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."

Gerard Larsen, the chief of police in East Hampton Village, is interested in the top brass position in Southampton Town, where Chief Robert Pearce will leave at the end of September.

Chief Larsen has been with the East Hampton Village Police Department for 30 years, and has been its chief for 14. “During my career I have been fortunate to have had and continue to have great support within the community, with the mayor and the village board. However, I am certainly interested in other opportunities that may exist,” he said on Thursday.

He said he informed Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. that he had sent his resume to Southampton Town for consideration.

Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman, who hails from Montauk, has previously said he would consider applicants from within the department and outside of it.

In March, Southampton’s police chief announced that he would be retiring, something he has to do by his 60th birthday in July due to a New York State law passed in the 1960s specifically for and at the requests of the Town of Southampton and the Village of Westhampton. The town board, however, asked the chief to stay on through Sept. 30 to avoid introducing new leadership in the middle of the summer.

The town board formally appointed a search committee at its meeting on Tuesday. In addition to the supervisor, Councilman Christine Scalera, and Frank Zappone, the deputy supervisor, the committee includes James Burke, the town attorney; Russell Kratoville, the town management services administrator; Joseph Monteith, a member of law enforcement, and Minerva Perez, who was recently named the executive director of Organizacion Latino-Americana of Long Island, or OLA. Ms. Perez used to be the director of residential and transitional services at the Retreat, the domestic violence services and education organization based in East Hampton.

Mr. Zappone said on Thursday that the committee was finalizing a strategy on how to best advertise the position this week, and would advertise the opening for about a month. The goal of the group is to have a recommendation ready for the town board by early August. That would give Chief Pearce’s successor enough time to give notice at his or her current position and allow for a transitional period before the chief officially retires.

Chief Larsen, an East Hampton native, started his career as a traffic control officer with the village in 1983, working for two summers before becoming a part-time officer in 1984. About two years later, he was hired by the New York Police Department and began the academy, but just two weeks after that, the village police, led by Chief Glen Stonemetz, made him an offer. He began working full time for the department in February 1986.

He was a patrol officer until 1990, when he was promoted to detective, a position he held for five years, before briefly being a road sergeant. He worked as a detective sergeant until 2001, when he was made a lieutenant. Just two years later, he became the chief, taking over when Randy Sarris retired.

Chief Larsen oversees 25 officers, 17 dispatchers, and about 20 seasonal traffic control officers. He has brought the village department to the New York State accreditation level. In 2011, he took over and revamped the East Hampton Village Communications Department, a dispatch center that receives all 911 calls for the Town of East Hampton and Sag Harbor Village and dispatches the two village police departments, five fire departments, and two ambulance agencies that serve the area. The dispatching service is also in the process of becoming an accredited agency in the state.

Chief Larsen makes $180,558 annually in his current position, Rebecca Molinaro, the village clerk, said Thursday. Chief Pearce’s salary is $182,212 per year.

 

Fred W. Thiele Jr. stepped down Monday from his post as the Sag Harbor Village attorney, just days after Rich Warren, a longtime village consultant, gave notice that he will leave at the end of the 2015-16 fiscal year in May. The news comes  just one day before the village board is to hold a hearing on the proposed residential zoning code changes, controversial work done during a building moratorium and that the two men led the charge on. 

Reached on Monday afternoon in Albany, Mr. Thiele, who is also a state assemblyman, said he had been thinking about leaving the position, which he has held for seven years, for some time. He cited the legislative session and personal reasons. His wife, NancyLynn Schurr Thiele, who was hired last month as a town attorney in East Hampton, broke her leg soon after taking the job and is still recovering, he said.

Sandra Schroeder, the village mayor, said Mr. Thiele first indicated he would be resigning in a meeting they had last Thursday. "I'd asked him if he'd stay until the end of the year," she said, referring to the fiscal year. According to the mayor, Mr. Thiele said he would consider it, and then sent a two-sentence resignation letter on Monday. "I'm sad that he's leaving." 

Asked how she felt about his departure, she said, "Disappointed, upset. It's going to be a loss for the village, no doubt." The village will be without an attorney at Tuesday night's meeting and hearing, as Denise Schoen, another village attorney, will be on vacation, she said. A stenographer will be on hand to record the hearing. The mayor said she will also propose that the hearing be kept open for a week for written comments, and to give the board time to consider the comments. She would like a full board to vote on the revisions, and Ed Deyermond is out of the country. She hopes to schedule a special meeting at the end of the month to vote on the amendments. 

