New electric transmission lines in East Hampton are needed to “ensure reliability of the electric system,” the State Department of Public Service has concluded following its review of projects here and in North Hempstead, where residents have called for the lines to be installed below rather than above ground.

    Because demand for electricity increases in summer, “both projects should be completed prior to the summer of 2014,” Michael Worden, a deputy director in the department, wrote to Audrey Zibelman, the department’s chief executive officer, in a memo.

    East Hampton and North Hempstead officials enlisted review by the department, which oversees the Long Island Power Authority and its local electric provider, PSEG Long Island, after the installation of high-voltage lines on poles up to twice as tall as those they are replacing, prompted an outcry about aesthetics and safety and questions about the need for the upgrades.

    The memo did not address requests by many residents for each of the power lines to be buried, but the department was to complete an analysis of the costs for doing so last week and is to issue a report to the towns.

    In a letter to East Hampton Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell, Ms. Zibelman said that although the upgrade was needed, “it is apparent that the outreach process that was used did not sufficiently inform the communities of the plans and viable alternatives, if alternatives existed.” She said that a plan due from PSEG Long Island on July 1 (the Utility 2.0 Plan) “is designed to be the first step toward creating a blueprint” for the Long Island electric grid which would address future needs and alternatives, such as energy from renewable energy sources.

    Ms. Zibelman said that PSEG is expected to develop a plan for including local communities in discussions of its plans, and that when new lines are required “the opportunity for under-grounding should be presented, along with appropriate cost information so the community can make an informed decision.”

    Also this week, state and local officials announced that they have written to the Long Island Power Authority and PSEG Long Island to urge that Federal Emergency Management Agency funds, if available, be used to cover the cost of putting the 6.2-mile transmission line in East Hampton underground.

    In a May 13 letter, Representative Tim Bishop, New York State Senator Kenneth P. LaValle, Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr., East Hampton Village Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr., and Supervisor Cantwell noted that a grant to LIPA of more than $1 billion is under consideration by FEMA for Hurricane Sandy and future storm damage mitigation.

    While the money is earmarked for reimbursement for expenses incurred as a result of Hurricane Sandy, including improvements to elements such as utility lines and substations that were damaged by the storm, it may be  possible that funds left over could be used on efforts to protect nondamaged infrastructure from future storms. In their May 13 letter to Ralph V. Suozzi, the chairman of the LIPA board, the officials urged that grant money be used “as efficiently as possible” and that leftover, unexpended funds be used for the underground installation of the East Hampton transmission lines.

    Another mechanism to underwrite the cost of placing electric lines underground has been proposed by Mr. Thiele and Mr. LaValle. They are sponsoring state legislation that would authorize New York towns to create underground utility improvement districts — tax districts similar to water or sewer districts. Establishing them would be subject to permissive referendum.

    The legislation would permit towns to petition LIPA to contribute at least half the “net incremental cost” — the difference in cost between installing lines above or underground. The utility would be required to contribute if it were jointly determined by the town and LIPA that any of three standards were applicable: that the project would avoid or eliminate an “unusually heavy concentration” of overhead lines, that the roadway that lines run along is “extensively used by the general public” or has a heavy volume of pedestrian or vehicle traffic, or whether the roadway passes through an area of “general public interest,” based upon open space, aesthetics, or on scenic, parks and recreation, historic, or farmland preservation resources.

    “This legislation will give towns and utilities another tool to safeguard their electrical infrastructure from future storm damage at a cost shared by the utility and the local community,” Senator LaValle said in a press release.

    “The Town of East Hampton and its residents have invested millions of dollars to preserve open space and residential neighborhoods. The economic future of our community depends on its natural and manmade beauty. Large overhead transmission line projects threaten this balance and private utility companies and New York State must support burying as the first alternative, not the last,” Supervisor Cantwell commented in the release.LIPA of more than $1 billion is under consideration by FEMA for Hurricane Sandy and future storm damage mitigation.

    While the money is earmarked for reimbursement for expenses incurred as a result of Hurricane Sandy, including improvements to elements such as utility lines and substations that were damaged by the storm, it may be  possible that funds left over could be used on efforts to protect nondamaged infrastructure from future storms. In their May 13 letter to Ralph V. Suozzi, the chairman of the LIPA board, the officials urged that grant money be used “as efficiently as possible” and that leftover, unexpended funds be used for the underground installation of the East Hampton transmission lines.

