001Village Board, you guys are live. Good morning everybody. Today is May 15th, 2026. It's 11:00 a.m. and welcome to East Hampton Village Board meeting. If we could stand for a pledge. Pledge of Allegiance. Thank you. Just a couple of announcements. We have the long-term parking lot renovation. The parking lot is now open. Um It looks great. We've got more things to do there, obviously, but it is uh reopened today. We have Memorial Day Parade, which will be on May 25th, starts at 10:00 a.m., I believe. Is that correct? Yes. 10:00 a.m.? And then we have the Pride Parade, which is on June 6th, starts at noon. Hope to see everybody at those events. And next up is roll call. Mayor Jerry Larsen. Here. Deputy Mayor Chris Manardy has an excused absence. Trustee Sandra Melendez has
002an excused absence. Trustee Carrie Doyle. Here. Trustee Jason Tu Ma. Here. Administrator Marcos Balderas. Present. Village Attorney Lisa Perlow. >> Here. All right, great. Next up is presentations and we'll start with you. Uh, thank you. Um, thanks to the Hampton Two Done It, um, two of Loretta's books are now, one of them is in the high school, uh, Katherine Shrek, formerly Katie McGinty, former Springs School student, former third grade student of mine, is the English teacher at the high school and she may be using that book when she does a unit on The Crucible. And then I was invited to the Ross School to talk to their students about the Goody Garlick Witchcraft Case and I left them a book, okay? So, thank you, uh, Hampton Two Done It. Enough of showing for Loretta's book,
003okay, here we go. Uh, if you go to the Crow's Nest, Crow's Nest in Montauk, there's a drink called the Roose. Where'd that come from? Well, not long after July 27th, 1775, General Washington informed the Continental Congress that three British men-of-war and nine transports left Boston bound for Long Island. And Captain Hulbert, who with his company and militia proceeded to Montauk to visit the British fleet. The arrival in Montauk of Captain Hulbert's company saw the British fleet off the point and its strength measured alongside the captain's meager company did not augur well for success. Appalled by the situation, Captain Hulbert quickly dispatched a rider on horseback to East Hampton to get more help. The first of these East Hampton volunteers was Captain John Dayton of the second company, second battalion, who offered to join Captain
004Hulbert's men if 40 or more East Hampton volunteers would come along. Soon Captain Dayton and 40 more East Hampton stalwarts were a part of a 60 60 other militiamen at Shepherd's Neck in Montauk. By now the enemy fleet was in Fort Pond making making ready to land. The volunteers under Captain Hulbert's command was started up and down the hill in a single file. Once down in the valley where they they could not be seen, the coats that they were wearing were turned inside out and they marched back up the hill. And they repeated this several times. And what did the British fleet do? Left and went to Fishers Island. It's called Dayton's ruse, okay? Now you would think that's where the story ended. But it didn't. It's now 1998. Okay? An East Hampton house dating
005to 1707, which was home to a local hero of the American Revolution, was nearly destroyed last Thursday during a drill by the East Hampton Fire Department. Demolition was halted however when a descendant of Captain Dayton, Avril Dayton Geiss, showed up, okay? A member of the Ladies Village Improvement Society, too, okay? Between her, Mayor Paul Rickenbach, uh Robert Hefner, the advisor to East Hampton Historic Buildings, and Tom Lawrence, they got the house saved and it's still there, up there at the creeks. That's where this is, okay? Okay, and the last thing, at the July 1st meeting, uh the executive director of the East Hampton Historical Society, Steve Long, will be here with Colin Kelly, an East Hampton High School senior, who has researched, written, and recorded podcasts about the American Revolution, and he will be here
006to read you the July podcast. That's all I got. Thank you, Hugh. >> [applause] >> Uh next up is our LVIS leaders, Rachel and Olivia. Good morning. My name is Rachel Cooper. I'm the executive director of the Ladies Village Improvement Society, and of course I'm here with Olivia Brooks, who's our tree committee chairwoman. Um Joyce Tuttle was unable to attend today. She's our president, so I'm filling in for her. About a month ago, Joyce and I met with Marcos and discussed several topics of mutual interest, and during that conversation we began talking about what plans were in place to commemorate the 250th anniversary of our nation. And as often happens during these meetings, the conversation naturally turned to trees. And it was at this time that Marcos came up with a big idea to say,
007"Hey, what about the LVIS doing something really big to celebrate this moment?" And so we were immediately inspired by this idea, and we brought that it back to our board, and a plan immediately took root. And today we're really thrilled to announce LVIS's pledge to plant 250 trees throughout the village in the next 10 years. And um we're going to start with commemorative tree that'll be planted in honor of our 250th anniversary, and then we're especially pleased to announce that the first wave of plantings that will take place in the long-term parking lot, Um, the path from the long term parking lot um, at Herricks Park and then there'll be many more waves of plantings to follow. Our tree canopy in the village is one of our greatest assets. We have about 3,500 trees and
008800 memorial plaques and Olivia often refers to um, it as a museum of trees, which it is. And a couple of months ago you heard the village announce that um, they've just invested pretty heavily in brand new state of the art tree software. This is going to help us working together um, on the day-to-day management of our tree assets but also to identify areas where we can do new plantings. So it's perfect timing and it's going to be a great utilization of those resources and we're super excited to have that in place, which is going to happen later this summer. Um, I wanted to take a moment to thank Olivia. She has been a member of LVIS since 1979 and she's been our tree committee chairwoman for almost 20 years, which is unbelievable. Um, she
009was a school teacher, um, has raised her family here, has grandchildren and she spends her time day in and day out taking care of our wonderful trees in our community and um, under her leadership I feel like our partnership with the village is really stronger than it's ever been. And I know that Darren and Dave aren't here today but I really wanted to thank them for everything that they do along with the entire DPW and then of course Mayor Larson, Marcus Sahlstrom, the entire Board of Trustees um, just for the ongoing support and collaboration that we have together. It's very, very special and I couldn't be happier to announce this today. Uh, thank you so much. So, >> [applause] >> Board want to come up? We'll do a photo. Olivia, please. Marcus. Marcus never likes
