East Hampton Town Board Regular Meeting- 07/03/25

001All right. Good evening, East Hampton Town Board. We're live on channel 22. We're streaming to YouTube. The phone lines are open. You may begin. Thank you, Matthew. Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the East Hampton Town Board meeting of Thursday, July 3rd, 2025. Cheryl, if you could please read the roll call. Present. [Applause] Present. Present. If we could all 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 tonight we have a special guest. We have our town historian, Hugh King, who's gonna kick us off. Welcome, Hugh. Thank you, madam supervisor. In our continuing Thank you for inviting all these people to hear me speak. By the

002way, on a holiday weekend, no less. Oh, I know. Um, in our continuing saga of police chiefs, I want to talk about John Henry Doyle. John Henry Doyle when he retired, he would have completed a 40-year career in law enforcement that included one year as a foot patrolman with the New York City Police Department, a 27-year tenure with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and 12 years as uh chief of the East Hampton uh Police Department. He said yesterday he took satisfaction having achieved virtually all his goals he had enumerated in his interview with the Star in 1968. Those these included construction of a new town police headquarters, increasing by at least 10 the number of officers in the department, which then total 20, expanding the department's marine division, and a more rigid inservice training requirements,

003modernizing and enlarging the force, finally having a new building constructed, and educating the community in modern-day uses of law enforcement. The chief said to observer the eastampton scene it seemed as far conary duties are concerned his first year was demanding. No soon they had been hired a murder the result of a loveless triangle required his attention and in October 1968 four men at gunpoint stole $23,000 from the first national bank in Eastampton. The department has almost doubled in size since his arrival and his budget is over $1 million. Okay. Now, speaking of breaking the law, let's talk about prohibition. What did prohibition have to do with women's suffrage? What did prohibition have to do with the federal income tax or the direct election of US senators? What did prohibition have to do with Milton Miller

004and Clancy Pitts? What did prohibition have to do with Third House in Montalk? What did prohibition have to do with the Georgia Coast Guard station? What did prohibition have to do with the pitch factory in Promised Land? And what did prohibition have to do with a house on Fairy Avenue? Well, to answer to all those questions, you go to the Fischer House in Montalk. They have a wonderful exhibit on prohibition. Okay? And next year at this time, we're going to be celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The town crier will be here to read the Declaration, and he'll try to do it within three minutes. Thank you. Thank you, Hugh. So tonight we have eight public hearings. The first is the PCON Land Trust acquisition of a conservation easement and to amend

005the 2025 management stewardship plan. Our second public hearing is the acquisition of 43 Mile Hill Road. Next up, we're amending town code chapter 255-141E, personal wireless facilities tier 1. And the fourth public hearing is the Northwest Fire Protection and Town of East Hampton Water Supply and Fire Protection District agreement for 2026 and 2027. Then we have four public hearings that all have to do with amending the UR map. The first one is for 9 Royal Street. The next is for 120 Harbor Boulevard, then 19th Street and Springs, and nine Uclair Street and Springs. That'll be followed by public portion and resolutions. And we ask when you come to the podium, make sure you're speaking into the mic, say your name so the clerk can get it. And we ask you to kindly keep your comments

006to three minutes. So I have a list of folks that have signed up. We're going to go through the list and then I'll ask for a show of hands for anyone else that wants to speak on the public hearing. So the first is the acquisition that I'm sorry. Well, I was just going to say the first is the acquisition of 41 and 47 Kolo Farm Road. Cheryl, if you could read the meeting notices, please. The public hearings will be held live and in person by the town board and will be available electronically by video and teleconferencing and will be televised on local TV, LTV, channel 22, and available for live screen stream on the LTV website. Um, the public shall be permitted to appear in person, but may also provide comments on the matter being

007heard by calling 3518886331. Any person or party wishing to be heard with respect to the foregoing may do so in person or by agent or by attorney by teleconference to the live meeting or by written comment addressed to the East Hampton Town Clerk, 159 Panagle Road, East Hampton, New York 1137. Comments may also be submitted to the town clerk by email to crennan eamptony.gov. All comments must be received by the town clerk by the date and time of the hearing. Please check the meeting agenda posted on the town's website um for any changes and for any updated information. Take notice. The town board of the town of East Hampton will hold a public hearing in the town board meeting room, East Hampton Town Hall, 159 Panagle Road, East Hampton, New York, pursuant to 247 of

008the general mis municipal code and 64E8 of the town law of the state of New York on July 3rd, 2025 at 6 p.m. or as soon after, that is the matter may be heard to consider the following. A, the town's acquisition of a conservation easement for the preservation of open space and the improvement of water quality with community preservation funds of a property located at 47 and for 41 and 47 Cove Hollow Farm Road, East Hampton Village from Bconic Land Trust. Presently a uh contract vendee at the time of their acquisition of fee title ownership and consisting of appro approximately 5.5 acres of vacant land at the cost to the town of East Hampton not to exceed $20 million plus reasonable survey title pro-rated tax and recording charges and uh said property being described on

009the Suffach County Tap M tax map as 30 301-12-10-3 and two be an amendment to the 2025 CPF management and stewardship plan to include said property. Thank you, Cheryl. And now we have Scott Wilson from our land acquisition and management director to introduce the property. Sure, I'd be glad to. The properties we're talking about, if you look on that area, are all outlined in blue. You can see just to the south of those are two in yellow and three in green that are either owned or managed or owned and or managed by Pana Land Trust. And this these waterfront properties are located on Georgia Cove, part of the Georgia Kapal wershed. The property is currently a grassland meadow sloping from a high of 15 ft at the western edge sloping down to the cove. The

010property contains tidal wetlands that are significant for coastal wetland habitat, flood control, and the protection of surface water quality. While all of Georgia has some limited tidal flushing, this cove is vulnerable to accumulations of pollutants which impair the surface water quality. The parcel is within the coastal fish and wildlife habitat, a part of a scenic area statewide significance. It is also recommended on the critical lands protection strategy and as a water protection district. Preserving this grassland and the prevention of clearing and septic will help limit the flow of chemical and natural contaminants into the compromised Georgia pond. This prim the primary purpose under consideration for this property is the preservation of open space and water quality by purch purchasing a conservation easement from Ponic Land Trust. The easement will also allow uh for a trail

011and up to 15 ft in width of off- streetet parking similar to the attached rendered map by land trust which I will also put. Uh we have received a number of letters of support as well as one from the mayor of East Hampton Village requesting preservation of property. I imagine there's quite a few people in this room that might want to say some nice things about that including Mr. Canwell. I hope um I believe John Hollyy and Matt Swain from Kronic Land are also here as well as Kim Cordy from Friends of George Kapon Foundation. Um so they're going to speak more eloquently than myself. So I'd like to turn it over to them to say a few nice things. Terrific. Thanks, Scott. Do you want us join us up there at the podium, John?

012So I'm John VHY, president of the Ponic Land Trust. It's been a long time coming to be before you this evening and I I want to thank you for the opportunity to speak to you about this acquisition. I also want to thank the town trustees who are the uh the owners of the bottom of Georgia Cove and Georgia. Uh they have a keen interest in this uh acquisition and have expressed their support. And a shout out to Kim Cordy who used to work with the trust and was very involved in this project before becoming the new executive director uh of the friends of Georgia Kapan uh foundation and of course Sarah Davidson. Uh I want to shout out to her and the chair of the board we have uh Larry Canwell. So um yes this

013is uh this is a great opportunity. I I just want to say that the the town and the villages uh acquisition of this easement is really a cornerstone of this project. It has enabled the trust to bring $35 million in private funds to the table and I think it's fair to say that if we didn't bring that there would be no acquisition and protection of these properties. Uh just a minute I want to expand on the power and importance of public private partnerships. We have a long history with the town back to the origins of the of the trust. I'm just going to mention a few key projects in the 2000s that to remind us that uh bringing private funds to the table can do so much uh in our joint efforts to protect what

014we know and love here. Uh 2002 Mark Buick dealership. Uh that uh that was a property that was uh really threatened. Uh I know it was sought after by the village uh for for years. The opportunity presented itself but there was no ready money. So the trust with the help of the mayor, former mayor at the time, Paul Rickback who's here this evening, uh we found a donor, a lender who lent us the money to pick up that property and then we held it until the town was able to purchase it. 2006, something that Scott Wilson will remember because at that point he was working for the trust, the Babinsky and Conklin conservation easement purchases on the farmland there. We negotiated a bargain sale. We um ended up the trust putting in about a third

015of the funds for that acquisition. As a consequence, the trust and the town co-hold those easements, which means we also share the responsibility of monitoring and enforcing those restrictions. So, it's another aspect of this public private partnership. 2014, we had the widely easement purchase and uh by now Scott was working for the town. So, he he viewed it from the other side. very similar to Babinsky and the Conklin acquisitions trust raised about a third uh of the private funds and uh again we co-hold that easement 2022 Jones Creek Preserve this was a 50/50 partnership uh with the town uh the trust brought half of the money 50% of the money for that acquisition thanks to the Shelby Colum Davis Charitable Fund uh so that was a 50-50 deal and we are joint owners of that

