for two seats on the Sag Harbor School Board.

Susan Kinsella, the current president of the board, is a 15-year resident of the district with two children attending Pierson High School. She has a background in financial auditing. Ms. Kinsella was first elected to the board in 2006 and served until 2009; she was then appointed as a board member in 2012 following a resignation, and won re-election in 2013. She has served on several district committees, including those concerning budgeting and facilities, and was a past president of the Sag Harbor Elementary PTA.

Ms. Kinsella said if elected, she would continue to work with the board and the administration to find ways to share services with other districts, control costs, and bring in new forms of revenue. She also supports the expansion of the International Baccalaureate program to Pierson Middle School and exploring different options for the future of Pierson’s athletic field, whether it be organic grass or a newer artificial option being considered by the district’s educational facilities planning committee.

Regarding the former Stella Maris School, she said the community survey result that favored placing the prekindergarten program and early childhood special education services there was a great suggestion that has the potential to benefit both the district and the community.

Susan Lamontagne is seeking a first term on the school board. Ms. Lamontagne is a 16-year resident of Sag Harbor with two children in the schools here. She is a former journalist and served as press secretary to Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania. More recently, she started her own communications and marketing firm, the Public Interest Media Group, which works with nonprofit organizations involved with children’s health, education, and the environment.

As the Long Island coordinator for the group Start School Later, Ms. Lamontagne supports later start times for older students. She opposes the installation of an artificial, crumb rubber turf field at Pierson, and wants more open governance. She said she has concerns related to the tax burden of acquiring the Stella Maris building, whether there is an actual need for the facility, and the closed-door sessions in which the school board came up with potential uses for the property. "We need to explore alternative approaches that might be more fiscally sound." If elected, she said she would work toward providing “a well-rounded and healthy education for the children at a price that the community can sustain and afford.”

Chris Tice, the current vice president of the Sag Harbor School Board, was first elected to the board in 2010. She has three children, including two currently in school here. Ms. Tice is the senior managing director of the Corcoran real estate company in Sag Harbor and Montauk, and previously worked in the publishing and new media industries. She has been a part of several budget cycles in which the district stayed under the tax cap yet maintained and expanded programs for students.

Ms. Tice supports getting an independent, expert analysis on all of the district’s options for playing fields, and said she would support “what is safest for children and affordable for the community.” Regarding Stella Maris, she said she could not advocate for or against its purchase but urged residents to come out and vote either way. She said her priorities, if re-elected, would include supporting the International Baccalaureate Middle Years program, building on career and technical opportunities for students, supporting science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics programming, continuing good fiscal management, and continuing to work with surrounding school districts in beneficial ways.

Roxanne Briggs has lived in Sag Harbor for nearly 30 years. A parent of three daughters, including one current Pierson High School student, she is the former owner of the Punch children’s clothing stores. She now works as a real estate agent with Brown Harris Stevens. Ms. Briggs, a former member of the board of the Hampton Day School, said she is running for school board because she wants to give back to a community that has given her so many opportunities, and said she would like to use her business background to help the district with its day-to-day and long-term logistics.

Ms. Briggs said she does not support any kind of artificial turf field at Pierson. As for the Stella Maris building, she said she respects the work that has gone into the process but is “not convinced that it is a necessary purchase right now.” She supports the expansion of the International Baccalaureate program to the middle school and later school start times. Ms. Briggs would also like to see the cafeteria program expanded at Pierson and would like to see an outdoor seating area where students could have lunch.

Springs

In the Springs School District, three candidates are running for two seats on the board.

Amy Rivera grew up in East Hampton and moved to Springs in 1988. Her three children are graduates of the Springs School and she has a granddaughter currently attending the school. She currently works for East Hampton Town as the deputy tax receiver, a position she has held for four years, with prior experience in the assessor’s office and tax office, totaling 23 years with the town. Ms. Rivera is a former board member of the Springs School PTA and a former vice president of the town’s Civil Service employees’ union. She chose to run for the school board because she wants to enhance student success while being “fair to the faculty and considerate of the taxpayers.”

