East Hampton OKs Budget

The East Hampton Village Board adopted a $22.3 million budget for the 2018-19 fiscal year after a public hearing on Thursday, June 7, at which no members of the public spoke. The budget calls for a spending increase of a little more than three percent, while the tax rate will rise by 2.5 percent, from $29.25 to $29.99 per $1000 of assessed value.

Village administrator Rebecca Hansen told the board there were two additional increases in spending included in the budget, approximately $95,000 earmarked to complete upgrades of village emergency dispatching services, and $170,000 to cover the cost of demolishing a small house at 8 Osborne Lane, so the property can be used for a small parking lot.

The board also received the copy of a lease it has with East Hampton Town that will allow the East Hampton Fire Department to lease a portion of the old town brush dump on Old Northwest Road at Stephen Hands Path in Northwest Woods for a substation.

Hansen said details of the building and the lease would be forthcoming, but that the building would be large enough to house a fire truck and an ambulance to provide better service to residents in that area. Through an agreement with East Hampton Town, the village fire department provides service to the Northwest Woods fire district.

The shared project has been discussed for the better part of a decade. Village trustees said they wanted to see work begin on the project as soon as possible. “It’s just way overdue,” said Trustee Bruce Siska.

“We’ve been talking about it for a long time,” added Trustee Barbara Borsack.

Village planner Billy Hajek said a town project to reduce road runoff from Cove Hollow Road, which runs from Route 114 to Georgica Pond, is moving along. The town plans to use proceeds of its Community Preservation Fund to conduct a survey of the drainage pipe under the road and has hired VHB Engineering and Eastern Environmental Solutions, Inc. to undertake that portion of the work at a cost ranging from $63,360 to $75,960.

The long-term plan is to install more drainage structures to reduce the amount of water reaching the pond and to install filtering devices to remove contaminants from the water that does make its way to the end of the line.

The village board also accepted the resignation of Mark Butler, who has moved out of the village, from the village planning board. The board appointed Philip O’Connell as the board’s chairman and Karen Collins as its vice chairwoman.

sjkotz@indyeastend.com