The Springs School District administration has decided that before it chooses to put up four temporary or other modular classrooms by the start of the next school year, as recently recommended by its facilities committee, it must take a number of steps.

During the Oct. 19 school board meeting, officials said choosing an architect from among those who responded to a request for proposals in June was primary. The district also has already spoken with a state education official, brought in a new construction consultant who worked for free, and formed two committees, one to review the results of the request for proposals and the other to solidify concepts and present them to the community.

While the facilities committee stopped short of recommending that the district issue bonds, as it appeared poised to do several weeks ago, the administration has said that a referendum will be necessary if the district chooses to tap into its $3.75 million capital reserve fund.

“The timeline for this approval of an architect is at about three weeks, so by the end of November, it should be ready for school board approval,” Carl Fraser, the district’s interim business administrator, said during the meeting. “Then, a concept committee can be formed to review with the architect what this design will look like. That, in turn, would be discussed and approved and presented to the public for their input. By December that concept committee should be able to come up with a recommendation. From there, we can set dates for a possible referendum to move this forward.”

The facilities committee had asked the district to explore whether there was a difference between temporary and other modular classrooms, and John J. Finello, the district superintendent, said there was really no functional difference between those options and permanent construction as it would pertain to Springs.

Those that are “built somewhere and transported to you, and can be removed at the end of your need” are technically portable, he said.  But he explained that “for us, because we’re looking to have these attached to the building, they become more permanent. They’re going to be on a foundation. Sewage, electric, all of that has to occur. The distinction here is that if we build them here, that isn’t going to be that much of a difference.”

Mr. Finello also said the four modular classrooms suggested by the facilities committee would not yield any net gain on space. “I think the intent was to take the four classes that were outside the building and take them inside. . . . It’s kind of holding right where you are,” he said.

But another reality loomed over the discussion: Regardless of how quickly the district puts together a plan, the State Education Department’s review of capital projects,  which is required, takes 42 to 44 weeks, according to a memo on its website published Tuesday. There are about 900 previous projects awaiting state review, among them a Sag Harbor School District project that was supposed to begin in the summer. That suggests Springs will not be able to install any modular classrooms next year, as the facilities committee had requested.

Mr. Finello said he was not aware of any way to cut that time down even as community members suggested the district should find a way to declare an emergency.

“The bridge is falling down and we don’t have time to go through the normal review process,” Don Cirillo, a Springs resident, said. “We would declare an emergency. Cut all the red tape because we don’t have time. This thing could collapse.”

Indeed, just a couple of weeks ago, a group of parents of second graders implored school officials to hire full-time teacher assistants for that grade, saying  class sizes were too big for one teacher to manage. On Oct. 19, Eric Casale, the Springs School principal, reported second-grade enrollment was up to 77 students, meaning two of the three second- grade sections had surpassed the threshold of 25 that the district has considered a cap.

Another serious consideration the district is facing is that the area where new modular classrooms are likely to be placed would be the same area where  a potential new permanent addition would be built. The only other alternative would be to locate any new modulars away from the main structure on top of one of the playing fields, which the facilities committee had said was not ideal.

In other action at the school board meeting, it was announced that the district has joined more than 70 others on Long Island in hiring an outside consultant to deal with the reporting requirements of the Affordable Care Act. The board approved a contract with the Seneca Consulting Group for $11,000 to help navigate what many school officials have said is a complex system that could incur monetary penalties if not handled correctly. The Seneca Consulting Group is the same firm recently hired by Amagansett, East Hampton, and Bridgehampton for similar tasks.

The interim business administrator said the district could face as much as $140,000 in penalties this year if the Internal Revenue Service determined it was not in compliance. Seneca was one of three firms chosen by the Eastern Suffolk Board of Cooperative Educational Services as appropriate to handle schools’ needs pertaining to the Affordable Care Act.

The news that Richard Barons, executive director of the East Hampton Historical Society since 2006, will retire in the spring spread consternation through museum and collectors’ circles last week. Mr. Barons, who has been on vacation in Paris with his wife, Roseanne, informed the society’s board of his decision on Oct. 17.

Robert Hefner, who as East Hampton Village’s historic preservation consultant has hardly gone a day without seeing or speaking with Mr. Barons, said his leaving would be “a great loss — tremendous.”

“In my mind, the historical society has never had anyone of Richard’s caliber except Dean Failey, who was here for a very short time and went to Christie’s when that opportunity came up,” said Mr. Hefner. “My work here changed dramatically when Richard arrived. I had somebody to work with. The two of us — it has been a great partnership. My focus is on buildings; he has museum experience. A number of projects depend greatly on him.”

