A proposed law that would limit the ability of East Hampton motels to add a restaurant or bar drew support, critique, and criticism last Thursday night during a hearing before the East Hampton Town Board.

The law would prohibit motels in residential areas from adding new “accessory” restaurants or bars, though existing ones would be allowed to keep operating. It would also require motels in other zoning districts that wish to add a bar or restaurant to obtain a special permit from the planning board, and meet a set of specific standards outlined in the new law.

According to the proposed legislation, restaurants and bars at motels have traditionally been viewed as amenities for motel guests. But, it says, they have “caused negative effects to the character of the community, quality of life of the neighbors and created public health, welfare and safety concerns by becoming less accessory and growing into a second principal use” at motel properties. Those in residential districts, the town has asserted, are “especially detrimental to the quality of life of the surrounding neighborhood,” causing an increase in traffic, noise, and parking problems.

Only resorts or motels with at least 25 rooms would be allowed to add a restaurant or bar, and the new facility could only be sited in the business’s main building, not in a freestanding space.

The law would limit the area to be used and require that outdoor seating areas be set back twice as far from rear or side-yard property lines as is currently required under the code when the neighboring lot is residential. Screening would be required.

Some opponents at the hearing last week painted the proposal as an unfair political reversal of previous town policy. However, residents of Montauk, where the expanded use of a number of longstanding restaurants has sparked a conflict between the businesses and surrounding neighbors, said that an effort to tamp down the burgeoning party scene and better balance commercial and residential interests is sorely needed.

A number of speakers who supported the law also supported suggestions for its revision by Christopher Kelley, an East Hampton attorney, who said that the legislation would be improved by tightening it in several ways.

Only those motels that conform to allcurrent town code provisions should be eligible for a permit to add an accessory bar or restaurant, he said, and service at those facilities should be limited to motel guests only.

Outdoor dining and bar service should be banned, Mr. Kelley said, as should outdoor music, or live music indoors if the motel abuts residential properties. Should the town board allow outdoor eating or drinking, Mr. Kelley said that the setbacks for the al fresco areas should be greater than as is proposed, equal to the setbacks required from property lines for the principal motel building.

The current proposal “doesn’t really protect” neighbors, he said.

Those seeking a permit for an accessory bar or restaurant, Mr. Kelley said, should be required to upgrade septic systems.

Jeremy Samuelson, the executive director of Concerned Citizens of Montauk, noted recent instances of fish kills, algal blooms, and contamination caused by pollutants reaching the water, and said septic system improvements are key. “We have the right to ask them to do the right thing. We have the right to ask them to take care of their sewage,” he said. “These are not theoretical concerns; this is happening.”

The proposed law is a “huge step in the right direction,” for which there is a “desperate need,” he told the board. With some fine-tuning, he said, “I think we’ll have a really powerful and meaningful piece of legislation that will truly benefit the residents and visitors to Montauk.”

He pointed out that, as written, the law could allow both a 2,000-square-foot restaurant and a 1,000-square-foot bar at a motel, and said business owners should be asked to choose one or the other. “It’s too much,” he said. “It’s not clear to me that there’s a significant need or benefit to the community.”

Limiting eligibility for permits for new accessory restaurants or bars to only those motels that have 25 rooms or more “appears random,” said Margaret Turner, the executive director of the East Hampton Business Alliance. “The trend is toward boutique hotels, where breakfast and room service are expected. Why shouldn’t a 9 or 10-room hotel be allowed to serve their guests breakfast or a glass of wine?”

She asked the board to delay a decision on the new law until the completion of planning studies on the town’s business needs and on individual hamlets, which are in planning stages.

“We feel that this proposal may be reactionary to what has or may happen in Montauk, and remind the board that this proposal affects the entire town.”

James Daunt, who recently sold his Montauk motel, says the town codes regarding occupancy, noise, and the like, are “selectively enforced.” He acknowledged that there are legitimate issues to address, but, he asked, “is this really the proper way to correct it?”

“The town has a responsibility to balance the concerns of residents. It has a responsibility to protect our sensitive environment. The town must also balance the interests of businesses and investors,” said Jay Levine, adding that the proposed law “does seem to balance those concerns.”

A limit on the expansion of hospitality businesses is “long overdue,” said Stacey Brosnan of Montauk. A former business owner, she said she is sympathetic to the needs of businesses. “But there is no balance in Montauk,” she said. “At this point it really has tipped in favor of the business community as opposed to the quality of life and the protection of our beautiful place that we live. The people of Montauk really need this very much.”