010to be in the photos. Today [clears throat] he's in Oh, thank you so much. Thank you. Uh thank you so much. You guys are amazing, incredible. Thank you. All right, next up is Millstone Park proposal. Is Dana Tripp here from Whitmore's. And I believe your slide's on Hey, good morning. How are you? Good morning. Dana Tripp, if you guys don't know me in the room. Uh Whitmore's certified arborist. I run their tree care department. Work hand-in-hand with Marcos and the village heavily on a lot of their tree canopy. And lately we've been discussing a a project over at Millstone Park. Many of you know the carpet of ivy that used to flag that wall peeled off last year. And to keep this park as beautiful as it once was, we're trying to meet many different
011objectives. And then one of those trying to keep that wall green without having any sort of material growing on that wall. So now we've come up with the idea about putting panel tree cover up against that. Keeps it very two-dimensional and it'll help maintain the beautification of that park. So long-term we'll be able to pretty much sustain what's what's going on in there. So Are there pictures of it there? I don't >> what it is? It's online and it's also the presentation that was viewed by the board in executive session a couple months back. It's the exact same solution. Okay. Yeah, it'll be a long-term solution to to get that park beautiful again. Great. Thank you. Thank you, guys. Thank you very much. Yeah, just to give some background on that about Correct me if
012I'm wrong, Marcos, but I would say 20, 30 years ago ivy was grown on the wall of a building that the village doesn't own. And we don't know if there was an agreement to do it or not, but eventually over time the ivy became very heavy and it actually collapsed um early or late last year. Actually uh a year ago today. >> That long ago. A year ago. And it actually caused damage to the the building, which is again, not the village's. So, we wound up settling um with the owner of the building and we have to repair the building for him. So, that um has prompted this entire discussion. And I think that's a great solution because it'll still give us the the beauty that we're looking for, but without attaching to the building.
013And the problem with the ivy, even if we replanted it, eventually, even if we replanted it away from the building, it's going to find its way to the building. So, this is a great solution. Thanks for coming up with this and and hopefully uh obviously the garden club is in favor of it. So, um that's great news. >> Dana worked very hard on this. It's pretty hard to figure out solution like this without putting the ivy back on. Thank you, Dana. Thank you very much. All right, next up is from the town, Melissa Macairen. And with her is Ryan Winter. And they're going to discuss this project that we've had going for a long, long time. And it's a very important project. And Good morning. hopefully we have some movement on this. That would be
014great. >> Yes, absolutely. Um I think we have a slideshow. I don't know if our TV can. We can't see it. The board can't see it, Marcos. Marcos? Yeah. The board can't see the Can we turn it a little bit? There we go. Are they able to put the presentation up or You guys can see that? No. Oh, okay. Oh, one sec. Well, I can start talking and then whatever comes up. Um, so I'm Alyssa Macaran, I'm a principal environmental analyst with the town of East Hampton. Um, and I'm here with today with Ryan Winter, who's a professional engineer with BHB and our project manager for this Coe Hollow project. Um, we've been working on this for quite some time as the mayor mentioned and um, we're finally bringing it to fruition. We have final
015designs and we're pretty much ready to go out to bid as soon as our DEC permit is issued, which is pending. Um, any luck? Jody, we still can't see anything. It would be great to have it up there because it's a huge project. >> I'm trying. I'm trying. Okay. Couple different screens. That do it for you guys? Nope. No, uh, one more thing. Hold No, it's still nothing. You need help? Our police chief's pretty handy with this kind of stuff. Can you see that now? No, Jody, still nothing. It's it's on television for broadcast. Um, okay, hold on. This is going to be tough. >> [laughter] [sighs] >> Oh, I think I know. Hold on. Let me try those. Nothing? No. No pressure. It's It's still the three cam- camera angles. Um I mean, Melissa,
016you can't talk about it without the Yeah, I I Well, um I have an extra copy here for one of the board members. >> Well, now, if you want to just We can just start >> If you want to start and just use your copy and That's being broadcast to the public right now. Okay. >> Um so, this is we're presenting the the final designs for the Copano end-of-pipe treatment project, which is a constructed wetland. Um our overall goal really for and we've been working with the village for several years on this, um is to keep the character of the site, which is at the end of Copano Road, um but to incorporate this water quality improvement for the benefit of Georgica Pond. Um so, to give a little background, um the Copano stormwater pipe
017was designed and constructed in the 1930s as a drainage project to alleviate flooding from farmland runoff. The pipe currently runs approximately 7,300 ft by gravity from the railroad trestle up at the end of of Copano Road near 114, and then runs down to the outlet at Georgica Cove. Oh, you'll see it now on the screen. Got it up, right? Okay. There we go. You've got it now. Runs down to Georgica Cove, emptying into Georgica Pond. Uh the stormwater flowing to the pond represents a source of nutrients, sediment, and bacteria, among other pollutants that can contaminate, um, Georgica Pond and impact water quality. Georgica Pond historically has suffered from macroalgae and blue-green algae blooms, uh, which are fed by excess nitrogen and phosphorus loading. So, due to these known impacts, you can go to the next
018slide. Yep, right here. Uh, yeah, next slide. Got you. Um, so due to these known impacts, um, this project was included in a in the Village of East Hampton's Water Quality Improvement Plan, and was incorporated into the town's Community Preservation Fund project plan in 2016 to assess the current conditions of the pipe, um, and complete an engineering review with remedial recommendations for improvements. So, the overall goals were to implement actions that would reduce the flow of stormwater, uh, to entering into the pipe and down getting down to Georgica Pond, um, as well as to improve the quality of that water that enters Georgica Pond. So, working with VHB, we did a camera inspection to assess the condition of the pipe, and actually, given that it's from 1930, was relatively good. Um, we did identify some,