016property. So in today's transaction, the private funds that we're bringing to the table represent about 64% of the project cost. The easement appraises at over $46 million in value. So the town uh town's purchase is a is a really big bargain sale at 20. And because this land consists of two fully developable lots, if development, if developed, there could be about 26,000 squaret of residential structures on those two lots. We can't let that happen. So, I've asked um I've I ask us all to consider the importance of this transaction. And I would like to have Matt Swain who's vice president of conservation programs at the trust to talk about the conservation values. Great. Thank you, John. Welcome, Matt. Hello. Thank you for having me. Uh these 5.5 acres meet so many conservation criteria. Um they

017assist with water quality improvement, scenic vistas, grassland habitat as well as public uh access as described in the public hearing resolution. Um but one of the more significant things also is the wildlife habitat especially for birds and I brought in a photo that was taken on the shoreline. This is several dozen great blue heron, a very unusual concentration. Um, and a neighbor next to the pond took this. So, I just wanted to Yeah, that's something. So, our work here dates back um several decades with the first being the preservation of the adjacent two lots um which are 5 1/2 acres and later three lots totaling 8 acres. The trust has been managing this area as a single contiguous grassland, one ecological management unit. We're very excited to add these two parcels to that assemblage, creating

018a nearly 20 acre grass land on Long Island, and it's particularly rare in this area. It's almost found nowhere. Um, and as previously stated, we'll be installing like a loop trail and also some limited parking areas. And uh, I just want to thank the town, the village, and all of the donors for their support. Thank you, Matt. Okay, so now I'm going to go down the list of folks that have signed up. Next up is Bruce Horwith. Welcome, Bruce. Thank you and thanks for giving me the opportunity to speak before you in behalf of this this acquisition. I'm going to uh really put on just conservation biologist hat as a member of the public. I've always loved these places and and u you know I'm really excited about the idea that they're going to be

019protected forever. But I started working with the land trust as a consultant about five years ago uh on these properties. And when we started, we uh developed and we've now been implementing a management plan for the four parcels that Matt mentioned. But we really have been operating on uh trying always to envision this whole area as one unit. Meaning all the way from Chony Close, it's about a third of a mile of shoreline on up to the last piece before it becomes residential again to the north. In total, close to 20 acres as Matt suggested. And the significance of the 20 acres, I try to find provide just a little context. Even small yard-sized patches of grassland and other natural vegetation are beneficial, but they're islands of nature within an otherwise unsupportive landscape of development.

020And these islands provide habitat for some threatened animals like box turtle or native plants like milkweed, a plant that's required for monarch butterflies if the monarchs are going to continue to exist. But simply put, more is better. particularly in regard to grasslands. Close to 90% of the tall grass prairie, which is the type of grassland that formerly occupied so much of the eastern part of the United States, has been lost. This has led to a parallel declines in numerous animal species, especially grassland dependent birds. And this is where the size of the grassland is particularly significant. While each bird species does have its own specific requirements, 20 acres seems to be about a minimum size for a grassland to function ecologically for many of these species according to the Ottabbon Society, New York State, DEEC,

021others that are involved in grassland management. And so there's a lot more I could say about grassland, but luckily for you, I'm not going to. Um, I'd like to enter into the the minutes um some notes from a podcast I did with Change Hampton that gives a little bit more background about the importance and scarcity of grasslands. And I'd also like to enter into the record uh letters that were sent to me and also to the town, but I don't know how quickly they got it if they made it to the town uh this afternoon. And these are letters in support as well. Great. Thank you. Thank you. You could give that to the clerk. Thanks, Bruce. Okay. Next up is Steven Schwarz. Welcome, Stephen. Hello. Uh, I am Steven Schwarz and I am a

022resident of Ruxen Road in adjoining street to Kovalo Farm. Drive past the property in question every day. Um, I've been there for 31 years. I am the co-founder of the East Hampton Group for Good Government and know many of you in that capacity. Um, I haven't had to be here much because I haven't had any complaints to deal with. Um, we like it that way, Stephen, which is a nice thing. I'm not complaining. But perhaps most importantly, I'm here as one of the successors of Bill Heenheimer who did the Kovalo Farm subdivision and imposed restrictive covenants on the scale of development, the style of development and historical illusions in the development. Illusions, not illusions. And what do we do? We try to make sure that materials are used that are consistent with East Hampton from

023the 1930s. What that may be cedar shingle roofs, uh, tile slate roofs, unlikely, but slate roofs and comparable materials and colors. So, what's the significance of that here? Well, the significance is that preservation. You've already heard from people far more qualified than I am about the environmental impact, but I can speak about the historical impact. This is farmland and it's been farmland. Never was anything else. And you have the opportunity to make sure that it stays that way. And you know there was a survey done by the town about 15 years ago and uh extensively publicized and thousands of people answered that survey. It was many pages and one of the most important things that people noted that they wanted to see was the preservation of vistas with long view view channels and that's exactly

024what this is. So for people like me who are not scientists but have eyesight, thank God, we can enjoy those vistas and you have the chance to preserve that. And so I speak uh most enthusiastically and hope that you will do what you can to preserve this property. I I'm honored to be able to be to speak here. It's a great part of being part of a free country, but to be associated with people like John Hollyy is really a privilege. Um, so thank you. Thank you, Stephen. Kimberly Cordy. Welcome, Kim. Evening. Thank you for the opportunity to speak again. and I'm Kim Cordy um with the Friends of Georgia Kapond and I'm here to ask for your support of resolution number 32968 to acquire and permanently preserve the uh approximately 5 1/2 acres at

02541 and 47 Cove Hollow Farm Road in the village of East Hampton. These parcels are not simply pieces of land. There are significant undisturbed open spaces that lie directly adjacent to a block of protected land along the north shore of Georgia Cove. And as you know, Georgia Cove has faced persistent water quality challenges for years due largely to nitrogen loading from residential septic systems, lawn fertilizers, and storm water runoff. Preserving these parcels would prevent additional nitrogen from entering the cove. An essential step towards improving and protecting its long-term health. But beyond water quality, this acquisition would safeguard vital open space. It would protect natural habitats and preserve the scenic and ecological integrity of the whole Georgia pond watershed. Equally important, this is another example of the town's strong commitment to partnerships with organizations such as

026Bconic Land Trust. And in this case, the trust is contributing the majority of the funds, allowing the town's dollars to go even farther and towards other projects. Under this resolution, the town would purchase a conservation easement to protect these parcels in perpetuity at a remarkable bargain sale. Like John mentioned, the easement's appraised value is more than twice what the town will pay. It's a rare opportunity and a fiscally responsible investment in the future of East Hampton. In closing, I just want to thank everyone whose dedication and vision have brought us to where we are today. Your commitment has made all the difference. So, let's take this opportunity to complete what we've begun and ensure that these lands remain wild, open, and protected, not just for today, but for generations to come. Thank you. Thank you,

027Kim. Next up, and I'm sorry, I'm having trouble with the last name. Matthew Neil, you're close enough. M. Okay. I think you're having more trouble with my handwriting. That That's what it is. Welcome, Matthew. More trouble with my handwriting, my name, but thank you very much for the opportunity to uh address the the board. Uh I won't belabor the arguments that John and Matt uh and Kim have already given you, although I agree completely with all of those. Uh but I live at 40 co uh La Forest Lane which is directly across the pond from uh Neil Blumenthal's house uh Alfred Ross's property and then down the pond from the subject properties that that are here. Uh when we arrived in uh at our property there were 250 ft of fragmitees. We removed them. But

028more importantly for tonight's purposes, we installed a uh buffer uh from anywhere from 40 to 100 feet of of plantings uh in accordance with um agreements with the DEEC and this board and the town trustees of Georgia Pond. Um, so we know the benefits of protecting the water, the water quality, and we know the benefits uh because we've seen those blue herand uh we've seen a bald eagle yesterday. Uh, literally we've seen swans nest on our property and all of that is also going to take place across the across the pond on the two Ross properties. Additionally, we support uh and no one's talked about this, but we support the public access to Georgia Cove as it exists at the north end of the cove. And we see paddle boarders, we see kayakers, and we

029see occasional scholars uh who come to launch their craft there and go by our house. Uh and we applaud that and are are thrilled. We also applaud and think it's an appropriate balance uh the proposal for the Ross properties for public access uh with a trail and some limited parking uh which will enable people particularly burers frankly uh who might want to come uh and and enjoy that property. Uh so we're we're we're we're very much supportive of that. I also do want to mention that uh the public private partnership is I think not an unimportant aspect of this for sure uh because it does leverage the public funds uh and it makes them go so much uh so much further. So uh with that I will uh the one thing that nobody's mentioned I

030think we ought to mention it is Georgia Cove is in the village not the town and so it's a perfectly reasonable thing for people to ask and people have asked this to me frankly uh why should the town support a villa what's a village project now obviously you've done that before and the and you also worked in partnership with the village on many occasions uh but it's clear that although Georgia cove and Georgia pond are in the village In fact, since they're the drainage for a watershed of 50 square miles beyond just the village of East Hampton, uh there is a legitimate purpose from the town's point of view of protecting doing whatever it can to protect the water quality of the pond and the cove indeed. So, with that, I will sit down and

