Amid continued opposition from parents and community members to the installation of an artificial turf field at Pierson Middle and High School, the Sag Harbor School Board on Monday rejected two bids it had received from companies trying to obtain a contract to do the work.

Katy Graves, the district superintendent, explained during Monday's school board meeting that the bids were being rejected not because of community opposition but because the bids came in over the monetary threshold that had been approved for the project by community vote in November 2013. Landtek Group bid $1,935,000, and Laser Industries bid $2,243,000. The original project was approved at $1,620,000.

"You don't get to negotiate. We can only take bids in," Ms. Graves said. "That does leave the bond still open for our board of education to explore moving forward with it."

The board's vote to reject the bids was unanimous. Beforehand, several parents and community members voiced their continued opposition to the synthetic turf field, which has drawn criticism because of the materials that would be used.

Diane Hewitt, one of the parents coordinating a petition to halt the turf field installation, presented more than 630 signatures in the online petition and a paper petition as well. "Now you have the ability to right this wrong," Ms. Hewitt said. "I am humbled by how many people signed on about this issue. . . . We know you will do the right thing. The health of all our children, friends, neighbors, and community is very at much at stake."

Kevin McAllister, a member of Defend H20, a water quality advocacy group, said a synthetic turf had the potential to negatively effect water quality in the immediate area around the school, particularly when it comes to stormwater runoff.

When pressed for an explanation of the district's next steps on the turf field, Ms. Graves said the school board "will have open discussions" and that the decision is ultimately in the board members' hands.

"They need that time" to evaluate the information, she said. "They only can have conversations at meetings."

Following the recent finding of a rabid raccoon in Nassau County, Suffolk health officials have advised the public to be on the lookout for sickly raccoons.

The Nassau Health Department announced Thursday that an animal collected in Hicksville by a wildlife trapper and submitted to the state for analysis, tested positive for rabies, the first confirmed case of the disease on Long Island since 2007.

On Friday evening, Suffolk Health Commissioner Dr. James Tomarken ordered an increase in the countywide rabies-watch program, particularly along the county border in Babylon and Huntington. Residents of those towns have been asked to report "abnormally acting raccoons" and dead raccoons. Dead raccoons should be discarded in the garbage, but health officials warned that people and pets should have no direct contact with dead or dying animals. The county recommends using a shovel, wearing rubber gloves, and double-bagging the carcass.

The rabies virus, usually transmitted through a bite from a rabid animal, infects the central nervous system. The virus can also be transmitted from the saliva of a rabid animal through open cuts or skin lesions.

Suffolk County residents have been asked to report raccoons that come into contact with people or pets to the county Department of Health Services. The county has also asked that no one, including trappers and nuisance wildlife rehabilitators, transport or relocate any wild animals, to help prevent the possible spread of the rabies virus.

The virus, usually transmitted through a bite from a rabid animal, infects the central nervous system. The virus can also be transmitted from the saliva of a rabid animal through open cuts or skin lesions.

Dell Cullum, an East Hampton wildlife trapper, said on the East End are already experiencing a thinning of the population due to a widespread outbreak of distemper over the past couple of years. Raccoons can contract feline or canine distemper, though distemper is not transferable to humans.

“There is no cure, and the raccoons die after a short period of time. However, prior to death they will have seizures that resemble what people think are signs of rabies,” like chattering teeth, Mr. Cullum said. He called the latest news unfortunate for the animals. “It's a shame, as these critters get a bad enough rap.”

Animals most associated with the rabies virus are skunks, raccoons, foxes, coyotes, and bats. Mr. Cullum said, though, that feral cat populations were more likely to be infected by rabies. “I’d worry more about them than a raccoon,” he said.

Excessive drooling, aggression, fearfulness, and other uncommon behavior are signs of rabies. On the East End, however, uncommon behavior can be difficult to pinpoint, because, Mr. Cullum said, raccoons here are no longer strictly nocturnal. “Due to the abundance of trash and its accessibility day and night, the raccoon finds it safe to forage day or night," he said, noting that he gets many calls about raccoons seen during daylight hours.

The best way to tell if a raccoon is sick with distemper or rabies is disorientation, he said. “Most commonly, the sick animal will walk in circles, stumble, or show difficulty using their back legs . . . this looks terrifying; however, at this point they are usually very close to death.” Mr. Cullum recommended videotaping a suspicious raccoon and sending the tape to the health department.

Mr. Cullum’s phone at 631-377-6555. His email address is [email protected].

To report a sighting, Suffolk residents can call the health department at 631-852-5900, Monday through Friday, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. The after-hours number is 631-852-4820.

The county also offered the following recommendations:

• Keep dogs, cats and ferrets on a leash and keep livestock confined in the evening. State and county laws require that all dogs, cats, and ferrets be vaccinated against rabies, not only to protect the animal but to prevent the virus from spreading.

• Do not have contact with any animal other than your own.