He cited the ongoing restoration of the Thomas Moran house and studio on Main Street, a National Historic Landmark; the Dominy woodworking and clockmaker’s shops, which await a move back to their original sites on North Main Street; the recently acquired Gardiner Mill cottage on James Lane, which will play a key part in the historical society’s educational programming, and the Rattray-Hedges barn, which is soon to cross Main Street on its way to the society’s Mulford Farm property.

“They are all destined to become museums,” Mr. Hefner said. “None of that will be finished when he leaves. The Dominy shops won’t even be started. He was the perfect person to see these into fruition. I would say he’s irreplaceable.”

Mr. Barons “is irreplaceable,” echoed Maureen Bluedorn, a board member of both the Moran Trust and the historical society, “in the sense of his knowledge and enthusiasm and way of being able to craft programs of interest. The Musketeer Days, the children’s programs, the events at Mulford Farm, the things that brought people to the historical society — not just houses standing there. He brought an effervescence to the society and to the town.”

“Richard Barons came here in 1999 and changed the Southampton Historical Museum,” said Tom Edmonds, Mr. Barons’s opposite number at the Southampton Historical Society. “He brought it into the 20th century before it went into the 21st. He introduced classroom visits from schools, he rearranged the exhibits so it wasn’t a grand medley of everything we had, he oriented the Rogers Mansion [home of the museum] into the merchant’s house it was supposed to be. Before Richard, it was a cabinet of curiosities.”

“He was a great lecturer. Can I even say, ‘entertainer?’ He made history so interesting,” Mr. Edmonds said. “He inspired the board to do more than they were used to doing.”

Hugh King, East Hampton Village’s historian and town crier, was initially reluctant to talk about Mr. Barons’s departure, not having heard it from the horse’s mouth and, he admitted, hoping against hope that it might not be so. After Mr. Barons confirmed it in an email to The Star from France, however, Mr. King said, “I don’t know how we are going to find one person to do what Richard did.”

“We will lose not only the accurate memory of the past, but part of our conscience of how to do things correctly,” he said.

Scuttlebutt has it that the Baronses will move to Cape Cod. “The call of the sea is very strong for him,” Mr. Edmonds said. “He needs to be in New England by the sea. I think it will be hard for him to leave here, though.”

Mr. Barons’s decision to retire, though not entirely unexpected, was “not a welcome surprise,” said Arthur (Tiger) Graham, president of the board of directors of both the historical society and the Moran Trust.

“He’s been a superb director. We love him to death. We’d hoped he’d want to do it forever,” said Mr. Graham. “But he’s reaching a milestone birthday.” Mr. Barons will be 70 next year.

A search committee has been formed and a new executive director is expected to be named in April. Mr. Barons, who plans to leave in mid-May, has suggested several museum publications for the committee to advertise in.

Mr. King, like others, mentioned the cost of housing here and wondered where the new director would live, assuming he or she comes from away.

“We’re not looking to get a big-time museum person, but someone who will fit our needs and we will fit their skill set,” Mr. Graham said.

“A couple of local people,” he said, have expressed interest.

The seller may not be willing, but Southampton Town officials are moving forward with a plan to purchase property in Sag Harbor with money from the community preservation fund. It would become part of a waterfront park, rather than be developed for condominiums.

The town board was unanimous Tuesday night in deciding to include the four parcels on Ferry Road, where the former Harborview Professional Building stands on the Sag Harbor side of the bridge, on the town’s C.P.F. list. In August, Sag Harbor Village officials announced that they wanted to buy the properties, among the last undeveloped waterfront lands near the business district, with C.P.F. money. (Southampton has to administer the funding since the property is on its side of the village, not East Hampton’s.)

The hope is to combine the four parcels, along with another, village-owned parcel, to create an expanded waterfront park that would include direct beach access, a space for recreation, and more parking. It would be named for John Steinbeck, the Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, who was a long time resident of Sag Harbor.

Tuesday’s resolution was necessary before an appraisal can be completed and an offer made.

“I can’t obviously stop that from happening,” said Tom Pugliese, a development manager with Greystone Property Development, a Manhattan-based real estate company that has an ownership in the property. “We are developers that fully intend to develop the property as of right,” he told the board. “We just want it stated for the record, we are not interested in selling the property at this time and we are not willing sellers, basically.”