Mr. Warren sent a letter to the mayor on April 8 advising the board that his company, Inter-Science Research Associates, was not looking to renew its annual contract for planning and environmental services. His relationship with the village dates back 11 years. "It has been our privilege to have worked for the village, and we are proud of the services we have provided," Mr. Warren wrote. He could not be reached on Monday for further comment.

Mr. Thiele and Mr. Warren had come under fire from village residents who opposed the code revisions they helped to craft, specifically the introduction of gross square footage laws, which were dialed back a bit since they were first proposed in January. 

Ken O'Donnell, a village board member, said he was also sad to see both Mr. Thiele and Mr. Warren go, though he cited health concerns as being the major factor in Mr. Warren's decision. Of Mr. Thiele's departure, he said he felt blindsided. "I would be remiss in saying I'm not slightly disappointed in not having closure in the building moratorium before we'd gone our separate ways," he said. "I would just have liked to have put a period at the end and then would go our separate ways, which would be in a perfect world, I guess." 

Mr. Warren's departure will coincide with the expiration of his contract at the end of the fiscal year on May 31. Mr. Thiele said he had intended to resign after the completion of the new gross floor area law, which the board is poised to adopt. "All the environmental assessment work is done. Everything is finished. It's not like the village is without representation," he said, referring to Ms. Schoen, who represents the land-use boards and worked on the code amendments. "All the legal work is done. Tomorrow night is basically just listening to the public." 

Robby Stein, the deputy mayor, said had not had a chance to speak with Mr. Thiele on Monday. "Fred has been an incredible legislator and advocate for the East End. I felt he was a great resource and counsel to the village. I am sorry he is leaving," he said. 

While the board decides what to do with its zoning proposals, the search for a new consultant and new attorney will begin. Mayor Schroeder said she has a few ideas in mind for the village attorney, but declined to provide any names before discussing them with the board. Mr. Thiele's village salary was $52,500.

Mr. Thiele said that while he will continue to do private legal work he will not look to take on another similar position in local government. "I've done this job for seven years. It's been rewarding, It's time to move on."

Update, 4:56 p.m.: The Sag Harbor firefighter who fell while investigating a possible gas leak at the Sag Harbor Gym on Thursday suffered only a minor injury, Fire Chief Thomas Gardella said. 

"Thank God, he's on his way home," Chief Gardella said. He identified Alex Smith, the captain in the Phoenix Hook and Ladder Company, as the injured firefighter, and said he had a contusion on his head, but nothing more. He was released from Stony Brook University Hospital just a few hours after he was airlifted there. 

The 26-year-old was wearing his turnout gear and helmet. The chief said if he hadn't been he may not have faired as well. "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. The length of the fall had been reported as about 10 feet, but the chief said it was an 8-foot ceiling. 

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

Chief Gardella said the department had to then 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, the Fire Department 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 the Shelter Island Fire Department fought a house fire. Sag Harbor firefighters were needed for only about half an hour, Chief Gardella said. 

Originally, 12:33 p.m.: A Sag Harbor firefighter was flown to Stony Brook University Hospital on Thursday after falling about 10 feet while on a call at the Sag Harbor Gym. 

The Sag Harbor Fire Department was called to a gas leak at the gym at 1 Bay Street at about 11:30 a.m., by which time the building had been evacuated. The male firefighter, whose name has not been released, was looking for the location of the leak on the second story when he fell, according to Village Police Chief Austin McGuire. He fell through what the chief described as a drop ceiling, landing on the gym floor by the women's bathrooms. 

"Thankfully, he's all right," Chief McGuire said. While the firefighter was initially reported to be semiconscious, he was speaking and knew what had happened, Chief McGuire said. Because he fell 10 feet and hit his head, he was airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital, the nearest level one trauma center.

Sag Harbor Fire Chief Thomas Gardella could not immediately be reached for comment.

Around noon, firefighters cleared the gym of the gas leak, but the gym remained closed as of 12:30 p.m. An employee who answered the phone said it would probably remain closed until the afternoon. 

Marvin William LaMoore, who was a member of the East Hampton Village Police Department for 20 years, including a period as its interim chief, died at home in Sarasota, Fla., on March 16 of a heart attack. He was 77.

