Government

The politicization of masks and mask mandates to protect public health against the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic was manifested on Long Island this week, with a New York State Supreme Court judge in Nassau County ruling on Monday that Gov. Kathy Hochul’s mandate that masks must be worn in public places when social distancing cannot be maintained is unconstitutional.

The East Hampton Village Board has approved a lease agreement with the East Hampton Historical Society for the Dominy Shops at 73 North Main Street, effective Feb. 1, 2023. A museum is the goal.

Members of the East Hampton Town Board agreed last week that the Little League fields that are to be relocated from 400 Pantigo Place in East Hampton to 110 Stephen Hand’s Path should be state-of-the-art, comparable to those in larger municipalities to the west.

The water level at Town Pond remains low, to the consternation of East Hampton Village officials. The new pump installed in early January is right now unable to pump properly, David Collins, superintendent of public works, told the village board at its meeting on Friday. Somehow, air is getting into the pump, preventing it from “holding the prime,” he said.

Beginning within six months of the South Fork Wind farm’s commercial operation, the developers are to make 25 annual payments, starting at $870,000 with subsequent payments increasing by 2 percent annually.

The town board voted unanimously last Thursday to file the appropriate forms with the Federal Aviation Administration to deactivate East Hampton Airport. It will be permanently “closed” in its current model on Feb. 28, but will be opened anew as of March 4 as a private-use airport.

The Suffolk County Department of Economic Development and Planning will hold an informational meeting for prospective applicants interested in applying for a lease under the county’s Shellfish Aquaculture Lease Program in Peconic Bay and Gardiner’s Bay on Feb. 3 at 6 p.m.

The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has announced a Feb. 23 auction for six lease areas totaling 488,000 acres in the New York Bight, a portion of the Atlantic Ocean off New York and New Jersey, for wind development.

After an uneventful public hearing at the Jan. 12 East Hampton Town Planning Board meeting, approval of Wainscott Chapel’s first bathroom in over 100 years looked to be a foregone conclusion. When the construction of the bathroom is complete, East Hampton Town will say goodbye to its last fully functioning outhouse.

The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management approved the South Fork Wind farm's Construction and Operations Plan on Wednesday, the final federal approval needed for the project's construction to commence.

“I think this is a really important step that we’re making today, where we finally, as a town, will assert control over an airport that we own but had no ability to regulate,” East Hampton Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc said after the town board’s vote on Thursday to file the appropriate forms with the F.A.A. to deactivate the airport.

The C.P.F. coffers here keep growing, and Governor Hochul signs a bill allowing open, public meetings to continue virtually.