“Well, that’s too bad,” Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst said in response. “I am going to ask you, then, if you would be kind enough to speak with your partners in this, and if you would be kind enough to consider coming in and having a conversation with myself and any of my town board colleagues here.”

The four lots in question are at three addresses: 1, 3, and 5 Ferry Road. The fourth, a right of way, is former Long Island Rail Road property. East End Ventures L.L.C. has an application before the village planning board for 11 units, 8 on the combined 4 parcels and 3 on a neighboring property, a large white house at 2 West Water Street known as the 1-800-LAWYER building after its previous owner, who founded that company.

The supervisor said the Ferry Road lots, totaling 1.7 acres, were important to the village. “I think you are probably aware and will be made further aware just how important it is to the community that this property not be developed, because of its location, because of what it means in terms of community character, and, as I just said, too, from an environmental perspective,” she told Mr. Pugliese.

The board, she said, has been actively trying to seek out owners of parcels appropriate for preservation, especially when it could mitigate runoff and negative effects on the waterways.

Sag Harbor Village Mayor Sandra Schroeder told the town board members that the acquisition would strengthen the village’s Local Waterfront Revitalization program, not only by preserving waterfront property but also by mitigating shore-hardening and creating waterfront access.

“The village residents are very receptive of this,” she said. “On behalf of them, I’m here to thank you.”

Mr. Pugliese insisted that Greystone can develop the property “as of right‚“ and said the company was already undertaking the state’s environmental review process.

“I’m sorry to hear that you may have gone this far, and I would hope that you and your partners would be willing to sit down and have further conversation before you shut the door on that,” Ms. Throne-Holst told him.

He replied that they would be open to discuss the properties’ future, but reiterated their intention not to sell and to move forward in the planning process.

“We’re always very appreciative when we have property owners who are willing to work with us and be good neighbors,” said the supervisor. The idea of condemnation was not discussed.

Councilman Brad Bender wanted to know if the owners had plans to clean up the property, which he said was “quite blighted.” It has sat vacant for nearly 10 years, while several plans to demolish the abandoned buildings and make way for condos have come and gone.

Mr. Pugliese who agreed that it had fallen into disarray, said it would be cleaned up once a permit for a construction fence was received. James Larocca, a village trustee, acknowledged that an application for a fence was on the table, but gave his opinion that “what is actually being considered is just in terms of security and safety,” not for construction.

Mr. Larocca also had concerns as to who actually owns the property. Mr. Pugliese had referred to Greystone as an owner, but later said the company was in a joint venture with East End Ventures. Deed transfers dated Aug. 14, which appeared in The Star last week, showed the parcels sold separately by East End Ventures to separate entities called 1, 3, and 5 Ferry Road, for a total of $1.92 million.

“It is not clear yet on the record who owns the property,” Mr. Larocca said. He also said the names associated with East End Ventures had been linked to other projects in the village, “both of which failed, so I think the examination of who’s who becomes essential.”

A fire ripped through one of the buildings at Hartman's Briney Breezes Motel in Montauk early Friday morning. The building was severely damaged, if not destroyed, fire officials said, but firefighters stopped flames from spreading to other buildings in the complex and those next door.

The Montauk Fire Department was called to the U-shaped motel complex on Old Montauk Highway, not far from downtown Montauk, at about 4:30 a.m. The two-story building is near several other commercial structures and on a sloping site overlooking the ocean. It and its basement were both on fire when the first firefighters arrived, according to Chief Joe Lenahan. "When I crested Flamingo Hill on the other end of town, I could see the flames," he said. "That had been burning a while before we were called," he said. No automatic fire alarm had sounded. 

The building, the second on the east side of the complex, was not occupied, the chief said. It was reportedly recently renovated, though he could not confirm that. The other buildings in the complex were occupied and firefighters and police officers knocked on doors and evacuated the occupants. About 10 people were found and taken to a safe place on the west side of the complex.

With the roof already on fire, firefighters poured water on it from outside, from both the ground and from ladder trucks. The chief called for additional help from the Amagansett Fire Department's rapid intervention team, brought in to backup interior firefighters,  and the East Hampton Fire Department, which brought its tanker and aerial ladder truck. Tankers from Amagansett and Springs were also brought in. There were at least 120 firefighters in total, the chief said.

Engine companies and water supply trucks were also given the task of protecting the nearby buildings that were in danger due to a strong westerly wind. The flames burned hedges and bushes on that side, but there was no damage to any other buildings. "It was a great stop," the chief said. "Everybody did an incredible job."