Ms. Rivera said she was aware of the crowding issues at the school. Should the administration pursue a bond referendum to address them, she said, she would need to look closely at the plans and their impact on the taxpayers, the students, and the school faculty before indicating support. “I am fair, honest, and dedicated to any task I take on,” she said.

Adam Wilson is an incumbent Springs School Board member who is seeking a second term. He has lived in Springs since 2000 and is the parent of an East Hampton High School student. Mr. Wilson works in telecommunications sales for Sagenet, a company based in Reston, Va., which he does remotely from home. He is also a board member of the Springs Little League.

He said he was running for re-election because “I just like to give back to the community.” He would support a bond referendum should the administration choose to put one forth to expand, renovate, or upgrade the school. If re-elected, he said, his priorities would be improving the school board’s relationship with the community, finding more ways to support the district’s Latino population, collaborating more with other school districts, stabilizing the school’s finances, and possibly exploring consolidation again.

David Conlon, a Springs resident since 2008, is the father of three Springs School students. He said he was running for the school board because he wanted to get more involved in the school. Mr. Conlon was a member of the facilities committee that met last summer to find ways to address the school’s overcrowding issue. He has a background in the banking and mortgage field, and more recently made the transition into residential real estate.

He is a board member of the organization Hoops for Hope and he coaches youth baseball and basketball. He said he would support a bond referendum for the expansion or renovation of the Springs School and has some concerns over class sizes if enrollment continues to grow. Mr. Conlon describes his goals as “student-first” and said, “I’m definitely cognizant of the taxpayers in the community. I’m a really strong supporter for making the best school for our kids as possible.”

Bridgehampton

In Bridgehampton, Michael Gomberg and Jennifer Vinski are running unopposed for two seats on the school board.

Michael Gomberg has been a homeowner in Bridgehampton since 2003 and a full-time resident since 2012. He has two school-aged children who attended the Child Development Center of the Hamptons for a year before coming to the Bridgehampton School. Mr. Gomberg has worked for the last 22 years in securities trading after studying accounting and finance at Washington University in St. Louis, and has served on the Bridgehampton School District’s audit and budget committees for the last two years.

He is running for the school board for the second time, having lost a bid for a seat in 2014. His goals include getting more community involvement in the school district and finding ways to save money while still providing great opportunities for the students. He is a supporter of piercing the tax cap this year “but not every year,” he said. “We have to find a long-term solution, and I’m hoping with my background I will be able to help out.”

Jennifer Vinski moved to Brideghampton in 2001, the same year she began working in the Southampton School District as a kindergarten special education teacher. She has three children attending the Bridgehampton School. The three-year term beginning July 1 will be her second on the Bridgehampton School Board.

Ms. Vinski decided to pursue another term because she enjoys having an impact on the direction of the school. She has an eye on future space needs at Bridgehampton, where enrollment is rising and space is getting tight, and is looking to be fiscally responsible while providing great educational opportunities for the students. “I’m passionate about education and about children, and I put my heart and soul into making sure that we provide the best that we can, because it truly affects the future,” she said.

Amagansett

Two candidates are running unopposed for two seats on the Amagansett School Board.

Kristin V. Peterson has lived in Amagansett for five years after previously living in Springs. She is a parent of two Amagansett School students and is a member of the school’s shared-decision-making committee, which brings parent concerns to the school administration. She holds a master’s degree in international affairs and finance from Columbia University and formerly worked as a futures and sovereign analyst for the Bear Stearns credit department. She is the founder of BabyHampton, a natural skin care company for children.

She supports the district’s attempt to pierce the tax cap this year. She hopes to be “the information gatherer and communicator, the link between the school and the public, to make sure that the school maintains its excellent quality, because it’s an important asset to our community and to our children.”

