Town Board Unanimously Passes FAA Application for Grant

The East Hampton Town Board unanimously agreed to apply for funding from the Federal Aviation Administration for a deer fence around the municipal-owned airport.

The resolution, presented by Coucilman Dominick Stanzione, came during Tuesday's work session, the next meeting after on the matter, during over 50 people spoke at the podium on Thursday night.

The board has been considering the airport's future for the past 18 months, during which the FAA approved this summer, the next step necessary for the town to create a seasonal airport traffic control tower.

Improvement of the deer fence around the is the subject of the funding, but the possible restrictions, or grant assurances, tied to taking more FAA money has been the topic of much debate.

Those opposed to accepting the funding wish to be free from federal regulation so local controls can be enacted at the airport - namely to control noise - while those in favor largely say little evidence exists that such autonomy would be available, and the money is needed and should therefore be accepted.

Supervisor Bill Wilkinson said that since then he has received about 90 emails, 71 in favor of taking FAA money and the rest against it.

Garden City-based DY Consultants, an engineering firm, ballparked an "early estimate" on the cost of the fence in the $600,000-$700,000 range.

Before the board voted, the town's airport attorney, Peter Kirsch, laid out some main points for the board to keep in mind in moving forward that included getting the board to formulate its priorities; be it safety, noise mitigation or abatement, among others.

Councilwoman Theresa Quigley said she wanted to see the board do "whatever it takes to get noise under control."

said he felt the plan that had been presented by Stanzione and Kirsh, was "everyone's best chance to get more immediate relief on helicopter noise." He added that taking action would be "a lot faster than waiting for grant assurances to run out."

Kirsch said the town should seek to "professionalize" the operations at the airport. For instance, he said it needed to set policies such as not allowing anyone to deboard a helicopter while the blades were running, which he understands is happening at the airport. "In technical legal terms, it's stupid," he said to have that occurring.

Next, he said the town needs to identify the mandatory operation rules it wants to set, such as curfews, as well as voluntary measures.

Stanzione said he expects to offer resolutions that speak to the processes the town will need to embark onto set these things in motion within the next 30 to 60 days.

Hammerle, whose term expires at the end of the month, told the board, "I just hope that in the coming year you continue to aggresively identify and pursue helicopter restrictions ... so we can grant some relief for the people that are adversely affected."

"You're on a good course here," he said.