East Hampton Town Board Work Session -07/15/25

001East Hampton Town Board, we are live. >> Good morning everyone and welcome to the East Hampton Town Board work session of Tuesday, July 15, 2025. Carol, if you could please read the roll call. >> Present. If we could all please stand for the pledge of allegiance. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> So this morning we start the meeting with public portion and we ask you to kindly keep your comments to three minutes and then we have five topics for today. The first is bids with Jeannie Corrosa. Then we'll have a presentation of the 2024 year-end audit from Craig Hower from Naraki Smith. Then we'll there'll be a discussion

002of a Townlane park proposal that was brought to us by the Sofur Foundation and the Nature P uh Nature Preserve Committee. Uh and that's with Stella Sands and Emily Goldstein from the Sofur Foundation. Then Gloria Frzy will giving us will be giving us an update for East Hampton Compost. And then the town board will have a discussion about a public hearing we had last week on the potential acquisition of a conservation easement for 41 and 47 Cove Hollow Farm Road. That'll be followed by liaison reports and we have a few resolutions. So first we will start with the public portion. Carol, is anybody signed up? Okay. Would anyone like to address the board? David, >> good morning, town board. >> Morning, David. >> I am David Buddha from the Springs. so that it will be

003fresh in your minds when you later uh conduct a discussion of the proposed purchase with $20 million of town CPF funds of a conservation easement to be granted by the Bconic Land Trust as the contemplated purchaser of 41 and 47 Cove Hollow Farm Road um in the village. I would like to reiterate some salient facts as follows. Contrary to the provisions of the New York State open uh meetings law, the text of the proposed conservation and trail easement has not been made public nor apparently even prepared. In response to my foil request as of June 24th, I was merely told that is it is in process. The text of any actual conditional contract that may exist between the Piconic Land Trust and the town has also not been made public. And in response to my

004foil request as of June 24th, I was told it is merely in process. The favorable town planning department evaluation that was prepared for the CPF advisory board was predicated upon public acquisition providing expanded public access to Georgia Cove. Such public access is now not being proposed. Next, the village by passage of its resolution on December 18th has conditioned its request for this town CPF program to expend $20 million for the purchase of a conservation and trail easement upon the town's willingness to abregate the provisions of the intermunicipal agreement dated August 18, 2016. That IMA states that only 10% of the CPF revenue will be credited towards acquiring property rights within the village. According to Scott Wilson, that 10% share of the town's CPF revenue is more than sufficient to use $20 million of town CPF

005monies to make the requested acquisition. However, the village has boldly asked the town to only charge $10 million of the proposed $20 million purchase against the 10% IMA cap provision. The only stated explanation or justification uttered by the village was to publicly state at that December meeting that $20 million is a lot of money. So what? Why should that not come in accordance with the provisions of the intermunicipal agreement? There is no C village CPF. There are no village CPF monies. Rather, it is all town CPF money. CPF is a land acquisition program. The land area of the village is about 4.8 uh square miles. That's only about 7% of the land area of the town of East Hampton. So, the 10% provision is quite reasonable and appropriate. Furthermore, all village residents are residents of

006the town and fully benefit from CPF land purchases throughout the town and/or village. Next, the unmentioned status of the adjacent 2.7 acre vacant parcel at 33 Cove Hollowarm Road, which is also a Ross family-owned lot, which was conveyed for no consideration by Alfred Loss to Pond Lot LLC in January of this year, is very problematical. Is the town going to be held up for another 25 million to $30 million purchase request? How would development of that lot detract from the value of this proposed acquisition and the preserving of the subject properties? Lastly, I strongly suggest that the town does require and should have and the public should have information on the source of the $35 million of funding that the PL the PCI land trust is offering to defay part of the purchase price of

007the fee for the property. It happens to be a fact that the subject lands are opposed by lands that are all owned by the same ownership, the Ross family owners. They own 30 Ruxton Road. They own 42 Cove Hollowo Farm Road. They own 38 Cove Hollowo Farm Road. They own 33 Cove Hollow Farm Road. And across the pond, Janet Ross owns 102 Aapog Road. If you don't know who's actually paying that money, it may turn out that some of the beneficiaries of this transaction are in fact some of the sellers of this of the subject lands. And that would make this entire transaction at least in part a bit of a sham and a fraud on the town on the on the country because money that's donated to the PLT results in a a tax

008deduction and that's obviously something that uh needs to be a valid transaction in order for it to be uh valid and pro and provable. Thank you. >> Thank you, David. Would anyone else like to address the board? Kim, >> morning Kim. >> Good morning. Sorry, I came right from tennis. Um, Kim Cordium with the friends of Georgia Pond and um I just wanted to speak again in support of the preservation acquisition of these two parcels that are extremely critical to the health of Georgia Pond. Um, and to answer Mr. Buddha's question, the $35 million is coming from private donors that want to remain anonymous, but I can confirm that it's not the same family members that would not be benefiting from this. Um, again, this is a great example of a partnership between the town

009and a nonfor-profit u conservation organization. Uh it would be great to continue those partnerships going forward so we can benefit from bringing in private donations to make public dollars go farther. And um thank you for your time. Thank you for your consideration. >> Thank you, Kim. Would anyone else like to address the board? Jason, is there anyone on the line that would like to speak during public comment? >> Yes, we currently have three callers. I will unmute the first right now. >> Great. Thank you. Hello caller ending 4602. You are on the air. >> Great. Thank you. Hi, good morning town board. This is Betsy Petroski calling in. Um we uh have currently three ordinances in place that help with our quality of life, especially during these intense summer months. One is no gas powered

010leaf blowers for May 20th through midepptember. Two, it's illegal to blow off fireworks and bottle rockets in residential areas by residents or visitors. And three, throwing your lunch residuals, beer bottles, or any form of trash from your car or truck is a violation with clients. These three violations are hard to control or monitor because one would have to be caught in the act in order to stop the illegal action. so to be warned or given a violation. Most times no one is caught and therefore tends to repeat these actions without giving the crap. I'd like to add another problem that is occurring in our residential neighborhoods and mine in particular due to its location between Springs Fireplace Road and ThreeMile Harbor just north of the North Main Street commercial district. Uber cars are idling for

011long periods of time, parking at all hours of the night along street wide r ofways with their cars running with headlights full on waiting for their next lift call. I called the town police non-emergency phone line most recently about this problem that not only is disturbing to have happening repeatedly, but also causes scattered headlight litter uplighting the area and air pollution with these cars running for extended periods of time. I was told that an officer on patrol could not interfere with this from happening unless there is a no parking sign. So, I'd like to suggest getting up with Chief Sarlo to suggest to suggest some type of ordinance to be enacted that can be enforced since this is a recurring offense to me and my neighbors and on other streets like ours that at the

012very least the police officer could ask these drivers to shut off their headlights and use their parking lights if necessary. I know this seems minute in this in the big scheme of things, but so were those three other actions I mentioned, but have a very big impact on the quality of our lives who live here, even if most times they are hard to enforce. So I ask please and thank you for consideration on this problem. >> Thank you, Betsy. >> Mason, if you could put the next caller through. >> Absolutely. Caller ending 4221. You are live and on the air. >> Thank you, LTV. Good morning, town board. This is Jane Mering and Amagancet. I'm speaking as an individual resident of the town of Amagansit and not a member of any uh appointed board or

013committee. Um I note uh on the agenda for today the item 41 and 47 Cove Hollow Farm PLT easement discussion. Um, I do want to uh say that I had just an unavoidable conflict and I could not participate in the public hearing on July 3rd. So, I know I'm not on the official um record uh with this and I don't know exactly what your discussion um in the work session will entail because there weren't materials um necessarily posted in the you know section of the of the um online. But um I I wanted to raise the issue which I think is very important of public access and recreation not just onto the property but through it and onto the shoreline and access into the waters of Georgia Pond. Um I just want to remind back

014way back on February 7 17th 2022 there was another proposed um acquisition on the shoreline. It was a public private partnership with the PLT in the town 2.7 acres on 11 Jones Road. And at that time I also raised the issue of the need to establish the importance to establish public access on that property and the related Fulling Mill uh Fulling Mill uh a uh parcel. I don't know that anything ever um came of that. I saw the sketch of the access loop around the center of these five uh proposed um uh acquisition acres um that would give some public walking ability and a what looked like a very tiny off-road parking uh area. I don't know how many cars. Um and that I guess would make some access var uh uh viable. But what's

015missing from that loop is a path that goes directly down to the shore and the waters. You know, I attended the state of the Georgia pond event just this past Sunday, Dr. Goldblers's speech uh talk and what struck me is for the first time it really seems like we're in striking distance of real improvements in water quality in the pond such that the reality of being able to safely go into the water, swim, kayak, let your dogs go in. All those things are are within reach if we continue our trends um and and continue to take care of the pond. And I think that this parcel becomes a crucial access point and what happens in terms of management plan easements whatever must reflect that access. you know uh the pond I don't have to tell

016you this is one of the most important beautiful assets and water bodies of the town and the village and basically the whole shoreline is privatized so I just wanted to I know my time's up I wanted to um raise that again and I you know it would be hard to see this acquisition happening without the ability for a really full access passive of course respecting upon um uh to to happen. Thank you. >> Thank you, Jane. Jason, if you could put the next caller through, please. >> Absolutely. Next caller. Hello, caller ending 9094. You are on the air. >> Uh thanks very much. This is Matthew Mallow. Um I did in fact address the board uh last Thursday uh at its meeting. uh and I won't repeat and reiterate what I said then other than

017to uh point out uh what others have pointed out as well which is appropo of the last speaker there is public access there has always been public access to the cove uh at the north end of the cove uh and uh I said last Thursday and I repeat that we welcome uh paddle boarders uh kayakers and recreational use of the cove uh what the last speaker who amic acid may not fully understand is that the depth of the cove is pretty shallow. Uh and uh while I was also at the same meeting she was on friends of Georgia pond uh and it was a fabulous uh transformation in 10 years uh to the point where even people could think about swimming in the in the uh pond uh it was clear from that meeting that

018we're not quite there yet. Uh so I certainly applaud applaud public access uh and there is public access and there has been uh for many many years. Um thanks very much. Uh we hope this goes forward. >> Thank you. Max Jason, is there anyone else on the line? >> There are currently no callers on the line who have not spoken. >> Great. Okay. So we're going to move on then to our topics. First up is bids with Jeannie Corrosa. Good morning, Jeanie. >> Good morning. >> Just a couple of items here. Um one extension for um the joint fuel facility maintenance service. Metro Environmental Services has agreed to extend and a few rejections. The first being the supply and delivery of Isuzu parts. Next is SYA HVAC improvements. And lastly is the Kwell Court affordable

019housing. Thank you so much. So questions for Jeannie. >> No. >> Okay. Thanks, Jeie. Okay. Next up, we have the 2024 year-end audit with Craig Hower from Naki Smith. Welcome, Craig. We're going to have Patrick is going to help you. He'll do the slides. So, if you just want to signal to him when to change it, that'd be great. We'll >> do. Uh, good morning everyone. My name is Craig Hower and I'm a senior manager with Naki Smith. We're at the external auditors for the town for the fiscal year 2024. At this time, I would like to thank the town for your continued confidence in our firm for being your external auditors. For today's meeting, I have a brief presentation about seven pages that summarizes the financial statements uh which are about 146 pages. So,

020please feel free to ask at any time any questions as it is a very brief summary of those financial statements. So just to begin the scope of our services, we contracted to audit the financial statements of the town for the year ended December 31st, 2024 in accordance with US generally accepted auditing standards and government auditing standards. We also prepared an annual financial report for the submission to the government financial finance officers association in accordance with the achievement and excellence award program. I believe the town is currently under I believe it's under 10 towns currently receive that award for the state. uh so they are in very uh very small populations goes for that report that we also audited the single audit the federal award programs in accordance with OM uniform guidance and and OM compliance