  Though the town board has said that this legislation will not affect pre-existing, nonconforming hotels that already have restaurants or bars, “I tend to doubt that,” said Lawrence Kelly, an attorney who represents Montauk’s Memory Motel. “I tend to think that at some point someone will make use of this legislation to interfere with the doing of business in East Hampton Town by people who own the property, who have rights under state law, that those rights will be impacted by this.”

“The Beach House case established that the full use of a motel property includes bar service, under clearly established state law,” he said, referring to the former Ronjo motel in Montauk. Renovations there, including the addition of a bar, prompted town scrutiny and review.

“I understand that there is local opposition to business but that does not change state law,” Mr. Kelly said. “If you are going to prohibit outdoor music, if you are going to mandate that all pre-existing, nonconforming properties upgrade septic systems for any changes whatsoever, you will invoke paralysis. . . . Things that you say will not be onerous to business owners will indeed be onerous to business owners.”

“People have invested in the community; they look for a certain return on their investment under clearly established state law. If you want to go contrary to that clearly established state law to hit a political agenda, fine. But you will be challenged, and I believe ultimately you will be defeated on any such attempts.”

Mr. Kelly suggested the board have more discussions with the business community before moving forward.

Brian Kenny, an owner of the Memory Motel, said that the motel owners had made “a multimillion-dollar investment” and changes at the motel site based on assertions from the prior town administration and officials, and that it would be unfair to change the rules now.

“If our pre-existing business, and our actions in cooperation with the town are, after a successful six years of operation, now subjected to a political reinterpretation . . . [and] we as business owners are being targeted based on a revised agenda, we will have to conclude that our civil rights and our business rights are being capriciously violated.”

Last year, Mr. Kelly said, the Memory was cited for zoning violations by the town, which sought an injunction, and two weeks ago it was cited again.

Over the weekend, there were two drunken-driving arrests involving accidents here, police said, including one in which a driver got into not one, but two crashes in two different townships. 

An Oakdale man led East Hampton Village police on a chase Sunday night that ended when he allegedly crashed the 2001 Nissan Pathfinder he was driving through a fence and into a construction site at a busy Bridgehampton intersection.

Thomas R. Flanagan, 19, was arrested on multiple charges, including three counts of felony reckless endangerment, East Hampton Village Police Chief Gerard Larsen said Monday. He was also charged with driving while intoxicated, driving with ability impaired by drugs, and fleeing a police officer, all misdemeanors. In addition, he was issued at least 15 moving violations by the police, who documented the entire episode with dashboard cameras. East Hampton Town Justice Steven Tekulsky set bail at $5,000, the amount requested by the district attorney’s office, on Monday morning.

Justice Tekulsky said that while Mr. Flanagan has never been convicted of a crime, his alleged actions throughout the chase “indicate to the court that the defendant puts his own interests above those of society.”

According to Chief Larsen, police first began looking for Mr. Flanagan after they received a call at 9:01 p.m. alerting them to a reckless driver headed west on Montauk Highway on Napeague. At 9:06 p.m., village police received a second call concerning the Nissan Mr. Flanagan was said to be driving, after it allegedly struck a utility pole where Pantigo Road becomes East Hampton’s Main Street, by the Hook Mill. Mr. Flanagan was said to have driven off after the accident, continuing west.

He was then spotted by an officer on Montauk Highway near Cove Hollow Road in East Hampton. The officer put his emergency lights on, and Mr. Flanagan pulled over, Chief Larsen said. But, when the officer got out of the patrol car, Mr. Flanagan allegedly sped off. Driving at about 45 miles per hour while pursued by village police with their lights on and sirens blaring, Mr. Flanagan weaved in and out of westbound Sunday traffic, frequently driving on the shoulder, through Wainscott and Sagaponack, the chief said. At one point he forced a bicyclist off the road and onto a patch of grass. At another point, “he came within inches of colliding” with a village police car, according to the arrest report.

Now joined by Southampton Town police, the pursuit continued toward Bridgehampton. While trying to pass cars at the traffic light by at the corner of Montauk Highway and the Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike, Mr. Flanagan struck an occupied car, careened off to the right, hopping the curb, and crashed into a construction site at the northwest corner of the intersection, the chief said.

After the crash Mr. Flanagan was taken to Southampton Hospital, where he was treated and released back into police custody.

When police interviewed him, he reportedly said he had been drinking at Gurney’s Inn in Montauk, and that he had had “one or two margaritas.” He also allegedly admitted to taking two prescription mood-enhancing drugs.

