Government

The Friends of Georgica Pond Foundation, a consortium of shorefront property owners, has launched a website, friendsofgeorgicapond.org. The not-for-profit group, with a stated mission to preserve the pond’s ecosystem through science-based, watershed-wide policy and restoration, has asked the public to visit the website to learn about the organization and the restoration efforts.

The time has arrived for Southampton Town voters to select a new member of the town board, and make it whole again after the abrupt departure of Brad Bender, who resigned amid drug charges in late November.

Protecting ground and surface waters, and repairing damage already done by pollution from things such as septic waste and road runoff, has risen to the top of East Hampton Town officials’ agenda.

A proposal to build a large beachfront house on Napeague, at 22 Shore Road just west of the White Sands resort, was rejected on Tuesday by the East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals.

A proposed subdivision of 36-plus oceanfront acres in Wainscott which is before the East Hampton Town Planning Board, has pitted two executives of major corporations who are neighbors against each other.

Patti Leber, a Montauk resident, real estate professional, and onetime town board candidate who has been serving on the architectural review board, will replace Bob Schaefer on the planning board.

The requirements of East Hampton Town’s recently enacted rental registry law, and what landlords must do to comply with the new regulations, will be reviewed at two information sessions later this month.

A planned expansion of decks at 39 of the 40 units at the Ocean Colony Beach and Tennis Resort on Napeague would violate the East Hampton Town Code, according to a split decision signed by the zoning board of appeals on Dec. 21.

After deciding earlier this month to enact a rental registry in the Town of East Hampton, officials are developing the system through which landlords can file with the town and obtain the registration number required before a property can be rented.

East Hampton voters will have an opportunity to weigh in next fall on whether to authorize the use of up to 20 percent of the town’s community preservation fund for projects that would improve water quality.

Over objections from members of its nature preserve committee, the East Hampton Town Board last Thursday adopted an altered management plan for the South Flora preserve on Napeague, omitting parking along the preserve.

Demand for electricity on the South Fork has far outpaced the rest of Long Island, with particularly high usage in the summer and on weekends and holidays.

The nine-person board will include five new members when it reconvenes next month.

East Hampton Town

Pay Taxes Online

Town of East Hampton property owners can pay their property tax bills online for the first time this year. The option, which allows access to current bills and prints receipts, will be available starting Dec. 14. Payments will be accepted by credit card or by electronic check, for a fee.

A committee established to review East Hampton Town wastewater management has recommended accepting a plan developed by Pio Lombardo of Lombardo Associates and using it as “a basis for moving forward” on water quality protection initiatives.

Army Corps contractors who had been expected to complete the construction of a 3,100-foot sandbag seawall on the downtown Montauk beach by the end of January have reported that the project is unlikely to be completed before “sometime in March,” East Hampton Town officials reported this week.

A request for an update on what one Montauk Citizens Advisory Committee member called “the big dig” prompted a heated hourlong discussion that had tempers flaring at a committee meeting.

The owner of Rick’s Crabby Cowboy Cafe received approval to dredge the 22 slips at his Lake Montauk marina.

After some 15 years of what East Hampton Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell called “fits and starts,” a public restroom in the municipal parking lot of Amagansett’s commercial district may finally be constructed in the early spring. If, that is, separate but related issues can be resolved.

The East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals voted 4 to 1 this week to revoke a building permit for the construction of a 150-foot-tall communications tower behind the Springs Firehouse, on Fort Pond Boulevard.

In one corner is the soon-to-be Southampton Town supervisor, Jay Schneiderman. In the other are Carla and Christopher Concannon, owners of a house under construction at 747 Old Montauk Highway.

The almost yearlong negotiation between the East Hampton Town Trustees and residents of Lazy Point in Amagansett, who lease the land on which their houses stand from the trustees, was finally completed on Nov. 10 with the trustees voting 6 to 1 to adopt new rules and regulations.

The tenants, many of whom had regularly attended the trustees’ meetings and had met with them on several other occasions throughout the year, were successful in obtaining several clauses that they said would provide greater security.

With a unanimous vote on Tuesday, the East Hampton Town Board adopted a $73.7 million town operating budget for 2016, up from $71.5 million this year.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation will hold a public meeting to discuss Hurricane Sandy fishery grants on Tuesday from 7 to 9 p.m. at Montauk Downs State Park.

The East Hampton Town Board will hold a hearing tonight on the proposed establishment of a rental registry. According to draft legislation, owners of properties to be rented would be required to file with the town and receive a rental registry number before advertising for tenants.

East Hampton Town Board members and the town trustees have reached an agreement under which the two governing bodies will jointly pursue and finance the acquisition and condemnation of approximately 4,000 feet of the ocean beach on Napeague, the subject of two lawsuits.

A few hours before two of the first protestors appeared in East Hampton Town Justice Court yesterday morning on charges of disorderly conduct for refusing to move away from the Army Corps construction site on the downtown Montauk ocean beach, Kim Wells became the 14th protester arrested.

The almost yearlong effort to negotiate new leases for residents of Lazy Point in Amagansett, who own their houses on land owned by the East Hampton Town Trustees, is nearly complete

Jay Schneiderman, who previously served as East Hampton Town supervisor and has since reached the term limit in the Suffolk Legislature, will serve in Southampton Town come January.

In Tuesday’s election in East Hampton, two first-time candidates and one with a long involvement in local politics are challenging three Democratic incumbents for the town supervisor and town board seats.