021supplement we audit the department of transportation state single audit which refers to the chips monies received by the town as well as the justice court lastly we will also be issuing a management letter presenting our findings and recommendations on improving accounting procedures and internal controls and I'm happy to say the town again is receiving a clean management letter where We had no recommendations. And lastly, uh today's meeting will be presenting the results of the fiscal 2024 audit. As far as the audit readiness and responsiveness, there's timely and accurate closing of the books and records. We were able to begin our fieldwork on April 28th. Uh we come on site for a better part of a month, so almost up to the end of May where we're going through all the town's books and records. We

022received excellent audit cooperation. And at this time, I'd be remiss not to thank Becky Hansen as well as Ni Valera for their continued cooperation and excellent work ethic. Uh they have to deal with us for four weeks. Uh no one likes auditors coming into and just kind of messing with all your books and records. Uh but they provide everything accurately. Everything's timely and I really can't thank them enough for for all their help throughout the whole process. So, thank you again to them. >> And Craig, how long have you been doing this? You've been here a long time. Uh so I was actually an intern uh on the town back in 2013 and uh yeah I've been been with the town on the Naka Smith for the better part of 13 years now. So moved

023up the board >> and got married and family and all that time. >> Yes, it's been been a long time come. Um I'm happy to say all our planned audit procedures were su successfully implemented. Um, we do a combination of on-site work and remote field work. We have all our, this should say May 23rd, so about, like I said, a month and allowing us to get the financial statements to the town by June 19th to be submitted for by June 30th for the GFOA. And I'm happy to say there are no material weaknesses in internal control related to our finding reporting. Moving on to the financial statements. Uh, so there are an introductory section. Again, this is for the annual report for the state. Uh so this has town map, the principal officials, uh a

024letter from the supervisor as well as the finance department and the award that the town received last year. Onto the financial section, which is pages 13 to 115. I'm happy to say that we had an unmodified opinion on the general purpose financial statements from pages 13 to 15. Uh there was a change in accounting principle related to Gazby statement 101 which related to compensated absences for the town. I'm happy to say that there really was no material change uh to the town for this standard. Most municipalities were conservative in how they were recording compensated absences as well as the town of East Hampton. Um so there was a slight change in disclosure but nothing uh numbers wise for the town. Pages 16 to 28 is management's discussion and analysis. Uh I always like to refer

025to this part of the report as this is one part of the report that shows comparative financial data and shows the different uh variance explanations. So if you don't have time to read the full 146 pages, uh that's it. >> Yes. >> Um this uh these 12 pages are very informative. Uh it is management's discussion. So it's giving reasons for the variances year-over-year. It has both the governmentwide statements comparative as well as the fund statements comparative. Um again, it's a brief summarization, but I think it gives a good good idea of what's going on in the town and shows you the year-over-year differences. Pages 29 to 30 are the governmentwide financial statements. So this is a different basis of accounting. Uh this refers to the long-term assets as well as long-term liabilities of the town.

026So different from the current focus which is the fund statements that we'll get into shortly. So to begin there are total assets and deferred outflows of the resources of 1.1 billion. Capital assets net of depreciation totals about 794 million of that 1.1 billion and that primarily consists of land of 688.6 million. Total liabilities and deferred inflows of resources were 384.6 million. Bonds payable were 93.8 million of which 12.4 million will be repaid in 2025. There was a new bond issuance of 14.6 million at a rate interest rate of 45%. as well as two short-term bond anticipation notes of 25.2 million at an interest rate of 3.55%. And that bond anticipation note will be paid in the next year. This is short term. The town's other post-employment benefits which is an actuarial determined liability of 128

027million was a net decrease of 9.7 million. This is mainly due to new actuarial assumptions. So the town has to receive a full actual evaluation every two years of which assumptions change and interest rate changes. So this number very much fluctuates. I believe last year was a large increase. This year's a large decrease. Um this is a liability that was put on the books a number of years ago due to new Gazsby. Um and as I said is actually determined that basically if the town were to have to shut its entire doors, what would be the total liability to be paid at the year end? Uh this left the town with a total net position of 670 million. Moving on to the fund statements. Now these are the current focus of the town. So these

028are the numbers that you are dealing with day-to-day that don't have the long-term assets and long-term liabilities. Total assets of all funds were 226.9 million. This primarily relates to cash on hand and investments leaving with total liabilities of 59.2 million. And again, this is about half of that is the ban liability that again is done year-over-year and is paid every year by the town. This leaves a town with a governmental fund financial statements of 151.8 million fund balance. Uh 2.2 of that is non-spendable. This relates to prepaid expenditure as well as lease assets over the deferred inflows of leases, but mostly mostly prepaid. There's 89.2 2 million which is restricted by the board. 42.2 million which is assigned uh this has mainly excuse me do with the smaller funds that are all assigned fund balance

029as well as appropriated fund balance by general fund for the following year. That leaves the town with $18.2 million of unassigned fund balance. This is a net decrease of 27.3 million. Um this was mainly due to there was a large increase in expenses in the CPF fund this year. Uh due to actually there was one purchase of 50 point I believe 56 million. Um so that was the main reason for the large decrease in funds this year and the increase in expenses. >> That was this Wayne Scott >> Main Street. Yes. Thank you. Uh total revenues and other financing sources were 184 million for the town up from 173.6 in 2023. Uh this is mainly related to the increase in miscellaneous local sources which was due to a host community agreement which I believe will

030be a one-time large payment this year. Total property tax revenue of 65.8 million was within the New York state tax cap. The total expenditures and other financing sources of 211.4 million compared to 145.3 million 2023. And again as I said before this is mainly due to a large increase in the community preservation fund. Total debt service expenditures were 15.7 million which represents about 7.4% of total expenditures for the town. Pages 35 and 36 are the fiduciary fund financial statements. Uh these are the statements that are custodial in nature of the town. So these are monies that are held by the town that are not of the town's responsibility. Um so that's related to that. So that mainly I believe due to taxes that are payable back to the districts. And then lastly is the notes

031of finance statements of 37 to 76. The presentation as I said is consistent with the prior year. We do mention the change in accounting principle but as I said there really was no changes for the town for that statement. Moving on. So for the most towns there's a required supplement other information other than the MEA. This mainly dues with the budget actual schedules of the major funds. Uh you will notice that there are six major funds this year. Uh the airport fund was considered a major fund this year. This is mainly due to the recognition of the lease assets and lease liabilities uh which is the leases that the airport fund has. Um so this moved into a general fund and that was due to a new gazby standard uh last year. There's also a

032schedule changes in the town's oped liability and related ratios. Again those are all the actuarial determined numbers. The proportionate share of net pension liability for New York State employment retirement system and the police and fire retirement systems as well as the contributions. Again, these are audited numbers by KPMG, which is one of the big four accounting firms. Uh, and these numbers are given to us from their annual report that they do for both retirement systems. Pages 98 to 115 are other supplementary information. Uh, you have the capital projects fund, which is a schedule that the town elects to present and shows all the open projects as well as the current year expenditures and prior year expenditures and revenues of each open project. In the capital project fund, you have the combining balance sheet of non-

033major governmental funds as well as a combining schedule revenues, expenditures, and changes in fund balance of those non-government major governmental funds and as well as the budget actual schedules for seven non- major funds that have legally adopted budgets that are found on the town's website. And lastly, you have the combining statement of fiduciary net position and the combining statement of changes in that net position for the fiduciary fund. Uh these are schedules that are required by the GFOA for the annual report. And lastly, this statistical session. This is secretly, excuse me, strictly unordered numbers that are needed for the annual report for the GFOA. Uh these are financial trends, revenue capacity, debt capacity for 10 years, past 10 years for the town as well as some demographic and economic information, operating information. Uh this section

034is strictly as I said for GFOA as unordered in numbers but is needed for the annual report for the town to receive the award. Um I I think actually this is another area similar to the MDNA where you can see comparative data year-over-year and um has some interesting things you can see for the town for the past 10 years. And lastly is the federal single audit pages 135 143. Uh we had a qualified opinion on report over compliance. Uh this is mainly due to one compliance finding which was corrected this year. It was just due to a timing of report uh for the HUD uh which is the housing and urban development uh report that's needed by the housing authority. Uh as I said the finding was uh just due to timing of when the

035report was filed. Uh so nothing major and it was corrected in the subsequent year this year. So that will be u fully completed and done in next financial statements for the town. And that's it for me. The last page is just my information as well as my partner's information. And thank you for your time. >> Does anyone have questions for Craig? >> I I don't have any questions. I just have a couple couple statements on there then too. I think this is showing that supervisor's uh budgeting has been conservative but also allowing for the allowance for us to get the best rates we can possibly with our interest rates for some of our capital projects also. then too. That's the one thing I see increasing unfortunately and sometimes you know and that's that doesn't really

036have anything to do with what we're doing to town but that's more financial uh na national financial constraints as far as a decrease in the restricted lines and the overall decrease in all funds of the 27 million you know CPF is a restricted line on there then too we the town has been purchasing properties that are let's go pricey but they're also special than two. And we were fortunate enough to be able to have a conservative uh uh offering sheet on our CPF purchases to be able to have a fund balance to be able to go and purchase one of the greatest pieces of property that I believe that was in the town that was offered to us recently in my tenure here then too. So by seeing some of those numbers, I I thank

037you. I thank the finance department uh for all their assistance and too. It's nice to know that there's compliance all around financially. Yeah, the compliance uh uh the the showing of compliance by the independent audit is is critical uh for for me and to uh keep us on our toes for fiscal responsibility as well. You you kind of draw the guidelines when we do the overall view. We don't always reach out from the 40,000 foot view and take a look at financial health overall. Um I agree with David. Um overall when we talk about numbers and what we're spending and and uh we see uh particularly in the last number of years the the the cost of everything increasing. I this is not just to the town of East Hampton, but across the board for

038everything from building materials to being able to staff folks to be a to being able to keep the the services that we provide to our residents going without significant giant tax increases. So, it's a tough line to walk, but when you lay it out like this, we can really see that we're staying within our guard rails. Uh so that's I think also important for us to realize and certainly with CPF what we're seeing is uh one of the ch another challenge as preserving properties and open space and uh and protecting our environment is that the land cost is continuing to rise at at a rate we've never really seen before in this town. So being able to to be able to still make purchases uh and stay within fiscal responsibility uh is also critical and

039having this audit helps us see all of that. Um so I think that's why it's it's important for the board but also for the community to see every detail of what's going on. Uh so thank you for your work. >> Thank you. >> Yeah, I would just reiterate the previous comments. Thank you for the presentation. I'm very pleased to see the the audit report. Uh, and thanks to Becky, Ni, and the whole finance staff for their their careful work. It certainly makes our job easier knowing there's there's responsibility going behind the scenes. So, thank you. >> Thank you, Craig. I think we're going to bring Becky up, our town administrator and budget officer, since she's >> uh very instrumental in why we came back, you know, with on such solid footing. >> Good morning. Again,

040Becky Hansen, town administrator and town budget officer. Uh, again, thank you to Craig and Iraqi Smith for all of their hard work. Um, as Craig said, they come and they plant themselves here for a number of weeks and, um, you know, but we're we've really gotten into a process where it's pretty seamless, very consistent, and we're able to work well together. Um, I know some people might think, okay, a fund, B fund, and highway fund, the town did have to dip into some of its fund balances this year. However, just to put that in a little bit of context, the town has not had to dip into its fund balance. Even though the the town appropriates um a number uh each year in each one of its major funds for fund balance, the postcoid9 high

