Stricter Workplace Rules Having An Impact, Officials Say

Officials from the South Fork’s towns and villages said they are striving for compliance over punishment when it comes to making sure contractors, landscapers, and other businesses deemed nonessential follow restrictions imposed on their activities by Governor Andrew Cuomo’s executive orders during the coronavirus pandemic.

Earlier this month, after complaints were raised by East Hampton Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc about the large number of work vehicles pouring into town and the nonstop activity at building sites, the governor tightened his order to further rein in activities of contractors and landscapers.

“I’ve got nothing against people working,” Mr. Van Scoyoc said this week. “What I’m concerned about is the spread of COVID-19. And the best way to get through this with the least number of casualties is by avoiding contact with others.”

Mr. Van Scoyoc said it had been difficult for everyone involved because guidance coming down from the governor’s office has been subject to change. “It’s a very fluid situation,” he said.

Now, private contractors are only allowed to have a single worker on any job site. Companies have also been allowed to bring in larger crews to secure work sites to do tasks like finishing roofs, boarding up windows or backfilling foundations, but workers are required to maintain a safe distance from one another.

“We should be hitting a point now where these construction projects can stop,” said Ryan Murphy, Southampton Town’s director of code enforcement, who added, “A fair amount of time has elapsed” since the governor’s order was updated.

Mr. Van Scoyoc said East Hampton code enforcement officers have been visiting work sites to inform contractors that they must wrap it up. “Our approach is to gain compliance” rather than write summonses, he said.

The new guidance from the governor’s office also imposes tighter restrictions on landscapers. They are allowed to do regular maintenance like cut lawns and apply pest controls, but they are not permitted to plant new trees and shrubs or undertake other new projects.

Mr. Van Scoyoc said trying to establish rules for landscapers has been difficult because even though workers are supposed to maintain a safe physical distance at the job site, at the end of the day, they often drive off together two or more to a truck.

Mr. Murphy said Southampton has allowed landscapers to complete jobs they have made substantial headway on, but agreed it is hard to determine when a crew might be violating the restrictions unless someone provides an eye-witness account. He said the town had investigated some reports of landscapers doing illegal plantings, but had determined they were merely completing jobs that had begun before the clampdown. “You might have a situation where they have a hole dug for a tree,” he said. “That could pose a danger if you left it open.”

He said because landscapers often send several workers to a site, it is hard to discover if maintenance workers are doing anything wrong. “The only limit on them is they can have as many workers as needed on a job site, but are supposed to have as few people as necessary to get the job done,” he said.

Violations of the governor’s orders carry potential fines of up to $10,000, and Mr. Murphy said because they fall under the penal code, Southampton Town Police would issue any summonses.

“My protocol since we started is if we receive a complaint or see a site, we have a conversation with them,” Southampton Town Police Chief Steven Skyrnecki said. “We let them know they are in violation, and that we are seeking compliance.”

If an officer is called back to a job site, a summons will be issued, he said, but “so far nobody has defied our request to comply.” A violator could be charged with a misdemeanor, he added.

Southampton Supervisor Jay Schneiderman said it was difficult to do ongoing enforcement at every job site in town, but agreed that most businesses seem to be making a good-faith effort to comply. “But some are going to ignore the warnings, and if they do, they’ll get a ticket,” he said.

The supervisor added that he thought revenue from any tickets should be earmarked for local food pantries.

Quogue Mayor Peter Sartorius said via email that his village’s code enforcement officers had issued about a half-dozen summonses since the new restrictions were put in place, but Southampton Mayor Jesse Warren said he has been happy with compliance.

“We have a community that is being diligent,” he said, with residents calling the village’s code enforcement officer, Angel Perez, if they see a work crew violating the new restrictions.

The village’s chief building inspector, Christopher Talbot, said he had received a number of calls from contractors seeking guidance in the new regulations. “All in all, the contractors, especially around the village, have complied with the intent of the restrictions,” he said.

He said he had to tell one landscaping crew that they were not allowed to plant about 20 privet shrubs, but had few other problems to report.

Mayor Richard Lawler said East Hampton Village was also trying to achieve compliance first. “If workers are unaware, we will make them aware and instruct them they have to stop working,” he said. “We haven’t had any issues yet.”

Sag Harbor Mayor Kathleen Mulcahy, while supportive of the overall effort to enforce work shutdowns, said she questioned the wisdom of allowing a single worker on a job site, saying someone could fall of a ladder “and lie there a long, long time.” She said the village has suggested the rule be relaxed to allow two workers on a site at any one time, provided they work separately.

She said the village’s chief building inspector, Tom Preiato, has been given strict guidelines and has been visiting work sites around the village to check on compliance.

Ms. Mulcahy said there “is a lot of wiggle room” in the rules governing landscaping, making it difficult for municipalities to enforce them. She said Suffolk County has been reaching out to landscapers “to make it clear they cannot put multiple people in trucks.” She said since so many workers are Latino, it might be necessary to leave bilingual fliers at job sites and public places.