• Do not feed wildlife or stray animals, and discourage them from seeking food near your home.

• Do not approach an unknown animal, either wild or domestic, especially if it is acting in an unusual way.

• Keep garbage cans tightly covered and avoid storing any food outside.

• Children should be advised to tell an adult immediately if they have been bitten or scratched by any animal.

The Nassau Health Department also recommended notifying officials if a bat is found in a room where people were sleeping, or if a adult finds a bat in a room where a child was alone.

More information is available through the New York State Department of Health's website and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The breakup of the Sloppy Tuna ownership group has continued a sloppy downward spiral that began when the partners in the limited liability company, 148 South Emerson Associates, launched countersuits against each other early last year.

On one side of the lawsuits filed in New York State Supreme Court is Michael J. Meyer; on the other is Drew Doscher.

On Tuesday night Mr. Doscher, announced on the Sloppy Tuna Facebook page that the oceanfront bar and nightclub "as you and we know it will unfortunately not be opening at the same location in Montauk this summer -- due to some sudden and unforeseen chaos and back room (sic.) politics." He promised that the Sloppy Tuna would "definitely be popping up somewhere soon." By yesterday, nearly 1,000 people had shared the news or weighed in with comments, many lamenting the loss of what they described as one of Long Island's last great beach clubs, but some saying they would be glad to see it go.

According to court documents, Mr. Meyer and Mr. Doscher formed 148 South Emerson Associates in 2011 with two other partners, who Mr. Meyer and Mr. Doscher bought out in 2012. Mr. Meyer's suit, filed in January of 2015 in the courtroom of New York State Supreme Court Justice Jerry Garguilo, claims that in the summer of 2013, Mr. Doscher began excluding his partner from "almost all decisions and matters" related to the popular though controversial beachfront bar. This included, in 2013, Mr. Doscher's firing of the accountant who had worked for the partners since the business's inception. In addition, Mr. Meyer's complaint accused Mr. Doscher of excluding him from the proceeds of the trademarks that Mr. Doscher allegedly created.

According to Mr. Doscher's complaint, also filed in Justice Garguilo's courtroom, Mr. Doscher negotiated the purchase of the bar, then called Nick's, before the 2011 season.

From the beginning, Mr. Doscher's complaint states, the Town of East Hampton's code enforcement officers frequently cited the bar for various violations of town code.

These violations, along with frequent arrests in and around the establishment on various charges ranging from assault to drug possession, apparently spurred two of the partners, Michael Meagher and Stephen Smith, to ask to be bought out. Mr. Doscher's complaint cites the bad publicity the bar received, despite its popularity, as being key in the partners' withdrawal from the operation.

The bar continued to be cited for violations through the 2015 season. Twelve open noise complaint summonses, issued to a manager, Robert Anderson, last year, remain open. On Monday, East Hampton Town Justice Steven Tekulsky issued a bench warrant for Mr. Anderson, citing the fact that he has missed several scheduled appearances in court to deal with the open code violations.

On March 16, Justice Garguilo issued a temporary restraining order, which, if enacted, would place the nightclub under the control of a temporary receiver, Charles C. Russo, an attorney. Both sides have until April 6 to show cause as to why Justice Garguilo's order should not be acted upon.

In his Facebook post announcing the development, Mr. Doscher wrote that "the Riverhead Supreme Court exercised the most extreme, extraordinary, and drastic relief possible against a very successful business that provides hundreds of jobs. That ruling concerns all business owners in the state of New York." He claimed "just happened to be the judge's ex law partner and good buddy" and the judge had "granted him over $800,000.00 in fees -- without any evidence of fraud or other such wrongdoing, other than the false claim that documents were not handed over in time, which was complete horseshit."

Mr. Doscher credited himself for having taken "a small shack with a stripper pole on the beach in Montauk and made it into a great bar and day/nightclub. It became a household brand name. Despite the various opinions of how Montauk has changed and the placing of blame on the bars, this one business went from nothing to an infamous powerhouse with over 100 employees and worldwide fame." He also spoke of his charitable donations in the community, including being the largest single donor to the Montauk Chamber of Commerce's annual Fourth of July fireworks display.

Besides issuing a bench warrant on Monday for Mr. Anderson, Justice Tekulsky sentenced four people who had pleaded guilty in a case involving another controversial Montauk hot spot, Ruschmeyer's on Second House Road.

The four had been accused of misdemeanors for illegally placing debris on the beach at Navy Road after a late-night staff party at the end of last summer.

Tyler Aposhian, Fiona Bourke, Johnathan Crowley, and Dylen Power were called in alphabetical order, with each pleading guilty to a reduced charge of unlawful assembly, a simple violation, meaning they will not have a criminal conviction attached to their names.

They were fined $1,500 each.

Work will be complete on the Army Corps of Engineers downtown Montauk beach project within days, but it remains to be seen what the changes on the beach will mean for the summer season, when throngs of locals and visitors head to the downtown shore for a day of sun, surf, and sand.