041so to speak revenue-wise, especially with the mortgage recording tax um and uh building permits uh uh co fees greatly contributed to surpluses where you didn't have to access any fund balance in fiscal year 2021, 22 or 23. So, at minimum four years in a row, you did not have to dip into any of your fund balances. You were allocating some towards your capital plan, which again is a sensible approach in using down some of that money for one-time purchases while not trying not to incur more long-term debt. So, I think that really speaks volumes to the town board and managing its money and its budgets appropriately um and recognizing the right ways to use fund balance. um you know the A fund unfortunately last year or at the end of 2024 we didn't realize um

042uh over $400,000 in mortgage recording tax that we had budgeted for. Obviously the real estate real estate market softened a little bit so we didn't realize as much had been budgeted for. But we also greatly increased spending for uh in our recreation for our beaches with our lifeguards. We've been fully staffed the last two summers which has been huge. we've been able to recruit and retain and safety at the town beaches I know are really important to the town board and to the to the public as a whole. So, um those are a lot of those are some of the major points again and also accessing some of that fund balance to uh for capital projects. The sanitation fund did realize a very very tiny surplus uh just under $60,000 which might not s sound

043like a lot but um our thirdparty hauling costs for the sanitation um are well over a million dollar and went well over what was budgeted but the town was able to to cover that with um less expenditures and other lines within that fund that you were still able to realize even a very very tiny surplus. So that's good news, >> right? And the fact as that our community, you know, we've seen such growth in our year- round community as the census data points out. So there's just more folks here. So that taxes our our infrastructure. >> Yes. Yep. >> So if there's anyone that has any questions, um we're just getting underway starting the 2026 budget process. So here we are again. >> Terrific. Thanks, Becky. Appreciate you stepping up. >> Thank you, Becky. All

044right. So, next up on our agenda is the Townlane Park proposal. And first, we're going to start with Scott Wilson. He's just going to set things up and and uh bring up a map of, you know, where 173 Town Lane Road is. And then we invite Stella Sands and Emily Goldstein to come up and present your, you know, make your uh I guess pitch to the town board. All right, Scott. Scott, if you could also stay for the last agenda item, that would be helpful. I sure will. Here we go. Okay, so this is an aerial outlined in blue of Town Lane Park. Um, it actually takes its access I wonder if my cursor will show here because sort of a flag pole that comes through a national private property. shared access to the park

045proper just so you understand. So the town acquired this 5.1 acre property in 2006 for a million50,000 from the sofa foundation with the understanding that it would become a sculpture park that would be open to the public. We have an agreement with the Sofa Foundation that they would maintain the sculptures on site. Since acquire we've been uh mowing the open portion of the property. You can see it's it's that the property is heavily wooded. So the park proper is only on half of that 5 acres. And so we've been mowing it on an annual or as needed basis to m uh make sure that you have access and you can see the park and the trail is is open and that the woodies if not mowed would claim the view of the sculptures. We didn't

046want to block them. So uh the park in its current condition is a bit rustic with dirt paths and dirt parking. Uh the dirt access is also a bit narrow. It's actually a little imposing. I don't know if you've drew up there lately, but um it's sort of without improving it, you've you know rains and you have wash out each time a car drives through a basically a mud puddle, deepening that puddle deeper and deeper as you go. Um and so um at this time the property is not as inviting to the public as it could be. And so when uh Stella Sands and Emily Goldstein approached our department with a goal of improving the park, we were intrigued. In review of the existing management plan, we found the concept of upgrading what already exists

047is in keeping with the plan. Subsequent to that review, the nature preserve committee invited Stell and Emily to present their concept to the nature preserve committee as they are a resident committee on land management for all preserved properties. that presentation uh which the chairs of our nature preserve committee Rich and Michael here in the audience can discuss in a moment was positive and so the next step is a presentation to the town board and here we are. So if you don't mind I'd like to invite Stella and Emily up to present their flexible concept on improvements to the park. >> Perfect. >> Welcome Stella and Emily. Yeah. >> Hi, I'm Stella Sans. I'm the wife of Sasson Soer um deceased. Um and he envisioned this. >> I'm going to need you to speak into the

048microphone. You can pull that down so folks can pick it up. Thank you. >> Do you hear me now? >> Yes. >> Okay. Thank you. Uh so Sasson always envisioned this park to be a community place where everyday people could enjoy the sculpture and could enjoy the unique birds and landscape and we never got it together enough to make it work. But then enter Emily and she can introduce herself who's helped to make this um a unique place where we're hoping people from the community, elderly, young, handicapped in some way can experience the beauty of this five acres. So let Emily take it from here. He's much better speaker than I. >> So I didn't know about >> beautiful the park. um came to my attention when I I own a gallery in East Hampton

049called The Drawing Room that's been there for 21 years. I've been a resident of Zack Harbor for 32 years and full-time. And um when I began working with Stella on the um questions of how to, you know, preserve her late husband's legacy. um he was a sculptor, he was also a painter. Um I think the thing that piqued my interest most was the existence of this 5 acre parcel and the sculpture that was allowed to stay there in perpetuity to be enjoyed by the community. Um, I think it's a diamond in the rough and I really hope that there's a way for um the community to benefit further from from its presence um the local community and visitors too. Um so the scope of the proposed improvements that we presented to the nature uh preserve

050committee um and thank thanks to that committee for being so supportive. Um were broken down into what we thought were the immediate priorities um in consultation with Scott and David and others. Um the first um matter of business seems to be to improve the access point um both for drainage reasons as Scott pointed out but also for safety so that fire vehicles can get in and out or emergency vehicles should there be an issue and along with that um create a a a better parking scenario. Um, and it would be up to the town to decide obviously how many spaces you think are appropriate, but I think there's already, and I'll show you shortly, a a plan for where that new parking area might might be. Um the other thing along with um access that

051I thought was interesting to consider um was the possibility of for special events having additional access from the East Hampton Housing Authorities spot which is immediately behind uh the park. And I spoke with uh Kathy Casey uh briefly about that and she was very supportive because having worked at the housing authority for years, she spent quite a bit of time Whoops. enjoying the park herself personally and she thinks it's a real asset that could be enjoyed not just from that community but others nearby. Um so um the next uh item here number four whoops is um to develop paths for visitors with consideration of wheelchairs, strollers, um and of course wide enough to minimize tick contact. Um because the idea is to have it be very natural in feeling uh native plants. But um we

052want to make it safe for everyone. Um and again the best materials for the paths would be something that would be taken up if you're supportive of the concept during a design phase with your feedback. Um oops sorry. Along with that, um, we would like to know if there's, uh, receptivity to the concept of having bench seating so people who need to rest can sit and enjoy the birds, the nature, the the art as well. Um, and and the locations for any seating. Um, and beyond benches, we wondered if it would make sense to have some kind of common seating area so that if there was ever a presentation about wildlife in the park or about the art, there's a place for people to congregate. Um, not with a structure, but just with, you know,

053enough area to to sit. Um, so then we also would like to have some signage. We were very inspired this morning by seeing what you have outside from Change Hampton and um, a great model for the kind of thing that might evolve there. Um I I didn't have time to look closely, but one of the concepts we um would endorse is to have it bilingual and ideally maybe also in braille so that visually impaired people could learn as well and hear and you know um benefit. Um my understanding is that there's going to be a senior community on Abraham's um path right nearby and linking it to that and to the activities in the park across the way um seem like built-in audiences. Um and then um ultimately again provided their support for it. The

054concept would be to develop a native planting scheme to encourage pollinating species and to serve as a a habitat for wildlife. Um and offer year-round seasonal interest. Um the emphasis on the plant selection with low water requirements because there is no irrigation there. Um and um do you want to speak about the funding or shall I just type in >> sofasone sofur foundation is prepared to offer funding for whatever might start this project going and then hopefully we would get more funding from other sources if we could set up some kind of arrangement which I'm not sure how how you do that but the sass sulfur foundation is ready to if you can give us feedback as to what kind of driveway or pathways you'd like and do we bid it out, do you bid

055it out or how how we do this, we'd love to take it to the next step and are prepared to fund that. >> We'd love to hear that. Well, and you know, one thing that's come up is the concept of a private public private uh partnership uh which this is a whole new arena for me. I we have a mutual fund who's been involved in several of uh friend who's been involved in several projects um in along the the waterways in New York City and in other parts of the country. and I think he'd be a great um partner in strategizing for that. Sumner Pingry, he lives on Shelter Island. Um so, um >> we have the next slide. Um so um we as soon as this idea came up um Stella and I were

056both quite enthusiastic and um we started to initiate conversations with community educators, naturalists and professionals who work with the elderly uh youth and special needs populations. and um unanimous uh support for the idea was uh pretty clear right away. So um there there are groups that um I have a friend involved in um the East End Explorers which works with adults with learning differences and they do projects all around and she's always looking for new places to bring that community. So it that was just encouraging. Um and let's see. Um I also think it would be interesting to uh expand beyond these interest groups to the local schools. Um the spring schools. I've spoken to Project Most. It as it turns out the director of Project Most um uh Martha Statsky knew uh Sasson they

057grew up, she grew up in the building where he lived in the 70s. So, watch some of his sculptures being presented in New York City and and right down below the her apartment. >> And I'd also like to say Sassone was a um a public sculptor among other kinds of sculpture he did and he had pieces in Battery Park for years in front of Lincoln Center for years and he totally believed in public art for the public, not for the elitist necessarily. And so I also believe that when children I was the editor of Kids Discover magazine for years. So I'm I was involved with kids a lot and um educating kids about art um Sasson's pieces um include the Mobius strip and mirror images and the textures. Um there's a lot of things that

058kids can learn. They can sit and they can draw. they can just have time to experience art right up front because it's fascinating. So this the park is just beautiful if you get a chance to see it. Um so uh in the next paragraph I just said enhanced by improved access and a sustainable native planning. The site could be a springboard for programming in ecology, biology, ornithology, art, art history, as well as just a place for fresh air, relaxation, and mental health. Um, there's a lot of science about the importance of nature, which I'm sure you're all behind. Um so existing community interest and support. We just wanted to let you know that apart from the nature preserve committee, Martha Stosky, uh the director of um Longhouse Reserve, I discussed this with Carrie Barrett was

059very excited. Um, East Hampton Town Housing Authority director Ka uh Kathy Casey, obviously the Sasson Sofur Foundation, um, the curators at the Parish Art Museum who told me they were speaking with Nature Hampton about a project that's going on there. So, kind of a nice synergy there. uh Duck Creek Arts Center and lots of individuals um with enthusiasm for the public private partnership concept. Okay. Um so um Stella had the good fortune and maybe you'd like to introduce Demoro and Demorro um who presented the some of the drawings we'll be showing you. uh shortly. >> We're gonna show them in just a minute, but um they're totally committed to natural um oh, East Hampton sustainable and I'm just not so good at talking at, you know, attracting all kinds of birds, bees, everything. So, they

060did my garden, which is now on a tour because it is so magnificent. Um, they just plant things that bloom at different times, different colors, different heights, all native. Um, and they're just wizards. They're they're beyond magical. So, anything that they would do would just be spectacular. And they are totally into this. And you'll see that some of their designs in a minute. So, the two of them have been in business for quite some time out here. >> 20 years. They've been working together. Uh their names are Anna and Amelia Dearo and they've collaborated on designs of natural native outdoor spaces that are unique to the ecology of the um of the east end. They grew up out here. I believe their mother was also a landscape um designer. So they they have long uh

061history and I think they have children too who go to school locally. Um and they've given talks at the Horicultural Alliance of the Hamptons and Maddery. Um on July 27th, the North Haven Garden uh >> coming to my house they designed. >> Anybody is welcome to come. I It's magnificent. It's it's and you'll see more of um Sasson's sculpture there and a sense of how the landscape and um sculpture and flowering things integrate so beautifully. Um Anna and Amelia are prepared to develop their schematic um plan uh that we're going to look at uh once they have some up an update from all of us on the parameters that the town um embraces if if you embrace it. So here Scott you didn't show this slide did you of where Okay. Do you want to

