Somewhere in the bowels of the bylaws governing citizens advisory committees is a rule that no more than two members of the town board may be present at the same C.A.C. meeting.
One of them, assuredly, would have to be the board’s liaison to the committee. For Amagansett, that is Councilman Tom Flight, who was also Monday evening’s scheduled speaker. And there was a second board member on hand as well, none other than the town supervisor, Kathee Burke-Gonzalez.
Also in the room was a very large elephant: the third game of the N.B.A. finals between New York’s Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs, with two short hours to go until tipoff. With many in the audience checking their watches at ostentatious intervals, it was understood by all --and the chairwoman, Rona Klopman, confirmed it -- that this meeting would be uncharacteristically brief. And it was.
“Ask Tom Flight questions” was the plan, and the first and only topic came from Ms. Klopman, who wanted to know about progress on Cantwell Court, the yet-to-be-built affordable housing subdivision off Pantigo Road between East Hampton and Amagansett.
The houses, which were first proposed four years ago, will not, said Mr. Flight, “have availability for local preference,” being subject to state supervision. Ms. Burke-Gonzalez disagreed. “No,” she said. “We do give preference, off the local list. It’s a different program from, say, St. Michael’s,” a 40-unit one-bedroom Amagansett complex for ages 62 and up, which, she said, “had to open it up” to everyone, at state direction. With Cantwell Court, “we can give preferences.”
There are 400 names on the waiting list for St. Michael’s, Mr. Flight noted, calling it a “phenomenal facility.”
Ms. Klopman, who has made no secret of backing East Hampton Village Mayor Jerry Larson against Ms. Burke-Gonzalez in the June 23 Democratic Primary for town supervisor, then asked her rather pointedly why Cantwell Court has taken so long. Mr. Flight had already answered that question, or part of it, explaining that “regional builders” had responded to the town’s requests for proposals with sky-high estimates, with consequent delays.
Ms. Burke-Gonzalez answered that “It’s a process. Housing is a broken ladder.” She went on to note that Cantwell Court, unlike St. Michael’s, which offers rental units, is “for home ownership,” structured along the lines of housing on Lazy Point: The town owns the land but the buyer owns the house and can make improvements. When the house is sold, it can only be to someone on the town’s waiting list.
With that settled, Councilman Flight ran quickly down his liaison report. The broken crosswalk signal on Amagansett Main Street, which has been flashing for months without pause, will be fixed as soon as the needed parts arrive, likely in six weeks. The tennis courts and other facilities at the Lee Hayes Youth Park off Abraham’s Path are to be upgraded before long. New light fixtures will soon be installed in the municipal parking lot behind Main Street.
Speaking of lights, the town board has received estimates to replace the poles and fixtures up and down Main Street; Mr. Flight will take those figures before his colleagues next month.
He has had no updates from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority on the closed Cranberry Hole bridge. The last word from the M.T.A. was that work on its replacement will begin next March. Likewise, the controversy over a new homeowner’s plantings along Further Lane, which block the views to the ocean, is at a standstill, with a lawsuit underway.
The Devon Yacht Club will hold its July 4 fireworks show on July 3, or on July 5 in case of rain. Montauk’s fireworks will explode from the beach by Gosman’s this year. And finally, said Councilman Flight, dump fees, like everything else, will be increasing. He did not say when.