    Another mechanism to underwrite the cost of placing electric lines underground has been proposed by Mr. Thiele and Mr. LaValle. They are sponsoring state legislation that would authorize New York towns to create underground utility improvement districts — tax districts similar to water or sewer districts. Establishing them would be subject to permissive referendum.

    The legislation would permit towns to petition LIPA to contribute at least half the “net incremental cost” — the difference in cost between installing lines above or underground. The utility would be required to contribute if it were jointly determined by the town and LIPA that any of three standards were applicable: that the project would avoid or eliminate an “unusually heavy concentration” of overhead lines, that the roadway that lines run along is “extensively used by the general public” or has a heavy volume of pedestrian or vehicle traffic, or whether the roadway passes through an area of “general public interest,” based upon open space, aesthetics, or on scenic, parks and recreation, historic, or farmland preservation resources.

    “This legislation will give towns and utilities another tool to safeguard their electrical infrastructure from future storm damage at a cost shared by the utility and the local community,” Senator LaValle said in a press release.

    “The Town of East Hampton and its residents have invested millions of dollars to preserve open space and residential neighborhoods. The economic future of our community depends on its natural and manmade beauty. Large overhead transmission line projects threaten this balance and private utility companies and New York State must support burying as the first alternative, not the last,” Supervisor Cantwell commented in the release.

    The East Hampton Airport could be self-sustaining without Federal Aviation Administration funding, with enough income over the next five years to take on additional debt enabling needed capital repairs, an airport finance subcommittee reported to the East Hampton Town Board on Tuesday.

    Acceptance of federal funds has been a key issue in discussions of the airport, as has the impact of the town’s contractual agreement with the F.A.A. upon taking the money, and its effect on the ability to institute local regulations aimed at minimizing airport noise.

    “People have said the airport would fall apart if we don’t take F.A.A. funds,” said Supervisor Larry Cantwell after hearing the report. “This report shows that that is not true. It shows that we can finance the airport, we can keep it safe . . . and we can do that for some period of time without taking F.A.A. funds.”

    Until now, the debate had pitted those urging the town to seek more autonomy from the F.A.A. against pilots and others arguing that without federal funds the airport would fall into disrepair and perhaps be forced to close.

    Representatives of both sides were appointed to the airport finance subcommittee.

    After three months of extensive research and analysis of airport income and expenses, including examination of various operating scenarios to determine if capital would be available to repay bonds issued for improvement projects, the committee was unanimous in its determination.

    Based on continued growth of revenue and expense at rates approximately equal to the last five years — and even if revenues from landing fees were to decrease because of a curfew or reduction in helicopter traffic — the group concluded that there would be enough income to borrow at least $4.35 million this year, and up to at least $5.1 million within the coming five years.

    Should the status quo continue (if there is no reduction in revenue from fees), the airport would bring in enough money to borrow up to $8.5 million within five years, Peter Wadsworth, a member of the committee, told the town board.

    “Without addressing any airport policy issues, we wanted everybody to be working from the same data,” said Arthur Malman, chairman of the town’s budget and finance committee. The subcommittee’s findings, he said, will help the board to weigh the impact of airport operation and policy decisions.

    Mr. Cantwell remarked on the unprecedented agreement among the various interests represented by committee members, saying their unanimity was “to their credit, and the credit of this committee. I couldn’t be more pleased that that’s happened.”

    “Now, that doesn’t mean that there won’t be blood on the floor with respect to other airport issues,” he added quickly, referring to the longtime controversies. But, he said, “You’ve started a new beginning here.”

    Councilwoman Kathee Burke-Gonzalez, who became the town board’s airport liaison upon taking office in January, took a new approach in appointing the two-headed financial analysis group and also two separate advisory committees, the one opposing noise and the other representing aviation interests. Those groups are engaged in other fact-finding missions, and will be making their own reports to the board.

With just days until the Memorial Day weekend, the Long Island Rail Road worked furiously to repair damage to an overpass in East Hampton after a garbage truck slammed into it on Tuesday morning, disrupting service any farther east for 32 hours.

The impact of the truck, which was over the 10-foot height limit, seemed to move the tracks. It caused the structure to be dislodged southward up to one and one quarter inches, according to Salvatore Arena, a spokesman for the L.I.R.R. "It also pushed the track out of both vertical and horizontal alignment," he said.

