A number of changes at Amagansett’s Indian Wells Beach have corrected what had seemed a permanently bad situation, and East Hampton Town officials deserve a great deal of credit.

Think back to the summer before last, and the several before that, when Indian Wells regulars faced a hundreds-strong weekend social scene there. Beer seemed a key ingredient in a daytime party that drew young adults to swim, talk, and play games that included throwing full cans of Bud Light at one another in the surf. Taxis and buses swarmed the narrow Indian Wells parking lot as they jockeyed to shuttle the party crowd to and from the beach. On a summer weekend afternoon, heaps of garbage overflowed the metal bins.

Residents and visitors who had always thought of Indian Wells as a quiet place to go with children, read a book, and take in some sun pressed the town, which manages the beach there, for action. Doing something about the parking lot was a must, as, it appeared, was some limit on alcohol consumption.

Well, that last part, banning alcohol, caused some strife. The town trustees, who own many of the town’s beaches on behalf of the public, seemed at the time more narrowly concerned with protecting the rights of the few to drink booze than to assure a reasonably sane situation for all beachgoers. The negotiations between the town board and trustees on the beer question were the stuff of legend, but in the end, they agreed on a test prohibition in 2014.

A town board move to put a gatehouse and vehicle turnaround near Bluff Road, far landward of the parking lot, with attendants checking for resident parking permits met with less opposition. A new rule that bonfires be only in metal containers and more frequent trash collection reduced problems.

By itself, the Indian Wells success story is significant. A drunken scene that made parents unhappy about bringing their children there on Saturdays and Sundays is gone, it is generally easy to find a parking space (provided one has the correct sticker), trash no longer mars the view, and the sand — ah, the sand! — has returned to its glorious, pillowy white, unstained by thousands of flecks of charcoal, as it had been in previous years.

Indian Wells also proves that something can be done to make sure favorite places return to the way most residents want them. As the downtown Montauk beach, in particular, has now become the new party spot, those irked by the chaos might ask the town board: Why not change the rules there as well? Meanwhile, it should be thanked for effective action in Amagansett.

For all the attention being paid to water quality on the South Fork, surprisingly little is being done in the way of data collection by East Hampton Town itself. And, in the absence of regular town or county testing, the East Hampton Town Trustees and Concerned Citizens of Montauk, in partnership with the Surfrider Foundation, have had to fill the gap to the best of their abilities.

Their findings have been alarming. Christopher Gobler, a Stony Brook University scientist hired by the trustees for an ongoing project, has found toxic algae in several ponds, as well as dangerously low oxygen levels. Based on fecal coliform tests, Dr. Gobler at one point recommended shellfish closures much more sweeping than those now in place. Among the most startling of his recommendations was that Napeague Harbor, which was previously believed to be essentially pristine, should be closed to shellfish harvesting between May and October.

In its recent testing, C.C.O.M.-Surfrider found high levels of enterococcus bacteria, associated with fecal waste, in parts of Lake Montauk, Pussy’s Pond in Springs (which drains into Accabonac Harbor), Georgica Pond in East Hampton, and Fresh Pond in Amagansett, as well as shockingly high results at Sagg Pond in Sagaponack. These vital tests have come from organizations that saw a need for information and tried to provide it, not from the main town governing body or the state or county.

To underline the need for the data, the Lombardo Associates wastewater plan for the town observes that, at the very least, additional studies should be conducted in Lake Montauk. Furthermore, the plan comes right out and says that because bacteria are not systematically measured throughout town, there is no way of knowing if swimming is actually safe in the bays and ocean. The necessary scientific studies, Lombardo wrote, to restore water quality have not been done. The firm said the county’s current regimen of one sampling station per harbor in East Hampton Town is unfortunately limited, while it lauded the trustees for providing valuable insights by funding Dr. Gobler’s work.

This is all alarming and makes us wonder what the heck Town Hall is thinking. If improving water quality is such an important goal — and we’ve heard officials say it is — the starting point has to be carefully gathered information. It is disappointing that the town has shirked this responsibility, passing it on to the cash-strapped trustees and two private organizations. If the town is to get serious about water pollution, it must fund the research first.

