Early Friday morning, Kristen Tulp awoke with a customary end-of-year lump in her throat.

Even after nearly 30 years in the classroom, saying goodbye never gets easier.

Shortly after drop-off, Ms. Tulp, a kindergarten teacher at John M. Marshall Elementary School, gathered her 16 students together on the rainbow-colored rug one last time. Before their graduation ceremony began, she told them how proud she was of everything they had accomplished and how each child had grown in his or her own way.

“It’s bittersweet. We take them so far in kindergarten and then you have to give them away,” Ms. Tulp said earlier this week. “It’s a strong bond and one that isn’t repeated in exactly the same way. You’re the mother. You’re the teacher. You’re everything.”

Ms. Tulp considers these the magic years, when children enter her classroom bursting with possibility, their personalities and interests just beginning to form. One hundred and eighty school days later, the class ebbs and flows less like a group of strangers and more like a family — acutely aware of each other’s strengths and weaknesses, of when to push and when to back off.

“They really bonded together and took care of each other,” said Ms. Tulp, who, apart from teaching her students how to read and write, pays particular attention to building character and teaching the difference between right and wrong. Mostly, she wants to instill in them the importance of looking out for each other. “Character is the most important. If you can build that in kindergarten, they’re going to feel good about themselves and be a success and help other kids.”

The East Hampton Star spent this school year profiling five students in Ms. Tulp’s classroom, getting to know their families and their interests. The series examines the changing face of East Hampton by following a diverse group of kindergarteners from a single class at John Marshall through the school year and beyond.

Already, one of the five children has moved away.

Ms. Tulp started the school year with 18 students. Atilla Secim moved to Florida, and Sophia Herrera relocated to the Springs School.

Atilla, now 6, who speaks Turkish, Arabic, some French, and now fluent English, added to the character of Ms. Tulp’s classroom. Born in Turkey, his family relocated to East Hampton before September’s start of school, living in his aunt’s weekend house until the family established more permanent roots.

Housing prices and a brutal winter forced their hand, and they ultimately relocated in March to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to expand their home textiles business. Over the past six years, Atilla has lived in three countries. The move meant yet another new school for Atilla, who, so far his family said, has adjusted well and is already the youngest member of the local swim team, with ages ranging from 6 to 18.

When he moved away, Ms. Tulp explained to the class that it was not like a vacation and that Atilla would not be coming back anytime soon. A close-knit group of boys took the news particularly hard.

“He still talks about it and wonders when we can see them,” said Atilla’s mother, Ayse Secim, during a recent phone call. “Whenever we go back, we’ll try and get in touch with his friends.”

Olivia Chapman, 5, woke up excited for her last day of school, wearing a printed dress, her pale blond hair with faint pink streaks tied back in a ponytail. For breakfast, she ate a bowl of Cap’n Crunch cereal. Her mother, Abby Chapman, said she allowed the treat of sugar cereal on the last day of school.

Stubborn and strong-willed, Olivia, the youngest of four children, is particularly self-reliant, her mother said.

When encountering obstacles, such as learning to read, she has persevered, and now reads simple books by herself. “She doesn’t give up,” said Ms. Tulp. “She’s very proud of herself and what she can do.”

During an outing to Herrick Park in early June, fresh from a Saturday morning T-ball game, talk quickly turned to a rotating cast of three boyfriends (though one has since moved away). Near the end of the school year, Olivia played a starfish in the kindergarten school play. She also loves eating salad and reading fairy tales.

Though she will miss seeing her friends and her teacher, summertime in the Chapman household means tennis and frequent trips to the skate park on Abraham’s Path. Aurora, Olivia’s 13-year-old sister, will look after her younger siblings this summer, with their grandmother lending a hand during the workweek.

Meanwhile, Alonso Garcia, now 6, is coming out of his shell.

“He’s also nicer and he shares a lot more,” said Valentina Sanchez, his 15-year-old sister.

Besides soccer, blocks are still a favorite, and fruit is his preferred snack. He has new best friends, Jake and Emmanuel.

His mother, aunt, and grandmother jointly run Elegant Touch, a nail salon on Railroad Avenue in East Hampton. Over the summer, his sister, Valentina, will work at the front desk, answering the telephone. Alonso will attend the nearby Y.M.C.A. day camp and play soccer in Montauk two evenings each week.

Later this summer, he plans to attend a weeklong soccer clinic in Maryland, with his parents vacationing at a nearby hotel while Alonso plays soccer for eight hours each day.

He is still a beginning reader, and his mother, Adriana Garcia, encourages him to read each night before bed to help keep him on track with the progress he’s made. Ms. Tulp urges parents to develop a daily habit of reading over the summer (even 10 to 15 minutes a day), and build in frequent trips to the library.

On Friday morning, his classmate, Madison Alvarez, 5, had butterflies in her stomach in nervous anticipation of the last day of school. For breakfast, she ate toast with Nutella and drank a glass of milk before putting on a white dress with a pink sash.

Earlier this year, the Alvarez family moved to a three-bedroom condominium near John Marshall. Previously, the foursome had been living in a guesthouse on the large East Hampton estate that Fernando Alvarez, Madison’s father, helps manage.