062talk about this one? >> Sure. Glad to. I mean, so this is the parking schematic that we came up with uh with the Nature Reserve Committee after we walked the site. Um the current parking area in yellow right here at the top is it's quite small. It's it's you know, you can get a couple of cars up there, but sort of backing out and pulling out, it's difficult. Um and we need a slightly larger area. We were very cognizant that we don't want to remove some of the beautiful specimen trees that are are there. And so, uh, a better place to locate, you know, parking would be this pink area right down here. Right now, it is a very robust cat brier area. I don't know if you deal with pricker bushes, but they're mean

063and vicious. And so, you know, putting an area here, you know, maybe 70 feet in width, you could fit five cars plus a handicap spot. Um, pretty pretty minimal. Um, you'll also note we changed the access way. And again, you know, right now it's it's probably 8 feet wide. It's quite tight. And if we wanted to enhance what existed, we'd have to cut down trees. So again, with that in mind, we we found a route around that. So we didn't have to cut trees um and expand the width of that. So you have ingress and eress there. So a 20 foot instead of an eight eight or nine foot wide area. So this worked out, I think, best. And you know, um Michael and Rich could talk about that more. I know they walked that

064site and then helped uh endorse this area. So that at the moment, >> can I just go over the access point? So the access width was also discussed to make sure that there was a if there was ever a need for emergency access into the property, understanding the widths of EMT vehicles and such like that then too. So if there was going to be redesign of what was there to do it appropriately within what the environment is, but also to make sure there's enough turning access in there for EMTs too. May I also just quick add before you go on, part of the additional reason to remove this uh parking area right here is because, you know, if you're creating an oasis, you don't want to look at the parking lot. And so having the

065parking a little bit further away and then walking into a trail and then opens up to the majesty of what is there is much more appropriate for the goal of the project. >> I go ahead. >> Yep. So >> yeah, we'll show you some drawings that um Anna and Amelia put together as just schematic ideas and some photographs of what is um there currently. Um let's just see. So based on sort of the looping sculptures, I think they were probably inspired by that and the existing paths which are not straight paths. Um there's kind of a loop around the entire uh sculpture area. Um they presented this scheme which is um could be gravel or other material. Um I'm not going to speak too much about this because um plantings could break up the gravel

066as well as pathways. You can cross through the center which would be a nice um idea. Maybe there'd be some seating in the center and in other areas of the park, but I love the the overview scheme. Anything you want to say there? >> The the path would be around not around the sculptures, but they'd be you'd be able to see the sculptures from every one of the points. So, just a lovely place to sit and view. Um, here's another drawing. Whoops. um in color. Same concept flushed out a little bit with it's a little bit tough to see but there are sculptures in you know in the loops in the thinner white line loops within each of those um is one of the monumental sculptures that SAS did. >> You'll see them in a

067minute. >> So let's go to the next slide. So here are some of the sculptures. um photos taken I think by me in the snow or by the tomorrow this this winter. Um some of the angles are a little close up but they're they're quite big in scale. And then can we have the next? These are just some ideas of the kinds of naturalistic soft plantings and again they relate I think very much to what's outside here but even more natural um because there's no architecture there to um or there's no need to make it um geometric you know I think more biomorphic and natural would suit the site better and that seemed to be their uh their leaning as well. So the next slide please. So this is um coming from the back of

068the right from from the housing authority as you enter looking toward town lane um just where they're showing schematically how wider paths might might appear. And then the next one [Applause] there you start to get a bit of a feeling for the scale of the sculpture. It's, you know, some of them are, I think, 30 feet tall, close to that. Um, I love the feeling of the the blooming. Yeah. And here's some more slides they, you know, images of native plants they've put together. Um, next. Um, what do we have here? Whoops. I think again just the the image on the right. um in the last slide kind of gives that feeling of of plants kind of spilling over a little bit into the paths because the paths would be presumably need to be wide

069enough for a wheelchair or maybe even a you know two people walking together I I would imagine would be good. Um next please. And this is just um looking at some of the different surface materials that the tomorrow's um thought we might consider from pebbles to uh again the lower right. I don't know costwise um whether lower left stone dust or lower right which looks like um concrete with grass um lines through it might be nice but something that's can be wheeled on I think would be ideal. So those were just some mood board kind of images for potential materials and I think that's that's what we have to share visually. We also we hope you like it. >> Yeah, we hope you like it and we we're happy to answer any questions, but really

070we want um your feedback so hopefully we can take the next step. >> Okay. So, well, I was just going to say I don't know, we've got the co-chairs of the nature preserve committee, so I don't know, Michael or Rich, if there's any comments that you wanted to make before the board discusses Thank you so much. >> the proposal. Thank you. Good morning. >> Good morning. >> Morning. I'm co-chair of the Nature Preserve Committee with Rich Mame. Uh the presentation was made to uh the Nature Preserve Committee several months ago by Emily and the Nature Preserve Committee uh has approved going ahead and moving forward with this. Uh I think it'll be a big improvement to the property. Uh it's a beautiful lot as you can see the it's I I personally I always love

071when you get into a wooded area but you've got a big opening in the center and it's basically wooded around the sides and you have the sculptures there. And I think what can be created here would be really nice. Uh better paths, the parking will be better. Uh the access will be better which right now it's very difficult. And with a better road hopefully it'll be something that will attract more people. you will have the access. There is a sign there, but right now it's if you look at the access, it's not terribly good or welcoming to get in there. Uh, but I think this will be very positive for the community and for visitors coming here. So, any unless there's any questions, that's it. >> Thank you, Michael. Rich, did you want to say

072anything? >> Welcome. The presentation was excellent by uh Emily and Stella, but we did walk to the site. Um got some thoughts. Right now there's an oval that runs through the middle of the park and uh this conceptual thought is really we'll take this to a whole new level. And uh obviously we do support it. Um the driveway will need to have some um changes made to it and the parking area without a doubt for it to be ADA compliant and everything it will have to happen. Um and barring that um again the committee fully supports it. Um of course we supported a conceptual plan but there is a lot of improvements that can be made in here that will be of great benefit to the community. Yeah, definitely. Thank you. >> Thank you Rich.

073>> Absolutely. Yeah. All right. Because you're with a former chair, I'll give you some wiggle room. >> Rick Whan. I live nearby, so I'm a neighbor to the park. I've led a couple of East Hampton Trails preservation decided hikes that they've either begun or ended there. Access and parking that they said is tratical. Um, this is my first time hearing the presentation. I find it very exciting and I very very much in support. Very, very good ideas. >> Thank you, Rick. So, madam, madam supervisor, so as a lay on to the Nature Preserve Committee, I was very excited when Emily came to the Nature Preserve Committee. Uh, by chance, I spent the 80s um at one of my family's houses. We lived actually right next to the Dunes Racket Club, uh, the first house to

074the right there where we still had Lady Slippers in our backyard at that time. Nature has changed, but one thing on this property that it hasn't, this place is very woody, very Arab, and very mystical. if you haven't gone there. The scale of the artwork there in comparison to the scale of the trees just lends itself to wanting to stay there for a little longer. But since it's aid and it's not as inviting the pathways right now, you don't want to. So, what this might do is allow people to sit down, take a breath for a moment, and enjoy one of our wonderful parks and the full public access that's there that's provided within the allowances within the management plans, but also uh within the uh with the the convenience of the conveyance of the

075sale then too. Um it is off the beaten path which is nice and it's also in a residential area but I think the requested improvements will work within the residential area to make sure that uh the neighbors are uh as as helpful as they can be. Um as far as a potential private public partnership I believe there's mechanisms that we can work with then too. It's nothing that's new to the town. We've done uh numerous ones of these recently. I look forward to helping with that. Also, um myself, I always want to make sure that things are low maintenance on there. Uh and I think that there's ways to be able to design this that you nature helps maintain the property on there and is inviting into the property. So, um if you haven't been

076there, yes, it's a it's a little bit difficult to locate, but that's also, as I was saying, one of the mystical ways because once you find it, you'll remember it very well. So, it's something that I support. I'm happy the N preserve committee went through it. Um and I look forward to hearing what the rest of the board says about the property and the and and the plan. >> All right, Kate or Andy? >> I'll I'll jump in just briefly. I support um uh the improvements and the uh plan. Of course, the details will have to be worked out. Um I I support it for a couple of reasons. uh one uh preserving um not particularly only art but also art history uh that's happened out here is extremely important as we preserve our history

077across the town. Um, also the opportunity to um present more sustainable landscaping and improve uh options that folks can see and touch and feel and see how they grow seasonally for uh educating our community on sustainable landscaping is critical uh for our town. sustainability and also the um the improvements to the uh parking lot for ADA access is also very important and and making sure that the pathways and also are are all so that so that it's inclusive for everyone in our community is a plus for this property. Um having sat on the nature uh preserve committee I I uh take their recommendations very seriously in support. I know the hard work that you do and uh I just uh you know think that this is an example of where um there are we we

078we have a lot of recreation areas in our town for active recreation for blowing off steam and stuff but uh I think these days it's also important to have places where someone can have passive reflection and some quiet spaces in our town as well. So for those reasons I'm supportive of this project. >> Thank you Kate Ian. Uh yes, I'm supportive as well. These all sound like great improvements. I want to thank Stella, Emily, and the Sofur Foundation for for bringing this uh proposal to us and the Nature Preserve Committee for for their endorsement. It's very helpful for me um to know that you're behind this. You know, your your opinion goes a long way. And then and then Rick, to you, I appreciate you as a neighbor. I I actually um have a business

079in the area as well. Drive by all the time. Um but it's a very unobtrusive place. I appreciate you as a as a immediate re neighbor almost um your support for bringing more public enjoyment to public property. Sometimes that's a touchy subject when you actually live next door. Um so I I think it's great all around and also you're offering funding. So I'm fully supportive and would love to see it go forward. >> All right. I I concur with everything my my colleagues have said. I do have a question. So, you know, we've been making it a point uh on CPF properties to have ADA walking paths. We, you know, we have Buckskill Meadows. We just dedicated Boys and Girls Harbor to Tony Duke. I'm hoping the Dodge property, it's in the management plan, maybe

080um an opportunity there for a walking path. You know, I believe they we should have one at least in every hamlet. And I just I guess my question is is there I I mean it may not be as aesthetically pleasing with having a lighter touch for the pathways, but is there a possibility that we could make walking paths the way with the we've called them loops uh the way we have in the other um CPF properties that I mentioned? [Music] >> I mean this is a flexible presentation. I I think you consider it flexible and so I I think Emily and Stella would be happy to receive um your your comments and concerns. Are you suggesting it would be similar to buck skill or or >> It would be it would be asphalt. I forget.