031say thank you. I hope you will support it. Uh and I urge the approval of the resolution. Thank you, Matthew. Next up is Rick Whan. testing. Good evening, Rick. Good evening, Madam Supervisor, members of the town board. My name is Richard Whan, Whan Flor PLLC. I represent one of the donors to the proposed acquisition of these easements. Cove Hollow Farm, as the property was always known, one of the most historic and beautiful farms in the history of East Hampton. From the early 1800s, at least the early 1800s until the 1940s, it was associated with the Georgia branch of the Talmage family. You all know who the Talges are. Uh it was the last active dairy farm in East Hampton Town. It operated until 1977. Had as many as 110 cows. Uh the last man to

032actually run the farm, Dick Leland, still lives in this town. I interviewed him. He actually took me around and showed me all the old buildings a few years ago and told me what they all were. Many of them are still there, although in many cases converted to residential purposes. In 1978, there was a bitter battle fought over the subdivision of this property. The Group for America South Fork was a young environmental organization. They tried to get the village planning board and the owner to accept a clustered subdivision plan that would have preserved 26 acres of land along Georgia code, basically in the area that we're talking about today. They failed. the owner of the village planning board was interested and the property was cut up into a grid style subdivision. One of the people around

033in those days, Russell Stein was assistant director for the group for American South Fork in 1978. I talked to him last week. He said in that era there were two losses. There were two things that really stunk the group for America Southorg. One of them was the one of them was the Fordune subdivision in the Wikip area of Southampton. arguably the worst subdivision ever approved in the history of the South Fork. And the other one was here, Kofalo Farm. So in 1978, Kofalo Farm was subdivided, gridstyle lots, no reserved air. It was destroyed. Except it wasn't. Miraculously, you still have much of the land the group was seeking to preserve in 1978 is still intact along Georgia Cove. So you have an opportunity to rewrite history to salvage a good part of the historic Kof

034Hollow farm. Obviously I think it's an opportunity that you should not miss. Uh what could happen to these lots if they were built on if they're not preserved. They're about 5 and a half acres total. One lot is 2.8 acres. The other one's 2.7 acres. Under the village code right now, which is more liberal than the town's regulations, you could build 26,000 square feet of GFA, 13,200 feet of GFA on the larger lot, 12,700 ft on the other lot. I ran the numbers based on the lot sizes. Also, these lots will be completely lawn. They're already cleared. The subdivision approval included a scenic ease along the shoreline. It's only 60 ft deep along the shore. The properties themselves are 410 to 420 ft deep. As long as somebody builds on that lot at least 150

035ft land of the wet landward of the wetlands, not hard to do. They need nothing but a building permit. You don't need a village wetlands permit if you're 150 ft from the wetlands. And none of the property will require DC title wetlands permit because everything is above the 10 foot contour line. So, I know there have been questions about public, you know, access, and I know there is a a limited public access preserved proposed. This should be viewed as akin to a far a farmland development rights purchase. You don't buy farmland development rights and get access with it. You're preserving views, you're preserving habitat, you're preserving rural character. And just last thing, in terms of public access, 1,600 ft northeast of this property, and I measured the distance on the county GIS, is the end

036of Koval Road. What's at the end of Koval Road? It's a short village owned paved road, culde-sac, no houses on it. At the end of the road is a putin for kayaks and paddle boards. I went down there this week to check. It's completely open. You can launch a kayak at the end of Cove Hollow Road. There are no parking restrictions. So physical access to the cove exists right now and hopefully in the future people paddling south into Georgia Cove from that launch point will be able to look on their right and for 1800 linear feet they'll have natural shoreline no houses. Thank you. Thank you Rick. Next up is Lynn Sharp. Welcome, Lynn. Thank you. Um, thank you for having me and thanks to all of you who have really done the homework and

037and understand what it uh what this means to those of us who live there. I live on Ruxton Road. Um, I believe we my late husband and I were the first people to build on what had been the dairy farm. Um and what attracted us um then and still does is and was the openness and the fact that there were places where you could see the water and the fact that because of the covenants running with the land, you could not build a house on every single inch of the property that you bought. It's open, it's spacious, it's free, uh free feeling, and um it was a very special place then. It's a very special place. Now, uh I don't believe you can stop progress, but you can certainly control it. And everything that's been

038talked about today is the perfect way to control it. I support wholeheartedly the efforts to preserve this land. Thank you very much. Thank you. Okay, that's everyone that I have signed up. So now I'm gonna ask for a show of hands. Jim. Hey, good. Welcome, Jim. Hi, guys. Sorry I'm a little late. I'd hoped to get here earlier, but it is Fourth of July weekend. Um, listen, Jim Grimes. I'm from the East Hampton Town Trustees. We earlier have provided a letter of support for the purchase of this property. I'm here to kind of reiterate that support. Okay? You know, the question becomes sometimes when you look at a piece of land like this. Okay? You've got a subdivision. You've got a 60-foot buffer that's written into this subdivision. Why should the town buy it? Okay.

039Should the town buy it so some rich people across the cove can continue to look at this vacant land? Yeah, you could. But you know what? Trustees have owned George Gapon for I guess 60 since 1686. But the bigger question here becomes, I think, going back to 1964 when Rachel Carlson wrote Silent Spring. What does it have to do with this? Not a freaking thing. Except it woke the politicians of this country up to the value of open space, the value of saving some of these areas. And even though this is kind of tiny and maybe you could consider insignificant, it really isn't. It's contiguous with some piconic land trust property. There's very few pieces of property left on George Kapon that are in public ownership. This can be this. Fortunately for the ro for

040us, the Ross family has been good stewards to this land for the duration of their ownership. This is an opportunity for the town. I want to say to continue Rachel Carlson's talk about the Wilderness Act of 1964 to continue that legacy. So, I urge the town to purchase this property in the in the in the framework that they're looking forward to. Thank you. Thank you, Jim. Yes, please. Mike Hansen. Oh, Michael, you were I didn't realize you were running up here. Sorry. Uh, my name is Michael Hansen. I live in Wayne Scott. I live near the pond, not on the pond. I'm not in that bracket. Uh what Mr. Hollyy said, what Mr. Whan said is the most chilling part of this whole situation is that uh acquiring this land means 26,000 square feet of

041GFA will not be built. That's huge. So I support your endeavor. Thank you. Thank you, Michael. Hi, welcome. Hi. Thank you. You could probably take the microphone down since Michael's so tall. Uh my name is Julia Murphy. Uh first of all, I want to thank the town board for all of the work you do toward maintaining East Hampton and lawfulness, fairness, justice, and inclusivity. I've come here tonight to speak in favor of the town using public funds to acquire and thereby protect this 5.3 acre parcel on Georgia Cove which is in question. I've lived for a good part of my life and still live full-time at 15 Georgia Association Road in Wayne Scott on the pond. My mother traded her engagement ring for her house in 1965 and I f spent my childhood in the

042pond catching eels being dissuaded from tormenting the swans and trailing my feet off the back of a rowboat. As we all know and so many people have spoken so eloquently about the ecosystem has been very significantly degraded in these last decades. And now in August, it is necessary to not touch the water in the pond and to tell people not to let their dogs anywhere near it, let alone being able to swim in it. After kayaking, it's necessary to wash everything very thoroughly when the toxic blue green algae is blooming, as it does for a few weeks every summer. The crabs are contaminated. It truly is very sad to be witnessing this transformation from beautiful nature into a toxic body of water. Thankfully, great efforts are being made by our community to turn the situation

043around. Many of us living in the watershed are investing in nitrogen reducing septic systems, limiting the use of fertilizers and chemicals, and the Friends of Georgia Pond Foundation is heading up valiant efforts to heal and monitor the pond. As we know, if the town elects to contribute to the acquisition of this 5.3 acre parcel, it would bring the total of the protected lands there to over 18 acres. The majority of these acres having been privately conserved through the efforts of the Piconic Land Trust without public funds. Saving this par parcel will thereby preclude the building of at least two additional mansions on the shoreline with their attendant septic impact, landscaping, runoff, etc. It is important to emphasize that the pond is there for the whole community to enjoy. There are thousands of kayakers, beach comrs,

044and bird watchers who explore this magnificent, fragile landscape every year. I understand that this new parcel will also include trails for hiking. With so many new houses going up everywhere and on the shores of the pond, I think this is an important and worthwhile step towards stemming development and protecting precious natural resources. It's important to think of future generations and what they will find here in our wake. As we all know, the East End is certainly among the most beautiful landscapes in the world, and it is our job to protect it while it is under our watch. Thank you very much for being able to speak. Thank you, Julia. David, welcome. David, thank you. I hate to be a party pooper, but there always has to be one naysayer in the crowd. Uh, interestingly, uh,

045state your name for the record. David Buddha from the Springs. Thank you. Interestingly, uh, Council Member Lee opposed the scheduling of this public hearing, and I'll be very interested to hear his thoughts on this matter since I believe he is still the longtime layers on to the CPF advisory board. The there were se several problems here. First of all, if the Ponic Land Trust had the ability to acquire this property for the original asking price was 65 million, it's now a bargain at $55 million. If it acquired it entirely with public uh PLT funds, we wouldn't be involved. If the village had not asked the town to disregard the terms of the intermunicipal agreement that limits how much money can be spent or requires the town to spend uh certain funds for acquisitions in the