Police called for L.I.R.R. inspectors to assess the damage and service was immediately halted. Buses transported riders from Bridgehampton to stops farther east on the Montauk line. A crane was brought in to help lift materials.

Railroad track crews first had to cut the continuously welded rail in order for a crane to lift the structure back into place, Mr. Arena said.

"Once the structure had been properly seated back on its bearings at the pier and end abutments, the L.I.R.R. track department crews began the task of resetting and rewelding the rails," he said. "At the same time the . . . structural maintenance forces began repairs to the bearing stiffeners at the pier and end abutments that had sustained substantial deformation and tears due to the impact."

Crews worked all night, into Wednesday, and by early Wednesday evening, service was restored after tests were conducted.

The 4:30 p.m. train from Hunterspoint Avenue was able to continue on to Montauk for a scheduled 7:34 p.m. arrival.

The damages were repaired just in time for the railroad's Cannonball Express train to begin its spring/summer season service on Friday. The first train departs Penn Station at 4:06 p.m. with its two-car Hamptons Reserve Service already sold out, according to a statement from the L.I.R.R. Seats on the 10 remaining coach cars are still available.

Cyril's Fish House, the popular roadside restaurant on the Napeague stretch, has received the okay to open this weekend, having cleared a legal hurdle today in New York State Supreme Court in Riverhead when acting Supreme Court Justice Joseph Farneti lifted a temporary restraining order that would have required the restaurant to operate in conformance to its layout in the mid 1980s, when the establishment was much smaller.

According to Justice Farneti, the owners of the restaurant had remedied conditions that had posed "imminent danger" to the public that first caused him to issue restraining order on April 12. However, he also fast-tracked the town's lawsuit against the restaurant for operating an illegally expanded business by setting a June 9 date for a hearing.

His action followed the lifting of the stop work order that Tom Preiato, the town's chief building inspector, had imposed on work being done on the front brick patio and dry bar in January. The patio had been pulled up and the bar moved to allow for the removal of two 2,000-gallon underground gasoline storage tanks dating back many years to when the spot was a gas station. Mr. Preiato said at the time that the owners had not obtained permits for any of the work.

On Wednesday, Mr. Preiato said he had lifted the order the day before with the understanding that the bricks would be replaced by clean local gravel. He also said the needed permits for the removal of the tanks had been obtained by the owners.

Work has been going on at the restaurant since yesterday. The bricks have been moved from the front area.

There is now a level surface of gravel, where the front patio had been. A tanker from Quackenbush Cesspools was pumping out the restaurant's septic system this morning.

John Fairchild, the restaurant's manager, was overheard talking on his cellphone during a recess at Supreme Court today, urging work to continue on the restaurant, hopeful that it could open tomorrow.

While the restaurant has not yet received its assembly permit, Dianne K. Le Verrier of Jordan and Le Verrier, the restaurant's attorney, said that Joseph Prokop, the town's attorney, had given her a verbal assurance that it would be issued in time for its opening tomorrow.

Jason Lee, the former Goldman Sachs managing director who was arrested last summer in East Hampton on charges that he raped a 20-year-old Irish student, was ordered today by New York Supreme Court Justice Barbara R. Kahn to refrain from any further contact with the woman, including through third parties.

An order of protection for a victim in cases like assault or rape is normally a standard procedure at the time of the initial arraignment. However, District Attorney Thomas Spota’s office did not request the order of protection when Mr. Lee was first arraigned on Aug. 21 based on the belief that Mr. Lee would surrender his passport and that the alleged victim was returning the next day to Ireland, Kerriann Kelly, an assistant district attorney who handles sexual abuse cases, said today.

Mr. Lee was not actually forced to surrender his passport until Sept. 20, 30 days after his initial arraignment in East Hampton, when he was re-arraigned on the felony charge in front of Justice Kahn in the Cromarty Criminal Courts building in Riverside.

Kimberly Shalvey, the lead prosecutor on the case, requested an order of protection on May 9, saying in court that day that an agent of Mr. Lee’s had contacted the woman at her home in Ireland, frightening her. “She feels that everything she does is being watched,” Ms. Shalvey said at the time.

“We have an obligation to our client to investigate,” Andrew Lankler, one of Mr. Lee’s attorneys, said outside the courtroom today of his agent’s visit to the woman.