In court Monday, he appeared shaken. He had multiple bruises and cuts on his face and shoulders.

His attorney, Brian Francese of the Legal Aid Society, argued that Mr. Flanagan is on medication, and told the court that the felony charges of reckless endangerment were “overcharges.” The charge is made when a defendant is said to threaten human life with his or her actions. Mr. Francese maintained that this did not fit the events.

According to Chief Larsen, however, Mr. Flanagan’s actions did endanger life. If he had not struck the car that led to the final crash, the chief said, he could well have struck a pedestrian on Main Street in Bridgehampton.

As it was, police recorded three life-threatening incidents during the chase with the dash cams, the chief said.

Justice Tekulsky said that Mr. Flanagan had blood drawn at the hospital, and that the court would soon have the report indicating alcohol and drug levels in his body.

Mr. Flanagan sobbed as he was taken away. He was unable to post bail Monday and was taken to county jail in Riverside, where bail was posted Tuesday.

A second vehicle crash that resulted in an arrest on drunken driving charges happened Friday night on Route 114. According to East Hampton Town police, Elmar Hernandez Cruz, 20, was driving a 1999 Dodge Caravan with its headlights out, when he crashed into the side of a 2015 Chevrolet Suburban, which was crossing Route 114 at Swamp Road.

Mr. Hernandez Cruz had to be extricated from the demolished Dodge by heavy-rescue squads from the Sag Harbor and East Hampton Fire Departments and was flown to Stony Brook University Hospital, where he was charged with driving while intoxicated. He was scheduled to be arraigned in East Hampton Town Justice Court yesterday.

The accident occurred a little more than a mile from Mr. Hernandez Cruz’s East Hampton house on Route 114.

The two women in the Suburban were transported to Southampton Hospital with minor injuries. Dayna H. Carney, 26, of Chicago was the driver of the Suburban, and the passenger was Caitlin Coyle, 27, whose hometown was not given.

Mr. Hernandez Cruz suffered a fractured lower leg, according to the police report.

There were three other local arrests this past week on misdemeanor driving while intoxicated charges, with the heavy rain over the weekend likely keeping drivers, sober and drunk, off the roads. Two of those arrests were in Montauk.

In the early morning hours of June 17, James R. Loeb, 57, was pulled over in a 2006 Jeep on West Lake Drive, after signaling a turn several times without turning, then swerving into the oncoming traffic lane, police said.

Mr. Loeb lives in College Point, but also has a unit in the Montauk Shores Condominiums in Ditch Plain, he told the court during his arraignment in front of East Hampton Town Justice Lisa R. Rana.

The arresting officer reported that Mr. Loeb said, “I had a few beers at the Point. Can you follow me home?”

Instead, he ended up in handcuffs. At police headquarters, his blood alcohol content was measured at .12 of 1 percent, according to police. Anyone with a reading of .08 or higher is considered intoxicated. He was released without having to post bail.

A 2009 Honda allegedly doing 60 miles per hour in a 40-mile-per-hour zone on Flamingo Road in Montauk was pulled over early Saturday morning.

Hunter F. Kelsey, 19, of Wainscott was said by police to have a blood alcohol level of .13. He was released later that morning without having to post bail.

In Sag Harbor Village, police arrested Grant R. Sabean, 20, of New York, after he allegedly ran a stop sign at Main Street and Route 114.

After he was arrested, he was taken to East Hampton Village police headquarters to take the Intoxilyzer 9000 breath test, which he failed. He, too, was released without having to post bail, but with a future date on the criminal calendar of Sag Harbor Justice Lisa R. Rana.

James Salter, an author best known perhaps for his 1967 novel, “A Sport and a Pastime,” died on Friday in Sag Harbor during a physical therapy session after resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful. He was 90.

Mr. Salter began spending time on the South Fork in the late 1970s and lived for many years in Bridgehampton. He recounted his friendship with the writer Peter Matthiessen in The New Yorker last year after Matthiessen’s death, remembering swims at Gurney’s Inn  in Montauk, dinner parties in Sagaponack, and playing tennis.

Mr. Salter, who was born in Passaic, N.J., as James Horowitz, published his first novel, “The Hunters," in 1956 while still an Air Force pilot. He had graduated from West Point in 1945 and was a career officer until 1957, when he retired following the success of the novel. 

He went on to publish several other novels, collections of short stories and poetry, a memoir, and a collection of letters. He and his second wife, Kay Eldredge, wrote a 2006 book, "Life Is Meals: A Food Lover's Book of Days."