019um, some utilities that were installed directly through the pipe. We've since gotten those removed. Um, some roots growing through, uh, the the seams of the pipe, and those have been cut, and and we've had some things replaced and repaired. Um, so, uh, one of the recommendations from that an engineering review by VHB, and we found to be one of the most impactful recommendations we could implement, was this end-of-pipe treatment, uh, project. Um, so, that's what we've been moved forward with. Uh, the town issued an RFP in 2022 and hired VHB to design and construct um, a constructed or just design, you know, constructing it. >> [laughter] >> A constructed wetland to improve the quality of water entering the pond. Um, this work has been a collaboration from the beginning with the Village of East Hampton
020as the property owner of this location. The pipe itself, um, is pretty much 50/50 on in town jurisdiction and village jurisdiction. So, um, uh, ownership from both municipalities. We've also been working with the Water Quality Technical Advisory Committee and our, uh, chair is actually Billy Hajek, your village planner. Um, so the committee has been, uh, helping move this project forward as well and we've been working with Friends of Georgica Pond, uh, the East Hampton Town Trustees and other stakeholders. So, um, now I'm going to hand it over to Ryan to go through the designs and, um, next steps. Thanks, Melissa. Um, so as she said, uh, this proposed improvement for the outfall was based on a study of the entire, uh, culvert system. Uh, we came up with a variety of proposed mitigation from small,
021simple improvements that could be made to larger, uh, improvements that would have a more impactful, uh, uh, result on the water quality and the the use of this culvert system. So, um, we can go to the next slide. Project design that we looked at, um, just to give you a little bit of overflow for those, uh, overview for those that aren't familiar. This, uh, site for the outfall is located at the southern end of Georgica Road, um, at Georgica Cove, which is part of Georgica Pond. Um, if you go to the next slide, you can see a little bit, uh, more zoomed in. The the red box there is the the parcel that we were looking at for this project. Currently, the outfall from the pipe system into Georgica Pond is at the bottom of
022that box, right against the waterline. And our proposal was to pull back that primary outfall closer to Georgica Road and incorporate a surface treatment there for the water that comes out of that pipe, so it's not going directly into the pond. It has the capability to infiltrate and treat the water before uh dispersing into Georgica Pond. On the next slide, you can see some photos of the existing condition of the site. Um the top left is looking out onto the cove from the uh from the the pathway that goes in there for that's used for maintenance. Um and you can see on the bottom left there's a Phragmites that is prevalent in the area. Uh that's something else that we looked at as part of this project. And in middle right are photos of the
023the outfall pipe, which is exposed as you get closer to to the pond. So, the site itself is fairly large and again, what we were looking to do was kind of pull back that outfall to give the water the capability of being treated prior to going into the pond for all the reasons that Melissa mentioned, uh the sensitivity to the the water body uh and the currently the way the water comes off the road, the the stormwater runoff goes directly into that pipe and then into the pond. There's no opportunity for any sort of treatment uh at this point. So, that was really the goal for this. What you're seeing on the screen now is an initial concept that we had put together uh to kind of get um some ideas going just based on
024overall goals of the project. We looked at um several different uh design options, formalizing into a park, kind of leaving it as is, um incorporating trees um and other landscaping. We did look at preserving um as much of the existing uh plantings on site as we could, uh but with the changes of terrain uh made it difficult. I think there is one large um shrub that we were able to retain as part of this. Um if you go to the next slide, it just shows you gives you an idea of the iterations of design that we went through. Uh this is in coordination with the stakeholders that Melissa mentioned and also uh in correspondence with the US Army Corps and uh Department of Environmental Conservation. And the next slide is kind of where we landed
025with the the current design that is in the final permitting stages. Um we're basically retaining that access road as is. It'll be um cleaned up and repaved. And you'll still be able to park on either side of that uh for those that want to you know, go down there for lunch or just check out the the view, you know, as they're driving by. But you can see on the bottom of that page is where a lot of the improvement is um the the we're creating new wetland, a linear wetland along the um North is to the right, but the bottom of that area. So the out the new outfall would be on the right side just to the left of Georgia Road, which is running up and down generally on that plan. And then the
026water would have the opportunity to traverse the site and um either infiltrate or eventually work its way into the the pond. So some of the improvements that we're proposing as part of this um and overall the design has not changed. It's just kind of the realignment um and some of the uh treatments adjacent to the BMP, best management practice for the the water treatment that we're proposing. Uh but again, just high level moving the the the pipe, the outfall pipe to the northern side of the site and then creating um two sediment uh sediment bay right outside of that outfall, which will take all the sediment from the the storm water and uh deposit it in that area and then there'll be a second uh pool micro pool we're calling it on the other side
027of a small berm or rock weir that will allow for more infiltration and storage of storm water runoff. Um the idea is that during a larger event we will have a overflow at that southerly or second pond which will connect to the existing outfall which we're maintaining as an overflow. And additionally during large storm events that uh can't be handled by this new system we're maintaining a overflow from the existing structure just north of Kohala Road just north of Georgica on Kohala that goes directly out to the existing outfall. So that pipe will still be there but it's only going to be used in cases of large storm events. The the goal of the project to improve water quality is still largely met because the large majority of your pollutants occur during the first flush.
