Government

The Sag Harbor Planning Board last week set a public hearing on artists Eric Fischl and April Gornik’s plan to convert the former Methodist Church at 48 Madison Street into a residential educational arts center for December 16 at 5:30 p.m.

Members of the Hampton Bays Citizens Advisory Committee and Hampton Bays Civic Association both expressed concern about their hamlet’s homeless population at their November meetings.

On Monday, a coastal geologist, on behalf the Round Dune condominium development in East Quogue, demanded that the Southampton Town Trustees take emergency action to allow his client to install a hardened structure to protect the complex’s four buildings from falling into the ocean.

Suffolk County and the Group for the East End have partnered in a new effort to boost participation in the septic replacement incentive programs offered by the county and East End towns.

East Hampton Town saw a surge in the number of homeowners who took advantage of home septic system upgrade incentives in 2019 and has directed more than $1 million to larger-scale septic improvements and nitrogen-reduction projects around local water bodies.

East Hampton Town has begun a second phase of the study which is taking a closer look at each of 10 regions of coastline on its own, with an eye toward working out how the threats to each region should be specifically addressed as the dangers grow with the encroaching tides fueled by climate change.

Builder Pat Trunzo, who grew up in Sag Harbor, will break the long streak of single-property redevelopment in the heart of the village with a proposal for five high-end houses with pools, pool houses and detached garages on properties that straddle Marsden Street, just across Division Street from Pierson High School.

After a delayed start, the push is on to finish a long-planned, state-funded pedestrian safety improvement project in downtown Bridgehampton by December 31, with construction crews at work this fall on both sides of Montauk Highway at multiple locations in the business district.

In an effort to reduce the amount of compost at town-operated transfer stations, Southampton Town Board members approved a resolution last week allowing commercial businesses to take the material for free.

The East Hampton Town Board unanimously approved an $81.9 million operating budget for 2020 that will hike the tax rate for residents by around 2 percent.

The East Hampton Town Board has backed away from what was expected to be a costly and time-consuming effort to convince the Federal Aviation Administration that the town should be allowed to impose new restrictions on flights at East Hampton Airport.

After the attorney and architect for the problematic house at 8 Wilson Place in the Ninevah Beach community — built thousands of cubic feet higher than allowed by the village code — bitterly complained about any further delays, Sag Harbor’s Historic Preservation and Architectural Review Board voted 4-1 last Thursday to grant a certificate of appropriateness for the structure and its landscaping plan.

The response was resoundingly negative last week when April Gornik, the Sag Harbor Cinema Art Center’s board chair, presented ideas to the Historic Preservation and Architectural Review Board for softening the visual impact of the HVAC equipment on the roof of the cinema.

There were no firm answers but plenty of questions on these and other topics when nearly 70 people gathered at The American Hotel for an “Express Session” luncheon discussion on Friday, November 15, on “The Future of Public Space in Sag Harbor Village.” It was the latest in a series of sold-out public discussions sponsored by The Sag Harbor Express and the last one for 2019.

Southampton Town Board member and Sag Harbor resident Tommy John Schiavoni announced his candidacy for State Senate on Friday