The Suffolk County Department of Health Services will offer private well testing to residents of Noyac next week as a result of preliminary findings from water tests conducted by the agency that show abnormally high levels of contaminants such as manganese, cobalt, and arsenic in the aquifer beneath the Sand Land mine on the Noyac-Bridgehampton border.

In a letter addressed to the Noyac Civic Council president, Elena Loreto, James Tomarken, commissioner of the Health Department, said, “Our staff is in the process of initiating field work this week. As was the case with the past surveys conducted for this site, there will be no cost to the homeowner. Rest assured that the department will take every step to ensure that the evaluation is thorough and accurate.”

The contamination is widely considered to be a consequence of composting and mulching operations that have been conducted at the location since the company ran out of sand to mine several years ago. The mine spans between 30 and 50 acres in Noyac and is on top of one of the county’s six special groundwater protection areas. The impact of vegetative waste composting is still the subject of scientific study; however, it is believed that the unique runoff from the chemical processes involved with composting results in the mobilization of heavy metals that are naturally present below the surface. Once mobile, the heavy metals are released into the aquifer.

Sand Land does not have a permit for waste management operations, nor is that activity at the location regulated. This use has been the subject of ongoing litigation at the town and county levels.

Grace Kelly-McGovern, a spokeswoman for the Health Department, explained the water sampling and testing timeline yesterday. In October, she said, the department installed 10 test wells on the Sand Land property. “We drilled and collected samples within a two-week period beginning Oct. 4, 2017. The samples then went to the lab. Testing was completed by February 2018. By March 8, 2018, our hydro-geologists completed the validation and quality control processes, and samples were sent to the New York State Department of Health and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. A complete report will be issued by our agency in coming weeks.”

Earlier this month, the raw data from these tests were obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests made by Robert DeLuca, president of the Group for the East End, Adrienne Esposito of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment, and Elena Loreto of the Noyac Civic Council.

While waiting for the official Health Department report to be issued, Noyac residents hired an independent consultant to analyze and interpret the raw data. According to Stuart Z. Cohen of Environmental and Turf Services of Wheaton, Md., the samples indicated abnormally high concentrations of nitrate, manganese, and cobalt in the aquifer below the mine, and lead, arsenic, and manganese in the surface water. Dr. Cohen is an organic chemist and certified groundwater professional. 

“This is really serious. Very serious,” Larry Penny, a Noyac resident who is a former natural resources director for East Hampton Town, said at a meeting on Tuesday at the Old Noyac School House. It was the second of two meetings the Noyac Civic Council has hosted on the recent findings. “Without the Noyac Civic Council and these two people here and their organizations,” Mr. Penny said, referring to Ms. Esposito and Mr. DeLuca, “I don’t know where the hell we would be.”

Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. thanked the Health Department for “being responsive and for being an advocate for the community” in a call from his office in Albany. “The Health Department went to court when the property owner wouldn’t give permission to do testing,” he explained. 

The assemblyman added that although progress has been made, “There is still plenty of work to be done, including private well testing, denial of approvals for an expansion of the mine, and a full on-site investigation by the D.E.C. to determine the extent of the contamination. The Town of Southampton needs to write to the D.E.C. and tell them they need to step up.”

According to Ms. Loreto, Dr. Tomarken called her personally on Friday to tell her that letters to homeowners will go out this coming week. She said she hopes to obtain a copy of the mailing list so that the Noyac Civic Council can reach out to residents independently to promote participation in the free testing.

“Private wells were tested previously, but we didn’t have much information at the time. First, the D.H.S. wells the samples came from were located off-site, not directly in the mine as the ones that followed the court order were,” Ms. Loreto said. “This time, there is more information,” she added, “So participation should improve. And of course, we are hoping that the D.E.C. will do a formal site characterization to verify the findings and give more precise details on the direction of flow and the range and extent of the contamination. Then we might need to conduct more private well testing.”

