A wheelchair-bound woman and her dog escaped a Water Mill house that was on fire Friday afternoon.

Bridgehampton Fire Chief Jeff White said the woman smelled and saw smoke coming up from the basement at 162 Noyac Path for at least a half-hour before leaving to get to help. The house phone was not working because of the fire. Once she reached the road, nearby workers called 911 at 2:21 p.m.

There was smoke coming up through the floors in the living room and kitchen when the chief arrived, and the fire had extended up an exterior wall and destroyed two of the floor joists. Chief White said the fire had been smoldering for some time. “Another 15 minutes and it really would have been burning,” he said.

John Rankin, a Southampton Town fire marshal who is investigating the fire’s cause, agreed with the chief that the woman was lucky she was able to get out of the house. Confined to a wheelchair and alone inside, she had a medical alert system, but it was not functioning, and her cellphone failed to pick up a signal.

Bridgehampton’s emergency medical services personnel examined her for smoke inhalation, but she was not transported to the hospital.

Though the major damage was confined to the basement, the house is not habitable as a result of the structural damage to the floors and an exterior wall, Mr. Rankin said.

The fire appeared to be electrical in nature, though the exact cause had not yet been pinpointed. Mr. Rankin said it did not appear to be suspicious but that insurance investigators would bring in experts to look into the electrical problem further. The wiring in the house, which was built in the 1990s, appeared to be in good shape, he said.

According to Southampton Town tax records, Kathleen Candy is the owner of the house, though Mr. Rankin said that was not the name of the woman in the wheelchair.

The Bridgehampton Fire Department got help from the Sag Harbor and Southampton Fire Departments. Though the fire was quickly knocked down, firefighters remained on scene for about an hour and a half. The East Hampton Fire Department stood by at the Bridgehampton Firehouse during the call.

A day earlier, in Sag Harbor, a firefighter fell while investigating a reported gas leak at the Sag Harbor Gym and was airlifted to the hospital. He suffered only a minor injury, however, and was home just a few hours later, Sag Harbor Fire Chief Thomas Gardella said.

Alex Smith, the captain in the Phoenix Hook and Ladder Company, had a contusion on his head. The 26-year-old was wearing his turnout gear and helmet. The chief said if he hadn’t been, “it could have been much more serious than what it was.”

Mr. Smith was inside the gym with Steven Miller, the second assistant chief, searching for the origin of the smell of gas that had been reported around 11:30 a.m. He was up on a ladder reaching into the drop ceiling with a gas meter when he either slipped or the ceiling gave way.

“He landed head-first onto the ground,” Chief Gardella said. A portion of the ceiling came down with him. He fell about eight feet.

The Sag Harbor Volunteer Ambulance Corps treated Mr. Smith, and he was airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital, a level one trauma center, because of the height of the fall and the fact that he had hit his head.

Chief Gardella said the department then had to juggle two emergencies. “You have a potential gas leak and you have a firefighter that’s down. The first priority is to get the attention to the firefighter, to make sure he’s okay and get him out of the building,” he said. “It gets complicated.”

As it turned out, the gas leak report appeared to be unfounded. “Whatever they were smelling was not flammable,” he said. The gas meters showed no readings. Still, firefighters shut off the gas to the building and asked the gas company to respond to check the pressure.

Just after Mr. Smith was airlifted and the gym was cleared of any potentially dangerous fumes, the Sag Harbor Fire Department was called to stand by on Shelter Island while that department fought a house fire. Sag Harbor firefighters were needed for only about half an hour, Chief Gardella said.

Update, April 18, 10:30 a.m.: A wheelchair-bound woman and her dog escaped a Water Mill house that was on fire Friday afternoon, according to the Bridgehampton Fire Department. 

Chief Jeff White said the homeowner smelled and saw smoke coming up from the basement at 162 Noyac Path for at least for a half-hour before leaving the residence to get to help. Her house phone was not working due to the fire. When she got down to the road, passerbys called 911 at 2:21 p.m.

There was "a bit of smoke" coming up through the floors in the living room and kitchen when the chief arrived. The fire had also extended up an exterior wall and destroyed two of the floor joists. Chief White said the fire, which had been smoldering for some time, appeared to be electrical in nature, but that the Southampton Town Fire Marshal's office is investigating the cause. "Another 15 minutes and it really would have been burning," he said. 

Bridgehampton's emergency medical services personnel examined the woman for smoke inhalation, but she was not transported to the hospital.