Though Justice Kahn had said on May 9 that there was nothing wrong with a defense attorney reaching out to a claimant, she issued the order today protecting the alleged victim from any contact by Mr. Lee or anyone working for him after reading an affidavit from the alleged victim regarding the incident. “The people have met their burden,” she said. The order prohibits contact at her school or house or via email, Facebook, or other social media.

Mr. Lee signed the order in the courtroom today. He is due back in court on July 18.

Michael DuVally, a spokesman for Goldman Sachs, said today that Mr. Lee is no longer an employee of the firm.

    Across the South Fork, from Sag Harbor to Montauk, the voters have spoken, with school budgets sailing to victory in all but one district and new faces elected to the school board in some.

    Four of the 124 districts across Long Island proposed overriding the so-called 2-percent tax cap, but only East Hampton managed to get the required support from 60 percent of voters.

    During the East Hampton School Board meeting on Tuesday night, board members and school administrators were on tenterhooks awaiting the final verdict.

    Thirty minutes after the polls had closed, Rich Burns, the superintendent, walked back into the district office with a triumphant thumbs up — 73 percent of voters had approved the $65 million spending proposal, voting 492 to 184. The district proposed a 1.3-percent increase in spending for the 2014-15 school year and a 2.43-percent increase in the tax levy, .97 percent over this year’s cap of 1.46 percent.

    Patricia Hope and Jackie Lowey, the two uncontested school board incumbents, received 531 and 535 votes, respectively.

    According to Mr. Burns, annual turnout generally ranges between 600 to 800 voters. In the past decade, he could only recall one election where upwards of 1,000 residents turned out.

    Going into Tuesday’s vote, Mr. Burns said he had a quiet confidence. Still, the requisite 60-percent margin worried him. “I’m thrilled that the voters of the district are supportive of our endeavors in education,” he said Tuesday night. “I promise we will move forward with this vote of confidence and make it the best school year possible.”

    “I didn’t realize how tense the last couple of weeks had been. I slept like a stone,” Ms. Hope said early Tuesday. “A burden has been lifted. We’re riding higher in the water today.”

    Liz Pucci, a board member, also expressed relief. “I’m thrilled and excited,” she said. “I’m very proud of our community for coming out and supporting this budget.”

    In Springs and Sag Harbor, both budgets passed by wide margins.

    The $26.6 million 2014-15 school budget in Springs passed by a vote of 285 to 171. It represents a 4.9-percent increase over the current year’s budget and a taxy levy increase of 3.18 percent (which is under the state-imposed tax cap after exemptions are taken into account).

    A separate proposition to create a capital reserve fund for renovations and improvements like classroom additions also passed, with 284 in favor and 165 opposed. A maximum of $2 million can be placed in the fund for the next five years, for a total of $10 million. There had been much opposition to it at a public hearing last week.

    Elizabeth Mendelman, the board president, and Timothy Frazier, a board member who is the principal of the Southampton Intermediate School, both running unopposed, each won second three-year terms with 371 and 383 votes, respectively.

    In Sag Harbor, voters approved a $36.8 million budget proposal for the coming school year by a vote of 578 to 222. It includes a tax levy increase of 1.48 percent (which is under the cap after exemptions) and a 3.83-percent increase in spending.

    Voters also re-elected two incumbents, Theresa Samot, the current school board president, and Sandi Kruel. Diana Kolhoff will join the board in July to replace Mary Anne Miller, who decided not to run again.

    Ms. Samot received 587 votes, Ms. Kruel took in 526 votes, and Ms. Kolhoff got 503. Thomas C. Ré, another contender, received 346. There were also five write-in votes: three nods for John Battle, two for Stephen Clark, and one for Ms. Miller.

    In Wainscott, 10 minutes after the polls closed on Tuesday night, Mary McCaffrey, the district’s clerk, called to confirm the results.

    Thirty-nine Wainscott residents voted in favor of the $3.1 million 2014-15 school budget. No one voted it down. This year’s budget is a decrease of more than $345,000, with the tax rate expected to decrease by 11 percent. 

    David E. Eagan, the current president of the Wainscott School Board, was re-elected with 33 votes. There were two write-ins for Jeff Yusko and four blank ballots.

    In Sagaponack, the $1.75 million school budget passed with 23 votes. No one voted against it. Spending is projected to rise 1.05 percent. The $1.68 million tax levy represents an increase of just over 3 percent.