The $8.4 million federal project, undertaken in the fall in the face of public opposition, including protests and arrests on the beach, entailed the installation of a 3,100-foot-long line of sand-filled geotextile bags and tubes along the beach from the South Emery Street area to an eastern terminus near the Atlantic Terrace motel.

Creating a slope 15 feet above sea level at the water’s edge, and buried under three feet of sand, the sandbags are designed to prevent a storm surge into the business district and damage to the shorefront buildings, primarily motels. 

However, opponents have pointed to the accelerated erosion and scouring effects known to occur as waves hit such structures. East Hampton Town officials have called the project a needed, though not optimal, temporary fix, hoping the Army Corps will move on a preferred plan to add sand to the beach. The Corps was due to release its longer-term proposals, for the shoreline from Fire Island to Montauk Point — the result of a study a half-century in the making — in February; what the agency will offer for Montauk is unknown.

  Soon, contractors who have been working in Montauk throughout the winter will finish the last of the tasks on their final punchlist, Alex Walter, Supervisor Larry Cantwell’s executive assistant, said this week. Fencing will be installed, completely enclosing the area of buried sandbags so that no one can walk or sit there.  

That area, which, to the eye, rises up only slightly from shoreline ground level, is already clearly delineated: plugs of beach grass have been planted there, and the sand — several inches placed on top of the piled bags — is the same white color as the natural Montauk beach. The rest of the beach, which at present is only a narrow stretch due to winter erosion, is orange-colored, topped with the sandy dirt that contractors added in order to extend their working space when waves overwashed the work zone. 

That sand, from an inland quarry, was also used to fill the geotextile bags. Under an agreement with the town, Montauk’s white beach sand was stockpiled to use for sandbag cover, to preserve the natural look of the beach. The spread, by the contractors, of the orangey quarried sand across the rest of the beach was not anticipated, or, apparently, discussed. 

In comments and conversations on Facebook and other social media, people watching the transformation of the downtown beach have commented on its new appearance and dubbed it Dirtbag Beach. 

Work on four raised wooden pedestrian crossings, walkways for people to get over the fenced-off sandbag area and down onto the shoreline sand, will beinished this week, Mr. Walter said, as will the fencing installation. Private four-foot-wide walkways promised to oceanfront property owners in exchange for easements enabling construction of the buried sandbag wall are already complete. Two vehicle crossings over the sandbags are also part of the plan.

The large stones, gravel similar to that used along railway beds, that have been installed at South Essex Street have also provoked numerous questions and comments from the community.

A second vehicle-crossing sector will be at South Edison Street, which will also serve as an outlet for stormwater runoff from downtown, to drain onto the beach and into the ocean. Metal-reinforced concrete paver panels to be installed there have not yet been delivered, Mr. Walter said. A stronger material than the railway gravel is needed at that spot, he said, to hold strong when the low-lying beach outlet becomes a drainage zone.

Because, during storms, the opening could also be a sluice for the ocean to breach and flood the downtown streets, the Army Corps has provided the town with a stockpile of 460 cubic yards of the upland quarried sand, delivered last week to the Montauk landfill site. If the ocean threatens, it can be used to plug the opening. 

How and when the outlet will be left open for rainwater to run off the streets and onto the beach, or closed to prevent the ocean from flooding the downtown, has not been publicly discussed.

Another subject of public concern has been the installation of a pipe funneling water from the streets onto the beach in the eastern part of the project near Lowenstein Court. The pipe, which runs through the sandbag wall, is a “critical component” of the project, Mr. Walter said. The sandbag barrier could not be installed until questions about flooding, a common occurrence in downtown Montauk during heavy rain, were addressed. Because the sandbags would halt the normal water flow from the streets to the beach, flooding would worsen. The town hired consultants to examine the problem and recommend solutions, and the new system was designed by the town engineer and approved by the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation.

The appearance of the pipe channeling the flow has called attention to the disposition of runoff onto the beach, and members of the public have expressed fears about pollution.

Overall, though, Mr. Walter said on Tuesday, despite the initial protests over the project — especially the destruction of a dune, which the contractors have since made efforts to restore, at the town’s request — lately “it has been extremely quiet from the property owners who were affected, and from the public at large.”

While erosion accelerates in the downtown beach area during winter months, accretion of sand on the beach along that shore normally begins to occur in mid or late spring.

As for how much beach the downtown will have for tourists and locals to use this summer, “We’re going to have to see,” Mr. Walter said.

Officials have already met with John Rooney, the town’s parks and recreation director, to discuss plans for moving lifeguard stands to other stretches of shore if need be. “We want to be able to act quickly,” Mr. Walter said. 

Parking, already at capacity at other public bathing beaches, and proximity to a restroom, a County Health Department requirement for lifeguarded public beaches, could become key issues should there be a need to accommodate beachgoers displaced from Montauk’s downtown.

