By Kathryn G. Menu

Oceanfront property owners in Sagaponack, Bridgehampton and Water Mill approved a referendum on Saturday night that will allow homeowners and the Town of Southampton to spend $24 million to replenish eroded beachfront. A beachfront only made worse by Hurricane Sandy’s impact this October.

According to Southampton Town Clerk Sundy Schermeyer, Town Attorney Tiffany Scarlato and Deputy Town Attorney Kathleen Murray between two erosion control districts in Bridgehampton and Sagaponack 75 ballots were cast in favor of the project and 49 against.

Only residents within the two erosion control districts were allowed to vote in the referendum.

According to Jennifer Garvey, with Southampton Town Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst’s office, 202 homeowners were eligible to cast votes in the referendum which will allow voters to pay for the beach renourishment through special taxing districts. One hundred and twenty four residents turned out to cast ballots in the referendum vote Saturday.

The project will encompass six miles of contiguous shoreline, including 141 properties, five of which are beaches owned by Southampton Town. The town will foot $1.5 million of the project to cover the cost of renourishment on its beaches.

“Today’s referendum marks the culmination of two and a half years of collaboration with our ocean front property owners — a group of constituents who first approached the town with an interest in forming a special taxing district in order to jointly pursue more efficient and cost-effective measures for protecting their properties,” said Throne-Holst.

The Southampton Town Board will serve as commissioners of both erosion control districts and will have to issue a $24 million bond to finance the project, which will be repaid by homeowners and the town over a 10-year period.

According to the town, properties within the two districts have an assessed value of $1.8 billion.

The project will entail dredging 2.5 million tons of sand from two areas one-mile offshore and replenishing the beach with that sand. It is expected to start in late spring or early summer, and will take about two months to complete.

“As individual property owners, many of us have been investing tens of thousands of dollars on an annual basis to rebuild our dunes and protect our homes from the impacts of erosion,” said Alan Stillman, a long-time Sagaponack property owner and member of the Sagaponack Beach Erosion Control District Advisory Board. “A systematic solution offers much greater protection and value. That is what we proposed — and have now approved.”

“From the start, we approached this undertaking like a business,” said Jeff Lignelli, a Bridgehampton property owner. “We researched numerous erosion protection measures and costs, and ultimately chose an award-winning coastal expert to design a renourishment project — the option we felt was the best fit for the area because it matches the look and feel of the existing beach, which was critically important to us. When the project is finished, the beaches will basically look like they did 30 years ago — much wider.”

The South Carolina-based firm of Coastal Science and Engineering led by Dr. Tim Kana designed the project.

First Coastal Corporation of Westhampton is the local permitting partner.

“Votes like this are always nerve wracking, but we are just thrilled the residents felt it was important enough to spend their own money on this,” said Aram Terchunian, with First Coastal Corporation, on Tuesday. “This is historic, particularly in the wake of what happened during Hurricane Sandy.”

Terchunian and Garvey said that now the project will move into the permitting phase, which was already pursued while awaiting the results of Saturday’s referendum.

Terchunian said both the New York State Office of Coastal Management and the New York State Office of General Services have already signed off on the project. It still needs approved from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Army Corp of Engineers.

While Terchunian praised homeowners for being willing to take on such a project, he added he believes the state and federal government will need to take a bigger role in beach renourishment in the future.

“These are levels of government getting huge benefits in the form of sales and incomes taxes in the regional and national economy tied to our beaches,” he said. “Beaches produce so much income on so many different levels we need to see they are protected.”

Whether or not this project will benefit from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funding for those impacted by Hurricane Sandy remains unclear. Beaches in both Bridgehampton and Sagaponack, having already contended with significant beach erosion, were hammered by the fall storm, whole stretches of beach literally washed away.

“We are pursuing that and the town is pursuing that very aggressively,” said Terchunian.

In fact, after Hurricane Sandy, the town board fast tracked this proposal after seeing the coastline and structural damage caused in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. The board voted unanimously to approve the proposal and a referendum on the project on November 27.

“I think this plan would have won the support it needed even before Superstorm Sandy, but what was initially a more proactive project became urgently needed following the storm,” said Throne-Holst. “Fortunately, these property owners were already well into the process of securing the needed support and permissions for their proposal, so it’s likely they’ll have a wide, protective beach within the year.”