    Brian Villante was elected for a three-year term on the board with 23 votes. He ran unopposed to replace Fred Wilford, a 36-year veteran, who chose not to run again.

    In Amagansett, the proposed 2014-15 $10.47 million spending plan, which includes a tax levy increase of 1 percent, received 107 votes in favor and 30 opposed.

    Patrick Bistrian, Phelan Wolf, and Patrick Bistrian III ran unopposed for three vacancies on the school board. Two of the openings are three-year terms, with the third largest vote getter finishing out the remaining two-year term of John Hossenlopp, who resigned in December.

    Patrick R. Bistrian received 118 votes, with Mr. Wolf and Patrick Bistrian III tied with 112 votes. Because of the tie, Cheryl Bloecker, the district clerk, explained that the school’s attorney is working to determine who should get the shorter term.

    “I’m very grateful and appreciative of the support of the community,” said Eleanor Tritt, the district’s superintendent. “We appreciate all the efforts to support all the people in the community that provide programs and resources for our children.”

    Finally, Montauk also saw a swift and decisive passage of its $18.6 million school budget, with a tax levy increase of .43 percent. It passed by 188 to 25 votes.

    Jason Biondo got 132 votes for school board and will fill the seat vacated by Lisa Ward. His opponent, Cynthia Ibrahim, received 78 votes. An additional proposition to spend $400,000 from the district’s capital fund to replace two modular classrooms was approved 189 to 24.

    “I was very pleased,” said Mr. Biondo. “It was something that I really wanted and am looking forward to the years to come. I plan to listen and learn, and then see where that goes.”

    With Reporting by Janis Hewitt, Taylor K. Vecsey, and Christopher Walsh

    In Bridgehampton, one of the two districts on the South Fork seeking to pierce the tax cap, voters said no to a $12.3 million spending plan that carried an 8.8-percent increase in the tax levy for the 2014-15 school year.

    Under a state law that went into effect in 2012, the cap on property tax levy increases is either 2 percent or the Consumer Price Index — whichever is lower. This year’s cap was 1.46 percent. Districts trying to pierce that cap needed the support of 60 percent of voters. East Hampton got it, but Bridgehampton, West Babylon, and Sayville, the other three proposing cap-busting budgets, all failed.

    Only 54.25 percent of voters approved Bridgehampton’s spending plan, with 134 voting for it and 113 against it.

    Ron White, the school board president, said Wednesday that he is convinced the support from the community is there. “Because there is no active push to close the school, I think some of the folks who are pro the school kind of let their guard down,” he said, referring to unsuccessful attempts in recent years to send children from the small school to other districts.

    “There’s always a sector of people who want to close the school. The second that those people go quiet, we go quiet,” he said, adding that it is part of a trend he’s seen before, so he was not exactly surprised by Tuesday’s result. “Over all, the complacency is one of the main reasons that we get in challenging places. For us as a community, the pro-school community, we’ve been getting complacent.”

    Asked if the board could have done anything differently, Mr. White said he felt the board communicated its proposal well. “We got out. We’ve had forums. We’ve had budget hearings. I think the people are informed about it. One thing that everyone has to understand is appreciation is appreciation.”

    The $1.1 million, or 9.93-percent, increase over the current year’s $11.2 million budget was said to be primarily due to contractual increases and to allow the district to keep up with other required state mandates. Had the board decided not to pierce the cap, it said the district would have to lay off at least four teachers.

    The district proposed a $10.6 million tax levy, $855,819 over the current year’s $9.8 million levy.

    Lois Favre, the district superintendent and principal, said the board and the district worked hard to make the community understand the need to pierce the cap. She also was not surprised by the outcome. “It disappointed me. We’ve been out in front of this since March,” she said. “We’ll see what the board wants to do now.”

    The board will have a second opportunity to bring a budget to voters on June 17. It could propose the same budget or amend it before the vote. If the budget fails a second time, Bridgehampton will be forced to operate on budget with no increase in the tax levy. The austerity budget would bring huge cuts.

    While the school budget went down, voters did approve the $160,000 Bridgehampton Childcare and Recreation Center budget, 157 to 89.