046village, then we I wouldn't have an objection. But the village and I've looked at the resolution they adopted in December December 18th, 2024. It doesn't say anything about why they're asking you to disregard your inter municipal agreement and to kick in town CPF funds above and beyond what you're required to spend for acquisitions in the village. The public land uh land trust has owned 59 and 53 cohaul roads since at least 1950 1984 through a predecessor entity public uh trust for public land. And then you have these two parcels, but there's yet a third one just immediately to the north that's also owned by the Ross family interests that has not even been mentioned. It's another 2.6 6 acre parcel similarly situated and I very much expect someone to be coming out and asking for

047another $20 million for that parcel. No one should be acquiring these two without dealing with the next one up the road or up the pond cove if you will. The Arthur Ross was a noted philanthropist who died in 2007. His sons and widow owned a bevy of properties. In fact, they own the two properties directly across from this property and across the cove on the other side. Ordinarily, when the public land trust uh gets involved and and solicits contributions, um who's going to pay? The people who are going to benefit indirectly by b enhancing the value of their own property. They're the first ones who are going to pay money and that they get a write off. They get a federal tax deduction for contributing to the uh uh nonprofit, but yet they're really enhancing

048their own property. Who's paying the $35 million? Don't know. They won't tell us. I've asked. No one seems to know. I've also asked for a copy of the proposed conservation easement that the town has asked going to pay $20 million for. I didn't get it. It doesn't exist. All I got was a copy of a 1978 uh scenic easement agreement which uh Rick mentioned that this is it's a very small scenic easement along the strip of the Cove waterland and um that's it. There is no recitation of exactly what public access public participation we're certainly not restoring this historic farm to active farming which is another appropriate use of town CPF funds. So, there's really a poorly uh explained purpose for this. No explanation for why the town should pay above and beyond its share

049of CPF funds beyond what it has an agreement to pay for village acquisitions. Who's going to manage this? What's going to happen on that property? None of those documents exist yet. Who's paying the $35 million? Don't know. the people who seem to be benefiting the most are the Ros family interests who own the surrounding properties. Perhaps they're giving in one hand and taking in the other hand. And maybe that's what is driving this entire transaction. I don't know because no one will tell me. But I strongly suggest that without that you need to deal with the next adjacent property also owned by the Ross family interest immediately to the north up the cove because to deal with these two properties and not deal with the next one is really shortsighted. One last thing, you've heard

050it from various people. These lands are protected by obviously um wetlands 150 foot setback. There was a small scenic easement. There are very restrictive covenants and CNRs that were imposed back in 78 and 82 when the two sections of the Cove Hollow Farm subdivisions were adopted. Obviously, the village I don't know the village codes that well, but the possibility of two very nice homes with modern septic systems on this property does not upset me. Thank you. Thank you, David. Larry, welcome, Larry. Uh, pleasure to be here once again. Um, my name is Larry Canwell and I'm the president of the George Kapon Foundation. Um, this year marks the 10th anniversary of the George Kapon Foundation, the creation of it. And over that 10-year period, uh, there's been a terrific partnership between the foundation, the v

051the town board, the village board, the town trustees, the Suffach County, and others. And a lot of pieces of the puzzle are coming together in terms of improving the water quality of George Pond. And it's been a you know a long and complicated effort. Um but because of the partnership that we have, it is showing results and it is being successful and I look forward to many more years of continuing that partnership and continuing to improve the water quality in George Kapon and preserving the natural surroundings of George Kapon. Um, I want to I'm here obviously to support the acquisition, but uh when the agreement between the town and the village um was negotiated um for the use of the CPF funds at the time the CPF program uh actually prior to the adoption of

052the of the by the state of the CPF program, I was the village administrator and I was intimately involved in negotiation of that agreement and the intent of that agreement agreement was to ensure that the village would receive at least 10% of the total CPF funds collected by the town. In fact, uh the village contributes more than 10% of the total CPF funds on an annual basis because if you think of the value and tonight we understand the real estate values and in the village of East Hampton, the amount of taxes raised from the CPF tax is more than 10% of the total that is received uh by the town of East Hampton. Um and that agreement was uh reached in order to ensure that at least 10% of the total would be spent in

053the village since village properties are contributing more than 10% of the total of the CPF funds. In addition, that agreement provides for up to 20% of the total to be spent in the village of East Hampton should the village of East Hampton contribute any of their own funds. So I don't I've never viewed the 10% agreement as an agreement for a minimum contribution. I've always agreed it uh a maximum contribution. I've always considered it to be a minimum contribution. Um and there's a you know I think to continue the working relationship between uh the foundation, the trustees, the village uh and others uh that this is a very worthwhile uh acquisition and I completely support it. Thank you. Thank you Larry. Your honor come up please. Welcome Paul. Well, good evening, Madame Supervisor and town

054board members. It's like a step back in time. I thought my days of approaching a municipal body were over, but I'm very happy to be here tonight regarding this proposed uh venture. Uh let me just step back in time a little bit. You heard early on uh that John Holy and the land trust got involved when we made our first acquisition. CPF and Larry was there. we were there together uh had just become law of the land on the five east end towns and I wanted to elk out and we did we got this agreement with the town of East Hampton Town and village at the time I don't know if that's changed we were the only village within a township that had codified a written agreement that a certain amount of monies would go

055to the village of East Hampton and as Larry indicated I don't know the numbers to be specific that the village of East Hampton was is maybe 30% 33% of the assessed valuation of the town of Eastampton. I'm sure that numbers changed, but being said, um the opportunity became available where we were able to purchase the former Mark Rick property. I had worked out an arrangement with the then uh owner of the property working with Larry and village attorney. The only thing is we had 30 days to come up with the money and we didn't have it. And that's when um John and the land trust became involved. We the village was able to secure a private donor that gave us the amount of money that was needed which was I believe 3.2 million and he

056wanted the money back in 30 days. That's when John came into the uh exercise and that's when I first met John and I can only tell you he's a beautiful soul, consmate human being and cares very deeply about our environment. I'm happy to say that that deal came to fruition. That was the first purchase with CPF money in the village. And over the last number of years, I know that there's been parcels that maybe have been discussed. I'm not sure certain they came to fruition. The bottom line is I'm here tonight to support this little bit of background. When Chony Farm was there and they had dairy cows, I used to take my daughters up there to watch them milk the cows at night. That's how evolution has taken place. And it's so nice to

057see that that uh in perpetuity that land to the extent available is being left in its original state. these parcels are available. And I would only underscore uh and I would answer a question from the previous speaker. If indeed this becomes the reality, the town will hold the land. The village is a partner. The land trust will be the steward of the property. That's a trifecta as far as I'm concerned. And I think it would be a feather in the cap of the village, the town, and again the land trust. So, thank you. And um what can I say? Yeah, I just would add one comment, not Germaine. Congratulations on the roundabout. Thank you. Thank you, Paul. Would anyone else like to address the board? Is there anyone else in the room that would like

058to address the board? No. Okay. Matthew, is there anyone on the line for this public hearing? We have no callers on the line. Motion close. Second. All in favor? I. Okay. Cheryl, if you could read the second meeting notice, please. Why don't we give it a minute if folks are going to be leaving the room? We're going to just pause the meeting for a minute so you folks can uh Thank you for coming. Yeah, just let Yes. Okay. Cheryl, why don't you get started with the second meeting notice, please? Take notice that hold a public hearing in the town board meeting room, East Hampton Town Hall, 159 Panagle Road, East Hampton, New York, pursuant to 247 of the general municipality code and 64E8 of the Town Law of the State of New York on July

0593rd, 2025 at 6 p.m. or soon as or as soon after that is the matter may be heard to consider the following. the town acquisition of the preserve of open space, recreation areas, and the improvement of water quality with community preservation funds for a property located at 40 43 Mile Mile Hill Road, East Hampton, reputed owned by 43 Mile Hill LLC, and consisting of approximately 9.35 acres of vacant land at a cost to the town of East Hampton not to exceed $16 million plus reasonable Survey title pr-rated tax and recording charges said property being described on the Suffach County Tax M as 300-72-1-2 an amendment to the 2025 CPF management and stewardship plan to include said property. Thank you, Cheryl. So, we have a number of folks signed up for this public hearing. First up

060is Larry Consulick. Welcome, Larry. Thank you. Hello. Uh Larry Consul. Um my wife and I, Gay Gay, um decided we wanted to speak out in favor of this uh this this uh proposal and uh so we uh we formed you might say formed this uh we call it the high barbery alliance and uh we have u in a short time we have close to 40 people who have have indicated their support of of our uh position platform and I'll hand you this position the clerk's position platform at the end of what comments I make, but my wife will actually read it into the record after me. I'm here to basically kind of give an outline layout of the land since um I probably know it as well as almost anybody does. My family bought out

061out there with the Wheelings in 1948. My mother and father and Dwayne Wheelen who was a town attorney and his wife Mary Wheelen purchased 40 acres of the it was actually the back 40 acres of Phoebe Skoy's farm. Now, Phoebe Skoy was a very um very industrious woman who actually made a go of it in uh in the 1800s without electricity, running water. I mean, I I imagine she had wells and uh actually became a productive farm or sustenance type of farm. And then uh my parents uh we uh we also actually lived off the land. We didn't have electricity till I was 12. We had cows, steer, pigs. I mil the cows and I still have five acres of that. And uh but uh I wanted to so in in 19 so I was

062born in 1951 and in about 19 middle 1950s my cousin Peter and I were walking up the beach and Mile Hill Road and we saw a man um in a stream um and he had a shovel and he was digging into the stream. It was a title stream that we was familiar with and um and he was it was his name was Ernie Kiyati and uh he was starting uh the beginnings of a marina. His dream was to make a marina there. So he had a shovel and I guess he was just trying to check out what the tide was doing with that stream and uh plans for the future. Um I remember not liking that when I saw it, but I was just a little boy of course. But anyway, but he's a very

063nice man and his plans, he followed through with his plans to the best he could. What happened though is that when Northwest when Northwest um harbor changed because they moved the creek, the creek channel to the creek to Northwest Creek um used to be on the on the warf side and then they added a dredge came in probably in the early 1960s and dredged up dredged a new channel on the Barcelona side and so the old channel got clo was closed off and resultingly Ernie's uh plans uh were really uh not quite dashed but they were hindered to quite an extent because now large boats would not larger boats would not be able to come into his marina. So ultimately what he did is he dredged the inlet larger and he made his first basin.

