Government

With the Town of East Hampton and the town trustees' votes to execute agreements with the developers of the proposed South Fork Wind farm, and the state Public Service Commission's review of the project nearing conclusion, the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has issued a draft environmental impact statement, a requirement of the National Environmental Policy Act.

Both Southampton Town and New York State have taken steps toward enacting new legislation on monitoring sand mines aimed at ensuring the safety of the underlying aquifer from contamination.

After several years of discussion, debate, and public comment, the proposed South Fork Wind farm has come closer to reality. Both the East Hampton Town Board and the town trustees have voted to execute agreements with the developers allowing the wind farm's export cable to make landfall in the town and travel below ground, along town roads, to a Long Island Power Authority substation in East Hampton.

Proposals to charge for prime parking spaces in East Hampton and Sag Harbor Village are receiving mixed reactions from the villages’ business owners. Some think it's "dreadful," others foresee minimal impacts.

For East End residents hoping to book an appointment online for a vaccination at Stony Brook University, the nearest state-run site, the message has been a consistent: "No appointments available." On the websites of urgent care facilities in Riverhead and Huntington run by Northwell Health, which is overseeing vaccine administration on Long Island, the message is even less encouraging.

East Hampton Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc and Councilwoman Kathee Burke-Gonzalez both announced their intention to run for third terms this week. 

A contractor hired for an East Hampton Town public works project in 2017 has pleaded guilty to underpaying his employees and falsifying payroll records, Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy D. Sini announced Friday.

Projects that will protect or improve ground and surface waters may be eligible for funding under the water quality portion of the town's community preservation fund.

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.

After several years of heated debate, the East Hampton Town Board voted on Thursday to execute an easement and host-community agreement with the developers of the proposed South Fork Wind farm. Under the agreement, the developers of the offshore turbines will pay the town almost $29 million over the installation’s 25-year lifetime. 

East Hampton Town's Anti-Bias Task Force condemned the Jan. 6 insurrection at the United States Capitol, rejecting "in the strongest terms possible the despicable symbols of hate on display that day, including nooses, Confederate flags, and neo-Nazi slogans."

A long-planned project to protect the Montauk Lighthouse and its outbuildings from shoreline erosion moved toward fruition. The estimated two-year project to safeguard the national historic landmark is expected to start this spring.

East Hampton Village Mayor Jerry Larsen announced a plan to reconfigure parking spaces on Newtown Lane and along the perimeter of the Reutershan parking lot from parallel to angled drive-in parking at a board meeting on Friday.

Oyster farmers denounced efforts to restrict their activities in Gardiner's and Peconic Bays and boaters pressed their complaints that the floating gear some farmers use presents a hazard to navigation and an aesthetic nuisance when the Suffolk County Shellfish Aquaculture Lease Program's 10-year review board met on Friday.

The Sag Harbor Village Board is getting closer to finalizing a proposal to charge for parking on Main Street and in the Long Wharf parking lot between Memorial Day and Columbus Day weekends.

With a lack of Covid-19 vaccines making it nearly impossible for many of those deemed eligible to receive their first shot, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo sought to wrangle control of the state's vaccine supply away from the federal government, and streamline the distribution process this week.

A provision of East Hampton Village law that prohibited its inns from holding special events outdoors was struck down by State Supreme Court Justice Martha L. Luft in a Jan. 6 ruling in a lawsuit the owners of the Hedges Inn, a popular wedding venue, brought against the village.

Despite the lingering skepticism of one elected official and the opposition of some Wainscott residents, the East Hampton Town Board is poised to complete easement agreements with the developers of the proposed South Fork Wind farm to allow the wind farm's transmission cable to land in Wainscott and run to the Long Island Power Authority substation in East Hampton.

The governor appealed to Pfizer amid ongoing frustration with the Trump administration, complaining on Monday that the federal government dramatically increased vaccine eligibility last week while distributing fewer doses to the state.

The East Hampton Town Board appears likely to amend the town code to prohibit seaplanes, with a few narrow exceptions, from taking off or landing in town waters.  

Seeking to prod more East Hampton Village residents and business owners to replace conventional septic systems with low-nitrogen ones, the village board intends to require upgrades when a conventional system fails, upon property transfer, and when a business seeks site plan review of proposed construction. 

East Hampton Village Mayor Jerry Larsen scrapped a proposal to charge for additional hours of parking on the streets of the commercial district and in the Reutershan and Schenck parking lots, and is now proposing to charge non-village residents for each hour of parking in the lots, and to forgo allowing any additional hours for street parking.

Representative Lee Zeldin, one of President Trump's most loyal allies, is facing calls for his resignation in the wake of the Jan. 6 armed attack on the United States Capitol, an act of domestic terrorism intended to overturn the certification of electoral votes that was underway.

East Hampton Town's energy sustainability advisory committee has recommended requiring a warning sticker on fuel pumps, drawing a connection between filling vehicles with fossil fuels and climate change. 

East Hampton Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc and two of his colleagues on the town board have condemned the Jan. 6 insurrection at the United States Capitol.

During meetings this week, the East Hampton Town Board and the town trustees both aired the easement agreements they have separately negotiated, but not yet finalized, with the wind farm's developers. 

Representative Lee Zeldin, who for the last four years has demonstrated near-absolute fealty to President Trump, abruptly shifted his tone with a late-night statement on Thursday in which he acknowledged that President-elect Joseph Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris would be inaugurated on Jan. 20. 

East Hampton Town's energy sustainability committee concluded its work for 2020 with a recommendation to the town board that it adopt the NYStretch Energy Code, a statewide model for jurisdictions to use to accelerate the drive to carbon-neutral building.

Both in and outside of local government, there is a belief that the simultaneous campaigns of as many as 18 candidates is a confusing and clumsy exercise.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed legislation on Dec. 23 giving the New York State Public Service Commission the authority to require the Long Island Power Authority and its service providers to implement recommendations made in any audit where fraud, abuse, or mismanagement is found.