Mr. LaMoore graduated from the Suffolk County Police Academy in 1964 and joined the East Hampton Village Police Department that year. During his tenure with the department, he first served as a patrol officer and then made his way through the ranks. He retired as a lieutenant in 1984.

He was born on Aug. 12, 1938, to Marvin W. LaMoore and Francis Mitti LaMoore and grew up in Detroit. Mr. LaMoore, who was known as Skip, joined the Navy after graduating from Rosedale High School in Queens. In December 1964, during his time in the Navy, he and Barbara Anhalt of Malverne were married. The marriage ended in divorce.

Mr. LaMoore was an active member of the East Hampton community. In addition to fishing and golf, he was a member of the East Hampton School Board, a member of the Rotary Club, a Springs Fire Department ambulance volunteer, and a member of the East Hampton Veterans of Foreign Wars, among other organizations.

In the early 1970s, Mr. LaMoore received a bachelor’s degree in business, studying at Southampton College while serving as a police officer. After retiring from the village police, he worked as an investment adviser for New York Life.

He moved to Florida in 1989, where he worked for the City of Sarasota as a court liaison, processing orders for officers to appear in court. After serving in that capacity for 10 years, he retired for good, spending much of his time on the golf course. He also enjoyed going to a second home, in Fairfield Glade, Tenn.

Mr. LaMoore is survived by his wife of 12 years, the former Debbie Williams of Sarasota, by two children, William LaMoore of Lakewood Ranch, Fla.,

While some dread the approach of April 15, others relish its arrival because it’s the opening of the striped bass season in New York State. The date is also the unofficial start of the saltwater fishing season. I say unoffical because traditionalists argue that April 1, the first day one can catch and keep a winter flounder in local waters, marks the true opening. But anyone who has targeted in-shore winter flounder in the last many years knows it’s no coincidence that the season opens on April Fools Day. 

One has a greater chance of finding a parking space on East Hampton’s Newtown Lane in August than catching a flounder in Gardiner’s Bay. Marine biologists have many theories on why the winter flounder population remains at low levels, including habitat destruction, the recovery of predatory species populations like striped bass, and, locally, a small breeding stock resulting from many years of overfishing. 

The lack of a winter flounder fishery continues to have a negative financial impact on local tackle shops, according to Ken Morse, owner of Tight Lines Tackle in Sag Harbor. His store has traditionally relied on sandworm and tackle sales to jumpstart business after a slow winter period. So far this season Tight Lines hasn’t sold a single sandworm, and Morse fears he will have to dump his wriggling inventory shortly. 

Individuals 16 years of age and older must enroll in the Recreational Marine Fishery Registry before fishing New York’s marine and coastal district waters, which surround Long Island. The failure to do so can result in a fine. Those who fish exclusively on party and charter boats are exempt from this requirement. Enrollment can be accomplished online at the New York State Department of Environmental Conserservation’s website, dec.ny.gov. 

The current D.E.C. regulations allow recreational anglers to keep one striped bass daily at least 28 inches total length and two winter flounder daily at least 12 inches long. 

April 1 was also opening day of the trout season. Unless one is a Southampton resident, and therefore permitted to fish in Trout Pond, there aren’t any local options for catching this species. Laurel Lake on the North Fork is the next closest body of water to offer trout fishing, but you’ll need a New York State freshwater fishing license before casting a line.

Sooner or later our weather will return from its trip to Ithaca and we will enjoy days perfect for fishing. Now’s the time to clean, lube, and spool reels with fresh braid or monofilament, change or sharpen hooks, check rod guides for damage or nicks, and find the tackle bag buried under the garden hose in your basement. If any repairs are necessary, take the gear to your favorite local tackle shop for attention before the crowds descend. You might also start banking some fishing time with your spouse by reviewing the standard 2:1 exchange rate between fishing time and time spent attending birthday parties for distant relatives. 

Tackle shops UpIsland report bays are holding an abundance of spearing and bunker, which is encouraging. A small number of schoolie striped bass have been caught in Shinnecock Bay. On the ocean side, the Viking Fleet reports that cod action slowed this week. 

When life gives you lemons make lemonade. Tom McDonald, an East Hampton resident and fishing enthusiast, traveled to San Francisco with his dad, Don, last week to attend his sister’s wedding when a medical emergency resulted in the postponement of the ceremony. With unexpected time on his hands, Tom booked a seat on the local charter boat Argo out of Fisherman’s Wharf and caught three halibut between 36 and 38 inches on smelt slowly trolled behind a 16-ounce weight. The McDonalds and friends ate very well that night.