081Is it 8t wide? How wide do we do the pathway? >> So that one's 8t wide but for 88 parameters uh you can there's this the compaction rating. So there's it could be stone dust, concrete, asphalt, it could be colored and any of those options then too. So all that is an option to be able to make sure that there's handicap accessibility to here and we can if the board is supportive of that, we can take the next steps forward in those discussions and bring that back to board for a final, you know, final discussion. But yeah, Kathy, I think, madam supervisor, um I think that's something that we can bring up to make sure we get the most amount of individuals into the park as possible then too would be great. I think there's

082a way that we can sensitively do that and design that that wouldn't take away from the organic feeling of the property. >> So I I would love to pursue that to be able to um have a walking path, a loop. I know in the other parks we've done, you know, half a mile. I don't know if that's conceivable there, but I just think that that it's an opportunity and it's a CPF obviously. We purchased it, the town purchased it, I believe in 2005. So, we have the ability also, I mean, completely open to a public private partnership, but there also may be some funding from CPF that could be used, right, to to make those improvements. >> Yeah, we're looking at into that. put up our fair share >> and and I'm thank you to

083the nature preserve committee. You know, I hope you'd go back and discuss the possibility of, you know, both of you, Rich and and Michael were at the dedication last Monday for to Tony Duke and I I think it's there's an opportunity there. >> So, I know council member Flight is not here. I'll make sure I'll discuss this with him upon upon his return. Uh I I I have a feeling that he's gonna be very supportive also, but just to make sure of it. as next steps. I think Scott and I will meet with the Sofur Sofur Foundation uh to discuss where we're at with our comments here then too uh bring back some final renditions to the board timelines and uh go through the financial mechanisms also then too. So it seems like we're on

084a good track on there. Uh if you haven't been there to the general public, go there and too. is another one of your wonderful public parks that has a great recreational component to it that again it's mystical. It's well worth a well worth a little visit then too. >> Yeah. And just looking at you know where you you know your your second slide was your immediate priorities and you had a list of eight and I you know I put check marks next to each one. I'm fully supportive of everything that you proposed there. >> Thank you. >> All right. Yep. >> Okay. Well, thank you for coming in and thank you for your generosity. >> Thank you. Appreciate it. >> Okay, so next up is Gloria Frezy at the East Hampton Compost Update. >> Welcome,

085Gloria. >> Sure. >> Thank you. Thank you. Good morning, Gloria Freysie from Rew Wild Long Island, uh, East Hampton Compost, which is a fabulous collaboration between the town of East Hampton and Rewild Long Island. Um, oh, yay. Good. it. We are in our third year already with East Hampton Compost and it's we keep expanding and growing. The first year we had we were open for about 15 weeks in two different drop locations um doing outreach education and accepting food scraps. Our second >> Hold on just one sec. Let's get the presentation up. >> Oh, that's uh this is Yeah, this is fine. Our second year we um started in May, ran the entire length of the farmers markets at SAG uh >> Springs. Thank you. And we also added a location in Monttok at the

086community garden there. So, we've really expanded throughout um East Hampton and we also then continued drops throughout the year. We're going year round now and some of that is possible because we've really educated people on what can be dropped, uh what is a contaminant. Those produce stickers are always the bait of existence, but um who who knew I'd be I'd be uh so into produce stickers, you know. Um but uh so that it's facilitated the yearround aspect is facilitated by having uh unstaffed drops. So because people have learned so well, they are actually able to it's I don't publicize where the locations are. they have to come through me and I know who's dropping off where and when. Um so there's always a feedback loop. And um just now we've also added another farm drop

087off that is unstaffed and the farmer is actually taking the the food scraps himself and putting them into his own compost. So they're going directly into the soil at the farm growing organic vegetables. So, it's really exciting to be closing this loop and growing throughout. So, one of the things that I've been really wanting to do is backyard composting and really decrease the amount of mileage we're putting onto our compost and help people integrate into more closely into the cycle that we're involved with. from our plates to compost to the soil and to organic vegetables and fruits and then back in onto our plates so that you're really participating in this entire cycle. So, it's really exciting. And what does composting do and what can you do in your own backyard? Feed your garden, help

088pollinators, and fight climate change. And you can make the difference. Um, if you're a cook, a cook or a baker, you realize that baking is very very picky. And a little change in the amount of uh sugar or butter or whatever in your in your baking um makes a big difference. Composting is more like cooking. So, there's this big stew that you can just add stuff to and you can't fail. It's really simple. So, what is this backyard compost crew? We're doing it as a community. There are bins and barrels available and ongoing support. So, right now, what are the elements of that? Um, discounted compost bins. We've also got rain barrels which add to um the the help for our environment. We've got online resources, a compost hotline, and compost coaches are coming. So,

089we're here to help you do a great job um composting your backyard. Where can you find the bins? Eastampton.compostersale.com. So, there are a lot of different bins available, a lot of different options depending on what your needs are as a family or as a household. And the main bins are the um black gold machine which is static, the the green roller bin, uh dual chamber um roller uh tumbler, and the green cone. How are they different? Well, I've made this handy dandy chart so that which you'll be able to find at rewl long island.org/compost org/compost. That really looks at the different bins, what type they are, their capacity, how many people it's good for, the price, um where it wants to be cited, and pros and cons of each. So, it's really easy to follow

090down. When we look back at the bins, there's um the first one on the left is the calling it the black gold machine and it is static and you keep putting stuff in at the top and it you can take it out from the bottom. The um green roller is a bit harder is smaller and it when it's full it can be harder to use um harder to roll but it still works great. And then you've got a dual chamber. So you put uh your fresh uh compost into one side, get it going, and then once it's filled, you can start the the new side while the first side is um is finishing up. This green cone, the one on the right, is the only one where you can add pet waste, and it is

091actually not a composter. It is a solar digtor. So you don't get compost out of it. It just it it interacts with the um with the creatures with the worms in the soil and drains and it composts everything nicely away. But it is it it does work really well. And uh Eduina uses something like this. Not this one, but a different one. >> And that last one you said pet waste can go in there as well. >> Pet waste can go in that one too. Yep. So it it might be handy there. So, um, the black soil machine, that's the one that's on a super handy wheel. Really helps you do all of that. Um, and it answers a lot of questions. There's also a compost turner because if you don't have a roller bin

092or a barrel, you do need to uh turn your compost and this makes it easier. Um, When it comes to kitchen bins, um there are K there's a kitchen bin there, but we've also got a photo here of our um our kitchen compost bin experts. And what have people used at the food scrap drop off? Everything from pretzel containers to yogurt containers to empty milk cartons to Yep. countertop composters. So you can coordinate it with your your your kitchen decor if you want. There are also if you want to try um vermic composting with worms, there's an option for that too. Kids love looking at worms and those little worms go through a lot very quickly. Um beyond the vermicmposting, this is a great project for kids. what we found at the um Rew Wild

093Tables where we're talking with um families and kids and adults about composting, the kids take charge in the household. So, they're the ones who are in charge of um making sure that there are no twist ties in there or rubber bands or produce stickers. Those are the families that do the best when they drop off. So, it's it's really cool. So, how do you get the most bang for bang for your buck doing something like this? What I would I would do I've got actually three different compost bins in my backyard. Um the black machine is on such a great bargain sale that I would get two of those, fill up one, let it rest and do its composting thing, and then start on the new one. And the the Rottwheeler comes right with it.

094Um, [Applause] a lot of people think, "Oh, I'm going to get smells. I'm going to get rodents. It's going to be really nasty and icky." And actually, I put my hands right into my composting stuff because it just smells so good and it's wonderfully warm and you mix in all kinds of browns like like leaves and it's just it's smells like earth. It's really beautiful. And my neighbors don't even know that I've got three compost bins in the backyard and I'm on just shy of a quarter of an acre. So, there's really no smell. I've never had any rodents at all and it works. You will notice that all of these bins are enclosed and that also helps that process. Beyond the um backyard composting, we've got rain barrels, too. So you get this gutter

095um connection L shape uh joint and add it in along into your gutter system and then you've got the the rain barrel there and you can save your water and it helps to prevent lots of runoff um washouts and you've got great water for watering your garden. So, what's the the the time limit here? This is quick snap sale. Um, sort of like u some of the uh fire not fire sale, but we're doing water and compost. So, it's the opposite of fire, but it's a a what is it called? A snap sale, a flash sale. That's it. So, of of our composter bins. So, we order by midnight Thursday, July 25th. Pickup is Saturday, July 26th here at Town Hall 2 to 5:00 pm. If you can't make it that day, call uh email

096the compost hotline and I'll give the uh URL for that later. So, >> can I just say so I think you mean order by midnight Thursday, July 24th. >> Oops, you are right. >> And pick up Saturday, July 26th. >> Thank you. Thank you. So what are the uh online resources? We have lots of different types of support. So there is uh at the uh sales site there are um all kinds of videos there are tons of videos that explain everything from loading your car to assembly which is really easy because there aren't that many parts really. I can do it. It's not like putting an IKEA IKEA piece of furniture together. And um it's really well explained. They've also got um oh simple instructions, easy composting, advanced composting. So there's a lot of support

097there. And they also have a contact us. And actually, this program is building off the backyard composting program with this same organization that has been used very successfully in Hempstead, North Hemstead. There's now a sale going on in Brook Haven. It's also going on uh with Rew on the North Fork. Um so that is southhold.commpostersale.com and I think Long Beach is also doing it now too. So, it's really really spreading around and there's been fabulous uptake and people come by come back and the programs there are growing and growing and growing but this is the first time it's being offered on the east end. Um, what support can you get from Rewild Long Island? As I said, there is the compost hotline. It's sort of like your Thanksgiving uh help. I need uh assistance with

098the recipe for my turkey. And uh but we're not by phone. We are by email because we aren't humans and we don't have a huge call center. So compost at rewildl long island.org. It's about as simple as you can get. Also on our website you will find that handy dandy chart that compares all of the composters. Um here we go. These this is your your what what you need. east hampton.compostersale.com the hotline compost atrel long island.org and rew wildl long island.org/compost org/compost. And coming soon, we're also collaborating with the Long Island Organics Initiative and Marjorie Spitz. Yay. And um she is uh spearheading a whole compost coaches program. So the amount of assistance you get is really huge. Do you need to buy a composter from us? What if you're already composting and want some

099coaching or want to contact the hotline? Please do. We are here to help to make composting easy for everyone. Um oops, same one. Okay. Why are we composting? First off, um it feeds your garden. When you grow vegetables, we're all told, eat your vegetables. They're good for you. They're healthy. So, um how does all that nutrition get into the vegetable? It takes it from the soil. So, we need to replenish what's going on in the soil. And by giving the soil compost and the nutrients that are left over from your food scraps, we're helping the entire cycle. Again, um it helps pollinators. Uh some pollinators live in the ground and um I don't even know if they're a pollinator, but fireflies, they actually live in a laral stage underground for one to two years before

100they emerge. And if you don't have great soil, you're not giving your your fireflies a home in which to develop and grow and then emerge as they as they are now at this time of year at dusk. Um you eliminate your smelly trash because it's going into compost which doesn't have smells. So your um your trash is no longer stinky and leaky and gross. Um, and it helps fight climate change because what happens with the trash that we throw away, if it goes uh gets trucked to where is it? Ohio now. Someplace crazy. um and goes into a landfill. Well, you've got all the trucking costs um trucks on our own roads and you're putting stuff into landfill that um then creates methane which is a really powerful greenhouse gas or our other trash is

101trucked up island to either to Brook Haven which is now closing or to um I want to say Yaphank and it is getting burned there. So once again, it's creating more climate gases all along the way. So you can help your climate all from your own backyard. And I'd like everyone to look out into the uh this beautiful pollinator garden right out here. What is it that you see? You see all kinds of flowers and a couple of fabulous moths fluttering about. I'm sure there are some bees there, too. I just can't see from here. But there's a lot that you're not seeing. There's the story of Horton hears a who and there's life on that dust and no one believes him but he can hear the life on that dust because he has big

102ears and he's attuned to hearing. So he finally gets to gets convinces everyone with the helps of the who on whoville on the dust that they're really there. They're really alive. Well, on the earth, about a third of all creatures live in the soil. So, when we look out there, we see all the plants, all the stuff above the soil. But for them to grow and thrive like that, we need to have healthy soil. So, that's one of the huge reasons to compost. It's the creatures that live in the soil that feed us, humans, and all life on the earth. So, we really need to be cognizant of what's going on in our soil and listen to it. One of my favorite books has this jacket called Grow and it's called Grow Your Soil. So,

103it's really talking about the soil food web to create your best garden ever, but also to create sustainable life for all of us. It's so important. So, how are we how is this happening right now in East Hampton in uh this is uh the Rewild Summer Program. We've now got about 30 nearly 30 high school interns. The upper left is at the um bioail. A lot of people see the uh the surf rider bio swells and just think, "Oh, it's a bunch of weeds." It's actually really helping the soil so that the the water coming through there, the Methodist Lane Bioil drains about 750 acres of water as it goes before it goes out to the ocean to our waters and it cleans all of that water. And having the bio swell there with the

104really long rooted native plants makes the water go down, percolate through the soil where it's filtered before it goes out into our ocean. So, it's constantly being cleaned. Uh, and the soil just makes a huge difference. Lots and lots of pollinator plants there. Um at the bottom we are at um Michael's Matthews Pollinator Garden at the East Hampton Town Historical Farm Museum. And um on the left they're shoveling uh compost and on the right they they've shoveled compost and they are now planting um beautiful flowers in the garden and attracting more pollinators. So incredibly important for our healthy garden. In the upper right, that is that share the harvest. We had a lot of fun just this past Friday. We harvested about 800 pounds of onion that went to heart of the Hampton's food pantry.