028So your first inch to a rain which will be captured by this will be covered under this design. Um if you go to the next slide this shows you a little bit idea of the different types of landscaping and plantings that we're doing as part of this project. Uh there's going to be low and high marsh um the idea is for this not to be wet all the time. This marsh area is just kind of it's it'll go dry to wet. Uh it'll be largely wet on the in the middle. There's only about a 2-ft elevation difference between the edge and the and the middle of these bioswales. They're not like a big capacity uh system. They're they're accommodating right now an inch and a half of rainfall from the existing watershed. But again as
029Melissa mentioned the goal is to kind of break out some other pieces of this watershed so that you that will effectively increase the the capabilities of this as more improvements continue to get incorporated along this system. Um So just and the other thing with the plantings is we work closely with the village and the town to make sure that we're using native species, species that um are already in the area that will uh complement uh what's out there now. We're not looking to create this whole new ecosystem. Um and you can see there there's uh protective plantings along the the right-of-way line to shield the uh the neighboring properties from this. All right, next steps, permitting. So mentioned um DEC and Army Corps um the we just had a 15-day public notice period with DEC
030that closed yesterday. So we're waiting to hear if there were any public comments received as part of that. Um assuming not or um few comments, then we can hopefully have permit in hand from DEC within the next couple months. Uh Army Corps status, we already have their permit, so we're ready to go from that perspective. Um so next step is really to just take these drawings and put them to construction level, put out bid documents, and then probably looking at construction sometime in 2027 after that summer season. Um in terms of cost, so we this cost is subject to change based on the final design and any additional comments from DEC, but and this is hard to read, but um the cost for construction came out at $2.1 million, um and that is anticipated to
031be paid for completely by CPF funding or other um grant opportunities that are that become available for the project. Uh maintenance and monitoring is another component of this project and something that's important to consider. We We don't want to just build this and then walk away. We want to make sure that it's something that can be sustained over time. Um a big piece of that is the Phragmites management um in front of the property. Part of this project is going to be to remove that Phragmite and allow native species as part of our revegetation to come in and take hold and take the place of where the Phragmites were. Um Phragmites as as many people know is is challenging to control and maintain, so there's going to be a robust um uh monitoring and management
032of that over the first few years. And then um the plan would be to work with the DEC to continue a monitoring and management program beyond the the scope of this permit. Um we don't know exactly how long DEC will allow us to include management as part of this until we get the final permit from them. So, we're waiting word on that. Um and there are areas beyond this along the shore of Georgia Capon and Georgia Capon specifically that have uh Phragmites issues. So, um you know, this could be a good case study or uh jumping off point to kind of look at other uh ways to control the Phragmites around this area in addition to this immediate vicinity. Um on the next page, so just again looking at monitoring, the idea would be, you
033know, if the Phragmites comes back to to mitigate that and support it with additional plantings as needed to kind of fill in and give these native species the best chance that is possible to uh survive and thrive in this new new wetland. And then just some examples of BMPs for those that aren't familiar. Um on the left is the one right down the street at Methodist Lane that was constructed doing very well. And on the right is another one that BHP constructed for in Stony Brook for um the vets home and adjacent to Stony Brook University Hospital. They had similar storm water and water quality issues there that we helped address as part of a similar project. Happy to answer any questions. Thank you. Good. I have two questions. Is there any noise factor that's
034increasing by these changes? No, there's no equipment or anything being incorporated as part of this. There's no real facilities for folks to come and you know um have active use on. So, we are not anticipating any change in noise as a result of this. And then secondly, a lot of people use the cove to park. So, with the the new landscaping on the side, will it necessitate some signage to say you can't park on it? I mean if they park on that new grass and all that it it's not going to I mean you tell me what will happen. It's It was definitely something that we we considered moving forward. Do we put in some dedicated parking or not? And I think it was pretty important to the village to not um formalize parking there
035really. But I think both sides of that roadway that's basically just being reinstalled will be stable and people can park there. And we went back and forth. There does need to be a little bit of protection to ensure that nobody drives into the constructed wetland. And I think in working with Billy and the friends of Georgia Capon doing something minimal that suits the character of the area. I think we decided on just some large larger rocks to Um, just prevent the damage to the constructed wetland. That's great. I have a question. Uh, the monitoring, who does it? Is it natural resources or is it the village who monitors this area to for maintenance and Um, so the first 5 years is incorporated in the bid. So the contractor that's hired that would be would be
036responsible for that and that really should be the establishment period. So there should be very minimal needs following that once the constructed wetland is established. And later on when there is money required for whatever, for maintenance or anything, does that come from the village or is that through this the water quality CPF money? Um, that's a very good question. [laughter] We actually just [clears throat] um, did a modification to our CPF water quality improvement plan earlier this year um, and we wanted to incorporate some of the long-term monitoring because it is so important for these projects to ensure their success. So I think, you know, moving forward that would be something that would the village could apply to the town for. >> That's great. But it'll probably be a few years before that we'll need
037that anyway. So >> beyond 5 years. >> Right. Thank you for uh, spearheading this. This is really important project that we've been looking for for years, all right? So thank you for getting it done. >> pleasure and we're really happy to >> thanks for the presentation. Thank you. Happening. Glad to see this getting moved forward. I'm sorry. >> much for your time. Definitely want to call out Billy Hajek. He's been working with us on the Yeah, Billy, do you have anything to add or are you Everything's fine? Great. Thank you very much. Thank you. All right, next up is our village administrator. Uh, I'll go quick. Thank you. I'll just read the budget letter. Thank you, Your Honor. Members of the Village Board, I'm pleased to present the tentative budget today for the Village of
038East Hampton live on our website and submitted to you I believe right before this meeting, being August 1st, 2026 and ending July 31st, 2027, uh, fiscal year 2027 for your review and consideration. The tentative budget for 2027 is a product of months of careful deliberation, collaborative planning with every department head, and a zero-based review of every line item, making sure that each dollar requested is a dollar genuinely needed. We don't budget from habit, we now budget from more principle. That means questioning every assumption and challenging every expenditure, and holding ourselves to a standard of fiscal stewardship that our residents rightfully expect now and deserve. It is an approach that has produced tangible results, three consecutive years of tax reductions, a greatly uh strengthened cash position, invested millions of dollars in the village's infrastructure just this
039past year, and reduced our overall debt burden. So, next year we're cutting taxes again for the fourth time in 6 years. 2027 tentative budget continues to fund the services our residents depend on, and advances the capital investments our village requires, and it does so while remaining well below the New York State's allowable tax cap. It's worth noting that the New York State property tax cap has been in effect for 14 years, and the Village of East Hampton has never once exceeded that threshold. This is not a routine accomplishment. It's a remarkable one, and I mention it because across the East End, few municipalities and even fewer um school districts uh can make the same claim. Year after year, while others have sought overrides or pushed to the edge of that cap, this village has remained
040well within its limits without sacrificing the quality of services that residents expect. We present this budget with confidence in the process that produced it, gratitude to the trust of residents that they placed in us, and a commitment to the village's long-term financial health. Some of those key highlights I think should be on screen. Um I apologize for the font size. Can you see it? >> Tax rate is 31. Can you see it? Yeah. Yes. Tax rate is 31.35. Um it lowers the taxes by 0.29% uh 0.29%. Assessed value is 50,480,589. Um, our proposed budget totals nearly $32 million with an estimated revenue total of 17,067,670, which is almost a $2 million increase, which is pretty unbelievable regarding how conservative we usually are from year to year. Um, our personnel budget is almost at 14 million.