A good portion of his career included writing screenplays for films such as “Downhill Racer,” “The Appointment,” “Three,” and “Threshold.”

In 2011, he collaborated with the artist Juliao Sarmento on an exhibition at the Parrish Art Museum, which was then in Southampton, titled “Artists and Writers/House and Home.” 

Mr. Salter is survived by Ms. Eldredge, to whom he was married in 1998, and their son, Theo Salter. Three children from his first marriage, to Ann Altemus, Nina, Claude, and James Salter, and four grandchildren also survive. A daughter, Allan Salter, died before him.

Two fall victims were flown to Stony Brook University Hospital out of Sag Harbor Village on Monday morning after they were injured in separate incidents. The two medevac helicopters landed at Havens Beach within a half-hour of each other. 

The Sag Harbor Volunteer Ambulance Corps was called to the Sag Harbor Medical Walk-In on Bay Street at 10:07 a.m. when a woman arrived disoriented after a fall from a bicycle. Emergency medical personnel decided she should be airlifted to Stony Brook, the nearest trauma center. 

Just a few minutes later, at 10:15 a.m., the ambulance corps received a second call for a patient with injuries from a long fall. A man was reportedly on a 15-foot ladder when he fell at a house on Glover Street. A crew assembled with the help of the Bridgehampton Fire Department and an ambulance from East Hampton. 

The second helicopter, which flew east from MacArthur Airport in Islip, landed at Havens Beach at about 11:05 a.m., less than a half-hour after the first one had departed for Stony Brook.

The first helicopter was stationed at Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton.

No further information was immediately available about the patients' conditions. 

An Oakdale man led East Hampton Village police on a chase Sunday night that ended when he allegedly crashed the 2001 Nissan Pathfinder he was driving through a fence and into a construction site at a busy Bridgehampton intersection.

Thomas R. Flanagan, 19, was arrested on multiple charges, including three counts of felony reckless endangerment, East Hampton Village Police Chief Gerard Larsen said Monday. He was also charged with driving while intoxicated, driving with ability impaired by drugs, and fleeing a police officer. East Hampton Town Justice Steven Tekulsky set bail at $5,000, the amount requested by the district attorney's office, on Monday morning.

Justice Tekulsky said that while Mr. Flanagan has never been convicted of a crime, his alleged actions throughout the chase "indicate to the court that the defendant puts his own interests above those of society."

According to Chief Larsen, police first began looking for Mr. Flanagan, who was wearing a light summer dress, both when he was arrested and when he was arraigned, after town police received a call at about 8:55 p.m. alerting them to a reckless driver headed west on the Napeague stretch. At 9:06 p.m., village police received a second call concerning the Nissan Mr. Flanagan was said to be driving, after it allegedly struck a utility pole where Pantigo Road becomes East Hampton's Main Street, by the Hook Mill. Mr. Flanagan was said to have driven off after the accident, continuing to head west.

He was then spotted by an officer on Montauk Highway near Cove Hollow Road in East Hampton. The officer put his lights on, and Mr. Flanagan pulled over, Chief Larsen said. But, when the officer got out of the patrol car, Mr. Flanagan allegedly sped off. Driving at about 45 miles per hour while pursued by village police, Mr. Flanagan weaved in and out of traffic, through Wainscott and Sagaponack, the chief said. Now joined by Southampton Town police, the Nissan was headed into Bridgehampton. While trying to pass cars at the traffic light by at the corner of Montauk Highway and the Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike, Mr. Flanagan struck an occupied car, careened off to the right, hopping the curb, and crashing into a property that is under construction northwest corner of at the intersection.

After the crash Mr. Flanagan was taken to Southampton Hospital, where he was treated and released back into police custody. In court Monday, he appeared shaken. He had multiple bruises and cuts on his face and shoulders.

His attorney, Brian Francese of the Legal Aid Society, argued that Mr. Flanagan is on medication, and told the court that the felony charge, of reckless endangerment, was an "over charge." The charge is made when a defendant is said to threaten human life with his or her actions. Mr. Francese maintained that this did not fit the events.

According to Chief Larsen, however, Mr. Flanagan's actions did endanger life. If he had not struck the car that led to the final crash, the chief said, he could well have struck a pedestrian on Main Street in Bridgehampton.

Justice Tekulsky said that Mr. Flanagan had blood drawn at the hospital, and that the court would soon have the report indicating alcohol and drug levels in his body.

