Council Dissolves WPCA, Fires DeSimone

Town Council · Meeting of March 12, 2026

East Hampton's Town Council voted to dissolve the Water Pollution Control Authority board and fired its administrator. After nearly two hours of public comment demanding accountability over a now-withdrawn biosolids plant proposal from Griffin Residuals, the council voted 7-0 to terminate the WPCA board and return its powers to the council, then separately announced Public Utilities Administrator Anthony DeSimone's employment had ended. Chairman Dean Markham told residents a new sewage plant would cost "nothing we would ever afford," and the council voted 7-0 to restart, through the Board of Finance and Planning and Zoning Commission, the stalled purchase of 292 West High Street.

Resident Frank McLean IV told the board, "We're telling you to do the right thing. Fire Anthony DeSimone."

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• The complete report — 891 words

Source: the Town Council meeting of March 12, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.

The Full Article

EAST HAMPTON — March 12, 2026 — The East Hampton Town Council voted 7-0 Thursday to dissolve the Water Pollution Control Authority board and take back its powers directly, then voted again to fire Public Utilities Administrator Anthony DeSimone after nearly two hours of public comment demanding accountability over a now-withdrawn biosolids processing proposal.

Chairman Dean Markham opened the special meeting by telling residents that Griffin Residuals, the company that had proposed building a biosolids plant in town, had withdrawn its interest in East Hampton. Close to 20 residents then used a newly added hour of public comment to call for DeSimone's removal, accusing town officials of concealing the project for months. Hours later, after the council emerged briefly from executive session, members announced DeSimone's employment with the town had ended.

The Full Story

The council's regular Thursday agenda covered only WPCA property matters and a possible executive session, but members voted 7-0 at the outset to add a public remarks period after residents packed the chambers. Markham told the crowd comments would be limited to the WPCA agenda item, capped at three minutes each and one hour total.

Speaker after speaker, including Frank McLean IV, Valerie Hill Baker, Fred Baker and Robert Baer, pressed the council to fire DeSimone, arguing town reports referenced the Griffin project as early as a December 2024 memorandum of understanding and again in town manager's reports from August and November 2025 without clear public notice. Several residents, including Rebecca Hodge, a self-described project manager of 20 years, said the episode exposed broader gaps in oversight of appointed boards. Rebecca Abbott asked who in town government reviews what commissions actually discuss in their meetings, saying "no one" appeared to be checking what was said versus what was recorded.

Markham and other council members pushed back on claims that a canceled town meeting had been intended to approve a sewage plant, saying it concerned only the proposed purchase of 2.1 acres at 292 West High Street for future use, not a new processing facility. Markham said building a new sewage plant would cost roughly $200 million, calling it something the town could never afford. The council then voted 7-0 to restart the process of purchasing 292 West High Street through the Board of Finance and Planning and Zoning Commission, with members discussing holding the land as open space and buffering for the adjacent WPCA site.

Council members also raised reclassifying the WPCA and Public Works parcels from residential to industrial zoning to require larger buffers between those sites and neighboring homes, while cautioning against allowing industrial zoning to spread further along Route 66. No final zoning action was taken Thursday; members said they would seek a legal opinion on how to prevent future "scope creep."

On the WPCA board itself, a motion to remove members for cause was withdrawn and replaced with a broader motion, made by Mr. Hintz and seconded by Mr. Feegel, to terminate the Water Pollution Control Authority board entirely. That passed 7-0. A follow-up motion, made by Mr. Hintz and seconded by Ms. Wanat, to return the WPCA's powers to the Town Council also passed 7-0. The council then voted 7-0 to enter executive session on personnel matters involving Town Manager David Cox and DeSimone, and on a potential real estate lease, sale or purchase.

"We're telling you to do the right thing. Fire Anthony DeSimone." [00:11:51] — Frank McLean IV, public comment

"The voters and the taxpayers must have a vote on it. That's all I have to say." [00:19:13] — Valerie Hill Baker, public comment

"That's nothing we would ever afford or do." [00:42:13] — Dean Markham, Town Council chairman

Why It Matters

The council's votes temporarily hand direct control of the town's sewer and wastewater functions to elected officials rather than the appointed WPCA board, while DeSimone's termination removes the administrator residents blamed for the Griffin proposal's lack of public notice. The council also restarted the stalled purchase of 292 West High Street, a 2.1-acre parcel near the WPCA plant, sending it back through the Board of Finance and Planning and Zoning before any town meeting vote; the underlying purchase and sale agreement runs only through May 18. Residents pressed for new rules requiring earlier notice of land deals and infrastructure projects, a request the council did not formally act on Thursday.

Key Motions & Votes

- Vote: Add public remarks to the agenda Tally: For: 7, Against: 0, Abstain: 0, Total: 7

- Vote: Approve the agenda as amended Tally: For: 7, Against: 0, Abstain: 0, Total: 7

- Vote: Restart the process through the Board of Finance and Planning and Zoning Commission to purchase 292 West High Street Tally: For: 7, Against: 0, Abstain: 0, Total: 7

- Vote: Terminate the Water Pollution Control Authority board Tally: For: 7, Against: 0, Abstain: 0, Total: 7

- Vote: Return the powers of the Water Pollution Control Authority to the Town Council Tally: For: 7, Against: 0, Abstain: 0, Total: 7

- Vote: Enter executive session on personnel matters (Cox and DeSimone) and potential real estate lease, sale or purchase Tally: For: 7, Against: 0, Abstain: 0, Total: 7

- Vote: Adjourn the meeting Tally: For: 7, Against: 0, Abstain: 0, Total: 7

Source

Town of East Hampton Connecticut: Town Council meeting, March 12, 2026