041Our workman's comp remains at 375. Our surplus remains at 600,000 as we do each year. Our insurance total is 675,000, which is an increase of about uh, 9% and our contingency remains at 300,000. We're very proud of that, Dominique and I, because of course, when we first got here, it was at 100,000. So, we're still remaining with that nice contingency budget. Um, our bond principal totals are all up there. Um, they're not as exciting, but uh, in terms of retirements, we do have a couple of retirements to talk about like we do at the end of each year. We recognize the retirement of Lieutenant Greg Brown, badge number 50, who dedicated 25 years of service to the East Hampton Village Police Department. Greg has the distinction of following in his father's footsteps, Lieutenant Ken Brown,
042and continuing his father's legacy by attaining the same rank one held by once held by his father. It's the first I've heard of such a tribute and it's an endearing one. We also recognize Linda Bayer, who ran the building department's main office for 21 years. Uh, Linda's efficiency and command of that office set the tone for those who follow. James JP Foster, a long-time public ser- uh, public safety dispatcher for three, retired this past September after an extraordinary 35 years of service to the Village of East Hampton. Throughout his tenure, JP played a critical role in shaping our dispatch operations into what it is today, which is the gold standard locally for excellence in emergency communications. His planned retirement, along with others in the coming year, will bring the department's total head count down to
04313 dispatchers as we agreed, marking our transition as we continue to provide the high level of service that our residents and fire districts that we contract with expect. We also extend our sincere gratitude to our long-time Department of Public Works employees who retired this past year, Jeff Miller, 30 years, Jeff Verity, 30 years. And together these two have devoted decades of their lives to maintaining and caring for what we probably call America's most beautiful village. A special note of appreciation is due to Jeff Verity, who even after officially retiring on February 1st, returned to work for the most significant snowstorm that I've ever seen in my lifetime out here, to get back behind the wheel of a snowplow. I guess out of a sense of duty and a bit of fun, volunteering his time to
044keep our streets safe and passable. So, it's that kind of dedication that speaks volumes about the character of these employees. And last but not least, we've uh recently received the retirement notice of our long-term fire marshal and dedicated member of our fire department, Kenny Colon. Well, Kenny is leaving, technically, in September after 30 years of service. He's a fire hose of institutional knowledge, and he's the odds-on favorite to quarterback our historical services department once Hugh King decides we've named enough buildings and streets in his honor. >> [laughter] >> Kenny Colon consistently puts the village's best interest first, and his sincere perspective and calm demeanor will be greatly missed around here. While his retirement is well earned, Kenny and I are deep in negotiations over his separation agreement, which contains a very special clause tied to
045a certain December helicopter landing in Herrick Park. Some duties are just too meaningful meaningful to retire from, Kenny, and we're grateful that he has agreed to carry on this tradition, no matter how spirited Mrs. Claus gets departing the sleigh. In conclusion, the 2027 tentative budget cannot have been developed without the support and guidance of the mayor and the Board of Trustees. All department heads and members of their staff have contributed significantly to its development. They worked very hard on this. And I also want to thank our financial dream team, Dominic Cummings, Caylin Verity, and Lindsay LaPointe for all their hard work. And a special shout-out goes to Dominique the Belgian butcher Cummings. Wherever she's listening, I love embarrassing her. You know she's listening. I love embarrassing her. Who's earned her nickname like any great butcher?