Changes are afoot in Amagansett’s commercial district. At Amagansett Square, Crossroads Music, which closed at the end of 2015 to the dismay of South Fork musicians, was not the only store to vacate its premises in recent months. The G.H. Bass & Co. shoe outlet, at the south end of the property, closed around the same time, as did Miankoma, a boutique adjacent to the Bass store. And Sylvester & Co. at Home, an outpost of the business its owner describes as a modern general store with locations in Sag Harbor and Savannah, Ga., will vacate its Main Street location today. 

Across Main Street, Ille Arts has moved into one half of the former LaCarrubba’s clothing store, with the Lazy Point boutique set to occupy the other half of the newly divided space around April 15. 

But landlords abhor a vacancy like nature abhors a vacuum, and some of the recently vacated structures on the square will not be empty for long. Tomorrow, Mandala Yoga Center for Healing Arts, which offers classes and training in teaching and aromatherapy and is at present located near the southeast corner of the square, will move to the former Bass outlet, which offers considerably more space. And Cavaniola’s Gourmet, a cheese shop, wine cellar, and specialty-foods kitchen in Sag Harbor, will expand to the former Miankoma, a move expected by mid-May. 

For Jolie Parcher, who founded Mandala Yoga Center 15 years ago, the larger space offered by the former Bass outlet will allow an expanded range of classes and retail space, which in turn allowed the name change to Mandala Yoga Center for Healing Arts. “I wanted to be able to offer certification programs in yoga, Ayurvedic lifestyle, kids’ yoga, and have a kids’ class while I have parents in class,” Ms. Parcher said last week. “I’m an Ayurvedic practitioner, and there are a lot of goodies that go with that for daily self-care. I am an aromatherapist, and want to offer training but have always been squishing them into bad hours.” 

In the larger space, she said, she will be able to stock asked-for items such as shawls and meditation cushions. “The idea was to spread our wings a bit,” she said. “The square is hopping, and rents were starting to go up. They’re a very fair and good landlord, but I didn’t feel I could make rent if I wasn’t able to add programs, and at good times.” 

A representative of Brooklyn NY Holdings, which represents Randy Lerner, the entrepreneur who owns the square and other properties in Amagansett, did not reply to an email seeking comment. 

“I’ve always wanted to be in that square,” said Michael Cavaniola, who opened his cheese shop in 2004, the wine cellar in 2006, and the kitchen in 2008. He made regular inquiries, he said, eventually learning that the space housing Miankoma would become available. 

Mr. Cavaniola plans to keep the shop at Amagansett Square open year round. The focus will remain on cheese, he said, along with best-selling products from the kitchen and beer from New York State microbreweries. “With that,” he said, “we’ll be offering different events to pair cheeses with beers.”

Coincidentally, Michael Clark, who owned Crossroads Music, is now employed at Cavaniola’s in Sag Harbor. “It’s almost like it was meant to be,” Mr. Cavaniola said. 

Mr. Clark, who formerly worked at a supermarket, said on Tuesday that Cavaniola’s cheese is “on a whole different level.” 

Lynda Sylvester expressed a degree of disappointment over leaving the square but emphasized a positive outlook. She is exploring opening more stores, including in New York City. Her Sag Harbor location, which has existed for 26 years, has been renovated, she said last week. “It will be more focused on the home, and will hopefully deliver a lot of new pieces of furniture and art,” she said. “I’m reinventing my perception of what I feel the American general store is. . . . I’m focusing on the talent part of the company, the proprietary part, developing a lot more products, and stepping out of the fray, so to speak. I’m making a lot of unique things, trying to be inspired, supporting other artisans, and getting out of the level of commerce where people have to respond to Internet competition and the other things that go on in retail.” 

“I’m taking a couple of months to regroup, but I’m certainly not done,” Ms. Sylvester said. “I’m possibly more inspired, and I have best staff I’ve ever had.” 

No word yet on who will lease the space she is vacating in Amagansett. The former Crossroads Music space also remains without a tenant as of this week.

Feedback from roughly 500 Sag Harbor residents favored purchasing the former Stella Maris Regional School and transforming it into a center for early childhood education, according to survey results released last week by the Sag Harbor School District.

However, the mostly online survey, which was open for about 16 days earlier this month, found the second-most popular response was not buying the property at all. Its current owner is the Diocese of Rockville Centre, and it has a price tag of $3.3 million. St. Andrew’s Catholic Church operated a school there until it closed in 2011, facing declining enrollment and financial difficulties.

The school board has also voted to put up a bond referendum in the amount of $11,956,763, which represents the most expensive option of the six presented in the initial survey: a center for science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics, which turned out to be the third-most popular choice in the survey. The total includes the .79-acre property’s purchase price, although the board’s resolution notes that the bond referendum is not to exceed that amount, meaning it can change. The referendum figure also includes about $6.34 million in capital improvements needed to bring the school up to state building codes. Residents will have a chance to vote on it on May 17 at the same time they are voting on the school budget and school board candidates.