“The beaches are a crucial part of our local economy and way of life, and the properties within these BECDs [Beach Erosion Control District] also comprise a major portion of our tax base. I think this is a remarkable public/private partnership that will greatly benefit both the property owners and all of our town residents, and I’m proud to have been a part of making it happen,” she said.

New York State Senator Kenneth LaValle will host a two-hour-long environmental roundtable to discuss issues impacting the First Senate District this Thursday, February 7 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Suffolk Community College Culinary Arts and Hospitality Center in Riverhead.

This year’s participants will help Senator LaValle chart a legislative agenda regarding the environment that LaValle said is aimed at preserving the character and quality of life on the East End.

More than 65 participants are expected at Thursday’s forum, including representatives from town and village governments, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, environmental groups and concerned citizens.

New York State Assemblymen Fred W. Thiele, Jr. and Dan Losquadro will join LaValle at this event.

On Tuesday, the Suffolk County Legislature unanimously approved a bill to create what sponsors say will be the strongest sex offender monitoring program in the country. The bill also shuts down two trailers that have housed homeless sex offenders. Both trailers were located in Southampton Town.

The Community Protection Act calls for homeless sex offenders to be placed in one of Suffolk County’s existing shelters and mandates that no more than one offender should be housed in one facility. It also calls for offenders to be kept separate from families in the shelter.

The bill was first introduced at a meeting of the Suffolk County Legislature’s Public Safety committee in Hauppauge last Thursday night. At the meeting, the Suffolk County Police Department and Parents for Megan’s Law outlined a plan to end the clustering of homeless sex offenders in any one community.

The announcement came one day after Suffolk County Legislator Jay Schneiderman held an East End Community meeting to see public comments on the county’s homeless sex offender trailer program.

A Power Point presentation was made by Suffolk County Police Chief James Burke at Thursday’s meeting.

The new plan for homeless sex offender housing will permanently close trailers in Westhampton and Riverside, which have served as the sole locations for homeless sex offenders to reside since 2006 much to the protest of both Southampton Town officials and residents.

Under the Community Protection Act, Suffolk County will contact with Parents for Megan’s Law at a cost of no more than $900,000 annually. Parents for Megan’s Law will create a system to monitor where sex offenders are residing and develop a system for community members to report if a sex offender is in violation. Community outreach, education and victim services will also be provided by the organization.

Suffolk County Police will also be responsible for address verification and ensuring officers have accurate and detailed information about offenders in their patrol area.

Currently, there are 1,016 sex offenders in Suffolk County, according to a report issued by Legislator Schneiderman this week.

Late last month, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation released a draft pollution prevention strategy for pesticide use on Long Island.

The proposed Pesticide Pollution Prevention (P2) Strategy proposed five actions to reduce threats to water resources from existing pesticide-related sources and prevent potential contamination from new sources.

According to the DEC, the purpose of the P2 Strategy is to enhance the protection of Long Island’s groundwater and surface water resources from pesticide-related contamination and thus prevent potential adverse effects on human health while continuing to meet pest management needs of farms, residents and businesses.

The DEC developed the P2 Strategy in response to concerns over the detection of pesticides in the groundwater over time at various locations on Long Island.

The P2 Strategy would start with a DEC pesticide assessment including an evaluation of the chemicals’ location, frequency and concentration on Long Island, as well as their reported use, and prioritization for potential preventive measures and available alternatives.

The P2 Strategy also calls for convening a Technical Review and Advisory Committee (TRAC) by bringing together a diverse group of stakeholders involved in pest management and water quality protection on Long Island — state and local health departments and other governmental agencies, agricultural, commercial and other sectors that use pesticides, pesticide businesses, environmental groups, and academia — to partner with the DEC in implementing pest management pollution prevention measures.

Under the proposed P2 Strategy, the DEC would work to integrate pollution prevention measures including best management practices, water quality protection and enhanced monitoring of groundwater into pest management efforts.

In a press release issued last week, New York State Assemblyman Thiele encouraged anyone concerned with the health of Long Island’s groundwater resources to attend an April 3 public meeting on the proposal. That will be held at the Suffolk County Community College eastern campus in Riverhead from 7 to 9 p.m. with officials from the DEC available for queries from 6 to 7 p.m.