Hank Muchnic is a parent of three Amagansett School children who has been a homeowner here since 1999 and a full-time resident since 2008. He is involved in charitable work, having served on the board of the Gramercy Park Block Association in New York City and the Vestry of St. Thomas’ Chapel in Amagansett. He currently serves on the board of the Muchnic Foundation and volunteers for East Hampton Meals on Wheels. He has also been the president of a New York City co-op and is a member of the board of Valley Company Inc., an investment firm.

He said he has experience with the kind of oversight a school board should provide, and understands that budget issues top the list of big concerns in Amagansett, saying, “It’s a never-ending quest to get it right.”

The candidates for the Wainscott, Sagaponack, and Montauk School Boards will be covered next week.

Correction: An early version of this article published in print and online stated that Susan Lamontagne was a cautious supporter of the Sag Harbor School District's purchase of the former Stella Maris School building. Ms. Lamontagne said that was a mischaracterization of her position and that she does not at this time support the purchase.

A woman called East Hampton Village police to 121 Further Lane on Friday, insisting that President Obama was to blame for her gate code not working.

Gail M. Dunn, 65, who gave addresses in California and New York City, told police she needed help to get onto her property. “She said Obama changed her gate code,” Chief Gerard Larsen said. Police phoned the owners of the house and were told no one was supposed to be there and they did not know the woman.

When officers asked Ms. Dunn to leave the property, she refused, the chief said. When they tried to arrest her for trespassing, “she took a swing at one of the cops, and they had to wrestle her to the ground.”

She was charged with resisting arrest, a misdemeanor, and trespass, a violation, and was taken to Stony Brook University Hospital’s psychiatric center for observation. She was released from police custody with a ticket to appear in East Hampton Justice Court at a future date.

Reed Krakoff, the former president and creative director of Coach Inc., is the owner of the house, according to tax records. Mr. Krakoff purchased the property in 2007 for a reported $24 million. It was known for many years as Lasata, an 8,500-square-foot estate where Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis spent her summers as a child.

Correction: An earlier version of this story stated Gail Dunn was charged with criminal trespass and resisting arrest, both misdemeanors. She was charged with trespass, a violation, in addition to resisting arrest, a misdemeanor.

The Child Development Center of the Hamptons in Wainscott will close at the end of this school year, a school representative said Monday.

The Gersh Academy, a group of schools and programs for children and young adults with autism, was in talks to take over the school as of early February. Gersh confirmed Monday that it would no longer do so.

Its talks with C.D.C.H. earlier this year followed at least one financially challenging year for C.D.C.H. that saw the South Fork's only charter school lose about $350,000. School officials cited significantly declining enrollment as one factor that led to the losses.

But in a statement Monday, the Gersh Academy said, "After extensive review and having identified a number of factors beyond our control, all parties involved mutually agreed not to proceed with the transfer of management. We, like many parents, are tremendously disappointed in this outcome and assure the public that best efforts were made in our attempt to successfully complete this endeavor."

C.D.C.H., which is managed by the nonprofit organization Family Residences and Essential Enterprises, or FREE, could not immediately be reached for further comment Monday.

The school, which officially opened as a charter school in 2001 after first beginning in 1997 as a program for a small group of toddlers in the house of a local parent, educates children in both regular education and special education programs. It draws students from local school districts, with those districts paying tuition. Students may come from within 15 miles for the regular education program and 50 miles for the special education program.

The Sagaponack School's proposed 2016-17 budget includes funding for a new playground and more money for teachers' salaries, classroom supplies, library books, activities, and field trips. Its administrators have found a way to accomplish all of that while still managing to lower the proposed tax levy.

Alan Van Cott, Sagaponack's superintendent, called it a "fiscally responsible" budget.

The budget, just under $1.8 million, shows an increase in spending of $4,251 while decreasing the tax levy by $1,699, down to just over $1.7 million. Mr. Van Cott explained that the increased spending was offset by additional state funding and more tuition coming in from nonresident students. Of the district's latest enrollment projection of 14 students next year, half are coming from out of the district.

