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Floral Park Board of Trustees July 15 meeting reports

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    • Deputy Mayor Lynn Pombonyo 

    Police Department

    As Interim Superintendent of Schools Dr. Thomas Dolan completed his yearlong assignment in the Sewanhaka Central High School District, he took a moment to thank the Floral Park Police Department for its outstanding service to the Floral Park Memorial High School students, staff, PTSA and families. Dr. Dolan commented on the speed of FPPD’s responses to their calls and the services that our Police provide including: School Resource Officer instruction and support, guidance in the development and refinement of school and traffic safety procedures, a daily presence outside FPM, and valuable collaboration in emergencies and investigations. FPM Principal Mrs. Alicia Calabrese has offered similar praise. We thank Dr. Dolan for his important work with the Floral Park community and Sewanhaka Central High School District throughout the 2023-24 school year.

    With summertime comes vacation plans. FPPD’s summer plans include keeping us and all of our property safe.

    Featured on the FPPD Facebook page is Vacation Crime Prevention Tips including this very important one:

    Notify the Floral Park Police Department by completing the “Vacation Watch” form found at FloralParkPolice.com , then follow the links. There, you may request that our Police conduct periodic property checks while you are on vacation. Simply provide the necessary information on our FPPD “Vacation Watch” online form, and enjoy your vacation worry-free.

    Chambers of Commerce and Our Businesses 

    This year, Blank Slate Media and our Village’s official Herald Courier newspaper sponsored the 10th Annual BEST OF NASSAU COUNTY Contest for 2024. Voters across Nassau County declared their favorites from categories such as: Arts/Entertainment, Food/Restaurants, Retail/Shopping, Sports & Recreation, and others.

    Floral Park’s favorite places have always done well in these BEST contests with our Centennial Gardens and Bird Sanctuary and Floral Park Library winning in multiple, consecutive years.

    In 2024, Floral Park has three Winners, eight Runner-Ups and two Honorable Mentions, plus a few other favorites close to home.

    Congratulations, with our pride, go to our Winners:

    Our Runner-Up Awards:

    Our Honorable Mention Awards:

    Next, see Trustee Chiara’s report. He will have two more, a Winner and a Runner-Up, to brag about.

    Our business community is indeed the BEST OF NASSAU COUNTY. Be sure to SHOP AND DINE LOCAL AT THE BEST, right here in Floral Park and Stewart Manor!

    Conservation Society (FPCS)

    And, as you just heard, Centennial Gardens and Bird Sanctuary has been honored in two categories this year:  Winner in the BEST PARK category for 2024, and Runner-Up in the BEST PUBLIC GARDEN category for 2024. This year’s honor follows two prior years of winning in the BEST PUBLIC GARDEN category.

    Lots of people to thank for our Gardens’ ongoing success stories. First is FPCS with President Dennis McEnery and our talented team of expert, volunteer Gardeners; the many passionate volunteer Gardener groups; Superintendent Kurt Meyfohrt and our on-site, green-thumbed Parks Department; and Superintendent Kevin Ginnane, Supervisor Kevin Pearsall, and the multi-skilled Department of Public Works staff.

    Come on down to Floral Parkway, and experience the wonders of our BEST PARK and PUBLIC GARDEN, open 12 to 5 PM daily!

     

    Trustee Frank Chiara

    Fire Department

    Congratulations to our Village of Floral Park Volunteer Fire Department for finishing as the Best Fire House Runner-up in the Blank Slate Media’s Best of Nassau County 2024 Contest.  Our Volunteer Firefighters take pride in their fire house(s) and this is a well-deserved recognition!

    Our Fire Department answered 108 calls for service in the month of June. The fire companies responded to 24 calls, 84 total ambulance calls were answered, with NYU Langone responding to 74 calls and Rescue Company responding to 10 calls.

    Our Fire Department continually trains, even during the summer months to ensure their readiness when an emergency arises. They are aways looking for new members, so if you are considering or have an interest in joining, stop by one of our three fire houses to have your questions answered and learn more about our Fire Department.

    As mentioned at the previous meeting, the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has proposed changes to the Fire Brigade Standards (190.156) that will have a severe impact on many Volunteer Fire Departments. Some of the proposed changes will place a financial burden on small departments and will affect volunteer retention.

    Local Departments are requesting an extension to the public information process, allowing them the opportunity to have a balanced approach into consideration of the reality of each department.  The comment period is coming to a close on 7/21/2024.

    The Firefighter Association of New York State (WWW.FASNY.com) is requesting additional time to digest and appropriately respond to the proposed changes.