The fire was fully extinguished in about an hour. Firefighters remained on scene another hour looking for pockets of fire. No injuries were reported.

Chief Lenahan stopped short of saying the building was destroyed, leaving that determination up to the East Hampton Town fire marshal's office. While the first and second story are still standing, he said it is "probably going to be a tear-down," though its possible the first-floor could be saved. There is significant water damage throughout the building, though.

An East Hampton Town fire marshal was dispatched to begin an initial attempt to determine the fire's origin at about 5:40 a.m.

The Bridgehampton, Springs, and Sag Harbor Fire Departments were called to stand by at Amagansett, Montauk, and East Hampton Firehouses, respectively, during the fire. All firefighters were released by about 7 a.m. 

With Reporting By David E. Rattray

                                                                                                                                                                                  Dalton Portella Photos

Southampton Town police, working with District Attorney Thomas Spota's East End Drug Task Force, raided a Sagaponack house Thursday and arrested two of its residents, accusing them of dealing large quantities of narcotics.

The raid of 312 Sagg Road followed an investigation into allegations that drugs were being dealt from the property. Officers conducted a search of the house, assisted by a K-9 unit from the Suffolk County sheriff's office.

Oscar Reyes-Torres, 24, and Matthew Mateo Rojano, 26, were both charged with two B felonies for allegedly possessing quantities of narcotics, including cocaine, with an intent to sell. Mr. Reyes-Torres is also charged with possession of over a pound of marijuana, another felony.

Police said they found scales and packaging materials for drugs, as well, leading to a couple of additional misdemeanor charges against the two.

Both men were arraigned in Southampton Town Justice Court after their arrests. Bail was set at $15,000 for Mr. Reyes-Torres and $25,000 for Mr. Rojano, amounts neither was able to immediately post. Both were in county jail in Riverside as of Friday morning.

Robert Clifford of the district attorney's office would not comment on the arrests, other than to say that the narcotics investigation is ongoing.

A third man in the house at the time, Brian Pina of Bridgehampton, was charged with possession of a small amount of marijuana, a violation. He was released by police after being processed at headquarters, and will be arraigned at a future date.

The drug task force combines elements of the Southampton Town and Village, East Hampton Town, Southold, Suffolk County, New York State, and Riverhead Police Departments with the Suffolk County district attorney and sheriff's office, Department of Probation, and federal agencies, including Homeland Security and the Drug Enforcement Agency.

Bridget Fleming is headed to Hauppauge. 

Ms. Fleming, a Democrat who serves on the Southampton Town Board, won a seat on the Suffolk County Legislature Tuesday night, receiving 59.92 percent of the vote to represent the South Fork. 

Ms. Fleming, a resident of Noyac, will replace longtime Legislator Jay Schneiderman, who had reached the term limit. Meanwhile, he ran successfully for Southampton Town supervisor in this election. 

Ms. Fleming's opponent, Amos Goodman, a Republican from Springs who is a financial consultant with a background in defense and security, received about 40 percent of the vote.

He has said that there was a "political class" in charge, which had "dropped the ball" on issues like budgeting and business development. 

As Ms. Fleming takes her seat in January, she will serve as one of two legislators on the East End and join the 16 legislators representing western Suffolk County. 

On workdays, Lance G. Harris occupies an office in an unremarkable 35-story office building at 575 Lexington Avenue in Manhattan. There is nothing unusual about it, except that Mr. Harris is the single biggest identifiable figure in an East Hampton Town election year that will blow past records for fund-raising and spending.

Mr. Harris is listed in campaign disclosures as the treasurer of the East Hampton Leadership Council, which has campaigned on behalf of the town Republican candidates. He is also a lawyer and house counsel for an apparel firm. Other than through the group he fronts, he has no discernible ties to East Hampton.

The leadership council has spent more than $150,000, all of it going to a Manhattan public relations firm, so far in 2015. It is funded entirely by YGB Holdings, an anonymous limited liability company whose ownership details Mr. Harris refused to provide.

According to State Board of Elections reports, YGB is the largest donor in the East Hampton races this year, contributing $207,000.

Taken together, the money given to the Republican and Democratic campaigns in the final tally will be close to $600,000. The previous record, set in 2001, was more than $400,000.

Republican supporters have contributed more than $2.50 for every $1 raised by Democrats in advance of Tuesday’s voting. At least 81 percent of the Republican campaign committees’ war chest came from companies and individuals with ties to East Hampton Airport, according to the latest filings.

