Government

For many years, commercial fishermen in New York have complained about the inequities they faced in the numbers­­­ of summer flounder they could land (as well as other popular species), when compared to other states along the East Coast. The fight has gone on for nearly 30 years and continues to this day.

The East Hampton Town Trustees oversaw the traditional fall opening of Georgica Pond to the Atlantic Ocean on Monday.

Southampton Town

Owners of historic properties who are having trouble maintaining them can apply for a 2019 landmarks maintenance program award. The deadline is Dec. 28. 

Award money can be used to support projects that contribute to the preservation and long-term sustainability of designated properties. Projects can include exterior improvements, structural stabilization, window, door, and shutter restoration, and fixing water penetration issues.

The campaign funds of the two House of Representatives hopefuls in the First Congressional District are within spitting distance of each other, according to the most recent reporting.

East Hampton Town Councilman David Lys and his challenger, Manny Vilar, will meet in a debate. The League of Women Voters of the Hamptons has scheduled three debates ahead of the Nov. 6 election.

With warnings about catastrophic climate change growing ever more urgent, the Town of East Hampton has moved proactively, having set a goal to achieve its energy needs from renewable sources.

VoteHamptonNY, a nonpartisan interfaith initiative formed by the East Hampton Clericus in April to promote voter registration, engagement, and turnout, will host a forum for the candidates for East Hampton Town Board tonight at 7 at Calvary Baptist Church in East Hampton.

Would-be New York voters have until the end of the day tomorrow to register to be eligible for the Nov. 6 election.

Gathering for Schneiderman

A fund-raising event for Jay Schneiderman’s campaign for Suffolk County comptroller, which is expected to be the last before November’s election, will be held tomorrow. County Executive Steve Bellone will join Mr. Schneiderman at Gurney’s Resort in Montauk from 6 to 8 p.m. Tickets are $100 and include drinks and appetizers. Those wishing to attend can email [email protected] or call 631-559-5430. 

Assemblyman Fred. W. Thiele Jr. has picked up two more endorsements as he runs to keep the seat he has held since 1996.

The Suffolk County Board of Elections has certified the Sept. 13 Democratic Party primary election results, with East Hampton Town Councilman David Lys defeating his challenger, David Gruber, 61 percent to 39 percent.

Representative Lee Zeldin’s campaign has announced endorsements from eight unions, bringing the congressman’s total number of union endorsements to 25.

Last Thursday, the town board passed a resolution authorizing Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc’s office to establish and maintain official Facebook and Instagram accounts for the town, citing the social media platforms’ effectiveness in disseminating information and raising awareness.

A 90-day moratorium on installing deer fences was adopted by the Sagaponack Village Board following a public hearing on Monday. The moratorium will allow the board “breathing space to update our current code,” according to Mayor Donald Louchheim.

A lottery for 15 affordable houses at Southampton Pointe will be held next month.

As it had indicated earlier this month, Deepwater Wind has submitted an application to the New York State Public Service Commission for the portion of its proposed South Fork Wind Farm’s transmission cable that would lie in state waters and underground on a path from its landing to the Long Island Power Authority substation in East Hampton.

Amos Goodman, chairman of the East Hampton Town Republican Committee, has challenged petitions David Lys submitted to the Suffolk County Board of Elections last month to create the East Hampton Unity Party.

Long Island’s sixth annual Car-­­Free Day is set for Friday, Sept. 21, and the Town of East Hampton’s energy sustainability advisory committee has asked for residents’ participation.

The New York State Department of Transportation is planning to reduce the speed limit on Montauk Highway between Flying Point Road and Head of Pond Road in Water Mill, according to Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. The speed limit will go from 45 miles per hour to 40 m.p.h. heading toward the hamlet’s downtown from the west.

Deepwater Wind, the Rhode Island company seeking to construct the 15-turbine South Fork Wind Farm in an area leased from the federal government about 30 miles offshore from Montauk, plans to submit an application for the wind farm’s transmission cable to the New York State Public Service Commission in the next week.

With the approaching one-year anniversary of the discovery of a southern pine beetle infestation in Northwest Woods in East Hampton, the town board is mulling its approach to managing the invasive species.

The Democratic Party primary election next Thursday will determine not only the party’s nominee for the fifth seat on the East Hampton Town Board, but also the membership of the town’s Democratic Committee, which, atypically, is hotly contested this year. In every one of the town’s election districts, each of which has two seats on the committee, there are primary challenges.

Registered Democrats can vote in the Democratic Party primary election next Thursday. Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Commercial fishermen are mostly opposed to the wind farm, fearing damage or destruction of fishing grounds and potential alteration of migration patterns caused by the electromagnetic frequency emitted by its transmission cable.

The East Hampton Town Board will continue hearing a proposal tonight to abandon the ownership of an unopened road between Cranberry Hole Road and Abram’s Landing Road in Amagansett while accepting a permanent scenic, conservation, and trail easement over the road, which is part of the Paumanok Path, a hiking trail that runs from Rocky Point to Montauk Point State Park.

The arrival of Labor Day heralds the launch of campaign season, and with a contested nomination for a seat on the East Hampton Town Board, Democrats are wasting no time.

Local Government Notes

East Hampton Town Councilman David Lys, who was appointed to the town board in January and must stand for election in November, submitted petitions to the Suffolk County Board of Elections on Monday offering himself as the candidate of a newly created independent political party, the East Hampton Unity Party.

The East Hampton Town Board announced yesterday that the town has maintained its top-tier AAA credit rating, as affirmed by Moody’s Investors Service.

Responding to concerns from parents of children who swim at a small beach inside the mouth of Three Mile Harbor at Maidstone Park in Springs, the East Hampton Town Trustees erected sections of split-rail fencing last month to discourage trucks from backing down to the water’s edge.