The option favored in the survey was a $10.23 million proposal to move the district’s existing half-day prekindergarten classes, some administrative offices, and what’s known as early intervention services to the former Stella Maris school. This would also free up space at Pierson Middle and High School to create what administrators have dubbed an authentic middle school wing.

“Our thought was to then bring in — which we already have tremendous interest in — a full-day day care provider” at Stella Maris, Katy Graves, Sag Harbor’s superintendent, said during a public meeting about the survey results on March 23. That day care provider would be available to parents who would like to pay for before or after-care services to supplement their children’s half-day prekindergarten program. “We would not pay for that day care provider. That day care provider would lease the space from us. That’s revenue coming in to the Sag Harbor School District,” Ms. Graves said.

Moving the prekindergarten classes out of Pierson Middle and High School would enable the district to create a dedicated middle school wing, with several classroom spaces and offices for the middle school assistant principal and guidance counselor. The existing playground would be transformed into an outdoor learning space for science, technology, and art.

The plan would also allow the district to make space at Stella Maris to provide early intervention services, such as speech and occupational therapies, for the youngest special education students. “We would like to get the children early because we know intervention services are so important to children with special needs. . . . That’s also fiscally a smart move for our district, because if we catch them early, those problems don’t blossom,” Ms. Graves said.

Jennifer Buscemi, the district’s business administrator, said the annual operating costs for this option at Stella Maris would be about $177,114, mostly for a school nurse, a security guard, a custodian, utilities, and insurance. That figure represents about .5 percent of the district’s current tax levy.

On its website, the district released every anonymous survey response. Of the survey’s respondents, 24.5 percent said they were parents of elementary school children and about 22.5 percent said they were a retiree age 65 or older. About 19.9 percent said they were residents without school-age children who were under the age of 65. Many of the survey responses included comments, which ran the gamut from “bravo” for the hard work and innovation of the school board and Ms. Graves, to “not needed.”

“With so many updates and repair work needed at the two buildings we currently own, it is troublesome to think we are discussing purchasing another building in need of repair work. At $10,000,000-plus, this is not a good use of the community’s money,” one comment read.

Another read: “So much good can be done with the purchase of Stella Maris.”

One commenter said the property could better serve the community as a medical facility or affordable housing, and another said, “Please don’t do this as older residents are being taxed out of their homes after working hard all their lives.”

Still another said: “Leaving Stella Maris to be purchased and used for anything other than our kids would be a mistake. Our youth programs are lacking in comparison to other towns. . . . The recent drug use rise in our young community and surrounding areas is frightening, and all the more reason to invest in our children’s future.”

A settlement between the Southampton Town employees’ union and Supervisor Jay Schneiderman has not only split the town board but also has the town highway superintendent calling for reconsideration. The superintendent, Alex Gregor, will need to sign off on the agreement before it is finalized.

On March 22, despite objections from the board’s two Republicans, Mr. Schneiderman, an independent, got the approval he asked for by a 3 to 2 vote. But Mr. Gregor, who is serving his second four-year term and ran on the Democratic and Independence party lines, must sign the agreement because he is considered a co-employer, and he has made it clear he doesn’t support it.

The settlement stems from a complaint filed with the Public Employees Relations Board late last year over the current contract’s exclusion of certain employee titles, mainly supervisory or clerical, from the Civil Service Employees Association’s bargaining unit.

While the settlement does add 34 administrative titles to the contract, it goes much further. It approves raises for six titles, accelerated pay raises, and more overtime in emergencies such as snowstorms, and offers more training for workers. It would also reduce employee contributions to family health insurance plans, in some cases from 20 to 10 percent, but not at all for some on individual plans.

Councilwoman Christine Scalera called it a one-sided deal that could cost the town a half-million dollars in the first year alone. She estimated the financial impact on the town at $500,000 in 2016, with more in years to come.

Mr. Schneiderman, however, called it a fair package, one that is “well within the town’s financial abilities and corrects a lot of longstanding inequities.” He said Southampton had asked a lot from its employees during the recession, and now the town was on good financial footing. John Bouvier and Julie Lofstad, his running mates, supported the supervisor, giving him the votes he needed to pass the resolutions.

In a memo to the town board before the meeting last week, Mr. Gregor called for a more transparent negotiation process and said over 200 members of the union had been left out of the discussions. Councilman Stan Glinka and Councilwoman Scalera shared that sentiment. Ms. Scalera said she had received several phone calls from members of the union telling her they had been left in the dark and felt labor relations had been undermined.

“You were cut out of the process. You were not part of the negotiations,” she said in a statement to the membership before the vote. Several dozen town employees had gathered, some wearing blue C.S.E.A. shirts. “Are you okay that six titles were put on a special salary schedule, including that of the union president?” she asked, referring to Laura Smith.