In reports last week, the four groups actively supporting Republican candidates for East Hampton Town supervisor and other offices listed income of more than $423,000 between the first of the year and the middle of October. So far, they have spent about $293,000.

Campaign 2015, the town Democrats’ main campaign committee, reported taking in $113,850 since Jan. 1. Supervisor Larry Cantwell’s political committee, Friends of Larry Cantwell, took in about $54,700 during the same period. The East Hampton Town Democratic Committee took in just over $26,000.

Because of transfers to Campaign 2015 from the Democratic Committee, the Democrats’ total take was just over $168,500, with expenses of $145,700 through mid-October.

Separately, Christopher Kelley, the chairman of the town Democrats’ campaign committee, alleged in a letter to the New York State Board of Elections on Monday that several of the Republicans’ donations exceeded campaign limits.

 Of the $173,000 in contributions listed in the town Republican Committee’s disclosure statements, at least $137,000 came from individuals or businesses associated with the East Hampton Airport. The greatest portion of the airport-related gifts to the committee came from a single address on West 47th Street in Manhattan.

Donald R. Mullen, a part-time East Hampton resident, provided the Republican Committee its largest check, for $42,300.

Others contributing from Mr. Mullen’s West 47th Street address were Anne and Isabelle Mullen and MVRE III, a company that shares a Newark Airport building with HeliFlite Shares, which itself gave the Republican Committee $5,000. The Republicans also got $5,000 each from MVRE II and from three other limited liability companies that list the same West 47th Street address: Wilson Ridge Properties, FREI, and VREI. A fourth L.L.C. at that address, MFLC, gave $10,000

Mr. Mullen is a co-founder of Pretium Partners, an investment firm with $2 billion in assets under management, and has a house on Cross Highway near Two Mile Hollow Beach, according to town records.

In his letter to the state, Mr. Kelley wrote that Mr. Mullen’s personal donations and those from the relatives sharing his office address contributed $57,300, above the aggregate limits for the general and primary elections this year. Mr. Mullen’s office did not respond for a request for comment.

Tom Knobel, the Republican candidate for town supervisor and chairman of the Republican Committee, said that Mr. Mullen and his family’s donations were within the allowed amount. He said that he had met Mr. Mullen once or twice and that Mr. Mullen “cared about the airport and cared about East Hampton.”

HeliFlite Shares is one of several companies that offer helicopter rides to East Hampton Airport. Earlier this year, the five-member East Hampton Town Board approved measures intended to curtail aircraft noise. HeliFlite is among a group suing the town in federal court to overturn those measures. East Hampton Councilman Fred Overton, the board’s sole member elected on the Republican ticket, voted against the airport limits; his post is not up for re-election.

A recent mailing to residents from the East Hampton Leadership Council said the Democratic town board candidates were “out of touch” and “out of solutions.” On its other side, it described the Republicans in positive terms.

Mr. Kelley said in his letter to the state board of elections that the mailing and other campaign efforts demonstrated illegal coordination between the leadership council and the town Republicans.

In addition, Mr. Kelley said that YGB Holdings appeared to be colluding with Mr. Mullen and HeliFlite to exceed campaign finance limits. The New York State Board of Elections considers limited liability companies to be the same as individual donors, with cap of $150,000 for gifts to noncandidate committees.

Mr. Harris referred multiple requests for comment to Jonathan Weinstein of Mercury public relations. Mr. Weinstein declined to answer questions about YGB Holdings’ ownership and offered a prepared statement that echoed the Leadership Council’s mailings. “The Democrats are becoming increasingly desperate,” it read. “It is clear that they are losing on the issues, so they are now resorting to mudslinging and baseless accusations.” He criticized the incumbents for their “failure to properly handle an out-of-control party crowd, failing to enforce our laws, and derailing the local economy.”

Responding to the allegation of coordination with the campaigns, Mr. Knobel said, “That there is no coordination with them is absolute. I can emphatically say that there is none.” He said he did not know the identity of anyone involved with YBG Holdings.

Lisa Mulhern-Larsen, a Republican running for town board, took in $27,936 so far this year.

Turner for Town Board, supporting Margaret Turner, a Republican first-time candidate, reported taking in $15,130 in 2015.

The political action committee of the Quiet Skies Coalition, a group that advocates for noise reduction at East Hampton Airport, reported $2,000 in income.

The East Hampton Conservators, a group aligned with Democrats, listed $7,800 in contributions since Jan. 1. Hefty donations to that group in previous election years have resulted in a cash infusion for Democratic issues and candidates.