This summer, Madison will attend the Y.M.C.A. camp three days each week. She still wants to be a doctor and loves to swim. Math is her favorite subject, though reading is still a bit of a struggle. Pizza is her favorite thing to eat.

Antonia Alvarez, her mother, regularly volunteered in the classroom. With the start of first grade, she is hopeful that more science will be included in the curriculum. Right now Madison is particularly curious about the birth process and learning how babies are born.

Ephraim Munoz, now 6, was one of two narrators in the kindergarten play. He is a bright, diligent student, and Ms. Tulp was hopeful the experience might further draw him out.

Over the past year, Marci Vail, his mother, has noticed him becoming more and more independent. Meanwhile, the family’s living room is starting to look like a band rehearsal space with the recent addition of a drum set, a gift from his grandmother for his 6th birthday.

When asked about school during a recent trip to the dentist, Ms. Vail said, Ephrain said that he preferred learning labs, when students rotate through different activities. His dentist noted the unusual response, saying that most kids favored recess.

Ms. Vail, who plans to return to work sometime in the next year, is looking forward to spending time with her son over the summer, taking frequent trips to the park, the library, and local museums. Looking ahead to the fall, she plans to enroll him in Project Most, an after-school enrichment program. When comparing the cost of various summer camps, Ms. Vail explained that even the least expensive camp costs more for one week than an entire month of Project Most.

“It’s possibly my last summer with him, the last summer I will have completely one-on-one with him, so I want to make sure that I get some basic, important things in,” explained Ms. Vail, who plans to start with teaching Ephraim about money.

In thinking back over the year, Ms. Tulp said she hopes she imparted a deep love of learning in her students. “This is the beginning and if you don’t instill a sense that school is fun, it can be a tough road ahead.”

Back in September, many students could only identify 12 letters of the alphabet. “Now, they’re reading books with 150 words in them,” Ms. Tulp said.

Earlier this month, she had them take out their collection of writing journals and flip through each page to see their own progress.

“They can read. They can do math. They realize how much they’ve grown,” said Ms. Tulp. “It’s the biggest year with the biggest growth. We get them as babies and it’s sad at the end, to finally let them go. You almost want to keep them for another year, just so you can keep going.”

The Springs School District, which is facing the possibility that its facilities committee may soon recommend a bond referendum for a capital improvement project of considerable size, has issued a request for proposals from architectural or engineering firms.

In a legal notice dated June 25, the district announced it is seeking “services in connection with various capital improvements,” such as classroom additions and renovations, upgrades mandated by the federal Americans With Disabilities Act, upgrades to heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems, fire alarm system replacement, roof, ceiling, and floor replacement, and more.

The facilities committee, which consists of community members, parents, and school administrators and teachers, has been asked to make recommendations about how to fix what many agree are overcrowded conditions at the school and aging infrastructure. At the committee’s June 17 meeting, some on the committee agreed that some sort of expansion or renovation, or the addition of portable classrooms, was necessary.

Since early 2014, the district has been paying BBS Architects, a firm based in Patchogue, for an evaluation of the problems and for recommendations for how to handle them. From April of that year to this April, Springs paid BBS Architects about $26,500. The company has been working with the facilities committee since May, however, without charge.

“We do a lot of educational planning of this nature, and we often are working in committees like this at no fee. . . . It is something that the firm is expert in, and it is a community effort,” Roger Smith, one of the principal architects at BBS, said.

Tom Primiano, the Springs School’s district treasurer and business administrator, said Springs had budgeted $3,000 for architectural services during the 2013-14 school year, but, in addition to BBS, it had spent $5,060 for work by Chaleff and Rogers of Water Mill for the renovation of the front entrance of the school. The school board approved a new contract for Chaleff and Rogers on June 8 as the result of a separate request for proposals.

“It was done so they have someone available to help them with things thatrise, minor issues that require some technical assistance, for the coming year,” Paul Rogers, one of the principal architects with Chaleff and Rogers, said.

“It’s totally separate from a capital project like building additions or adding parking. There might be some overlap, but it’s probable that there wouldn’t be,” he said.

Mr. Primiano explained that the school board had approved transfers into its capital fund amounting to $300,000 over the last two school years, “as a place for preliminary costs relating to any potential capital projects.”

“That’s not just for an architect. That’s for anything capital project-related that can come up,” he said.

According to the Eastern Suffolk Board of Cooperative Educational Services, professional services, such as architectural planning, do not require school districts to issue requests for proposals each time they require those services. However, John J. Finello, the Springs School superintendent, said Wednesday that the district issued this request because it anticipates “that this project may be far more extensive based upon the Board of Education’s final decisions.”

Mr. Finello spoke highly of BBS Architects, having previously worked with  Mr. Smith elsewhere.“His reputation, his credentials, are excellent,” Mr. Finello said. “The work that he has done with our board has been very beneficial to the district.”

 Mr. Rogers said yesterday that his firm was contemplating a possible reply to the latest request for proposals. Mr. Smith said Tuesday that his firm had submitted a proposal.

“We would love to be able to continue to work in Springs,” Mr. Smith said. “I’m trying to make the process as open and as informed as possible. I think the community can benefit from that.”