Mr. Glinka, who has worked in banking for 22 years, said he calculated Ms. Smith would receive a 23-percent salary raise over the next five years, an increase he had never seen before. “It doesn’t sit well with me, supervisor,” he said.

Ms. Smith, who disputed the claim about the amount of her increase, said she had gone over the settlement with the general membership at a Feb. 29 meeting when the final draft was available. Changes were still being made to the resolutions at the March 22 meeting, with several seemingly unanswered questions.

Ms. Scalera said she supported the union members and even supported re-opening the negotiations but said, “I cannot support this one-sided deal.” She said it was “wrong, and taxpayers’ interests — which many of you are — are not being fairly represented.”

Mr. Gregor, in his memo, said he thought the town would have been successful in the relations board action. There should have been formal re-negotiations if the town and the C.S.E.A. wanted to address the other issues, he wrote. “As I see it, the petition is being used as a back door to re-opening and negotiating a good, valid, negotiated contract,” he said, adding, though, that he agrees with some of the items being addressed, such as contribution to health insurance for lower-paid employees and giving value to sick days as an incentive for people to report to work.

“Settle the case, figure out how certain titles fit into the contract, and start afresh with open negotiations for a new contract. I’d like to help. I’ve been here longer than all of you,” he said in his letter.

Yesterday he maintained that he had been “spoon-fed” information and given “the mushroom treatment” — meaning kept in the dark — during Mr. Schneiderman’s discussions with the C.S.E.A. president.

The supervisor said he had hoped for a unanimous vote, but understood the differences of opinion in the way the process was handled. “All five of us care deeply about the workforce of this town,” he said. Ms. Scalera and Mr. Glinka said they appreciated his saying so.

Meanwhile, the settlement has not yet been inked. Mr. Gregor said yesterday he still had not seen it, and Mr. Schneiderman has not signed it either. “They might have had a dose of reality. Is it Christmas in March?” Mr. Gregor said. Later, though, he clarified the remark. He does not believe the supervisor has had a change of heart, he said, but is just holding off.

Harvesting offshore wind energy would go a long way toward meeting the South Fork’s growing demand for electricity while reducing or eliminating the need for fossil-fuel-burning power plants, residents were told at a forum on wind energy on Saturday.

At the same time, climate scientists warn that a steep reduction in fossil-fuel emissions is increasingly urgent, with two federal agencies announcing this month that global temperatures in February were the most abnormally warm on record. According to NASA, six of the last nine months have tied or set new temperature records for that month, responsible for 2015 being the planet’s warmest year on record. “The issues of global warming and sea level rise,” East Hampton Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell said on Saturday, “are clearly at our feet.”

Clint Plummer of Deepwater Wind, a Rhode Island company that is building the country’s first offshore wind farm and has submitted a proposal to the Long Island Power Authority for a larger installation to serve the South Fork, told the gathering at the East Hampton Middle School that tapping the area off the northeastern United States represents “an exciting opportunity for the South Fork and the town to be a global leader in demonstrating not just offshore wind but a completely new way of thinking about how to supply energy.”

The proposed installation, approximately 30 miles off Montauk, would offset the need for new fossil-fuel plants that run during peak demand, Mr. Plummer said. It would be built within a 256-square-mile site to which the federal government awarded Deepwater Wind a 30-year lease in 2013. LIPA will announce a decision on the proposal in May.

Along with Mr. Cantwell, Mr. Plummer was joined Saturday by Gordian Raacke, executive director of Renewable Energy Long Island, which hosted the event; John Sousa-Botos of the town’s Natural Resources Department; Councilwoman Sylvia Overby, and Linda James, a member of the town’s Energy Sustainability Advisory Committee, all of whom encouraged those in attendance to support wind and other forms of renewable energy.

Deepwater Wind’s proposal for the South Fork comprises 15 six-megawatt wind turbines and battery energy storage facilities in Montauk and Wainscott. “The need here was big and growing, ut required balancing the system out,” Mr. Plummer said, with the integrated battery storage systems able to “ramp up and down” in response to higher-than-usual demand or low levels of wind.

All transmission lines would be underground except for a connecting point at the Buell Lane substation in East Hampton, he said, and the battery storage facilities would be in industrially zoned lands not abutting residential properties. Though it is early in the process — should LIPA agree to purchase electricity from Deepwater Wind, an operational wind farm is still several years into the future — the company is working with the town to define the scope of construction, Mr. Plummer said.

The company is now constructing the country’s first offshore wind farm, a five-turbine installation that is expected to supply more than 90 percent of Block Island’s electricity needs. The initial phase of that construction, from July to November, was successful, Mr. Plummer said. A Norwegian vessel, the largest in the world, is due in July to install the turbines, he said.

Mr. Plummer said his company had listened to members of the community, including stakeholders such as the commercial fishing industry, and devised construction methodologies to minimize disturbance to fisheries and species such as the endangered North Atlantic right whale.