Mr. Flanagan sobbed as he was taken away. He was unable to post bail Monday morning and was returned to police headquarters.

A month after the East Hampton Village Board faced a small army of attorneys and owners of large properties who were nearly unanimous in their fierce opposition, the board brushed aside a predicted legal challenge at its meeting on Friday and adopted amendments to its zoning code adding restrictions to the maximum allowable gross floor area and lot coverage of residential properties.

The board was acting on recommendations from the village's planning and zoning committee for a graduated formula for gross floor area and coverage on lots greater than one acre. The committee feared recent trends in development and redevelopment, if unchecked, would irreparably harm the character of the village.

Also adopted on Friday were amendments prohibiting construction of basements larger than a building's first-floor footprint and a definition of "story" in the context of structures.

Under the new legislation, a principal structure can be no larger than 7 percent of the lot area plus 2,200 square feet on one and two-acre lots. For lots greater than two acres, the new formula is 3 percent of the lot plus 5,400 square feet. The existing formula allowing principal structures to be 10 percent of the lot's area plus 1,000 square remains in place for properties up to an acre.

The new rules will restrict accessory buildings to 1 percent of the lot plus 600 square feet for lots from one to just under two acres, and .5 percent of the lot plus 1,000 square feet for those two acres and larger. On a two-acre lot, the maximum for all accessory structures would be 1,400 square feet. The rules for lots less than an acre will not change. Accessory buildings can take up 2 percent of the lot plus 200 square feet.

Maximum coverage, including all structures, which is now 20 percent plus 500 square feet across the board, is reduced to 15 percent plus 2,500 square feet for lots of an acre to just under two acres, and 10 percent plus 6,500 square feet for those that are larger. In addition, both the village and town have laws limiting residences to a maximum of 20,000 square feet regardless of the size of a lot.

Before adopting the new rules Friday, the board heard from the public one last time, and some of those that had appeared on behalf of property owners at the May 15 hearing reiterated their opposition, complaining of the reduced development and property values that they said would result.

John Bennett, an attorney, said he was representing three property owners. Scheduling a vote on the new legislation, he told the board, "says one of two things to me: Either they have decided, after so much opposition, that they're not going to adopt the law, or 'We're going to adopt this no matter what the public hearing brings.' "

"It is our finding that the proposed local laws were not contemplated adequately," said Charles Voorhis of Nelson Pope and Voorhis, a Melville consulting firm, on behalf of property owners. He complained that a need for the amendments had not been identified. The planning and zoning committee's study, he said, was neither representative nor accurate. He warned of a loss of tax revenue, economic stimulus, and jobs, particularly in the construction industry.

Linda Margolin, an attorney who had spoken multiple times at the May 15 hearing, spelled out how the legislation would affect larger properties. When she had concluded her remarks, Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. had a question. "In the interest of transparency," he asked her, "would you be willing to name the folks you represent?" No, was her pointed reply.

After the public comments, Richard Lawler, a board member, refuted some of the criticism. To those alleging that the board had not followed proper procedure, "We believe we have," he said. "We have reached out to surrounding communities. The feedback I've gotten is that none of these alleged economic downturns have occurred, in fact the opposite. And values have increased in one municipality I talked to. In general, I think people in that community are very happy that they followed through." He also said that the village's restrictions are milder than those adopted by other communities.

The board's action, the mayor said, "is in best interest of the larger footprint of the village." It was not taken lightly, he said, "but we feel it is the best method moving ahead." He predicted some type of legal challenge appealing the new legislation, but said that the village had received significant support of it, as well.

Moments after the meeting had concluded, Lys Marigold, vice chairwoman of the village's zoning board of appeals, was among a small group of residents that personally thanked the mayor for the board's action. Ms. Marigold had spoken at a hearing regarding cellars, warning the board of the greater intensity of population, use, noise, and vehicular traffic that the proliferation of larger and even multilevel subterranean habitable spaces inevitably bring.

Another resident, Joan Osborne, who attends most meetings of the village and zoning boards, agreed. "We all know what's happening to our village," she said.

Update, 11:40 a.m.: East Hampton Village police said it was a spider that caused a single-car crash on Main Street Wednesday morning. 

Captain Mike Tracey, who responded to the accident at about 10:30 a.m., said the driver of a sedan was heading east on Main Street when she spotted the spider creeping down her windshield. "She swatted at it, and when she swatted at it she lost control," he said. "She hit the pole and the car spun up onto the sidewalk and hit the tree." 