“The village appreciates the lengths your client is going to, to preserve this historic structure,” said Frank Newbold, chairman of the East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals, following a hearing Friday on Barry Rosenstein’s application for variances to replace the historic Dominy clock and woodworking shops on his 16-acre property at 60, 62, and 64 Further Lane with what he is calling the “Dominy Pavilion.” The shops, circa 1797 and 1850, would be moved back to their original location, on North Main Street near the Emergency Services Building.

The proposed structure’s footprint would match that of the Dominy shops. It would be 16 feet high, with an ocean-view terrace and an outdoor fireplace, with two rooms and a bathroom on the first floor and an additional 650 square feet of finished space at a basement level. Village code limits such accessory structures to a single 250-square-foot room, no higher than 14 feet.

Just before the hearing, in response to the village’s newly adopted zoning ordinance limiting the size of basements, the applicant cut the size of the basement, originally 1,150 square feet, almost in half, eliminating the need for one variance.

In 1946, the two Dominy structures were in disrepair and about to be demolished when the late Dudley Roberts moved them to 62 Further Lane and combined them into a single structure. Today they are designated timber-frame landmarks, and cannot be torn down.

Mr. Rosenstein, a hedge fund manager and founder of the multibillion-dollar Jana Partners, has razed the main house on the property, and the foundation for a 20,000-square-foot replacement has been dug.

“We’re just replacing the Dominy cottage with another structure,” Leonard Ackerman told the board on behalf of the applicant. “This is essentially a replacement in kind, in the same location,” he said, noting that no neighbors have voiced opposition to the plan. The variance relief, Mr. Ackerman said, “will eventually lead to the renovation of a historic structure on village property. The benefit is quite obvious here.”

“We’re all very pleased that it is going to be preserved and moved to village property,” Mr. Newbold replied.

The hearing was closed, and a determination will be announced at a future meeting.

The board was less enthusiastic about an application to move and expand a legally pre-existing cottage on the 115 Montauk Highway property owned by Michael Ostin, a music industry executive. Andrew Goldstein, representing the applicant, submitted utility bills that put to rest a question of the cottage’sContinued from A1

seeming dereliction; the board had questioned whether its pre-existing nonconforming status had been abandoned.

Citing a Z.B.A. ruling involving an Egypt Lane property owner who received permission, over the objection of an adjacent neighbor, to rebuild a derelict cottage, Mr. Goldstein said that decision strengthened his client’s position.  (The neighbor later sued the village to prevent the rebuilding and lost.)

Mr. Newbold said he had reread the minutes of that application, and “the mantra, in almost every case, was ‘the same square footage, height, and dimensions.’ ”

“The village is taking a consistent position,” he said, in that a structure in a nonconforming location can be replaced in kind, but not relocated or altered.

Further, he said, Mr. Goldstein himself, when he was a member of the zoning board, had said the village’s comprehensive plan “expresses the strong sentiment against permitting any extension of pre-existing nonconforming use.”

The proposal to enlarge the cottage from 507 to 958 square feet represented an 89-percent expansion, Mr. Newbold said, while a proposed second story would raise its height from 14 to 21 feet. The applicant also wants to add one-and-a-half bathrooms. “It has been the precedent of this board to limit pre-existing structures to very close to what currently exists.”

Mr. Goldstein replied that his client’s plan did not involve an expansion of use. “The first cottage has two bedrooms, this has two bedrooms,” he said. “The fact that they’re on a different floor doesn’t mean intensifying use.”

Based on the size of the nearly 3.5-acre property, the applicant is entitled to significantly more habitable space than proposed, he added. The cottage would be used only for visiting family members and guests, he said, and Mr. Ostin has agreed to install a six-foot stockade fence, and evergreen trees of a minimum eight feet high, on the eastern and western property lines, as a condition of the variance.

The applicant could achieve the benefit sought by keeping the cottage where it is and adding square footage to the proposed main residence, Mr. Newbold said. The proposed 89-percent expansion is substantial, he said, and his colleagues agreed. “Limit it — or, we can go a little higher, but not 89-percent higher,” said John McGuirk. “Leave it as is,” said Larry Hillel.

Mr. Goldstein asked what degree of gross-floor-area increase the board would consider. “I would consider none,” said Lys Marigold, the vice chairwoman. “I don’t think this application fits any of the criteria for granting an area variance.”

Mr. McGuirk suggested that Mr. Goldstein “come back with something substantially smaller.” The hearing was adjourned, with a continuation scheduled for July 24.

The board announced one determination, granting the East Hampton Presbyterian Church a special permit to allow the installation of an air-conditioning unit along its rear wall. It is to be used in conjunction with AT&T cellular phone equipment inside the church. The permit is subject to approval by the Design Review Board, which may request modifications.

The Village of East Hampton and the East Hampton Town Trustees are engaged in a standoff of sorts over the garbage cans on the village’s beaches after one of the trustees tagged the receptacles at Main and Georgica Beaches for removal.

Convinced that the trashcans are encouraging litter, the trustees sent a memo to the village board in late May asking that they be removed from all village beaches. (The trustees manage most beaches between Napeague and Wainscott on behalf of the public.)

