Government

Chief Robert Pharaoh of the Montauketts has been named grand marshal of East Hampton Town’s 375th anniversary parade, on Sept. 23. "I’d like to thank everyone for this honor," Mr. Pharaoh said. "It’s very, very important to us, because we are trying to get our recognition reinstated."

East Hampton Town Councilwoman Sylvia Overby returned to Town Hall on Monday, four months after a medical event she experienced during a May 9 town board meeting. On Tuesday, she attended and participated in the town board's meeting for the first time since May.

Suffolk County is acknowledging there’s a traffic problem on County Road 39 — “the highway” that runs from Shinnecock Hills to Water Mill and transitions to Montauk Highway farther east — and is seeking innovative ideas for ways to solve that problem from civil engineers, commuters, community members, and other stakeholders. “All of the beauty that draws people here . . . also creates significant challenges,” said County Executive Steve Bellone in announcing last Thursday that Suffolk has put out an official request for proposals “for one of the largest traffic analyses and studies that the county has undertaken.”

The Climate Prediction Center, a division of the National Weather Service, now predicts a 60-percent chance of between 14 and 21 named storms, of which six to 11 could become hurricanes, and two to five of them major hurricanes. “It’s important for the public to remember that we’re very vulnerable out here on the East End,” East Hampton Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc said. “Everybody needs to take steps ahead of any event to make sure that you’re ready.”

In a final act before retiring on Aug. 30, Justice Paul Baisley Jr. of New York State Supreme Court, who has issued a series of rulings against East Hampton Town regarding both East Hampton Town Airport and a 4,000-foot stretch of Napeague oceanfront popularly known as Truck Beach, referred the attorney Daniel Rodgers to the Grievance Committee for the Tenth Judicial District for disciplinary consideration.

On Sept. 16, the so-called gas ball lot, home to approximately 93 parking spaces in the Village of Sag Harbor, will come under the control of Adam Potter’s 11 Bridge Street L.L.C. Unless the village works with him to keep the lot open, Mr. Potter said on Tuesday, he will “shut its gates” that day — the first day of the annual Harborfest celebration.

East Hampton Town will soon put out a request for proposals for the 16 detached houses that it will build as part of its effort to create more affordable housing, Eric Schantz, the director of the town’s Office of Housing and Community Development, told the town board on Tuesday. But the board must assist in that effort by reaching a consensus on a number of details, Mr. Schantz said.

A project that has been germinating for nearly three decades, the removal of a bulkhead and the installation of runoff-absorbing rain gardens at a popular parking area that straddles Sag Harbor Village and Southampton Town, at Round Pond, is set to begin. It’s being called a huge win for the village, the town, the pond, and nearby residents.

The East Hampton Town Planning Board met last week to finalize the subdivision plans for 395 Pantigo Road, the town’s 16-lot affordable housing project. The houses will line a cul-de-sac with a working name of Cantwell Court, after Larry Cantwell, who retired as East Hampton Town Supervisor in 2017 after a long career serving both the village and the town.

Adam Potter’s new plans for a mixed-use development in the heart of Sag Harbor Village — calling for a 299-seat theater, the exact size of the current Bay Street Theater, in a 16,144-square-foot building he’s calling the Complex — have finally been submitted to the village board.

Statistics and observation indicate fewer recreational boats in East Hampton Town waters in 2023 than in the four previous years, a trend that may track that of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Over the summer, many homeowners who rent their properties on a short-term basis received letters from the Suffolk County comptroller alerting them that they may be in violation of the Suffolk County Hotel and Motel Occupancy Tax. While there is nothing new about the county trying to collect the tax, the holes in its net have gotten smaller and perhaps it’s caught a few more fish, in part because of a new partner, Granicus, a software company that scours rental registries and about 70 websites in search of property owners who might be ignoring the tax.