The Bridgehampton Fire Department received assistance from the Sag Harbor and Southampton Fire Departments. Though the fire was quickly knocked down, firefighters remained on scene for about an hour and a half. The East Hampton Fire Department stood by at Bridgehampton's firehouse during the call. 

Originally, April 15, 3:19 p.m.: The Bridgehampton Fire Department responded to a structure fire at 162 Noyac Path in Water Mill shortly after 2:30 p.m. Friday. A Southampton Fire Department engine was also on the scene, as was the Sag Harbor Fire Department’s Rapid Intervention Team.

One person was examined by emergency medical technicians, but was not transported to the hospital. The East Hampton Fire Department is standing by at the Bridgehampton Firehouse, and PSEG Long Island has been called to shut off power to the house. As of 3:15, the fire had been brought under control, but firefighters continued to look for hot spots that could reignite.

Check back for additional information as it becomes available.

Officials from PSEG Long Island this week outlined their plan to begin replacing utility poles throughout East Hampton as part of a federally funded project to strengthen the electric grid across Long Island.

About 25 percent of the poles in East Hampton holding distribution lines — the smaller poles that hold wires connecting to individual houses — are to be replaced with new ones “a little bit wider, a little bit taller, and better able to withstand winds” of up to 130 miles per hour, Chris Hahn, a director of external affairs for PSEG, said at a town board meeting on Tuesday.

The new poles will be two to three inches wider and three to five inches taller than the ones they replace, and will be seated deeper into the ground for strength. They will be treated with a wood preservative, either chromated copper arsenate (C.C.A.) or pentachlorophenol, the chemical known as penta.

Work has been under way for the last year in every other Long Island town as well as in the Rockaways.

The project to restore and strengthen more than 1,000 miles of overhead electric lines across Long Island received Federal Emergency Management Agency funding after the PSEG Long Island service area was declared a federal major disaster area following Hurricane Sandy, when 1.1 million Long Islanders were without power.

Some of the circuits most in need of upgrades are in East Hampton, with a number of the utility poles in the town some 40 or 50 years old, Mr. Hahn said.

While the utility does not require the approval of the town board for the work, company officials approached Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell before initiating the upgrades here, perhaps with the vocal opposition of numerous residents to its last project in East Hampton in mind.

A new, six-mile high-voltage transmission line that entailed the installation of large, wood, penta-treated poles along the route from East Hampton Village to Amagansett prompted protests and lawsuits. Concerns about the environmental impact of penta, which has been banned in countries around the world, were a primary element in the fight against the new high-voltage poles.

The new effort is “a maintenance project,” Mr. Hahn said Tuesday. “We are replacing equipment that is likely to fail.”

“This is good, an upgrade,” Mr. Hahn told the board. “This is good for your constituents.”

“But,” he said, “if there is a substantial objection we don’t have to do this here.”

Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell asked Mr. Hahn if PSEG would consider the use of composite poles made of fiberglass and similar materials rather than wood.

“We’ve already evaluated the composite situation,” said Mr. Hahn. “It’s just not an option for this project.” The increased cost of the composite poles would reduce the scope of the work that can be completed with the FEMA money, he said.

Helene and Jack Forst, East Hampton residents who led the fight against the high-voltage line installation, attended Tuesday’s meeting and questioned the utility’s plans, urging PSEG to use composite poles here as a pilot program.

A bill banning the use of penta is under consideration by the New York State Legislature, Ms. Forst pointed out.

Mr. Forst said that although composite poles might cost more at the outset, they will last longer than wooden poles and can better withstand storm winds. They would also avoid “pollution of our groundwater,” he said. “I don’t know what 25 percent of the poles is,” he said, “but it’s a substantial amount” to be installing new poles treated with a chemical “banned in many parts of the world.”

“I’d like to see some progressive thinking to make a change in our town,” he said.

The bolstering of the electrical system will include installation of surge arrestors and stronger cross-arms as well as covering wires, trimming trees, and replacing the poles along main distribution lines.

Mr. Hahn said that removal of the old poles would be coordinated with the other utility companies that have equipment on them, and that the project will not be considered complete until the “double wood” is removed.

Installation of automated switches that can be operated remotely “will help us maintain power in minor storms, and help us restore power quickly after major storms like Hurricane Sandy,” Mr. Hahn said.

The upgrades are expected to be finished by 2018 or ’19.

Also at the meeting on Tuesday, Mr. Hahn addressed concerns raised about the appearance of PSEG’s substation on Old Stone Highway in Amagansett, where equipment is being installed to serve the new high-voltage transmission lines.

