Government

Sag Harbor Village adopted its 2026-27 budget on April 17, ushering in an 8-percent tax rate increase. The $17.6 million budget is up over 10 percent from last year.

The East Hampton Village Board has codified that village personnel will not participate in federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions, nor assist civil immigration enforcement efforts, nor will village facilities be used to detain people solely for civil immigration enforcement absent a judicial warrant.

An attorney for a group opposed to a renewed lease for the Maidstone Gun Club in Wainscott, which has been closed since November 2022, asserted that the town has executed that lease with the club while the town attorney said this week that is not the case, but that the parties remain in active negotiations.

After a presentation this week, the East Hampton Town Board now has more data to back up what residents have been saying for years: “Man, helicopters are annoying!”

Emily Fisher, an experienced hand with the town, has been appointed the new head of its Human Resources Department.

The League of Women Voters of the Hamptons, Shelter Island, and the North Fork will host a program on serving on a town board advisory committee on Monday from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the East Hampton Library.

Plans for a sculpture area celebrating the history of the L.G.B.T.Q.+ community on the Wainscott Green — once the site of the Swamp nightclub — received support at a town planning board meeting on April 8, as it has from the town board and architectural review board.

It’s unclear who will win the June 23 Democratic primary for East Hampton Town supervisor, but one thing about the 2026 supervisor race became clear last week: As in 2025, there will be no Republican candidate on the November ballot.

Four rule changes that could come up for a vote in the House on Wednesday would affect how the Endangered Species Act is implemented.

A house on Bay View Avenue in Amagansett, infamous for a temporary wall of beach-blocking geocubes that stayed for years, was before the town Z.B.A. as its owners presented an environmental review of a plan to build a permanent 108-foot-long rock revetment.

Long-discussed improvements to a rest stop on the south side of Montauk Highway at the headwaters of Georgica Pond in Wainscott could be complete this time next year, as this week the town board agreed to a plan.

A town trustee angrily defended his actions in the disposal of hundreds of geese killed by bird flu, dismissing “social media comments” by “nobody that’s actually there” and singling out a former trustee who no longer lives here.

The governor announced that the state is requesting a federal disaster designation for Suffolk aquaculture after the fierce winter, but commercial fishermen say not so fast.

Vigorous conversation continues over the town’s management plan for the Osborn Homestead at 66 Main Street in Wainscott, purchased in 2024 for $56 million.

The challenges were many for the scores of candidates seeking to fill 38 slots on the Democratic Committee when they gathered signatures between late February and early April as the June 23 primary looms.

Sag Harbor Mayor Tom Gardella was obstinate in his decision to remain mayor after an otherwise unanimous village board censured him and asked for his resignation this week.

While residents continue to bemoan the air traffic and noise associated with the airport here, the Wainscott C.A.C. heard about a public data platform that tracks every flight to and from the airport, with noise impact modeled down to individual properties.

The town is in contract to purchase the 4.14-acre Pathfinder Day Camp in Montauk, using community preservation fund money, Councilman David Lys announced at Tuesday’s work session.

Joe Rose, a member of the village Z.B.A., delivered an impassioned rebuke to his colleagues on Friday, slamming their decision to grant multiple variances and a wetlands permit to the owners of 15 Jones Road.

The East Hampton Town Board is expected to make it clear that town personnel, including police, will not aid federal agents in immigration enforcement, while Fred Thiele, an OLA board member, weighs in on the draft law.

Out of 13 hearings in a single day, only one drew comment: an amendment to the town code that would prohibit driving on the town-owned part of Gin Beach in Montauk from Memorial Day weekend to Sept. 15 during daytime hours.

On Tuesday, in response to President Trump’s profanity-laden social media threats to destroy Iran, a small group of East Hampton Town residents gathered at the Hook Mill for a hastily organized “no more war” vigil.

Closed since 2023, at least the Cranberry Hole Road bridge in Amagansett now has a timetable for repair — it could begin in about a year.

It was a struggle of the sexes Tuesday as the East Hampton Town Board debated details of the draft management plan for the John Osborn Homestead at 66 Main Street in Wainscott.

The prospect of a nightclub-type establishment on Montauk’s Main Street had members of the hamlet’s citizens advisory committee concerned and sharply questioning its liaison to the town board.

With the soaring cost of diesel fuel amid the American-Israeli war against Iran, Assemblyman Tommy John Schiavoni has introduced legislation that would provide fuel tax exemptions for operators of commercial fishing vessels.

After the Suffolk County district attorney’s office announced last Thursday that two people had been indicted following an investigation into alleged bribery and official misconduct at the East Hampton Town Building Department, the town and the department’s former chief, who was the whistleblower, responded.

The Long Island Rail Road began work this week to extend the siding at the Southampton station in order to provide additional space for crews to stage trains, manage train movements, and reduce delays.

Local environmental and civic organizations have joined together to sign a letter signaling their opposition to proposed changes to the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act that would make certain projects exempt from review. 

Gov. Kathy Hochul’s intention to delay implementation of the state’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act has dismayed local officials and activists who decry the move at a time when the federal government is hostile to renewable energy and barely acknowledges climate change.