Dan’s Papers March 18, 2011 danspapers.com Page 24
Plan Will Get Lifeguards to Emergencies Faster By T.J. Clemente Last Sunday I had the opportunity to chat with Southampton Town Councilwoman Nancy Graboski about her pilot program, now underway, to install color-coded markers at Mecox Beach in Bridgehampton and Westhampton Beach for safety reasons. Graboski said that Southampton Trustee Bill Pell had told her the sad account of a failed EMS mission to rescue someone at a The post at Mecox. beach because the person in trouble could not be located on the miles of Southampton beaches. Michael Ross Baldwin, Geographic Information Systems manager for the town, researched the problem and found that a few towns sprinkled around the U.S. are using 10-foot-long fiberglass posts (five inches wide and about one inch thick), which are colored and numbered, as beach markers with GPS coded information on them to promote quick responses to beach emergencies. The Mecox Beach post will be sunk five feet into the sand and posts will be one-tenth of a mile apart. The cost to the town so far is less than $10,000,
and the plan is to have each numbered post registered with a GPS location so that all emergency vehicles can be sent to the closest access point to the situation. The overall plan is to place between 275 and 300 posts in Southampton from Wainscott to Westhampton. Graboski explained the posts will be seven different colors, each color representing a hamlet so that if the people involved in an emergency don’t know the hamlet they are in, the color will identify it and the number will pinpoint the location within one-tenth of a mile. The system will also assist in boating emergencies offshore, when the boater doesn’t know his or her location. Involved in the planning of this pilot program were Chief Fire Marshall Cheryl Kraft and Southampton Town Police Sgt. Randy York, who helped figure out the best place to locate the
Stacy
posts on the beach and do the physical registering of the GPS locations of each sign with Southampton 911 responders. The posts have been placed horizontally east to west near the dunes in a way to minimize sight-line obstruction. Graboski was concerned about those who want to keep their beach view clear of unnecessary obstacles, but said there has been a growing concern for the safety of beachgoers as the population in the country gets older. This system will save lives. There will be other benefits too, like being able to tell friends where you are exactly on the beach, or even locating a lost child. Just think, you might be able to call a buddy to bring some ice and cold drinks to just east of “Yellow Post #7” at Mecox, or be able to tell EMS a person is in need of assistance at “Yellow Post #7” and to hurry. That call with the pinpoint location may save that life.
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Restaurateurs have told me that their numbers soar after a review by this farm girl (and her steak-eating dining partner). Of note to diners—when you ask your server a lot of questions, it informs your choice of menu items. And it doesn’t hurt to know the work of all the local food producers. I’m often asked questions about reviewing restaurants. In response to the FAQs: Yes, it’s all true. Yes, I have a very short list of favorite
restaurants. No, I don’t order more than I can eat. Yes, Heck Yes, I’m pleasantly plump. (Note to restauranteurs: reviewers appreciate CLEAN water glasses.) So today, March 18, 2011, I’m three days in to starting year two at Dan’s Papers and The Montauk Pioneer. The Middle East is heating up, the Hamptons social scene is heating up, the farmers markets are heating up…it’s going to be another colorful year here in Danshamptons.
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