    The Floral Park Fire Department is asking residents to send their comments to request an extension for more time for the fire services to review the changes.  Comments and a request for an extension can be sent to the federalregister.gov/documents/emergency-response. Additionally links to the OSHA notice and ER webpage. The SBREFA panel report is available at https://www.regulations.gov/document/OSHA-2007-0073-0115 and the ER SBREFA webpage https://www.osha.gov/emergency-response/sbrefa.

    Library

    Congratulations to our Village of Floral Park Library for being voted as the Best Public Library in Blank Slate Media’s Best of Nassau County 2024 Contest.  This is the 4th consecutive year our Library has won.  Congratulations to Pat Eren and the entire Library staff for all their work, making our Library a warm, welcoming, resourceful space for all of our residents to enjoy.

    On Thursday, July 18th at 7 PM the first of two summer concerts on the Library Lawn will take place with Bon Journey performing.  The second concert will take place on August 1st at 7 PM, featuring Bobby Sings Bobby. All are welcome to come to enjoy the concert on the lawn.

    Details on these and other scheduled events can be found on the Library’s website at www.floralparklibrary.org .

     

    Trustee Jennifer Stewart

    DPW

    I would like to start this evening with an update regarding the WAWNC Water Main Installation Project:

    We were informed that the water main replacement project by the Water Authority of Western Nassau County (WAWNC) on those blocks bounded by Raff Avenue, Floral Parkway and Tulip Avenue is moving along on schedule. I want to clarify for the residents that on those streets impacted by this project there will be phases to the installation. That is, if the WAWNC has trenched your street to install the new water main and then moved on to trench the next street and install the water main there, they will return to your street a few weeks later to do the residential connections of the water service.  Unfortunately, the WAWNC cannot do both phases of the project at the same time because the water main installation work must be tested and the results sent to the Nassau County Department of Health (NCDOH) for their review and approval. That review by the NCDOH usually takes a few days. Once the WAWNC receives the NCDOH approval of the water main installation, then the WAWNC and their contractor will return to do the domestic water service connections to the residences. This connection to the residences involves digging up a portion of the lawns in front of the home up to the home’s property line. The Village is assured that there will be full restoration by the WAWNC of any excavated portions of lawns. Also, as previously reported, once the project is completed, the Village will undertake a curb-to-curb repaving of the streets impacted by this work.

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    The Village also has a list of Road Projects which are scheduled to begin the 1st or 2nd week of August:

    Scheduled to begin in September 2024 are:

    To be Determined for Fall 2024 or Spring 2025 are:

    This past month, DPW has continued to sweep all Village roads as scheduled, repaired pot holes, and addressed the issues on Village roads. DPW has cleaned up Covert Avenue after the festive July 4th Parade, as always is maintaining all Village buildings and parks, all while continuing to collect all sanitation. In addition to the previously listed tasks, DPW prepared Memorial Park for the sounds of Andy Cooney and his band last night and will help prepare for the sounds of Bon Journey Thursday, July 18th on the Library Lawn and Bobby D’Amato sings Bobby this Friday, July 19th in Memorial Park. We hope to see you for one or both concerts, this is a great way to enjoy some music and the company of the best people, our residents.

    Cultural Arts

    This leads me right into Cultural Arts; as I mentioned, we have a concert this Friday, July 19th, and three Fridays in August, including Hokis Pokis on August 9th, Elvis (performed by Tommy Walker) on August 16th, and City Stars and Big Band on August 30th.  All concerts will be at Memorial Park at 7:30 PM. Please check the website, social media and email blasts in case of inclement weather.

    I would like to thank Village Administrator Gerry Bambrick and volunteer resident Alexa Ventamiglia for all their work bringing these amazing talents to our community. I get to speak to these bands from this platform, but they do the work behind the scenes.

    MTA

    As previously reported, the MTA has undertaken the Queens Bus Redesign Project which aims to bring a NYC Transit Bus into our Village. I would like to thank the residents that have already voiced their concerns using the public comment portal.  Mayor Fitzgerald and I will be speaking at the public hearing next week, Wednesday, July 24th. We encourage all residents to log into the public comment portal and voice their concerns. The public comment period ends Friday, July 26th at 8 PM. Links are provided in my board report which is part of the Village email every Friday following a Board meeting.

    Queens Bus Network Redesign Project:

    https://new.mta.info/project/queens-bus-network-redesign

    Portal for public comments:

    https://contact.mta.info/s/forms/bus-network-redesign

    Registration for 7/24 Public Hearing:

    https://contact.mta.info/s/forms/public-hearing-form?Id=a0m8z000001AHnf&pId=PH

    Additionally, please check on your vulnerable family and friends during these days of extreme heat, drink lots of water and enjoy!