The school is projecting spending less on equipment, since it won't have to repeat its biggest expense in this area from last year: $25,000 to buy suitable desks, chairs, and other equipment for its first-ever kindergarten class. The 2016-17 school year will complete the district's two-year transition from being a school for grades one through four to a school for kindergarten through third grade.

The proposed budget includes $37,000 for a new playground, which will be supplemented by $15,500 in donations from community members.

Voting on the school budget and for one incumbent candidate running for one open seat on the school board, Cathy Hatgistavrou, will take place on Tuesday, May 17, from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the school, at 400 Sagg Main Street.

There was much camera-flashing at the American Legion Hall in Amagansett Monday night during the monthly meeting of the hamlet's citizens advisory committee, at which Katy Casey, executive director of the East Hampton Housing Authority, discussed the authority's controversial plan to build an affordable housing complex at east of the I.G.A.

News 12-TV, Newsday, and other Long Island TV and print media had sent reporters and photographers, perhaps in anticipation of a shouting match or two. If so, they were disappointed.

In a half-hour presentation followed by questions from an attentive audience of about 150, Ms. Casey ran down a list of concerns she said had been mentioned most frequently by callers to her office. The question of just who will live in the 40-unit project was at or near the top of the list.

"The preference will be for East Hampton Town year-rounders, living here or working here full time," she said, "with priority given to fire department volunteers, emergency medical technicians, and veterans." Preferences after that are being "looked at" but are as yet undetermined.

Boys and girls will not be allowed to share a room, nor, for example, would a toddler and a teenager, or a child with a disabled adult, she said. All occupants must be "legal residents or citizens," and "may not own property, anywhere at all." Eight of the 40 units will be set aside for subsidized low-income tenants; the rest will accommodate a mixed-income population.

No waiting list will be drawn up until the project is within a year of opening, at which time there will be two waiting lists, one for residents and another for nonresidents. (The federal Fair Housing Law prohibits excluding nonresidents from applying, but it is lawful to give residents precedence.) Ms. Casey estimated later in the evening that it would be about three years before people start moving in.

A large number of applicants is expected, she said, and "the initial list will be a lottery." After that, "first-come, first-served as apartments become vacant."

The other most frequently asked question received by her office concerned taxes: With an influx of children to the Amagansett School District, how much will taxes go up?

Assuming 36 new students (at the low end, according to a consultant hired by the Amagansett School Board), a property valued at $1 million and assessed at about $6,000 would see an increase of $138 per year, Ms. Casey said. With 72 new students (the consultant's highest estimate), the increase would be $315.

There was only one question about taxes following her talk. "What was the math behind the increase?" someone wanted to know. Ms. Casey referred to the figures presented by the school's consultant at an initial community meeting in March.

Other concerns included traffic, water, and energy consumption. "A good portion of these tenants are already on our roads," Ms. Casey told the crowd, though there was audible moaning later when she said the apartment complex would have two parking lots holding 130 cars. "Away from the road," she said.

The building will occupy 25 percent of its 4.7-acre tract at 531 Montauk Highway, Ms. Casey said. She characterized it as a "pocket neighborhood, like Gansett Green Manor off Amagansett Main Street — not visible from the road, not looming."

It is "transit-oriented," she went on, "meaning it is a walkable community near the train station, the I.G.A. supermarket, and medical services." Among other environmental benefits, she said, it will have Energy Star appliances, "passive solar heating," meaning that "the building follows the sun," and "universal wi-fi," which she said would benefit the children in particular. "Schools are doing away with paper," Ms. Casey said, and students are increasingly doing homework online.

The complex, which is in a zoning district that permits limited business, will include four small (600-square-foot) professional offices — for doctors, lawyers, accountants and the like — but no retail (florists and antiques shops are excepted), with studio apartments above. "The idea is, a small startup can rent the suite, and the business owner or an employee can live in the apartment," Ms. Casey explained. No satellites, or branch offices, would be eligible.