Through April 30 comments can also be emailed toLongIslandStrategy@gw.dec.state.ny.us or by fax to 518-402-9024. Comments can also be mailed to Scott Menrath, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, Division of Materials Management, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233.

“The East End of Long Island’s economy is dependent upon a healthy and productive environment,” said Thiele. “With Suffolk County being New York’s largest revenue-producing agricultural region, we need to ensure that our farms and vineyards can still produce economically sustainable crops yield. At the same time, we also need to preserve ground and surface water quality to help support our commercial and recreational fishing and shellfishing industries. We need workable solutions for managing pesticide use that won’t harm our economy or environment.”

For more information, please visit DEC’s website at

http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/87125.html.

By Kathryn G. Menu

Many Sag Harbor residents think of Jhenny Bueno Arias much as Saqib Hameed does — bright, affable, hard working and great with children. Those are the qualities that made her shine for many who frequent the 7-Eleven where Arias and Hameed work at in Sag Harbor.

Since Arias, 36, was struck by a Jeep while walking home from work on January 15, community members have rallied around the single mother of four, donating roughly $1,600 through a bake sale at 7-Eleven and another $2,000 in donation jars.

According to Hameed — the manager at 7-Eleven and a friend of Arias — the injuries she suffered as a result of the accident will likely leave her thousands more in debt. This is why Hameed, working with several other residents, has vowed to continue fundraising to aid Arias, who as a single mother was the breadwinner for her four children.

On January 15, around 7:30 p.m. Arias was struck while crossing Brick Kiln Road at the intersection of Main Street. She was airlifted to Stony Brook University Medical Center where she was treated for a number of injuries including a punctured lung, broken ribs and a fractured hip and pelvis, among others, said Hameed.

The 60-year-old East Hampton driver involved in the accident was not injured and police did not charge him with a crime.

Hameed said Arias, who is a Sag Harbor resident, was sent home from the hospital this week, largely because of her lack of health insurance. Her injuries have still left her unable to walk, said Hameed.

Hameed said he was working to get her into a serious rehabilitation program for her injuries. Arias did start physical therapy earlier this week and does have help from her older son, he added, but medical bills and household expenses are piling up and fundraising is necessary, said Hameed.

Hameed has recently begun asking people to donate to Arias cause by making a check payable to Jhenny Bueno Arias and dropping it off at 7-Eleven or mailing it to P.O. Box 3134, Sag Harbor, New York 11963.

Hameed has been aided in the fundraising effort, he said, by Julie Adamski and Delia Chicka, who helped organize a bake sale that raised over $1,600 for Arias.

“Everyone has already been so supportive, it makes me very happy to live here,” said Hameed. “We have such a loving and helping community in Sag Harbor. I am very grateful for Jhenny.”

By Amanda Wyatt

As Bridgehampton School plans its budget for next year, the subject of piercing New York State’s two percent tax levy cap remains a topic of debate.

At last Wednesday’s board of education meeting, the district presented its preliminary or “wish list” budget for the 2013-2014 school year, which amounts to $11,557,569. This would be an increase of $861,205 or eight-percent over the 2012-2013 adopted budget.

“Right now, if we wanted to remain within the [New York State-mandated two percent tax levy], we’d need to cut an estimated $722,520 from our ‘wish list’ budget, and that’s basically what this is,” said Dr. Lois Favre, superintendent of the district.

While the board of education plans to trim the preliminary budget, some members said they still wouldn’t dismiss the possibility of piercing the two-percent cap in order to fund what they consider crucial items in their budget.

“If it comes down to having to raise the cap to make mandatory repairs on our building, yeah, I want to go out and ask the taxpayers,” said Nicki Hemby, school board president.

However, she added, “I want to whittle it down. I don’t want to waste taxpayers’ money.”

“I agree,” said board member Lillian Tyree-Johnson. “It’s not easy…We have to make some tough choices.”

At the same time, some board members expressed a desire to stay within the cap, rather than ask for additional tax monies.

“I think there’s always things you can find [to cut from the budget] and I think we should try to find them,” said Doug DeGroot. “…I want non-inflated prices on things. I want everything to be efficient.”

DeGroot criticized some of the costs associated with Eastern Suffolk BOCES (Board of Cooperative Educational Services), such as a $95,000 administrative fee, and questioned whether the district should remain a member.