046She knows exactly where to make the cuts, trims the fat, carving out the excess marbling, and leaving nothing on the table. The result isn't just a lean budget, it's a prime cut. Her precision is a big reason the village's finances remain as strong as they are, and Dominique's honesty and integrity have made her an invaluable partner to me as chief budget officer over the last 6 years. And while she may be thinking about her own retirement, I've made it my personal mission to defer that line item for a few more years. Some assets are just too simply simply too valuable to take off the books. So, the 2027 budget is available on the village's website at the moment, www.easthamptonvillage.gov, and for all who inquire about it at Village Hall. Respectfully submitted. Nicely done, Marcos, and
047congratulations to Marcos, the financial team, and Dominique, and the department heads. Thank you so much. >> [applause] >> All right, let's move into public hearings. Introductory number four of 2026, a proposed local law amending Village East Hampton Code, Chapter 139, Events, Special, Section 139-2, Definitions, Special Event, Section 139-3, Permit Required, C. Is there anyone who'd like to be heard? Okay, can I get a motion to close? So moved. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Hearing's closed. Introductory number five of 2026, a proposed local law amending Village of East Hampton Code, Chapter 77, Beaches, Section 77-4, Prohibited Conduct, U. Anyone like to be heard? Motion? So moved. Second. Hearing is closed. Introductory number six of 2026, a proposed local law amending Village of East Hampton code chapter 267, vehicles and traffic. Anyone like to be heard? Can
048I get a motion? So moved. Second. All in favor? Hearing's closed. All right, next up is a discussion with the board about the extension of leaf blower ban. So, that's the gas-powered um equipment we're talking about. So, recently, North Haven Point well, actually, it's not North Haven Point, it's North Haven Village. Uh they they banned the uh leaf blowers from May 1st to October 31st. Our ban is from May 20th to September 20th or 15th. Might be May 15th to September >> going to talk about. What's that? Uh this is actually what I was going to talk about. That's our leaf blower ban. Yeah. Yeah, May 15th to September 15th. So, the proposal is to extend it from May 1st through October 31st to be consistent The The idea is to be consistent with the
049other municipalities. So, because the landscapers move from one municipality to another, and to have different uh regulations and laws makes it more complicated and easier for them to violate something they're not even aware of. So, that was kind of what came up from the discussions with North Haven. Uh the only other village that is uh stricter than North Haven is Southampton Village, which has banned them altogether. Year-round. So, uh that's the discussion. Anybody wants to comment from the board? Well, I can say what I was going to say earlier. So, today is May 15th, which is the day that our um we start our second season. I don't know about gas and diesel landscape equipment noises. So, we start today that you can't use them. It's also starting today the new hours that of landscaping
050Monday through Friday is allowed 8:00 to 6:00, Saturday 12:00 to 4:00 allowed, and Sunday it's not allowed any sort of noise landscaping. And I really implore all the landscaping companies and construction to adhere to this. I am the Karen who runs after people and says, "Please stop." Because people do not stop at 6:00, at 7:00, at 8:00. You can drive around and they keep going. But this is we're trying to create, you know, we live in the country, it's bucolic, we want quietude. So, it's really important that we work on noise regulations and that people adhere to them. And please be sensitive to your neighbors. So, I agree. I think it's time that we reduce as much noise as possible. And therefore, I would be in favor of this. Good. Thank you. No, I'm 100%
051in favor of it. The moving these dates is uh only going to benefit our enjoyment of the community. It's not going to impact the landscapers terribly. Um it's before fall and when the heavy cleanup start. And I believe there's some language in there if there's a case of a hurricane and and and cleanups like that. But um I'm for it. Jerry, great. So, can we move that forward for a public hearing? Do you want to say one more thing is I believe North Haven took it one step further and they fined the homeowner, not the landscaper. Which I don't know if that's something that could be discussed, but Yeah. That could be that's something to look at, too. Because I have to say sometimes you talk again and again to the land I have one
052neighbor who constantly their landscaper constantly works until 7:00 at night. And how many times can I tell that landscaper they don't seem to care that they're getting violations, but maybe the neighbor would care if they started getting it. Something to think about. What do most other municipalities do? Do you know, Lisa? Uh the property owners would be responsible. Yeah. As well? Yes. Okay. Well, I think that's what all I asked of us, too, when we were reviewing this last year that that it shouldn't just be the people working who are getting the tickets and going to court. Yeah. Makes sense. Want to incorporate that in? Sure. Okay. Great. All right, is there any public comment for anything else? Listen. All right. Let's move into motions and resolution. >> Wait, the Main Street discussion. Oh, I'm
053sorry. Oh, Main Street. Yes. Oh, we put that on last minute. Yeah. Kelly brought this up and um Why don't you talk about it? Were you approached by somebody or >> So, I've been approached Well, what happened was actually I was at dinner a couple weeks ago with a lot of people and it was um 5:30 early bird special and people said I have to run out. I couldn't park on the street because it's parking till 7:00 and it's 1 hour, which I didn't realize it goes that late in the night until and it's 1 hour parking on the street. You really can't eat dinner, go to a movie, go to a store. And a lot of the storekeepers have said, "Can we please have 2-hour parking free on Newtown and Main Street?" So, that
054people may go in, you may go into town knowing you want to, you know, go to this one store, but it allows you to go to the other stores. It allows you to go to our restaurants and the local stores. And sometimes there are the decisions like if you know you're targeted, you're going in to Gucci to buy the $1,500 handbag, then you may not stop and go to the hardware store to get the hammer cuz you'll think I can get the hammer online. But because you know what you want, but this will allow us more people to come into the stores and actually drive some more traffic into our village. And I just think it's a little more user-friendly that you don't walk out after having just hit that one hour note where someone's
055given you a ticket. It's discouraging and um we want our village stores to have be vibrant and that's why I you know, suggested this. Well, it sounds it sounds um interesting but the the thing I've always heard for years and years is the game that's always played with moving your car every two hours by a lot of the employees. So, to move and we've always historically we've always had just the two-hour parking in the in the big parking lots. And we have a lot of games we call it games but you know, where they move the cars around every two hours to avoid a a parking ticket. So, if we do the two hours on Main Street Newtown, I think you're going to create the same thing there and I think the complaint we're going
056to hear from the store owners or the store managers is that there's no parking in front of their store because the employees have all filled up those parking spots. So, I think what I I'm not opposed to it but I think I would like to do a survey of the of the stores that face Main Street in Newtown. And maybe we could have somebody go to each store and see if they are in favor of keeping it one hour or moving it to two hours. And if we come back with the overwhelming support, I think we should we should do what the store owners want us to do. That's a good idea and we have recently redone the long-term parking so >> Right. I think that'll be a lot more attractive to um people who
