The East Williston Village Board voted Monday night to institute cash penalties on people who ignore parking tickets and on residents whose home fire alarm systems cause repeated false fire alarms.

During a public hearing on the parking ticket issue, Village of East Williston Mayor David Tanner said the proposed changes to the code would double fines on parking tickets that remain unpaid 30 days after they were issued and would triple fines for tickets not paid within 60 days. An additional $20 fine would be added for every subsequent 30-day period that passes without a response.

“There’s no effective enforcement mechanism in our code,” said Mayor Tanner about scofflaws who ignore parking summonses.

Tanner said the only remedy in the village code would be the issuance of arrest warrants, which he said the village board considered to be an “extreme” measure. He said imposing penalties would follow practices currently in place in Williston Park and Mineola.

East Williston Village Justice Joseph Sperber said there are currently 50 outstanding parking tickets for which there have been no response and no appearances made in village court.

“We expect a lot of no-shows. We think that would be reduced if there was a fine structure in place,” Sperber said.

One resident asked what recourse someone would have if the parking ticket had somehow fallen off the windshield.

East Williston Village Attorney Jeffrey Blinkoff said the driver would need to explain that in village court.

“The court would have the opportunity to grant some leniency,” Blinkoff said.

The trustees present at the meeting voted unanimously in favor of the local law change. Trustee Robert Vella Jr. was unable to attend the meeting, Tanner said.

In considering the local law imposing penalties for false fire alarms, the board proposed issuing notices for the first two instances of violations in a calendar year with no fine attached, and a $150 fine for a third violation occuring within a year. A fourth violation would draw a $150 fine and a fifth false alarm would prompt a $350 fine.

The local law was prompted by recurrent false fire alarms generated by several residences in the village.

“It’s gotten to the point where we’re racing to the alarm when there’s no need for it.” said East Williston Fire Department Chief Patrick Theodore. “These people aren’t servicing their alarms.”

He said some East Williston volunteers no longer respond to alarms set off at one particular address, Theodore said.

“There is no mechanism for forcing people to fix their [fire] alarm and it represents a safety risk for our firefighters,” Tanner said.

Theodore said alarms triggered by shower steam or cooking smoke should not be considered violations of the new code.

“That is not deemed a false alarm,” he said.

Blinkoff suggested adding language to the code that would stipulate standards consistent with the National Fire Protection Code. He also said proof of service on the alarm system would be a viable defense for a resident receiving a notification. But absent servicing, a resident would be liable for a subsequent violation, he said.

The board also adopted the local law on fire alarm violations unanimously.

The board also amended a local requiring multiple no trespassing signs posted on businesses or residences to be 14 inches high and 24 inches wide with lettering four inches high. The existing code required for signs to be posted no more than 200 feet apart.

“We believe it’s impractical to require these large signs,” Tanner said.

The new code calls for no trespassing signs to be posted at the main entrance to a property, with additional signs to be posted at the owner’s discretion.

In other developments:

• The board voted to issue bids for contractors for repair or demolish an uninhabited house at 8 Sumter Street owned by John Muzio. 

Blinkoff has made repeated appearances in Nassau County Supreme Court to secure a judge’s decision to permit the village to take action on the property. Tanner said a recent engineer’s report from Dean Koutsoubis of Kousoubis, Alonso Associates put the estimate of repairs at “several hundred thousand dollars” and said the village expected to recoup costs from the owner. 

Former East Williston trustee John Ferro said repairing the home would be a waste of time since he believed the owner would be unlikely to maintain it.

“I think you should just knock it down,” he said.

Blinkoff said the board would decide what would be appropriate ‘under the circumstances.”

The board also passed a resolution to seek bids on removing racoons, vermin and insects from the Sumter Street property.

“We’ve had reports of racoon infestation, pestilence infestation, if you will,” Tanner said.

• Tanner reported that East Williston had won the first round in its court battle over water rates with Williston Park. He said the court ruled that Williston Park had violated its own rules by not conducting a public hearing before imposing the water rate increase last April.

Blinkoff said Williston Park village attorney James Bradley filed a notice of appeal last week in response to the court decision.

“We’re doing everything we can. We’re trying to settle the case,” Tanner said.

He said  a recent meeting between he and Vella with Williston Park Mayor Paul Ehrbar on Aug. 3 failed to produce a compromise.

Tanner said a “new allocation model” from engineering consultant Dvirka & Bartilucci prompted another increase in water rates for East Williston to $4.33 per thousand gallons of water from the rate of $3.83 being contested in the lawsuit.

After the meeting, Tanner said no further meetings had been scheduled with representatives from Williston Park, but said he wasn’t ruling them out.

• Sgt. James Brown of the Nassau County Police 3rd Precinct reported that an Aug. 5 burglary on Benjiefield Drive in East Williston was probably done by a drug addict. The house was empty at the time with the family on vacation. When police responded to the scene at approximately 12:30 a.m., they knocked on doors of several adjacent houses and received no response.

“Enforcement is the key. That being said, you have a problem here and it needs to be addressed,” Brown said, adding that residents should immediately report any suspicious activity to the 3rd Precinct.

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Reach reporter Richard Tedesco by e-mail at rtedesco@archive.theisland360.com or by phone at 516.307.1045 x204. Also follow us on Twitter @theislandnow1 and Facebook at facebook.com/theislandnow.