The car, which had major front-end damage, came to rest in the front yard of 195 Main Street, breaking part of a white picket fence. Parts of the village lamp post that the car hit were strewn about the side of the road, along with part of the car. 

The woman, who was treated by East Hampton Village Ambulance Association personnel, suffered only minor injuries, Captain Tracey said. 

"Very lucky, though," Captain Tracey said of the driver. "If you hit the tree head-on you would not be surviving it." 

A witness, who had been walking on the sidewalk, was crying as emergency workers arrived. She said after the accident the driver got out of the car on her own and tried to walk toward c/o The Maidstone, a hotel just a few doors away, to call police. 

Main Street, which was briefly closed between Woods and Buell Lanes, was reopened to traffic after the car was towed away.

Originally, 11 a.m.: Traffic was diverted off of Main Street in East Hampton Village after a car accident on Wednesday morning. 

A car reportedly crossed into the opposite lane of traffic, struck a street lamp, and spun around before coming to rest in the front yard of 195 Main Street, according to a witness. The East Hampton Village Ambulance Association was treating the female driver at the scene after they were called at about 10:25 a.m. She reportedly had minor injuries. 

The exact cause of the crash was not immediately known. 

The East Hampton Village police shut down east and westbound traffic on Main Street. Westbound traffic was rerouted down Buell Lane, which is also Route 114, while cars headed east were rerouted at the traffic light to James Lane. 

With Reporting by Kelly Stefanick

Two East Hampton town officials on Monday told the Springs Citizens Advisory Committee that the town has begun looking for ways to curtail the possible use of two eight-bedroom houses under construction in Springs as dormitories for Ross School boarding students.

Meanwhile, Kristen Hyland, a Ross School representative, issued a brief statement on Tuesday saying the school “will not be occupying the two houses currently under construction at Manor Lane South or Cedar Ridge Drive in the Springs.”

Town Councilman Fred Overton, said on Monday that the town board was looking to overturn a 2009 decision that set the precedent for other student housing to be permitted in single-family residences in other parts of the town. That decision, in a letter signed by a former acting chief building inspector, Tom Preiato, said students living with “house parents” employed by the Ross School constituted the functional equivalent of a family. Therefore, the decision said, the school’s boarding practices were not in violation of a town law that says no more than four unrelated people may live in a house together.

“The town board is taking this seriously and we’re going to do everything we can to make sure it doesn’t happen again, and to do whatever we can to stop what’s going on,” Mr. Overton said.

Councilwoman Sylvia Overby said the board is also approaching the issue by attempting to redefine “basement” in the town code. The current definition is based on fire codes, which can be interpreted to allow bedrooms if there are proper exits in place, but Ms. Overby said the town board is trying instead define “basement” based on zoning regulations, prohibiting basement bedrooms regardless of whether proper exits are in place. The change could impact the two Springs houses, or similar ones — the plans call for two bedrooms in each basement.

“The town board is very disappointed in the determination” from 2009, Ms. Overby said.

Neither Ms. Overby nor Mr. Overton could be reached yesterday for a response to the Ross School’s statement.

Not all of the conversation on Monday was focused on student housing. Some residents suggested there is a bigger problem — illegal or generally overcrowded housing in Springs — that needs to be considered. Ann Barton, a resident of Cedar Ridge Drive, questioned what could happen to the two houses if student boarding was ultimately prohibited. She suggested multi-family housing could evolve where the two single-family structures are being built.

“It could be 10 times worse,” Ms. Barton said during Monday’s meeting.

Others were concerned about the capacity of the two houses’ septic systems, given their proximity to other houses that rely on well water, and whether the town’s code enforcement division could actually enforce any of the housing regulations. They believe the division is already overwhelmed by complaints.

The Ross School administration pre viously would not comment on whether the two identical eight-bedroom houses were planned as student housing. On Tuesday, beyond saying the school would not occupy the two houses, Ms. Hyland declined to say whether the administration is relying on the town’s 2009 definition of “family” to validate its system of housing students in the community. She also declined to say how many such houses the school operates, or whether the school is considering building dormitories on its campus.

David Buda, a Springs resident who has closely studied the plans for the two houses, said during Monday’s meeting he believes the 2009 decision was not meant to be universally applied. “Each one has to stand on its own facts,” he said.

Mr. Buda also said “there are remedies” to prevent the buildings from being occupied as dormitories, and ways to prevent it from happening again.

“I think we’re all of a like mind. I have to applaud the council for telling us that they’re concerned and looking into what they can do,” Mr. Buda said. “There are things that can be done. It’s very important that the town board considers acting because it’s the town officials that issued the decision.”