064and he used a crane and my cousin David Wheeler I remember helped him with that and he made a basin and he made remember seven little boats because he wanted to do what How Howard Overton had done in the creek and rent out small boats and that was not successful for Ernie probably because um the the inlet was not deep enough and then later on um uh uh Ernie um the the on main New Town Lane was being demolished and he managed to get all of that concrete and the bricks and he trucked them in and he made a jetty a a jetty, you know, out to the bay. And um I think he put the jetty on the wrong side because he had a hard time keeping that marina that inlet deep enough. Although

065in the late uh 1970s before I went to law school after college pro law school, I became a base scholer for three years. I rebuilt a 28 foot boat with a local fisherman who was a boat builder and I loved it. I loved doing it. But you couldn't make enough money doing it. It was part-time job. But in those days there were scolops. Anyway, um but I could get that boat through there. It was deep enough at that time. Well, sadly, I guess you might say sadly, um I think me and Howard Overton had ultimately retired and sold his little place in Northwest Creek where his only Ernie's only customers and I paid him I think $30 a month. So Ernie became a mailman. A lot of you might have known him and he called

066himself lovable Ernie. But anyway, um uh but that marina um Ernie passed away in the early early 1990s and u that inlet closed up and right I went and looked at it just the other day my neighbor Brian Demain I told Brian I said you know mentioned something about the marina being navigable waters you know entitled he said you can't get into that basin anymore so I went down and looked and sure enough the entire inlet is closed off now and I think that's why the survey calls it ponds And uh uh and now the problem that I see is now we're in favor of this purchase, but I do see some issues uh because those ponds now are um they're um they're what they it's just like in the Wayne Scott pond where they

067call it um impaired water and they're not being flushed out enough and the fragmatis is is is overtaking that area too. So I hope that the town if even and when they buy this they do have a management plan that that's let allows those that's whether they put a culvert in the way they do over at Hook Pond to allow the tide to come in and out or even once a year perhaps use a back co and keep that that flow in at least a little bit not for big boats but enough to flush out those ponds because they're actually probably dangerous in terms of a health and then uh we'll read this my wife will read this positional statement now we're in favor of allowing the public to come onto that property and walk

068onto the property. But we're not in favor of a designated trail. The reason is is that um designated trails bring in more people and they bring in congestion for parking. Now this road, Michael Road, it terminates um you know at the end of Phoebe Scores estate. She had 90 acres. We had the back 40 Reges. Kathy Kennedy is here. Her family owns Reges at the front 50. But it's a dead end street and it gets overcrowded all the time now. I don't even go to the beach now because there's too many cars and you can't park around and we only live a quarter mile up from the beach. So, um, so I I I think that I think we should I think the best plan in my opinion would be to keep that gate closed

069the way it is right now. Allow people to walk through it, but not to make a designated trail. There's a trail up the road. People could get, you know, only about 100 yards up the road, 50 yards up the road is is a trail. But I think if we let if it was left the way it is, I think it'd be a passive reserve the way it should be. It wouldn't turn into a parking lot. It would stay pretty much the same. And I don't think the town wants people coming into a pond area where there could be, you know, health health issues, intermittent health issues. And u and not needless to say, a parking in that area would make my little road ridiculously crowded. It's already overcrowded right now. So I I hope that

070the town's going to just buy it and keep it the way it is. and manage the ponds uh appropriately. What? Thanks a lot for this and I'll leave these if I may with the clerk the positional statements and my my wife is going to read it into the record. Thanks. Actually, what I forgot to do, I jumped ahead of myself. You had an introduction, right, for this. I I did I think that was way more history than I was going to provide for you though. I can give you the short version. Why don't you just Why don't you do a short version so that folks at home too can see where the property short version here? I'll even put the aerial back up. Thanks, Scott. I also want to show you what what he was

071talking about. So, why don't I do this Ariel instead? Great. This is what it looked like in 1962. The parcel that's outlined in blue. You can see all the vector control ditches and how much wetlands were there. And this portion, how many shovel scoopfuls he must have taken to get that there. But this is what it looked like in 1978 after the dredging. So a lot of those wetlands were filled in to create this compound with structures and so on. But fast forward to 2023. I'm just going to read you a short excerpt from our planning assessment that was actually done in 2011, but it's still pretty relevant. So even though the land has been disturbed by prior development and the soil type is categorized as fill land or dredge spoil native species predominate and

072the diverse habitat provides food and shelter for a wide variety of native wildlife. It is valuable upland that is surrounded by tidal wetlands, marshes and beach. And as you can see on this current aerial, the county, state, and the town have ma all made considerable strides to protect this sensitive area in our town. Everything you see in green is protected. The property is within a scenic area of statewide significance. Is within a critical lands protection strategy, a critical natural resources area, the harbor protection overlay district, a water protection district, and as part of a significant coastal fish and wildlife habitat. Long list. For these reasons, the parcels meet the criteria set forth in town law 64E as South asked the board to pass a resolution to acquire this property. Great. Thank you, Scott. Okay. Now,

073Gabe, if you could come up and Gabe, Campbell Consulate. Um, we fully support the town of East Hampton's initiative to acquire 43 Mile Hill Road property, also known as High Barbarie Marina, a 9.6 acre parcel of significant ecological value. This land, which includes part of Barnes Meadow and extends along Northwest Harbor, is part of New York's best preserved bay. surrounded by protected areas owned by the state, county, and town. Recognizing the environmental sensitivity of this area, we advocate special measures to ensure its protection and preservation. The purchase of High Barbaring Marina will be funded by the town's community preservation fund. According to rule nine of the 2022 management and stewardship plan, public access to the purchased land may be restrict restricted when it poses a risk to the property or its natural resources. Importantly, a

074scenic and conservation easement accepted by the town on December 4th, 2024 authorizes the implementation of a management plan that prohibits public access. Opening the area to the public without restrictions leads to littering, unauthorized parking, camping, beach parties, kayak storage, and erosion. Allowing cars would exacerbate noise, pollution, dust, and debris. Pre-desated trails attract more visitors, resulting in increased traffic, parking issues, and land degradation. The area near the foot of Mile Hill Road already suffers from parking and congestion. A trail system on 43 Mile Hill Road that is accessible from Mileill Road and from Northwest Landing Road would negatively impact the nearby communities. While we do not oppose public access to the property, we urge the town to prohibit defined trails on the property. We recommend public access be restricted as follows. No motordriven vehicles should be

075allowed to access the property maintaining the current lock gate to prevent car entry. Access to the property should be limited to foot traffic only in accordance with the existing ex conservation easement and with rule nine control public access to maintain the natural and scenic state and present character of the land. A management plan should prohibit the establishment of public trails to prevent environmental degradation. The marina basins now referred to as ponds risk becoming impaired due to algae blooms and pollution from potential water flow from Suffach County vector control mosquito ditches. The isolation from the bay could threaten the aquatic ecosystem and human health as has occurred at Wayne's cut pond. We recommend a management plan to monitor the health of the ponds. We suggest a culvert be installed like the culvert installed at Hook Pond

076to allow seawater to flow in and out with the tide or at least flush out the bases by periodically reopening with a backhoe the historical inlet to the bay. In summary, we advocate for limited public access, vigilant water body management, and a prohibition of trail development to preserve the ecological integrity of High Barbarie Marina. Sincerely, Larry and Gay. Thank you, K. Thank you. Hey, next up, Rick Whan. Welcome back, Rick. Good evening again, Madam Chairwoman. I'm a supervisor. Members of the town board, Richard Whan speaking here as a private citizen. Um, I'm in favor of this acquisition. Um, obviously Larry Counseling having lived nearby knows the history of the actual parcel better than I do, but it was the High Barbar Marina. It was owned by Ernest Kamathy and closed down around 1985. That's when

077it ended. So there was and Scott of course showed you on the aerials it was actually a boat basin and it has closed down and that's why you have what appears to be a man-made pond. Uh this is part of an area known historically as Barnes Meadow that tidal marsh which is still a very very high quality uh salt meadow was Barnes Meadow. Uh it's mostly all of that land is now preserved. The adjacent land the meadow itself there are about 55 acres of land there preserved there. Most of it's owned by the New York State DEEC, although most of that land was actually preserved by the planning board in the subdivision. To the south of it, and also contiguous is Northwest Swamp, where the town owns 11 acres. So 11 acres and 55 acres,