“Not every school district joins the cooperative of BOCES,” DeGroot pointed out, suggesting that the school should talk to other small districts on Long Island who choose not to join the cooperative.

However, some of the increases in this year’s budget are related to the cost of complying with new state mandates, said Dr. Favre. For example, the school needs additional funds for staff development related to the Common Core standards, a state mandate that took effect this year.

Dr. Favre pointed out the district also needs to budget for a main office and an additional clerk. This year, the principal’s secretary has been handling main office and guidance office duties, so the additional of another clerk for the guidance office would help reduce the “overwhelming” amount of work she has. The guidance budget—which includes the salary for the new clerk—is proposed at a total of $127,553.

The district is also holding a special vote on March 20 for the creation for the school’s five-year, capital reserve fund of approximately $1.3 million. The monies, which have already been collected, would be used to fund repairs on school buildings over the next five years.

However, if the public votes down this proposition, Dr. Favre pointed out, the district would have to add $200,000 to the budget for repairs during the 2013-2014 school year.

“We can try to be creative and think outside the box,” noted Hemby. “…But I can’t see us staying at the two-percent if we have to add the $200,000.”

Dr. Favre added that most years, the proposed budget is always higher than the actual budget. For instance, while the district proposed a budget of $11,412,246 last year, the actual budget was only $10,696,364.

“Each year for the past four years we’ve been cutting things that we believed we needed. Naturally, we survived without them,” she added.

At the same time, the district—like many others on the East End—must grapple with a reduction in aid from New York State. According to Business Administrator Robert Hauser, the state is proposing to cut Bridgehampton’s aid by about nine percent, or roughly $50,000.

While state aid only accounts for about five percent of the district’s budget, he said, “certainly any reduction hurts.”

Dr. Favre also noted during the budget presentation that enrollment for next year was projected at 153, compared to 155 in 2012-2013 and 160 in 2011-2012.

“We do go up and down. We’re at a little bit of a low,” she said.

The North Haven Village Board unanimously appointed seven residents to its newly formed ad hoc deer committee, which will be chaired by trustee Jeff Sander.

The village board created the committee in an effort to study deer management strategies for the village in the wake of continued calls for tick abatement by some members of the North Haven community.

During its monthly meeting on Tuesday, February 5, the village board appointed Larry Baum, Steve Hatfield, Susan Kinsella, Alexander Kriegsman, Joseph Kunzeman, Christopher Miller and David Saskas to the deer committee. In addition to Sander, Mayor Laura Nolan will also serve as an ex-officio member of the committee.

The committee will be charged with studying deer management strategies, including ways to reduce tick populations and Lyme disease and the reduction of the deer herd. According to the resolution, they must provide a report to the North Haven Village Board no later than April 9.

Resident Bill Brauninger asked the village board on Tuesday night to consider expanding its law regarding signs in North Haven and at the very least asked that the village ensure the existing sign laws were enforced.

Last year, in an effort to preserve the residential character of North Haven, the village board considered revamping its sign law. Village attorney Anthony Tohill went as far as to draft recommendations for the board to consider that would regulate signage, including banning illuminated signs or representational signs, regulating construction and real estate signs to 18-inches-by-24-inches, and only allowing one per site located no closer to the roadway than four feet from the front of a main building. He suggested that “sold” or “in contract” signs could also be prohibited.

Name signs would be regulated to two-square-feet and street numbers to one-square foot, although pre-existing signs would be able to remain until a property changed hands, under Tohill’s concept. Political signs would be allowed for 90 days, but not on the shoulder of the street, which is a public thoroughfare, he added.

However, some residents vocally opposed the concept of signage regulation and since last spring, the village board has not entertained a formal proposal to change existing sign laws.

On Tuesday, Brauninger said even the existing sign laws are being violated on a number of properties in the village and at the very least the village should ensure its code is being upheld.

Under the existing North Haven sign regulations, one non-illuminated nameplate or professional sign in an area not over two square feet is permitted as are real estate signs. However, under the code, each property is only entitled to one, non-illuminated sign either on the front of a residence or, if free standing like many real estate signs, is 25-feet away from any street line and 15-feet away from any property line.