In a statement released by the D.E.C. on Tuesday, its regional director, Carrie Gallagher, said, “We are undertaking a comprehensive review of all mulch and organic waste facilities across Long Island, including the Sand Land facility. As part of this review, the D.E.C. will validate the raw data recently provided by Suffolk County Department of Health Services. If results warrant additional investigation, the D.E.C. will move quickly to conduct additional sampling.”

The State Assembly this week passed legislation authorizing local governments in Nassau and Suffolk Counties to “enact and enforce local laws requiring groundwater monitoring in connection with mining operations.” That bill now goes to the State Senate for consideration.

“The situation at Sand Land in Noyac illustrates the need for this legislation,” the assemblyman said in a release yesterday. “Years of regulatory neglect resulted in contamination that would more likely be associated with an open dump than a sand mine. The State D.E.C. never monitored the groundwater and failed to protect the public.” Sand Land, he said, is not the only mining operation where such impacts have been found. “There must be a comprehensive groundwater monitoring program adjacent to every mining site. Routine groundwater sampling and monitoring can help determine if groundwater resources are being impacted and will provide an early warning system for groundwater contamination.”

A proposal to increase the permit fee for scaffolding and other sidewalk encumbrances and instituting a new fee for Dumpsters, construction vehicles, and any other obstructions in parking spaces triggered an outcry from business owners at the Sag Harbor Village Board meeting on March 14. 

The current village code requires that anyone needing to temporarily block a sidewalk apply for a $25 permit. The village is seeking to increase that fee to $75 per day and expand the code to include parking spaces as well. One of the main problems with the current code, said Beth Kamper, the village clerk-administrator, is that “it isn’t really enforceable because there’s no time frame in the law.” Thus, a months-long construction project could incur just the initial fee of $25. 

Ms. Kamper also noted that the village, which is analyzing its fee structure in comparison to what other East End municipalities charge, has not increased the encumbrance fee in 30 years.

At the board meeting, Alicia Farnam, a member of the Schiavoni family, which owns the I.G.A. grocery store on Main Street, spoke out against what she deemed an egregious increase in the fee. “It doesn’t matter to me that you didn’t do this 30 years ago,” she said. Schiavoni’s Market is in the midst of an unexpectedly extended construction project. “Initially, we were just going to have the stucco replaced, but we ran into structural problems and had to hire an engineer to make sure the building was properly stabilized,” said Ms. Farnam this week. Ms. Farnam said that the business paid for an encumbrance permit and has been renewing it monthly. The work on the building has necessitated the presence of scaffolding on its facade and a Dumpster in a parking spot, over a period of some seven months. “I understand the need to raise fees, but $75 a day is a lot. You’re making up for lost time overnight? That’s just unfair.”

Lisa Field, the president of the village’s Chamber of Commerce and the owner of the Sag Harbor Variety store, expressed concern to the board about the effect the fee increase might have on Harborfest, the Chamber’s popular fair and sidewalk sale, held each September. “Our immediate response was, how was this going to affect our use of Long Wharf?” said Ms. Field, referring to the site occupied by most of Harborfest’s booths. “Taking over roughly 90 parking spots over two days would be cost prohibitive.” 

Ms. Field said that the village trustees had assured her that they valued Harborfest and would not let the change in code prevent the event from taking place. Speaking as a business owner, Ms. Field said, she could see both sides of the encumbrance fee issue. “The costs could really add up,” she admitted, but she also thought the change might motivate shopkeepers and landlords to expedite their construction projects, freeing up parking spaces that have been commandeered of late by construction vehicles. “We have had an unprecedented amount of construction going on in the village over the last couple of months. I want to keep Main Street as Main Street and not as a parking lot.”

After months of back and forth, the East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals and Ronald Perelman, the billionaire owner of the Creeks on Georgica Pond, agreed on Friday that some illegally built structures on his 58-acre estate would be eliminated or reduced in size and use. 

In 2012, the village discovered that Mr. Perelman had constructed and altered multiple buildings at the property at 291 Montauk Highway without building permits and in violation of code. It was also discovered that he had illegally cleared some 70,000 square feet of vegetation on the property. After the East Hampton Village Board rejected a proposal to create a new zoning district that would effectively legalize the structures, he came to the Z.B.A. 