If there were one thing we wished regarding traffic on the South Fork it would be that state highway planners had spent the past week here just driving around. If they did, we are pretty darn sure things would be different quickly.

We can say this emphatically, since the last couple of times the Department of Transportation paid for roadwork out here, little, if any, thought was given to relieving summer tie-ups on Route 27 and Route 114, or to the fact that an unacceptable volume of trucks and personal vehicles has ended up on residential back roads because the state has failed to respond to seasonal and work force driving.

Pity for a moment, if you will, the people who live on Scuttlehole Road or north of Water Mill who are stuck in creeping, bumper-to-bumper lines of vehicles if they venture out to buy the proverbial quart of milk. It’s neither fair nor right. What of Montauk Highway in Wainscott? A disastrous stoplight, put in, best we can recall, about the time East Hampton Town police headquarters was moved nearby, slows movement in both directions — is it time for an overpass and on-ramps? A senselessly installed light on the highway in Water Mill creates similar delays. And Route 27 into Amagansett can be backed up nearly to Pantigo Road.

Route 114 is set for resurfacing this fall. But the work will do little to relieve summertime jams at Stephen Hand’s Path in East Hampton or on the approach to Sag Harbor. At Route 114’s eastern end, Buell Lane in East Hampton Village, avoidable accidents are the norm. That said, in a joint state and village project a roundabout is to be built at its Toilsome Lane intersection, the so-called five corners, soon, though how that will impact the surrounding streets still seems unclear.

Unfortunately, the state has just not kept up with the growth of the South Fork’s peak population. Roads that may be adequate in October are not good enough in July, or August, or, in fact, even into the shoulder seasons. Much more thought must be given to how Route 27 and Route 114 are used today, and new plans for dealing with the ever-increasing number of vehicles should be the priority.

Everything looks great on the downtown Montauk ocean beach at the moment, but behind the scenes a massive economic disaster looms and what could be a major political embarrassment is unfolding. Meanwhile, objections are being heard to a United States Army Corps of Engineers plan to expand the stone bulwark at Montauk Point.

At the downtown beach, thousands of plastic sandbags lie buried under an artificial dune after the completion of a roughly $9 million Army Corps project built under false pretenses and with assurances that it was temporary. This last point is critically important: Officials, including East Hampton Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell and Councilman Peter Van Scoyoc, had defended the work as a stopgap solution to protect shorefront buildings until the Army Corps released its Fire Island to Montauk Point Reformulation Plan. 

At the time, The Star and other critics pointed out that waiting for the Corps was a fool’s gambit — and so it was. In an announcement last week, the Corps said that Montauk’s downtown would be left out of a $1 billion-plus plan to shore up Long Island’s beaches. 

Town officials’ rosy belief that the Army Corps would return to make everything all right had been the key assumption in their justifying the project, which unquestionably violated town law governing the duration of such supposedly emergency measures. Under town and state law, emergency erosion-control structures, including the Montauk sandbags, are allowed for up to six months, with an additional three months possible, until permanent, nonstructural measures are in place. With the official completion of the downtown work in the spring, the sea wall would have been due to be removed right about now. 

There was one small bit of good news in the Army Corps announcement. Federal money can be used to keep the sandbags buried with sand. Maintenance of the structure was to be the sole  responsibility of the town and county. Hearings next month on the $1 billion spending plan are to be announced. 

Things get weirder still in Army Corps land. While it shortchanged downtown Montauk with a sure-to-fail half-effort, it appears ready to spend $18 million or more to increase the stone bulwark at the Montauk Lighthouse. This could put three much-loved surfing breaks and one of the East Coast’s greatest striped bass fishing spots at risk. In typical fashion, the Corps has said the work would actually improve the surfable wave there, but that is far from credible, given the Corps’s questionable engineering expertise.

Sadly, the South Fork’s state elected representatives, Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. and Senator Kenneth P. LaValle, sped a bill through the State Legislature giving lead agency authority for the Lighthouse work to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, whose staff looked the other way when laws were being broken to get the downtown Montauk project under way.

