Government

Several local officials were among those urging the Long Island Power Authority on Monday to authorize municipalities to enact community choice aggregation, which would allow them, singly or together, to issue competitive bids to choose suppliers of electricity.

The long wait that buyers of the 12 “manor house” condominium units on Accabonac Road in East Hampton have experienced because of the discovery of elevated levels of volatile organic compounds in the units’ cellars may be nearing an end, but the director of East Hampton Town’s Office of Housing and Community Development is taking a cautious approach to the contractor’s assertion that the issue has been resolved.

The Nassau/Suffolk Joint Summer Operations Task Force was established to offer hope for the summer, albeit one unlike what Long Island’s residents and visitors are accustomed to.

Members of the Village Preservation Society have asked the three candidates for East Hampton Village mayor and the five vying for two open trustee seats in the June 16 election to fill out a questionnaire explaining their positions.

A timeline that would make the 130-megawatt wind farm off Montauk operational by late 2022 will now not be met.

The East Hampton Town Trustees have an important role in balancing the summer popularity of the beaches under their jurisdiction with the protection of those most at risk of Covid-19 infection, a public health expert said.

Barbara Borsack, who is seeking to become the village’s first female mayor in the June 16 election, and her Elms Party running mates, Mayor Richard Lawler and Ray Harden, discussed their policy priorities and plans to help the village emerge from the Covid-19 shutdown. 

The Town of East Hampton has sued East Hampton Village and its liability insurance company over the perfluorinated chemicals stored and used at East Hampton Airport in Wainscott, which contaminated drinking water in that hamlet and caused 47 of the airport’s 570 acres to be included on the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Registry of Inactive Hazardous Waste Disposal sites, or Superfund sites.

Arthur Graham, an East Hampton Village trustee and a candidate for mayor in the June 16 election, and David Driscoll, his running mate on the Fish Hooks Party ticket who is vying for one of two open board seats, talked in an interview on Sunday about how they would govern, and what it will take for the village to rebound from the Covid-19 pandemic.

An aggregation of purchasing power allows the negotiating of lower electricity rates and enables a town or towns to derive electricity from renewable sources. 

While it is one of the most areas most heavily affected by Covid-19 in the country, the county falls below the eligibility threshold for aid. The County Executive has asked the treasury secretary to reconsider Suffolk's eligibility.

Taking note of a proliferation of seaplanes amid the swarm of aircraft flying over East Hampton in a typical summer, the town board is discussing prohibiting seaplanes within 1,500 feet of any town shoreline.

Retail food stores will be allowed to provide seating for up to 16 people, under a law passed on Friday by the East Hampton Village Board at a meeting held via teleconference. 

Beaches raise the question of safety not only for beachgoers but for lifeguards, and the town is pondering whether or how it can keep beaches and parks open while protecting employees and the public and avoiding a subsequent wave of Covid-19 infection.

Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman and Councilman John Bouvier have endorsed Suffolk County Legislator Bridget Fleming’s candidacy for the Democratic Party’s nomination to challenge Representative Lee Zeldin in New York’s First Congressional District.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said last week that he will issue an executive order to expand absentee voting in the state’s June 23 primary elections.     

The East Hampton Town Trustees approved a water quality assessment program proposed by Christopher Gobler of Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences when they met via videoconference on Monday.     

The East Hampton Town Board moved on Tuesday toward adopting community choice aggregation, in which a town, or group of towns, hires an administrator to issue a competitive bid and choose a supplier for electricity, natural gas, or both.

East Hampton Town’s government is calling on residents to wear coverings when venturing out in public, following federal recommendations, but also asked for donations of masks and gloves for grocery store workers.

A statement issued from Town Hall on Saturday morning referred to the federal Centers for Disease Control’s recommendation that people wear a cloth face covering to slow the spread of the Covid-19.

There were welcome hints of normalcy during the East Hampton Town Board’s meeting on Tuesday despite its five members’ remote participation via videoconference.

The East Hampton Town Board and residents are angry and dismayed by the State Department of Environmental Conservation’s March 30 issuance of a modified permit that allows an East Hampton mining company to expand a pit.

Southampton Town is weighing in on short-term rentals in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, with Supervisor Jay Schneiderman directing the ordinance enforcement division to crack down on illegal rentals during April.

East Hampton Town’s essential services are functioning, despite mandates to reduce staffing and implement the social distancing practices critical to controlling the now-explosive growth in COVID-19 infections in the tristate area. 

“We need to support those on the front lines of crisis, particularly the health care workers,” Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman said. “None of us have direct experience with this, even in my 27 years of government experience I’ve never faced anything like it.”

Survey work for the proposed South Fork Wind Farm’s transmission cable route in Wainscott, which was to begin on Monday, has been put on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Perry Gershon, who is seeking a Democratic Party primary win to challenge Representative Lee Zeldin in New York’s First Congressional District, has announced the suspension of his petition gathering and public events.

Arthur Graham, an East Hampton Village trustee since 2017, declared his candidacy for mayor in June’s election on Monday. He joins Barbara Borsack, the deputy mayor, and Jerry Larsen, a former East Hampton Village police chief, in the village’s first contested mayoral election since 1992.

The airport itself has not closed and flights can still come in and out.

In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Town of East Hampton on Friday declared a state of emergency, canceled most meetings, and announced initiatives to allow essential government functions to continue while minimizing face-to-face contact and residents’ need to visit Town Hall and other town facilities. 

The public has been invited to vote on student-made bumper stickers submitted to a contest sponsored by the Town of East Hampton Anti-Bias Task Force. They are on display in the foyer of Town Hall.