078that's a 66 acre contiguous preserved area. If you acquire this land, which is 9 acres, that brings the total up to 75 acres. Uh, and I'm a big believer in building on you what you have. So, uh, this was originally part of Barnes Meadow. As Scott indicated, it was filled, then the boat basin was dredged out. Uh, so obviously it's a very worthwhile acquisition for the town. I will mention a bit of historical trivia. So, just to the northeast of this property is 2 acres of townland at the end of Mile Hill Road. So, actually, when you make that contiguous, you'll have a 77 acre preserve. So, as far as I can tell, that 2 acres on Mile Hill Road is the first land the town of Eastampton ever purchased for open space. 1956. Thank

079you. Thank you, Rick. John John VHsey, president of the Ponic Land Trust. Since I am so seldom here for things like this and since it's another conservation project following ours, I wanted to stay and I wanted to voice our support Land Trust uh of this acquisition and uh it's never a uh zero sum game. There's lots of land that needs to be protected and we are so fortunate to have the CPF to do it through 2050 right now. So let's not be let's not be bashful about spending the money to protect what is important. I will say just hearing the conversation that public access must not undermine the conservation values for the per the purposes for protecting the land. So you know obviously you're going to need to do a appropriate management plan just as

080we will on the property that we own. hopefully will go forward to protect with you. It's just important that the conservation values whether it's the uh water quality or it's the uh the uh ecological integrity of the of the of the nature that's there. You you have to tailor the public access to what you're trying to protect. So go for it. Thank you. Thank you, John. Brian Domain. Welcome, Brian. Thank you. Um, madame supervisor, members of the board, I'm Brian Dummain. I live at 39 Mile Hill Road, which is contiguous to 43 Mile Hill Road. Um, I here to support every point that uh Larry and Gay made about the land. It's one of the most pristine parts of the town and one I think one of the most beautiful parts of the town. And

081what you're doing is you're in purchasing this land if you decide to do so is putting a final piece of a puzzle into an amazing area of the town. If you think about it, uh Mr. Whan talked about Barnes Meadow. My house looks out on Barnes Meadow and it's incredible. I mean the the snowy white egrets, the the blue herand, the bald eagles, the you name it. Um but that's just a small part of the picture. If you look at the whole area, you start at Barcelona neck, right? That's preserved. And then you come to the county and Northwest Creek where I keep my little sailboat. That's preserved. And then we have Barnes. And then we have the Grace Estate. And then we have Cedar Neck Park. And if you stretch your imagination a little

082bit and you look across the bay, you've got macho and you look across and all you see are trees. It's the most There are no mega mansions there. It's just nature. So, it's a I think it's an amazing thing that you're doing if you do purchase this land. Now, I want to make one point uh to support uh Larry's point about uh a trail. First, first of all, it's kind of a silly place for a trail. I don't know if any of you have visited the the land in question, but you you walk down a little driveway and there's a clearing where the people were going to build their house, 10,000 foot house and then to the right is the marina or the what was the marina. It's all which is actually I mean that

083I my grandkids go down there and they they watch the great blue herand there and the ducks when they're migrating. It's a you can see it from the beach. You don't need access from the land to see it. You can you can walk through a little path on the on Mile Hill Beach and you can hide yourself the foot of this trail where the birds don't see you and you can spot all the birds. You don't spook them. But if you had, you know, people on the land walking up to the water, you're going to spook spook the birds. But there's not a lot of space to walk. I mean, it'd be silly having like trail markers because you can sort of see where you are at any time. So, I don't know. I it

084doesn't make a lot of sense to me and to have a trail there. And the other reason you don't want a trail is that you know people will stop and they'll picnic and then you know there'll be garbage left behind and as we know you know we have all these plastics in our food chain now and they you know and or we have um plastic uh six-pack holders and birds get caught in them and and when we walk on the beach, we walk on the beach every day there. We always pick up a handful of little plastic pieces, right, that people have left who are using the beach. And we love people use the beach. Great. It's fine. But, you know, it's just adding to what's one of the most sensitive areas in the region.

085So, in summary, I fully support what you're doing. And thank you. Thank you, Brian. Anyone else? That's all that signed up. Is there anyone? Yes, please. to Ember Davis. Hi, welcome. Thank you, madame supervisor and town board. I'm not familiar with talking before you, but I live at uh You could state your name for the Oh, my name is uh Janet Schneider. I live at uh 66 Northwest Landing Road. This is quite nearby to the subject property. I'm speaking in favor of the town's acquisition. It's a very very unique uh parcel uh very diverse wetlands. I'm an artist, but I also am a avid burer. And uh I would say I visited that site thousands of times uh over the last 40 years. I have to say there's been a marked degradation of the quality

086of the water in the last two and a half to three years. There are many fewer birds. There are very unusual species you see there including like um the belted king fisher, you know, which is a a bird that is very fussy about water quality and where it will fish. Uh I haven't seen one in the last 2 years. Uh there also is a small group of glossy ibis that come in there which is another species you don't commonly see amongst all the other great white heron great blue heron that are more common uh snowy egrets that you see. uh the channel man-made, spade made or however it was made has become really closed. I'd say the last 18 months it's almost totally closed. The water comes in underneath the reeds. Uh there's no open

087channel there anymore. And so the two, if you could call them ponds or residual marina sites, um have become incredibly uh stagnant. And I think it's it works against the beauty of the the preserve. So I would advocate for town to acquire it. It's still incredibly unique and beautiful place, but I'm also advocating for some kind of water management program to go with. And thank you for allowing me to put my two cents in. Thank you, Jen. David, did you want to address the board on this topic? Welcome back, David. Again, David Cuda from the Springs. Uh, I am in support of this acquisition. And I understand that the land owner, the grandson of this the men has done everything he has to do to get the approvals necessary to build. So he's done his

088homework. He's done he's gotten his approvals. He's uh ready to rock and roll. So it's all that more important for the town to consider the acquisition. However, I look forward to the day when after a lot of uh review and and consideration, a detailed management plan is adopted because public access, public use of publicly acquired lands is the lynchpin of the CPF to the extent that it does not harm the environment. And I appreciate there are limits to public access and public use. and uh Scott and I don't know if this property will be added to the uh nature preserve or not, but uh I I look forward to the fact that I am confident that they will develop an appropriate management plan that provides a maximum reasonable public access and use of the property.

089Thank you. Thank you, David. Yes, please. Welcome. Hello. I'm um Cindy Shay and I thank the board for having this hearing tonight. I am an associate broker with Sabes International Realy and I am a homeowner in the Northwest Woods of nearly 40 years and I live about a mile and a half from this property. uh for going on two years I've been helping the owner of this property uh assess the property and he can't be here tonight. So on his behalf I'd like to tell you that he's very grateful that you are holding this hearing and he sincerely hopes that you know this uh piece of property will be preserved. Um, speaking personally, uh, I have spent so much time, uh, down in that area on that beach. My children from the time they were

090little were digging sand crabs and, uh, we swim there. And I always thought that that was just all public land, state, county, town. So, I was shocked to hear it wasn't. So, I'm thrilled to be here tonight, and I sincerely hope that you'll purchase the land. Thank you so much. Thank you, Cindy. Would anyone else like to address the board? Matthew, is there anyone on the line? We have no callers on the line. Motion to close. Second. All in favor? I. Okay. So, now we're moving on to the third public hearing. Cheryl, if you could read that meeting notice, please. Thank you everyone for coming. Notice is hereby given that the town board of the town of East Hampton will hold a public hearing at Town Hall 159 Panagle Road, East Hampton, New York on

091Thursday, July 3rd, 2025 at 6 as soon thereafter as the matter may be heard to consider comments of all people with regard to the amendment of chap chapter 255 zoning of the East Hampton Town Clo in order to amend chapter 255-1-4141. 31E p uh personal uh wireless facilities tier 1, a local law amending chapter 255 zoning section 255-1-41E tier 1 town street rights of way 255-1-41E tiered permit process. The town of East Hampton Department of Planning shall receive all personal wireless service facility sighting applications and assign each application to one of the following tiers. These tiers represent a ranking for the pre preferred design of future personal wireless service facilities with tier one applications being the most preferred and tier three applications being the least preferred. where an applicant proposes a new tier three personal

092service facility, each applicant shall demonstrate why adequate coverage in the approximately um approximately of the site by either a tier one or by a tier 2 facilities cannot be provided. Tier one town street rights of way small wireless service facilities on existing poles inside Town Street rights of way. small wireless service facilities on new or replacement poles inside Town Street rights of way. Great. Thank you, Cheryl. Is there anyone that wants to address the board on this public hearing? Matthew, is there anyone on the line? We have no callers on the line. Close. Second. All in favor? I. Cheryl, if you could read the fourth meeting notice, please. Notice hereby given that the town board of the town of East Hampton will hold a public hearing at Town Hall 159 Panagle Road, East Hampton, New