057work in the stores to park there. Yeah, I hope so. We are we we are extending the um which was the requested when I when I go to the Chamber of Commerce meetings. The um store owners there were requesting that we allow keep the one you know, not didn't know about the proposal for the two hours but what they asked is if we could uh allow additional paid parking so they can get their 1 hour for free and if somebody wants to stay longer they could just buy the extra time. Which would solve that problem and also solve the problem with people you know, parking for 2 hours and moving their car and re-parking for 2 hours. Because if you're an employee working in one of these stores, I don't think you're going to pay
058for the parking. Right. But using your scenario, if you're going into Gucci to buy them, you could also pay the extra hour, you know, so I don't know. Let's see what the survey comes back. >> And we should also look at the time. >> [laughter] >> The time, 5:00 I mean, 7:00 seems really late. Again, if you're going to go to a movie, you're going to a restaurant. >> you think? We go to 5:00, right? That's what we enforce it to. Why don't we reflect what we actually enforce to what the signs say? You got any problem with that? No. Okay, good. So, let's make it all 5:00 because we don't do any of the enforcement at night. So, if we stop it at 5:00, it makes sense. I think it's the same time as
059our lifeguards, so everything would just be all consistent. Be nice. Okay. Thank you. Yeah, it's historically it's been 7:00. I wonder what that was even created for. That's probably when we had a real like vibrant downtown like probably, you know, like you couldn't find any parking anywhere, so Horse and wagon. Horse and wagon, yeah, yeah. All right, great. Uh let's move into resolutions. Resolution number 184 of 2026. Oh. Public comment anyone? Public comment anyone? Public comment anyone? Okay, great. Thanks. Thanks. Resolution number 184 of 2026 approve claim vouchers for the month of May. So, move. Second. All in favor? Aye. Passed and carried. Resolution number 185 of 2026 approve warrants as listed, number 42 guarantees, number 43 and 44 general fund, number 45 general fund warrant, number 46 capital fund. So moved. Second. All in
060favor? Aye. Passed and carried. Resolution number 186, approve budget transfer schedule number six, reference number six and seven, and dated May 2026. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Passed and carried. Resolution number 187, approve minutes from the Board of Trustees meeting held on April 22nd, 2026. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Passed and carried. Resolution number 188, approve departmental reports. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Passed and carried. Resolution number 189, resolve the fiscal year 2026 village budget is hereby amended to increase estimated revenues and appropriations from the assigned unappropriated fund balance in the amount of $31,818.72 for expenditures related to Cheema Hall restrooms. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Passed and carried. Resolution number 190, resolve the fiscal year 2026 village budget is hereby amended to increase estimated revenues and
061appropriations from the assigned unappropriated fund balance in the amount of $83,129.27 for expenditures related to the antique barn. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Passed and carried. Number 191, resolve the fiscal year 2026 village budget is hereby amended to increase estimated revenues and appropriations from the assigned unappropriated fund balance in the amount of $39,666.18 for expenditures related to security. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Passed and carried. Number 192, resolve the fiscal year 2026 village budget is hereby amended to increase estimated revenues and appropriations from the assigned unappropriated fund balance in the amount of $15,500 for expenditures related to signage. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Passed and carried. Number 193, resolve the fiscal year 2026 Village budget is hereby amended to increase estimated revenues and appropriations from the assigned unappropriated fund
062balance in the amount of $22,686.72 for expenditures funded by the employee benefit leave reserve fund EBLR. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Passed and carried. Number 194, approve authorization to close Dime Bank account ending in 0607. Account has no [clears throat] activity for an extended period of time. There's no operational or financial need to maintain this account. >> So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Passed and carried. Resolution number 195, approve authorization to close Chase Bank account ending in 3676. Account has had no activity for an extended period of time and there's no further operational or financial need to maintain this account. >> So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Passed and carried. These are just two accounts that we had you know, we were looking to close for a long time. That's all
063it was. Resolution number 196, approve the $3,202.61 refund due to Munir Ibrahim, Suffolk County tax map 301765 concerning erroneous real estate taxes paid. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Passed and carried. Resolution number 197, approve the Climate Smart Communities pledge to designate East Hampton Village as a registered Climate Smart Community. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Passed and carried. Resolution number 198, deem surplus one HP Color LaserJet Enterprise printer, Village Hall printer, broken and beyond repair and of no value. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Passed and carried. Number 199, deem surplus one HP Elite One 800 PC computer and one Data 911 in-car camera broken and beyond repair and of no value. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Motion carried. Resolution number 200 deemed surplus and of no value nine
064100-ft lengths of 5-in rubber jacketed supply hose from the fire department and removed from service. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Motion carried. Number 201 deemed surplus and approve the disposal public auction sale of two vehicles listed below 2012 Ford Escape and a 2020 Ford Explorer. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Motion carried. Number 202 approve pre-litigation settlement agreement with 63 Main Street EH LLC. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Motion carried. This is what I referenced earlier. It was the building that the ivy caused the damage to. Resolution number 203 approve the $28,365 proposal from Whitmores for the purchase and installation of trees at Millstone Park to be paid from the assigned unappropriated fund balance. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Motion carried. Resolution 204 approve $4,800 quote from Hampton's
065epoxy floors for the emergency service bathroom at 1 Sears Street. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Motion carried. Resolution 205 approve the $28,800 quote from Hampton's epoxy floors for the fire department antique barn at 2 Gingerbread Lane extension to be paid from the assigned unappropriated fund balance. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Motion carried. Resolution 206 approve the $7,051.50 quote from National Grid for gas service installation at Village Hall to be paid from the assigned unappropriated fund balance. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Motion carried. Resolution 207 approve the $22,686.72 payout to public safety dispatcher one, Nicole Forsberg, to be paid on May 29th, 2026 for accumulated time and to be paid from the employee benefit leave reserve fund. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Passed and carried. Resolution 208,
