Elected in 2015, Jim Grimes is one of the trustees’ two deputy clerks. He, his colleagues, and the Friends of Georgica Pond Foundation, he said, “were able to secure renewing our dredging permits in Georgica Pond, which made significant gains in water quality and, I think, improved our image within that community, and certainly our relationships with the Georgica Association, East Hampton Village, and the town have improved dramatically from the situation we inherited.” (Past boards shied away from recognizing other governing bodies’ jurisdiction.)
The trustees have worked with property owners’ associations to secure their investment in remediation partnerships, which he said demonstrates to state and federal agencies “a community interest in the project,” and in turn brings grant money. He credits the trustees with negotiating, with their outside counsel, the community benefits package from the wind farm’s developers. Mr. Grimes also took the lead role in securing a new pump-out boat for the trustees’ operations in Three Mile Harbor and Lake Montauk.
Like Mr. Bock, Mr. Grimes looks forward to “redeveloping and redesigning the east inlet at Napeague, a dredging project not just geared to navigational purposes but focused on getting cooler water into that water body, with the hope that long after I’m off this board, I’ll be able to see a body of water that will support a scallop crop.”
Return to the main story to learn about the other candidates.