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COMMAND CENTER Working Together Against a Storm VOL. CXXVIII NO. 23 THURSDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2012 Air And Water Qualms At RECenter B Y C HRISTOPHER W ALSH Heavy use of the swimming pools at the Y.M.CA. East Hampton RECenter is adversely affecting air quality there, necessitating an upgrade to the cen- ter’s ventilation, heating, and air-con- ditioning systems, according to its di- rector. The RECenter’s lap and training pools are used by up to 300 people per day, said Juan Castro, the director. This includes both residents and swimming teams from the RECenter and East Hampton High School. “This pool and facility is heavily used, and at the level we’re experiencing now, we may have to add a secondary system to help with the air quality,” said Mr. Castro. The problem is worse in the winter, he said, when cold weather re- duces ventilation. “It occurs with signif- icant bather-load increases.” The pool’s water quality poses no health hazard, Mr. Castro insisted. The Suffolk County Department of Health has visited twice in the last month, he said, but it does not test the air quali- ty. “They check water-quality proce- dures. They also responded to the fact that there may be some air-quality is- sues, but we meet the standards of the Health Department.” A consultant will test the air in the pool areas soon, he said, a process that will take two weeks. An engineer will also inspect the fa- cility’s heating and ventilation system to determine if it should be modified. “Nobody is saying we can’t improve air quality. We may have to adapt our current system to meet the demands of increased participation,” said Mr. Castro. Xiaoyu Chen, the county’s assistant public health engineer, declined to talk about the RECenter except to say that “we didn’t find any public health haz- ard.” But reports from swimmers of breathing difficulties, diarrhea, cough- ing fits, and skin rashes have some peo- ple concerned. East Hampton Village leases the prop- erty on which the RECenter is situated to East Hampton Town, which in turn licenses the center to the Young Men’s Christia–icense renewal is set to take ef- fect on Jan. 1. Under terms of the agree- ment, the town makes an annual pay- ment of $590,000 to the Y.M.C.A. The town is also responsible for the cost of capital repairs, including “replacement of the roof, boilers, electrical lighting system, HVAC system, pool and More swimmers may mean coughing, rashes Sunsets of 2012 Durell Godfrey Continued on A7 Debate Focus of Wastewater Plan B Y J OANNE P ILGRIM Officials in East Hampton Town took another tentative step recently toward tackling the problem of septic waste and its pollution potential after receiving proposals from four consulting firms that could help develop a comprehensive wastewater management plan for the town. The companies not only submitted information on their qualifications — all found to be sufficient for the project — but each provided an outline of how they would address three key areas: de- velopment of an overall plan for dealing with wastewater in the town, with an eye toward protecting the environment and meeting regulatory mandates; the condition and future of the town’s aging scavenger waste treatment plant, and setting up a program of ongoing water quality monitoring to be sure that ground and surface water quality is maintained. A political standoff over the last two years about what to do with the waste treatment plant, which needs extensive upgrades to meet current environmen- tal standards, led to a shutdown of the plant, except as a waste-transfer station, and continuing arguments, the latest of which took place at two recent town board meetings. After receiving the preliminary re- sponses from engineers, the board must determine exactly what tasks it would like a consultant to undertake and issue a formal request for proposals from com- panies that could be hired for the job. The details provided by engineers in their initial responses as to what areas and options should be explored could guide the content of the request, which the board has asked town planning and natural resources staff to develop for its review. Supervisor Bill Wilkinson and Coun- cilwoman Theresa Quigley, who both opposed the development of a compre- hensive wastewater management plan but were overruled by the other three members of the board, took issue with the inclusion, in all of the companies’ proposals, of plans to assess the func- tioning of the individual septic systems that process the wastewater on proper- ties throughout the town, which does not have any centralized sewer systems. But Kim Shaw, the town’s director of natural resources, informed them at a Dec. 11 town board meeting that the town code requires an inspection by the town, at least every three years, of every on-site wastewater disposal system and sewage treatment plant. In addition, she said, programs such Engineers suggest a look at private septic systems, as well as town plant Continued on A7 To Close a Loophole B Y C HRISTOPHER W ALSH As East Hampton Village officials pre- pare to give 25 historic timber-frame buildings special status that would allow their owners to build a second dwelling on their properties, the village board heard comments Friday on a separate proposed zoning code amendment that would repeal a limited exception allow- ing second houses on other large prop- erties in the village. The zoning code has long allowed a second dwelling on a lot large enough to be subdivided, provided the second house was for “domestic employees or members of the household of the occu- pant of the single family residence.” The house, if newly built, must conform to all setbacks that would be applicable if the property were divided in two. “In the decades since this provision . . . was first introduced into the code, a considerable amount of development and redevelopment has occurred, pro- ducing more crowding of buildings and traffic congestion, and significant chang- es in the character of the neighbor- hoods,” according to the proposed amendment. Given the lengthy deliberations on the consequences of timber frame land- mark designation and a controversial ap- plication by one Main Street couple to build a second house on their property — a move the village is trying to pre- vent — Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. prefaced the hearing on Friday by say- ing, “We will be taking no action at all on this. There will be further discussion and deliberation.” The exception in the zoning code, he said, is inartfully worded, grammatically confusing, and produces conflicting opinions on its very meaning, said An- thony Pasca, an attorney with Esseks, Gefter, and Angel, who represents Gor- don and Amanda Bowling. Mr. and Ms. Bowling “asked me to come and express their support for your proposal to elimi- nate this exception,” Mr. Pasca said. “The bigger-picture question, though, is whether