In a major boost to its ongoing push for a sewer, Southampton Village announced its intention to purchase the Windmill Lane property where the Express News Group office is located as part of a plan to build a wastewater treatment facility. Once acquired using money from the Southampton Town Community Preservation Fund, the Express News Group building — located at 135 Windmill Lane — would be demolished in order to turn the site into a new dog park. Then, the treatment facility would be built behind the Southampton Village Volunteer Ambulance’s building, while leaching fields will be built at the dog park’s current location at 205 Windmill Lane.

Dan Stark reports on 27east.com that The Express News Group, which publishes The Southampton Press, does not own 135 Windmill Lane but is the sole tenant of the building.

The Village of Southampton is using money from the Community Preservation Fund to acquire the property, though the village would be responsible for paying for the building’s demolition, according to Mayor Bill Manger.

The plan will be discussed at the Village Board’s meeting this coming Thursday, February 12, at the Southampton Cultural Center at 6 p.m., which will feature members of the village’s sewer district task force and an engineer from D&B Engineers & Architects. Suffolk County Legislator Ann Welker will also be in attendance, as Manger said that the village is working with Suffolk County to secure funding to build the plant.

Installing a sewer has been a longtime goal for Southampton Village.

Building the facility is a key part of the sewer plan, as it would create opportunities to build new medical offices and restaurants, two “wet uses” currently barred by the Suffolk County Board of Health without a sewer system. It would also allow for apartments located on the second story of Main Street buildings to be used as such, which has also been barred, and prevent the flow of nitrogen and other harmful elements into groundwater and bodies of water.

“It means that the entire central business district of the village will eventually be hooked up to a treatment plant, thereby negating the need for antiquated septic tanks that are basically just polluting the groundwater and bodies of water like Lake Agawam,” Mayor Manger said.

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Things have seemed a bit quiet lately at the East End Food Hub site at the gateway to Riverhead, but that’s about to change.

Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that the non-profit East End Food received a temporary Certificate of Occupancy from the Riverhead Town Building Department in late January, according to Interim Executive Director Kayla Barthelme who said they’re planning to begin pop-up programming in the space next month.

The non-profit will be installing its commercial kitchen equipment this summer, she said, and will be putting in landscaping to enable it to receive its final Certificate of Occupancy this spring.

East End Food, founded in 2010 as the Amagansett Food Institute, is on a mission to connect farmers, food producers, consumers and institutions that have food service programs, to ensure that food grown on the east end isn’t wasted.

The non-profit, which for years had operated out of the kitchen at Stony Brook Southampton College, has been working on Phase 1 of an ambitious plan to renovate the former Homeside Florist at the corner of Route 25 and Route 105 in Riverhead.

The building will be used as a food processing site for fresh produce grown on the twin forks, and for an indoor sales space showcasing foods made by local producers.

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The Town of Southampton Youth Bureau will host an Open Mic Night for local youth on Friday, February 27, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Hampton Coffee Company’s newest location, 31 Shinnecock Road in Hampton Bays.

This free event is open to students in grades five through 12 and is designed to provide a supportive, welcoming space for young performers of all experience levels. Acoustic musicians and bands, singers, spoken word artists, poets and comedians are all encouraged to take part.

Performance slots are limited to 20 participants; advance reservations are required. Youth interested in performing may reserve a time slot by emailing [email protected] or by registering online.

For additional information, contact the Southampton Youth Bureau at 631-702-2425 or visit southamptontownny.gov/Activities

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Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman tapped a Utica-area sheriff to be his running mate in the race against New York Gov. Kathy Hochul — just hours after a previous pick supposedly got cold feet.

Madison County Sheriff Todd Hood accepted Blakeman’s offer to run for lieutenant governor yesterday, shortly after Fulton County Sheriff Richard Giardino was said to have declined an offer to jump into the race.

“Todd is a solid guy. We’ll make a good team together,” Blakeman said.

Carl Campanile and Vaughn Golden report in THE NY POST that Hood previously served 22 years in the Syracuse Police Department before serving in the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office. He became Madison County sheriff in 2018.

Giardino had said he decided to decline the offer over concerns about campaigning statewide while running his sheriff’s department.

Hood, who is a father of three, now serves as vice president of the New York State Sheriffs’ Association and Chairman of the National Sheriffs’ Association School Safety Committee.

Republicans are gathering this week for their convention in Garden City, where they are expected to designate Blakeman…the Nassau County Executive…to lead the ticket against Gov. Hochul, who was picked as the Democrats' designee at their convention last week.

Blakeman introduced the likely GOP ticket at a rally at the start of the party’s convention festivities on Long Island last night, calling Hood “a true New York hero.”