The company has promised to install landscaping to shield the site, which is enclosed by a chain-link fence. However, “we’re past the planting season,” Mr. Hahn said. The substation work will be finished and the equipment is expected to be in service by the end of the summer. Then the plantings will be installed.

The Montauk School Board adopted its proposed 2016-17 budget on April 12, putting $18,978,163 up for community approval on May 17. Also on the ballot that day will be a contested race for one school board seat, although an incumbent board member is running for re-election unopposed.

According to a summary  provided by the district, the Montauk budget proposal is about $15,000 lower than the current year's budget. The associated tax levy, $16,952,502, shows a decrease of just under 1 percent from this year, so only a simple majority of voters will be needed to pass it. School officials estimate the tax rate will go down by about $5.39 to $544.40 per $1,000 of a property's assessed value. A informational hearing is planned for May 10 at 6 p.m. at the school.

Even with an increase in salaries and benefits of about 197,000 for next year, the district is able to stay within the state-mandated cap on increases in taxes because of an expected $281,209 drop in tuition to other schools, including East Hampton High School, the Child Development Center of the Hamptons, and the Eastern Suffolk Board of Cooperative Educational Services. Tuition is expected to go up in the following year.

Montauk will also spend an additional $20,105 on equipment, textbooks, supplies, and athletics, bringing tje total in those areas up to $453,830.

Jack Perna, the school superintendent, said during the April 5 school board meeting that the teachers were to be commended for keeping spending within reason. The district continues to negotiate with the teachers union, however, which has been working without a formal contract since last July.

For the school board, Patti Leber, the current school board vice president, will run unopposed for another five-year seat, but a race has emerged for a second open seat, which will become available on July 1 after Jason Biondo's resignation becomes effective. Two residents have turned in nominating petitions. Thomas Flight, a first-time candidate, and Cynthia Ibrahim, who ran against Mr. Biondo in 2014, are the candidates for the remaining three years of Mr. Biondo's five-year term.

Virginia Frati, who lives up the street from me, across from the Morton Wildlife Refuge, has been looking after injured and sick mammals, birds, turtles, frogs, and even snakes for 20 years. She never turned away an animal in need. When she was a secretary for the Suffolk County Department of Public Works, she would care for birds in need, keeping them in her desk drawer so they were close at hand. 

It wasn’t something that Public Works had a feeling for, so she and a fellow employee, Jim Hunter, who was part of the dredging crew, left to start their own wildlife rescue center in 2000. The county pitched in and came forward with an unused building in Munn’s Pond Park in Hampton Bays, and within a matter of months, Ginnie and Jim turned it into the Wildlife Rescue Center of the Hamptons. It has been up and running ever since.

Not to long ago, the center was renamed the Evelyn Alexander Wildlife Rescue Center, upon receiving a very generous gift from Leslie Alexander in honor of his late mother, who herself had been a lifelong animal lover. 

Now the center is thriving, with six full-time wildlife rehabilitators. It is the only facility of its kind in Suffolk County. It is situated on a little pond that is dry as often as it is wet, Munn’s Pond, which runs into a little creek that runs under Montauk Highway into Tiana Bay, a branch of Shinnecock Bay, one of Long Island’s South Bays and part of the South Bays Estuary. 

On average 1,200 to 1,400 hurt, stressed, and sick wild creatures are processed by the center each year. The large majority are healed in one way or another, often with the help of two veterinarians, Dr. Jonathan Turetsky of the Veterinary Clinic of East Hampton and Dr. Justin Molnar of the Shinnecock Animal Hospital. No wild animal in need is turned away.

The most common species to be treated at the center is the gray squirrel, especially young of the year gray squirrels. These furry little tree climbers stay close to home in a nest or hollow up in a tall tree until weaned, by which time they have almost reached adult proportions. Before that, they tend to only come down to earth when their nest tree is felled during a clearing operation or blown over in a windstorm. 

Young cottontail rabbits are a close second among the mammals, especially when lawn mowing starts in mid-spring. Cottontail parents dig a shallow trench in a grassy sward in which to beget and raise their young. The lawnmower comes along and, unbeknownst to the mower operator, takes the cover off the little nest, thus springing loose the baby cottontails.

Injured hawks and owls and the occasional osprey are brought to the center, often by a network of volunteers who are quick to answer a call for help. When it comes to baby birds, however, the center advises that if you find one out of the nest on the ground and it cannot yet fly that you should observe it for a reasonable time to make sure that the parents have not abandoned it. In most cases one of the parents will come to protect its chick and help it back into a concealed place — a bush or small tree — and take care of it from then on until it fledges.