Real estate signs must be immediately removed once a transaction has been completed, under the code.

Subdivision signs are also regulated under the code, and subdivisions are only entitled to one, non-illuminated sign not to exceed 10 square feet in area. They also must be 25-feet from a street line and 15-feet from a property line.

Brauninger said if residents or subdivisions have a problem complying with these regulations, the village should require them to apply for a variance from the North Haven Village Zoning Board of Appeals.

Noting that East Hampton Village has enacted stricter signage regulations, Nolan said she believed this was an issue that was still on the table for North Haven Village.

“I am right there with you,” agreed trustee E. Diane Skilbred.

In other news, the village board announced it will host its tax sale, if necessary, on March 19 at 10 a.m. The next North Haven Village Board meeting will be held on March 5 at 5 p.m. The village board will have a public hearing on a local law that will allow the village to pierce a two-percent property tax levy cap mandated by the State of New York, if necessary, in the 2013-2014 budget.

An image created by the not-for-profit Save Sag Harbor, based on the specs in the Harbor Heights proposal filed with the Sag Harbor Village Building Department illustrates the difference between a proposed gas station canopy at the Hampton Street property and the existing canopy at a Hess gas station in Wainscott. 

By Kathryn G. Menu

A hearing in front of the Sag Harbor Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) on the proposed expansion of the Harbor Heights Service Station on Route 114 to include a convenience store has been tabled until January, according to building department secretary Lisa Koehne.

The matter was tabled at the request of the applicant, said Koehne.

In fact, due to no quorum, on Monday afternoon the village announced the entire meeting would be cancelled with all business moved to the January 15 session of the ZBA.

Whether or not — and even how — the Harbor Heights Service Station will be redesigned and expanded will almost entirely land in the hands of the Sag Harbor Village Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA).

Leonard has proposed redeveloping the property on Route 114 in Sag Harbor by demolishing the existing, blue gas station building and putting in a new building, which would host a convenience store. The existing Sag Harbor Service Station business will also be expanded, under the proposal, with its own office and bathroom space.

A new layout for gas pump islands, more pumps and new curb cuts to make the station safer to enter and exit are proposed in Leonard’s plans, as is new landscaping, lighting and parking configuration.

In order to construct the project, as proposed, Leonard needs a number of variances from the ZBA, including one to allow him to construct the convenience store at nearly twice the size of what is allowed under the village code. The store is proposed to be 1,000 square feet, as opposed to the 600 square feet allowed under the code. The full size of the building will actually be about 1,800 square feet, although Sag Harbor Village Building Inspector Tim Platt has ruled the size of the actual retail portion of the store is 1,000 square feet.

Leonard also needs a variance for the canopy proposed over the reconfigured and expanded gas pumps, which is proposed at 20 feet high, five feet higher than code allows. He is also asking to reduce the landscape buffer required under the code from 30 feet to five and 15.6 feet, reduce the total landscaping from 35 percent of the parcel to 29 percent, to expand the repair shop by 350 square feet, 35 percent more than the code allows and to reduce the required setback to Hampton Street from 50 feet to 15.6 feet. The current setback of the gas station to Hampton Street, or Route 114, is almost nothing in the station’s present layout.

The project has drawn criticism from some neighbors as well as the not-for-profit Save Sag Harbor, which charged in an email sent to its membership this week that the project “threatens to overwhelm this scenic gateway to Sag Harbor.”

“Save Sag Harbor is dedicated to protecting the character, scale and quality of life of our unique village from overambitious development,” said the organization in a statement. “In this case, we believe that the size and scope of the Harbor Heights gas station, as currently proposed by the present owner, is excessive and inappropriate. We encourage a renovation of this property, but urge that it conform to Sag Harbor’s hard-won and well-reasoned Village Zoning Code.”

The January meeting will be held on January 15 at 6 p.m.

By Kathryn G. Menu

Residents were largely divided during a public hearing last Thursday night on East Hampton Town’s draft deer management plan. The proposal is aimed at addressing what some believe is a burgeoning white tail deer population. It’s a situation some argue has increased the prevalence of tick borne illnesses in East Hampton, has led to reduction of forest understory and an increase in deer related traffic accidents.