When the village failed to take action, Deborah Klughers, a trustee, went out this week to place red tags on receptacles on two of the village beaches — she did not have enough tags for all five. It’s the same thing trustees do with, say, a kayak, that does not have a trustee permit. Tagged items that are not removed within a designated timeframe are ultimately impounded.

The trustees are not seeking trouble, Ms. Klughers said, “but the board spoke and the village isn’t listening.”

Typically, she said, “we give about two weeks” before removal. “This is a little different, with a government entity,” she said.

At a May 28 meeting, the trustees got an earful about the receptacles and the mess they engender from Dell Cullum, a photographer and wildlife removal specialist. Rather than encouraging people to clean up after themselves, Mr. Cullum said, the cans on the sand seem to result in garbage strewn over a wider area, and they become an attractive nuisance for seagulls and other creatures. Bill Taylor, a trustee, observed at that meeting that the town had removed receptacles from its sands several years ago “because they were a big mess.” On town beaches, cans are only at the road ends and not on the beach itself. The situation improved as a result, Mr. Taylor said.

Diane McNally, the trustees’ presiding officer, reminded her colleagues at their June 9 meeting that the trustees “have been very conscientiously removing garbage from our properties,” as well as organizing regular beach cleanups and taking other actions to keep the beaches under their jurisdiction clean.

By their next meeting on June 23, when the only response from the village had been a note saying that the trustees’ request would be reviewed, Ms. Klughers proposed tagging the cans.

“Discussion needs to start reallysoon,” Ms. Klughers said this week, “not a letter saying, ‘We got your message,’ ” which she felt was dismissive.

They “just look horrible,” she said, describing a visit to a village beach shortly after the cans had apparently been emptied. Beachgoers couldn’t fit their garbage in the cans, and seagulls were pulling it out. They are “a nuisance, a health issue, and a wildlife issue,” she said.

Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. expressed irritation over the contretemps. “The garbage cans are going to remain,” he said yesterday. “They serve a valid purpose. I would ask the town trustees to grow up. There are more important issues that we wish to work together on with respect to partnership with the trustees.”

The matter, he said, “is just not in the arena of good governance.”

Ms. Molinaro seconded the mayor’s comments, saying yesterday that the village has no intention at this time to remove the receptacles. “Our staff works literally day and night to keep our beaches beautiful,” she said, “and unless the town trustees are offering to help us clean up, we will keep things as they are.”

Ms. Molinaro also noted that Main Beach regularly tops an annual list of the country’s best beaches as rated by Stephen Leatherman, who goes by the nickname Dr. Beach.

East Hampton Airport will shut down tonight at 8 to helicopters and other aircraft that create enough racket to be included in a “noisy aircraft” category, and to all air traffic at 11 p.m., as a contested overnight curfew goes into effect.

Takeoffs and landings of noisy aircraft can resume at 9 a.m. each morning, and at 7 a.m. for others. The East Hampton Town Board approved the year-round restriction in April, but it was put on hold after opponents sued to prevent it, pending a judge’s decision.

Judge Joanna Seybert of Federal District Court in Central Islip agreed on Friday that the town could institute the nighttime curfew, but red-lighted a tougher restriction that would have limited summertime takeoffs and landings by noisy aircraft to a single back-and-forth per week.

Planes that will be subject to the extended curfew are those that have been designated as having a measured “effective perceived noise in decibels” (EPNdb) approach level of 91 or greater, according to a measure used by the Federal Aviation Administration, based on an “annoyance level.” The category includes various types of helicopters, which have engendered a large number of noise complaints from residents across the East End.

 East Hampton Town has published a list of noisy-aircraft types and a guide for aircraft owners, “How Do I Tell If an Aircraft is Noisy,” at a website dedicated to airport matters, at htoplanning.com. (HTO is the airport’s official code.)

The new town laws were challenged by a coalition including several air carriers, as well as a group calling itself the Friends of the East Hampton Airport, a nonprofit corporation which, according to court documents, “represents the interests of those who seek to keep the airport open to all types, kinds, and classes of aircraft activities and flying services.”

The plaintiffs include the Associated Aircraft Group and HeliFlite Shares, which provide helicopter charter services and offer fractional aircraft ownership programs; Eleventh Street Aviation, and the Analar Corporation. Also, the Helicopter Association International, a Delaware trade association, and Sound Aircraft Services, which leases property at East Hampton Airport from the town and provides fuel and other services to aircraft operators and passengers.

In issuing the injunction against theonce-a-week limit on noisy aircraft, Judge Seybert agreed that “at least some” of the plaintiffs’ businesses would suffer “irreparable harm” should the law take effect, and called it “drastic, considering the effect it poses on some of plaintiffs’ businesses . . . There is no indication that a less restrictive measure would not also satisfactorily alleviate the airport’s noise problem,” she wrote.

“The majority of the aircrafts that many of the plaintiffs use for their charter services to the airport are subject to the town laws’ noisy aircraft definition,” Judge Seybert noted.

According to the president of the Analar Corporation, flights to and from East Hampton Airport account for 55 percent of the company’s revenue, and 65 percent of its flights would be prohibited under the town’s restriction. And the president of the Associated Aircraft Group reported, as the judge wrote, that “its prospective fractional owners have delayed purchasing shares and some of its existing fractional owners have delayed renewing their shares pending the outcome of this matter.”