    The voters in Bridgehampton also elected two new school board members; Jeffrey Mansfield received 187 votes and Kathleen McCleland took in 172. Along with Michael Gomberg, who ended up with 72 of the votes, they ran for two seats vacated by Elizabeth Kotz and Gabriela Braia, incumbents who decided not to seek re-election. The terms are for three years.

    Ms. McCleland, who was in the gymnasium on Tuesday for the results, said she was very disappointed. “I’m disappointed that it really means that our community really doesn’t understand what our board put out.”

    The unofficial start of summer kicks off this weekend with several changes in the strategy and tactics of the East Hampton Town Police Department.

    Late-night shenanigans in downtown Montauk, according to Chief Michael Sarlo, will be dealt with more rapidly by the addition of officers on bicycles. Participating personnel, who have been trained at the Suffolk County Police Academy in Brentwood, will begin patrols this weekend.

    Bike patrols, said the chief in an email, are similar to foot patrols, only stealthier. “They are silent, and often are able to ride up on situations that a patrol car would not have access to, or that its mere presence would alert offenders. Alleyways, parking lots, etc. are more efficiently and effectively patrolled by an officer on a bike,” he wrote.

    With Lt. Chris Hatch, the chief has been meeting with the owners and managers of various bars and nightclubs, setting out communication lines for times when things go wrong. The lieutenant has also met with parks and highway department officials, making sure that signs are up to date. Town police are deploying new speed-monitoring devices that will allow personnel to be assigned to places where violations, and traffic flow, are high. The department plans to add video cameras to its patrol cars; the bidding process is about to begin.

       A full complement of summertime traffic control officers will begin hitting the streets this weekend, Chief Sarlo said, supplemented by four part-time officers who will graduate from the police academy tomorrow and be ready for foot patrol in Montauk and Amagansett by the end of June after more training locally.

    The department is also entering the era of social networking. “We have launched our Facebook page and hope to start more information-sharing and live-time notifications to the public, hopefully followed soon by a Twitter account,” the chief said.

    In conjunction with town officials, along with David Browne, the chief fire marshal, and John Rooney, the town’s recreation director, police brass will be part of the new committee reviewing event permits. “The town is taking a more comprehensive review of event permits, and ensuring that all agencies impacted by special events are consulted, while weighing the costs and impacts to the town and community of large gatherings,” Chief Sarlo said.

    The cost of police services will be an important issue for planners of mass gatherings. “The FEMA pay scale, which factors in not just overtime rates but benefit costs, as well as impact to the town for vehicles and other items, will now be used in calculating the costs for services,” the chief explained. It will mean more money for the department.

    “We are prepped for summer and moving forward. I haven’t been busy at all,” the chief concluded.

A short circuit in underground electrical wires caused a brush fire and then a fire in a below-grade generator at a Sagaponack house on Monday afternoon, creating a dangerous situation for firefighters.

John Rankin, a Southampton Town fire marshal, said people at the house had noticed a small brush fire burning just down from the driveway and had used a dry chemical fire extinguisher to put out the flames. They then saw smoke coming from an area along the garage and called 911.

The Bridgehampton Fire Department was notified at 2:42 p.m. of the flames at 757 Daniel’s Lane, a flag lot off Town Line Road. The fire was found to be in a large generator 10 feet deep, underneath a platform supporting a basketball hoop, about 15 feet from the house between a garage and a common driveway.

Bridgehampton firefighters “had quite a time with it, trying to gain access to a generator pit to shut the emergency fuel supply off, which they were not able to do for quite some time,” Mr. Rankin said yesterday.

It was important to shut off the fuel supply because had the generator’s diesel fuel tank caught fire it could have burned for a long time, he said. The tank, which was mounted under the generator, had a capacity of 200 to 240 gallons.

In fact, said Mr. Rankin, two firefighters attempting to turn off the fuel supply had flames flash over their heads, a situation known to firefighters as a flashover. “They tried to put two guys into the generator pit to locate the emergency shutoff. Apparently they were delayed in coming out — I don’t want to say they were trapped — but it flashed, and the guys with the hose line were ready and poured water on them.”

No injuries were reported, but several firefighters were treated for smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide in their blood.

“I’m very happy nobody got hurt. Anytime we have a fire and we all make it back to the firehouse, and no one’s hurt, I’m thankful,” said Bridgehampton Fire Chief Gary Horsburgh. He said he had never seen a generator installed like that, adding that its location had caused the dangerous situation.