Mr. Perelman sought to legalize the enlargement of a small synagogue to 1,275 square feet, where the maximum permitted for an accessory building is 250 square feet, and to keep its 15.1-foot height, where the maximum is 14 feet. He also sought variances to legalize 160 square feet of additions to the main residence and for the earlier extension, expansion, and alteration of nonconforming accessory buildings containing cooking and living facilities. The additions are 100 feet from wetlands, where a 150-foot setback is required.

He also sought variances to legalize a 5,802-square-foot barn with cooking and living facilities, which he proposed in exchange for converting a 4,217-square-foot carriage house, also containing cooking and living quarters, into an accessory building with storage space. Area and wetlands setback variances were also required to legalize six pieces of art and sculptures installed within the rear-yard and wetlands setbacks, the nearest being directly on the rear-yard lot line and wetlands. 

On Friday, the fourth meeting at which the application was considered, Frank Newbold, the board’s chairman, and Leonard Ackerman, an attorney for Mr. Perelman, detailed the proposal on which the board will make its determination. 

Mr. Newbold highlighted concerns about the ecological health of Georgica Pond, which has experienced several toxic algal blooms in recent years and led to the board’s insistence that a vegetative buffer between the property and the pond, and nitrogen-reducing septic systems covering the entire property, be included in the mitigation offered in exchange for variances legalizing some of the structures. 

“As in all applications before this board, it’s a question of balancing the mitigation offered against the variances requested,” Mr. Newbold said. “Particularly, since this property has more frontage on Georgica Pond than any other, we’re concerned for the impact on the neighborhood, and in particular the water quality of Georgica Pond.”

Mr. Perelman will be required to remove the six bedrooms, six bathrooms, and cooking facilities in the carriage house and convert it to unconditioned space to be used only for storage. A shower is to be removed from the synagogue, with two half-bathrooms allowed to remain, and a covenant to be filed with the village will prohibit cooking facilities or use as a residence, including overnight dwelling. A portion of a swimming pool cabana that was added to include a workout room must be removed, and a shower must be removed from a pool house. Fences that encroach into wetlands must also be removed. 

Along with the 70,000 square feet of vegetation that had been illegally cleared, Mr. Perelman will revegetate additional land, for a total of 133,756 to be planted with native species to form a natural buffer between the property and Georgica Pond. It is to be maintained without pesticides or fertilizers. 

“Finally,” Mr. Newbold said, “the applicant has proposed agreement to a nitrogen-reducing septic system for the entire property to be installed within two years, which will benefit the pond and leave it in healthier condition going forward.” A covenant stating that the applicant will apply to the Suffolk County Health Department for that upgrade within 60 days of the zoning board’s determination will be filed with the village. 

The hearing was closed, and the board’s determination will be announced at a future meeting. 

Also at the meeting, a hearing was opened, and quickly closed, for six properties surrounding Lily Pond. Bruce Horwith, a conservation biologist, detailed a plan to remove phragmites from wetlands and adjacent areas by cutting with hand-held equipment at properties on Lily Pond Land and Apaquogue Road, which collectively cover 22.3 acres. A seventh property, also on Lily Pond Lane, will be added to the project once a survey, wetlands flagging, and paperwork have been completed. “The idea will be to approach the whole pond holistically with one project,” Mr. Horwith said.

The project, projected to span four years, requires approval of the town trustees, which Mr. Horwith said has been given, and a permit from the State Department of Environmental Conservation, which is pending. Billy Hajek, the village planner, recommended that the board require the applicants to submit reports to monitor the project’s success in controlling phragmites and the re-establishment of native species, and to notify the village’s Code Enforcement Department when the project is to commence. Mr. Horwith agreed. 

Two determinations were announced at the meeting. The board denied an application from Georgia Benevicks to install a powder room in a 436-square-foot detached garage, where bathrooms are prohibited, at 75 Mill Hill Lane. The survey submitted with the application depicts a proposed swimming pool, but no building permit application for a pool has been submitted; and, the board noted, the applicant characterizes the structure as a garage and not a pool house or recreational room. 