Birds often fly into windows thinking the blank space is an alleyway, especially when being pursued by a hawk or falcon. Most of the time when they hit the glass they merely stun themselves. Such birds fall to the ground and appear helpless. But if not flat on their backs, they can be retrieved and put into a dark warm box with a cover for up to an hour. During that period, they often revive, and will fly out when the cover is removed.

Before you take a stunned bird to the center or call someone to come and get it, try this. 

Depending upon the extent of the injury, it takes from a few days to several months to rehabilitate an animal in need. Some have been hurt so badly that they cannot be released and are kept at the center as live-in species.

At first it was mostly small mammals and birds that were brought to the center for rehabilitation. But then the word got out and non-flying and non-running species in need such as turtles, snakes, and frogs began to appear. Ginnie says that the center has rescued a number of different kinds of snakes, mostly garter snakes, but also black racers and a ring-necked snake or two.

Once the center took in a hurt insect: a monarch butterfly with a broken wing that the former Beatle Paul McCartney brought in. It was given its own little spot, but was never able to fly again.

Recently, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has altered the wildlife rehabilitation licenses of staff so that they cannot take in injured adult deer, unless they are plan to euthanize them, which is something wildlife rehabbers never do unless there is no other recourse. They can still care for fawns that need attention, but only until the fall, when they are considered teenagers and can then only be left alone or put down.

Upstate, wildlife rehabilitators can no longer treat and release mute swans. Long Island has received a reprieve in this regard, as local state senators and assemblymen have come out for the swans, even opposing the desires of the National Audubon Society in such matters. It also comes to mind that a lot of heavy hitters with estates on Long Island have swan ponds. Politicians don’t like to offend heavy hitters.

Ginnie, who may have circumvented the rules a bit in taking care of injured and parentless birds in her desk drawer, is certainly not about to suppress her need to care for sick and distressed wildlife after all these years. Wasn’t it the Greek physician Hippocrates more than a few thousand years ago who said, “Make a habit of two things — to help, or at least to do no harm.” You might say that Ginnie is a dedicated modern-day practitioner of the Hippocratic Oath. Sometimes she lies awake at night thinking about those creatures in need. She is not about to roll over and begin euthanizing deer just to help the D.E.C. reduce the population.

Got an injured creature that needs attention? Call 728-WILD.

Larry Penny can be reached via email at [email protected].

Mario Trunzo, known as the longest-working barber in the history of Sag Harbor, died in his sleep at home on Madison Street last Thursday, surrounded by his family. He was 97 and had been in declining health.

Just 10 days earlier he had enjoyed the Sag Harbor Fire Department’s annual banquet, at which the former chief was honored for his nearly 70 years of service, and he still made it for his weekly Sunday breakfast at the Veterans of Foreign Wars in East Hampton, a close family friend, Bonnie Jackson, said.

Marty, as he was known, hadn’t basked in retirement long. He had only hung up his shears, clippers, and blue smock in 2011, at the age of 92. He was said to have given easily more than 10,000 haircuts.

He had eight decades in the business, having started at just 11 years old. As a child growing up during the Great Depression, he found that giving haircuts was a good way to make money. He went house to house in Sag Harbor for 25 cents per customer.

He spent four years as an apprentice and then 10 years working in shops in the area. While working at Vacca’s Barbershop in Bridgehampton in 1938, he gave a shave to the billionaire Howard Hughes as he headed out to Montauk in a limo to do some fishing, he told The New York Times in 2006. He got a quarter as a tip for the 20-cent shave.

In 1939, at the age of 20, he opened his own barbershop, three doors down from the John Jermain Memorial Library on Main Street. It was a time when barbers were so busy they worked 12-to-13-hour days, and there were as many as seven shops in the village.

An Italian immigrant, he was born Mario Domenico Trunzo in San Mango D’Aquino, Calabria, on Aug. 16, 1918, to Felice Trunzo and the former Rosina Notarianni. When he was 11, his family journeyed to America and settled in Sag Harbor, where his father found work at the Fahys watchcase factory.

He grew up in a house behind Main Street, and then later on Jermain Avenue. He built his own house on Madison Street in 1950, two years before he married the former Ninfi Avona. It was in Sag Harbor that he picked up the nickname Marty, after sixth graders teased him and called him Mary, he wrote in the 2007 book “Voices of Sag Harbor.”