093York, or as otherwise set forth herein on Thursday, July 3rd, 2025 6 p.m. or as soon thereafter as this matter may be heard for the purpose of considering a proposed contract with the village to be stamped for fire protection and emergency ambulance service to be furnished by the village on behalf of the fire protection district known as Northwest Fire Protection District and the town of East Hampton Water Supply and Fire District for the calendar years 2026 and 2027 upon the following general terms. One, the fire department shall answer and attend all calls in said fire district and shall furnace firefighting vehicles and equipment and firefighting personnel. Two, the fire department shall furnace emergency ambulance service including vehicles and equipment and ambulance personnel to the district. Three, for the services during the 12-month period of 2026,

094the town of Eastampton shall pay the sum of 3,877, for for such month period of 2027, the town of Eastampton shall pay a sum of 3,993,511 93. Thank you, Cheryl. Would anyone like to address the board on this matter? David? Yes, David, you're behind the screen, so it's harder for me to see now. Good evening. Um, I don't live within the Northwest Fire Protection District, but if I did, I would be very, very concerned about the tax impact of this uh resolution. As a licensed tax grievance consultant, I study the tax rates. And what I've noticed is that the tax rates for the Northwest Fire Protection District have just ballooned. Since 2022, the expenditure by the town was about 1.8 million. Then it reached 2.3 million following year, then 2.4 million, another 2 almost 2.5

095million. We're going and I I thought maybe I had this wrong. We're going from 2.5 million to 3.8 million and then 3.9 million. What is going on? Where is the money going? Why is the expenditure so great? The tax rate for the Northwest Protection Fire Protection District has zoomed from 2022 when it was $52 of um per,000 assessed value uh up to se up to $72.6 per thousand assessed value in three years. How much is it going to be in the next two years based on these numbers? Now, I appreciate that what has perhaps driven this was the creation of that northwest uh fire building at the northwest uh at the end of Cedar Drive. um which to me always thought I always see it as a pmpkin village because I never see any activity

096there and I don't really know what goes on there and I know that we the village had to buy a lot of equipment in order to fill that building and the whole rationale for creating that building was to try to save uh residents of the Northwest Fire District money on their insurance by getting uh a fire station within five miles of their homes, but they may have saved money on their insurance, but they're paying literally through the nose for the fire protection service. So, I know that this is a process, a complicated process of negotiation between the town and the village. We don't have our own town doesn't have fire departments. We have fire districts and then we have fire protection districts where we have to contract with a fire department in order to provide

097services. The village is required to have a fire department. They have a very big fire department. they're able to do the job. But it really some need needs to be an explanation of why it is so damn expensive and going up up and up with beyond irrational obvious reason for it. So that's my comment. Thank you, David. Matthew, is there anyone on the line? We have no callers on the line. Should we close? Second. All in favor? Hi. Okay, we're up to the fifth meeting notice. Take notice that the town board of the town of Eastampton will hold a public hearing pursuant to chapter 232 urban renewal of the town code of the town of East Hampton section 22 232-1-70 modification of the urban renewal plans in the town hall meeting room 159 Panagle Road

098Eastampton New York 11 1937 on July 3rd 2025 at 6 p.m. or as soon thereafter as this matter may be heard to consider the following modification of urban renewal map EH-17. Urban renewal map EH17 uh from URP number four consisting of lot 17- to 23 inclusive as shown on file map number 501. uh URP number six consisting of lots 1 to 11 inclusively as shown as file map number 501. Two, URP number four consisting of lots 1 2 and 17 to 23 inclusive of shown on file map number 501. URP number six consisting of lots 3 through 11 inclusive and part of Underwood Avenue as abandoned with said lot taking access to Royal Street using the 15 foot wide access strip shown on field map number 501. Exception as amended above the requirements of the

099UR map EH-17 shall remain in full force and effect. A copy of a map depicting the proposed change is available in the office of the town clerk during regular business hours of 9:00 am to 4 pm Monday through Friday inclusive inclusive of holidays. A copy of the proposed changes may also be viewed on site. Thank you, Cheryl. So, everyone's left the main meeting room here. So, Matthew, is there anyone on the line? The lions are quiet. Motion to close. Second. All in favor? I Okay, Cheryl. The sixth meeting notice, please. Take notice that the town board of the town of East Hampton will hold a public hearing pursuant to chapter 232 urban renewal of the town code of the town of Eastampton section 232-1-70 modification of the urban renewal plans in the town hall meeting

100room 159 Panogle Road Eastampton New York 1137 on July 3rd 2025 at 6 p.m. or as soon thereafter as the matter may be heard to consider the following modifications of urban renewal map SP-1-1 or um urban renewal map number 161 and SP-4-2 move the driveway access from the parcel of Harbor Boulevard to Park Street with the said driveway being no closer than 50 ft from the eastbound travel lane of Harbor Boulevard boulevard except As amended above, the requirements of the UR map SP-4-2 shall remain in full force and effect. A copy of the map depicting the proposed change is available in the office of the town clerk during regular business hours of 9:00 a.m. to 400 p.m. Monday through Friday exclusive of holidays. A copy of the proposed changes may also be available at the

101town's website. Thank you, Cheryl. Matthew, anyone on the line? No callers on the line. Motion to close. Second. All in favor? I. The seventh meeting notice, please. Take notice that the town board of the town of East Hampton will hold a public hearing pursuant to chapter 232, urban renewal of the town code of the town of East Hampton. Section 232-1-70 modification of the urban renewal plans in the town hall meeting room 159 Panagle Road Eastampton New York 111 1937 on July 3rd 2025 at 6 p.m. or as soon thereafter as this matter may be heard to consider the following modifications of urban renewal map SP-2-2. Urban renewal map numbers 99E and SP-2-2 from portion of the 19th Street road right away immediately adjacent to lot 46 to serve as a driveway access to the vehicle

102access point being at the easterly portion of lot 46. two portion of 19th Street Road right away immediately adjacent to lot 46 to be abandoned with the vehicle access point being at the northeast corner of the parcel of 19th Street urban renewal map numbers 110 in SP-2-2 from portion of the 19th Street uh road rideway immediately jacent to lot one to serve a driveway access with a vehicle access point being on the northerly portion of lot one. Two, portion of the 19th Street road ride ofway immediately adjacent to lot one to be abandoned with the vehicle access point being on the northwest corner of the parcel at 19th Street except as amended above the requirements of the UR map SP-2-2 shall remain in full force in effect. A copy of the map depicting the proposed

103change is available in the office of the town clerk during regular business hours of 9:00 a.m. to 400 p.m. Monday through Friday exclusive of holidays. A copy of the proposed changes will also be available at the town at the town's website. Thank you, Cheryl Matthew. Anyone? No callers. Motion to close. Second. All in favor? Okay. The last and final meeting notice, please, Cheryl. Take notice that the town board of the town of East Hampton will hold a public hearing pursuant to chapter 232, urban renewal of the town code of the town of East Hampton, section 232-1-70, modification of the urbal renewal plans in the town hall meeting room 159 Panagle Road, East Hampton, New York 1137 on July 3rd, 2025 at 6 p.m. or as soon thereafter as this matter may be heard to consider

104the following modifications of urbal renewal map SP-1-1. Urbal renewal map number 97 in SP-1-1 move the driveway access to the parcel of Harbor Boulevard to Park Street with said driveway being no closer than 50 ft from the intersection of Eclair Street and Corbin Avenue except as amended above the requirements of the UR map SP-1-1 shall remain in full force in effect. A copy of a map depicting the proposed change is available in the office of the town clerk during regular business hours of 9:00 am to 4 pm Monday through Friday exclusive of holidays. A copy of the proposed changes will also be available at the town's website. Thank you, Cheryl. Matthew, we have no callers. Motion to close. Second. All in favor? We've got some weather moving in here, folks. Um, okay. So public portion,

105nobody in the main meeting room. Matthew, just confirming there's no one on the line. No one is on the line. All right, Tom, if you could start us off with resolutions, please. Thank you, Madam Supervisor. First resolution is 2025 930. This is our approval of our claims on warrant number 7A in the amount of $2,17,264 and in the amount of $45,67947. Second. All in favor? I 9:31. This is a bond to amend the Amagance Lighting District um bond. This is to increase the total bond to the amount of $95,600 uh to uh encompass design and engineering plans for the Amagancet Lighting District. Second. Can we have a roll call, please, Cheryl? Correct. I resolution 2025 932 is to extend contract EH23024. Uh this is for Fort Hills Cemetery interament and maintenance contract for Peter Joyce

106Seaside Landscaping and Pools. Second. All in favor? I 2025 933 is to accept an open gov change order for additional software services for 2025 for the additional cost of $3,870. Second. All in favor? I 934 is to accept bid EH25029 for the supply and delivery of food items for July 2025 with the contract being awarded to Mill Fudes of New York, Inc. Second. All in favor? I 9:35 is to accept bid EH25030. This is a truml for the sanitation department with the bid awarded to Emerald Equipment Systems in the amount um of $344,680. Second. All in favor? I I'm happy to offer resolution 2025 936. This is the point student intern one in the aquaculture department for Leila Healey hourly rate of $18 per hour effected July 7th, 2025. Second. All in favor? I 937

107is a notice biders for EH25-032. This is the IIA system installation for 20 Dorset Road. The bid is available July 3rd, 2025. The bid is due back July 31st, 2025. Please contact the purchasing department of East Hampton 3244183. If you have any other questions, second. All in favor? I 938. Extend contract eh SAG sorry EH/SAG24-902 for HVAC repairs service and installation to Best Climate Control Corporation through July 31st 2026. Second. All in favor? I. 939 is authorized payment of prior year invoices for the highway department to TN Auto Service in the amount of $74. Second. All in favor? I 940 is a budget modification for the superintendent of highway for the A fund where we're decreasing the amount for contingency in the amount of $8,825 and we're increasing subcontract expense in the amount of $8,825.