Toby Ligorner, a member of the advisory committee, wondered why commercial offices were necessary. "We have enough empty commercial property right now," she said, to applause.

Someone else asked whether an unmarried couple would have a problem getting in. "Their legal marital status or gender is not an issue," Ms. Casey answered. "With children, though, we have more oversight." Asked if applicants might lie with impunity about their income, she said that "we annually check people's tax returns and bank statements, and we check the apartments. And we know what to look for." The complex will have a resident manager, she said.

"The project is not so large that we wouldn't notice if somebody is gone for a month," for example. "If someone is sending all their money overseas, would I catch it? Perhaps not, frankly. But if someone is living above their income, we can catch it."

Reg Cornelia, who lives in Springs and heads the East Hampton Town Republican Committee, asked whether "the lists of people are open to public record?" No, said Ms. Casey, they are "confidential. But we do report date of birth, Social Security numbers, and other documentation" to the state's Division of Housing and Community Renewal.

Asked if the playground would be public, Ms. Casey said it would. "We love it when the kids come. It's an inclusive, non-gated community with playground rules. If a child invited the whole class for a birthday party, that's fine." Children under 12, however, must be supervised by an adult, she said.

"Will the complex be affordable in perpetuity?"

"Yes."

"Will it be handicapped-accessible?"

"Yes."

One man wanted to know if residents of the Amagansett School District could hold a referendum on the plan. East Hampton Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell rose to answer that one. No, he said; if a referendum were to be held it would have to involve the entire town.

Alexander (Sas) Peters of Amagansett Springs Aquifer Protection said there should be "a real water study and a real traffic study" before construction begins. Anna Bernasek of Amagansett, who originated a petition on change.org opposing the complex, also requested a traffic study, as well as an environmental impact study. Ms. Casey noted that those topics would be addressed when the project comes before the planning board, which will hold a public hearing on it as part of its review.

"We're paving paradise," complained another resident of the hamlet. "Car washes, bowling alleys, 7-Elevens. This is subsidized housing stuffed in our throat."

(At the mention of a 7-Eleven, which has been proposed for an empty storefront just west of the Housing Authority property, a woman in the audience remarked loudly that "having a 7-Eleven there is just absurd."

"No, it's a good thing," said the man sitting next to her, adding sarcastically, "You don't have to go to the East Hampton train station to pick up your labor.")

Mr. Cantwell, who has lived all his life in Amagansett, got up to speak again. When he was a child attending the Amagansett School, he said, the Smith Meal fish factory was still in business on Promised Land and many men came north to work there, bringing their families with them. The children, he said, often came to class in tatters, sometimes without shoes in the winter, but they were welcomed and treated no differently by their teachers and classmates.

On Tuesday morning, the supervisor told his town board colleagues that he was "hoping, as this housing proposal moves forward, that it will gain more and more community acceptance."

Catch or release? That’s the question every angler must answer when a hooked fish is finally in hand. For local striped bass fishermen, the answer today is likely “release” because fish larger than 28 inches, New York State’s regulatory minimum possession size, have yet to move into neighboring waters in substantial numbers, if at all. But with a mixture of inevitability and good luck, larger bass will reach the East End soon, and fishermen will have to decide whether their catch lives or dies. Or is it that simple?

Catch and release is a conservation practice in which after capture the fish is unhooked and released back into the water. It was first utilized on a voluntary basis a century ago by fishermen in the United Kingdom to sustain a variety of species in heavily fished waters. Here in the United States, catch and release was first introduced in 1952 by the State of Michigan as an effort to reduce the cost of stocking hatchery-raised trout. However, more than 15 years earlier, Lee Wulff, a celebrated fly fisherman, artist, and writer, penned the now famous line, “Game fish are too valuable to be caught only once,” which caused many anglers to consider the merits of freeing their catch. Sport anglers who target game fish such as trout, salmon, billfish, shark, tuna, tarpon, and striped bass are usually the loudest supporters of catch and release. They believe the practice is integral to the enduring vitality of a fishery. 