“Additionally, Judge Seybert wrote, “some plaintiffs believe that they will have to reduce their fleets and terminate many of their employees, including highly skilled pilots.”

The town laws “undoubtedly will impose on some of the plaintiffs substantial business losses, major operational disruptions, and losses of good will that could be difficult to quantify,” she wrote. However, Judge Seybert wrote, “the ultimate question of whether the town may impose access restrictions to the airport could still be resolved on the merits in the town’s favor.”

She affirmed the right of East Hampton Town to adopt restrictions to address excessive airport noise, noting that “it cannot be argued that the town lacked the data to support a finding of a noise problem at the airport.”

The plaintiffs argued that the town justified its restrictions using “deeply flawed data” that did not comply with federal requirements, and that the “noisy aircraft” standard was “arbitrary and discriminatory.”

But, said the judge, in adopting the laws “the town considered formal complaints submitted through the airport’s formal complaint log, which yielded over 23,000 complaints. The court recognizes that a large portion of these complaints came from a small number of households, but it cannot be argued that the town lacked data to support a finding of a noise problem at the airport, particularly given the large increase in helicopter traffic in recent years.”

According to the town, helicopter traffic was up 50 percent last year over the year before.

Judge Seybert called the aviation groups’ assertion that the overnight curfew was unsafe, as it could cause pilots to make ill-advised decisions or divert them to airports unable to handle the increased traffic “purely speculative.”

“We’re pleased the judge has acknowledged that the town was justified in adopting restrictions to provide relief to the growing number of people who are negatively affected by aircraft noise,” East Hampton Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell said in a release.

“Although we regret that one of the key laws cannot be enforced for the time being, we are gratified that the court recognized that the law allows the kind of restrictions that are essential to protect the residents of this town.” After Judge Seybert heard oral arguments on May 18, the town agreed to postpone enforcement of the airport laws pending her decision on the requested injunction.

The Federal Aviation Administration supported the injunction request, saying that it needed time to examine the legality and impact of the laws.

In her 45-page decision, the judge reviewed various applicable federal laws and constitutional principles raised by the plaintiffs, among them a number of F.A.A. regulations.

The plaintiffs argued that the town laws were invalid, as they are pre-empted by federal aviation law, and that they violated the commerce clause of the Constitution by restraining interstate commerce. They claimed the restrictions also raised questions about compliance with the federal Airport Noise and Capacity Act of 1990 and the Airport and Airway Improvement Act of 1982.

The town has said that neither federal statute preempts its authority, as the airport proprietor, to adopt and enforce use restrictions.

Regardless, Judge Seybert ruled, those questions are a matter between federal authorities and the town, and not subject to a lawsuit by outside interests.

The court reserved judgment on another of the plaintiffs’ requests, that their suit against the town and one filed a little earlier against the F.A.A. be consolidated. In the latter lawsuit, the plaintiffs claim that the F.A.A. must continue to enforce a contractual agreement with the town regarding airport operations, despite agreeing, following the 2005 settlement of a private lawsuit, to suspend its enforcement at the end of 2014.

It requires an “airport sponsor to ‘make the airport available as an airport for public use on reasonable terms,’ ” according to the court files.

The suspension of that agreement, or “grant assurance” (an obligation to the F.A.A. regarding airport operations, put into effect when federal airport grants are accepted), set the groundwork for the town to enact its new restrictions, claiming more local control of the airport. A memo from the F.A.A. to former Representative Tim Bishop, addressing adherence to federal airport laws and how much local control the town might claim, is also at issue.

Judge Seybert said she was “sorely tempted to issue a ruling” that the F.A.A. was legally obligated to enforce the grant assurance, despite agreeing not to in 2005. She said, however, that she would not make any ruling before the F.A.A. submits a response in the present lawsuit. It is due on Wednesday.

“We are gratified that the court enjoined the one-trip limit, finding it to be drastic and unreasonable. We are carefully reviewing the decision and appellate options regarding the curfews,” Loren Riegelhaupt, a spokesman for Friends of the East Hampton Airport, said in an email last week.

“The court’s decision today is an important first step, but we must recognize that our opponents are well funded and will not give up easily,” said Councilwoman Kathee Burke-Gonzalez, the town’s airport liaison, in the town’s release. “In light of today’s ruling, however, we encourage our opponents to rethink their strategy. It’s time to do what’s best for the town and adapt aircraft operations to fit our reasonable restrictions.”

Violations of the new airport laws are deemed criminal offenses, with a sliding scale of fines for the first three violations, from $1,000 to $4,000, and then $10,000, and prohibition from the airport for a period of up to two years for a fourth. The town may also seek court injunctions, restraining orders, and monetary fines against any person or entity with an ownership interest in a violating aircraft.

The East Hampton-based Quiet Skies Coalition, a citizens group that has advocated for use restrictions at the airport to ameliorate aircraft noise, said on Twitter, “With today’s disappointing ruling by the judge, she has permitted businesses to prevail while East Enders suffer.”

