Government

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.

Timothy D. Sini, a 37-year-old Demo­crat serving as the Suffolk County Police Commissioner, handily won the race for Suffolk District Attorney Tuesday night, and said he would prepare quickly to take over an office marred by political scandal in the wake of federal charges brought last month against Thomas Spota, the longtime sitting D.A., and his top aide.

Although East Hampton Town Planning Board opinion was divided, it appeared likely that AT&T will not be able to install antennas on the wind turbine on Iacono Farm on Long Lane.

Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. announced that he supports Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s move to file a notice of intent to sue the Environmental Protection Agency for violating the federal Clean Air Act by failing to curb ground-level ozone (or smog) pollution that blows into New York from upwind states.

The East Hampton Town Democratic Committee will host a campaign rally with food, live music, and drinks on Sunday from 5 to 7 p.m. at the East Hampton Neighborhood House on Three Mile Harbor Road.

Tests of water from Wainscott residents’ wells for the presence of two toxic compounds linked to health problems continued this week under the auspices of the county and state Health Departments.

Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman has filed paperwork to switch his political registration to Democratic. The change will not take effect until after the Nov. 7 election, in which he hopes to be re-elected on the Independence and Democratic lines.

Steven Sheades, a detective in the East Hampton Village Police Department, was promoted to sergeant on Friday, the village board marking the promotion in a brief ceremony at its regular meeting.

Southampton Town officials are discussing code enforcement operations in the rest of the town after a weeklong code enforcement safety check of residences and hotels in Hampton Bays resulted in 215 code violations.

The Long Island Environmental Voters Forum, a grassroots organization that identifies, recruits, endorses, and supports pro-environment candidates for public office, has announced its 2017 endorsements.

The first of two public hearings on Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman’s proposed $99.4 million budget for 2018 will be held on Tuesday. It reduces taxes for the second straight year even with a 5-percent spending increase.

Legislation to outlaw bump stocks proposed.

Voters in East Hampton Town will have at least three chances in the coming week to hear from the candidates for East Hampton Town trustee.

A recent appeals court ruling in a case that grew out of PSEG Long Island’s expansion of an electrical substation on Old Stone Highway in Amagansett, represents a mixed decision for East Hampton Town, which had sought to hold the utility provider to local zoning laws that would have required planning board review of the project.

The communitywide debate about the South Fork Wind Farm, a proposed 15-turbine installation approximately 36 miles from Montauk, continued on Oct. 4 when the East Hampton Town Trustees’ harbor management committee and the town’s energy sustainability advisory committee hosted a forum that featured speakers both in favor of and opposed to the project.

The Hampton Hopper shuttle bus service in Montauk, underwritten by East Hampton Town with a $100,000 state grant, was successful in attracting riders last summer, but the company lost money providing the service, Derek Kleinow, Hampton Hopper’s owner, reported to the town board on Tuesday.

The next meeting of the East Hampton Town Trustees’ harbor management committee will be dedicated to the proposed South Fork Wind Farm, a 15-turbine installation that would be constructed approximately 30 miles from Montauk.

A cocktail party and fund-raiser for the re-election campaign of Suffolk County Legislator Bridget Fleming will be held next Thursday at Christy’s Art Center in Sag Harbor.

A plan by AT&T to install cellphone antennas on the wind turbine at Iacono Farm in East Hampton has been tentatively rejected by members of the town planning board.

The scarcity of affordable housing, drug abuse and mental health, and preservation of the town’s character dominated discussion when the Democratic candidates for East Hampton Town Supervisor and town board held an informational meeting on Monday night at the East Hampton Presbyterian Church’s Session House.