East Hampton may require taxi drivers to be fingerprinted

The town board is considering an amendment to East Hampton’s taxi law that would include enforcement of a fingerprint requirement for cabdrivers and prevent taxi company owners from illegally operating a seasonal business.

Other changes include creating a fixed date when all taxi licenses would expire and require renewal. In addition, taxi licenses would be required for the cabs, the taxi company owners and the drivers. Currently, only the owners and cabs are required to get taxi licenses.

Taxi licenses would also be issued by the town with information about the driver and the license included on large placards that can be easily read, and they would be placed in a prominent location, such as the back of the front seat for viewing by passengers.

The amendment was presented Tuesday to the town board by Assistant Town Attorney NancyLynne Thiele during a work session at the Montauk Firehouse. The board will meet Thursday at its regularly scheduled session and is expected to vote on whether to have a Dec. 15 public hearing on the matter.

Thiele said the fingerprinting of drivers is already on the books but that the town cannot set up the process until the requirement is reworded in language accepted by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services.

Thiele said fingerprinting drivers is a major concern because it’s important that officials make sure drivers aren’t “people who shouldn’t be driving or who pose a risk to people.”

Thiele said officials also want to address instances of cab company owners opening a physical office in town — as required for licensing — and then operating it during the summer, not maintaining the office, or closing it without notifying the town.

Cab company owners with seasonal businesses would be required to turn in their taxi licenses when they are not operating, then would have the option to renew their license when they start doing business again, Thiele said.