East Hampton Town is represented in the lawsuit by Peter Kirsch, an attorney with Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell of Denver, who has served as the town’s aviation law specialist, and by Eric Bregman, a former town attorney now affiliated with Farrell Fritz in Water Mill.

Just as Amagansett firefighters were preparing to leave the firehouse to stand by at the Devon Yacht Club fireworks they were called to a gas grill fire on the Fourth of July. 

A fire erupted in a Weber gas grill and it spread to the deck of the house, located at 74 Beach Avenue, off of Bluff Road, at about 6:15 p.m., according to Allen Bennett, the chief of the Amagansett Fire Department. "It could have been bad," Chief Bennett said, but firefighters were quickly able to extinguish the blaze before the house caught on fire. 

About 25 firefighters responded with two engines. They were at the house for about a half-hour. An ambulance from the Montauk Fire Department was requested because one of Amagansett's ambulances was already out on a separate call. 

There was no damage to the house, and only minor damage to the deck. "The grill was a total loss," said Chief Bennett. It wasn't clear how it began, but the cheif said it likely malfunctioned.

Firefighters are now down near the Devon Yacht Club for Saturday evening's fireworks show.

The 21 Uber drivers facing misdemeanor charges of operating a car for hire without being licensed by the Town of East Hampton agreed Monday to pay fines of $400 each in return for the town lowering the charges to simple violations.

Daniel G. Rodgers, the lawyer hired by Uber to represent the drivers, had promised the men during their first court appearance last month that he would not allow them to end up with a criminal record, threatening to take each case to trial if need be.

Mr. Rodgers delivered on that promise in East Hampton Town Court in front of Justice Lisa R. Rana. One by one, the drivers stood next to Mr. Rodgers as Michael Sendlenski, the prosecuting attorney for the town, lowered the charge against each from operating a taxi without a business license, a misdemeanor, to driving a taxi without a hack license, a violation.

Ironically, the men were pleading guilty to a violation that, while on the books for the past year, has never been enforced. The town has yet to issue its first hack license. Mr. Sendlenski explained afterward that it was a plea arrangement for the defendants that allowed them to plead guilty to a non-criminal offense within the same chapter of the town's code.

Before 14 of the 21 men could plead guilty to the violation, they had to be arraigned on the misdemeanor charge. They were: Davron Khuseynov, Dorji Dhondup, Adil Doghmi, James Adekplovi, Jimmy A. Collado, Sonam Lama, Azamat Emazarov, Dovran Esenov, Khalim Firdays, Kebe Chieka Saadboa, Emostafa Sabour, Khan Shahzad, Parduman Singh, and Edgar Daniels. Mr. Davron faced two charges, which he received on consecutive weekends. He was fined $800.

Two other Uber drivers were charged with illegal camping, for sleeping in their cars, a simple violation, to which they pleaded guilty.

The other seven men charged with operating without a business license had been previously arraigned and were allowed to plead guilty without appearing. Mr. Rodgers entered their pleas for them.

All were given two weeks to pay. Mr. Rodgers said outside the court afterward that it was his understanding that Uber would pay all the fines.

After the court session, Mr. Rodgers attacked the law under which his clients were charged. "It is bad law. It should be tossed," he said to reporters outside the courthouse.

While recognizing the need for communities to regulate and license businesses, the particular clause of the law that requires drivers to work for a business located within the confines of East Hampton Town, drew his ire.

Mr. Rodgers compared it to other professions, including his own, asking if lawyers or carpenters should be subjected to the same criteria. "It doesn't serve the consumer's interest," he said.

Mr. Sendlenski countered that if Mr. Rodgers had a valid legal argument against the law, "I'm sure he would have raised it. Instead, each and every one of his clients pleaded guilty."

It seems as if Mother Nature has provided an au pair for a pair of Canada geese and their three downy goslings that hang out on Fort Pond near Second House Road and Industrial Road in Montauk.

The wayward goose, who, according to our resident naturalist, Dell Cullum, appears to be a hybrid of a Pilgrim goose and a Chinese goose, was initially noticed by Debbie Kuntz in January, when it hunkered down from the cold with the rest of the Canada geese on the lower level of the Montauk School playing fields. The snow and ice was so thick they had no way of getting food.

Feeling sorry for them, Ms. Kuntz visited each day and threw cracked corn for them to eat. “I couldn’t watch them starving to death,” she said. One day, the hybrid showed up at her driveway a bit farther down from the school on Second House Road. It lived around her yard for a while, gobbling up all the food Ms. Kuntz threw to it.

Finally, the goose moved on toward the pond and tried to form a relationship with a family of swans but was shunned. It decided to join the Canada geese again and received a warm welcome from the new parents. Now, the goose, whose gender cannot be detected unless examined but who goes by Gracie the Goose, helps guard the family when it crosses the road.

The owner of Lighthouse Landscaping, Ms. Kuntz said it had been a rough winter for wild animals. She and others in the landscaping business found an unusually large number of deer and bird carcasses in the spring.

“It’s just something that happens in nature, and this winter really weeded out the weak,” she said.

But Gracie, who Ms. Kuntz thinks lost her way from a petting zoo or horse ranch, is doing fine and watches over the goslings as if they were her own. They can usually be seen at the water’s edge on the eastern corner of Industrial Road.

