Government

The East Hampton Town Board voted unanimously last Thursday to engage the advocacy group Renewable Energy Long Island to further the Energize East Hampton initiative, a multifaceted program to transition from fossil fuel to energy derived from renewable sources. The contract is to be in effect as of Wednesday. 

There was sharp disagreement when the East Hampton Town Trustees discussed a 10-year review of the Suffolk County Aquaculture Lease Program on Gardiner's Bay, which has angered many bayfront property owners, but the trustees ultimately agreed to recommend moving 13 lease sites not in use and two in active use to locations that do not conflict with navigation or recreation and to suggest that another six be analyzed for potential growth.

Representative Lee Zeldin of New York's First Congressional District, who is among President Trump's most devoted supporters in Congress, accompanied the president to his rally in Tulsa, Okla., on Saturday. 

With only a small fraction of voters showing up in person at polling stations, Perry Gershon led the field among Democrats vying to take on Representative Lee Zeldin, but the 14,596 votes counted as of Tuesday night are dwarfed by the 150,000 absentee ballots mailed out by the Suffolk County Board of Elections.

Bonnie Brady of Montauk, the executive director of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, said the creation of the marine monument was devastating to the commercial fishing industry in the Northeast.

Under a new federal bill introduced by Representatives Lee Zeldin and Tom Suozzi, recipients of grants that subsidize residential septic system upgrades would no longer have to pay taxes on the grants, as was mandated by the I.R.S. in 2019.

Democratic voters who did not vote in Tuesday's primary by absentee ballot or take advantage of early voting can vote in person until 9 p.m. Tuesday.

Even as the spread of Covid-19 appears increasingly under control in Suffolk, County Executive Steve Bellone said a deepening financial crisis has already led to budget cuts, salary freezes, and even a potential ballot referendum in November.

County Executive Steve Bellone said on Friday that he had signed executive orders to plan for a day of special observance for Juneteenth beginning next year and to extend the implicit bias training now being received in the police department to all county employees, and for it to be completed in one year.

More than six months after a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the "manor house" condominium development on Accabonac Road in East Hampton, the 12 units remain vacant. Yet another test of the air there -- the fifth, at least -- revealed elevated levels of volatile organic compounds in their basements.

Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman has extended an emergency order restricting town beaches and access roads to residents, legal renters, and valid permit holders through Saturday. The order, which suspends existing town laws due to a state of emergency declared in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, is limited to five days. Mr. Schneiderman has been extending the order since it was originally issued on May 23, during Memorial Day weekend.

Suffolk County Legislator Bridget Fleming, Perry Gershon, and Nancy Goroff all see a tight race with one or two of their competitors. The winner Tuesday will challenge Representative Lee Zeldin to represent New York's First Congressional District.

Local officials appeared perplexed this week by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's concerns that public safety requirements were not being enforced on the South Fork.

The town board voted Thursday to spend up to $10,000 a month to retain a firm through November to help with communications related to health and safety amid the Covid-19 pandemic, including a redesign of the town's website.

A State Supreme Court justice has approved Southampton Town's request for a preliminary injunction against Sand Land, a mine in Noyac owned by John Tintle, preventing the mine "from processing trees, brush, stumps, leaves and other clearing debris into topsoil or mulch and from storing, selling, or delivering mulch, topsoil, and wood chips."

Alec Baldwin Endorses Fleming  

Suffolk County Legislator Bridget Fleming has gained three more endorsements of her bid to be the Democratic Party’s nominee to challenge Representative Lee Zeldin in New York’s First Congressional District. Last week, the actor Alec Baldwin, who lives in Amagansett, as well as Kathryn Casey Quigley, Southold Town’s Democratic chairwoman, and Southold Councilwoman Sarah Nappa added their support to Ms. Fleming’s candidacy.

The Town of East Hampton’s energy sustainability advisory committee is considering a recommendation that the town declare a climate emergency, Councilwoman Sylvia Overby said on Tuesday.

The East Hampton Town Board is poised to direct a total of $1.14 million from the portion of the community preservation fund allocated to water quality improvements, for eight projects aimed at reducing nitrogen in local waterways.

On Monday evening, Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman released a letter sent to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo in response his concerns that public safety requirements were not being enforced in the Hamptons.

Early voting in the Democratic primary election that will determine party’s candidates for president, New York’s First Congressional District, and the State Senate’s First District. Absentee ballot applications must be postmarked by Tuesday.

New measures will mandate tracking of race and ethnicity in all arrest data, and require "officers to report any weapons discharge within six hours" and to "provide mental and medical help for any person under arrest or any person in custody when they require it."

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said on Sunday that the state received 25,000 complaints about social distancing violations at businesses, mostly at bars and restaurants, with Manhattan and the Hamptons leading the way.

A proposal from AT&T to build a 50-foot-high freestanding bell tower, or “campanile,” to house cellphone antennas at St. Peter’s Chapel on Old Stone Highway in Springs faced fierce opposition from the church’s neighbors during an East Hampton Town Planning Board public hearing on June 3.

Five Democrats vying to represent District 1 in the New York State Senate faced off Monday night in a debate sponsored by the League of Women Voters of the Hamptons, Shelter Island, and the North Fork. The incumbent, Kenneth P. LaValle, a Republican, announced his retirement in January after 44 years in office.

"I love this candidate," the actor John Leguizamo said on Sunday. "I feel he's one of the best out there."
Mr. Leguizamo, who bought a house in Amagansett in 2012, was speaking of Perry Gershon, who is vying for the Democratic Party's nomination for a second bid to represent New York's First Congressional District. He spoke during an online fund-raiser for Mr. Gershon, organized and co-hosted by Loida Lewis of East Hampton and Manhattan.

The Sand Land mine on Middle Line Highway in Noyac is the recipient of an updated permit from the State Department of Environmental Conservation, as well as a brand-new cease-and-desist order from Southampton Town.

East Hampton Town is considering a plan to temporarily change traffic circulation on several streets in Montauk's downtown and close a segment of Main Street to vehicles one day a week in an effort to create more open space for pedestrians and cyclists and to encourage social distancing.

The New York State Department of Transportation will repave approximately eight miles of Route 114 between Stephen Hand’s Path in East Hampton and the South Ferry on North Haven, Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. and State Senator Kenneth P. LaValle announced Tuesday.

The town board voted to allow surveying for the transmission cable landing site in Wainscott.

Southampton Town will reopen its Town Hall on Monday after it was closed for several weeks during the shutdown. The hours will be 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.