The long-awaited renovation, which has been split into three phases by the East Hampton Village Board, is underway. First up: a new softball diamond, tennis courts, and walkways, all set to be complete by summer, along with the restroom. Left out of this early work are pickleball and the baseball field.

A process that began eight years ago came to a sudden ending last week, as the East Hampton Town Planning Board voted 5-to-1 to allow a 70-foot cell tower at St. Peter’s Chapel in Springs.

A bill that passed in the New York State Assembly, but has yet to win approval in the Senate, would restrict the use of popular pesticides known as neonics, which are commonly used on lawns to kill grubs but persist in the environment and are affecting populations of pollinators and causing water contamination.

With all hurdles overcome, Southampton Town is poised to become the first municipality on Long Island to implement a community choice aggregation program, a model that replaces the utility as the default sole supplier of electricity or natural gas and gives municipalities the opportunity to seek lower prices from alternative suppliers.