The departure of Uber, the app-based car service, following a blitz of tickets given its drivers for lacking the required town taxi licenses, has two East End taxi company owners jumping into the breach.

Via two new smartphone apps, Hamptons Taxi and Gata Hub, prospective fares can now summon licensed cabs from local companies.

Uber shut down its East Hampton service after Memorial Day. A town regulation that took effect this year requiring cab companies to have a local office and their taxis to be licensed to that address is impossible for the company to meet, Uber said.

So, separately, both Mark Ripolone of Ditch Plains Taxi in Montauk and Bryan DaParma of Hometown Taxi in East Hampton and Southampton took the steering wheel, so to speak, and launched localized apps.

“I decided to create an app to try to combat Uber,” said Mr. DaParma, who was recently appointed to a two-year term on the Suffolk County Taxi and Limousine Commission. “They’ve got a great business plan; they’re just not doing it the legal way,” he said — not here, anyway.

Mr. DaParma partnered with New Frontier Payments, a Pennsylvania and New York company, to create the Hamptons Taxi app, which can be downloaded through Google Play or Apple’s app store.

“Ride Local, Not Rogue,” it says when launched.

Similar to Uber, the app depicts a map on which riders may select pickup and dropoff points. Fares are then provided. Users of both the taxi apps will be able to charge fares to credit cards kept on file or pay with cash or a credit card in the taxi.

Mr. Ripolone of Ditch Plains Taxi signed a two-year contract with Gata Hub — Gata stands for get a taxi anywhere, he said — and pays a monthly fee to the company. When Uber pulled out of town, “I realized people are used to ordering everything on their phone; just in general using their phone for everything,” said Mr. Ripolone, who is a member of a taxi committee that advises the East Hampton Town Board.

He has become a spokesman of sorts for local cab companies. In the furor here over the loss of Uber — fomented by an email from the company to its users urging them to complain about the town licensing law, which it said was “banning” the service — the local cabs were painted as overly expensive and unreliable. Unfair and untrue, Mr. Ripolone said.

He invited the owners of several other Montauk companies to participate, and Moko Taxi and The End signed on, making a total of 17 Montauk-based cars available. Taxi One of East Hampton is also a participant.

Customers using Gata Hub may choose which company to summon. “I found a great opportunity, and I realized if it was just me, I couldn’t cater to all of Montauk,” Mr. Ripolone said.

With Hamptons Taxi, users may summon one of Hometown Taxi’s 85 vehicles, or taxis from other companies that might sign with the service.

“I’m inviting any and all drivers who want to be a part of this to come down. So, hopefully, if the local companies come together, Uber will not have a chance,” Mr. DaParma said. Before signing cabs onto the app system, he said he would make sure they were properly licensed. “That way we can provide excellent service out there.”

“First and foremost,” said Mr. DaParma, a native of the South Fork who has run his business in Southampton and East Hampton Towns for 18 years, “I want to keep the money local. A lot of people come out here, and they spend a lot of money. It’s not fair that companies come out here” and capitalize on the busy summer season, he said.

While drivers from other taxi businesses can sign up at the moment for free with Hamptons Taxi, Mr. DaParma said he might collect a small fee in future to cover credit card payment processing and other administrative costs. After a “soft launch” last weekend, Hamptons Taxi “had a lot of good feedback,” he said.

A website is being developed, so that hotel concierges, for example, can go online to summon cars for guests. Plans to supply kiosks with dedicated computers at locations such as bars and restaurants are in the works as well.

“My ultimate goal is to have them in every front desk from Southampton to Montauk,” Mr. DaParma said.

Mr. Ripolone said he would “absolutely” be willing to coordinate services by participating in a regional Hamptons “Uber,” depending on his business agreement with Gata Hub. “Everything is going to be over the Internet,” he said. “Everything is going to be Uber-like. It’s a good thing.”

Looking back on his 21 years on the Sag Harbor Village Board, first as a trustee and finally as mayor, Brian Gilbride said he has no regrets. “I’m pretty firm in my convictions,” Mr. Gilbride said Tuesday. “Could I have done things a little better? I’m sure the answer is yes, but would I have done things any differently? The answer to that would be no.” His response, even he admitted, is telling of his personality.

“Irrespective of what the issue was, you knew where he was on it, up front,” said Tiffany Scarlato, who served on the board for six years until 2010. Ms. Scarlato, who works as the Southampton Town attorney, said it was at the urging of Mr. Gilbride, whom she’s known her whole life, that she got involved in village government. “He’s a man of his word, and that’s something you don’t see that often these days,” she said.

Perhaps, in part, because he is outspoken, frank, and to the point, Mr. Gilbride, who turned 68 on Sunday, has seen his fair share of strife throughout his tenure on the board. Among the more difficult experiences were negotiating two recent labor contracts with the Sag Harbor Village Police Benevolent Association — relations between Mr. Gilbride and the village police have long been strained. Still, he said he is proud of the work he has accomplished, including negotiating with the P.B.A. that new hires have to pay 15 percent of their health insurance.

