The Hampton Library will host its budget vote and trustee election on Saturday, September 27 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the library at 2478 Main Street in Bridgehampton. Four seats will be voted on and filled by Bridgehampton residents; Sagaponack residents will determine the remaining seat.

Incumbents Jackie Poole, Tom House and Louise Collins and newcomer John Vendetti are running for the Bridgehampton seats. Matthew Rojano, another newcomer, is vying for the Sagaponack representation. After serving four three-year terms, Board President Elizabeth Whelan Kotz is stepping down due to term limits, and Trustee Sarah Jaffe Turnbull is not seeking re-election.

Residents in Bridgehampton and Sagaponack will also weigh in on the 2015 budget, which is proposed at $1,551,700.

Photography by Michael Heller/East Hampton Fire Department

By Stephen J. Kotz

A fire that swept through a vacant 17^th century colonial house on Main Street in Sagaponack early Monday morning is being investigated as a possible case of arson.

Southampton Town Police, who are leading the investigation, did not return multiple calls seeking comment, but a firefighter who was at the scene and spoke on condition of anonymity, said on Wednesday that an onlooker had found “some type of fabric” in the nearby Sagaponack burying ground that detectives later determined   had accelerant on it.

The onlooker, who also requested anonymity, said the fabric “looked like an old beach towel” and was accompanied by a shopping bag. “I thought to myself, ‘Did someone escape from that fire?’” the witness said.

The witness gave a statement to police but told The Express that there was nothing outwardly suspicious about the items. “I didn’t smell gasoline,” the person said. “I kicked the bag, but didn’t see a gas can or anything like that, but it was dark.”

According to an inventory of Sagaponack buildings completed for the Sagaponack Village Historic District in 2000, the house, at 850 Main Street, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The northern half of the house dates to approximately 1650. The southern half of the house was built by Jesse Pierson n 1842. His son, David, later lived in the house and it was eventually owned by James Henry Devereaux as a summer home. It was later converted into the “Hearthstone Inn” and remained an in inn until 1962 when it was purchased by the Robb family for a summer home. The property is now owned by part-time resident Peter Smith.

According to Bridgehampton Fire Chief Gary Horsburgh, the initial call came in at 5:42 a.m. Second Assistant Chief Jeff White, who was the first member of the department on scene, found the south side of the house totally engulfed in flames, Chief Horsburgh said.

“We put out the call for mutual aid right away,” Chief Horsburgh said. “It was all exterior fighting. It was too hot to go inside.”

Chief Horsburgh said the East Hampton, Sag Harbor, and Southampton Fire Departments also responded to the scene, as did the Southampton Village Ambulance and Sag Harbor Volunteer Ambulance Corps. North Sea firefighters provided backup at the Bridgehampton firehouse.

The chief said about 75 volunteers turned out to help put out the fire, which took about three hours to put out. Firefighters were called back to the scene around noon to extinguish embers that were in danger of reigniting.

Chief Horsburgh said no one was injured in the blaze.

Chris Hanson, a Southampton Town fire marshal, who was involved in the initial investigation said on Wednesday that the matter had been turned over to town police and declined to comment.

The Suffolk County Police Department’s arson squad, which also investigated the scene on Monday, also referred calls to town police.

The Pike farm stand on Main Street in Sagaponack. Photo by Stephen J. Kotz.

By Mara Certic

The Peconic Land Trust has been dedicated to preserving the natural lands and working farms on the East End for over 30 years. As real estate prices continue to climb, the land trust has been exploring ways to impose restrictions that would keep local farmers farming.

John v.H. Halsey, president of the Peconic Land Trust, spoke about some of the methods to preserve farmland at this month’s meeting of the Bridgehampton Citizens Advisory Committee on Monday, July 28.

The most common way, the purchase of development rights, was pioneered nationwide by Suffolk County in 1970s. The practice has since been emulated throughout the nation.

“A simple explanation is this: when you own land, it comes with a bundle of rights. Zoning, of course, gives you the parameters of what you can do with it,” Mr. Halsey explained on Monday. “Probably the most valuable right associated with land is the right to build,” he said. The other rights, such as the right to farm or the right to walk on the land have less value in the marketplace.

“So the farmer would sell the most valuable rights associated with the land, but they would retain all the other rights with it,” he said. This became an opportunity for farmers to tap into the equity of their land and afford the estate tax on their land. It was also a way to ensure that farmland remained agricultural land and to prevent the over development of open space.  Beginning in the early 1980s, East End towns began creating funds to purchase development rights and open space.

Another way of protecting agricultural land is through the subdivision process. The  cluster provision, which came into use in the 1980s, typically “clusters” development in the least valuable portion of the property and requires that 50 to 65 percent of the rest of the land be preserved.