There was no activity reported for either Councilman Peter Van Scoyoc or Councilwoman Sylvia Overby.

Campaign 2015, the East Hampton Democrats main fund, missed the Friday submission deadline to the board of elections for an 11-day pre-election filing; its data appeared on the board of elections website on Tuesday.

The East Hampton Town Republican Committee listed $120,000 in expenses so far this year. That included $12,000 for polling, $27,600 for advertising, and $42,600 in consulting and professional services.

As of Friday, the East Hampton Leadership Council had spent $105,000 of its $207,000 income, all of it going to Mercury Public Affairs of Manhattan, a political strategy and consulting firm that is part of the multinational Omnicom Group, which owns more than 1,500 public relations agencies.

Ms. Turner’s committee spent just under $7,200 and Ms. Mulhearn-Larsen’s, about $10,600.

Friends of Larry Cantwell reported spending about $42,800, including an $11,000 transfer to the Democrats’ Campaign 2015 fund and $12,500 in consulting fees.

Campaign 2015 reported expenditures of just over $94,000. About $14,000 went to fund-raising efforts, $18,000 for radio and newspaper advertising, and $52,000 for campaign literature and postage.

The East Hampton Democratic Committee paid out $42,800, mostly for printing and mailing.

A final tally of campaign donations and spending is due at the board of elections on Nov. 30, but through Nov. 2, any contributions or loans in excess of $1,000 must be reported to the board within 24 hours. Political action committees also have a 24-hour reporting requirement on expenses during that period. 

An earlier version of this story appeared in print in the Oct. 29 issue of The Star. This online version has been updated to incorporate $87,000 in donations to the East Hampton Leadership Council that did not appear in an earlier board of elections report.

Follow the Money

Below is a list of campaign committees, party committees, and political action committees active in this year's East Hampton Town elections. Click the name to see their most recent campaign finance disclosure reports filed with the New York State Board of Elections.

Campaign 2015 (Democrats)

East Hampton Conservators 

East Hampton Leadership Council

East Hampton Town Democratic Committee

East Hampton Town Republican Committee

Friends of Larry Cantwell 

Lisa Mulhern-Larsen

Quiet Skies Coalition political action committee

Turner for Town Board

While police stopped short of publicly calling him a suspect, they are looking closely at the estranged husband of a Sagaponack woman who disappeared nearly three weeks ago as the search for her continues.

Anthony B. Rutkowski, an attorney representing Carlos R. Aucapina, said that police had searched his client’s house and seized a vehicle. A work truck was seen being taken away on a flatbed truck from an abandoned house on the Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike, where police officers and a Suffolk County Crime Lab vehicle were conducting an investigation on Oct. 15, and near where police have been searching in the woods.

Lilia Aucapina, known as Esperanza, a 40-year-old mother of two who lived on Toppings Path in Sagaponack, was reported missing by her children on Oct. 10. At a press conference last week, Southampton Town Police Lt. Susan Ralph declined to say whether police had any evidence to indicate a crime had taken place, or whether her husband was considered a suspect. “We’re not ruling out anything at this point,” Lieutenant Ralph said.

But, Mr. Aucapina’s attorney told The Star, his client is fully cooperating with police, and was going to submit to a lie detector test.

“We have nothing to hide,” Mr. Rutkowski said last Thursday after Mr. Aucapina’s appearance in East Hampton Town Justice Court, where his client was answering a criminal contempt charge. Mr. Aucapina was charged on Oct. 16 with the misdemeanor for allegedly violating an order of protection his estranged wife had against him on the morning she disappeared. 

His wife was last seen in the parking lot of a medical complex on Montauk Highway in Wainscott on the morning of Oct. 10, when a male friend brought her there to pick up her car. Her estranged husband soon showed up and confronted the man. Her friend called East Hampton Town police. Mr. Aucapina reportedly left before police arrived.

Her family reported her missing to Southampton Town police 12 hours after that confrontation.

Asked, while leaving court, if he had been cooperative, Mr. Aucapina, 50, said, “Absolutely,” before his companions told him not to talk.

Lieutenant Ralph said police have received information that a woman fitting Ms. Aucapina’s description was seen walking west on Montauk Highway, as far west as Water Mill, on the day she went missing.

Police have searched for her daily in and around Sagaponack and Bridgehampton using all-terrain vehicles, K-9 units, and helicopters. Meanwhile, her family has been distributing flyers with her picture around the South Fork and praying for her safe return.