Considering the broken promises made by the Army Corps and apparent collusion among town and state officials now is the time to step back and seek independent analysis, not to rush into a new set of mistakes. East Hampton Town must take the time to get it right where the ocean shore — one of its greatest assets — is concerned.

In the good news department, we are thinking, although a little belatedly, about an expanded effort by the Food Pantry Farm to get quality produce into the kitchens of East Hampton’s less well-off residents. Until now, membership in one of the area’s community-supported agriculture programs had been more or less limited by cost to those in the upper strata of household income. Now, in a first-year effort, the Food Pantry Farm, which is on Long Lane, has 25 members receiving ample portions of vegetables, flowers, and herbs for a fraction of the cost per week of the better-known and established C.S.A.s.

Canned goods and staples distributed to the area’s in-need residents by food pantries are necessary, but providing fresh ingredients as well is a worthy goal. The low-cost Food Pantry Farm effort helps bridge a gap between those who might be hesitant about accepting donations from the food pantries, but who might be eager to enjoy the best the land has to offer. A recent weekly selection, for example, included a delicious array of cucumbers, radishes, lettuce, kale, carrots, peas, and basil.

Food aid here takes a number of forms, and each is important. Though the South Fork has tremendous wealth, life is difficult here for many in the work force. This is made all the more so by exorbitant housing and utility costs, which can leave little for much else, including fresh vegetables. The disparity between the tables of the rich and the less-wealthy can be wide despite this area’s productive soil and resurgent agriculture. 

Other C.S.A.s and for-profit artisanal farmers and food producers are also quietly helping out, and are to be thanked. To those who have not yet made a commitment to provide what they can, let us suggest they do so. Enjoyment of the abundance of the East End should not be the sole province of the region’s richest.

Move over — that’s the least we can do for our ambulance and fire volunteers as they rush on the roads to a call — and now it’s the law, backed up by a $275 fine and points on your license.

A law signed on July 21 by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo makes it mandatory for motorists to slow down and shift over a lane when approaching a vehicle with flashing green or blue lights operated by volunteer firefighters or ambulance workers involved in a roadside emergency. Until then, the law applied only to parked police and emergency vehicles with flashing red and white or amber lights. The intention is to give other vital personnel a safe space in which to do their critical work.

While the measure only applies to multi-lane highways it should help spread awareness statewide about what the flashing green and blue lights mean. Here, where two-lane roads are the norm, it is good practice to pull over to allow volunteer responders approaching from behind to pass. By highlighting their importance, lawmakers are giving a necessary tip of the hat to the many individuals who help keep all of us safe.

Too late to be included in an editorial in our print edition last week was the number of undeveloped parcels of land within the boundaries of East Hampton Town. Including vacant commercial and residential land in the two incorporated villages (Sag Harbor and East Hampton), there are approximately 2,580 lots classified as open. 

This figure comes from the East Hampton Town Planning Department, with an cavaet: Among the total are an unknown proportion of substandard urban renewal lots that might not be buildable. But on the other hand, another unknown percentage of the total number of parcels might be dividable, through the subdivision process, into more than one house lot. 

As it stands, the vacant property in the town that has not been preserved in one way or another amounts to more than 10 percent of the total number of private parcels. If they are not saved as open space, most (though not all, due to presumed ecological or other constraints) eventually will be built upon. The overarching question for planners and elected officials is whether the South Fork can reasonably accommodate another 2,000 or more houses from Wainscott to Montauk. The impact of construction and property services here is felt in neighboring areas as well, making East Hampton’s ultimate build-out a matter of regional concern. 

The number, give or take a couple of hundred, is known. It’s a shame that no one in elected office or even among local civic organizations or political groups is even asking what, if anything, to do about it.

In an attempt to keep the sands cleaner East Hampton Town mandated this year that all beach fires be made within metal containers. In several locations early this summer, the rule appears to have improved conditions a great deal. But compliance is not complete, and in some places, Atlantic Drive on Napeague for one and parts of downtown Montauk’s shoreline and Ditch Plain for others, problems with messy charred wood and blackened sand remain. 