According to Mr. Halsey, both methods have been successful components of conservation through the years, but more needs to be done.

“As land value goes up, the federal estate tax becomes more of an issue. The value of real estate has continued to go up and today it’s higher than it’s ever been and it’s higher than anyone could have thought,” Mr. Halsey said.

“Non-farmers are not bound by the same economic reality,” he continued. Over the past 40 years, 12,000 acres of farmland has been protected in Suffolk County; several thousand of those acres are in the Town of Southampton.

However much of this land has been taken out of production,  with much of it going top equestrian uses, which is defined as an agricultural use by New York State, he added.

Mr. Halsey was keen to say that he has no problem with horses, but stressed, “It is disturbing to me that that could end up being the only agricultural use that anyone has in the long run. I’m seeing the intent of these programs unraveling.”

“We need to do something and do it in a way that’s fair,” he added.

In 2010, the Peconic Land Trust purchased 7.6 acres of farmland from the Hopping family in Sagaponack for $6 million. It then sold the development rights to the county for $4.3 million. “We wanted to get this land into the hands of the Pikes,” Mr. Halsey said, noting that Jim Pike had farmed on the land when it was owned by the Hopping family but did not have the means to purchase it from them directly.

As a public charity, however, the Peconic Land Trust cannot sell something to someone at less than market value, and even without the developmental rights, the farmland was expensive for the Pikes.

So the trust borrowed restrictions that Massachusetts and Vermont have been using to protect farmland. It was then able to put in these additional restrictions, which “reduced the value of that farmland so non-famers weren’t interested,” he said.

Under the deal, the parties agreed to eliminate equestrian use and drastically limited the right of Mr. Pike to use the property for nursery stock. The trust has retained the right to lease the land to a farmer if it is taken out of production for two years. The trust also put on a restriction to ensure that it has the right to review the future sales of the farmland and that it must be sold to a qualified farmer. It sold the property to the Pikes for $167,200.

“Our goal has been to model these restrictions and try to get the town to consider incorporating them into the town purchasing policy,” Mr. Halsey told the CAC.

Three months ago, these additional restrictions were used by the trust to purchase 33 acres on Head of Pond Road in Water Mill. “We’re very pleased that the town board agreed unanimously to purchase the additional restrictions,” he said.

“We’re the first municipality in the State of New York to include these new restrictions and [the members of the board] deserve a lot of credit for that,” he said.”

The Peconic Land Trust will celebrate the latest acquisition on Tuesday, August 5, at 10 a.m. at the newly acquired land.

The Southampton Town Board on Tuesday again tabled a resolution allowing it to sign a contract with the state Department of Transportation to obtain a $500,000 federal grant to refurbish the Bridge Lane bridge that connects Sagaponack and Bridgehampton.

Work on the project has been put on hold for months because residents have opposed plans to modernize the structure, specifically plans for new guardrails and the removal of curbing along the pedestrian walkway.

The Village of Sagaponack even offered to reimburse the town for the grant money if it would proceed with a design that is more in keeping with its residents’ wishes, but Southampton Town Highway Superintendent Alex Gregor has refused to change the design, saying alternatives would not meet safety standards.

Southampton Town Councilman Brad Bender had planned, at Mr. Gregor’s request, to bring the resolution up for a vote on Tuesday, but was forced to ask the board to put it off for another month, until its August 26 meeting.

“We’re still at an impasse,” he said before Tuesday’s meeting.

Townline BBQ on Townline Road in Sagaponack will be hosting Bingo Nights every Wednesday at 7 p.m.

The night will consist of seven rounds of bingo for $4 a card or $10 for three cards. Attendees can win cash, prizes and other goodies.

The Bingo Night will replace Quiz Night, which was held every Thursday during the off-season.

Townline BBQ is open daily at 11:30 a.m. For more information, visit www.townlinebbq.com or call (631) 537-2271.

Wölffer No. 139 dry rosé hard cider. Photo courtesy Wölffer Estate Vineyard.

By Tessa Raebeck

After years of falling by the wayside in conversations about great American wine, the coastal vineyards of Long Island are finally getting the recognition they deserve.

In the June 15 issue of Wine Spectator, Ben O’Donnell writes of “Long Island’s Rising Tide,” focusing on three local wineries, the Wölffer Estate Vineyard in Sagaponack, and McCall Wines and Bedell Cellars in Cutchogue.

“It’s an exciting time for Long Island wine,” writes Mr. O’Donnell.

Winemaker Roman Roth created Wölffer’s signature rosé in the 1990s, when neither the wine nor the region were as well known. Today, the vineyard sells 17,000 cases of rosé a year—usually selling out by August—and 37,500 cases overall. It recently delved into the hard cider market with “Wölffer No. 139” dry rosé and dry white ciders.