At a press conference last week, they asked for the public’s help in finding her.

“We just want her back home, that’s what we want,” said Ms. Aucapina’s niece, Maria Duchi of East Hampton, at Southampton Town police headquarters in Hampton Bays on Oct. 21.

Her niece said the family’s strong Christian faith is sustaining them. “We believe, you know, that’s she safe, she’s alive. . . . We just have faith,” Ms. Duchi said, though she added, “we have our days where there is doubt.”

Ms. Aucapina has lived on the South Fork for 20 years since leaving Ecuador. She worked as a house cleaner and was devoted to her children, ages 14 and 21, both honor roll students, her family said. “She’s a good mom. Every event the kids had, anything, any little thing, anything at all, she would be there,” Ms. Duchi said. “We’re just very sad they have to have gone through this whole situation.”

Her children are staying with Ms. Duchi’s family, and she said they are trying to keep life as normal as possible for them.

“We’re a very close family. Our bond is not just any type of family — we’re very close to one another. We love one another. We look after one another,” Ms. Duchi said.

Carlos Parra, a brother of Ms. Aucapina, was also present at the press conference, but declined to speak. He was among the last people to see her, as he was present during the confrontation on the morning she went missing.

Through a translator, one of Ms. Aucapina’s older brothers said he appreciated the community’s help so far. “We just want them to do the same and a little more.” He said the family is in shock over his sister’s disappearance, “because she is a good woman, and we never expected she would not come home, and we have no explanation for it.”

Mr. Aucapina was also charged with violating the order of protection in Southampton Town Justice Court after he reportedly drove past his wife’s house. During his arraignment in East Hampton court, his attorney said Mr. Aucapina lives next door to his estranged wife. “He is alleged to have driven past his wife’s house, that he has to drive past,” Mr. Rutkowski said.

Those with information can contact police at 702-2230 or email [email protected].

For video from the press conference click here.

With Reporting by T.E. McMorrow

E. Virgil Conway, a Montauk native who grew up in one of the original Carl Fisher houses in Upper Shepherd’s Neck and went on to a career of public service, including a key term as chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, died at Southampton Hospital on Oct. 21 at the age of 86.

Born at the same hospital on Aug. 2, 1929, to Edmund Virgil Conway, the chief accounting officer of Carl Fisher’s Montauk Beach Development Corporation, and the former Dorothy Brandes, he lived an outdoor Montauk life as a youth, fishing, duck-hunting, and swimming. He was one of the hamlet’s first Eagle Scouts. His father was a founding member of the Montauk Community Church, and Mr. Conway attended and donated to the church throughout his life.

A diligent and extremely bright student, he was the valedictorian of his East Hampton High School class and won a scholarship to Colgate University, where he again graduated at the top of his class. Back in Montauk for the summers, he worked as a lifeguard at the old Surf Club.

He went on to earn scholarships to Yale Law School and Pace University, and later established several of his own, including an annual four-year grant awarded to a top graduate of both the Montauk School and East Hampton High School. He was a trustee of both Colgate and Pace.

During the Korean War, after graduating from college and before entering law school, Mr. Conway enlisted in the Air Force. He rose to become a captain, a rank he continued to hold in the Air Force Reserves.

In the course of a distinguished career in both the public and private sectors, he was the chairman and chief executive officer of the Seaman’s Bank for Savings for 20 years, starting in 1968. He was a board member of a number of major corporations, among them Union Pacific, Consolidated Edison, and the Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company. A onetime chairman of the New York City Housing Partnership, he was on the board of the New York State Thruway Authority at the time of his death.

When Nelson Rockefeller became governor of New York he appointed Mr. Conway a deputy superintendent of the State Banking Department. Decades later, after serving as Westchester County’s representative on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, he was named by Gov. George Pataki to head the agency. Under his watch, from 1995 until 2001, historic initiatives were undertaken, including the move from bus and subway tokens to MetroCards.

Sometime in the next decade, Long Island Rail Road commuters will be able to choose between trains to Penn Station or Grand Central Station, thanks to Mr. Conway’s leadership. Next year, when riders board the new Second Avenue subway line, they will have Mr. Conway to thank.

He also oversaw the end of the two-fare zone, which he believed was highly unfair to the working poor.

Although he had lived since 1969 in Bronxville, N.Y., where he was an elder of the Reformed Church of Bronxville, Mr. Conway remained committed to Montauk and spent almost all his summers in there. Montauk residents and visitors alike have benefited from his generous donations to the lighthouse, the Community Church, the Montauk Medical Center, and other local institutions and charities.