105So what once again makes the vegetables so healthy and wonderful for all of our community, it's compost. So you too can play a role in that cycle and compost away. Um the kids are doing an amazing job in the summer program. We're all also always looking for people to lend a hand. So join us at the farm, see how stuff grows. uh join us at Matthews Pollinator Garden or at the Surf Rider Bioale and you'll learn a lot about what's going on here in East Hampton in our nature and really we're working on bringing community together just like the sculpture garden is really working on it. I love all the interconnections with the local properties and local people and institutions and that's so important here because that what that's what builds not only a healthy

106vibrant environment but it also builds a healthy vibrant sustainable community and we can keep flourishing together. So that's really what we're doing here. So, contact us, uh, get your bin, um, ask your questions, and I'm looking forward to composting as a community and really getting the backyard composting crew for East Hampton kicked off. Thank you. >> Thank you, Gloria. So, I'm just going to jump in and uh say that uh uh why it was important to uh get this program going because we can get you started by I'm going to put my salesperson's hat on um by offering a discount on the equipment that you need to get yourself going to to become a backyard composter. Um and uh join in the movement to keep our soils here. Uh close the food loop. uh get

107the waste out of our uh our waist stream. Uh that's so unnecessary to be there because you can put it in one of these bins and keep it on your property and a veil of the beautiful compost which turns into soil um in your own backyard instead of having to go out and buy uh vegetables uh soil uh top soil. you can avail yourself just by depositing your food scraps uh from your meals into these bins in your own backyard. It doesn't really get any closer than that. I want to thank Gloria and Re uh and the student interns. We uh were able to attend the initiation on at Share the Harvest uh farm uh of the e ecoarm of your latest group of high school interns. And when you see their enthusiasm, it's infectious.

108And uh everyone there is volunteering their time, including Gloria and all the coaches and all the folks that are going to help you with composting. And they do that because it's that important. Um things don't happen as Gloria said, we don't impacts don't just are contained in one area, one silo. Everything is interconnected. So, the more we can pull out of the waist stream, which saves all of us money because we pay for that that uh food scraps to get carted up to wherever it has to go, and those places are becoming further and further away from us. Um, it it also helps our environment. It it'll educate your kids on how to be self- sustaining and grow their own food. And it's beneficial to young and old all all around. Besides, it's it's linking

109uh preserving our environment with preserving our community, which is always a win-win. So, I just want to thank you, Gloria, and encourage everyone to avail the discounts available uh through the website. >> Great. And I just went on the website just to, you know, always double-checking and it's it's very thorough and there's a lot of information there. So, thank you for that. any >> no one of the things about the design of these then too is making sure you do it correctly with the design of the implementations that you're selling then too and particularly I would recommend getting the rodent aspects of it then too because if you don't do if you're not a good steward to the program and you just want to compost on the ground you might have negative consequences then too

110so make sure of that >> and Ian you're a composter in every way >> well in the way that we I make compost um yeah I'm fully supportive of the program I you know I know the benefit of compost for for soil life and and soil health. Uh so I think it's great. I hope people take you up on this because I do think um doing it in your own backyard or your own home is best um and easiest. You know, I do make make compost on on a larger scale as a as a farmer. Um but again, fully support the program and I hope a lot of people sign up. >> Okay. >> Thank you, Gloria. Appreciate it. Um so next up we have on the agenda is just a a town board discussion

111of 41 and 47 cove hollow road um Cove Hollow Farm Road. So the town board held a public hearing on July 3rd to consider acquisition of a conservation easement over approximately 5.5 acres uh of vacant land located at 41 and 47 Cove Hollow Farm Road in East Hampton Village. The proposed purchase price for the town uh and village is $20 million. Uh the uh conservation easement would also include the installation of a path and off- streetet parking up to 50 ft in width. And the purpose of the acquisition is the preservation of open space and improvement of water quality as it's on Georgia Cove. Um, so I put this on here because I know that um we should have a discussion. It's a great deal of money that we're um purporting to spend on this.

112I know there was a a speaker uh David Buddha in I guess you were our first public speaker today that uh questioned that we have not made the conservation easement available for uh the public to review. uh we have the town attorney's office looking into that to see if we need to have that uh published before we um take action and uh have a vote on um the acquisition. But I figured it is a great deal of money and we should have public comment uh a public discussion so that folks in the community could hear each board member's view of the acquisition or potential acquisition. So I don't know who wants to go first. Um, I can start if if you want me to start. Um, so I think it's great that we have these

113uh post-hering discussions in public uh in this administration. I think that's a uh really shows uh our thought processes and it opens up how we think uh to the community and where we're coming from when we make these decisions regarding this uh purchase. uh this was first brought before us in during the last administration and at that time I voiced my support uh for the purchase of this property. I have not uh changed my mind on that and uh I'll just uh state my personal reasons on why I believe this is an important purchase for us um and for our town. And when I say us and people say the town, I I just want to always bring on top of everybody's mind that the town is everyone. It's it's not just a word that

114we throw around a lot. Oh, the town. The town. I'm up here representing all of you and doing what I think is best for all of you, for our community. Um, I I think that uh there's a couple of things here and why I think this is important. Um, I've attended the Friends of Georgia Kapan, which again is a nonprofit organization that was created uh uh to help improve the health of the Georgia Kapan, an important water body in our town. um that this is again a a a nonprofit group, one of so many that we have in the town that dedicate themselves to the benefit of our community, whether it be community resources, whether it be environmental services, uh friends of Georgia Capond is is another one of those organizations brought uh through their

115funding. Dr. gobler on board to look at the state of the pond after um we knew that it was toxic at the time and there has been improvements on in the water quality over the years uh uh throughout the years because of the public private partnerships that have uh helped increase the the health of that pond. Um I think that this purchase uh is important because it again offers the opportunity to take out what would be uh large building uh on the pond, further nitrogen systems. And again we have alternative uh uh systems available to us, more advanced than the than the old cement rings that were getting put in from the 50s. That design hadn't changed. I believe it even may go back to the 30s. and recently uh a couple years ago new

116designs but they're nitrogen reducing. They don't cut out the nitrogen entirely. So the sources of uh fertilizers uh of the sources of nitrogen coming uh into uh the ponds and our water areas from septic system still impacts and I think uh uh scrubbing off any kind of development on these properties furthers that uh goal. I know that it's an important uh it's a lot of money, but as we're seeing with CPF across the town as we also look to look at coastal areas for purchasing and preservation for open space and for water quality and also looking at the future of uh water sea level rise and water rise in this town. What impedes us is the price of these properties. Um, as we all know, the price of properties in this town has risen to

117a point where it's unattainable for many of our community members and also cuts us off from community preservation funding for those properties as these prices continue to rise. There's no way around that. And one of the benefits of this purchase in particular is the public private partnership. Without these types of purchases, uh we would not be able to make purchases of this, uh in these areas to protect our coastlines and our water bodies. Um or if we have a seller that's willing to go so far below asking price. Uh not a lot of people are in that financial position. Uh I only know of one uh significant purchase that we made where that accommodation was made. So, we've been depending on public private partnerships for a while now to be able to preserve these properties

118along our uh impacted water bodies. Georgia Kapon is an impacted water body. That hasn't changed. It's gotten better, but it certainly is not off of that list. Uh in terms of why uh spent town funding in this area, Georgia Pond watershed is impacted by road runoff from all the way north to Sag Harbor. this water body is impacted uh uh uh impacts don't respect uh municipal boundaries or property lines and uh why I think town funding is appropriate here is because of where this these impacts also come from besides the immediate area of the uh houses and the development. We're also looking at this watershed as we know it comes all the way from down 114 and deposits itself down here. We're spending a lot of money on uh uh improving the the rest stop

119area, improving old piping that went along and I just think this is another step in in that improvement although it is at a steep price and I acknowledge that. Um also I think um the questions that come up about uh fund where the funding comes from from a private side is it's it's unless there's something to look at. I think when we're looking to have folks in donate money into helping the town preserve water quality, open space across the town, I I if there's no espersions that should be cast unless it's something definitive that people know. So, uh for me, um there is public access to the property. We have many different types of open space purchases and many different types of public access that we offer. Um, I was on the nature preserve committee.

120What I was thinking about when uh caller was speaking was about the south Florida nature preserve uh which is off of Dolphin Drive and and adjacent to the ocean when there was quite a large cry there uh for uh parking lots etc etc on the actually on the preserve not just on the street. Um, I think that the that was an appropriate uh parking on the preserve rather than on the street at that time and access to the ocean through that preserve wasn't appropriate then there on that and I'm not sure that it's appropriate here. However, it is important to have public access and it a defining uh um uh uh a a a step that made it very important for me was the uh parking area that's going to be included on this property

121and the public access trail that anyone can access. So uh really for those reasons uh I still support it as I as I have before and I think it's important for us to avail of public partner p uh partnerships. This one comes from 501c3 organizations that have raised private donor funds to offset the majority of the cost of this and I think that we should avail of this uh partnership. >> Thank you Kate. >> Yeah, I'm supportive as well. Um, you know, as Kate mentioned that this has been in the works and goes back quite some time. Um, you know, to the previous administration, there's a a lot of people involved as as has been mentioned, the public private partnership. And I think it's important that that generally speaking, we have continuity of government. I

122think that um we should be predictable and stable and and not because, you know, I happen to be a more recent board member that that everything fully gets changed. Of course, there there are exceptions to that. Um, if I felt strongly that this was a bad purchase, I I would I would not be supportive. But I think the baseline should be that that things are are stable and and generally predictable so that the public and and everybody knows what to expect of East Hampton and and your town council. Um, this is definitely an expensive purchase. There's no question about it, but it's very rare. Um, waterfront is is unusual. In fact, if you look around the Cove, there's there's just not many other parcels like this. And so, I think it's a it's a expensive

123but also rare opportunity. and definitely worthwhile. Um it's been pointed out by a number of people that public access is important, including as Kate just mentioned, uh I wholeheartedly agree. The CPF is is meant to be um used for public enjoyment and public access. And so um that will be, you know, the easement and how that is crafted will be very very important. Um of course there's environmental benefit here too um in open space which CPS can CPF can be used for. Um I agree wholeheartedly with the members of the public who referred to um public access and we'll make sure that the easement includes that in a robust way. >> Thank you David. >> So my comments on there is that uh the environmental benefits of the of the preservation of this property have

124been stated and I agree with then too uh to preserve open space land uh in this type of fragile ecosystem I think is extremely important. Also, um, this was part of the original Kovalo dairy farm, which when one of the members of the public brought up Dick Leland, I'm actually, uh, through marriage related to them. And too, I had a chance to speak to Mr. Leland's son then, too, reminiscing some of the days in the cow pastures and in the, uh, cow chips also, >> shoveling them. Uh, but this would potentially be a portion of the fourth dairy farm that the town of East Hampton's been able to claw back recently. And some of them we've done more recently larger amounts being Osborne and Waynekit. Um uh the Baker's Brothers dairy farm in Ambiganza and

