Government

After a public hearing two weeks ago on removing the nature preserve designation from the triangle at the intersection of Springs-Fireplace and Three Mile Harbor Roads in East Hampton, the town board is set to vote Thursday evening on a resolution concerning the future of the property.

The mud flat at the terminus of Cove Hollow Road in East Hampton Village is often occupied by Wilson’s snipe, a secretive bird of bogs; green-winged teal, killdeer, and greater yellowlegs. Somehow they favor this place, despite the presence of a 24-inch pipe that drains untreated stormwater into Georgica Cove.

In Sagaponack residents continued last week to push back at plans to erect a 100-foot cell tower just south of Sagaponack Village Hall off Montauk Highway, with residents calling it an “eyesore” that cuts against village character and others raising concerns about the health effects of the 5G technology it would support.

A mosquito sample from East Hampton Town was one of 26 new samples to test positive for the West Nile virus in Suffolk County, the County Health Department announced on Aug. 19.

“Everyone believes some revisions are necessary,” said Tim Treadwell, senior harbormaster with the East Hampton Town’s Marine Patrol, the enforcement agency on the beach. “It has become problematic. There are so many dogs.” And lifeguards trying to enforce restrictions are often harrassed or ignored by dog owners.

Cilvan Realty, a limited liability company that owns 44 Three Mile Harbor Road in East Hampton, went before East Hampton Town Planning Board once again last week because of inaccuracies in its application, which was approved in October.

Removing nature preserve status from the triangle at the intersection of North Main Street and Springs-Fireplace and Three Mile Harbor Roads would make “the property available for installation of highway improvements,” according to a notice a hearing, thus paving the way for a possible roundabout there. Residents have mixed feelings.

The $16.1 million project, paid for with a combination of town money, New York State grants, and an $8.25 million donation from the Montauk Playhouse Community Center Foundation, is on schedule, with construction expected to be complete by June 2025. Construction crews recently finished a major component: the "monolithic pour" of cement for the ceiling above the swimming pool.

A proposal to increase density on senior-citizen-only affordable housing developments in East Hampton Town from the current eight units per acre to 12 was met warmly at a town board hearing last week.

Elected officials and school district leaders are lobbying the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to carry out much-needed train track improvements on the East End. They want the M.T.A. to include money in the next five-year capital plan, on which the agency is scheduled to vote in October, for a specific set of upgrades and repairs that would enable an expansion of the train program known as the South Fork Commuter Connection.

Debris from a 115,000-pound, 300-foot-tall GE Vernova wind turbine blade, which fell from the Vineyard Wind farm off Nantucket in mid-July while it was being tested, may end up at southern-facing beaches in Montauk during the coming days, East Hampton Town officials warned Wednesday.

Tensions ran high on Monday at East Hampton Town Hall, where the Springs Park Committee met to go over plans for the future of the park.

Jeremy Samuelson, the planning director for East Hampton Town since January 2022, is leaving the post for a job in the private sector as the director of human resources at Gurney's in Montauk.

“We’re very pleased with the 2023 results,” Rebecca Hansen, the town administrator and budget officer, said after an independent audit showed "no material weaknesses" in the town's finances.

There will be no basement at the new East Hampton Town senior center, or Center for Modern Aging, as Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez is calling it.

Samantha Klein, intergovernmental relations coordinator for the town, announced its eligibility for a $100,000 grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority based on its work with the Clean Energy Communities program.

After a bumpy rollout back in April, the Suffolk County on-demand bus network in East Hampton appears to be running smoothly as it nears the end of its first summer in operation.

A proposed project at the old Stern’s site would see 32 to 48 units built for local workers — privately funded. Unlike regular affordable housing, there would be no financial involvement or oversight from any federal, state, or town agency.

Gov. Kathy Hochul visited the South Fork last week with good news not just for coastal resiliency in Montauk, but also for the Retreat, a domestic violence response and advocacy group in East Hampton.

On a visit to the South Fork Friday, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that the state will contritibute $2.5 million toward the second phase of a dune replenishment project at Ditch Plain in Montauk. East Hampton Town has already budgeted $1.75 million for the project.

The application process for the Green at Gardiner’s Point, the East Hampton Housing Authority's newest affordable housing project, opened up only two months ago, but 543 applications for the Three Mile Harbor Road project have come in since. On Friday, Katy Casey, executive director of the housing authority, presided over a preliminary lottery, to assign the order in which applicants will be vetted.

Updated plans for what East Hampton Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez is calling the Center for Modern Aging, include a new location for solar panels, different siding, and lower ceilings in some common rooms, but some town board members are wondering if the town is missing some opportunities with even the latest proposed design.

Forget the white pants or the crisp, sky blue shirts. Traffic-cone orange is the color of summer 2024 in East Hampton Village. “It’s a disaster. We want to make sure residents understand it’s not the village doing the work, it’s the D.O.T.,” Marcos Baladron, the village administrator, said about the multiple construction zones that have been impacting travel along Route 27, a state road that doubles as the village’s Main Street.

With mosquito samples from the South Fork so far testing negative for West Nile virus, East Hampton Town and other areas on the South Fork have avoided the county's aerial spraying this season, but that could change. “We’re still only halfway through the season. I would expect to see some West Nile virus activity in our traps in the coming weeks,” a Suffolk Health Department official said.

Moody’s Investors Service Inc., whose credit-rating system is widely used by lenders working with municipalities and school districts, has once again awarded its best possible rating to East Hampton Town. 

On the website of the federal Citizenship and Immigration Services agency, these words appear in big letters, announcing an even bigger policy shift: “Process to Promote the Unity and Stability of Families.” For undocumented residents of the U.S. who have lived here for at least 10 years and are married to American citizens, that means there will be a new opportunity to lawfully obtain a green card.

Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine is lobbying New York State for the county to get its fair share of money and resources. With that push, he said, come plans to address some of the most pervasive issues on the South Fork: the suffocating traffic on County Road 39, gaps in public transportation services, water quality improvements, and long-term plans for individual towns to handle municipal solid waste.

Tommy John Schiavoni of North Haven, who is running on the Democratic ticket for New York State Assembly, picked up a big endorsement last week when Senator Chuck Schumer announced his support for the Southampton Town councilman’s candidacy. 

Former President Donald Trump will be traveling to Bridgehampton Friday afternoon, and Southampton Town has warned of extensive road closures and heavy gridlock as his motorcade makes its way from Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach to Bridgehampton.

A proposed 10,500-square-foot house with a rooftop kitchen and pool, to be built atop rare and pristine duneland on Napeague, got the unanimous approval this month of the East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals, whose chairwoman called it a “significant environmental improvement” to a site that could accommodate three houses, three septic systems, and three driveways.