Government

As of last Thursday, landlords seeking to recoup up to 12 months of unpaid rent incurred during the Covid-19 pandemic can apply for aid from the State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance.

The League of Women Voters of the Hamptons, Shelter Island, and the North Fork will host a debate between the candidates for East Hampton Town supervisor and, separately, one among candidates for town board on Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. via Zoom.

A week after Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc presented East Hampton Town’s tentative 2022 budget, he has proposed a modification that would see a regrading of almost 100 town employees and commensurate wage increases averaging 5 percent.

Baymen are planning a second act of civil disobedience on Sunday morning at a stretch on Napeague known as Truck Beach, protesting a State Supreme Court Appellate Division decision that it is privately owned and that residents have no inherent right to drive on it.

The East Hampton Town Board passed three resolutions to name preserves and parks for deceased prominent residents last Thursday.

By a margin of 80 percent to 5 percent, commenters said the status quo at East Hampton Airport is unacceptable.

Twice on LTV this week, East Hampton Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc and Councilman Jeff Bragman, his opponent in the Nov. 2 vote, sharply criticized each other on several topics as both described a town in a near-existential crisis.

East Hampton Town appears likely to ban the sale of balloons filled with helium or other lighter-than-air gas, following a public hearing last Thursday. The ban would take effect on Jan. 1, 2022.

Residents who use the long-term lot off Lumber Lane are finding the daily charge too costly, Mayor Jerry Larsen said.

Word of the Peconic Bay Community Housing Fund Act’s passage was cheered by East Hampton Town officials this week. Next, a referendum.

Residents of East Hampton, across the East End, and from as far away as Queens have long pleaded with the board to close or at least enact curfews and other restrictions on flights, citing the incessant noise of jet and helicopter traffic, particularly in the summer.

A boom in East End real estate sales has generated nearly $145 million in revenues for the Peconic Bay Community Preservation Fund in the first eight months of 2021, more than double the amount collected during the same time last year.