108Second. All in favor? I I 941 is a budget modification for aquaculture for propane cost in the amount decreasing the line for travel conference dues in the amount of 20 $250 and increasing the amount of heat budget line for heat in the amount of $250. Second. All in favor? 942 is a budget modification for the parks department uh where we're decreasing health insurance line for $9,000 and increasing the line for general repairs in the same amount. Second. All in favor? I 943 is a budget modification for the M talk playhouse. We're decreasing the line for contingency in the amount of 2,700 and we're uh budget line for the increase in budget for furniture and exp furniture and fixtures in the amount of $2700. Second. All in favor? I I resolution 944 is a budget modification

109of the planning department uh decreasing outside professional in the amount of 15,000 and increasing outside professional in the amount of 15,000. Second. All in favor? I I resolution 945 is to increase cap for engineering services and this is for the engineering services of Vincent Gordiello and the Rainer group to renew drainage plans. Uh whereas said services were not to exceed $25,000. The town board directs the budget office to increase the cap for services to not to exceed $40,000. Second. All in favor? Resolution 946 is the approval of various special events for June and July. Uh the first one is Surf Lodge. Uh and it's the MTOK school jazz band event at Surf Lodge. uh retroactive including Saturday 6:28 4 to 6 pm. Uh take down it will be 78 at 5:00 pm. Um Surf Lodge

110uh the next one is also Surf Lodge for the Sloan Ketering event also takes place at S Surf Lodge on Saturday 75 400 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Uh next one is Project Most. Project Most Igrow summer camp swim beach schedule. This will take place at Maidstone Park Beach Retroactive and uh to and including Mondays from 6:30 2025 through um uh 8:20 2025. Next one is project most project most I grow summer camp swims beach schedule at Albert's Landing Amaganz retroactive 2 and including Tuesdays uh 71 to 8:19 and Thursdays uh 73 to 8 uh 21. Next is Leo Dawn Chamber of Commerce 4th of July Gucci fireworks at Umbrella Beach Mtok Friday July 4th 9:00 p.m. to 9:30. Rain date is uh July uh 6th at the same time. Next is Devon Yach Club 4th

111annual uh annual Fourth of July celebration of fireworks show at the Devon Yach Club Landing Road in Amiganzit on Saturday July 5th 5:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Their rain date is also July 6th at the same time. Next is Bob Miller for uh surf therapy, a walk on water surf therapy, Ditch Plains Beach on July 8th through uh 8:21, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:00 a.m. to noon. Next is Mtok Historic Society annual craft fair at Second House. And this will take place Saturday, uh, July 12th, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Sunday, July 13th, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 pm. Um, next is Longhouse Reserve Summer, uh, Longhouse Summer Benefit Luminosity. This takes place on Saturday, uh, July 12th, 5:45 to 11:00 p.m. Uh, next is the Clearwater Beach Association annual beach party for membership. This will take

112place on Saturday, July 12th, 400 pm to 7:30 p.m. Uh, next is Montalk uh Point Lighthouse, Kevin Hart Comedy Show at the Lighthouse, 712, 2025, 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. And finally, uh, Chamber of Commerce, Malk Chamber of Commerce concerts on the Green. These take place on Mondays from July 14th through August 25th, 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Second. All in favor? I uh next I have 947 which is also an approval of various special events for July. The first is uh Duck Creek the art center at Duck Creek family gathering series free art activity. Uh this will take place every Monday from July 7th to August 25th from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Next is concerned citizens of Mtok uh 27th annual Reson Sun surf contest. This takes place July 9th 19th at 8:00 a.m.

113to 6 pm. Their rain date is July 20th 8:00 a.m. to 6 pm. Next is the Wounded Warrior Project Soldier Ride in the Hampton's Wounded Warrior Project bike ride. The routes starting in Amigans Firehouse through various roads to SAG Harbor's Marine Park and return to Amaganza Fire Station. This will take place on Saturday, July 19th, uh 9:00 a.m. to 300 p.m. Next is Hampton Lifeguard Association, Hampton Volleyball by Carrie Walsh Jennings. This takes place at K Park Beach in Montalk, Tuesday, July 22nd, 9 to 7. Uh the rain date is Wednesday, July 23rd, 9 to7. Lastly, Ross School Yacht Rock review at Ross School at the athletic fields at the school. Saturday, July 26, 4 pm to 8:00 pm. Second. All in favor? I. Resolution 4 948 is approval for reimbursement of special event um

114Montuk Music Festival cleanup deposit and this is in the amount of $750. Second. All in favor? I. Resolution 949. This is a notice of public hearing to amend town code chapter 185-4 exceptions to chapter 185-3 noise standards. A public hearing will be held on August 7th, 2025 at 6 pm. Second. All in favor? I. Resolution 950. This is retained consultant, Justin Hornung. Uh Justin Hornung will be paid a rate of $50 per this is for uh the town's afford affordable housing home ownership program um to evaluate applicants and he will be paid an amount of $50 per application uh amount not to exceed $10,000. Second. All in favor? I I have resolution 2025951. It's a bond for $1.5 million for improvements to the town's dispatch center. I discussed this in my liaison liaison report on

115Tuesday. The period of probable usefulness is 15 years. Second, can I get a roll call, please? 951. I I resolution 952 is a list appointment for John Lowe to police officer in the police academy. John Lowe is hereby appointed to the position of police officer to the police academy at the annual salary of $66,54867 effective July 7th, 2025. He will then be placed on an unpaid paid leave of absence beginning July 7th until the start of the Suffach County Police Department Police Academy at a date to be determined. Second. All in favor? I. 953 is a list appointment for Christopher Kramer to the police off to police officer in the East Hampton Town Police Department at the annual salary of 66,54867 effective July 13, 2025. Second. All in favor? I. 954 is to authorize school

116resource officer training in the police department. This is for Michael Rodriguez. The financial impact is $2,500. Second. All in favor? I. 955 is the payout upon retirement for James Bennett. James Bennett has retired from his position of waterways maintenance mechanic three with the East Hampton Town Police Department Division of Marine Patrol effective May 7th, 2025 after 27 years of service. Audited time records indicate that he has acred vacation time, sick personal time, compensatory time, and so he'll have a gross total payout of $29,2546. We just want to wish Jim much good health and happinesses in his retirement because he didn't want to party and he wanted to go out quietly. Second. All in favor? 956 is a release of a performance bond for South Fork Wind LLC. The town of East Hampton accepted a $

1171.5 million performance bond and security from South Fork Wind LLC to assure restoration of the easement and temporary installation easement areas to their pre-assessment pre-easement conditions following the installation of the wind farm cable. The town highway department has reviewed the restoration work and authorized the immediate release of $1 million of the performance bond and security. Second. All in favor? I. 957 is to renew Aera Group CPI benefits advisors. This is for affordable care act compliance at a cost not to exceed $19,500. Second. All in favor? I. 958 is a reimbursement for personal property damage and this is to uh a car that was hit in the town hall parking lot and the reimbursement goes to Ni Valera and Jose Santos for out-ofpocket expenses for vehicle repairs in the amount of $8,82427. Second. All in favor?

118I. 959 is to authorize the use of the town credit card for police department training and this is for police officer Michael Rodriguez at a cost not to exceed $900. Second. All in favor? I. 960 is to increase the cap for outside counsel for Reggano LLC with regard to airport matters for 2025 and an amount not to exceed $150,000. Second. All in favor? I. 961 is to extend contract EH24-024. This is for HVAC HVAC repairs, service and installation for the communication towers and that's with best climate control corporation and this is effective August 5th uh through August 4th, 2026. Second. All in favor. 962 is to extend contract EH24-020. This is for the supply and delivery of auto parts for 2024. Advanced stores company doing business as Advanced Auto Parts, Gradea A Petroleum, Fleet Pride,

119Inc. and Morgan Auto Supply. Second. All in favor? Kate. I don't have it. We go. Uh this is resolution 964. Oh, I'm sorry. 963. This is a budget modification and building department. Uh this is decreasing uh 25,000 for full-time salaries and increasing outside professional in the same amount. Second. All in favor? I. Resolution 964 is to accept proposal from H2M architects and engineers professional counseling service interim plan review and zoning compliance services. Uh the town board received a proposal from HM2 architects and engineers uh for the above mentioned services for various residential and commercial type construction projects located in the town of East Hampton. um resolve that the town board hereby retains H2M architects and engineers upon the terms and conditions noted below fully set forth in their individual proposal dated June 18th, 2025, resolved

120that the town supervisors authored authorized and directed to enter into agreement with H2M architects and engineers for the provision of services. Second. All in favor? I Okay. Does anybody have anything they need to bring up? Yeah. Yeah. All right. So, do I have a motion to close? Motion to close. Second. Second. All in favor? We wish everyone a happy and safe 4th of July. All right. Happy 4th all. Enjoy the weekend.