At the Village of Old Westbury Board of Trustees meetings Monday the Police Department  reported crime had dropped sharply by mid-year from 2022 levels.

Department of Public Works and Water Department reports for June were also delivered to the board. The board approved several resolutions.

Lieutenant Gregory Gormsen of the Old Westbury Police Department provided the board with the police activity report for June.

“As of the midpoint of this year, auto theft is down by 56%, burglary is down by 60% and attempted burglary is down by 50%,” Gormsen said. 

Among the updates were the apprehension of the suspect in a hit-and-run on June 23 and the handling of a multi-vehicle crash whose suspect was under the influence of narcotics.

“The department’s mobile speed trailer was modified in-house at no cost and placed back into service,” Gormsen said. “It will be moved around the village to deter speeding and hopefully we will have a follow-up with the traffic enforcement right in the area where [the crash] was.”

 Also mentioned was the detainment of an individual who was seen suspiciously leaving a home on Wheatley Road on July 12 and has since been charged with burglary, criminal trespass, larceny and traffic infractions, Gormsen said.

Gormsen filled in for Chief of Police Stuart Cameron, who is currently in Albany and will be receiving an award at the New York State Chief of Police Association Annual Summer Training Conference.

Updates on utility pole work and paving were given by David Alves, superintendent of pUblic Works.

“PSEG crews are currently in the village replacing utility poles on Old Westbury Road, South Service Road and I U Willets Road as part of their program to prevent outages during storms,” Alves said. “Nassau County will be starting their next phase of paving on I U Willets Road to follow with South Service Road. We are in contact with the county and they will be sending notices to all residents who will be affected during this paving process.”

He urged all residents to sign up for the village app to get notifications in real time.

Alves went on to provide a report on the village’s Water Department crews, who have been continuing maintenance on well houses and responding to requests by Nassau County contractors to mark out roads that are in this phase of their current project. 

“In this phase of the project, they will be milling and paving and our Water Department will be on hand 24/7 in any need,” Alves said. “We had instances where people hit valves in the road, [and we] don’t want to damage equipment because it’s not a village road, it is a county road. We understand that infrastructure is very old but we still need to be on top of that, and that’s why we’re going to have guys with metal detectors [and other tools].”

Marina Chimerine, Jeffery Brown, Michelle Cervoni and Cory Baker were sworn in as mayor, deputy mayor, commissioner of Buildings and commissioner of DPW and Water, respectively, all for one year terms.

A motion to continue the application of Long Island University to amend its Special Use Permit was approved by the board. The permit is to “maintain the existing tennis courts and facilities located at 24 Quail Run” for use by LIU’s tennis team, students, employees, guests, alumni, and other campus programs and camps.

Other resolutions that were discussed include the board authorizing the Stipulation of Settlement proceedings pending in Nassau County Supreme Court regarding a tax refund of $7,500, and the approval of the mayor to “sign the lease amendments for T-Mobile for five years at the Guinea Woods site and 113 Old Westbury Road site.”

Funds for the payment of bills for June 2023 were also authorized by the board.