Before finishing Pierson High School, Mr. Trunzo entered the Army in April 1942 and served for three years during World War II, until October 1945. He fought in campaigns in North Africa and in Italy, at Naples, Foggia, Rome, and the Arno River with the 389th Port Battalion attached to the 36th Division 5th U.S. Army. In “Voices of Sag Harbor,” he recalled being among the first American troops to land on the shores of Italy at Salerno Beach and being met with a hurricane. “We were up to our chins in the water but we were told to ‘keep the rifles dry.’ It didn’t matter what happened to us, but keep the rifles dry!”

He received the Army Good Conduct Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with bronze arrowhead device, and the World War II Victory Medal.

When he returned home, he joined the Chelberg-Battle Post of the American Legion in Sag Harbor and the Veterans of Foreign Wars in East Hampton. Along with Jack Reidy, the legion recognized him for 70 years of service in 2015.

A dedicated member of the Sag Harbor Fire Department, Mr. Trunzo would leave a customer mid-shave if the fire whistle blew. He joined the Montauk Hose Company in 1946 after returning from the war. He was chief from 1980 to 1981, and had a vanity license plate that let everyone know he was an ex-chief.

On summer evenings, Mr. Trunzo could often be found with his daughter and another ex-chief, Thomas W. Horn Sr., outside the fire station on Main Street, selling T-shirts and raffle tickets on a folding table to raise money for the Fire Department.

His barbershop eventually moved farther down Main Street, into the heart of the village, to a building Mr. Trunzo bought in 1965. “He always said if you don’t own the building, you don’t own the business,” Ms. Jackson said.

There were a few brief times when Mr. Trunzo couldn’t give haircuts. His wife of 42 years died in 1994, and that Easter, one of the worst fires in Sag Harbor history left his Main Street shop badly damaged.

A daughter, Nina Trunzo, and a son, William Porter, survive, as do two sisters, Yolanda Trunzo Fields and Mary Trunzo Herbst, all of whom live in Sag Harbor. Two brothers, Ed Trunzo and Jack Trunzo, died before him.

Mr. Trunzo was cremated. He didn’t like the solemnity of funerals and wanted a party instead, Ms. Jackson said. A celebration of his life will be held at the Sag Harbor Firehouse on Brick Kiln Road on May 7 from noon to 3 p.m.

Anne Jackson, the consummate actress whose career in theater, films, and television, like her marriage to Eli Wallach, her frequent co-star, spanned more than six decades, died at her Manhattan home on April 12. She was 90.

While Ms. Jackson and Mr. Wallach were long considered theatrical royalty, having met in 1946 while acting in a production of Tennessee Williams’s “This Property Is Condemned,” a lesser known fact is that, in 1998, at the Welcome Back to Brooklyn Homecoming Festival, they were named king and queen of that borough, where he was born and they both grew up.

Peter Wallach, the couple’s son, recalled the family’s long connection to East Hampton, where, until two years ago, they had a house on Cottage Avenue. “We used to come out here back in the 1950s, and we had a beautiful house on Three Mile Harbor Road. They absolutely adored the Hamptons, and they had so many friends ,there. East Hampton really was my mom’s place to rest and relax from the rigors of the theater life she led.”

That life included a 1956 Tony Award nomination for her role in Paddy Chayefsky’s “Middle of the Night,” an Obie Award for her role in Murray Schisgal’s Off Broadway double bill “The Typists” and “The Tiger,” and performances in plays by George Bernard Shaw, Jean Anouilh, Eugene Ionesco, Anton Chekhov, Shakespeare, and countless other playwrights.

Her many notable films included  “The Tiger Makes Out,” “Lovers and Other Strangers,” and “The Shining,” and her television credits ranged from “Gunsmoke” to “ER” and “Law and Order.”

While East Hampton provided a respite from Broadway and Hollywood, both Ms. Jackson and Mr. Wallach were active participants in the life of the community. According to Ruth Appelhof, executive director of Guild Hall, “In 1992, Anne and Eli were awarded the Guild Hall Lifetime Achievement Award in the Performing Arts. They had been on the John Drew Theater stage numerous times and were especially beloved by our community. Their presence onstage will not be forgotten.”

The couple were regulars at local restaurants, among them Nichols, Duryea’s Deck, and Gosman’s. “My mom was a huge fan of Roberta Gosman,” said their son, “and Gosman’s was the place we’d go for everybody’s birthday. Roberta would always have a fantastic place for us to sit on the deck. My mom also loved to take her grandchildren to the duck pond.”

Ms. Jackson was born on Sept. 3, 1925, in Millvale, Pa., to John Jackson and the former Stella Murray. When she was 7, the family moved to Brooklyn, where she attended Franklin K. Lane High School. She subsequently studied drama at the New School and, for many years, with Lee Strasberg, among whose students was Marilyn Monroe, whom Peter Wallach remembers as his baby-sitter.