125then also the Sher Sherry's dairy farm and on the headways of Three Mill Harbor. Then to the Koval dairy farm was one of the main ones and there were multiple other dairy farms in the town of East Stampton. I can bore you to death with that later. Um, even though I see the environmental justifications on this, it's the mechanisms and purchase is what I don't agree with and that's why I didn't necessarily vote to go to public hearing initially. Um I believe that it's been stated that village revenue uh it's while it's ever uh ever changing it's closer to 17 maybe the 20% not some of the higher amounts that has been publicly stated in the past which I think is challenging but also has to be be known there's no other village IMA with

126a town for CPF revenue and any of the five east end towns and with a contract that is known um you should stick to your contract uh Why are we changing a precedent of a contract? Why don't you just tear the contract up instead? Um, no matter what my beliefs are as far as the mechanism of purchase of this this property, uh, I'm still going to work my hardest to make sure that the language for the protections for the residents whose prop money this is right now is there. I do believe that there will be public access to this property. Uh, I know there will be, there has to be. I think there will be connectivity to and and uh and and also connectivity to other properties that there's open vista. But when it comes

127to kayaking and paddle boarding, I know this very well. It's not the place to go in. Uh we are in the in the process of working also with the village and also the friends of Georgia Pond on a location the end of Kovala road which will allow for a better kayak access launch that's also historically known for that. Uh I paddled in this area pro there's probably not many people that have paddled more. Uh I would actually go in there in a heartbeat over than this location for for multiple reasons. Um but again I am I can justify the purchase. I can justify the public private partnership. I can't justify moving on forward because of uh the mechanisms of uh the way that we are uh not abiding by a contract that we have with

128another municipality. Thank you, David. So, uh, I just want to say that we had about we had 12 speakers the night of the public hearing and probably about a dozen written comments. Everyone was supportive with the exception of one speaker. We heard from the town trustees. They sent us a letter and um Jim Grimes came and spoke on behalf of the town trustees. Uh, my colleagues laid out beautifully why why this uh these properties should be preserved. The only thing that hasn't come up is that that that this acquisition uh will result in a creation of a 16 acre maritime grassland reserve to be managed by the Ponic Glant Trust. We heard from I believe it was uh we heard from Bruce Horwit who was a conservation biologist talking about the the properties of that

129maritime grassland. We also heard from uh a gentleman from the piconic I'm sorry from the conic land trust talked about the gray blue herand and um >> Max swain right and you know the different you know species of birds and whatnot that were on that property. Uh it we also got a history lesson from from Rick Whan when he came to the podium and spoke as David pointed out about the history of the property that it was a dairy farm and then the the injustice that happened when the uh property was was run through the planning process. I believe it was in the 1970s and was turned into a gridlike and you know 40 uh parcels were were um cut up and that this when we heard from community members this was a way to

130write that. So I I'm supportive of that. I I also want to just say that it's been a priority of our administration to work collaboratively with our municipal partners be it villages uh the county and the state. And while this is not, you know, this is outside the norm of the IMA, I think, uh, it is, you know, $20 million is a great deal of money. And I am comfortable going partners with the village in um, putting up $10 million of of town monies for the uh, acquisition of this parcel or these two parcels. So, I know I had said just said earlier, uh, David, you raised a couple of questions. our town attorney's office is going to research that. So depending on the outcome of that research, we will either have this on for

131resolution this Thursday, July 17th, or uh we may have to wait until August um to have a vote. So uh you know, we'll the uh agenda will get posted 24 hours in advance. So I can just say stay tuned as as gives give our town attorney's office some time to do that research. So that is the last topic we have for today and we are now ready to move on to liaison reports. David. >> Yes. Uh thank you very much madam supervisor for the conversation there. Uh aquaculture the season is cranking along. There's a healthy crop of nearly over 2 million oysters in the field and upwelling. Michael You can zuming back in Michael uh >> an upwelling and the systems are in Thermal Harbor. Um they're selling coals to Long Island oyster farmers. There's

132a great crop of maybe 10 million or so uh clams and upwelling systems which just tremendous amount of numbers and more importantly it's our best crop of scallops in years with several hundred thousands upwellers and through Mil Harbor. Now, the survival of the scallops in the wild is so good so far. But again, we will see how this goes as rising temperature in our bays and our areas in potentially predatory ways might decrease that then too. Again, it's another reason why we have to be very careful with our ecosystems and our planet. Oyster gardening programs are going strong with over 100 gardeners, 100 gardeners and five different gardens and throughout town and other a dozen or so growing in their own property. Vermo Harbor's first oyster reef went off the end the boatyard uh lane

133in June and uh John Barley Dunn will be giving a presentation about shellfish at our uh the programs at the Montalk Library actually tomorrow evening at 6:00 p.m. Folks are welcome to visit. I wouldn't mind if we can put aquaculture on maybe in August for uh for um uh for an update and just for a topic that'd be great to let them know what the the program is doing. Um, reason why I called Michael back in there's a couple things. Uh, there's there's a couple wonderful community events that are happening here and um, just as we had uh, the Great Bonic Fireworks over this past week with Tony Duke starting them as far as the Boys and Girls Harbor Fireworks and others have been going on. Uh, we had a wonderful event at the Life

134Saving Station. I got to see Joan Telp there. And one of the one of the people that I miss during COVID or I don't see as much is is Joan Telp. And Joan Telp is great. She's the madam of amigga mayor of Amigans and such and they will be recognizing her at the aigan village improvement society's summer splash on on August 2nd upcoming then too I think is very important we also have soldier ride is in town this weekend then too paddlers for amenities last 20 20-year paddle is happening this weekend and of course the lions is having their their dog show um as we are in the middle of philanthropic once again yeah >> I'll better with this >> and say pedagogy. >> Um, our seasons right now there's there's a lot of money

135being raised by entities that are necessary outside of our township, but we can't forget the ones within our township. It's our sense of community and our sense of self on there then too. So, let's please support these local charities. They all take a great amount of volunteerism to do so and it's very important to support local because it is our hometown and our community. Can I can I just say uh reference to Joan Tol as the the mayor of Amagancet. So myself and uh county legislator Ann Welker will be giving Joan a proclamation at the Avis Amagansit Village Improvement Society's party in in early August. >> Welld deserved. Uh please go to those websites uh see how you can either sponsor, help out, volunteer, or donate as we need. Thank you. uh in recreation, our

136summer programs are uh are moving moving ahead. Uh tennis programs and such, please contact John Rooney, our recreation department, if you'd like to still sign up. I also want to let everyone know, as we did and talked about this last year, to the general public that are visiting our beaches, please obey our lifeguards. They are there to keep you safe. They are working hard. This can go anything from dogs on the beach to swimming or surfing in this in our uh in our protected bodies of water. Then too, uh they are there to assist you. Then too, uh want to let everyone know on the Lake Malk dredging update for our conversation yesterday. Uh our final engineered plans are complete then to they will potentially be going out to uh out to bid on this

137project within the next 10 days which then will come back and we might have a a notice to proceed. What this means is that we are on track to potentially award potent uh the Army Corp of Engineers to award this in late August and start staging in September. Now, this is a 12 years ago project that we started on this road on there then too and we might be not even 12 weeks away from it. So, let everyone know we were coordinating with our fishing fleet, the recreational uh fleet and also the Coast Guard moving forward. But, this is this is happening. It's getting very close. I'll let the board know when the notice >> I was that was 2014 and I remember the the presentation at the Montalk uh firehouse and that 12 years

138ago. >> Yeah. And so this would be this would be great for greater maintenance of that channel then too. So uh I'll keep the the board updated on that. Again it's another uh successful collaboration with the Army Corps and the federal government. Um Stephen Han's path the multi-uh user field is pretty close to sustain uh substantially complete right now. Um, I have some scheduling issues with my some family. Uh, but I would like to schedule a ribbon cutting in the next week or two if you don't mind. Uh, let everyone know and then we can start play for for the residents on that field. If you haven't been over there, it's looking spectacular. We have a notice from Suffach County from their uh department of DPW uh uh to be able to potentially change some

139of the uh speed um uh the speed limits on long lane. Uh I discussed this with our department of public works and and also PD and I'd like to try to potentially present this uh to the board in August so we can move forward on some of that. >> So I it's funny I had that in my lay on report too. So I have already spoken to Jake Nancy Marshall is going to be drafting it. So we'll have it on for work session on the 5th hopefully notice it for public hearing on the 7th and then hear it on the 21st. And if we could just give context to it, you know, for for the public that we had received a letter from uh the commissioner of DPW of Suffach County, Charles Bertha. They had

140been uh conducting um performed speed studies and reviewed crash history data and looked at the number of vehicles that are using Long Lane uh between the the roundabout and the school zone. and they have asked us now to uh lower the speed limit from 45 miles an hour to 30 miles an hour. So that's the legislation that Nancy will be drafting and bringing to discussion on the 5th and then um we can take it take that to public hearing >> as part of that is one of the county roads within the town of East Hampton, but the town uh maintains the legislative local law to be able to change those uh uh uh those speed limits. So yes, thank you very much. I look forward to working with Nancy on that and maybe just get

141a chart ready for it. Okay, great. Uh, also going back to the county, I want to thank legislator Ann Welker. Don't forget, I mention this every week. The Suffach County is holding the working water uh uh working waterfront legislation. This has been laid on the table on June 24th and it will go to public hearing, I believe, on August 5th. uh please contact my office or legislator Annne Welker's office if you want copies of that that legislation or ways that you can uh give your opinions in public comment which is very important uh in working with uh with with council member Calder Peanut and also Scott Wilson we're moving uh moving moving forward with some restoration efforts and some discussions about how to do so in a in a phased approach for the Carl Fisher

142House I'll bring those back to the town board very shortly too but those efforts are uh maintaining the move forward for ADA needs. Um, part of our enforcement options, we've been looking at ride share. Uh, I know this came up actually earlier than two, but is there potential uh designs that we can test and pilot that might assist for public safety in dealing with some of the ride share uh problems that we're seeing within the town of East Hampton. I know we had one caller on that today. Uh I want to thank Steve O'Brien and and his buildings and ground staff for keeping and maintaining uh the main street immigran main street Montalk and other areas of the town town. So well also letting know individuals will uh as we talked about last year uh

143bring some of the tables there's difference in we're using not wood tables but we're using foldable foldable uh plastic tables this year. Uh they're much easier to maintain, store and to also transport then too. So any individuals having those special events should be aware of that recently they had all 37 set out at one of the recent events and it worked out great. Uh lastly I have here is last Tuesday I had mentioned that um uh the U uh sorry uh U10 East Little League was uh playing last Tuesday evening uh up in Statsky Park. Uh and guess what? They won. >> Yeah. >> Uh and they won and they won district 36 then to the U10. So then they played the next three games. Unfortunately, last night they lost 3-2 in a very very

144competitive game and now all Eastampton Little League teams are out of the season. After the U36 victory last Tuesday, they had u uh I want to thank the Springs Fire Department, the Eastampton Fire Department, they had actually a parade coming from Waynekit all the way down to the sweet spot uh with the kids in the back of the truck, which is how I remember how we used to do it. Uh it is something that you will never forget if you're a child having a parade for your team coming through Main Street Eastampton. Uh I want to thank all the little league uh coaches uh little league board, little league players, their parents and the umpires also. And uh madam supervisor, if it' be okay, I would like to invite uh the district 36 champs here

145as we have done in the past. >> Uh so congrats to all the kids on to summer, onto the beach, to the books, keep reading, getting ready for school. Don't annoy your parents or your sisters as much. Uh and uh that's all I have. Thank you very much. >> David, since Tom is out, if you want to come to public safety on Wednesday morning, you're >> Thank you so very much. >> Okay, Kate. Yes. Uh Wayne Scott CAC met on Saturday and um it was a robust meeting well attended by uh all a lot of the neighbors uh in Wayne Scott. Uh, of course, speeding along um uh the roads in in Wayne Scott and and the traffic from all the um navigation apps that are driving all the uh traffic down off of the

146highway type roads onto the very small um community roads, neighborhood roads in Wayne Scott are remains an issue. Um they also uh um uh had questions about when the Wayne Scott main 25 mph speed limit was coming down and I explained how the state was doing that in sections. Um they uh had as you know they had presented uh to you and the airport manager questions. They were um happy that they were acknowledged and look forward to uh receiving some answers on the airport. Um um it's always that you know the what do they say the wheels of justice grind quite slowly. So there's the waiting to see on on the court decisions on that as well has kind of created an idea that it's just very quiet on all fronts but I assured them

147that work is going on in every direction. Um they also uh talked about uh furthering uh street tree protection uh on in it's it's an important issue in Wayne Scott and also across the entire town to protect our trees uh keep our right ofways uh clear and for public access and obstructions off them. That's an issue also that I know is across town but also um brought up frequently at the Wayne Scott uh citizens advisory committee meetings and uh we talked about I uh presented uh uh the ADU committee's recommendations uh to the CAC for their comment um and they will uh I I gave them the presentation they will be sending comments on that and um I uh uh that's about that I have for them. I just want to say about Jung Tulp.