A sport fisherman’s commitment to catch and release can be tested when a trophy-size fish is landed. Should the fish be killed for a wall mount or released for a fellow angler to pursue? Modern taxidermy provides an easy answer. Release it. Taxidermists today can create a wonderfully life-like fiberglass replica of the big one that didn’t get away simply from measurements and a photograph supplied by the angler. It’s a win-win for both fisherman and fish. 

Catch and release regulations often surface where a specific fishery is economically important to a state or locality. This was the motivation for the 2013 State of Florida regulations, which made its valuable tarpon and bonefish fisheries exclusively catch and release except where a tarpon is captured in pursuit of an International Game Fish Association record or a bonefish is transported live to a tournament scale and then released. A University of Miami study found that a single bonefish contributed about $3,500 to the Florida Keys economy in the form of goods and services purchased by anglers pursuing the species. Similarly, New York State imposes catch and release restrictions on segments of the famous Beaverkill River, which flows through Roscoe, N.Y., where trout fishing greatly contributes to the area’s financial health.

While not every fishery is governed by strict catch and release restrictions, just about every fishery has possession and size regulations, which effectively are a more permissive form of the same thing. Under these rules anglers can keep some of their catch for the table or other purposes, but must release the rest. 

But here is where children must leave the room. Not every fish that’s freed under catch and release rules, restrictive or liberal, survives. In fact, a shockingly large number die. According to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s 2015 Striped Bass Assessment Update, of the nearly 7.3 million striped bass caught by recreational fishermen in 2014 from Maine to North Carolina, an estimated 9 percent, or 655,000, died after release. In New York State, about 726,000 were landed and 65,000 perished. 

While one can argue about the assumptions and science behind the study, it’s indisputable that many fishermen treasure fishing more than they treasure fish. We don’t use safer circle hooks, replace treble hooks with single hooks or crush hook barbs when possible. We don’t take the time or have the correct tools to properly extract a hook from a fish. We don’t resuscitate a fish after a long fight. We don’t handle a fish properly to avoid injuring it. How many of us rip a stubborn hook out of a fish, rather than simply cut the line and allow the hook to dissolve in the fish’s mouth, because we don’t want to re-rig or lose a lure? Clearly, all anglers must adopt fish handling practices that increase the probability that a released fish not only swims away, but survives. Let’s start now.

Local fishing took a slight step backwards as a result of steady winds from the east and a cold rain last week. Paulie Apostolides at Paulie’s Tackle of Montauk reported that even schoolie bass have become a little picky due to the cooler weather. There are a couple bright spots for the hardiest fishermen. Ken Morse at Tight Lines Tackle in Sag Harbor said that keeper bass have been taken under the bridge to North Haven in Sag Harbor and in the South Ferry slip on parachute jigs, big swimming plugs, and tube lures. Morse believes that relatively warmer Peconic Bay waters are holding fish that otherwise would be moving east into Gardiner’s Bay. 

This theory made sense to Steve Sponzia at Wego Fishing Station in Southold, who reported loads of striped bass around Jessup’s in Peconic Bay. He suggested anglers look for feeding birds and use a diamond jig with a feather teaser. Steve said that last week’s porgy bite has slowed but likely will pick up again when fair weather returns. Harvey Bennettt at the Tackle Shop in Amagansett reported some early morning bass on tins at Amagansett beaches and said squid jigging has been productive in Fort Pond Bay. 

Steady east winds have also made it difficult for some pound trap fishermen to twine their sunken poles and for others to check their gear. Kelly Lester said lots of porgies and small amounts of blowfish, fluke, and squid are showing in some traps. 

Fishermen looking for a little adventure should consider hopping aboard the Viking Fleet’s Far and Deep Exploring New Grounds multiday trip, which departs Montauk on Wednesday.