Richard Furlaud Jr. was granted variances to legalize alterations of a nonconforming detached garage in the front yard at 79 Hither Lane. One variance legalizes a 361-square-foot finished studio room, where 250 square feet is the maximum permitted; another allows the studio room to remain insulated, and a third allows the installation of another garage door. The board, however, denied Mr. Furlaud’s request that the structure have a heating and cooling system and an indoor shower.

After spending decades looking after the beautification of East Hampton Village at large, the Ladies Village Improvement Society focused on a project even closer to home this winter, refurbishing its headquarters and thrift shops at 95 Main Street. 

The structure, which was built in 1740, had not been renovated since 1987, when the L.V.I.S. first purchased it, and years of wear and tear had left the building in a state that was often not in compliance with the village’s building codes. 

In the fall, the L.V.I.S. hired Lee H. Skolnick and Paul Alter, from the Lee H. Skolnick Architecture and Design firm, to reimagine the space, with one of the major goals being to make the thrift shops more user-friendly. 

The demolition phase took place in mid-January, and Ben Krupinski, the owner of Ben Krupinski Builder, donated the construction costs for the ensuing six-week renovation. 

On March 6, the L.V.I.S. held a grand opening of its Bargain Box and Bargain Books thrift stores and debuted the makeover to the public. The result is a redesigned floor plan for the shops, featuring more elbow room for customers. The menswear shop and the bookshop have partially traded places. The backdrop of a fresh paint job gives the space a sleeker aesthetic, leaving the shops in perfect shape for the summer season. 

The shops are open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

It has never been confirmed that Spain blew up the U.S.S. Maine on Feb. 15, 1898, but the explosion that killed more than half the American battleship’s officers and crew members as it sat in Havana Harbor set off the Spanish-American War. 

The war marked the first time that American soldiers were sent overseas to fight, and many would die in Cuba of tropical diseases such as yellow fever, typhoid, malaria, and dysentery. Looking for a site on the Northeast coast of this country that could accommodate between 22,000 and 29,000 sick troops, Secretary of War Russell Alger chose 5,000-plus acres in Montauk as an ideal place to quarantine soldiers while they convalesced. It was named Camp Wikoff after the first United States officer killed in the Spanish-American War. 

Jeff Heatley and Richard Barons will speak about Camp Wikoff and both its East End and national impact at Clinton Academy on Friday, March 23, at 7 p.m. Their talk, “Fever in Montauk: Camp Wikoff and the East Hampton Community,” is the last in the East Hampton Historical Society’s winter series “Doctors, Housecalls, and Hospitals: Keeping Well in Old East Hampton.” It will be preceded by refreshments at 6:30. 

Mr. Heatley edited “Bully! Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, the Rough Riders & Camp Wikoff,” a compilation of 1898 newspaper articles on the war and its aftermath here, with help from the late Russell Drumm and the Montauk Historical Society. “Bully!”, published in 1998, details the quarantining of the 5th Army Corps in Montauk, including many of Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders and sick soldiers who had been waiting at Army posts in the South to be shipped out to Cuba. Mr. Heatley said that one of the reasons he did the book was that “the journalism from newspapers of the 1890s . . . was stunning.”

Aside from the climate and relative isolation, what also helped seal Alger’s decision on Camp Wikoff’s location was the extension three years earlier of the railroad to Montauk. South Fork residents were not happy at the prospect of so many sick men convalescing in Montauk, however. Many young women from both forks received training from the Red Cross to be able to nurse the soldiers; some of these women got sick and some died.

In the end, 350 soldiers died in Montauk, some of starvation because once they became really ill, they could not digest the rations given them and because of red tape, the food they might have been able to eat, such as eggs, milk, chicken, and fresh vegetables, did not get there in time, Mr. Heatley explained recently. By the end of August 1898, there were 20,000 men in the camp, 2,100 of them in hospitals.

The talk by Mr. Heatley and Mr. Barons is free.

