Who gets Montauk Green over holiday weekend?
The broad outlines of a deal that could end a turf battle over who gets to use the Montauk Green over the Memorial Day weekend were presented Tuesday at an East Hampton Town Board work session, but no decision on adopting the plan was made because some veterans in the audience put forth a proposal of their own.
A vote could take place at Thursday's regular town board meeting.
A veterans group and the Montauk Artists' Association have each asked the town to approve mass-gathering permits for three days of events on the small green over the Memorial Day weekend. Neither group wants to use the green on Monday, Memorial Day. The artists' show will be over by then, and the veterans do not want their activities to conflict with a Memorial Day observance in East Hampton Village.
The art sale -- a major fundraiser for the artists' association -- has been going on for years, while the community's veterans want a bigger local observation of Memorial Day.
Board member Dominick Stanzione, who walked the green last weekend with the town police chief to work out a compromise, called for a Memorial Day parade around the green on Sunday, a memorial observance on part of the green, and closing nearby streets to traffic for three hours. The artists would retain use of the green.
Some veterans pitched a different compromise. Tom Bogdan of the Montauk Veterans Association told the board the veterans were willing to hold their events at nearby Second House this year in exchange for exclusive use of the green next year.
Two board members said they would not agree to that. Veterans in the audience differed on which plan they liked.
The board kept open the option of voting Thursday on Stanzione's plan.
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