066approve the resignation of public safety dispatcher two, Michael Reed, and reinstate Michael Reed as a public safety dispatcher one, effective June 1st, 2026 at an annual salary of $118,226. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Aye. and carried. Just want to make a comment about that. That was at the request of the employee, so I just want to make sure that there's no misinterpretation of why he was moving from a two to a one. That was at his request. It's better for his life, so that's why it's being accommodated. Resolution 209, approve the promotion of Tammy Wilson, public safety dispatcher one, to public safety dispatcher two, effective June 1st, 2026 at an annual salary of $130,328. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Passed and carried. Can go ahead congratulations to Tammy. She's been
067a long-time employee of ours. Resolution 210, approve employment of Channelise Lorenzo Lopez and Valeria Escandon as a 2026 seasonal traffic control officers at $21 an hour, effective May 16th, 2026. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Passed and carried. Resolution 211, approve amendment to resolution 157 of 2026, employment of 2026 seasonal beach staff as listed in beach manager Don McGovern's April 17th, 2026 memo, Drew Smith as assistant manager at $33 an hour and Nate Colver as lifeguard at $23 an hour, effective May 15th, 2026. So So Second. All in favor? Aye. Aye. and carried. Resolution 212, approve amendment to resolution 107-2026, employment of 2026 beach staff to complete pre-season work as listed in Dana McGovern's March 13th, 2026 memo. Dana McGovern and Sean Daley at $30 an hour effective retroactively to April 16th, 2026
068through May 14th, 2026. Avery Jaffrey at $25 an hour effective retroactively to May 1st, 2026 through May 14th. Julia Erickson at $25 an hour effective retroactively to May 1st, 2026 through May 14th. So moved. Second. All in favor? Passed and carried. Resolution 213, approve employment of Paul Esposito and Tobias Dallinger as beach attendants at $17 an hour effective May 15th, 2026. So moved. Second. All in favor? Passed and carried. Resolution number 214, approve new fire department member Goran Jokic Ajoie, Hook and Ladder Company number one. So moved. Second. All in favor? Passed and carried. I just want to thank Goran for joining. He's a terrific terrific guy. He's he's a He owns Serafina restaurant. Just give him a little plug. Um He does a lot for the village. What's that? He does a lot for
069the village. >> Does a lot for the village, the fire department, the ambulance, the PD, uh the town employees. I mean, he's just a terrific um terrific uh owner and friend. Thank you for doing this. Resolution number 215, approve appointment of Mary Mott as chief em em em emeritus of the East Hampton Village Department of Emergency Medical Service, EMS. So moved. Second. All in favor? Passed and carried and well-deserved. Resolution 216, notice of public hearing to be held on June 17th, 2026 at 11:00 a.m. at the Emergency Services Building, 1 Cedar Street, East Hampton, for the proposed fiscal year 2027 budget. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Passed and carried. Resolution 217, adopt local law of 2026 for introductory number four of 2026, a proposed local law amending Village of East Hampton Code chapter
070139, events, special section 139-2, definitions, special event section 139-3, permit required, C. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Passed and carried. Resolution number 218, adopt local law of 2026 for introductory number five of 2026, a proposed local law amending Village of East Hampton Code chapter 77, beaches, section 77-4, prohibited conduct, U. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Passed and carried. Resolution 219, adopt local law of 2026 for introductory number six of 2026, a proposed local law amending Village of East Hampton Code chapter 267, vehicles and traffic. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Passed and carried. Resolution 220, notice to bidders for street lighting contract at various village locations with bid specifications available on or before May 15th, 2026, and bid opening to be Tuesday, June 2nd, at 2:00 p.m. at Village Hall.
071So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Passed and carried. Resolution 221, accept bid received from Ben Krupinski Builder for $49,988 for the heating installation at the Fire Department antique barn at 2 Gingerbread Lane extension, as per April 27th, 2026 bid specifications, to be paid from the assigned unappropriated fund balance. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Passed and carried. Resolution 222, accept bid received from Ben Krupinski Builder for $71,060 for electrical work at the Fire Department antique barn at 2 Gingerbread Lane extension, as per April 27th, 2026 bid specifications to be paid from the assigned unappropriated fund balance. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Passed and carried. Resolution number 223, accept bid received from Whitmores for $89,840 for landscaping at the long-term parking lot at two Gingerbread Lane extension, as per April 27th, 2026
072bid specifications to be paid from the assigned unappropriated fund balance. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Passed and carried. Resolution number 224, approve the standardization of the purchase of custom carved and hand-painted signs for village buildings and facilities. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Passed and carried. Resolution 225, approve the $5,810 quote from Damacreative Solutions for signs at the fire department and Village Hall to be paid from the assigned unappropriated fund balance. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Passed and carried. Resolution 226, approve amendment to resolution 117 of 2026 to approve two-year license agreement in the amount of $5,000 per year between the incorporated Village of East Hampton and Circuit Transit Incorporated for eight designated parking spaces in the village's long-term parking lot. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Passed and
073carried. Resolution 227, deem surplus and approve the sale disposal of computer equipment as listed firewalls. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Passed and carried. Resolution 228, approve publishing of notice setting forth the polling place, hours during which polls are open, names and addresses of candidates, offices, and terms for the June 16th, 2026 village election. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Passed and carried. Resolution 229, approve change order quote from L&V Benincasa Construction Corporation in the amount of $6,649 for sidewalk curb and ADA ramp replacement at the fire department antique [clears throat] barn and two Gingerbread Lane extension to be paid from the assigned unappropriated fund balance. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Passed and carried. Resolution number 230 approve change order quote from L and V Benia Construction Corporation in the amount
074of $11,628 for sidewalk curb and ADA ramp replacement at the long-term parking lot extension to be paid from the assigned unappropriated fund balance. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Passed and carried. Resolution 231 approve special event permit fee schedule as per section 1398 effective retroactively to May 1st, 2026. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Passed and carried. And the next two resolutions may be taken. The next two what? Are tabled. Tabled. Yep. We'll receive payment tomorrow. Okay. All right. So, I would just like to remind everybody I forgot to remind you earlier, but um as well as our landscaping and building restrictions are in effect starting today. Also, the Rudershan parking lot and the all the parking is now restricted in our business district and dogs on the beach are now starts today.
075The restrictions are in place only between 9:00 and 5:00, 6:00. 9:00 and 6:00 dogs are allowed on the not allowed on the beach. So, um or cars or cars, correct. So, let's let everybody know that and that concludes our meeting for today. Can I get a motion to close? So moved. Second. And our meeting's closed. Thank you, everybody. Thank you, guys.