On Thursday, stories about the impact tick borne illnesses have had on residents were interspersed with calls of support for the plan, spearheaded by Dominick Stanzione, East Hampton Town councilman. Criticism was also levied against the primary means for dealing with the deer population — professional culling of the herd — and some residents wondered if the concept has been researched enough for the town board to move forward.

The 30 page, five-year plan, developed by the Deer Management Working group and available on the town’s website (www.town.east-hampton.ny.us) calls for an aggressive culling of deer followed by a discovery of other means of population control.

It also calls for a town-conducted aerial survey of the deer population, looking at ways to open up lands owned by the town, county and state to bow hunting and allowing non-residents to hunt during the January firearms season.

For resident JoAnne Goldberg, the proposal makes sense.

“My thoughts on this is chemical sterilization is a consideration but it is not an immediate solution,” said Goldberg. “The only immediate solution is culling the herd.”

However, hunter and arborist Donald Lahman said he does not believe the deer population has grown, as speculated, but instead said he believes it has actually decreased. The visibility of the deer, he added, is greater, simply because they have fewer and fewer places to go and development continues throughout the town.

With the re-introduction of the wild turkey, Lahman said deer have a new competitor for food, including seed that would normally grow into understory, but is now being consumed.

“New growth is being diminished at a rapid rate,” said Lahman.

“I don’t have any solutions, but the situation I see is a lose-lose situation for the white tail deer,” said Lahman.

Zachary Cohen, representing the town’s Nature Preserve Committee, said that group supported the draft proposal, except for one aspect. Cohen said the committee does not want non-residents to have the right to hunt during the January firearms season, unless they are registered guests of a resident, similar to current regulations during bow hunting season.

Steve Griffiths, with the East Hampton Sportsman Alliance, said the group supported the plan, and if a professional cull is implemented he would like to see the venison donated to food pantries.

The East Hampton Business Alliance also showed their support for the draft plan.

Ellen Crain — a member of the East Hampton Group for Wildlife — disagreed sharply with the plan, calling it “unethical.”

Crain said deer cannot be blamed for the spread of Lyme disease, and that car accidents — attributed to deer in the draft management plan — are often caused by speeding cars, not the deer.

According to the plan, the most recent data from 2009 calculates that over 440 deer were killed on town roadways during that year, those that escaped immediate death, but succumbed to injuries in the woods after an accident, were not counted in the statistic.

Bob Silverstone, another member of the East Hampton Group for Wildlife also disagreed with the plan.

“It used the word ‘compassionate’ several times,” he said. “And yet it proposed opening additional lands to bow hunting. It is well documented that 50 percent of deer hit by arrows are wounded and left to die a slow and painful death.”

Silverstone said non-lethal methods of population control, like using deer contraception programs, could work as well. The first step, he added, is understanding the size of the deer population.

Kathy Cunningham, with the Village Preservation Society agreed.

“The deer management program must include a sterilization program,” said Cunningham, noting the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) mandates contraception is only permitted in conjunction with culling. Local veterinarians, said Cunningham, could work with not-for-profit entities like White Buffalo, Inc., to help rein in the costs of a contraception program.

Cunningham asked the board, with the understanding that she has private backers interested in supporting this kind of project, if a pilot sterilization program could become a part of the deer management plan.

Bridgehampton resident Wendy Chamberlain, who has worked as a registered wildlife rehabilitator for over a decade said the first step should be an accurate count of deer in East Hampton.

“You have to think of a long term plan that involves all the townships,” she said. “Otherwise you are just kicking the can down the road.”

Chamberlain supported looking into a contraception plan.

Jeremy Samuelson, the executive director of Concerned Citizens of Montauk, also advocated for a deer count, but also for comprehensive science behind the management plan before the town moves forward, including true financial figures detailing the cost of both lethal and non-lethal methods of deer population control.

He also called for the town to hire a part time or full time person to lead this effort moving forward.

“This is a lot of work and it is work that needs to be done, but if we’re going to do it we need to do it right and we need to come up with a line item,” said Samuelson.

The board agreed to keep the public hearing on the proposal open another 30 days.

By Amanda Wyatt

Six weeks after Hurricane Sandy ravaged the East Coast, life has returned to normal for much of Long Island. Power is back on, downed trees and branches have been removed and many families have returned comfortably to their homes.

But not everyone has been so lucky.