David Kuperschmid, The Star’s new fishing columnist, can be reached by email at [email protected].

Lazy Point, an Amagansett boutique that blends curated goods and artwork from locales near and far, is on the move. The store has decamped from Balasses House, and will reopen across the street tomorrow in the former LaCarrubba’s. That space was recently divided, with Ille Arts taking occupancy of half of it last month after its own move across Main Street. 

The shop will be open year round, said Mark Wilson, who owns and operates it with his partner, Claudja Bicalho, save for their journeys around the world in search of merchandise. They sell an eclectic collection of items including furniture, art, clothing, and jewelry.

This season’s theme at Lazy Point is Danger Island, said Mr. Wilson, who is from Australia. “It has to do with some kind of fantasy mythical place,” he said. “There’s a great tradition of that. Also about islands: All oceans are rising, and we live on Long Island. This Danger Island thing is part of that, but also the idea of exotic species and rarities. We’re going to have a lot of things from the South Pacific, specifically Papua New Guinea.”

Also to be featured are a series of volcano paintings, 18th-century prints, black-and-white photography, and clothing, “ethnographic in nature but very fashion-forward,” Mr. Wilson said. Last week Ms. Bicalho, who is from northeast Brazil, previewed handmade lace created exclusively in that region using a 17th-century technique. “It’s so nice to meet all the artisans who devote their lives to this,” she said, displaying video of the creative process, shot during a recent expedition, on her smartphone. 

From closer to home, furniture made from the Baker elm, a 283-year-old tree that adorned Main Street in East Hampton until it fell victim to Dutch elm disease and was cut down in 2001, will also be featured. “It was milled, and then sat in a woodshop. I bought it,” Mr. Wilson said. Bowls made by a North Fork artist were also on display in advance of tomorrow’s opening.

The partners are planning exhibitions, “not formal programs, but working with galleries in the city,” Mr. Wilson said. “We will bring in work associated with the Danger Island theme.” Also in the works is an event to showcase a collection of “serpentology” drawings made by a now-deceased artist from India. “I bought the last of his work,” he said. 

“It’s a combination of things we love that are handmade,” Mr. Wilson summed up. Lazy Point, he said, is “a concept of curation and artwork, how you can reach around the world.” But, he allowed, “it’s still the American way to make a product.” 

As the Army Corps of Engineers finishes its $8.4 million project on the downtown Montauk beach — a 3,100-foot-long line of buried sandbags designed to stop a storm surge — public discussion is turning to the next endeavor the Army Corps has proposed for Montauk, an effort to build up and protect the beach west of the Lake Montauk inlet facing Block Island Sound, which would include dredging the inlet to aid navigation.

Possibilities, according to a corps presentation to town officials and the public last month, could include the installation of several groins made of the same sand-filled plastic fabric bags that are buried at the downtown beach.

The corps has asked the town to indicate its interest in one of the several options it outlined, with various scenarios regarding the volume of sand to be added to the beach, its origin, future upkeep, and, in some, the potential construction of the groins to trap and hold the sand.

But while the town board accepted the Army Corps’s design for the downtown beach despite a ban on oceanfront shore-hardening structures (such as the sandbags) in the local waterfront protection plan, a state-approved document outlining coastal policy, officials appear to have concluded that new groins along the shore at Soundview Avenue near the inlet are unacceptable.

“A number of these alternatives don’t meet the regulatory requirements with regard to the L.W.R.P. Groins, in my opinion, don’t qualify,” Town Councilman Peter Van Scoyoc said at a board meeting on Tuesday.

Several speakers at the meeting also endorsed rejecting groins. “We should be careful in jumping into this,” said Bill Horner of the Culloden Shores Association, a group representing residents of the shoreline area.

“I hope the board will give serious consideration to alternatives to the groin field that’s been proposed. I hope that you will take a very cautious approach,” said Jay Levine of the Surfrider Foundation.

Kevin McAllister of Defend H2O, a coastal scientist, advised against “placing groins without certainty as to their effectiveness.” Groins, he said, would affect the beaches at the Culloden area, downdrift from where they would be installed. Details, such as the quality of the sand to be placed on the beach, and how wide the bolstering will make the beach, should be carefully assessed, Mr. McAllister said.