148Um, I first heard of Junk Tulp and met her and her husband uh 20 some odd years ago when I first moved into town. They were running the senior uh call program in the morning. I don't remember the name, RSVP. And that was my first introduction to Joan and her husband. And her community involvement from that time forward has never stopped for a second. And uh I'm glad we're appreciating Joan. She certainly deserves it. >> Thank you, Kate. Ian. >> Uh yes, the spring CAC will meet tonight at 6:30 p.m. at Ashwag Hall. Uh note that that is a change of time. It's a half hour later. Um I thank Lauren Buler, the chair for doing that. It was my request just because we sometimes go a little bit late in executive session and I

149want to be able to do all parts of my job. So 6:30 night at Ashwag Hall. Property Management Committee uh has been cancelled. was scheduled originally for tomorrow at 4:30. It's canceled this month. Uh CHAB, the community housing advisory board will meet next Wednesday, July 23rd, at 5:00 pm at the planning department conference room. Um there's a meeting at the Parsons blacksmith shop with the contractor who's going to start uh fixing the sighting. Uh I've talked about this in the past. The contracts are finally in place and that work is to begin very very soon. Uh it should not interfere with the the building opening as it does uh occasionally, but we're still hoping to get that work done as quickly as possible um and get that siding looking better. Uh Mrs. Burke Gonzalez brought

150up the Dodge property multi-use path. I've been talking with land man land management and Scott Wilson about um working on a design for a multi-use path there um with limited parking. Um, you know, I don't know how that this board feels, but my my thought was to make sure that we have handicap parking, but then um sort of low impact overflow, anticipating that sometimes it'll be more heavily used during the summer season um but to, you know, avoid over amount of of asphalt or black top. I think that we can accommodate cars and still keep it um looking nice aesthetically. And then just a reminder, we're also moving forward on a few other fronts there. Working on a potential RFP to to find a user or lency there. Um finalizing engineering um or plans for

151the main house repairs and making the first floor ADA accessible with an ADA bathroom. And then we're also looking to hire an archaeologist to investigate the potential Mitchell house there. So I've mentioned all those things before, but but still working with Scott Wilson Land Management on moving forward. I also wanted to mention the Emaga Historical Society is celebrating the 300th anniversary of Miss Amelia's Cottage and that's pretty amazing to think about because that's older than America. >> Um which which shows you how how far back our history goes here. Um it's July 26th from 400 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Encourage everybody to attend. It's free. There will be food, drinks, and music. Um the cottage will be open. I believe the Lester Barn with some some carriages on display will be open. Um, so it

152should be a should be a great night and I think uh you know I always appreciate driving by and I'm looking forward to going to looking inside those. >> What's the date again? >> Uh July 26th 4 to 7 p.m. >> Thank you very much. >> Um Springs Historical Society. I usually talk about them because I'm the leazison to Springs. Uh it is their 50th anniversary and they have a full calendar too. So I just antic I just you know want everybody to pay attention to to all the things that are going on in all of our hamlets. Uh Kate mentioned the trees in the rightaway. Actually, there was a a public speaker last meeting in the meeting before that talked about that and I would like to pursue that legislation as well. She was

153speaking I think specifically about during construction projects. I don't know why anybody thinks that they can cut trees down in the rightway if you know you're a property owner nearby. If it's a public safety or a highway thing, I get it. But individuals, you know, doing that makes no sense to me. And so I I think that that legislation is something we should pursue. Um I want to mention that here today because perhaps there's something I'm missing. Um so any feedback on that would be more than welcome, but but it is something I think we should pursue. Uh I know there was also bamboo legislation um containing your own bamboo and that that's a little bit more complicated. I understand. I think some board members here maybe have talked about this in the past, but

154again I think that that is something you know if you plant people are still planting bamboo. I can't believe you can even buy it, but it still happens. Um, and it can cause all sorts of problems and the people who are doing that should be responsible for the problems they cause. So, those are two pieces of legislation I'd like to sort of talk through and and >> I think you had mentioned the sustainability committee was taking on the bamboo >> and and tree protection. They're doing both. Is there a timet? >> Uh, they just presented uh the subcommittee just presented at the last meeting the recommendations, draft recommendations. The meeting is next Monday and so then we'll be able to present the final uh uh pres final recommendation after next Monday's meeting. >> So we

155could put that on for August. >> Yes. >> So can I respectfully request that you pull me into the the critical root zone protection because I I'm the one that started that a while back. >> Um I met been meeting with DPW and also code and building departments and I'm trying to plan for potentially early August discussion. >> Yeah. So, let's just clarify that uh the the um the discussion about uh during the construction process wasn't just about cutting down trees. It's about the vehicles parking on top of the roots of the trees which effectively kill the trees in our road rightways. Uh so, it's the heavy vehicles. It's cars parking. It's not just construction folks. And David, you brought that forth. So, definitely we'll coordinate on that. I'm happy to. >> Thank you. >>

156Okay. >> That's it. And just to be clear, those other pieces, I I appreciate other people working on those. I don't want to step on any toes. I just, uh, I'm happy to see them moving forward. I know that there's some historic knowledge here. So, um, want to support you guys however I can. >> Thanks. Thanks, Ian. So, uh, let me start off with the East Hampton Town Police Department activity. This is from Friday through 6:00 a.m. Monday morning. There were 260 calls for service, three total arrests, two for DWI and one for criminal trespass. There were 23 noise complaints, four commercial noise complaints, and one establishment received a violation. There were seven accidents, 16 aided cases, and uh n and our supplemental patrols uh wrote 19 tickets. 15 of them were for stopping, discharging

157passengers in a roadway. That was something that we've discussed at public safety meetings. And then there were two big special events on Saturday night. The three-M Harbor fireworks went off without incident as did the Montalk his Historical Society show at the lighthouse. Their comedy show was not an issue for PD. Um last Friday, Ian, myself, Katie Casey, uh and Sam Klene met with Carol Longworth and Brandon Gimbleman from the Empire State Development. They oversee the consolidated funding applications which is due uh July 31st. uh their one of the programs they have this year is their pro-ousing supply funds program and I had recommended that we look at that for um the route 114 moderate income housing it's for um infrastructure so uh and you have to meet the threshold the the the costs have to

158be at least $5 million as it's a matching plan they've got uh two two.5 million to10 million uh available to folks that uh get that grant. So I we that's easily obtained uh at that at the Route 114 um affordable housing project. Just talking about um sewage treatment, bringing public water because we have to bring it to the cottages and to the uh we're looking to do up to 50 units of affordable housing there. So, I have a resolution on for Thursday night um to uh you know so we can move forward with applying for the grant. The other program they brought to us is a program called the Long Island Forward Housing Program. And they've got $10 million available. And this is a technical assistance program where they help they directly fund select pre-development

159activities um to for affordable housing like they'll pay for appraisal services, market studies, traffic impact studies, um things like that. So, this was news to us because it's a it's a new program. So, uh you know, we the Route 114 project, for example, will need a traffic study and we may be able to get state funds to pay for that. So, that was exciting to hear. So, it was a really um it was a great conversation with both Cara and Brandon, and we're grateful that they uh made the trip out here uh in all the traffic. Um the last thing I wanted to talk about was um you know the I believe it's the first weekend in in August will be the um the third annual Black Author Fest uh Black Author Festival in Sag

160Harbor and uh I have meeting been meeting with folks that that put on that program and they've asked us to declare August as Black Author Festival Month in the town of East Hampton. So, I I would like to have a resolution on for Thursday night, and if you I'd like to read the resolution uh to the board and the community. Whereas, the National Black Authors Festival brings neighbors, families, and visitors together to celebrate the voices and stories of black authors from across the country. And whereas this annual event fosters a deeper sense of understanding, creativity, and connection by offering space for storytelling, conversation, and shared learning. And whereas this year's theme, the power of literacy reinforces the festival's ongoing mission to raise awareness where raise awareness, inspire action, and champion youth development and literacy equity.

161And whereas the festival's presence in our community, particularly in Sag Harbor, with its proud history as a home for black artists, educators, and families, adds the cultural rich richness of our town and honors that legacy. And whereas the East Hampton Town Board recognizes the positive impact of events like the Black Authors Festival and strengthening community ties, expanding opportunities for young people, and celebrating the power of the written word. And whereas we are grateful to all of the organizers, authors, and volunteers who bring this meaningful event to life each year. Now therefore, be it resolved that the town board of the town of East Hampton hereby declares August as Black Author Festival Month in the town of East Hampton in celebration of storytelling, community, and the shared values that bring us together. And I'm hoping I

162have >> board support for that for Thursday night. >> Yes. >> And that is all I have for my liaison report. So, let us move on to uh a handful of resolutions that we have this afternoon. So I'll kick off with resolution uh 976 which is to designate the uh climate smart community task force. This is whereas the town of East Hampton formed an a sustainability committee to promote the concept of sustainability and advise the town board on sustainable best practices. Whereas it has been part of the committee's responsibility since formation to serve as a resource to municipal departments, boards, and other committees regarding sustainability and resiliency challenges and opportunities providing information and assistance. Whereas the town participates in the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Smart Climate Smart Communities programs and a requirement

163of the program is to have a climate smart community task force that promotes and supports climate mitigation adaptation efforts in the community. Whereas this is in accordance with the goals and purposes of the sustainability committee resolved that the sustainability committee will review and approve of the town board can advise the town on uh NYSDEC climate smart communities programs activities as a task force retroactive to the date the sustainability community uh committee was formed. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I resolution 977 and I have an amendment to make. Um, it should say authorized payment of invoice instead of dime bank. It should say dime abstract LLC. Um, so 977 to authorize payment of invoice for dime abstract LLC. This is for a certificate of road abandonment in the amount of $500. >> Second. >>

164All in favor? I >> I have resolution 2025978. Is it this is to retain the Cohen Law Group for cable franchise services. This is related to the negotiation of a cable franchise renewal agreement with Altis USA. We have been working uh with the Cohen Law Group and this is just extending that proposal and this it shall not exceed the sum of $12,900. Second. All in favor? 979 is to amend resolution 2025 959 and this is uh to increase the hotel travel cost for police officer Michael Rodriguez from $900 to $1,150. Second. All in favor. >> 980 is for Motorola Solutions, Inc. proposal. There's been a price increase and there's an additional $16,474.90 needed for work at the Northwest site so that we can and