Some still face life without electricity, heat and hot water in their homes. And others, whose homes are simply uninhabitable, have sought refuge elsewhere.

For Joe and Anna Smith (names changed at request) of Oceanside, the East End has served as a safe haven in the weeks following Sandy.

Over a five-week period, the Smiths called the Cozy Cabins Motel in Wainscott home. Their three daughters — ages 10, seven and three — temporarily attended nearby Bridgehampton School.

“We were lucky to find the place where we [were]. They took us in with open arms,” said Joe, a business-owner. “The school district took our children in. The community was really incredible to us.”

The Smiths, who fled from their house with a few suitcases, lost virtually everything they owned during Sandy. They were grateful, they said, for the generosity of community members. Bridgehampton School, local businesses owners, church groups and others donated bags of food, gift cards, toys and coats to the family.

Still, the have been through an ordeal they will never forget.

“This is basically something that you hear on the news, about other people who are affected by storms like this,” Joe admitted. “When you become a victim yourself, there’s no word to describe how you could possibly feel when you lose everything.”

“I’ve been through hurricanes before, but [Sandy] is life altering. Our lives will never be the same,” said Anna, a nurse.

And like many others, the Smiths never anticipated the chaos and destruction wrought by Sandy.

“We figured there would be minor damage,” Anna said.

For this reason, they decided to wait out the storm with friends in Westchester. However, the Smiths found themselves stranded in Westchester for a week without power, waiting for the roads to clear up.

And when they managed to get back to Oceanside, they came upon a rather grim scene.

While the water — which had been up to the roof of Anna’s minivan — had receded by that time, the neighborhood itself “was torn apart.”

“Oceanside was basically left to die,” Joe declared. “There was no help, there was no aid, absolutely nothing.”

Just 10 minutes after the Smiths pulled into their driveway, they saw a vehicle pull up to a neighbor’s house. Four men stepped out of the car holding pix axes and began chopping away at the neighbor’s front door. Joe and Anna, watching in horror, saw another neighbor come out of his house with a rifle to chase the looters away.

Inside the house was even more upsetting.

“Everything was soggy,” they said.

In fact, the force of the flooding had been so great that their washing machine had been thrust through the walls and into the next room.

And to make matters worse, black mildew was already growing on the walls.

“The smell of mildew in the house was so bad that you wanted to vomit within 15 minutes or less,” Joe said.

“I [didn’t] want to put my children in that type of environment. You don’t know the after-effects of something that,” Anna pointed out.

Soon after, Joe called the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for a list of motels that were accepting Sandy victims. However, these motels were few and far between; the closest one to Oceanside was in Wainscott.

During their stay on the East End, the two-to-three hour commutes back and forth to their workplaces were “murderous,” said the Smiths.

With $120 a day spent on gas, “every dime that we earned went directly back into going to work,” Joe explained.

Yet in the midst of their ordeal, one bright spot was certainly Bridgehampton School.

“The only thing I can tell you about Bridgehampton is, I wish I were a kid who went there because the care, the love, the attention that my children have gotten was beyond incredible,” said Joe. “[Principal Jack Pryor] is very caring and just straight out with you, and like I said, I wish he were my principal.”

Their daughters have been enjoying their classes, and the Smiths were happy with the one-on-one attention such a small school affords.

Still, Anna said that it was “bittersweet” for their daughters. While they wanted to go home, they had been making new friends at school.

“It’s such a wonderful school and such a wonderful community,” she said, adding:

“I personally think [our daughters] have done an incredible job with this. It’s tough, it’s their childhood home, and they’ve never lived anywhere else.”

Even Joe admitted that going through Sandy has made them somewhat apprehensive about putting down roots.

“You’re afraid to put something down and bolt it to the floor because you know in your heart of hearts it might not be there tomorrow. It is devastating in that perspective,” he said.

But just this week, the Smiths were able to scrape together enough money to move into a small apartment in Long Beach, which is closer to their old home in Oceanside.

While they admit that their living situation is a bit tight, Anna explained, they’re remaining optimistic.

“Our favorite expression around the house is, ‘It is what it is,’” she said. “We do what we have to do. We’ve got to make the most of everything we have, everything we aspire to have again someday.”

She added: “But it’s stuff. Stuff is stuff. That’s what we’ve learned.”