Yesterday, Mr. Buda said in an email that the school’s statement “is clear as mud.”

“The school owes the community a fulsome and detailed explanation of its boarding student housing program, past, present, and future,” he said.

Additionally, Mr. Buda said, the two limited liability companies that own the houses under construction in Springs “owe the town and all residents of the Springs a comprehensive narrative of how they will ensure the structures will be used by ‘a single family’ as defined by our zoning code.”

Otherwise, residents who oppose the use of the two houses as dormitories said they might have been forced to band together and hire lawyers.

“It now seems incumbent on the residents themselves to take on this challenge — put money together and go to the zoning board of appeals,” David Milne, who lives near one of the houses, said during Monday’s meeting. “Once the building is occupied, it’s going to be harder than heck to get the residents discharged.”

In recent weeks, some residents received anonymous letters alleging the houses were to be dormitories, and another neighbor previously described a conversation with the builder that confirmed their use as such.

The houses, which both sit on about half an acre and measure more than 3,000 square feet not including their basements, are in compliance with building codes for single-family housing. That is what the builder, Dunn Development, applied for, and what it says on the building permits issued by the town.

At Monday’s meeting, attended by more than 50, residents implored Ms. Overby and Mr. Overton to ask the board to take action before certificates of occupancy are issued for the two houses. The citizens advisory committee ultimately approved a resolution to send a letter to the town board saying the group is against the use of the buildings as dormitories in neighborhoods otherwise consisting of single-family houses.

She isn’t a teacher by training, but for many Latino families in the East Hampton School District who primarily speak Spanish at home, Ana Nunez has offered a different kind of education.

For the last three years, she has served as the district’s liaison to those families, who make up what is generally an underserved part of the population. Over that time, Ms. Nunez has been credited with enriching the education of Latino students by giving their parents better access to information about school policies and practices they did not previously fully understand.

Now, Ms. Nunez is preparing to leave the district and pursue a new career path, one that has been inspired by the East Hampton school community itself. She’ll soon start studying at a New York City law school, with the hope of someday helping other Long Island schools establish the same kind of trusted relationship with parents who may not understand English. Eventually, Ms. Nun­ez said, she would like to return to Latin America and become an advocate for education.

“It’s been really rewarding,” she tolda visitor. “I moved here to East Hampton when I was 9. I went through the English-as-a-second-language classes . . . but a lot of it I learned from my peers, everything that needed to be done to be college and career-ready. Coming back here, it was rewarding to be able to integrate those parents, like my mom, who were new to the system.”

Originally from Ecuador, Ms. Nunez, 25, graduated from East Hampton High School in 2007. She holds a degree in political science and economics, with a concentration in Latin American studies, from Columbia University. She began her role as community liaison in 2012.

There are plans to hire a new community liaison, according to Bob Tymann, the district’s assistant superintendent. He hopes that person will be in place during the summer, when Ms. Nunez will be available to introduce him or her to the Spanish-speaking community. But Ms. Nunez will be a really tough act to follow, Mr. Tymann said.

“We’ve developed a great partnership. Nobody is going to replace her,” he said. “. . . It’s amazing how much information she has absorbed and relayed to parents in a way they can understand.”

Ms. Nunez coordinates about 30 parent meetings per year, addressing topics such as how to help children with their homework, how to understand report cards, and how to navigate the college admissions process. Most are small group meetings with about 40 parents each, specific to grade levels, but meeting attendance peaked at about 240 parents at a meeting about Common Core math homework. Ms. Nunez also responds nearly every day to parents’ questions via phone and email, and coordinates with specific teachers when parents need to speak with them.

Along the way, one of the biggest challenges was to “create a blueprint,” she said. “There was nothing established before. We had to create a plan with a goal, first identifying a goal and then trying to see how to get there.”

Ms. Nunez, whose last day will be in August, said it’s critical that this program continues after her departure.

“We can’t afford to have an interruption in this,” she said. “We’ve been able to establish a pattern, and parents already expect what to hear. I think it needs to continue for them to feel more comfortable and for them to continue growing.”

Mr. Tymann agreed, saying, “We’ve worked so hard on gaining and establishing their trust. We have to make sure that trust is connected to the new person’s role when they first come in.”

A group of Latino parents attended the June 2 school board meeting to show their support for Ms. Nunez. One of those parents was Lina Ramirez, whose daughter is in kindergarten.

