Disagreements about charging for parking in the commercial district, the financing of a centralized sewer system, and increasing fees for lockers at Main Beach erupted into heated discussions at an East Hampton Village Board meeting on Friday.
In the most recent iteration of a proposal for paid parking, Mayor Jerry Larsen has suggested keeping street parking free and charging non-village residents about $2 per hour to park in the Reutershan and Schenck lots between May 15 and Sept. 15. Although a discussion of the proposal was not on Friday's agenda, Rose Brown, a trustee, raised the topic because, "I wanted to clarify my position," she said. "I'm happy that we revised [the plan] to not include street parking . . . however I'm still not in favor of charging non-residents to enter" the lots. If East Hampton Town residents are required to pay to park in the lots, it might discourage them from shopping in the village, which would adversely impact businesses, she said. "People might not run into the grocery store, they might go somewhere else," she said. Instead, she suggested revisiting an earlier proposal to offer two free hours of parking in the lots and charging for additional hours.
Mr. Larsen said the current plan would include several 30-minute or possibly 60-minute parking spots in the lots that nonresidents could use for free. "That should really alleviate everyone's concerns," he said. The goal of the paid parking program, he said, is to raise revenue to fund the development of a centralized sewer system, "which will help everyone who uses our downtown . . . [and] all the businesses."
He had decided to scrap the plan to offer two free hours and charge for additional hours, he said, because parking consultants had determined it would not raise much revenue.
"Mr. Mayor, can you share with us the consultants' report on the revenue projections," asked Arthur Graham, a trustee.
"There was no report," said Marcos Baladron, the village administrator. "It was just the consultants telling us we weren't going to make a dime."
Mr. Graham said using parking revenue might not be the best way to finance the sewer system, and suggested raising funds with a tax on residents who will have access to the system. "Most systems like this are funded through taxing districts, and that is really the way we should try and go," he said. "That would be a way to fully fund the sewer in the fastest way possible. I don't know what the projected revenues are for parking, but if we need to raise $15 million for the sewers, it's going to be quite some time before we build that money up."
Mayor Larsen said his goal is to issue a bond to pay for the sewer system, and use the parking revenue to finance the principal and interest payments. "In my opinion, we are not going to be successful trying to tax the entire village for this sewer system," Mayor Larsen said. "I'm not wasting any more time delaying the start of this project, so we're going to go with the paid parking, and it's just a matter of working out the details." The board agreed to continue the discussion at its next meeting on Feb. 4.
The board approved an increase in locker fees at Main Beach for the 2021 season; a large locker now costs $500, and small one $250. Mr. Graham and Ms. Brown said they had not known about the fee increases until a notification was sent to residents. The trustees were being asked to approve them retroactively.
"I would have liked to have had the opportunity to discuss these fee increases at a work session," said Mr. Graham.
The cost of the large locker went up by $100, an increase of 25 percent, Ms. Brown said. "Going forward these kinds of things . . . should be discussed publicly beforehand."
"As you are both aware this was an oversight," Mr. Larsen said. The increase had been discussed privately, he said, and "you should have been brought into the loop." The issue hadn't been added to the agenda for discussion because "we had the majority who already agreed on this," he said, referring to Chris Minardi, the deputy mayor, and Sandra Melendez, a trustee, both members of the mayor's NewTown Party.
When Mr. Graham and Ms. Brown, members of the Fish Hooks Party, told the mayor they planned to vote for the increase, he asked, "What's the point of the comments then?"
"The point of the comments, Jerry, is that we need to discuss these things in public," responded Mr. Graham.
"Once again, it's been made very clear, this was discussed by the staff and you both were left out, and you were told it was an oversight, and now you're just making theater, so I'm going to move on," the mayor said.
The board approved the creation of the East Hampton Village Foundation, a not-for-profit that will seek to raise money for public works projects. It will be led by Bradford Billet, a village resident who worked in the New York City mayor's office for more than 20 years including as deputy commissioner in the Office of International Affairs. Mayor Larsen described Mr. Billet as a friend who was "instrumental" in his campaign for mayor.
"I picture [raising] money to help us restore Herrick Park and other projects going forward," said Mr. Larsen. "I think this is a great way to have a public and private partnership with the residents of our village."
Christopher Stoecker, an East Hampton High School graduate who is studying at the Dalhousie School of Architecture and Planning in Nova Scotia, presented a proposal for adding a bicycle lane to Main Street in the village. Mr. Larsen said he has asked Police Chief Michael Tracey to talk to State Department of Transportation officials about reducing the number of lanes on the state-owned road to one in each direction. If that downsizing takes place, and traffic becomes less hazardous, adding a bike lane might be feasible, the mayor said.
The board resolved to create a committee to study the impact of short-term vacation rentals, and to create a central garage department to oversee the repair of the village's vehicles.
It adopted laws to add a stop sign to the east side of Accabonac Road at the intersection of Collins Avenue, thereby creating a three-way stop; to change parking restrictions on several streets including Newtown Lane, Race Lane, Egypt Lane, Middle Lane, Church Street, and James Lane, and to provide lifeguards who are members of East Hampton Volunteer Ocean Rescue with a free beach parking permit.
Thomas Preiato, who previously worked as building inspector for East Hampton Town and most recently Sag Harbor Village, was hired as a full-time building inspector at a salary of $120,000. Next week, the building department will move from Village Hall to the village-owned Osborn House at 88 Newtown Lane, Mayor Larsen announced.
The board accepted the $354,000 bid from Susan and Amanda Seekamp, the owners of the Beach Hut at Atlantic Avenue Beach in Amagansett, to lease the Main Beach concession for five years.
A donation of a clock, and three bed frames made by Nathaniel Dominy IV were accepted by the board. The 1778 clock is one of Mr. Dominy's earliest, said Robert Hefner, the village's director of historic services. It was donated by the estate of Robert Welby, a descendant of the Barnes family, he said, and Leonard Ackerman, a lawyer and village resident, donated the money to have it shipped from California. The circa 1800 bed frames were donated by the Osborn family of Wainscott. The items will be displayed in the Dominy museum that is under construction on North Main Street and scheduled to open later this year.