Grey Gardens is in a state of upheaval. The house’s front porch has been removed, the chimneys have been taken down, and the entire structure is set to be lifted off its foundation to allow for the existing crawl space to be transformed into a full basement.

The extent of the ongoing work was noted with alarm on social media last week, with, for example, one East End resident posting front-yard images and expressions of anxiety over its fate on Facebook. Anyone passing by 3 West End Road in East Hampton, the official address of the house made famous by its most eccentric inhabitants, Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale and her daughter, Edith Bouvier Beale, might indeed assume that it was in the midst of a drastic re-envisioning, but that is not the case, said colleagues of its newest owners.

In the fall, when the new owners bought the property for $15.5 million from Sally Quinn — a journalist who was married to the late Ben Bradlee (played by Tom Hanks in The Post, the recent Academy Award contender) — they used a limited liability company, which concealed their identities. They remain anonymous. However, Frank Newbold, an associate broker at Sotheby’s International Realty who represented the buyers during the purchase, vouched for his clients, describing them as “a young family who know and love East Hampton and who are eager to respect and restore Grey Gardens.” Mr. Newbold is also the chairman of the village’s zoning board of appeals.

Kevin Hummel, a partner in the firm John Hummel and Associates Custom Builders, has been hired by the owners to oversee the renovation. He said last week that he has been tasked with salvaging as much of the original structure as possible. “They’re adamant about saving every piece of trim and paneling,” he said. “When we took down the chimneys, we saved the original bricks to be reused.” After the house is lifted, and the basement expanded, “the house will be put back down in its original position on a new foundation,” added Mr. Hummel. “Nothing is changing with the aesthetics. The owners have been researching books and documents about the house for years. They really want this house to go back to the way it was 100 years ago. They don’t even want it to look like a new paint job was done.”

Building plans for the house, which are on file at the East Hampton Village Building Department, feature a series of demolition notes that contain directives such as “salvage wainscoting and all decorative trim in dining room for reuse,” and “remove existing gravel driveway and salvage existing bluestone edging for reuse.”

The building plans also show that some high-end adjustments are in store for the classic shingled structure. Hydronic radiant floors are slated to be installed in all the bathrooms, the kitchen, the sun room, and the master bedroom. The new basement has been designed to contain a wine room, an exercise room, and a recreation room. 

  If the plans come to full fruition, the house will end up with a total of 33 rooms, including seven bedrooms, eight full bathrooms, and two half-bathrooms.

Outside, on the 1.7 acres of land Grey Gardens is set on, the documents lay out a plan for the rectangular backyard pool to be replaced with a circular one. Three gates will be installed on the perimeter of the property, two on West End Road and one on Apaquogue Road. 

As for the house’s infamous landscaping — which reached a state of picturesque wildness and overgrown neglect before the Beales were confronted by village code inspectors back in the 1970s —  Mr. Hummel said the owners were also intent on reviving its past. “They’ve hired a landscape architect to bring the garden back to what it originally looked like,” he said.

Can East Hampton Village enact its proposed law regulating large events without ruining the plans of couples who already have booked venues for weddings? That question was the focus of the village board’s work session last Thursday, while it also discussed a village-wide ban on Styrofoam and a proposal to install a device on the roof of the pavilion at Main Beach designed to free radio frequencies for use by the Navy.

Under the proposed law requiring permits for events with 50 or more people, village hostelries, such as the Hedges Inn and the Maidstone Hotel, which are nonconforming businesses in a residential district, would be prohibited from holding events outdoors or in a tent. The dilemma for board members was how exactly to define the term “already booked.” 

“I’ve thought a lot about it,” said Linda Riley, the village attorney, who seemed dubious about the proposal. “I don’t know how we determine what’s truly booked or not. There’s a lot of wiggle room in ‘booked,’ ” she said. Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr., however, seemed intent on finding a way to keep nuptials on track, at least until a specific date in the future. “I think we can make an exception with a time frame,” he said. 