Mr. Rankin said the position of the generator and the emergency switch made it hard to get to. “A lot of times when these generators are purchased, they come pretty much as a complete unit,” he said, adding that there is ventilation that was provided for the vault. Despite the difficulties, he said his investigation indicated the installation of the generator was up to residential code. 

“Fighting fire is inherently dangerous. What you think should be is actually not what the code says,” the fire marshal said.

Representatives of G.T. Power Systems were eventually able to access the emergency shutoff. PSEG Long Island also responded, “relatively quickly,” Mr. Rankin said, to shut off power in the vicinity.

In the meantime, Bridgehampton called for help from the Sag Harbor and East Hampton fire departments. They responded with tankers, as there were no fire hydrants to supply water down the long driveway. East Hampton also brought a crash truck, which carries a foam fire suppressant to fight large-capacity fuel fires such as airplane crashes. Mr. Rankin said the idea was to fill the generator pit with foam if necessary.

The East Hampton Village Volunteer Ambulance Association also responded with one ambulance to stand by.

Mr. Rankin ruled the cause of the fire to be a short circuit in an electrical splice box mounted in the ground, which then backfed into the generator. According to the Southampton Town Tax Receiver’s office, the property is held in the name of a corporation, Copacabana Realty L.L.C. of Whitestone, N.Y.

    Regular inquiries prompted the East Hampton Village Board to consider a new policy on the installation and placement of memorial benches in public places at its meeting on Friday. With the summer season looming, the board also adopted a law limiting the use of garages on residential property and approved the hiring of police, fire, and ambulance personnel at the brief meeting.

     The amendment to the village code refines the definition of a garage, in response to numerous recent applications to the zoning board of appeals in which proposed accessory structures were labeled garages but were excessively large and had different uses. A garage must now be “accessible by a driveway, designed and capable for use for the storage of motor vehicles owned and regularly used by or on behalf of the owner or tenant” of the property. No habitable space, toilet, shower, or bathtub will be permitted on any level, and no plumbing of any kind will be permitted on a second floor over a garage.

    The matter of memorial benches was broached by Becky Molinaro, the village administrator, who told the board that, along with requests for memorial benches, people seek their placement in particular locations. “We are finding that they are really starting to be overcrowded with benches,” she said of these locations, which Scott Fithian, the village superintendent of public works, said include areas in front of delicatessens and coffee shops.

    The village charges up to about $1,000 for the installation of a bench and memorial inscription at its base. Mr. Fithian distributed a map showing approximately 100 benches throughout the village. “It’s up to the board’s discretion if they want to add more or not,” he said. Ms. Molinaro suggested that the board identify areas where benches are less prevalent so that those locations can be made available. “It may not be as high profile an area as they might want, but we’re giving them a choice,” she said.

    There are big stretches where there are no benches, said Barbara Borsack, the deputy mayor. “Would it be helpful if two of us drove around with Scott and identified spots where we thought we could put them?” She and Bruce Siska, a member of the board, volunteered to do so. “When I see people sitting on the benches in the summertime, it makes me feel that the people enjoy our village,” Mr. Siska said. “They’re enjoying their vacation time, or the solitude of sitting in a quaint area of our village. It looks good for the village itself.”

    The village has no formal policy with regard to maintenance and replacement of memorial benches, and Mr. Fithian said vandalism and storms are the only burdens to the Public Works Department. They are collected and chained together before extreme weather events and are cleaned periodically, he said. “When a bench is vandalized beyond repair,” Mr. Fithian said, it has been replaced at village expense. Repair or replacement should perhaps become the purchaser’s liability, Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. suggested. “We certainly want to continue to support this idea,” he said of the memorial benches. 

    Of the new emergency personnel, the mayor voiced the board’s appreciation for their commitment and wished them “a long and safe journey.” Richard Lawler, a board member and the village’s police commissioner, then noted that it was National Police Week. “In particular, I want to recognize our village police — that includes dispatchers as well — for the terrific job that they do in keeping our community safe and making this a wonderful place to live.” He thanked Chief Gerard Larsen personally. “And please bring our ‘thank you’ back to the rest of your department.” 

    “We’re on the threshold of the beginning of the summer season,” the mayor said at the meeting’s conclusion. “As I say every year at this time, let’s put a smile on our face and welcome everyone into the local community, and show them what a class village is all about.”