The South Fork’s fishing industry, Mr. Cantwell said, “is concerned about navigation and fishery resources” and encouraged Deepwater to continue to work toward minimizing impact. In Europe, Mr. Raacke said, large-scale offshore wind farms have operated for more than two decades without significant environmental impacts.

Several of those in attendance traveled to Uniondale on Monday and were among approximately 100 people from groups including the Sierra Club and Working Families Organization Long Island to rally at LIPA’s headquarters, urge its board of trustees to select Deepwater Wind’s proposal, and call on Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to make a large-scale commitment to offshore wind. At the board meeting, Mr. Raacke read into the record a statement from Mr. Cantwell in which the supervisor said, in part, that “it is clear that we will need to utilize our offshore wind resources to generate a large part of our electricity needs.” Hundreds of letters from South Fork residents were also delivered, along with a petition circulated by East Hampton High School’s Environmental Awareness Club and middle school students and bearing more than 400 signatures urging LIPA’s board to select only clean and renewable energy sources.

“We’re at a decision point on the South Fork with regard to our energy needs,” Mr. Cantwell said on Saturday. He cited the deeply unpopular installation of a high-voltage transmission line between the East Hampton and Amagansett substations by PSEG Long Island, which manages the Island’s electrical grid on behalf of LIPA, as an example of a traditional means of meeting demand.

The impact of climate change on the town will likely be severe, the supervisor said, listing early manifestations including “an alarming rate” of sea level rise, more extensive flooding in moderate storms, and receding beaches, while potential future impacts include the loss of waterfront development, a vulnerable infrastructure, and changes in the migratory patterns of fish. “What impact will this have on Montauk, the largest commercial fishing port in the state?” he asked. These impacts, he said, “are only scratching the surface of the consequences” of unchecked climate change.

An offshore wind farm serving the South Fork, he said, would help the town achieve the goals adopted in 2014 of meeting 100 percent of communitywide electricity consumption with renewable sources by 2020 and the equivalent of 100 percent of economywide energy consumption, including heating and transportation, by 2030.

“You recall the slogan — think globally, act locally,” Mr. Cantwell said. “I think we’re at that point where we have to consider how we want to act as a community.” Electricity rates on Long Island are alarmingly high, he said, and new sources and delivery of power must be cost effective. “That’s where I think we have to take a really close look at wind and solar.” The town’s renewable-energy goals are “very ambitious,” he said, “but sometimes it’s okay to overreach.”

Referring to then-Governor David Paterson’s executive order that the state adopt a goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, Mr. Raacke said that “we need to continue much beyond that. . . . We need to grow utility-scale solar and other renewable sources.”

“We cannot solve this problem,” he said, “without tapping and harvesting our offshore wind resource on Long Island.”

A single-stall, handicapped-accessible restroom at East Hampton High School, outside the cafeteria and near a pair of boys and girls bathrooms, has been designated as “gender neutral” thanks to the efforts of two students.

Nicole Lockwood and Gianna Gregorio, who are members of the school’s Gay Straight Alliance, were part of a campaign begun in the 2014-15 school year to convince administrators that one was needed. The restroom chosen had been for faculty members.

“We’re all really excited,” Gianna, a sophomore who is president of the alliance, said. “It shows how much the community is supportive of this.” She said the gender-neutral restroom had been met with questioning from some students who may not have understood why it was needed. “It really is our duty as a community to provide what our students need, however they identify,” she said.

Nicole, a senior, was instrumental in leading the effort. She even convinced a company called Smart Sign to donate the “all gender restroom” sign that now hangs on its door. The room will also be helpful for some disabled students who  have aides of a different gender, she said.

“I think it fills a lot of needs, not just for L.G.B.T.-plus students who might not feel comfortable going into one bathroom or another,” she said. “Anyone can use it.”

Adam Fine, the high school principal, said in an email that the gender-neutral restroom is “a great idea and long overdue,” although he added that there were other options as well. “We have had a few students who have transitioned over the past five years,” he said. “We have always accommodated their needs. This seems to be the next most logical step for us. . . . I do not see it as a major issue at all.”

The use of bathrooms and locker rooms by gay and transgender students has been a hot-button issue around the country. In New York State, however, the guidelines are clear: Restricting access to bathrooms based on a student’s anatomical gender constitutes sex discrimination.

“Alternative accommodations, such as a single ‘unisex’ bathroom or private changing space, should be made available to students who request them, but should never be forced upon students, nor presented as the only option,” the guidelines read.

In response to an invitation from the Amagansett School Board, a crowd of about 100 gathered at the school on Saturday morning for a discussion of the East Hampton Housing Authority’s plan to build a 40-unit affordable housing complex in the hamlet. Residents had received flyers in their mailboxes last week from the board, “strongly urging” them to attend the meeting “and learn more about the likely impacts of this housing project.”