He is leaving the village in good shape, he said, stepping down on his own terms on Monday. Sandra Schroeder, who was a longtime village clerk, and his deputy mayor, was elected to the seat last month. “I held the line on taxes pretty good. I did not borrow money. I got some projects done,” the outgoing mayor said. In 21 years he never missed a meeting.

Looking back at Mr. Gilbride’s administration, Ed Deyermond, a current board member and former mayor, said yesterday that it had been a tough period. “He’s presided over a period of tremendous growth, without a doubt, and with growth comes problems,” he said. Mr. Gilbride’s most enduring legacy, he said, may be in one simple transaction. “Problems, issues, and even people come and go, but I think Long Wharf, and his obtaining Long Wharf, that’s going to be forever. That’s probably my biggest take-away.”

Mr. Gilbride rattled off a long list of other accomplishments, which included the opening of the village justice court in a meeting space at Village Hall five years ago, public restrooms that were made handicapped accessible thanks to county community development funds, and redesigning the village website.

“The last six years as mayor, it’s not just me, it’s the mayors before me who started certain projects that I got to complete,” he said. There was also the renovation of the John A. Ward Windmill with the help of fund-raising from the chamber of commerce, Save Sag Harbor, and the Sag Harbor Lions Club, and the acquisition of the beach at the windmill. Another project that came to fruition after many years of discussion was remediation of the Havens Beach drainage ditch with two grants totaling nearly $300,000. “That’s some of the stuff I can remember,” he said with a laugh.

When he first ran for mayor against Jim Henry and Michael S. Bromberg in 2009, he made promises that he said he has kept. “I didn’t want to increase debt in the village, and I didn’t do that,” he said. It is not a decision with which all agreed. “My view is it’s other people’s money. I try to take care of it the best I can,” he said, “and yet, I still got some things done.”

“I’m working for the public. . . . You don’t make everybody happy, but occasionally you make somebody happy.”

Mr. Gilbride’s public service goes beyond his time on the board. Village Mayor John Ward first hired him to work in Sag Harbor’s Highway Department in 1966, but he moved on to work for the Town of Southampton, eventually heading up its Sanitation Department. Two years after he was first elected in Sag Harbor, former Southampton Town Supervisor Vincent Cannuscio gave him his walking papers. He returned to Sag Harbor, then as a part-time superintendent of public works, a job he retired from in 2002.

Back in the late 1960s, he joined the fire department, rising to chief, a position he held from 1982 to 1985. In 2007, he made an unsuccessful bid for the East Hampton Town Board, running with on the Repubican ticket with Bill Wilkinson.

He was first elected to the village board, along with Ed Deyermond, in 1994, when he supported the firefighters who wanted to become trained divers following a drowning off Havens Beach. Peter Dougenis came under fire when he referred to the purchasing of scuba-diving equipment as “more fun and games,” according to articles that appeared in The Star in 1993. 

“One of the trustees wasn’t really willing to do anything for these guys who had put a lot of their time in. One of their comments was, ‘If you don’t like it, you should run,’ ” he said. So he did. Mr. Deyermond and Mr. Gilbride replaced Mr. Dougenis and Marshall Garypie Jr. “That’s what got me started. I’m really a quiet, private guy,” he said.

Mr. Gilbride served alongside five mayors: Pierce Hance, Bill Young, Lauren Fortmiller, the first female mayor in the village, Mr. Deyermond, and finally his predecessor, Greg Ferraris. The last was his favorite, he said, despite the fact that the two were in stark contrast with one another. “I can say this now having served as mayor. Until you do it, you have no idea what the job really entails.”

A lot has changed during Mr. Gilbride’s time on the board, both for himself and the village. “Back in 1994, we didn’t really talk a lot until the meetings, and now there seems to be a lot of interaction,” he said, referring to other meetings and constant calls he gets on various topics. “It was a much slower time back then . . . that is one thing that really stands out over the last 20 years. We are at, right now, just this whirlwind pace of everything that’s going on, especially building.” It will be the next administration’s biggest challenge, he said. 

He no longer works in the public sector, but has had a longtime position with the Emil Norsic and Son sanitation company in Southampton. Four years ago, Mr. Gilbride lost his wife, Georganne Gilbride. “There were many people that made that difficult time easier,” Mr. Gilbride said.

That is just one of the many reasons why Sag Harbor is so special. He often says that his own career in village politics speaks volumes about the type of place Sag Harbor is. “I consider myself an uneducated individual who is street smart,” he said. His father died when he was 10 years old, and he dropped out of Pierson High School at 16 to help support his family. He later earned two high school equivalency diplomas, one before he joined the Navy and another during his time in the military. “It shows you how good Sag Harbor is. . . . When you show initiative and that you want to do things and work on behalf of the village, this village is accepting of that.”

Mr. Gilbride feels a sense of pride to have served the community — a working class, factory town when he was growing up that has exploded with second homeowners — and he feels lucky to still call it home. “I have been fortunate enough to have been elected mayor three times. I’m humbled and honored.”

In retirement from the village board, Mr. Gilbride plans to spend even more time with his grandchildren. His granddaughter Casey plays field hockey in college. He made it to all her spring scrimmages and hopes to be there for every match this fall.