Government

Jeffrey Locker’s dream house is almost finished. It is on what the Town of East Hampton describes as pristine dunes on Cranberry Hole Road in Amagansett, abutting Napeague State Park on one side, with Gardiner’s Bay a stone’s throw away. Now, his brother and sister-in-law, Keith and Stacy Locker, want to follow suit.

The Town of East Hampton has announced the upcoming launch of its Energize East Hampton solar and energy savings program. The initiative will launch with an informational booth at the East Hampton Village street fair, happening on May 12 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Newtown Lane.

Instituted last year by Organizacion Latino-Americana and the Children’s Museum of the East End, the Circles of Strength (Circulos de Fuerza) workshop will return to the museum on Tuesday from 6 to 9 p.m.

Last Thursday’s deadline to file petitions to be on the ballot in the June 26 Democratic primary election for New York’s First Congressional District has claimed one victim.

The creation of 37 apartments in six buildings on what is now a 4.6-acre field on Montauk Highway in Amagansett has been scheduled for a public hearing at 7 p.m. on May 2 before the East Hampton Town Planning Board. The plans can be inspected at the planning board office at 300 Pantigo Place.

President Trump has signed bipartisan legislation sponsored by Representative Lee Zeldin that expands severely disabled veterans’ access to health day care.

The East Hampton Town Board plans to issue a request for proposals for a 30-bed seasonal housing structure to be situated on town-owned property at Montauk Harbor.

In light of the fall 2017 detection of chemical contamination of more than 100 wells in Wainscott and the recent discovery of concentrations of lead and chemicals in the surface water and aquifer around the Sand Land mine on the Bridgehampton-Noyac border.

As Deepwater Wind begins a two-year process of applying for permits to construct and operate a 15-turbine wind farm approximately 36 miles off Montauk, the Town of East Hampton’s fisheries advisory committee has chosen Julie Evans, the captain of a charter boat based in Montauk, as its liaison to the Rhode Island company.

Responding to pleas from state and local officials, the New York State Department of Transportation has agreed to repave eight of the worst sections of Route 114 between Stephen Hand’s Path in East Hampton and Sag Harbor by the end of this summer. 

Downtown Montauk’s ocean beach and bay beaches in the Town of East Hampton took a beating in the northeaster that hit the South Fork on Friday and Saturday, Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc said at the town board’s work session on Tuesday, though the town was spared the greater damage and higher winds experienced to the north.

The East Hampton Town Trustees have received a 10-year dredging permit for Georgica Pond from the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

With a pledge to revitalize his party and end single-party rule, Amos Goodman was elected chairman of the East Hampton Town Republican Committee on Feb. 7.

Zeldin Challengers Meet Tuesday

Perry Gershon and Brendon Henry, two of the Democrats hoping to unseat Representative Lee Zeldin in November, will share their views at a forum on Tuesday in Bridgehampton. The third and final forum in a series sponsored by Progressive East End Reformers, it will take place at 6:30 p.m. at Bridgehampton National Bank.

As a deadline looms for the submission of applications to federal and state agencies, Deepwater Wind, the Rhode Island company seeking to construct a 15-turbine wind farm approximately 36 miles east of Montauk, is facing headwinds from commercial fishermen and their representatives.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has called for a procurement of at least 800 megawatts of offshore wind power between two solicitations to be issued this year and next.

The offices of tax receivers around the country were crowded this week with residents seeking to prepay property taxes before recently passed limits on deductions take effect, and offices on the South Fork were no different.

It was Montauk night at an East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals hearing on Tuesday as members considered an application for cellphone antennas on the six-story fire control tower at the Montauk Lighthouse and learned that an expert has been discussing a possible sewage treatment plant at the Montauk Shores Condominium.

Amagansett’s perennial parking problems will get some relief. In a plan being prepared by town officials, the commercial district parking lot would be expanded to an adjacent parcel and the existing lot reconfigured.

East Hampton Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell and the rest of the town board on Tuesday directed a consultant working on parking issues to also draw up plans for adding a timed-ticket system like the one used in East Hampton Village.

The East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals gave NextEra Energy Resources unanimous approval for what, in effect, will be a giant rechargeable battery near the train tracks in Montauk.

Representative Lee Zeldin was among the officials who on Monday announced that 31 grants totaling $2 million are to be awarded to municipalities and community groups to improve the health and vitality of Long Island Sound.

The East Hampton Republican Committee honored Mary Vorpahl at a gathering of the Suffolk County Republican Women in Holbrook last Thursday.

New York State has extended its open enrollment period for qualified health plan coverage through Jan. 31, according to the Department of Health.

Deepwater Wind, the Rhode Island company that plans to construct a 15-turbine wind farm approximately 30 miles east of Montauk, will present the conclusions of surveys on potential impacts at the East Hampton Town Trustees’ meeting on Monday.

Southampton Town

Board will consider the Hills proposal

A Southampton Town Board meeting will be held at Town Hall on Tuesday afternoon. The board will consider the zone change application for the Hills at Southampton, a proposed mixed-used planned development district in East Quogue, and a local law to change the zoning district there for the Hills. The meeting begins at 1 p.m.  

New York State

Boathouse on the Register

A committee formed to assess water quality improvement projects that could be paid for with East Hampton Town’s community preservation fund brought two new proposals to the town board’s table last week: replacement of an aging septic system, and the replacement of a 1930s-era stormwater drainage pipe that channels runoff into Georgica Pond.

The Southampton Town Board passed a $99.4 million budget for 2018, though it lacked support from one board member.

A yearlong moratorium on commercial development along Montauk Highway in Wainscott is likely to be extended for six months while planners hired by East Hampton Town finish a study of the hamlet.

A $77.7 million East Hampton Town operating budget for 2018 was adopted by the town board last Thursday after a hearing on the final proposal.

East Hampton Town will purchase a second property on Squaw Road in Springs, near Three Mile Harbor, after the town board held a hearing on the acquisition last Thursday night.