Fault the fine print: Though the relevant town regulations are posted at nearly every beach, bay and ocean alike, the information is in an impenetrable block of small, black text that no one — not even the most policy-wonk geekiest among us — is going to read.

The town should take note that people rushing to the beach to build a fire are likely to be doing so at night and to pass by so quickly that, at most, only a split-second’s attention would be paid to the text of a sign. The astonishing welter of signs at the road ends exacerbates the attention gap and makes attention all the more brief.

Idiot-proofing is the solution. Instead of the existing verbiage, which looks like one of the more boring chapters in “Moby-Dick,” the town should display an unmistakable visual message. We can envision a graphic depiction of a fire on the sand with a big “X” through it on one side and a fire properly blazing away in a metal container with a bucket of water nearby on the other, with a big, fat thumbs-up symbol. Emoji are now the common language, and the point will get across. 

If clean sand is the goal, making the rules easier to understand for all beachgoers is a priority.

There was alarm among environmental activists when the Long Island Power Authority failed to take a widely anticipated vote in July on a wind farm that, had it gone forward, would have been the largest in the United States. Perplexingly, LIPA explained that the delay was at the request of state officials, who, LIPA said, wanted to align the proposal with forthcoming offshore wind and clean energy plans. To some observers, this sounded more than a little suspicious, even for an industry that has been plagued by regulatory stalling and controversy.

 What is odd about such a state request is that the clean energy mandate from Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo centers on the goal of New York’s meeting 50 percent of its power needs from renewable sources, such as wind, by 2030. With construction on the Deepwater company’s wind farm set to begin within three years should LIPA approve it, it would appear that the project would have no problem being aligned with the state’s plans. 

The project calls for a 15-turbine installation about 30 miles off Montauk, with transmission lines tying into the electric grid in East Hampton. The 90 megawatts it would produce has been described as enough to supply as many as 50,000 houses, emissions-free. 

LIPA’s board of trustees is scheduled to meet next on Sept. 21 in Uniondale. We hope that it votes on the Deepwater plan, whether or not the state’s documents are ready. From the start, the alignment excuse appeared bogus; if LIPA is ready to move forward, the state should not be standing in the way.

We hoped that Representative Lee Zeldin, who endorsed Donald Trump for president, would have had a change of heart after hearing his inhumane reaction to the parents of a United States soldier who was killed in Iraq, Khizr and Ghazala Kahn, who appeared at the Democratic National Convention. 

Mr. Trump both belittled their loss and implied that Ms. Kahn, who did not speak at the convention, might have been kept quiet by some implied un-American religious tradition. As it turned out, she explained in a sharp denunciation of Mr. Trump that appeared in The Washington Post afterward, she had been too upset to speak.

As an Army veteran himself, we might have thought that Mr. Zeldin would have publicly expressed sympathy for the Khans, whose son, Army Capt. Humayun Khan, was killed by a car bomber. His action that day was credited with saving the lives of his fellow troops and nearby civilians, and he was posthumously awarded both the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star. But, by not making a strong denunciation immediately, Mr. Zeldin has failed his district. This is not the first time.

In June, he said in a CNN interview that President Obama was a racist, not Mr. Trump. For these views alone, Mr. Zeldin should not be returned to Washington in the November election. 

In keeping with several other publications that have begun to make early endorsements of Hillary Clinton in light of Mr. Trump’s dangerous views and uncontrolled ravings, we strongly endorse Anna Throne-Holst. Though we had concerns about her in the Democratic primary, she is the far better choice when up against Mr. Zeldin, who has failed a fellow veteran’s family on the most public of stages.

We believe it is critical that anti-Zeldin voters make a point of registering here and being at the local polls on Nov. 8. Though New York State is at this point considered an easy win for Mrs. Clinton, down-ticket races, like for who will represent the First Congressional District, are hugely important. Part-time residents who have considered whether to vote here in the past should know that this year their votes, if placed on the South Fork, will be tremendously important.

By having had the opportunity many times but failed to renounce his support for Mr. Trump’s fascist and megalomanic views, Mr. Zeldin has shown that he is the wrong representative for this diverse district, where equal respect for all is among the traits that residents value most.