Government

With the approaching one-year anniversary of the discovery of a southern pine beetle infestation in Northwest Woods in East Hampton, the town board is mulling its approach to managing the invasive species.

The Democratic Party primary election next Thursday will determine not only the party’s nominee for the fifth seat on the East Hampton Town Board, but also the membership of the town’s Democratic Committee, which, atypically, is hotly contested this year. In every one of the town’s election districts, each of which has two seats on the committee, there are primary challenges.

Registered Democrats can vote in the Democratic Party primary election next Thursday. Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Commercial fishermen are mostly opposed to the wind farm, fearing damage or destruction of fishing grounds and potential alteration of migration patterns caused by the electromagnetic frequency emitted by its transmission cable.

The East Hampton Town Board will continue hearing a proposal tonight to abandon the ownership of an unopened road between Cranberry Hole Road and Abram’s Landing Road in Amagansett while accepting a permanent scenic, conservation, and trail easement over the road, which is part of the Paumanok Path, a hiking trail that runs from Rocky Point to Montauk Point State Park.

The arrival of Labor Day heralds the launch of campaign season, and with a contested nomination for a seat on the East Hampton Town Board, Democrats are wasting no time.

Local Government Notes

East Hampton Town Councilman David Lys, who was appointed to the town board in January and must stand for election in November, submitted petitions to the Suffolk County Board of Elections on Monday offering himself as the candidate of a newly created independent political party, the East Hampton Unity Party.

The East Hampton Town Board announced yesterday that the town has maintained its top-tier AAA credit rating, as affirmed by Moody’s Investors Service.

Responding to concerns from parents of children who swim at a small beach inside the mouth of Three Mile Harbor at Maidstone Park in Springs, the East Hampton Town Trustees erected sections of split-rail fencing last month to discourage trucks from backing down to the water’s edge.

Health Care Workers for Gershon, C.S.E.A. Backs Thiele,

The East Hampton Town Board collectively denounced the increase in takeoffs and landings at East Hampton Airport in a press release issued last Thursday, calling a 29-percent increase in helicopter flights between 2016 and last year a direct consequence of a federal Court of Appeals’ November 2016 ruling that the town could not independently enact the curfews and limits it had set the previous year.

As part of its efforts to reduce energy consumption during peak electricity demand, the Town of East Hampton has installed energy-saving LED (light-emitting diode) fixtures and “smart” thermostats at town buildings.

The East Hampton Town Board plans to buy a property on Three Mile Harbor in East Hampton at which to relocate the town’s shellfish hatchery, which is at present based on Fort Pond Bay in Montauk.

The derelict structure that once housed the Swamp, for decades a landmark disco and gathering place for the gay community — as well as having been, in later years, the popular Star Room nightclub — was torn down late last week.

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone has endorsed Perry Gershon’s campaign to represent New York’s First Congressional District. Mr. Gershon, who lives in East Hampton, won the June 26 Democratic primary and will challenge the incumbent, Representative Lee Zeldin, in the Nov. 6 election.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Monday called on Ryan Zinke, the secretary of the interior, to support New York’s offshore wind initiative by delineating and leasing at least four new wind energy areas recommended by the State’s Offshore Wind Master Plan.

Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. and State Senator Kenneth P. LaValle passed a three-bill package to promote water quality protection. The bills passed both houses of the Legislature by overwhelming margins and will be submitted to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to sign into law.

Five political parties have announced their endorsement of Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele in his bid for re-election.

The campaign to represent New York’s First Congressional District, pitting the Republican incumbent, Representative Lee Zeldin, against Perry Gershon, the Democratic nominee, is drawing national attention.

Suffolk County

Oyster Farm Decision

At the Suffolk County Legislature’s July 17 meeting, Legislator Bridget Fleming secured authorization to include 52 underwater parcels in Gardiner’s Bay in certified agricultural districts for lease to oyster farmers under the county’s aquaculture program. The inclusion of the parcels is a compromise arrived at after the Legislature’s environment, planning, and agriculture committee heard from recreational boaters and oyster farmers. 

Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. and State Senator Kenneth P. LaValle announced on Monday that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation will host a series of meetings to gather feedback from key stakeholders about the state’s current commercial fishing licensing system and ideas for reforms to modernize and improve the program.

James Tomarken, the Suffolk County health commissioner, announced on Friday that five new mosquito samples have tested positive for West Nile virus. To date, the county has confirmed nine positive mosquito samples, but no human cases of the virus have been reported as yet.

The East Hampton Town Trustees are reviewing an updated draft of a “community benefits” package from Deepwater Wind and have appointed four trustees to choose an attorney to help examine it.

Representatives from Tesla Motors, the California manufacturer of electric cars, made a pitch to the East Hampton Town Board Tuesday for a charging station to be situated in the municipal parking lot at Kirk Park in Montauk. The board expressed interest in the idea, but was less enthusiastic about the location.

The East Hampton Town Trustees, who award the William T. Rysam Fund scholarship to a graduating high school student for his or her college education each year, are developing a new source to benefit the fund.

A lengthy and at times testy exchange between members of the East Hampton Town Board on Tuesday illustrated tensions over the board’s response to the discovery of perfluorinated chemicals, or PFCs, in more than 150 residential wells in Wainscott.

Legislation granting state recognition to the Montaukett Indian Tribe has passed the New York State Senate and Assembly, Senator Kenneth LaValle and Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. announced Tuesday.

With the Town of East Hampton’s emergency communication systems “poised to collapse,” the Police Department’s communications technician detailed a $425,000 change order to the town board on Tuesday, which he said would cover various items discovered to be substandard or left out of the initial proposal from Motorola, the telecommunications company that is providing the equipment.

Improvements along Springs-Fireplace Road, extended public comment period on potential lease areas for offshore wind energy development, a lawsuit has been filed against six companies that manufacture hazardous firefighting foam, bereavement as a legitimate reason for paid family leave.