Jeremy Samuelson, the executive director of Concerned Citizens of Montauk, urged the board to have the Army Corps explore sand-only options. Along with the other speakers, he said a sand-bypass system, through which sand that naturally moves from east to west would be directed away from the inlet and onto the eroding beach, should be explored.

Brian Frank, an East Hampton Town planner, outlined the plans that the Army Corps had presented to the town. Board members agreed to continue discussion with the Army Corps about only the options that do not call for groins.

“I certainly don’t want to violate our L.W.R.P.,” Councilwoman Syvia Overby said.

State and local officials had concluded that the downtown sandbag installation was allowed under an exemption from L.W.R.P. regulations for emergencies; that provision calls for their removal after a specified time period.

The downtown Montauk buried sandbag wall, surrounded by fencing and crossed over by elevated wooden walkways at four locations, with one vehicle access onto the beach to be paved with concrete and another covered with railroad gravel, was vehemently opposed by people who protested on the beach and subjected themselves to arrest in the fall and by a coalition that sued unsuccessfully to stop the project, of which Mr. McAllister was a part.

As rain poured down last week, concern and criticism also surged. In the rain, combined with a high tide and full moon, the surf lapped at the edge of the fenced-in, sandbagged area, and water being channeled into a pipe through the sandbag barrier onto the beach at Lowenstein Court to enable road runoff to drain from the Montauk streets backed up and ponded behind the sandbag wall, which kept it from dissipating naturally.

Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell said this week that he inspected the area on Friday with Steve Lynch, the town highway superintendent, engineers for the town and the Army Corps, and the contractors.

Although not specified in the project plans, Mr. Cantwell said the contractors had installed an additional length of pipe to direct the water flow away from the base of a wooden walkway to the beach they were constructing. They also placed a cap on the end of the pipe that restricted its output, he said, because the water flow was creating a gully on the beach.

“The system backed up,” creating the buildup behind the sandbag wall, said the supervisor. “That’s been rectified.” The extension was removed, he said.

During the steady rain on Tuesday, road runoff was flowing freely through the pipe ending just at the foot of the stairs to the beach, carving a channel into the sand.

The supervisor and his assistant, Alex Walter, who has been overseeing the Montauk beach project, said that runoff has always been funneled through a pipe onto the beach; what was added, they said, was a 40-foot extension so that the pipe — and the water draining off the streets — could get past the sandbag wall. “Our engineers tried to design something to allow this,” Mr. Walter said.

Finding a solution to the area’s drainage and flooding problems was a prerequisite to the start of the Army Corps project, and the town had hired consultants to examine the issue. Rainwater draining off hundreds of acres flows into the downtown area, they said, and a long-term, comprehensive solution would be costly.

“The bigger issue is there’s a huge volume of water,” Mr. Cantwell said Monday. “The larger drainage issue is massive, complex, involving a lot of private and public properties.” Town staff is examining it, he said, “to piece together where existing drainage is and how much it handles,” as well as potential solutions such as the installation of additional drainage structures, water recharge areas, or swales.

The large wooden walkways over the buried sandbag wall, elevated above the surface of the reinforced dune, comprise stairs leading to a platform, and then additional stairs down to the beach.

A handicapped access under discussion, which would be installed by the town, would provide “a gentle ramp” in place of the stairs leading to the platform at one of the walkway locations.  A ramp down onto the beach would be impossible, however, Mr. Cantwell said, as the angled slope would require more length than the width of the beach. “That would be in the ocean all the time,” he said.  The vehicle access at South Edison Street is flat and at ground level, and could provide handicapped access, Mr. Cantwell pointed out.

“We wanted no walkways at all, and we certainly didn’t want the walkways they designed,” Mr. Cantwell said. “The D.E.C. and the Corps insisted that they be there to protect the dune.”

The state, Mr. Walter said, had at first wanted to see wooden walkways built at each of the private beach access points promised to oceanfront property owners. “Where there’s four now, they really wanted about 13,” Mr. Walter said, but town officials talked them into allowing four-foot-wide sand paths over the dune instead.

Concrete paving material for the roadway onto the beach at South Edison Street is expected to arrive and be installed within days.

When the final tasks are done, Mr. Cantwell said, there will be an inspection by town, D.E.C., and Army Corps officials, along with the contractors.

Upon completion, the town and county are to take on the financial and maintenance responsibility of a three-foot topping of sand on the length of sandbags.