Becky Molinaro Hansen, the village administrator, explained that some tweaks had been made to the proposed law since its introduction last month. Language has been added to make it clear that locations open to the public, such as churches, museums, and libraries, would not be prohibited from having large gatherings either indoors or outdoors. 

The law’s definition of a charitable organization was revised to include political committees and charities based outside the village as eligible to apply for a permit. 

The proposed law makes a distinction between the terms social occasion and special event. According to Ms. Hansen, a social occasion is defined as a commonplace event, such as a birthday party, which would be likely to take place at a private residence. A special event is a gathering that is not part of the normal course of business, whether at a residence or a commercial property. Although both social occasions and special events with 50 or more people would require permits, the fees for them might differ. 

The language was also changed to make it clear that security deposits and liability insurance would be mandated only for events on village property. Homeowners who hold parties at residences would still be required to reimburse the village for the cost of any public services, such as additional traffic control, that the village deemed necessary. 

Moving on to an environmental concern, the board appeared eager to enact a law to prohibit the use or sale of Styrofoam. Last month, the Village of Patchogue banned Styrofoam takeout containers and packing peanuts. The members of the East Hampton 

The village board apparently wanted to go further by adding Styrofoam coolers to the list. “A cheap Styrofoam cooler ends up in the landfill a lot quicker than a nice one does,” Arthur Graham, a village trustee, said.  

The board also turned its attention to a proposal from Federated Wireless, a mobile communications company, and its business partners, to install a device with “environmental sensing capability.” The sensor would detect when it was necessary to free federal cellular frequencies for use by the Navy during land or sea operations. Commercial users would then be directed to other wireless bands. 

According to the proposal, such sensors are being installed every 20 to 25 miles across all of the country’s coastlines. After requesting that the design review board sign off on the installation, since Main Beach is located in the Ocean Avenue Historic District, the board agreed to allow the installation.

Steven Ringel, the executive director of the East Hampton Chamber of Commerce, laid out plans for the village’s second annual spring street fair before the village board’s work session last Thursday.

Describing last year’s event as a huge success, Mr. Ringel said the game plan for the 2018 fair, which is slated for May 12, a Saturday, was largely to remain the same, with approximately 50 booths featuring artisans from the area and nonprofit groups set up back to back down the center of Newtown Lane stretching from Main Street to Park Place.

One big change from last year: The board has decided to allow the village’s retail stores on both Main Street and Newtown Lane to have sidewalk sales during the event. “The stores didn’t have their best day last year,” said Mr. Ringel. “This is a way to dissolve the line between the stores and the festival.”

Another new feature will be a designated food area, complete with picnic tables, bathroom facilities, and a cleanup crew, set up in the entryway to the municipal parking lot alongside Capital One bank. The time frame of the festival will be moved up by an hour, to 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., because “the village’s restaurants really needed their parking back,” Mr. Ringel said.

Work on the roundabout being constructed at what is known as the five corners intersection of Route 114 and Buell and Toilsome Lanes in East Hampton Village may have seemed a bit dormant this winter, but the project has been making progress off site with the fabrication of granite and concrete curbs for the circle and its splitter islands. “We’ve just completed phase two and we expect phase three to begin by early next week,” Becky Molinaro Hansen, the village administrator, said on Monday. “The goal is to have it completed hopefully by mid-May but certainly by Memorial Day.”

Phase three will include the installation of the center island, curbs, sidewalks, light poles, signs, and fixtures. There may be intermittent traffic snarls at the location due to work being done, Ms. Hansen said, but added that she does not ever expect a complete shutdown. “We anticipate being able to have at least one lane open at all times,” she said. Another key part of phase three will be the landscaping. On that front, Ms. Hansen said the village had already reached out to the Ladies Village Improvement Society and the Garden Club of East Hampton for their advice. “We want it to look like a beautiful finished product,” she said. 

The other major traffic-related project in the village involves the replacement of the railroad trestles that cross North Main Street and Accabonac Road. The trestles, which are renowned for being rammed by too-tall trucks, will be raised from 11 to 14 feet high with the installation of new bridges. The Metropolitan Transit Authority, which operates the Long Island Rail Road, is in charge of the project, which is expected to take 18 months to complete, finishing in mid-2019. 