     

    Trustee Michael Longobardi

    Building Department

    With several projects taking place in our Village here are some status updates:

    As a reminder, all construction work that involves moving walls, windows or doors requires a permit prior to starting the project to ensure compliance with the building codes.  Please check the Building Department website for a full list of requirements and permit applications.  There are currently over 35 applications available online. You are welcome to call the Building Department to ask questions or obtain assistance for permitting. For business, sidewalk signs of any kind are not permitted. No part of the sidewalk is allowed to be obstructed. Signs are a safety hazard and our sidewalks are not wide enough to accommodate them.

    Recreation and Pool

    We are in the middle of our third heat wave this summer making our pool a popular place to be.  We have already had 8 days of extended hours this year and we have not even started the dog days of summer yet.

    Wednesday, July 17th is rollback night with reduced prices on hamburgers, hot dogs and more at D&J refreshments.  Our next resident’s day is July 28th and next grandparent’s day is August 4th.  Both are great well attended days.

    The swim team had its first swim meet last night against Mineola. Upcoming dates include Monday, July 22nd with Stewart Manor, Thursday, July 25th with Mineola and Monday, July 29th with Williston Park.

    Congratulations to our Little League District 29 teams in 10U, Junior Baseball and 12U softball.  Each team advanced to the championship game in their respective division.  While they fell short, it is a great accomplishment making it to the final game.  Congratulations to the players and thank you to the coaches and the league for making it happen.

    Openings are still available for various summer programs and youth activities.  These are listed in the 2024 Pool Book online at the Village website.  Please contact the pool building for information and registration.  Village of Floral Park Leisure passes are required to use the recreation complex and to register for the programs.

    As a quick reminder for everyone, for safety reasons no bikes are permitted in the park.

    Town-Village Aircraft Safety & Noise Abatement Committee (TVASNAC)

    A press conference was held in Floral Park on July 3rd with elected officials from Town of Hempstead, Town of North Hempstead, NY State and Federal Offices to announce the filing of a petition requesting the FAA perform a study and present alternative air routes.  The air traffic as we all know has increased considerably and we have low flying planes over our homes on average every 90 seconds, creating a deafening noise and hazardous air pollution.  TVASNAC has been requesting this and other information for several years with little to no response.  TVASNAC has also asked for the raw noise data from the Port Authority through a FOIL request which would show the actual noise levels and issues. They have not received any information to date. The goal is to demand corrective actions by creating alternate routes and make it bearable for all the residents.  If they receive no response to the petition in 90 days, their plan is to file a lawsuit against the FAA.

    The next meeting will be at 7:00 PM on Monday July 22, 2024 at Town Hall, One Washington Street in Hempstead. If you want to make a noise complaint regarding air traffic, you can call 1-800-225-1071. You can also go to the Village website at fpvillage.org which has the links under the TVASNAC Noise Complaint Contact Information Page on our home page.

    Village Emergency Management

    Hurricane season is upon us and it is predicted to be an above-average season with 17-25 named storms expected.  We have already seen a Category 3 hit the Texas coast.  The National Hurricane Center advises everyone to “Be Prepared – Get A Plan!”. Thankfully our full-service Village has a Public Works Department that maintains our trees and hundreds of drains and catch basins to limit the damage.  We have the best trained Police and Fire Departments ready to respond to any emergency.  However, it does not stop there.  It is important for each resident to prepare in advance for heavy storms, wind and rain damage and the possibility of periods without electric.  It is recommended to have supplies for at least three days and to prepare for special medical situations, if needed. Local emergency numbers include 911 and 516-326-6400. Links to help prepare include www.ready.gov/hurricanes and www.nassaucounty.gov/1634/hurricane-preparedness, as well as FEMA and American Red Cross.  It is never too soon to get ready and be prepared.

     

    Mayor Kevin Fitzgerald

    To follow up on Trustee Stewart’s report in regard to the Queens Bus redesign, there is not a lot of information provided on the website. We have studied what is available as we do with any major project that impacts the Village. I think the resolution that we passed tonight does lay out in detail some of the concerns that we have not only here in Floral Park but the whole concept of the Q110, which is duplicative of other routes that occur in Queens. Three busses and a train line running on the same route does not seem to make a lot of sense.

    Board reports are quite extensive this evening, due to fewer summer meetings being held. Please make sure if you have not joined our email blast sent on Friday’s following our Board Meetings, make sure to sign up! There is a lot of good information that we distribute. If you have any questions or concerns outside of the board meeting weeks you can always leave a message at Village Hall and someone will get back to you.

    Lastly, the August Board Meeting has been moved to Wednesday, August 14th at 8 pm.

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