Government

The installation of the temporary “cell on wheels” that is to be sited on Gann Road in Springs until a permanent emergency communications tower is designed and constructed elsewhere in the hamlet has been delayed because of “supply chain issues,” the East Hampton Town Board was told on Tuesday.

Following the New York State Court of Appeals ruling last week that the Democratic-controlled State Legislature’s redrawing of congressional and State Senate districts violated the State Constitution, New York’s primary elections will be postponed from June to August 23 as a neutral expert draws new district maps.

Fishermen on the South Fork are angered by the placement in August of several dozen 500-pound concrete blocks on the ocean floor off Wainscott, moorings for the telemetry devices in use for the South Fork Wind Fisheries Study Work Plan that was a condition for the East Hampton Town Trustees’ lease agreement allowing the South Fork Wind farm’s transmission cable to make landfall on a beach under their jurisdiction.

The currently projected range of sea level rise “will transform East Hampton into a series of islands with permanent submergence of low-lying areas as early as 2070.” That is the ominous conclusion that leads a draft of the town’s Coastal Assessment and Resiliency Plan, issued last week.

East Hampton Town’s Water Quality Technical Advisory Committee recommended to the town board on Tuesday the funding of five projects with $545,543 from the portion of the community preservation fund allocated to water quality improvements.

The effort to preserve the Springs house and studios of the late Abstract Expressionist artists James Brooks and Charlotte Park had another boost yesterday with the announcement that the National Trust for Historic Preservation has included the site on its annual list of the 11 most endangered historic places in the United States.

The Federal Aviation Administration has approved East Hampton Town’s application to provide “special procedures” for instrument landings at the private-use East Hampton Town Airport that is to open on May 19 on the site of the existing East Hampton Airport.

The East Hampton Town Trustees plan to make permanent the allowance of “hybrid” meetings, in which video conferencing would enable both in-person and remote participation of the board and its committees.

News that the South Fork Wind farm’s developers planned to use a privately owned commercial-industrial property on Tan Bark Trail as a site for storing soil and treating groundwater sparked confusion this week among opponents of the project as to whether excavation to install the wind farm’s onshore transmission cable will cause the movement of hazardous perfluorinated chemicals, known as PFAS.

A last-minute addendum to the East Hampton Village Board meeting, a resolution to amend the concession agreement to allow the Beach Hut at Main Beach to serve alcohol on the premises, providing it secures a New York State wine and beer license, sparked more debate than a $6.8 million bond appropriation bill, and it wasn’t even listed on the official agenda.

Three entities continue to seek a preliminary injunction to prevent the planned May 17 closure of the East Hampton Airport and its reopening two days later under strict new rules.

Forgivable loans, income tax credits, and property tax exemptions are among the carrots that two bills introduced by Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. would dangle before property owners in an effort to encourage them to create accessory dwelling units to help ease the region's afforable housing crisis.