Work on the retaining walls used to prop up the bridges will begin in the coming weeks, Ms. Hansen said. The walls will be constructed out of concrete blocks that “will look like rocks and vary in size and shape,” Ms. Hansen said. At a meeting in September, the village board questioned L.I.R.R. officials about whether the blocks could be dyed to a color that is aesthetically appropriate to the village’s character. The railroad officials were initially doubtful that could be accommodated, but Ms. Hansen said that the board and Robert Hefner, the village director of historic services, ultimately did get to sign off on the earth-toned shade of the blocks. “Everyone’s happy with the color,” said Ms. Hansen, who revealed that its official name is Federal Standard. 

The trestle removal and replacement process, which will take about 10 days, was slated to happen this fall, but Ms. Hansen said that has been pushed back to next February. “The North Main Street bridge will be first and then five days later the Accabonac bridge,” Ms. Hansen said. “We anticipate road shutdowns during the actual removal and replacement of each trestle. The L.I.R.R. will develop a traffic control plan and review it with the village and other stakeholders.”

The Japanese restaurant Sen, a year-round fixture on Main Street in Sag Harbor for 25 years, closed on Oct. 1 to undergo a gut renovation, with the owners having thought the work would be completed and the restaurant reopened in April. Mid-renovation revelations about the soundness of the building, which dates to the 1800s, however, have made it clear that it will be at least mid-June until Sen can open its doors.

“We discovered that the front of the building wasn’t sitting on the foundation; it was floating,” Jesse Matsuoka said. He owns Sen in partnership with his brother, Tora, and Jeff Resnick, a businessman and former owner of the La Superica restaurant across the street. “Our contractor said he was amazed the building was standing up,” Mr. Matsuoka said. 

Not only did the renovation show that the building wasn’t well grounded, it was discovered that the entire building was tilted. “It was leaning 41/2 inches,” said Nick Zappola, co-owner of N. Zappola and Associates, the firm doing the work. “Basically, we had to re-engineer the whole structure. Now it’s set to go for another 200 years.” 

By the time the project is finished, everything in the restaurant except the marble of the sushi bar will have been replaced. And while the front part of the building will retain its historic look (as mandated by the village code), the back will have an up-to-date appearance.  

With the biggest construction head-aches out of the way, Mr. Matsuoka took time last week to discuss the economic benefit of having a bigger and better kitchen. “We had one of the smaller kitchens of the Sag Harbor restaurants,” Mr. Matsuoko said. It will soon have 600 more square feet, which will enable Mr. Matsuoko to enlarge the restaurant’s catering business. 

Expanding the restaurant’s bar area will be another result of the renovation. Since Mr. Matsuoko is a certified sake sommelier, the new bar will be particularly sake-centric. But, in addition, the space will be enlarged. “The bar filled up so fast that we would encourage people to go consume alcohol or bites somewhere else,” he said with a laugh. 

As for the dining area, it will feature sliding glass doors to allow open-air dining, but, otherwise, won’t seem all that different, he said. “I never wanted to adjust the restaurant itself that much. I want our guests to walk in and feel as if nothing happened‚“ he said. To that end, the décor will adhere to the natural wood and earth tones of the previous incarnation. All the materials that were removed were replaced in kind, Mr. Matsuoka said, “so if we pulled up pine, we put down pine.”

The need to update the restaurant also allowed Mr. Matsuoka to expand and upgrade the second and third floors of the building. These floors contain three apartments used for staff housing. “Providing housing is not only a necessity, but it gives us an edge to hold on to our employees,” Mr. Matsuoka said. “A happy staff equals happy service.”

Although Mr. Matsuoka was hoping to throw a reopening party when the work is finally complete, he said he wasn’t sure that would be possible since it will fall right in the thick of the summer season. Still, he’s looking forward to unveiling Sen’s new look and seeing loyal customers return. “We didn’t want Sen to change. We just wanted to accommodate more and faster.”