this provision has any use or utility in your modern code,” he said. “The reality is that this is an anachro- nistic vestige of a code that doesn’t ex- ist anymore.” The Bowlings’ house is adjacent to that of John and Suzanne Cartier, who are engaged in a long effort to move their existing house, add 182 square feet to it, and construct a second house of similar size on the property at 105 Main Street. The village sought a temporary restraining order to stop them from do- ing so; it was denied on Dec. 13. Mr. Pasca, who also represented own- ers of one of the proposed timber-frame landmark houses, referred to that legis- lation and the zoning bonus it would confer on the affected properties’ own- ers. “A letter went out to those people Village may say one dwelling per lot is enough B Y T.E. M C M ORROW Inside a large room in East Hampton Village’s Emergency Services Building at 1 Cedar Street, preparation for a major storm, be it a northeaster, a blizzard, or the storm of the century, doesn’t begin in the hours or even days beforehand. It begins months, even years, in advance. East Hampton Village Police Capt. Michael Tracey has seen the operation grow from a gleam in the eye several years ago to today’s well-oiled machine. It is an asset, he said last week, for both the town and village to use, and its val- ue was demonstrated during Hurricane Sandy, the first time a cross-section of emergency responders from across the East End, as well as town agencies as disparate as the Highway Department and code enforcement, could all work smoothly together. “It is a way for the community to build a framework where your informa- tion is going to be funneled into one area, you’re going to formulate a plan and you’re going to get that out to the public,” Captain Tracey said. “You need one centralized place to communicate with everybody on the road, support the leadership that’s going to make deci- sions. It’s not a command center, it is a coordination center.” When a storm actually hits, all hands are on deck, with the coordinators seat- ed around a 12-by-12 foot table, all wired into communications. “There is so much to gain by having everybody to- gether,” said J.P. Foster, one of three emergency dispatch supervisors. He gave an example of how it worked during Sandy, of a downed tree that had to be cleared from the roadway to allow emergency vehicles to pass. “I need three payloaders. The village has two. The Town Highway Depart- ment says, ‘I got one I can send.’ Now we can move a huge tree that we other- wise couldn’t move. For me to have the highway person sitting next to me was so nice.” Captain Tracey described how things were organized. “At the first meeting, [the different department heads] show up with a cup of coffee,” he said. “The second, with a cup of coffee and a pen- cil, and the third, coffee, pencil, and part of the plan they are going to help write.” Sitting together, they run through a step-by-step review of their various plans for emergency. “When you plan as a group, you have to think of everybody,” said Captain Tracey. “The highway fellow, we rely on him for so much, what about gas? That was years ago we thought about that. How far out did you have to know about this storm to know to top off your gas?” Both village and town agencies topped off their supplies of gasoline several days in advance. The captain gave an example of the pitfalls that can be prevented by rigor- ous preparation. “If somebody says, ‘This will be covered by this group.’ Well, who do you contact there? Nobody knows? Guess what. They are not part of your plan.” At that point, he said, it’s time to call the agency in question. If it provides the ‘When you plan as a group, you think of everybody,’ police captain says Continued on A5 QUIET PLEASE Seat Swap Is Sought B Y T.E. M C M ORROW The East Hampton Town Planning Board held its final meeting of the year on Dec. 19, giving several applicants suggestions that could be New Year’s resolutions for their various site plans. For the Montauk restaurant East by Northeast, the board’s advice boils down to one word — Shh! The owners of the South Edgemere Street restaurant, which is about a quar- ter-mile from the Surf Lodge, want to move 48 of its 180 seats, all of them in- doors, to an outside patio, and to im- prove the parking. Both establishments are on Fort Pond, both have parking is- sues in the busy season, and both pre- date the town’s zoning code, which al- lows them to operate in a neighborhood zoned for residential use. Also, because of that last condition, neither is allowed to expand. But, as several board members point- ed out, there is one key difference. Surf Lodge always was and still is a night- club; East by Northeast is strictly a restaurant. As a nightclub, Surf Lodge can play outdoor music much later than East by Northeast, which must shut it down at 9 p.m., just about when a Mon- tauk midsummer night’s scene takes off. East by Northeast can never be a night- club, because that would constitute an expansion of use, prohibited under town law. The restaurant’s application would appear to be ready to schedule for pub- lic hearing, but there was a catch. Be- cause under the code East by Northeast stands too close to wetlands, it must first obtain a natural resources permit and two setback variances, of 67 and 77 feet, from the zoning board of appeals. That board, however, could not hold its hear- ing until the planning board ruled, un- der the State Environmental Quality Review Act, that the project would not have a negative impact on the area. This presented Robert Schaeffer, a board member, with a problem: What if a new piece of evidence were present- ed ex post facto? Would the board be locked into the vote it took that night? After being assured by both counsel and the Planning Department that it could change the vote in that case, the board voted 7-0 to approve the finding under SEQRA, meaning the zoning board is now free to schedule a hearing for the needed variances. Nancy Keeshan, whose real estate of- Pondside restaurant hopes to add outdoor dining Continued on A7 Continued on A4 East Hampton Town’s scavenger waste treatment facility (seen above in August) has been operating only as a wastewater transfer station since early this year. Matthew Sprung Index Arts...................................... C1 Business.................................. B5 Calendar......................... A8, C5 Classifieds............................... D3 Letters................................... B3 Galleries.................................. C3 Nature..................................... D1 Police....................................... A5 Schools..................................... A4 Sports....................................... D1 Going Late The sounds and spirit of a Caribbean diaspora A3 Bridgehampton Modern A Bates Masi project full of dramatic intent C1 Sharks Pinned East Hampton savors win over tough competitor D1 ★ INSIDE ★ N EWSPAPER OF R ECORD S INCE 1885