Ms. Jackson and Mr. Wallach’s many Guild Hall appearances included A.R. Gurney’s “Love Letters”; “In Persons,” an evening of readings and reminiscences by the couple, and “Eli’s Comin’: A Life in Film,” during which they presented clips from their films. In 1998, they did readings of Joe Pintauro’s “Money” at Mulford Farm in East Hampton and at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center.

Mr. Pintauro, who was a close friend of theirs, said, “It was in Anne’s work on my play ‘Cacciatore’ that I saw her swing from crack-up humor to lyrical realism to tragic ferocity onstage, and all of it with true human appeal and all instantaneously. She and Eli performed a lot of Tennessee Williams, and in those roles Anne displayed coolness and fire all at once.  I wished there were more opportunities for her to display her acting strength, but none of it was lost to us who saw it on stage and again in real life. . . . Their lives were all compassion and fun, and Anne was always the maker.”

In addition to her son, she is survived by two daughters, Roberta and Katherine, both of whom live in New York City; a sister, Beatrice Marz, of Madison, Conn., three grandchildren, and one great-grandson.

She was cremated at Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn. According to her son, “We will have a small family gathering, but nothing fancy like a real service.” The family suggested memorial contributions to the East Hampton Library, 159 Main Street, East Hampton 11937, or the Bucks County Playhouse, 70 South Main Street, New Hope, Pa. 18938.

Four weeks after the Amagansett School Board invited residents of the district to learn more about the likely impacts of the East Hampton Housing Authority’s proposed 40-unit affordable housing complex in the hamlet, two petitions are circulating on the Internet, one in favor of the proposal and the other opposing it.

The dueling petitions can both be found on the change.org website by searching for “Amagansett.”

The petition in support of the plan, organized by Katy Casey, executive director of the Housing Authority, describes “a transit oriented, walkable community of clustered cottages and one 2,000-square-foot commercial building, in a pocket neighborhood built to passive house standards.” According to the petition, “elements of the Housing Authority proposal include onsite wastewater treatment and gray water reclamation, rain gardens, solar PV, bike kiosk and trail, community access, mixed-income/mixed-use design to complement the aesthetic of the immediate vicinity, common greens, and a playground.”

“A small, vocal, well connected minority in Amagansett is waging a campaign against this proposal for 531 Montauk Highway,” it continues. “Please express your support for the project by signing this petition. Let the decision makers in East Hampton know the small group of vocal opponents do not accurately represent community opinion.”

Five days ago, the petition had 10 supporters; as of yesterday there were 110, many of whom added comments to their signatures along the lines of Elizabeth Hotchkiss’s. “This community desperately needs affordable housing,” she wrote. Ms. Hotchkiss lives in Amagansett; most of the other comments came from residents of East Hampton.

Anna Bernasek, a financial and economic commentator and author who splits her time between New York City and Amagansett, started the opponents’ petition under the heading “Amagansett Residents Against 531 Montauk Highway Housing Project.” It reads as follows:

“We are opposed to the Town of East Hampton’s plan to build a 40-unit apartment complex at 531 Montauk Highway, Amagansett. We believe that this project will have a negative impact on our water quality, traffic, emergency services, property taxes, the Amagansett School, our public utilities, and natural resources.”

As of yesterday, that appeal had 26 supporters, four of whom submitted comments. “The main concern with a large commercial building in Amagansett is the effect on the currently balanced water and farming environment,” wrote Lisa Iddings of New York City and Amagansett. “Placing such a large building on a small plot of land can have detrimental effects on surrounding water sources and come summer, with the already heightened crowd, cause even more delays and traffic congestion, leading to higher pollution of gas emissions in a large farming community with delicate water and ground soil maintenance.”

At the school board’s March 19 meeting, a consultant hired by the board told a crowd of about 100 that the question was not whether the town does or does not need rental or mixed-income housing, but about “the impact that this proposal will have on the district’s taxpayers” and “the ability of the Amagansett School to continue to provide a high-quality education to all of its residents.” The Housing Authority has projected an increase of 37 new students in the district when the complex is ready for occupancy in 2018; the consultant said that, at the high end, the number could be nearly double that.

Residents of the South Fork will add their voices to a clamorous debate on Tuesday when they vote in the first New York State presidential primary in recent memory that is expected to play a substantial role in determining the major parties’ nominees in November.