In 1952, he married the former Audrey Oehler. They lived in Brooklyn Heights with their daughters, Allison Worthington of Manhattan and Quogue, and Sarah Conway of Montauk, who lives in the same house where her father grew up.

After they were divorced, Mr. Conway married the former Elaine Wingate, on June 28, 1969. She had two sons from a former marriage who, said the family, became his sons as well. William Gay lives in Bronxville and John Gay lives in Orlando, Fla.

Mr. Conway’s daughter Sarah said her father was a great history buff and “a small-town boy who had a very successful career. He was larger than life, and was loved by so, so many.”

A funeral service was to be held today at the Reformed Church of Bronxville, with burial in the Bronxville Cemetery. The family has suggested memorial donations to the Montauk Community Church, P.O. Box 698, Montauk 11954, or Colgate University, 13 Oak Drive, Hamilton, N.Y. 13346.

The East Hampton School District is considering building a bus depot on the high school’s grounds, with Isabel Madison, the assistant superintendent for business, and Rich Burns, the superintendent, having presented preliminary numbers at a school board meeting on Oct. 20 and saying it would ultimately save money.

The district now leases a bus depot and maintenance garage at privately owned commercial property on Route 114. Under the contract, which goes through October of 2017, the annual cost is $103,000. The administrators said the district could build its own facility for about $4.75 million, borrowing the money and repaying it over 20 years by transfering money from its capital fund. The money that would have been spent on leasing a bus depot could be saved or applied elsewhere in the budget.

“We have considered very seriously not to have the taxpayers have any increase in the tax rate,” Ms. Madison said. “The bottom line would not change . . . and by the time you get to year 20, you practically will have acquired this building for zero money,” she said, apparently referring to the money saved on leasing over the years.

Having a bus depot and maintenance facility on school property would yield at least two more benefits, Mr. Burns said. One is the possibility of related educational programs on campus, such as auto repair, marine mechanics, and welding. He said having courses of this kind in East Hampton would cut down on the cost of tuition and transportation to the Eastern Suffolk Board of Cooperative Educational Services in Riverhead. This year there are as many as 12 students in the BOCES program.

“Would I love to have these programs here for our kids?” Mr. Burns said. “We can get our kids career ready in really viable programs. They can have more periods a day because three or four periods were consumed by the program.”

Another potential benefit, he said, is the possibility of revenue from the Springs and Amagansett School Districts, which send their buses to the Southampton School District for repairs and maintenance, but might find an East Hampton facility more convenient. Mr. Burns noted that driving time and bus mileage would be saved by having a bus depot at the high school.

Issuing approximately $4.75 million in bonds to build a bus depot would require voter approval. Jackie Lowey, a school board member, pointed out that five years ago, when the district proposed borrowing $4.5 million to buy an old Verizon property on King Street, voters shot it down by a large margin. However, “the flaws of the last proposal, acknowledged by all, should not prohibit us,” Mr. Burns said.

In answer to a question from Ms. Lowey, Ms. Madison and Mr. Burns said there were no suitable properties anywhere else in the school district and that the district could not consider places outside district lines.

J.P. Foster, the school board president, said the financial advantages were a “no-brainer,” but he warned that siting the depot would be a challenge. “There are very few places to put it,” he said. “This property is not going to get any bigger. If we need a field today or two fields tomorrow, once it’s gone it’s gone. I think you at least have to bring it to everyone’s attention and say we need to take a look at this.”

Mr. Burns identified four possible locations, though some would mean one fewer playing field. One site would abut Long Lane at the far corner in front of the high school building, while another would take up the staff parking area and necessitate its relocation. Another possible site is on the other side of the turf field, and a fourth is on the northern side of the property behind the two baseball fields.

“Thinking about owning a property as opposed to renting just makes sense,” Mr. Burns said. “We are asking for help from the community. We have a healthy piece of land. There are possibilities . . . . This is an effort that the whole community has to be involved in.”

The next steps include more detailed examination of possible locations, further communication with the community and, in particular, with the high school’s neighbors, and possibly establishing a task force to study the proposal.

East Hampton has been operating its own transportation department since 2006 after its previous contractor, Schaefer and Sons, went out of business just a few of weeks before the start of the academic year.

The district announced yesterday that it will hold a special school board meeting, to include a public forum, on Nov. 10, related to the transportation proposal. It will take place at 7 p.m. in the high school auditorium.