With sustainable farming, organic cattle raising and credit as the first vineyard to erect an energy-generating windmill, McCall Wines in Cutchogue is at the forefront of modern agriculture. A relatively new winery, the first vintage bottled in 2007, McCall’s Bordeaux blend is a Merlot-dominated cuvee with a measure of Cabernet Franc and splashes of Petit Verdot and Cabernet Sauvignon.

A huge force in popularizing Merlot in the region, Bedell Cellars, also in Cutchogue, produces 12,000 to 15,000 cases a year. Bedell bottles are decorated by artists, a creative addition of owner Michael Lynne, who is also president of New Line Cinema.

“These exemplars,” writes Mr. O’Donnell, “are pushing themselves, and each other, to capture the best possible wines from what the land—and the sea—gives them.”

By Tessa Raebeck

As part of its Locals Nights series, the Wölffer Estate Vineyard hosts Trivia Night with Paul Johnson Tuesday, April 1.

In teams of up to five, players will compete for prizes in rounds on topics ranging from wine to celebrity gossip.

Mr. Johnson has made a name for himself on the local bar game scene hosting the popular Thursday night trivia game at Townline Barbeque in Sagaponack.

“When I’m coming up with questions, I like to strike a balance between fun and challenging,” Mr. Johnson said. “If it’s too easy, the hardcore trivia fans are going to be disappointed. Too difficult and the casual players won’t want to come back. When I’m hosting, I want everyone to enjoy themselves—myself included.”

“On any given night, there could be one round about classic literature, one about celebrity marriages, one about fast food; it’s really limitless. I just try to make sure that there’s something for everyone,” he added.

With half-price glasses of wine and rotating themes for a cover charge of $10, Locals Nights at Wölffer are every Tuesday from 4 to 8 p.m. Trivia will run from 6 to 8 p.m. For more information, visit wolffer.com or call 537-5106.

By Stephen J. Kotz

The Village of Sagaponack and Southampton Town remain at a stalemate over Highway Superintendent Alex Gregor’s plan to forge ahead with a controversial plan to replace the Sagg Bridge.

The village has objected to a plan to install modified guardrails offered by Mr. Gregor, and he says he has no intention of allowing the village to annex the bridge, which village officials have raised as a possible solution.

The dispute over the tiny span, from which Bridgehampton derives its name, erupted in December when Mr. Gregor unveiled plans for a new bridge that included larger guardrails that meet the state highway safety code, but which Sagaponack residents say would cut off the view of the pond.

As an alternative, in February, the village offered to reimburse the town $500,000 for the federal grant money Mr. Gregor was planning to use for the project and help pay for future upkeep if the highway superintendent would cancel plans for installing the new guardrails.

But Mr. Gregor has refused. “I’m simply trying to make the bridge safe right now,” Mr. Gregor said on Tuesday.

As a compromise, Mr. Gregor said he offered to use a more historic-looking type of guardrail that he saw on numerous bridges on the Pacific Coast Highway during a recent vacation in California. The new railings would add about $22,000 to the coat of the project, but village officials have rejected his suggestion, he said.

Sagaponack Mayor Donald Louchheim said on Wednesday the village was stumped by the town’s refusal to accept its offer to pay for the bridge work or annex the structure.

“We thought we were giving the town a gift,” he said of the offer to pay for the work. That would free the town to use the grant money on another deserving road project, he added.

He suggested the board was unwilling to move forward with the village’s offer because it did not want to ruffle Mr. Gregor’s feathers.

On Tuesday, Mr. Gregor said he was growing tired of the delays. The highway superintendent said he had informed Sagaponack officials that was going to replace the bridge shortly after he took office in 2010 and delivered a complete set of plans for the new span last summer.

“I didn’t hear boo from them until I had my public information session late last year,” he said.

Mr. Gregor said he was hoping to go out to bid on the project this month, but he cannot do so until the town board votes on a resolution to accept the $500,000 construction grant that was procured by U.S. Representative Tim Bishop but is administered by the state Department of Transportation.

Mr. Gregor added that he had the authority to stop the village from annexing the bridge, which lies partly in the village and partly in town.

“According to the New York State Department of Transportation I own and am responsible to maintain the bridge and approaches to it,” Mr. Gregor said, referring to the town Highway Department.

But Mr. Louchheim rejected that notion. “Mr. Gregor has no authority over it,” he said. “The town owns the bridge. The town board can do it if it wants to do it.”

Even if the village were able to gain control of the bridge, Mr. Gregor said it was unlikely they would be able to get what they wanted.