While polls showed Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump maintaining comfortable leads as of yesterday, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont is hoping for an upset in the Democratic primary, while on the Republican side Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, though trailing in New York, has outmaneuvered Mr. Trump in several states’ delegate selection processes and benefited from a backlash against the front-runner, as has Gov. John Kasich.

• Where and When to Vote in Tuesday's Presidential Primary

Republican Party leaders will choose 95 delegates representing congressional districts, who will be assigned a candidate to vote for based on the tallies. The Democratic system includes 163 pledged delegates, who are bound to support a particular candidate, at least on the first ballot at the convention.  Their names and will appear beneath the candidate’s on Tuesday; 84 at-large delegates, who will be chosen proportionally at the state party convention next month based on the primary results, and 44 superdelegates who are not bound to a candidate.

On the South Fork, many party officials and residents are active in the campaigns, though some hesitate to reveal their preferences. A survey this week demonstrated that voters here are united in the belief that the 2016 presidential election is critically important.

“It’s very exciting that the New York primaries will play a key role in the nominating process for both parties,” Amos Goodman, a member of the East Hampton Republican Committee, wrote in an email. Calling the presidential election “one for the books,” he said, “The populist, anti-establishment appeal of Sanders on the left, and Trump (and Cruz to some degree) on the right are natural consequences of an out-of-touch political elite, and a government that plays favorites and manages to be both profligate and ineffective.”

Judith Hope, a former East Hampton Town supervisor who also had been chairwoman of the state Democratic Party, is a candidate to be one of Mrs. Clinton’s pledged delegates. “We’re finding people are well aware that she’s by far the most qualified and experienced candidate in the race on either ticket,” Ms. Hope said. “Her years in the State Department and U.S. Senate, as well as first lady, have put her in a unique position. She’s on a first-name basis with most of the leaders around the world, and has visited over 200 countries. There are few people with that kind of experience anywhere.” Mr. Sanders has a supporter in Betty Mazur, vice chairwoman of the East Hampton Democrats, though she said she would support the eventual nominee. “He has brought to the forefront issues that have been neglected and pushed under the rug for many moons,” she said of Mr. Sanders. “I think he’s done a great service by doing that. The inequality in our country now is distressing. He’s shined a spotlight on those inequalities and brought them to the forefront in a way that no one else has.”

On the Republican side, Mr. Trump has also struck a chord with voters, Reginald Cornelia of the East Hampton Re-  publican Committee said. “I wish he could do it more like Ronald Reagan, more eloquently and without some of the vulgarities, but he certainly has raised the issues people want to talk about.” Mr. Cornelia also called Mr. Cruz “an excellent candidate.”

Mr. Cornelia and Mr. Goodman were in their own race this week, seeking to become chairman of the East Hampton Republicans following the resignation of Tom Knobel last month. The committee was to make a decision last night.

Walker Bragman, a co-founder of the New Leaders of East Hampton, a group that advocates political participation, said that while the group has chosen to be nonpartisan, he supports Mr. Sanders and would not vote for Mrs. Clinton if she was the nominee. “I would rather lose four years to run someone like Elizabeth Warren,” the senator from Massachusetts, in 2020, he said, if Mr. Sanders does not win the Democratic nomination.

Like Mr. Goodman, Greg Mansley, the East Hampton Republican media director, pointed to voters’ disgust with business-as-usual politics at a time when the country faces threats including terrorism and the Zika virus. “My beliefs are not aligned with Sanders, but I like the way he talks,” he said. Mr. Sanders and Mr. Trump, he said, are popular because “both parties are trying to push into office the person who will continue the money trail to them. That’s got to change.”

Andrew Sabin of Amagansett, a major supporter of Republican candidates, said yesterday that his preferred candidate had been Jeb Bush. While he is not enamored of those remaining in the race, he said he preferred Mr. Kasich. Mr. Cruz is “a brilliant guy,” he said, but “I just feel he’s a bit too far to the right.”

Mr. Sabin said his focus is on how the Republican nominee for president might affect congressional races, with several Republicans, particularly in the Senate, facing tough re-election battles. Mr. Trump’s nomination, he said, would damage the prospects of legislators in tight contests.

Musicians and other artists have also had a long history of political activism, and that tradition is continuing on the South Fork. Mick Hargreaves, a musician, recently hosted a phone bank for Mr. Sanders at the recording studio he operates in Manorville. “I was struck by the incredible businesslike demeanor of everyone — strangers walked in with laptops, plugged them in, and got right to work, no small talk. I was blown away,” he said. “I can wait until the Democratic primary is over to decide who I’m going to vote for in the general,” he said. “But you can guess I’m not going to vote for Trump.”