Regarding Bruce Blakeman…who was born in Oceanside and attended Valley Stream Central High School…no Long Island native has ever been elected governor of New York, a fact analysts attribute to New York City's dominance of the state Democratic party and the historical strength upstate of the Republicans according to NEWSDAY.

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After weeks of subfreezing temperatures, many Long Island homeowners have had to cope with burst or frozen pipes. Temperatures should rise this week, but the thaw could bring another set of problems. John Asbury reports in NEWSDAY that as the mercury goes up and down, pipes expand, contract and sometimes burst.

Experts say prevention is key, along with fixing problems permanently when they occur.

“If you survived this storm, you’re probably doing pretty good,” said Richard Kern, director of operations at Liberty Utilities New York Water, which serves 125,000 customers on Long Island. “When pipes freeze, we try to find out why and try to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Water in pipes can freeze in cold weather when they are in areas that are not heated or when they are generally not used, experts said.

The National Weather Service urges residents to check their pipes during extreme temperatures. Pipes at risk are most often found in garages, basements, crawl spaces, and in kitchen and bathroom cabinets.

The icy temperatures can cause a loss of water service or a flooded mess when pipes burst.

“Water is unique when it freezes because it expands,” Kern said. “Water has no place to go in wall piping and it’s so powerful it breaks the pipe open. The pipe is not strong enough . . . [and] wherever the weak spot is . . . it succumbs to internal pressure.”

The same deep freeze can cause water mains to burst, causing multiple homes to lose water service, Kern said.

What do you do when pipes are frozen?

If pipes are frozen, homeowners should turn on the faucet and it will eventually drip as the pipes are thawed, according to the weather service. Pipes can be warmed with a hair dryer, heating pad or a cloth soaked in hot water until water pressure returns.

All pipes, including metal, polyvinyl chloride and high-density polyethylene pipes, are subject to freezing. PVC pipes can be more brittle and subject to bursting, while HDPE may be slightly more forgiving, Kern said.

If a pipe bursts, experts suggest calling a plumber and their water company to identify weak spots and areas that need to be better insulated or heated.

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Every Minute Matters: Recognizing and Responding to Stroke with Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital in the Cutchogue-New Suffolk Library is a free presentation tomorrow at 2 p.m.

Join Dr. Lawrence Schiff for an important discussion at the Cutchogue-New Suffolk Library on how to recognize and respond to stroke.

Learn how to spot the warning signs using the B.E. F.A.S.T. method: Balance, Eyes, Face, Arms, Speech, and Time, and why quick action saves lives. Dr. Schiff will also share how Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital is nearing Primary Stroke Center designation, further strengthening access to expert, lifesaving stroke care close to home.

Call (631) 477-5164 to Register

Tomorrow’s event is Free at 2 p.m. in the

Cutchogue-New Suffolk Library

27550 Main Road

Cutchogue, NY 11935United States

631.734.6360

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Around 40 percent of the southern pine beetle population on the South Fork will die during the ongoing cold snap, but, according to a local expert, the insect will quickly bounce back and the frigid temperatures won’t have lasting impacts. Jack Motz reports on 27east.com that first detected in Hampton Bays in 2014, the southern pine beetle is an invasive insect that has carved up local pitch pine forests. Since the initial detection, the pine beetle has marched east, making itself known in the Town of East Hampton, where its impacts can be seen at Napeague State Park, which is lined with dead and downed trees — and now, burn piles.

For weeks, the South Fork has been beset with frigid temperatures as snow has piled up, with air temperatures dipping into the single digits and strong winds compounding the already extreme weather.

But these freezing temperatures are unlikely to have lasting impacts on the southern pine beetle, as the cold will not eradicate the population completely and those that survive will recover quickly, likely in a matter of months.

“Cold temps affect southern pine beetle {SPB} mortality, but not as much as you would probably think and hope,” said East Hampton Town Senior Environmental Analyst Andy Drake. “Since their habitat is insulated under tree bark, the temps they get are slightly higher than outside. This is a reason why when felling trees for suppression purposes, we always score the bark to introduce dormant beetles to the outside elements.”

Recent years have seen state and local officials shift from actively trying to suppress the pine beetle to looking to mitigate the impacts when it does pop up. This has involved thinning infested forests and reducing fire fuel density.

East Hampton Town officials have sought to mitigate the impacts of the pine beetle on town lands by hiring a contractor to clear fire roads and reduce the fuel load in areas like Buckskill Meadow.

Aside from its natural tolerance to the cold, southern pine beetles also rebound quickly because the insect produces multiple generations per year, meaning a new generation typically emerges in the spring, jumps to a neighboring tree and begins reproducing right away. Typically, three generations spawn per year in New York.

“Anything above 80 percent is a great reduction in population, but the problem is they are able to rebound quite quickly, reproducing multiple generations in a single season,” Drake said.