“They must think they are going to be able to go to the DOT and have them tell them they can put in something that is less than standard,” he said.

Not true, again, said Mr. Louchheim who insisted the state could not force the village to bring the bridge up to code if it was not paying for the work.

Locals nights are every Tuesday at Wölffer Estate Vineyard.

By Tessa Raebeck

What will bring locals out of their winter hibernation for a springtime Tuesday night? Wine and poetry is a good place to start. As part of its Locals Night series, the Wölffer Estate Vineyard is hosting an evening of local poets, complimented by half-priced glasses of local wine.

Scott Chaskey, the “poet farmer,” published author and farm director at the Quail Hill Farm in Amagansett, will read selections of his work, as will his wife Megan. Local poets Julia King, Lucas Hunt, Tom Oleszczuk and Ivo Tomasini will also perform.

“Come support two thriving, local art forms: winemaking and poetry, while enjoying great local wines,” said event organizer Tyler Armstrong, a local ecologist who will host the evening and read selections of his own poems.

The evening of poetry, wine and local friends is Tuesday, April 29 from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Wölffer Estate Vineyard, 139 Sagg Road in Sagaponack. With a $10 entry fee, half-price glasses of wine are available from 4 to 8 p.m. For more information, call 537-5106 or visit wolffer.com.

Jackson Dodds of Jackson Dodds & Company Inc. Photo by Steven Kotz.

By Stephen J. Kotz

If you want to catch Jackson Dodds, the owner of the landscaping company of the same name, sitting still, you’ll have to move quickly.

After a long and tough winter, Mr. Dodds said he is anticipating a very short window this spring to prune storm-damaged trees, clean up and prepare gardens for the season, repair damage to driveways and curbs caused by snowplows, and get irrigation systems up and running, all jobs his full-service company handles.

“Everybody is going to be really busy,” he said of the trade in general during an interview in his Southampton office. “So if you want to get on the schedule, don’t wait a month because we’re going to have a really condensed season.”

Every spring seems to bring a different challenge, said Mr. Dodds. Last year, it was damage from Hurricane Sandy. This year, ‘it’s been a brutal winter, and the deer damage is obscene,” he said. “A lot of deer-resistant plant material has been completely defoliated.”

Mr. Dodds, who grew up on what today is the Wolffer Estate Vineyard in Sagaponack, said he always wanted to “work outside” and the East End was one of the few places that offered the opportunity “where you could be a landscaper and still make a living.”

“I started dragging brush right of high school,” after landing a job with Ray Smith and Associates 19 years ago, where he was soon made a partner, Mr. Dodds said, adding that he was proud that he was the youngest certified arborist in New York State at age 18 and today is the vice president of the Long Island Arboricultural Association.

Mr. Dodds attended both Alfred State College and the State University of New York at Delhi before later completing his education at Farmingdale State College, where he received degrees in landscape design and turf management with a minor in business. “Farmingdale is a great school on Long Island for horticulture,” Mr. Dodds said.

Three years ago, he made the break to form his own company. Today, Jackson Dodds and Company has 14 employees, spread over four divisions, landscape design and installation, tree pruning and removal, irrigation and lawn care and planting.

During his career, Mr. Dodd said he has seen everything, including a trend that started in the mid-1990s before pausing for a few years when the economy tanked in 2007: the removal of full-size specimen trees from one property to be planted on another property, where the homeowner wants an instantly mature landscape.

“They say, ‘the first year it sleeps, the second year it creeps and the third year it leaps,’” Mr. Dodd said about tree transplants, although he quickly added that mature trees sometimes take a couple of more years to recover. “The after-care is everything,” he said. “That is where we carve out a niche, watching the plant’s health and care, prepping the soil and feeding.”

And how big are these trees? Last year, Mr. Dodds said his crew used a 110-ton crane to move a tree that had a 108-inch root ball. “Some of my clients move trees like they move furniture,” he said. “Nothing is too big.”

Fruit orchards are another specialty. “Fruit trees require a very specific timing on when you apply fungicide to the leaves,” he said. “You have to do everything to keep the leaf healthy to keep the fruit healthy. If you miss the timing, your fruit turns into a shriveled up prune.”

Mr. Dodd smiles when asked about organic plant care. It doesn’t work on orchards, he said, and the problem with it is “it typically doesn’t give the kind of results people expect out here.”

That’s not to say he is an advocate of wholesale applications of chemical pesticides and fertilizers. Mr. Dodd said he used integrated pest management system and coordinates the applications with the temperature at which they will do the most good and the least harm. “We all have to drink the same water here,” he said, “so we’re by the book when it comes to that.”

For more information on Jackson Dodds & Company Inc., visit jacksondoddsinc.com or call 604-5693.