Joseph C. Dragone, a former superintendent of schools in Roslyn and an educational consultant, began his analysis of data prepared for the district by the SES Study Team, demographers based in Syracuse, by stressing that his presentation was not about 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,” he said.

The Housing Authority projects an increase of 37 new students in the district when the complex, at 531 Montauk Highway east of the I.G.A., is ready for occupancy in 2018. As proposed, it would contain 40 bedrooms for adult householders; the remaining 36 “secondary” bedrooms would be for children, although, Mr. Dragone said, should there be two children in each of the 36, the figure would be 72. A rustle went through the audience at that, and he quickly tempered the remark, allowing that there might just as well be no school-age children in the 12 two-bedroom apartments, “maybe a couple of senior citizens with no kids, or two adults.”

But even were the number just 37, he said, “many of them would be of high school age.” The question of just how many became central to the discussion, because the Amagansett School, like other so-called sending districts with no high school of their own, pays tuition to the East Hampton School District to educate its older students. The current rate is $24,539 per student. For special needs students, the figure is $68,125; the charter school tuition rate is $59,000.

If all 37 new students were in grades 7 through 12, Mr. Dragone said, “That’s, God forbid, an absolute disaster, the worst case. But we can’t reasonably project that.”

This year, Amagansett has 91 children in kindergarten through 6th grade and 81 in 7th through 12th grades. (The school also has full-day prekindergarten programs for 3 and 4-year-olds.) According to the consultants’ projections, those figures would not change much by 2018 “without the impact of the housing project.” With it, the demographers projected between 14 and 28 new children in kindergarten through sixth grade and 16 to 31 in the upper grades.

“So in 2018-19, there will be from 207 to 236 kids here instead of 177,” Mr. Dragone said. “It would be even a worse disaster if one of these 37 kids attends a charter school. That costs taxpayers $60,000 a year.”

Speaking of how an influx of new students might affect the physical plant, Mr. Dragone told the crowd that “the goal of the board of education here is 16 students in a class. If a significant number of kids enter, there’d be the need for more classrooms. Where? Maybe on the playground? The school doesn’t have that much space.”

The housing project could add 45 times the tax levy allowed, increasing the tax bill “from $647,421 to $1,473,487,” he said. “The only way to save that much money is to decrease programs in K through six,” he concluded.

Several of the questions that followed his presentation had to do with the projected tax increase, which he estimated at from 7.4 percent to 16.8 percent.

“I think your numbers are way too low, and the next thing we’ll need is another school,” one woman said. “I think it’s insulting to us to use the ‘best-case scenario’ when it’s going to be the worst-case scenarios.”

“I think the board has put a lot of effort into saying the community is threatened by this,” a man said. “But why are we paying tuition at all to East Hampton High School?” The question led to a discussion of consolidation, with Mr. Dragone explaining that in combined districts the tax bill usually increases for one district and decreases for another. “Consolidation wouldn’t reduce the costs,” said Eleanor Tritt, superintendent of the Amagansett School. “The costs would be redistributed. Amagansett residents would pay 50 percent or more, more.”

A few people had harsh words for Mr. Dragone. Someone criticized his repeated reference to a “project,” saying it should be called “work force housing.”

“You’ve used the words ‘disaster’ and ‘God forbid,’ ” Lyle Greenfield told him. “You sound as if 32 kids are coming here with the Zika virus. Our civic responsibility is to provide housing for the need in the community. You cannot separate the need from this discussion.”

“There’s no pejorative intended when I say ‘project,’ that’s been in the newspaper,” Mr. Dragone replied. He lives in Northport, he said, where “I support affordable housing. But there, we can afford it. Here, the impact is much greater.”

“Will there be a question on the school budget vote about how we feel?”  someone wondered. Ms. Tritt answered: “I’m not sure that would be appropriate. Write to the town board.”

Katie Casey, executive director of the housing authority, who was at the meeting, said on Tuesday that “affordable housing is not the purview of the school district, which is to educate students.”

“We don’t need the school’s permission as long as the town is behind the project,” she said. “And they are.”

The 4.7-acre property is zoned for affordable housing and limited business use. The housing authority closed on its $3.4 million purchase of the property on March 1.

The proposed complex will be “an asset, not an eyesore,” Ms. Casey said. “In fact, the county and the state said ‘put in more units, you’re not maximizing the lot.’ We said no, 40 is plenty.”

The authority has hired an architect and is in discussion with the Planning Department — “We’ve moved parking back behind the building,” for one thing, she said — before submitting a site plan to the planning board, which will hold a public hearing on the application. Ms. Casey has estimated that it could take 18 months for the project to receive required approvals and funding.

On its flier to district residents, the Amagansett School Board included a tear-off sheet asking people how they felt about the housing complex. As of Tuesday, said Mrs. Tritt, 42 responses had been received. Thirty-four were opposed, seven were in favor, and one was undecided.