Michael Weiskopf, a guitarist who lives in East Hampton, said he felt the same urgency many others express about the election. For that reason, he said, Democrats should unite behind Mrs. Clinton. “Let’s not screw this up,” he wrote in an email. “Hillary is going to be the candidate. Many of us would like someone that we think would be better, but it ain’t going to happen.”

Intraparty divisions that prompted Democrats to sit out elections or register a “protest” vote resulted in the election of Richard Nixon and George W. Bush, “one of the most disastrous administrations in history,” he said. “It is time to unite and avoid wasting the opportunity to take the Senate and possibly the House. We can’t always get what we want. Clearly this is what we need.”

The general election “favors the Democrats,” Mr. Bragman, who is also a journalist and political cartoonist, predicted. “I think the only way that we could possibly lose is if it’s Clinton versus Trump. . . . She’s still very much a transactional politician, where he’s coming in as this outside figure — saying some scary things, but at same time appealing to blue-collar labor in a way that she’s not.”

Ms. Hope disagreed. “They call her the establishment candidate, but she’s devoted her life to working for women and children, which is not establishment politics,” she said. “For a lot of us, this is a seminal, very critical moment. It’s time for America to take a chance on a woman and let her show us what she can do.”

Reg Cornelia, an 18-year member of the East Hampton Republican Committee and its vice chairman since 2014, was elected to lead the committee on Wednesday night, prevailing over Amos Goodman, a recent, unsuccessful candidate for the Suffolk County Legislature.

Mr. Cornelia had moved into the position of interim chairman last month following the abrupt resignation of the committee's chairman, Tom Knobel. Mr. Knobel resigned from the committee one month after being fired from his position at the Suffolk County Board of Elections and four months after a resounding defeat in his campaign for East Hampton Town supervisor.

Mr. Cornelia said that rebuilding morale was among the first items of business, after the lopsided losses the party incurred in November when Supervisor Larry Cantwell was re-elected by a 2-to-1 margin. Councilman Peter Van Scoyoc and Councilwoman Sylvia Overby also defeated their Republican challengers by wide margins, and the composition of the town trustees swung from a 5-to-4 Republican majority to a 3-to-6 minority.

"We have our work cut out for us," Mr. Cornelia said on Thursday. "Morale has suffered from last fall's elections; there's been some disarray."

But the energy to rebuild is palpable, he said, and East Hampton Republicans can take heart and find inspiration in the larger campaigns now under way. "For the first time in a while we have a Republican congressman to re-elect," he said of Representative Lee Zeldin of New York's First Congressional District. In his second attempt, in 2014, Mr. Zeldin, a former state senator, defeated Tim Bishop, a six-term Democrat.

"I admire Mr. Zeldin quite a bit," Mr. Cornelia said. "I worked with him in 2008 when he ran the first time. I was impressed by him then and am more impressed now. He's hard-working, diligent, cares, and pays attention. And sooner or later, we'll have a presidential candidate." New Yorkers will vote in the Republican and Democratic Parties' primary election on Tuesday.

Mr. Cornelia said the East Hampton Republicans would harness the energy generated by those campaigns to "continue to do what Republicans try to do: keep government efficient, as inexpensive as possible, not go off on half-baked schemes, and make sure people have places to live and jobs to work at. And," he added, "that they have access to the beaches they pay for." He also pointed to the town's recently enacted rental registry, a law that he said would prove "a bureaucratic nightmare."

Mr. Goodman did not hide his disappointment on Thursday. "I think the winner last night was Larry Cantwell, Kathee Burke-Gonzalez," a Democratic councilwoman, "and the Democratic trustees. I think the losers are the East Hampton taxpayers and folks who are interested in good government, accountability, transparency, and value for the money," he said.

The committee, he said, "had an opportunity to change, to evolve, to begin the process of rebuilding and becoming competitive in this town, and decades' loyalties and senses of entitlements and other things that are less honorable than that seemed to prevail. . . . I don't view it as a reflection on anybody personally, I just think it's a shame that the status quo, which has not proven to be the successful one, will be the path forward."

Mr. Goodman "has a lot of great qualities," Mr. Cornelia said. "He's intelligent, energetic, very good with computers and data analysis. I think he can be a great asset to the committee." But the committee, he said, "wanted someone familiar and who they are more comfortable with" in the chairman's role. He referred to his activism as a member of the Springs Citizens Advisory Committee and former member of the hamlet's school board, and on issues including veterans' care and after-school programs. "I'm a known entity, and I think I've built a reputation as trustworthy."