“She has helped us a lot,” Ms. Ramirez said in an interview. “She explains a lot, even things that maybe I don’t understand. We grew up in another country and the schools are different. She explains how the system here works and she’s very good with people.”

Ms. Ramirez also said the community liaison position is important for the Spanish-speaking parents in East Hampton. “That’s why we spoke at the district meeting,” she said. “Because we need the help.”

Other than the 35 lifeguard trainees who had shown up for what John Ryan Sr. calls “the Joe Dooley test,” which, if they passed, would certify them as ocean lifeguards, there weren’t many at the Indian Wells Beach in Amagansett Sunday morning.

Presumably because the water was cold; though, as Ryan and his son John Jr. said later, at 60 degrees it was much warmer than the frigid 49-degree surf into which they had plunged the day after Memorial Day at the Maidstone Club, where John McGeehan and Brian Cunningham trained them during the weeks leading up to Sunday’s demanding test.

All but three of the 35 passed, having successfully made individual and group rescues 100 to 125 yards offshore — with rescuers, once having packed a victim up onto the beach, rushing back out to play the role of a victim — after which everyone took part in a 300-yard endurance swim whose top finishers were Cecilia De Havenon and Marikate Ryan, East Hampton High School sophomores who are on the varsity girls swim team.

While John Ryan Sr., the senior member of the Hampton Lifeguard Association, which in association with the East Hampton Town Recreation Department trained the test-takers, beginning with freestyle stroke work at the Y.M.C.A. East Hampton RECenter in March, said the endurance swim was “not a race,” his son, John Jr., who heads up the town’s ocean lifeguard staff, said, “Well, they say it’s not a race, but it is.”

John Jr. said the extremely high pass percentage was owing to the instruction McGeehan and Cunningham provided. As for those three who did not pass, “they’ll get another chance on Monday,” he said. And that would be it as far as ocean tests go here, he added, except for recertification tests in August.

“The Maidstone Club’s generosity over the years has been huge,” McGeehan said. “It’s much appreciated. We use the club’s pool, its locker rooms, and the beach there. . . . The first two weeks the trainees wear wetsuits, in the third week they don’t.”

“It was a beautiful ocean on test day, though the conditions were rough and the water was much colder in the days that led up to it,” McGeehan said.

The list of those who passed — all of whom John Ryan Jr. said he expects to be subsequently hired — comprises: Robert Anderson III, Aiaz Ansari, Alexa Berti, Theodore J. Calabrese III, Dylan Camacho, David Carman, Chloe Collette-Schindler, Benjamin Connors, Cecilia De Havenon, Alexandra Ebel, Charlotte Evans, Jennings Fantini.

Harvey P. Foulser, Corey Gilroy, Alyssa Kneeland, Britteny L. Krzyzewski, James McMahon, Nicholas McMahon, Joseph Mench, Jorge Naula, Hannah Pell, Brian Platt, Sean Romeo, Marikate Ryan, Timothy Squires, Ni­cholas Tulp, William R. Vargas, Vincent Vigorita, William Weinlandt, Robert Weiss, Andrew Wilson, and Lauren M. Zaino.

John Ryan Sr., who has made it a mission over the years to assure that “every kid in this town is drown-proof,” said he was particularly impressed by Berti’s performance in one of the individual rescues. “You know, it’s the luck of the draw as to who you get as a victim. Hers was 50 pounds heavier than she was.

“More than that,” said John Jr. “Seventy-five pounds heavier.”

“Anyway,” said the elder Ryan, “she struggled mightily to get him up the beach to where the lifeguard stand is after she’d brought him to the water’s edge. Then she had to turn right around and swim out to be the victim. I thought she’d swim out slowly, but she was so thrilled that she’d done it that she flew out there. The torp rescue that she did is the second of the four events — it’s generally considered that if you can do that one you’ve crunched it. . . . I was thrilled with the quality and quantity of the kids who took the test.”

There was also one adult, 49-year-old Brian Platt, a Southamptoner and father of a junior lifeguard here who, Ryan said, had wanted to work as a volunteer. “You can do that — Steve Brierley and Mike Forst have — but only if you’re a certified ocean guard. He was phenomenal. I remember when he was in the Y’s pool in March he said, ‘I don’t think I’m cut out for this,’ but he came every day for the still-water training, twice a week, and he did it.”

And now the question becomes where along the beach will these new guards work. Ocean lifeguard pay varies considerably here. Gurney’s Inn, for instance, pays $18 an hour, East Hampton Village pays $15, and East Hampton Town $13.50.